(ABC Sunday Nights, 1954 - 1958, as "Disneyland";
ABC Sunday Nights, 1958 - 1961, as "Walt Disney Presents";
NBC Sunday Nights, 1961 - 1969,
as "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color";
NBC Sunday Nights, 1969 - 1979,
as "The Wonderful World of Disney";
NBC Sunday Nights, 1979 - 1981, as "Disney's Wonderful World";
CBS Sunday Nights, 1981 - 1983, as "Walt Disney";
ABC Sunday Nights, 1986 - 1988, as "The Disney Sunday Movie";
NBC Sunday Nights, 1988 - 1990, as "The Magical World of Disney";
Re-runs on "The Disney Channel" cable network)
[In 1954, the king of feature film animation, Walt Disney,
secured a loan from the ABC television network, as part
of a badly needed financing package for his new "Disneyland"
theme park planned for construction in Anaheim, in exchange
for producing (and hosting) a TV series for the third-
place ABC Television network which badly needed a known
quantity to attract ratings;
The deal worked out beautifully for both ABC and Disney,
and the show became a staple of Sunday Night programming
for decades; in fact it was the first ABC series ever to
break into the top-20 rated Nielsen television shows;
The Disney-produced series showcased animated cartoon
characters, promoted upcoming theatrical films, and,
of course, the upcoming theme park, which was dubbed
"the Magic Kingdom"; In time, Walt paid back the ABC
loan in full so he retained control of his "kingdom";
Along with Disney cartoons and features, a number of
live action mini-series were presented within the hour-
long "umbrella" of this series -- including "Davy Crockett",
"The Nine Lives of Elfego Baca", "The Swamp Fox", "Texas
John Slaughter", "Spin and Marty", and "True-life Adventure"
documentaries; "Disneyland" also spawned a couple of spinoff
series like "Zorro" and "The Mickey Mouse Club", which see;
Three years after Disneyland -- the theme park, opened in 1955,
the TV series changed its name to "Walt Disney Presents" in
1958. Perhaps some people thought such a change was needed to
avoid confusion...or they wanted to position the show away
from the appearance of being a total info-mercial;
When color came to television, ABC was lagging behind, so in
1961, "Walt Disney Presents" moved to NBC where it became
"Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color" with a new vocal
THEME song incorporated into its colorful opening;
In 1981, after two decades with NBC, the network decided to
drop the series due to relatively low ratings; so the
series was picked up by CBS for two more years and back
to ABC in 1983;
In 1986 ABC decided to revamp the format; Uncle Walt was
gone, so Michael Eisner -- the "young turk" who was now
heading the Disney company made appearances as the
figurehead; and the series now was renamed the "Disney
Sunday Movie" in competition with Movies-of-the-Week
on other networks; the 2nd time around with ABC lasted
just two seasons;
In 1988, the series moved again -- this time to NBC --
where it stayed two more years; but 1990 was the end for
the series which was a legend on broadcast television; It
was not the end of opportunities to watch the show, however;
Disney had begun its own cable network in 1983, so even
after the show went off broadcast networks, re-runs have
aired on "The Disney Channel" ever since...even the black
and white episodes can be enjoyed during late nights;
The Main Title THEMEs to open the show in its early years
incorporated "When You Wish Upon A Star" in medleys with other
Disney melodies and original material as needed; The Main Title
changed for six seasons when the series went color in 1961 to
a Sherman Brothers song, "The Wonderful World of Color" and then
in 1967 returned to instrumental Main Titles which incorporated
"When You Wish Upon a Star" along with original material;
End Credits THEMEs in its early years were often show-specific --
which replaced "When You Wish Upon A Star" as often as not; But
otherwise the End Credits were a full version of "When You Wish
Upon A Star";
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Another favorite I haven't seen in awhile is "Babes in Toyland" with Annette.
Thanks Dan, nice post 
