The animated series TaleSpin, which had already begun to soar into popularity on the Disney Channel, made its debut in syndication on this day in 1990 as part of the all-new The Disney Afternoon programming block. This package consisted of two hours of existing shows from Disney Television Animation. The newest of the shows, TaleSpin, featured Baloo from the feature film The Jungle Book, now as an airplane pilot with new friends Rebecca and young Kit Cloudkicker. Baloo now also had a band of pirates to contend with, led by the evil Don Karnage.
The park featured Disney Afternoon Live!, an area with facades of various toon locations for guests to take photos with characters from those shows.
D23’s own Scott Wolf was an assistant producer on TaleSpin, and remembers, “My favorite memories of TaleSpin, besides working with some great people, was the show’s presence in Disneyland. To celebrate the launch of The Disney Afternoon, the park featured Disney Afternoon Live!, an area near it’s a small world with facades of various toon locations and a great place for guests to interact with and take photos with characters from those shows. The Videopolis theater featured the live stage show Plane Crazy, based on The Disney Afternoon, and there was also Baloo’s Dressing Room, where guests could meet and greet with the star himself. Working on the TV show, I never saw people’s reactions, but this gave me the chance to see the excitement of children when they first see Kit Cloudkicker or both young and old’s delight when walking into Baloo’s dressing room and seeing him sitting there in his TaleSpin outfit.”
