This Day in Disney History

[tiggerguy]

April 2

1899:
Disney Legend, film pioneer & engineering wiz Bill Garity is born in Brooklyn, New York. He will help put sound into Steamboat Willie, perfect the multiplane camera (a device first created by Ub Iwerks & used to give depth to animation), and invent Fantasound (an innovative stereo system installed in theaters for Fantasia).

1908:
Actor Buddy Ebsen, who portrayed George Russel in Disney's Davy Crockett films and TV shows, is born. He also appeared in such TV specials as the 1973 Walt Disney: A Golden Anniversary Salute, the 1978 NBC Salutes the 25th Anniversary of the Wonderful World of Disney, and the 2001 Walt: The Man Behind the Myth. (TV fans will remember him as Jed Clampett on the Beverly Hillbillies and as a private investigator on Barnaby Jones.)

1920:
Actor/TV producer Jack Webb is born in Santa Monica, California. (In 1948 Webb will agree to help finance the construction of a large stage at his friend Walt Disney's studio lot, in exchange for production space for his new show. The Disney Studio's Stage 2 will be completed in 1949 and become the first home to Webb's long-running Dragnet.)

1945:
Actress Linda Hunt, the voice of Grandmother Willow in Disney's 1995 release Pocahontas, is born in Morristown, New Jersey.

2005:
Raven, star of Disney Channel's hit series "That's So Raven," wins a Nickelodeon Kids' Choice award for Favorite TV Actress.

Academy Award-winning actress Hayley Mills (star of such Disney classics as Pollyana, The Parent Trap! and In Search of the Castaways) addresses the Arizona Girl Scouts, Cactus Pine Council, at their first annual "Pollyanna Days" celebration.

[tiggerguy]

April 3

1943:
Original Mouseketeer Doreen Tracey is born in London, England. Besides appearing on TV's The Mickey Mouse Club (from 1955-1959), she portrayed Bobo Stephen in Disney's 1956 live-action movie Westward Ho the Wagon!.

1959:
Actor David Hyde Pierce, the voice of Dr. Doppler in Disney's 2002 animated feature Treasure Planet, is born in Saratoga Springs, New York. His other Disney voice-over credits include the feature A Bug's Life and the TV series Hercules. (TV fans will recognize him from the comedy series Frasier.)

1961:
Comedian turned movie star Eddie Murphy - whose Disney credits include The Haunted Mansion and Mulan - is born in Brooklyn, New York.

[tiggerguy]

April 4

1928:
Poet, educator, author, actress and activist Maya Angelou, the narrator of Walt Disney World's Hall of Presidents attraction, is born Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri.

1932:
Actress Estelle Harris - the voice of Mrs. Potato Head in Disney's Toy Story 2 and Mrs. Turtle in the TV series House of Mouse - is born in New York City. (TV fans know her as Estelle Costanza on Seinfeld.)

1944:
Actor Craig T. Nelson, the voice of Bob Parr/Mr. Incredible in the 2004 Disney-Pixar animated feature The Incredibles, is born in Spokane, Washington.

1956:
Joanna Miller, Walt Disney's granddaughter, is born in Monterey County, California.

2006:
Western Way, the new rear entrance to Walt Disney World from the new Western Beltway expressway opens in Florida. The four-lane, divided boulevard gives Disney a western entrance for the first time, allowing tourists coming in via Interstate 75 to enter Central Florida on Florida's Turnpike and the Western Beltway (State Road 429), without ever entering Orlando or driving on Interstate 4

[tiggerguy]

April 5

1929:
Nigel Hawthorne, the voice of Professor Archimedes Q. Porter in Disney's 1999 film Tarzan, is born in Coventry, England.

1930:
Mary Costa, the voices of Princess Aurora/Briar Rose in Disney's 1959 animated feature Sleeping Beauty, is born in Knoxville, Tennessee.

1934:
Actor and impressionist Frank Gorshin is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He will go on to play the role of Iggy the bank-robber in Disney's 1965 live-action film That Darn Cat! (Fans of the 1960s TV series Batman will remember him as the Riddler.)

2005:
Disney's On The Record (a touring musical revue) begins a series of performances at the Colonial Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts.

[rxpeje63]

more of this date in Disney for today 4/5/061965Mary Poppins won 5 Oscars including Best Actress for Julie Andrews and Best Song for Chim Chim Cher-ee

1998The Enchanted Tiki Room reopened at WDW after it's Under New Management makeover

2001The Disney Channel began broadcasting in Brazil

2002Big Trouble released

[tiggerguy]

April 6

1947:
Actor John Ratzenberger - the voice of Yeti in Disney's 2001 Monsters, Inc. and Hamm the Piggy Bank in both Toy Story films - is born in Bridgeport, Connecticut. His Disney credits also include the 2004 The Incredibles.

1975:
Actor Zach Braff, the voice of Chicken Little, is born in South Orange, New Jersey. (TV fans will recognize him as Dr. John "J.D." Dorian from the hit series Scrubs.)

[tiggerguy]

April 7

1928:
Actor James Garner, the voice of Commander Lyle Tiberius Rourke in Disney's 2001 animated release Atlantis: The Lost Empire, is born in Norman, Oklahoma.

1964:
Actor Russell Crowe, who starred as John Biebe in Disney's 1999 comedy "Mystery, Alaska" (also known as Disney's "Hockey Project") is born in Wellington, New Zealand.

2005:
A themed airplane adorned with the image of Tinker Bell on the fuselage and golden Mickey Mouse ears on the tail from Alaska Airlines soars into Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The bright blue Boeing 737-400 named the "Magic of Disneyland" celebrates the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney's Anaheim park.

It is reported that thirty-five nonprofit organizations from five Central Florida counties received a collective $600,000 in awards from the Walt Disney World Resort as part of Disney's Helping Kids Shine program.

2006:
Disney World's biggest ride yet, "Expedition Everest," a 20-story, white-knuckle roller coaster spin officially opens in Animal Kingdom. The attraction is currently Florida's tallest peak, sculpted from 1,800 tons of steel, and covering more than six acres!

[rxpeje63]

1939The Ugly Duckling released released

1974Treasure Island (later renamed as Discovery Island) opened at WDW

1995A Goofy Movie released

2001Who Wants to Be A Millionaire - Play It! opened at MGM

[tiggerguy]

April 8

1941:
Original Mouseketeer Darlene Gillespie is born in Montreal, Canada.

2005:
A fifth grade class from Sonoma County's El Verano Elementary School are honored as environmental heroes at the Disneyland Resort. Teacher David Neubacher and his students are awarded the honor during a special ceremony (which is part of Jiminy Cricket's Environmentality Challenge program).

Disney's Kim Possible Movie: So the Drama debuts on the Disney Channel.

[tiggerguy]

April 9

1954:
Actor Dennis Quaid, the star of Disney's 2002 release The Rookie, is born in Houston, Texas.

2006:
Expedition Everest: Journey Into Sacred Lands airs on the Travel Channel. The special takes a look at Disney World's newest and most elaborate attraction, Expedition Everest (located in Animal Kingdom).

[tiggerguy]

April 10

1915:
Actor Harry Morgan is born in Detroit, Michigan. His Disney film credits include The Barefoot Executive (1971), Snowball Express (1972),The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975), The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (1979) and The Cat From Outer Space (1978). TV fans will recognize him from the classic series Dragnet.

1924:
Actress Jane Kean, who supplied the voice of Miss Taylor in Disney's 1977 Pete's Dragon, is born in Hartford, Connecticut. (TV fans may recall her role of Trixie Norton and other various characters on the 1960s variety hit The Jackie Gleason Show.)

1959:
Singer-guitarist-songwriter Brian Setzer (who first became famous as a member of the group The Stray Cats) is born in New York. Besides performing at Walt Disney World with his big band, Setzer's Disney credits include a version of "Everybody Wants To Be A Cat" for the 1996 soundtrack to The Aristocats, the song "I'm Only In It For The Honey" for the 2002 The Country Bears, and the theme for the animated TV series House of Mouse.

2006:
Building a Thrill Ride - Expedition Everest airs on the Science Channel. The special gives a behind-the-scenes look at Animal Kingdom's newest attraction Expedtion Everest

[tiggerguy]

April 11

2006:
Winnie the Pooh celebrates his 80th birthday with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in California. Pooh is one of a select few animated characters to be honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame - an honor that is perfectly timed to the global 18-month long Pooh anniversary celebration Disney kicked off in December 2005. On the same day as the Walk of Fame ceremony, Walt Disney Home Entertainment releases Pooh’s Grand Adventure -The Search for Christopher Robin, for the first time ever on DVD.

Walt Disney Records releases The Wild Soundtrack from the newest computer-animated comedy-adventure, The Wild. The soundtrack features performances from Everlife, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and Eric Idle & John Du Prez.

[tiggerguy]

April 12

2005:
Disney releases 4 live-action features from the past to DVD. They include the 1966 Lt. Robin Crusoe, the 1967 The Adventures Of Bullwhip Griffin, and the 1971 films The Barefoot Executive and Million Dollar Duck.

[tiggerguy]

April 13

1954:
Disney supervising animator and storyboard artist Glen Keane is born in Arbington, Pennyslvania. His Disney credits include such classics as Pocahontas, Aladdin, and Tarzan. (Glen is the son of Bil Keane, creator of the newspaper comic Family Circus.)

[tiggerguy]

April 14

1936:
Kenneth Mars, the voice of Triton in Disney's 1989 classic The Little Mermaid, is born in Chicago, Illinois. His Disney credits also include a part in the 1979 live-action film The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again.

1960:
Comedian-actor Brad Garrett - the voice of Bloat in the 2003 Finding Nemo and the voice of Fred in the 2002 The Country Bears - is born Woodland Hills, California. (TV fans will recognize him for his Emmy Award-winning role of Robert Barone on the series Everybody Loves Raymond.)