Tennessee football: Defining Vols history by 10 Disney animation eras
Disney: Silver Age (1950-1967)
Tennessee: Robert Neyland’s third stint (1946-1952)
Again, Walt Disney and Tennessee football have similar Silver Ages. Disney’s breakout success was Mickey Mouse, and it’s Golden Age of best movies was in the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Vols’ breakout success was dominating the Southern Conference in Robert Neyland’s first stint, but their Golden Age was dominating the nation in his second stint.
But the most iconic time period for both of them is the period right after the Wartime Era. For Disney, this is when the company became a household name. It started with “Cinderella” in 1950, which is on the Mount Rushmore of greatest Disney movies.
But You also have “Alice in Wonderland,” “Peter Pan,” “Lady and the Tramp,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “One Hundred and One Dalmatians,” “The Sword in the Stone,” and “The Jungle Book.” This is the iconic time period of Disney in which they cranked out elite movie after elite movie.
The Vols took a little bit longer to get going in their Silver Age. In fact, their success almost went in reverse. Neyland returned in 1946 to win the SEC title, a smashing year like “The Jungle Book” was a smashing success. But then he had two straight .500 years in 1947 and 1948. If we could parallel them, “The Sword in the Stone,” and Alice in Wonderland” would be those seasons.
But those were still good movies. Still, Neyland took off again in 1949. He went 7-2-1 that year, and then in 1950 and 1951 won back to back national championships. The 1951 team was the most iconic of it’s time, so it’s the “Cinderella” of the Silver Age. “Sleeping Beauty” is similar to the 1950 team.
Neyland’s final year saw the Vols still go 8-2-1 in1952 and finish in the top 10. So 1949 and 1952 were similar to “Peter Pan” and “101 Dalmatians.” What makes UT iconic during this time, though, is the players. Hank Lauricella and Doug Atkins are just a couple of big names, but numerous stood out during this time.
This was also a period in which more Disney films that weren’t just animated came out. You had live actions like “Treasure Island” and “Mary Poppins” begin to take off, and that was similar to the Vols outside of football, as they made the College World Series in baseball in 1951.