This Day in Disney History

[tiggerguy]

May 12

1932:
The Mickey Mouse film Mickey's Revue is released. Pluto and Horace Horsecollar also appear. Goofy appears for the very first time - but with the name Dippy Dawg.

1936:
Comedy Hall of Famer and actor George Carlin - the voices of Filmore in the 2006 Cars and Zugor in the 2005 Tarzan II - is born in New York City.

1950:
Actor Bruce Boxleitner, the star of Disney's 1982 Tron, is born in Elgin, Illinois.

[tiggerguy]

May 13

1924:
Director Bernard McEveety is born in New Rochelle, New York. His Disney credits include Napoleon and Samantha, One Little Indian, and Donovan's Kid.

1971:
Singer-songwriter Elton John visits Disneyland for the very first time during his second U.S. tour. He is to perform at the neighboring Anaheim Convention Center the following day.

1992:
Disneyland's FANTASMIC! - a nighttime spectacular - is officially dedicated in Frontierland.

2000:
The Disney Channel original movie Miracle in Lane Two, featuring Frankie Muniz and Patrick Levis (who will win a Young Artist Award for his performance), airs.

[tiggerguy]

May 14

1921:
Character actor Richard Deacon is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His Disney credits include Blackbeard's Ghost, The Gnome-Mobile, Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N., and That Darn Cat!.

1923:
Walt Disney writes to New York film distributor Margaret J. Winkler, looking for a distributor for his new Alice's Wonderland film.

1925:
Actor Alvin Epstein - the voice of the Bookseller in Disney's 1991 classic Beauty and the Beast - is born in New York City.

1944:
Filmmaker George Lucas is born in Modesto, California. His popular Star Wars and Indiana Jones adventure movies will be the inspiration for Disney attractions.

[tiggerguy]

May 15

1928:
Plane Crazy, Walt Disney's first silent short to feature Mickey & Minnie Mouse, premieres as a sneak preview at a theatre on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. The film, a parody of the Charles Lindbergh craze, has cost $1,772 to make.

1937:
Disney's Silly Symphony cartoon Little Hiawatha is released.

1974:
Card Walker, Disney president and chief operating officer, announces to a meeting of the American Marketing Association that Walt Disney Productions will be moving ahead "in a phased program" with the development of Walt Disney's concept for EPCOT. The process of taking Walt's EPCOT (an idea for a real city) apart and concocting something different with the pieces has begun.

[tiggerguy]

May 16

1872:
Actor Taylor Holmes - the voice of King Stefan in Disney's 1959 classic Sleeping Beauty (his last credited screen role) - is born in Newark, New Jersey.

1928:
Walt Disney applies for a trademark for "Mickey Mouse," for use in motion pictures.

1952:
Two Gun Goofy, a Disney short directed by Jack Kinney, is released by RKO. In this cartoon, Goofy is made sheriff of a small western town after accidentally foiling a stagecoach robbery!

1961:
Kevin McDonald, the voice of Pleakley in Disney's 2002 Lilo & Stitch, is born Montreal, Canada. McDonald also appears in the 2005 live-action feature Sky High, as Mr. Medulla.

1991:
Jim Henson's Muppet-Vision 3-D opens at the Disney-MGM Studios theme park at Disney World. The attraction is housed in a 1000 seat multi-media 3-D theater located in a further expansion of the backlot annex area.

[tiggerguy]

May 17

1908:
Disney writer Ralph Wright, the gloomy voice of Eeyore in such classics as Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree and Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, is born in St. Paul, Minnesota. His story credits include Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too!, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and The AristoCats.

1940:
Disney's Donald Duck cartoon Billposters is released.

1962:
Disney's live-action feature film Bon Voyage - starring Fred MacMurray, Jane Wyman and Tommy Kirk - is released.

1991:
Disney's Port Orleans Resort, a re-creation of the streets and rowhouses of New Orleans' French Quarter, opens at 2201 Orleans Drive in Walt Disney World. The Downtown Disney area resort, which offers 1008 guest rooms, also includes Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory food court, Jackson Square Gifts and Desires shop, and Bonfamille's Cafe restaurant.

[tiggerguy]

May 18

1904:
Actor Fred Shields, the narrator of Disney's 1942 Saludos Amigos and 1944 The Three Caballeros, is born in Kansas City, Missouri.

1951:
Disney's Mickey and Pluto cartoon Plutopia is released

2003:
Disney/Pixar's Finding Nemo premieres in Hollywood, California.

[tiggerguy]

May 19

1906:
Voice actor/sound effects man, musician & creator of hundreds of one-of-a-kind gadgets and props, James Macdonald is born in Dundee, Scotland. While playing drums and percussion with a band for the Dollar Steamship Lines in 1934, Macdonald will be called to the Disney Studios to record music for a Mickey Mouse cartoon. His impeccable timing and talent will earn him a permanent position to form the sound department at the studio. In 1946, Walt Disney will personally select Macdonald to take over the voice of Mickey Mouse. His many Disney credits will include Mickey and the Beanstalk and the TV series House of Mouse as well as the animated classics Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Alice in Wonderland.

1934:
Disney's Mickey Mouse cartoon Gulliver Mickey, directed by Burt Gillett, is released. Mickey enthralls his young nephews with the story of his adventures among the tiny people of a faraway land.

1941:
Mouseketeer Bobby Burgess is born in Long Beach, California. He will audition 5 times before finally being chosen as a member of The Mickey Mouse Club. Fans of The Lawrence Welk Show will recognize him as half the dancing duo Bobby & Barbara.

2007:
A gala premiere for the feature Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End takes place at Disneyland. Johnny Depp and his fellow actors attend the world premiere.

[tiggerguy]

May 20

1949:
Actor/writer Dave Thomas - the voice of Tuke in Disney's Brother Bear and Brother Bear II - is born in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.

1960:
Actor Tony Goldwyn - the voice of Tarzan for Tarzan and Tarzan Untamed - is born in Los Angeles, California.

1973:
Walt Disney World's Tom Sawyer Island, the Tom Sawyer Rafts and the Plaza Swan Boats all first open at the Magic Kingdom.

1996:
Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf, located between the Walt Disney World Dolphin and Walt Disney World Swan hotels, opens.

2008:
Starting on this day, Google Earth and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts allow visitors to take a free virtual trip to Walt Disney World's 4 theme parks and 22 Disney hotels and resorts - simply by visiting Walt Disney World Resort - Detecting Browser Properties . . . or earth.google.com. Computer users can click on maps (with interactive features) that show about 1,500 rides, restaurants and attractions in 3-D.

[tiggerguy]

May 21

1954:
The Disney cartoon Pigs is Pigs is released. Narrated by Gary Owens, the short
features the sounds of the Mellomen - a vocal group which includes Thurl
Ravenscroft.

1957:
Actor Judge Reinhold - Neil Miller in Disney's live-action features The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, The Santa Clause 2: The Mrs. Clause, and The Santa Clause - is born in Wilmington, Delaware.

[tiggerguy]

May 22

1942:
Disney's Pluto cartoon The Army Mascot, directed by Clyde Geronomi, is released. Pluto schemes to become the army mascot at Camp Drafty, after seeing the tasty chow the other animals there are eating!

1968:
Walt Disney Travel Company is incorporated in Florida. The company will work with travel agents and individuals planning vacations to the yet-to-be-open Walt Disney World Resort.

[tiggerguy]

May 23

1910:
Character actor, singer & dancer Scatman Crothers - the voice of Scat Cat in Disney's 1970 release The Aristocats - is born in Terre Haute, Indiana.

1929:
Disney's ninth Mickey Mouse short The Karnival Kid is released. It features Mickey speaking his very first words: "Hot dogs!".

[tiggerguy]

May 24

1918:
Award-winning matte designer, special effects creator, and Disney Legend Peter Ellenshaw is born in London, England. Best known for his incredible matte paintings he worked as a special effects technician on such Disney films as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and most famously Mary Poppins .

1991:
Walt Disney Pictures Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken, starring Gabrielle Anwar and Cliff Roberston, is released. This true-life adventure tells the story of Sonora Webster, a teenage runaway during the depression, who wants to be a rider of diving horses.

[tiggerguy]

May 25

1933:
The Silly Symphony short The Three Little Pigs premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City for one week. It is Disney's 36th Silly Symphony and the seventh in Technicolor.

1935:
Disney's Silly Symphony cartoon The Cookie Carnival, directed by Ben Sharpsteen, is released.

1944:
Puppeteer, actor and film director Frank Oz is born Richard Frank Oznowicz in Hereford, England. He is the voice of Fungus in the 2001 animated release Monsters, Inc.

1947:
Emmy Award-winning actress Karen Valentine is born in Sebastopol, California. Her Disney live-action credits include the 1979 The North Avenue Irregulars and the 1978 Hot Lead and Cold Feet.

[tiggerguy]

May 26

1915:
Character actor Sam Edwards is born in Macon, Georgia. His Disney voice credits include adult Thumper for Bambi and Ollie the Owl for the America Sings attraction at Disneyland.

1920:
Singing legend Peggy Lee, who contributed greatly to Disney's 1955 animated feature Lady and the Tramp, is born in Jamestown, North Dakota.Lee is the speaking and singing voices of Darling, Peg, and the two devious cats Si and Am.

1962:
Comedian Bob Goldthwait, the voice of Pain in Disney's 1997 feature Hercules and the TV series House of Mouse, is born in Syracuse, New York.

1990:
Mickey's Starland opens in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. Originally it was known as Mickey's Birthdayland and opened in 1988.

2006:
Disney/Pixar's Cars stages its world premiere at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina. NASCAR legends Richard Petty & Darrell Waltrip, and others from the voice cast of the film are joined by a host of stars from the racing world.