In the 1950s, Walt Disney’s television mini-series based on the life and exploits of Davy Crockett ignited a national craze that consumed popular culture. By the time the frenzy fizzled, the iconic frontiersman from Tennessee had helped the Disney Studio sell $300 million worth of merchandise—including 4 million records, over 14 million books, and far too many coonskin caps to count. Davy Crockett had become a topic of conversation everywhere from the local Laundromat to New York City society parties. He had been alternately toasted and roasted in the pages of Time, Look, Harper’s, The New York Times Magazine, and Saturday Review. He even had been eulogized on the floor of the United States Congress.

In Walt Disney and Live Action by Disney historian John G. West, go behind the scenes and explore the fascinating story behind Disney’s Davy Crockett. Learn how the episodes were made, the controversy they provoked, and why Disney brought Davy Crockett back to life after killing him off. Also learn about the making of Disney’s television features highlighting other American heroes, real and fictional, including Zorro, Elfego Baca, Swamp Fox, Texas John Slaughter, and more. In addition, get to see for the first time previously unpublished photos taken during the filming of the lavish recreation of the Battle of the Alamo in the third episode of Davy Crockett. For a preview, see the gallery below.