DISNEY & LUX RADIO Disney History

Lux Radio Theater (sponsored by Lux soap) was a live radio show that first began in October 1934 on the NBC Blue Network

(which ironically would become the Disney-owned ABC). The series (which first aired on Sunday afternoons before switching to Monday evenings) was based on popular Broadway shows and films of the day. As original cast members were often used to re-create their roles, many of Hollywood's biggest names appeared on the weekly hour-long program.

Over the years Lux Radio Theater presented 4 adaptations of Disney animated movies (all around Christmas time). They included Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (in 1938), Pinocchio (in 1939), Alice in Wonderland (in 1951), and Peter Pan (in 1953). Alice in Wonderland featured the original film voices of Kathryn Beaumont, Jerry Colona and Ed Wynn and Peter Pan was voiced by Bobby Driscoll. Even Walt Disney himself appeared during the 1938 Snow White broadcast. He was interviewed by host and film

legend Cecil B. DeMille.

By 1956 television surpassed radio in popularity and so ended programs

like Lux Radio Theater.