named after the street where the studio was located. In 1954, Disney's first American live action film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which was one of the first films to use CinemaScope, was released. From the early-to-mid 1950s, Walt began to devote less attention to the animation department, entrusting most of its operations to his key animators the Nine Old Men, although he was always present at story meetings. Instead, he started concentrating on television, Disneyland, and other company affairs. To finance the construction of Disneyland, Walt sold his home at Smoke Tree Ranch in Palm Springs Ca. and the company promoted it with a television series. After unsuccessful negotiations with NBC and CBS to sign on, in 1954, American Broadcasting Company (ABC) contracted with Disney for an hour-long, weekly series starting in October called Disneyland an anthology series consisting of animated cartoons, live-action features, and other materials from the studio's library; and would depict four segments of the amusement park's four areas. The series was a success and garnered over 50% of viewers in its time slot, along with increasing audiences and praise from critics. In August, Walt formed another company Disneyland, Inc. to finance the theme park, with Walt Disney Productions, Walt, Western Publishing—which had been the publisher of Disney books for over twenty years—and ABC all holding stock in the company. In October, with the success of Disneyland, ABC allowed Disney to produce The Mickey Mouse Club, a variety show for children; the show included a daily Disney cartoon, a children's newsreel, and a talent show. It was presented by a host, and talented children and adults called "Mousketeers" and "Mooseketeers", respectively. After the first season, over ten million children and five million adults watched it daily; and two million Mickey Mouse ears, which the cast wore, were sold. On December 15, 1954, Disneyland aired an episode of the five-part miniseries Davy Crockett, which stars Fess Parker as the title character. According to writer Neal Gabler, "[It] became an overnight national sensation", selling 10 million Crockett coonskin caps. The show's theme song "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" became a part of American pop culture, selling 10 million records. Los Angeles Times called it "the greatest merchandising fad the world had ever seen". In June 1955, Disney's 15th animated film Lady and the Tramp was released and performed better at the box office than any other Disney films