This Day in Disney History

[tiggerguy]

March 8

2008:
At Disney's Animal Kingdom, a baby zebra named Kidani is born. The first Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra born at the Walt Disney World, he is named for the new expansion of Animal Kingdom Villas, which will be named Kidani Village.

[tiggerguy]

March 9

1984:
Touchstone Pictures (part of the Disney family) releases its first film, Splash (directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah, and John Candy.) Touchstone Pictures has been created to allow Disney to produce non-G-rated movies. In a scene from Splash, Madison (played by Hannah) is at Bloomingdales' electrical department when she passes television sets playing Disney's 1979 The Black Hole and the 1954 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

[tiggerguy]

March 10

1905:
Comic actor Richard Haydn, the voice of the caterpillar in Disney's 1951 classic Alice in Wonderland, is born in London, England.

1978:
The live-action Disney feature Return from Witch Mountain is released. Starring Bette Davis, Christopher Lee, Kim Richards, Ike Eisenmann, and Jack Soo, it is a sequel to the 1975 Escape to Witch Mountain.

[tiggerguy]

March 11

1933:
Disney's Silly Symphony cartoon Birds in the Spring is released.

1938:
Disney's Donald Duck cartoon Donald's Better Self, directed by Jack King and written by Carl Barks, is released. In this 8-minute short, schoolboy Donald is torn between his angel and devil sides.

[tiggerguy]

March 12

1938:
Disney's first full length animated feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is released in the United Kingdom.

[tiggerguy]

March 13

1936:
The Tulsa Tribune quotes writer Thornton Wilder as telling a lecture audience, "The two presiding geniuses of the movies are Walt Disney and Charlie Chaplin."

1959:
The TV series Walt Disney Presents airs "Highway to Trouble."

1960:
Joe Ranft, an animation storyboard artist, writer and voice actor, is born in Pasadena, California. Upon graduating from the California Institute of the Arts, Ranft will start his career at Disney where he will work on such features as The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, The Rescuers Down Under, and Oliver & Company. In 1992 he will join Pixar and work on both Toy Story films, as well as A Bug's Life, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, and Cars.

[tiggerguy]

March 14

1935:
Donald Duck makes his first appearance in the Mickey Mouse daily newspaper comic strip.

1947:
Comedian, actor & film director Billy Crystal - the voice of Mike Wazowski in Monsters,
Inc. and Mike Car in Cars - is born in Long Beach, New York.

[tiggerguy]

March 15

1960:
Christopher Michael Sanders, film animator and voice actor best known for co-directing the Disney animated feature Lilo & Stitch, and providing thevoice of Experiment 626 & Leroy for Disney's Leroy & Stitch, is born inColorado.

[tiggerguy]

March 16

1934:
An Oscar is won for Disney's short subject cartoon, The Three Little Pigs at the 6th annual Academy Awards.

1961:
Disney's black & white live-action film The Absent-Minded Professor, starring Fred MacMurray, Nancy Olsen and Ed Wynn, is released. The film is produced in black & white to facilitate a number of unique special effects. The film's "Medfield Fight Song" is written by
Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman, their first song for a Disney feature.

[tiggerguy]

March 17

1929:
The Disney Mickey Mouse short Plane Crazy - now with sound - premieres at the Mark Strand Theater in New York City.

1951:
Actor Kurt Russell, the voice of Copper in Disney's 1981 release The Fox and the Hound is born in Springfield, Massachusetts.

1955:
Actor Gary Sinise, who appears in Epcot's Mission:SPACE attraction, is born in Blue Island, Illinois. He also has taken part in Epcot's annual Candlelight Processional.

1960:
Actress Vicki Lewis - the voice of Deb/Flo in Finding Nemo - is born in Cincinnati, Ohio.

[tiggerguy]

March 18

1955:
A ground breaking ceremony takes place at 11:15 a.m. in Anaheim, California for the Disneyland Hotel.

1967:
The Pirates of the Caribbean attraction opens in New Orleans Square at Disneyland, The debut kicks off with great excitement, as a group of marauding sea-dogs, led by Wally Boag, first shanghai the sailing ship Columbia before bursting through the new attractions' doors
with a battering ram.

[tiggerguy]

March 19

1928:
Disney's Oswald the Lucky Rabbit black & white silent short Bright Lights is released.

Actor Patrick McGoohan, the voice of Billy Bones in Disney's 2002 animated feature Treasure Planet, is born in Astoria, New York.

1947:
Actress Glenn Close - the voice of Kala in Disney's Tarzan and Tarzan II - is born in Greenwich, Connecticut.

[tiggerguy]

March 20

1958:
Actress Holly Hunter, the voice of Helen Parr/Elastigirl in the 2004 Disney/Pixar animated The Incredibles, is born in Conyers, Georgia.

1984:
Actress/singer Christy Carlson Romano, the voice of Disney's Kim Possible, is born in Milford, Connecticut.

[tiggerguy]

March 21

1952:
Disney's Chip 'n' Dale cartoon Two Chips and a Miss is released.

1962:
Actor Matthew Broderick, the voice of the adult Simba in Disney's The Lion King, The Lion King II: Simba's Pride and The Lion King 1½, is born in New York City. He also stars in Disney's live-action Inspector Gadget.

Comedian-turned-TV host Rosie O'Donnell, the voice of Terk in Disney's Tarzan, is born in Commack, New York.

[tiggerguy]

1975:
The Lake Buena Vista Village, an area of shops along the shores of Lake Buena
Vista at Walt Disney World, officially opens. It provides the first non-park
shopping at Disney World and is promoted as a "restful shopping atmosphere
similar to a New England seaside village."