This Day in Disney History

[tiggerguy]

February 21

1904:
Hazel Gilman, the Disney Studio nurse, is born in Bisbee, Cochise County, Arizona. She was hired by Walt during the infamous studio strike of 1941.

1955:
Emmy-award-winning actor Kelsey Grammer, the voice of Stinky Pete the Prospector in Toy Story 2 and the narrator of Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story and Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas, is born in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.

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February 22

2004:
At the 10th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, Johnny Depp wins for his performance in Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

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February 23

1935:
Disney's Mickey Mouse short The Band Concert is released at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City (the first Mickey cartoon to be shown at the Music Hall). The first Mickey cartoon in Technicolor, it is directed by Wilfred Jackson, who will go on to direct such Disney classics as Peter Pan.

1940:
Disney's Pinocchio is generally released in the U.S.

1956:
The Disneyland episode "Davy Crockett" wins a Golden Globe Award for Best TV Show.

[tiggerguy]

February 24

1956:
The Disney short Chips Ahoy, featuring Donald Duck and Chip 'n' Dale, is released. It is Disney's first short release of 1956.

2008:
Brad Bird accepts the awarded for Best Animated Feature for the Disney/Pixar Ratatouille at the 80th Academy Awards.

[tiggerguy]

February 25

1913:
Actor Jim Backus, who appears in Disney's 1977 Pete's Dragon as the Mayor, is born in Cleveland, Ohio.

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February 26

1995:
Grand opening ceremonies begin for Disneyland's newest attraction, Indiana Jones Adventure.

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February 27

1940:
Actor Bill Hunter, the voice of the Dentist in the 2003 Finding Nemo, is born in Australia.

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February 28

1948:
Tony Award-winning actress-singer Bernadette Peters, the voice of Angelique in Disney's Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas, is born Bernadette Lazarra in Ozone Park, Queens, New York. With a career that has already spanned 5 decades, she has starred in musical theatre, films, and television.

1955:
Comedian Gilbert Gottfried, the voice of Iago the Parrot for Disney's Aladdin feature, TV shows, and park attractions (such as Enchanted Tiki Room: Under New Management) is born in Brooklyn, New York.

[tiggerguy]

March 1

1971:
Actor Jack Davenport - known for his role of Norrington in both Disney
features Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - is born in Suffolk, England.

[tiggerguy]

March 2

2003:
Disney World's Blizzard Beach water park opens for the season.

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March 3

1937:
Bobby Driscoll, the voice of Peter Pan in the 1953 Disney classic, is born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

1983:
The EPCOT attraction Journey Into Imagination debuts. It will have its official opening 2 days later.

The Buena Vista Palace hotel opens at Lake Buena Vista at Walt Disney World.

[tiggerguy]

March 4

1914:
Disney animator/director Ward Kimball is born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Kimball will become one of Walt's "Nine Old Men" .

1932:
Administrator and Disney Legend Frank Wells is born in Coronado, California. In September 1984, he will join The Walt Disney Company as its President and Chief Operating Officer.

1954:
Actress Catherine O'Hara, the voice of Tina in the 2005 animated feature Chicken Little, is born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

1972:
Disneyland's version of the Country Bear Jamboree opens in Critter Country.

[tiggerguy]

March 5

1936:
Disney's animated short Three Orphan Kittens wins an Oscar for Short Subjects, Cartoon at the 8th Annual Academy Awards. Ironically it beats out Disney's Silly Symphony Who Killed C ock Robin? short.

2007:
Variety reports that a new Disney Channel series called Wizards of Waverly Place is slated for a fall launch. The show centers around a family whose 3 kids are wizards-in-training.

[tiggerguy]

March 6

1955:
Actor, writer & funnyman Rowan Atkinson, the voice of Zazu the hornbill in Disney's animated feature The Lion King (and the star of the Mr. Bean British TV series) is born in Consett, County Durham, England.

2009:
The newspaper article "They're Just Two Wild And Crazy Guys," by Susan Dunne appears in The Hartford Courant. It tells the story of the Barstow family from Connecticut who back in 1956 won a family trip to Disneyland. A home movie that Robbins Barstow made of that trip has been admitted into the National Film Registry, and a fleeting image in that movie turns out to be none other than actor/comedian Steve Martin, who worked at Disneyland for several years! Martin saw the film, recognized himself hawking guidebooks at his old post, and began a correspondence with Barstow.

Side Note: The Hartford Courant , my home state's biggest newspaper is also the countries oldest continually published newspaper. It started in 1764.

[tiggerguy]

March 7

1997:
Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean reopens after being renovated.