"Some time ago, I decided to make an Irish picture -- for Ireland is the home of the leprechaun, and the little people have always fascinated me." So says Walt Disney at the beginning of I Captured the King of the Leprechauns, an episode of his weekly television series Walt Disney Presents that aired on ABC on May 29, 1959. The 49-minute show was designed as a promotional tie-in to Disney's feature film Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959), a whimsical, live-action fantasy about leprechauns that opened in theaters one month later.

This promo show is quite whimsical itself. It starts with Disney chatting to guest star Pat O'Brien about his plans for the Darby O'Gill movie, with O'Brien urging Disney to travel to Ireland personally in order to find real leprechauns for the film. And off Disney goes, even flying Irish Air Lines across the Atlantic to immerse himself in all things Irish. Albert Sharpe and Jimmy O'Dea make special appearances as their Darby film characters (fellow Darby actor Sean Connery notably does not), and clips from the Darby film punctuate the show. Walt Disney "acts" fairly well here and emanates a pleasing charisma.

This was the last episode of the TV series' fifth season. Disney had begun the series in 1954 under the title Disneyland, but it had just been changed to Walt Disney Presents. Two years later, the show would move from ABC to NBC, switch to color transmission, and be re-named Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. But Disney had been filming all episodes in color from the beginning -- a wise move that would pay off during reruns. In future years, the show would switch around to various networks and be re-titled yet again: to The Wonderful World of Disney, Disney's Wonderful World, and more.

By Jeremy Arnold

SOURCES:
Leonard Maltin, The Disney Films
Dave Smith, Disney A to Z