This Day in Disney History

[tiggerguy]

June 11

1928:
Disney's Oswald the Lucky Rabbit short Sky Scrappers is released.

1969:
Disney's family film Rascal, starring Steve Forrest and Bill Mumy, is released.

1977:
Walt Disney World's version of the Main Street Electrical Parade debuts. (It will run through September 1992 when it is replaced with Spectromagic, and then return to the park again in May 1999.)

1986:
Actor Shia LaBeouf, the star of Disney Channel's Even Stevens and the Disney feature films The Greatest Game Ever Played and Holes, is born in Los Angeles, California.

[tiggerguy]

June 12

1890:
Junius Matthews, the voice of Rabbit for Disney's Winnie the Pooh features, is born in Chicago, Illinois.

1928:
Disney Legend & Oscar-winning songwriter Richard Sherman is born in Manhattan, New York.

1998:
Disney's animated feature Mulan premieres in Singapore. The film will be released in the U.S. 7 days later.

1999:
Disney's animated feature Tarzan premieres at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood, California.

[tiggerguy]

June 13

1892:
Actor Basil Rathbone is born to English parents in South Africa. His Disney voice credits include the 1986 The Great Mouse Detective and the 1949 The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad.

910:
Veteran character actress Mary Wickes is born in St. Louis, Missouri. She is the animators' live-action model for Cruella DeVil in Disney's One Hundred and One Dalmatians and the voice of wisecracking gargoyle Laverne in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

1920:
Actor Rex Everhart, the voice of Maurice in Disney's 1991 classic Beauty and the Beast, is born in Watseka, Illinois.

1926:
Actor Paul Lynde, who plays the sportscaster in Disney's 1963 Son of Flubber, is born in Mount Vernon, Ohio.

1953:
Comedian/actor and Disney Legend Tim Allen - Tim Taylor on ABC-TV's Home Improvement, the voice of Buzz Lightyear for Disney/Pixar's Toy Story animated features, and the star of all 3 The Santa Clause films - is born in Denver, Colorado.

[tiggerguy]

June 14

1909:
Singer-actor Burl Ives, whose Disney credits include the 1948 So Dear to My
Heart and Summer Magic is born in Hunt, Illinois.

1916:
Actress Dorothy McGuire is born in Omaha, Nebraska. Her Disney credits include the live-action films Swiss Family Robinson and Summer Magic.

1959:
The first urban monorail system in the U.S., the Disneyland-Alweg Monorail System, begins operation in California's Disneyland. The two Mark I trains run on a .8 mile track around Tomorrowland. Walt Disney and vice president Nixon and his family are on hand for the dedication of the "Highway in the Sky."

[tiggerguy]

June 15

1944:
This day's Disney Studio Labor-Management Commission newsletter notes:
Ward Kimball's Huggajeedy 8 is doing a swell job of entertaining the boys in the hospitals. Next trip will be to the Norconia T.B. Ward, where they'll try a new act, complete with "chalk-talk," skits and jam session. This is in reference to Kimball's musical group which will eventually turn into The Firehouse Five Plus Two.

1949:
Actor Jim Varney (famous for his "Ernest" character) is born in Lexington, Kentucky. He will go on to supply the voices for Jebidiah Allardyce 'Cookie' Farnsworth in Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and Slinky Dog in both Toy Story and Toy Story 2.

1957:
At Disneyland, Don DeFore's Silver Banjo Restaurant in Frontierland opens. Operated by well-known actor Don DeFore and his brother Verne, the restaurant is inspired by a silver banjo their father had given them.

1967:
The Club 33 restaurant opens at 33 Royal Street, in New Orleans Square at Disneyland. It is comprised of two dining rooms and several adjoining areas, all of which hold a wide array of magnificent antiques and original works of art.

[tiggerguy]

June 16

1907:
Writer Helen Aberson is born in Syracuse, New York. Her book "Dumbo, the Flying Elephant" (which she co-wrote with Harold Perl) will inspire the 1941 Disney classic Dumbo.

1934:
The Mickey Mouse short Mickey's Steam Roller, directed by David Hand, is released. Walt Disney and Marcellite Garner provide the voices for Mickey & Minnie.

1955:
Disney's 15th animated feature film Lady and the Tramp has its world premiere in Chicago. It is the first Disney cartoon feature filmed in CinemaScope.

Actress Laurie Metcalf - the voice of Andy's Mom in both Toy Story films and Sarah in Treasure Planet - is born Carbondale, Illinois.

Tony Anselmo, Disney animator and voice of Donald Duck, is born in London, England. He will join the Disney staff in 1980 and learn Donald Duck from Clarence Nash, the original voice.

1956:
At Disneyland, Tom Sawyer's Island and the Rafts to Tom Sawyer's Island debut in Frontierland.

[tiggerguy]

June 17

1902:
Academy Award-winning composer & Songwriter Hall of Famer Sammy Fain is born Samuel Feinberg in New York City. He'll contribute to the song scores for such Walt Disney animated films including Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan.

1938:
Disney's Donald Duck cartoon Polar Trappers is released. Directed by Ben Sharpsteen, the short features the voices of Pinto Colvig (as Goofy) and Clarence Nash (as Donald).

[tiggerguy]

June 18

1954:
Disney's 8-minute animated short Casey Bats Again (based on the famous poem "Casey at the Bat" by Ernest L. Thayer) is released.

1956:
Disneyland's Storybook Land (including Canal Boats of the World) premieres. The canal, located in Fantasyland, contains 465,000 gallons of water in which 13 boats (powered by outboard motors) sail. The vessels are named Cinderella, Daisy, Aurora, Alice, Faline, Flora, Fauna, Flower, Katrina, Merryweather, Wendy, Snow White, and Tinkerbell.

1988:
Mickey's Birthdayland opens in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. Located between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland (past the Tomorrowland Speedway), guests can also arrive via the Walt Disney World Railroad.

[tiggerguy]

June 19

1915:
Pat Buttram, the voice behind many Disney animated characters - including Chief in the 1981 release The Fox and the Hound, and Luke in the 1977 release The Rescuers - is born in Addison, Alabama.

1995:
A bronze statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse, called the Partners Statue, is installed at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney Word.

1996:
Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame has its world premiere at the Superdome in New Orleans, utilizing six enormous screens, and a parade through the French Quarter.

1998:
Disney's 36th animated feature Mulan (featuring the singing voice of Donny Osmond) opens nationwide in the United States and Canada. It is the first film primarily produced at Walt Disney Feature Animations Florida, Disney's state-of-the-art animation studio in Orlando.

[tiggerguy]

June 20

1929:
Disney's Mickey Mouse short Mickey's Choo Choo is released. It features the singing debut of Mickey and the song "Minnie's Yoo Hoo" - written by Carl Stalling and Walt Disney.

1936:
Disney's Mickey Mouse cartoons Moving Day and Mickey's Rival are both released. Moving Day, directed by Ben Sharpsteen, features the character Peg Leg Pete (voiced by Billy Bletcher). Mickey's Rival, directed by Wilfred Jackson, features Mickey's rival Mortimer Mouse.

1952:
Actor John Goodman is born in Affton, Missouri. His Disney voice credits include Sullivan Truck in Cars, James P. Sullivan in Monsters, Inc., Pacha in The Emperor's New Groove, and Baloo in The Jungle Book 2.

1971:
Actor Josh Lucas, who portrays Coach Don Haskins in the Walt Disney Pictures 2006 release Glory Road, is born in Little Rock, Arkansas.

[tiggerguy]

June 21

1961:
Disney's The Parent Trap, starring Hayley Mills, Maureen O'Hara, and Brian Keith, is released. Mills portrays twins Sharon and Susan, who are reunited years after being separated by their divorced parents.

1988:
The Touchstone/Amblin Entertainment film Who Framed Roger Rabbit premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York. It will be generally released in U.S. theaters the following day. This film marks the first (and to date, only) time that characters from several animation studios - including Disney, Universal, MGM, Republic, Turner Entertainment, and Warner Bros. - appear in one film!

1996:
Disney's 34th feature film The Hunchback of Notre Dame is generally released. Featuring the voices of Jason Alexander (as Hugo), Tom Hulce (as Quasimodo), Mary Kay Bergman (as Quasimodo's Mother), and Demi Moore (as Esmeralda), the film's music will be nominated for an Oscar.

[tiggerguy]

June 22

1917:
Walt Disney's older brother Roy enlists in the U.S. Navy.

1920:
Disney Legend Paul Frees, one of the most successful voice actors of all time, is born Solomon Hersh Frees in Chicago, Illinois. His Disney work includes Goofy's Freeway Troubles, The Absent-Minded Professor, the voice of Ludwig Von Drake for TV shows, and a number of voices for park attractions such as Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion.

1955:
Disney's Lady and the Tramp, the studio's first feature-length cartoon produced in CinemaScope, is generally released.

1977:
Disney's 23rd animated feature film The Rescuers is released in U.S. theaters. The movie features the voices of Bob Newhart, Eva Gabor, Joe Flynn, and James Macdonald.

2001:
Disney's animated feature Atlantis: The Lost Empire is released. The film includes the voice-over talents of Leonard Nimoy, Michael J. Fox, James Garner, Jim Varney, Don Novello, and David Ogden Stiers.

2007:
Epcot's newly-updated American Adventure debuts. It now includes moments from 9-11-2001, current military operations, and other recent events.

[tiggerguy]

June 23

1944:
Disney's short Springtime for Pluto is released.

1956:
Disneyland's Skyway to Fantasyland and Skyway to Tomorrowland begin transporting guests across the park. Guests take off from a small Alpine chalet in Fantasyland and travel through the Matterhorn mountain on their way to Tomorrowland. Tomorrowland guests seated in Skwyay buckets pass over such attractions as the Richfield Autopia and the Goodyear PeopleMover on their way to Fantasyland.

1963:
At Disneyland, the Enchanted Tiki Room - the first attraction to feature Audio-Animatronics figures patented and first developed by WED Enterprises - opens.

1967:
Disney's The Happiest Millionaire starring Fred MacMurray, Greer Garson, Tommy Steele (Britain's first pop idol), and John Davidson (in his film debut) opens in Hollywood, California. Based upon the true story of Philadelphia millionaire Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, it is the last live-action feature film that Walt Disney saw completed before his death (in December 1966). The phone booth used in the film still exists. It is kept inside Club 33 at Disneyland.

1995:
Disney's 33rd full-length animated feature Pocahontas is generally released in the U.S. the same day The Spirit of Pocahontas opens at Disneyland's Fantasyland Theatre.

2004:
This Day in Disney History is started on DisneyWorldTriva by Sam I Am.

[tiggerguy]

June 24

1893:
Roy Oliver Disney (older brother of Walt) is born in Chicago, Illinois. Roy will go on to serve as president of Walt Disney Productions from 1945 to 1968 and chairman of the board from 1964 until his death in 1971.

1904:
Phil Harris, the voice behind Disney's Thomas O'Malley in The AristoCats and Baloo the Bear in The Jungle Book, is born in Linton, Indiana.

1919:
Actor Al Molinaro - Drapery Man in Disney's 1976 Freaky Friday - is born in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

1942:
Actress Michele Lee - Miss Carole Bennett in Disney's The Love Bug - is born in Los Angeles, California.

1959:
Disney's Darby O'Gill and the Little People premieres in Dublin, Ireland.

1994:
Disney's 32nd animated film The Lion King is generally released in U.S. theaters. With award-winning music by Hans Zimmer, Elton John and Tim Rice, the film features the voices of Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Cummings, and Nathan Lane. Unlike previous Disney animated films, which featured only a select few famous voice actors alongside lesser-known performers, nearly all of the voice acting work for this film is done by well-known actors.

2008:
The soundtrack for Disney/Pixar's WALL•E is released. The CD features an original score by Thomas Newman and a new Peter Gabriel single "Down To Earth."

[tiggerguy]

June 25

1928:
Disney's Oswald the Lucky Rabbit black & white silent short The Fox Chase is released.

1930:
Disney's Mickey Mouse film The Fire Fighters, directed by Burt Gillett, is released to theaters. Chief Mickey and Horace Horsecollar respond to save Miss Minnie from a blazing emergency!

1966:
Disney's live-action comedy feature film Lt. Robinson Crusoe, U.S.N. - starring Dic k Van Dyke and Nancy Kwan - is generally released in the U.S. Richard Deacon provides narration.

1967:
A new version of the CircleVision 360 film America the Beautiful debuts in Disneyland. The film has been re-shot using the 9-camera CircleVision format (as opposed to the old 11-camera Circarama format).