Mickey’s Gala Premiere

In September 1939 the fledgling BBC television service was shut down because of the start of World War II. According to legend, transmission was ended in the middle of a broadcast of a Disney cartoon called "Mickey's Gala Premiere." When transmission resumed six years later an announcer came on the air and said, "Well now, where were we?" The Disney cartoon then began to play from the exact spot in which it had left off all those years ago. Is this story true? Almost, but not quite. According to imdb.com, "Mickey's Gala Premiere" was the last thing shown on the BBC in 1939 and the first thing it aired when it started back up in 1946. However the cartoon was restarted from the beginning. Not from where it had left off in 1939.

Entertainment History

Posted on Tue Apr 05, 2005


Comments

my understanding of the story was that the first thing the announcer said was 'we apologise for the interruption...'
Posted by Nick  on  Wed Apr 06, 2005  at  05:31 AM
hhaha, great line.
Posted by Winona  on  Wed Apr 06, 2005  at  09:31 AM
Okay, I heard this when I was a kid, so no source, and I severely doubt it's veracity (UL alert?).

A radio station went off the air in the middle of a record. There was dead air for a few minutes. When the DJ came back on, he said "All right, who bumped their radio?" Several were supposed to have phoned and apologized.

This story just made me think of it...
Posted by Rod  on  Wed Apr 06, 2005  at  10:14 AM
I have a vision of a technician chap in his demob suit, pushing open a creaking door in BBC television centre, Wood Lane, W12 7RJ, walking over to a dust-covered mixing desk and flicking a switch... and, after six years, Mickey Mouse appears on the monitor, a few flickers here and there.
Posted by Ashley Pomeroy  on  Wed Apr 06, 2005  at  02:52 PM
That reminds me of the ad campaign that Euro Disney used to attract same-sex couples... They even had a big WingDing to set it off, called "Mickey's Gay- La Premiere"... Everyone was there- Stephen, Evildream, the whole Gay French Crowd
Posted by Hairy Houdini  on  Wed Apr 06, 2005  at  08:27 PM
I always thourght that the announcer said "as we were saying before we were so rudely interrupted..."
Great story anyway...
Posted by Timmy O'Toole  on  Thu Apr 07, 2005  at  04:36 AM
I always thought the cartoon was Steamboat Willie. I definitely remember the moment that the cartoon started again being recreated on some BBC drama.
Posted by Nona  on  Mon Mar 05, 2007  at  05:47 AM
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