"Our Friend the Atom" is a 1957 episode of the television series Disneyland describing the benefits of nuclear power and hosted by Heinz Haber. It was part of the publicity campaign for peaceful uses of atomic energy, following Dwight D. Eisenhower's "Atoms for Peace" speech at the UN General Assembly in December 1953. The episode was broadcast by ABC on January 23, 1957, and repeated on April 24 of the same year.
In 1956, Simon and Schuster published a children's book by Haber, The Walt Disney Story of Our Friend the Atom, using artwork styled from the show.
Educational film In 1980, an updated version called The Atom: A Closer Look was released by Disney's educational media division.
Production team
Animation
Jack Boyd Cliff Nordberg John Lounsbery Jack Campbell Jack Buckley Ed Parks
Animation Art Styling
Claude Coats John Hench
Layout
Al Zinnen Thor Putnam
Backgrounds
Jimi Trout Irv Wyner
Special Processes
Ub Iwerks Eustace Lycett
Worldwide releases
This episode was aired on TV in Japan as a standalone show on January 1, 1958 between 1pm and 2pm on Nippon Television.Article in Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shinbun, January 1, 1958, p. 6.
When the series Disneyland aired on the same channel between August 1958 and April 1972, this episode wasn't aired.See the Japanese Wikipedia page at ディズニーランドの放送一覧.
Home media The episode was released on May 18, 2004 on Walt Disney Treasures: Tomorrow Land.
References
External links