BEFORE "CAROL BURNETT" & "FANTASMIC," THERE WAS...

Remember "KIds of the Kingdom" at the Disney Parks? This is the same sort of group you will see in this fascinati 1967 feature Young Americans, an Oscar-winning (sort of) documentary (sort of).

Watch for a young Vicki Lawrence in the group (pictured above and below, center). This was just before the premiere of The Carol Burnett Show. It is interesting to see how she is still the comical one of the group, and very Burnett-like even in this context.

Another of these performers became a “Kid of the Kingdom” at Disneyland in California, and later the director of the major spectacular Fantasmic!--Barnette Ricci (she's the one who is given a pet hamster by a young fan).

Barnette Ricci,

The group was established in 1962, recorded several albums, one with Johnny Mathis, and still exists today. There are children singing in the group whose parents were also Young American performers, touring the country and abroad.

This "semi-documentary" won a 1969 Oscar but because of a technical rule (it had been screened in a theater in 1967) the Oscar was revoked. It’s a fascinating time capsule and surprisingly entertaining, though it’s more of a ‘60s idea of whimsical, Brady Bunch-y “semi-documentary” than what might be considered by-the-book documentary filmmaking. It was directed by Alexander Grasshoff, who was Oscar-nominated two other times for A Really Big Family and Journey to the Outer Limits.