this day in disney history

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6/6

1944:
In the early morning hours, Allied forces (made up of mostly soldiers from the U.S., United Kingdom, and Canada) invade the Nazi-held Normandy coast of France as D-Day (or the Normandy Invasion) begins. "Mickey Mouse" is used as a password for the invasion by the Allied forces. Taking part in D-Day is Solomon Hersh Frees (later known as voice actor Paul Frees of Disney's Haunted Mansion fame). He will be wounded in action and return home for a year of recuperation. D-Day will be the greatest seaborne invasion mankind has ever seen and a major turning point in World War II.
1952:
The Disney cartoon Susie, the Little Blue Coupe is released by RKO. Based on a short story by Bill Peet (a children's book illustrator and currently a story writer for Disney), it is directed by Clyde Geronimi and features the voices of Thurl Ravenscroft and Stan Freberg. (The short's method of anthropomorphizing the cars, using the windshield for the eyes and eyelids, will later serve as a stylistic inspiration for the 2006 Disney-Pixar animated feature Cars.)
1953:
The wrap party for the animated short Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom takes place at Ward Kimball's house. Directed by Kimball and Charles A. Nichols, production had taken some 7-8 months. The first animated cartoon to be filmed and released in widescreen CinemaScope, Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom will win the 1954 Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons).
1959:
The Submarine Voyage attraction (inspired by the 1954 Disney film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) opens in Disneyland's updated Tomorrowland. (It will be officially dedicated 8 days later.) The 8 vessels (not actual submarines as they do not submerge) are named Nautilus, Seawolf, Skate, Skipjack, Triton, George Washington, Patrick Henry, and Ethan Allen. Portholes along the sides allowed guests to view the many underwater sights. It is one of the first rides to require an E-ticket.

Also on this day, the Autopia's original track is modified to accommodate the new Fantasyland Autopia
1967:
Actor Max Casella, the original Timon in Disney's Broadway musical The Lion King, and the voice of Tip in Disney's Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea,
is born in Washington, D.C. In 1998, Casella won a Theatre World Award for his role of Timon. His Disney credits also include the 2000 Dinosaur as the voice of Zini. (TV fans know Casella as Vinnie Delpino from the series Doogie Howser, M.D. from 1989-1993, and as Benny Fazio on The Sopranos.)
1974:
Herbie Rides Again, the sequel to the 1969 film The Love Bug, is released.
Set in San Francisco, Herbie bonds with a female this time - an elderly lady
named Mrs. Steinmetz (played by actress Helen Hayes).
1987:
The Delta sponsored If You Could Fly replaces the Eastern Airlines If You Had Wings attraction in Walt Disney World's Tomorrowland.
2000:
Rascal Flatts, the debut album of American country music group Rascal Flatts, is released on Lyric Street Records (a record label specializing in country music and part of the Disney Music Group - owned by the Walt Disney Company). It will sell over 2,300,000 in the U.S.
2002:
After a complete mechanical and exterior restoration, the Roy O. Disney steam locomotive is rededicated in a ceremony at the Main Street USA Train Station at Walt Disney World. His son, Roy E. Disney, who is vice chairman of The Walt Disney Company, participates in the ceremony along with Michael Campbell and Darrell Holmquist, members of the Board of Governors of the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society. (Named in honor of the co-founder of The Walt Disney Company, the engine represents the only object in any Disney theme park to carry Roy O. Disney's name.)

Chip Young of Georgia wins the nose of an old Walt Disney World monorail cab through an online auction.
2005:
In this day's issue of Advertising Age (an ad-industry journal), Kellogg runs an ad commemorating the late Thurl Ravenscroft, the voice of Tony the Tiger. The headline reads: "Behind every great character is an even greater man." (Disney fans know Ravenscroft as the lead vocalist on the Haunted Mansion theme song "Grim Grinning Ghosts.")

At Epcot, Ice Station Cool located in the Innoventions Pavilion closes. Offering complimentary refreshments, it will re-open as Club Cool on November 14, 2005
2007:
A sneak peek for Annual Passholders begins for Disneyland's newest attraction Finding Nemo: Submarine Voyage (based on the Disney/Pixar animated feature). Built on the site of the 1959 Submarine Voyage attraction, Nemo will open to the general public June 11.
2011:
My Yard Goes Disney, a new series on HGTV, premieres. Hosted by Brandon Johnson, in this first episode the My Yard Goes Disney team transforms the Bradburns' neglected backyard into the perfect spot for fun and relaxation.

 

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6/7

1946:
BBC-TV in England returns to the airwaves after a near 7-year absence (due to the second World War). In an attempt to emphasize continuity, the first day's program includes the cartoon Mickey's Gala Premiere (the same Disney cartoon that had been abruptly interrupted in September 1939 - the day Germany attacked Poland).
1975:
Walt Disney World's version of Mission to Mars - developed with NASA - debuts in Tomorrowland. It replaces the Flight to the Moon attraction (which opened in December 1971). Guests first enter a viewing area known as Mission Control, which is modeled after a typical mission control center with chairs and control panels for about ten seated Audio-Animatronic "technicians" whose backs are to the audience. Facing the audience is the Audio-Animatronic flight director Mr. Johnson (voiced by
radio & TV announcer George Walsh) who shows film clips and explains how man has made numerous advances in space travel. After the pre-show, guests board their spacecraft - a circular theater with stadium-like seating
featuring circular flat screens on the ceiling and floor. Third Officer Collins (voiced by veteran Pete Renoudet) serves as the guests' in-flight narrator.
(Mission To Mars will close its doors October 4, 1993 and later re-open as the ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter. Today the area is known as Stitch's Great Escape!)
1999:
Bear in the Big Blue House - Live on Stage opens at Disney-MGM Studios
in Florida. The interactive stage show will run through August 2001.
2006:
Disney World announces that the Cinderella Castle apartment will be
completely decorated and upholstered as a 'royal bedchamber', which
can sleep up to four people. It will become available as a once-in-a-lifetime experience during the Year of a Million Dreams celebration taking place at all eleven Disney theme parks. An overnight stay in the apartment will be a prize randomly awarded to a guest at the Magic Kingdom, or any park at the Walt Disney World Resort.
2010:
Toy Story 3 is featured in Apple's iPhone OS 4 Event with Steve Jobs demoing a Toy Story 3 themed iAd written in HTML5

 

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6/8

1902:
In Chicago, Elias and Flora Disney baptize their 6-month old son Walter at St. Paul's. The Disneys are loyal members of the congregation - Flora plays the organ and Elias, a carpenter by trade, has helped build the church. St. Paul's Congregational Church (first organized in 1900) is at this time located at 2255 North Keeler Avenue, one block east and one block north of Walt Disney’s birthplace
1917:
Walt Disney graduates from Benton Grammar School in Kansas City, Missouri. (The Disneys moved to Kansas City after their Marceline farm failed.) Walt graduates this day from seventh grade, and surprises his parents by delivering a patriotic speech to his fellow graduates. (Walt will enroll in Chicago's McKinley High School in the fall of 1917. But he will attend high school for only a year before volunteering as a Red Cross ambulance driver and ultimately being sent to France.)
1962:
McDonnell Douglas (a major American aerospace manufacturer) begins sponsorship of Disneyland's Rocket to the Moon attraction.
1996:
The MTV Movie Awards are held at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California
2003:
Disney-MGM Studios' Great Movie Ride reopens after a lengthy refurbishment.
2005:
The Walt Disney Company donates several Disneyland objects to the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. Among the donated items are vehicles from two of Disneyland's opening year attractions: "Dumbo the Flying Elephant" and the "Mad Tea Party."
2010:
The Disney animated short Tick Tock Tale premieres at the Annecy Animation Film Festival. Directed by Dean Wellins, amidst an old London clock shop, a small, quirky mantle clock comes to the aide of the store's more expensive clocks when a thief breaks in and threatens to steal them away

 

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6/9

1908:
Actor Bob Cummings is born in Joplin, Missouri. In July 1955 he will help host the grand opening of Disneyland. (Cummings, an affable, ever-youthful actor starred in scores of films and four television series, including the situation comedy "The Bob Cummings Show.")
1934:
Donald Duck makes his very first film appearance in The Wise Little Hen,
a Silly Symphony short by Walt Disney.Donald's appearance in this cartoon, as created by animator ________ Lundy, is similar to his modern look except his features are more elongated, his body plumper, and his feet bigger. The short features the voices of Clarence Nash as Donald Duck and Pinto Colvig as Peter Pig.
1961:
Actor Michael J. Fox, the voice of Milo James Thatch in Disney's 2001 release Atlantis: The Lost Empire, is born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He is also
the voice of Chance in Disney's 1993 live-action feature Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey. (Fox's most famous roles include Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy, Alex P. Keaton from Family Ties, and Mike Flaherty from Spin City.)
1984:
Laserphonic Fantasy, a show at Disney's EPCOT, begins. (The show is essentially a less sophisticated version of Illuminations, without the spotlighting of individual countries.)

Donald Duck and Clarence Nash (the voice of Donald) lead a ticker-tape parade through Disneyland. The event (which includes balloons, bands, singers, dancers and a host of his Disney character pals) celebrates 50 years since Donald Duck's film debut in The Wise Little Hen
2002:
Toon Disney celebrates Donald Duck's 68th birthday with a special event called "A Whole Darn Day of Ducks." Starting at 10 a.m., the channel broadcasts nine hours of cartoons starring ducks. Starting on this day, a credit card is required to secure priority seating for Walt Disney World's very popular Cinderella's Royal Table Once Upon a Time character breakfast.
2005:
Robert B. Sherman and his brother Richard M. Sherman are inducted into the Songwriters' Hall of Fame. They have written tunes for such Disney features as The Sword in the Stone, Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, and The Tigger Movie. Their theme park music includes There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow for the Carousel of Progress and It's A Small World for the attraction of the same name.
2006:
The Disney/Pixar animated feature Cars is generally released.

 

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6/10

1895:
Actress Hattie McDaniel - Aunt Tempy in Disney's Song of the South and the first person of African descent to be nominated & win an Academy Award - is born in Wichita, Kansas. (Movie fans will recognize McDaniel for her Oscar-winning role of Mammy in the classic 1939 film Gone With The Wind.)
1910:
Imagineer, horticulturalist & Disney Legend Morgan "Bill" Evans is born in
Santa Monica, California. He guided the landscape design of Disney theme parks for half a century, most notably the original Disneyland park. As a young man, Evans transformed his father's garden into a nursery business selling rare and exotic plants to the Hollywood elite. One of his customers was Walt Disney himself who asked Evans to landscape the grounds of his Holmby Hills home and surrounding gardens. Impressed by Evan's skill, Disney hired him to transform 80 acres of Anaheim orange groves into a lush theme park. After Disneyland opened in July 1955, Evans stayed on with Disney, working as a landscape planner, consultant, and maintenance supervisor. He later lent his expertise to Epcot, Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris as well as Disney World's Polynesian Resort.
1953:
Disney producer Harry Tytle is called into Walt’s office. Animator Chuck Jones at Warner Brothers has called applying for a job and Walt wants Tytle's opinion. (Jones will work for Disney for just 4 months starting July 13.)
1994:
Thelma Howard, the Disney's live-in housekeeper and cook for 30 years (beginning in 1951 at the age of 38), passes away just shy of her 80th birthday. Nicknamed "Foo-Foo," Walt often referred to her as "the real-life Mary Poppins." As a housekeeper for the Disney family, she received a few shares of Disney stock as a Christmas gift as well as for birthdays and special events. She lived frugally throughout her life, apparently not knowing the rising value of the stock ... actually made her a multi-millionaire at the time of her death!
1998:
The BET Soundstage Club opens at the site of the former Neon Armadillo Country & Western Club at Disney's Pleasure Island.
2000:
To mark the return of The Indiana Jones Spectacular to Disney-MGM Studios after a six-month hiatus for refurbishments, Disney invites 500 Floridians, mostly from the Orlando area, with the last name "Jones" to be in the audience for the grand reopening show!
2007:
The Pixar short Your Friend the Rat, in which Remy and his brother Emile discuss rats through history, is released. It is Pixar's first short to use computer-animation, stock footage (from A Bug's Life), hand-drawn animation, live-action footage, and some stop-motion animation, all in one.
2008:
Disney.com announces that for the first time ever the site will stream full-length movies online, featuring selections from the Wonderful World of Disney. The films will first air on ABC as part of the network’s weekly Wonderful World of Disney presentation on Saturday nights throughout summer 2008. The full-length films will then be available for free streaming on Disney's site.

Severe weather in Central Florida, including a radar-indicated tornado, force
Disney World officials to temporarily close several rides at some theme parks.

 

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6/11

1929:
Walt Disney's trademark application for the image of Mickey Mouse is filed with the United States Patent Office.
1960:
Disney's film The Sign of Zorro, starring Guy Williams, Henry Calvin,
Gene Sheldon, and Romney Brent, is released. Don Diego (Guy Williams)
returns home to find his town under the heel of a cruel dictator, Capitan Monastario. Diego dons the mask of Zorro to fight the evil commandant's tyranny, and, with the help of his mute servant Bernardo, free the pueblo from his oppression! The film was created from 8 edited episodes of Disney's hit TV series.
1969:
Disney's family feature Rascal, starring Steve Forrest and Bill Mumy, is released along with the drama Hang Your Hat On The Wind, featuring Rick Natoli. Rascal is based on Sterling North's 1963 bestselling book Rascal. The movie tells the tale of a year in the life of young Sterling North (portrayed by Mumy) and his "ringtailed wonder" pet raccoon, Rascal.
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 and end on April 1, 2001.) to return again June 5, 2010
1993:
At Disneyland, the Motor Boat Cruise located on the border of Fantasyland
and Tomorrowland (& opened since June 1957) closes permanently.
2004:
The Disney Channel Original Movie Zenon: Z3 premieres.
2007:
Disneyland's newest attraction Finding Nemo: Submarine Voyage (based on the Disney/Pixar animated feature) opens to the general public.

Variety reports that Pixar's release for 2009 will be an animated feature titled Up, about a 70-year-old man who teams with a wilderness ranger to fight beasts and villains. Pete Docter (of Monsters, Inc.) is directing along with Pixar veteran Bob Peterson - who is also writing the script.
2010:
"World of Color" officially debuts at Disney California Adventure park. A spectacular display of water and special effects, it features more than 1,000 jets of water which form incredible shapes in time to music allowing Disney characters to come to life on a shimmering veil of mist.

Also officially debuting ... Silly Symphony Swings, a "wave swinger" attraction in Paradise Pier, at Disney California Adventure. Themed to Disney's The Band Concert, it features conductor Mickey Mouse conducting the attraction from high atop. (Although technically The Band Concert is not part of the 'Silly Symphonies' film series, the name has been applied to the attraction due to its symphony storyline.)

 

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6/12

1616:
The real Pocahontas (along with her husband John Rolfe & son Thomas) arrive in London, England. Englishman Sir Thomas Dale has voyaged from the New World (along with Pocahontas & other Algonquian Indians) to seek further financial support for the Virginia Company. The arrival of Pocahontas in London has been well publicized, and she is presented to King James I, the royal family, and the rest of the best of London society.
1890:
Junius Matthews, the voice of Rabbit for Disney's Winnie the Pooh features, is born in Chicago, Illinois. He is also the voice of Archimedes the Owl for the 1963 The Sword in the Stone.
1922:
Disney Legend Frank Fulton Burley is born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Disneyland fans will know him best from the "Golden Horseshoe Revue" which he appeared in from 1962 until the show's final performance in 1986!
1957:
At Disneyland, the Monsanto House of the Future opens in Tomorrowland. The
walk-through attraction provides a glimpse of living in the future. (It will remain open until December 1967.)
1975:
Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln returns to Disneyland after being replaced in 1973 with The Walt Disney Story. On this day the Main Street Opera House becomes home to The Walt Disney Story featuring Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln
1999:
Disney's animated feature Tarzan premieres in the U.S. at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood, California
2010:
Captain EO returns to Disneyland Paris.

Sounds Like Summer Concert Series begins at Epcot. Running through July 31, tribute bands will perform at the American Gardens Theatre in Epcot's World Showcase. Kicking off the festivities on this day is Stayin’ Alive – A Tribute to The Bee Gees.

 

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6/13

1910:
Veteran character actress Mary Wickes is born in St. Louis, Missouri. She was 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 (her last film). Wickes also appeared in the live-action Disney features Snowball Express and Napoleon and Samantha. She was Sister Mary Lazarus in the 1992 Touchstone Pictures comedy Sister Act and the 1993 follow-up Sister Act 2.She was also Aunt Zelda on the show
Sigmund and the Sea Monsters
1926:
Actor Paul Lynde, who played the sportscaster in Disney's 1963 Son of Flubber, is born in Mount Vernon, Ohio. (TV fans may remember him for his many TV appearances on "Bewitched" and "The Hollywood Squares.")
1953:
Comedian/actor and Disney Legend Tim Allen is born in Denver, Colorado. First famous for his role of Tim Taylor on the Disney/ABC-TV sitcom Home Improvement, Allen is also well-known as the voice of Buzz Lightyear in all of Pixar's Toy Story animated features. He also starred in all 3 of Walt Disney Pictures The Santa Clause films, as well as Jungle 2 Jungle and The gy Dog.
1986:
Legendary jazz clarinetist and big band leader Benny Goodman passes away at age 77 in Chicago. Disney's 1946 animated film Make Mine Music features Goodman and his orchestra performing the song "All The Cats Join In." In May 1961, Goodman and his band performed at Disneyland!
2002:
Academy Award-winning singer-songwriter Randy Newman (who wrote the music for Disney's Monsters, Inc. and the song "You've Got a Friend in Me" for the 1995 classic Toy Story) is inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame during a dinner and ceremony in New York City. Other inductees include Sting, Ashford & Simpson, and Barry Manilow.

President Bush assembles corporate America heavyweights (including Disney Chairman Michael Eisner) at the White House to encourage businesses that foster volunteerism among their workers. Eisner tells Bush: "We're all committed to showing what corporate America can do to lead and show by example that not only it is good business, it's good for the community, it's fun, it's rewarding and it is unbelievably helpful to the country."
2010:
Toy Story 3 premieres in Hollywood at the El Capitan Theatre.

 

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6/14

1895:
Cliff Edwards, the voice of both Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio and Jim Crow in Dumbo, is born in Hannibal, Missouri. (Although the absence of any official records leave some historians to believe the date and place is incorrect.) Also known as "Ukelele Ike," Edwards enjoyed considerable popularity in the 1920s and early 1930s - specializing in jazzy renditions of pop standards and novelty tunes. In the 1950s and early 1960s, Edwards made a number of appearances on the Mickey Mouse Club, in addition to reprising his Jiminy Cricket voice for various Disney shorts and the Disney Christmas special, From All of Us to All of You. When Edwards died in 1971, nearly broke and alone, Walt Disney Productions, remembering his many contributions to their films, offered to pay for his funeral. (The Actors Fund of America and the Motion Picture and Television Relief Fund actually paid for the burial - but the Disney Company paid for Edwards' tombstone.) Cliff Edwards was named a Disney Legend in 2000
1909:
Singer-actor Burl Ives, whose Disney credits include the 1948 So Dear to My
Heart (as Uncle Hiram Douglas) and the 1963 Summer Magic (as Osh Popham), is born in Hunt, Illinois. TV fans may recognize his voice as Sam the
Snowman from the classic TV special "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer."
1958:
Disneyland's Columbia ship opens on the Rivers of America. It is a full-scale
version of the first ship to carry the American flag around the world. It actually was built in large part from the plans for the HMS Bounty (of mutiny fame). Disney's shipbuilders couldn't find plans for the original Columbia, so they relied heavily on those of Captain Bligh's ship, which had similar dimensions. It has cost $300,000 to build. Fowler's Harbor (named after Admiral Joseph Fowler, who helped to build Disneyland) is also officially opened on this day to dock the new ship. A dedication ceremony takes place with Fowler and Walt Disney himself in attendance.

The Disneyland attraction Alice in Wonderland debuts in Fantasyland. Actress,
Kathryn Beaumont, voice of Alice in the 1951 animated movie, provides the voice for the dark ride. It follows the path of the movie, as the riders (as Alice) follow the White Rabbit down the Rabbit Hole into Wonderland.
Disneyland's first "Alice" attraction, Mad Tea Party (a spinning tea cup ride) has been operating since the park's debut in 1955.
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 U.S. Vice president Nixon and his family are on hand for the dedication of the "Highway in the Sky." (In June 1961, the Monorail will become a true transportation link instead of just a sightseeing ride. With an extended 2 1/2 mile track, Disneyland Hotel guests will be able to board the Monorail at the hotel and begin their park visit in Tomorrowland.)

Also on this day at Disneyland, the Matterhorn Mountain with its Matterhorn Bobsleds, opens. It is the first roller coaster to use cylindrical rails and urethane wheels (which will become standard in the roller coaster industry). At 147 feet tall, the Matterhorn contains 500 tons of structural steel.

The Submarine Voyage ride is officially dedicated on this day as well in Anaheim. (The attraction has cost about $2.5 million to create.) The Nautilus and seven sister submarines - the Triton, Sea Wolf, Skate, Skipjack, George Washington, Patrick Henry, and Ethan Allen allow 38 Disneyland guests at a time to take their own voyage to the North Pole.

Visiting Disneyland this day is actor Ronald Reagan, his (first) wife actress
Jane Wyman, and their son Michael.

1965:
A planning meeting for "Project Future" takes place at WED Enterprises. The meeting allows Walt Disney to present his ideas about the Florida property to the board members and legal staff of Walt Disney Productions, lawyers and consultants from the state of Florida, and Disney’s legal staff from New York City. His staff will now have a better idea of the project’s scope and needs so that they can begin researching and crafting the necessary legal groundwork.
1974:
Disney World’s "Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue" dinner show debuts in Pioneer
Hall at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground. Created as a college
workshop summer production only, guest response will be so positive that Walt Disney World entertainment will continue the show with a permanent professional cast at the end of the 1974 summer!
1996:
Epcot's Universe of Energy (closed since January 21) reopens with newly repainted dinosaurs and flat screens for the pre-show.
1999:
The computer controlled sign that welcomes guests to the main entrance of Disneyland's parking lot is removed. Its site will be absorbed into the new California Adventure area. (This is only the second sign to greet guests as they entered Disneyland in the park's 44 year history. The original marquee, erected in 1958, had letters that had to be changed by hand!)
2001:
Lightning strikes a wire box controlling power to a monorail at Walt Disney
World in Florida, forcing the train to shut down temporarily. The monorail,
which is filled with scores of tourists, is towed back to its destination.
2004:
The Disneyland Monorail System is re-dedicated and honored for its
achievement in the world of modern transportation on its 45th anniversary!
2010:
Principal photography begins in Hawaii for Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (scheduled for a Spring 2011 releases). Filming will also later take place in California and London, England.

 

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6/15

1917:
Art director, set designer and Disney Legend Bill Martin is born in Marshalltown, Iowa. He helped Walt Disney create such classic Disneyland attractions as Sleeping Beauty's Castle, Snow White's Adventures, and Peter Pan's Flight. In 1971, Martin was named vice president of design at WED Enterprises, overseeing the master layout of the Magic Kingdom for Walt Disney World in Florida
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 & comedian 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. Varney will also star in a string of live-action films for Touchstone Pictures based on his Ernest P. Worrell character.
1957:
At Disneyland, Don DeFore's Silver Banjo Barbecue 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. Located right next to Aunt Jemima’s restaurant, the Silver Banjo is the only concession in Disneyland with the name of a real living person. (Although at this time Art Linkletter owns the Kodak concession - his name is not visible.)
1967:
The Club 33 restaurant (for members-only) 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.
1978:
Millard Jones, 86, of Lakeland, Florida makes his 500th visit to Walt Disney World! An amazing feat considering WDW has only been opened since October 1971.
1990:
The Disney short Roller Coaster Rabbit - featuring the voice of Charles Fleischer as Roger Rabbit - is released along with the Touchstone/Disney feature film ________ Tracy, starring Warren Beatty, Al Pacino, and Madonna.
1994:
The TV special, "The Lion King: A Musical Journey With Elton John" airs on ABC the same day Disney's 32nd animated motion picture The Lion King premieres in select U.S. cities. The film, featuring songs by Elton John and Tim Rice, will become the highest grossing animated film of all time (until the release of Finding Nemo). The all-star voice cast includes Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Irons, James Earl Jones, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Moira Kelly, Robert Guillaume, Rowan Atkinson, Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin and Jim Cummings. The Lion King will win two Academy Awards for its achievement in music and the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy. (The success of the film will lead to several sequels, spin-offs, video games and even a live stage version.)
2001:

The National Lum and Abner Society (an organization formed to preserve and document the history of Lum & Abner - two radio comedians of the 1930s & 40s) host four special Disney guests at their 2001 convention in Mena, Arkansas. The guests; Sam Edwards (known for the long line of albums he made on the Disneyland Records label during the 1960s and early 1970s), Rhoda Williams (the voice of Drizella in Cinderella), Robie Lester (who performed countless characters for the Disneyland Records label), and ________ Beals (who played the parts of Huey, Dewey and Louie in several of the 1960s Disney productions) are honored at the Lime Tree Inn Motel.

Disney's 40th animated creation Atlantis: The Lost Empire
(featuring the voices of Michael J. Fox, Claudia Christian, Leonard Nimoy,
James Gardner, and Jim Varney) is released nationwide. This is Disney's first 70mm animated film since 1985s The Black Cauldron.
2010:
Toy Story 3 Soundtrack is released on Walt Disney Records. It features the music of Randy Newman and a Spanish version of "You've Got a Friend in Me" (performed by the Gipsy Kings).

 

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6/16

1907:
Writer Helen Aberson is born in Syracuse, New York. Her book "Dumbo, the Flying Elephant" (co-written with Harold Pearl) inspired the 1941 Disney classic Dumbo.
1945:
Walt Disney's wife Lillian christens the SS Rice Victory, a 10,500-ton U.S. warship.
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. (It will be generally released 6 days later.)Disney releases the third People and Places film Switzerland to theaters.

Actress Laurie Metcalf - the voice of Lucille Krunklehorn in Meet the Robinsons, Andy's Mom in all three Toy Story films and Sarah in Treasure Planet - is born Carbondale, Illinois. (TV fans may remember Metcalf for her role of Jackie on Roseanne.)
1956:
Disneyland debuts Tom Sawyer's Island and the Rafts to Tom Sawyer's Island in Frontierland, the film 3D Jamboree at the Mickey Mouse Club Theater, and the Storybook Land Canal Boats attraction in Fantasyland.Tom Sawyer's Island (today known as Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island) is an artificial island surrounded by the Rivers of America. The short 3D Jamboree features the Mouseketeers and Jimmy Dodd. Storybook Land Canal Boats (originally known as Canal Boats of the World in 1955) features 13 boats (powered by outboard motors) afloat in 465,000 gallons of water
1957:
Holidayland, a nine-acre grassy picnic ground located along the western edge of Disneyland, opens. It has its own admission gate into the park and can hold up to 7,000 guests, for large events. Run by Milt Albright, Holidayland's manager (and future Disney Legend), it features playgrounds, horseshoes, a baseball field, a volleyball court, and "the world's largest candy-striped circus tent." (Today, Holidayland is a parking lot for employees.)
2000:
Totally Circus (a documentary/adventure series) premieres on the Disney Channel.

Fantasia/2000 (the sequel to the Disney classic) opens at movie theaters nationwide
2008:
A grand opening for the new Disneyland Innoventions Dream Home takes place for members of the press. The Innoventions Dream Home, featuring cutting-edge technology from Microsoft and other industry leaders, is both a show and a showcase as it offers guests a hands-on experience. (Annual passholders will be allowed to visit the following day - but the attraction won't fully open to the public until June 30.)

 

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6/17

1916:
Singer-songwriter Terry Gilkyson (a name not well remembered today but very influential in the world of pop and folk music) is born Hamilton Henry Gilkyson in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. Known for his group Terry Gilkyson and the Easy Riders, their version of "Marianne" was a million seller. In the 60's Gilkyson left the group and began working on movies for Walt Disney Studios. He wrote music for Swiss Family Robinson, The Aristocats, and The Moon-Spinners, along with the television program The Wonderful World Of Disney. In 1968 he received an Academy Award nomination for writing "The Bear Necessities" for The Jungle Book (the film's only song not written by the Sherman Brothers).
1946:
Singer-songwriter, arranger & producer Barry Manilow is born Barry Alan Pincus in Brooklyn, New York. He will go on to co-write the musical score for Disney's 1988 animated feature Oliver and Company - in particular the song "Perfect Isn't Easy." (Manilow's career achievements include sales of more than 76 million records worldwide!)
1972:
The Main Street Electric Parade kicks off at Disneyland.
1987:
Walt Disney Pictures releases Benji the Hunted in theaters.
1994:
Disney sends a team of artists to China to gather info for an upcoming new
animated feature based on The Legend of Mulan (first suggested by children's
author Robert San Souci). Over the next 2 weeks, the team will visit Datong, Luoyang, Xian, Jiayuguan, Dunhuang, and Guilin,
1997:
A touring exhibition of design art - from the Walt Disney Imagineering archives - called Designing Disney's Theme Parks: The Architecture of Reassurance is displayed at the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal.
2002:
Authentic memorabilia from the Estate of Elvis Presley and exclusive VIP vacation experiences to Elvis Week in Memphis, commemorating the 25th anniversary of Elvis' death, are auctioned at Disney Auctions (presented by E-Bay) from this day through July 4. The auction surrounds the June 21 nationwide release of Disney's Lilo & Stitch, an animated comedy with an exuberant lead character named Lilo, who is crazy for Elvis and his music.
2008:
Fireworks, dancing and parachuting sky divers welcome Toy Story Mania to Disney’s California Adventure at the attraction's official grand opening in Paradise Pier. The interactive attraction opens after three years of design and construction (the same Toy Story ride opened in Walt Disney World last May). The ride's line features a large Mr. Potato Head Audio-Animatronics figure that interacts with guests through pre-recorded snippets of dialogue performed by comedian Don Rickles, who voiced the character in the Toy Story films. The sophisticated figure can identify people in the audience, sing and tell jokes!

 

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6/18

1943:
Charley Laney - a Mouseketeer on Mickey Mouse Club for six months between April and September of 1956 - is born in California. A dancer, musician, singer, and gymnast, Charley joined the show for the second season as a "Blue Team" replacement.

Bill Walsh, originally from New York City, joins Disney as a writer for the Mickey
Mouse comic strip. He will work with illustrator Floyd Gottfredson on the daily comic strip until 1964. During those years Walsh will also develop into a film & TV producer and screenwriter. One of Walt's most trusted employees, he will take the Disney Studio into the age of television with the first Disney special One Hour in Wonderland and later the Mickey Mouse Club. Walsh will be named a Disney Legend in 1991.
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. Directed by Jack Kinney, Casey comes to the plate again, this time as the manager of a team made up of his nine daughters who manage to win ... despite Casey's leadership.
1964:
Attorneys Paul Helliwell and Robert Foster (secretly representing Disney) meet in Jacksonville, Florida to finalize negotiations with the Demetree Family to purchase their Central Florida land which will be used for a new Disney resort.

Meanwhile over at Disneyland, Grad Nite '64 is held from 11pm til 5am.
1969:
Disney's 1953 Peter Pan is re-released in theaters for the third time.
1983:
The Disneyland parade Flights of Fancy debuts.
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.
1995:
The first wedding performed at Walt Disney World's Wedding Pavilion, a Victorian-style structure located next to the Grand Floridian Resort, previews on the Lifetime cable network show, Weddings of a Lifetime.
1996:
The Haber family become the first to move into Disney's newest Florida community, Celebration.
1998:
The Walt Disney Company becomes an even bigger part of the Internet with the purchase of a 43% stake in Web search engine company Infoseek Corp.
(Disney Plans to launch an Internet portal.)
1999:
Disney's 37th animated feature Tarzan is generally released in the U.S. Based on the classic story Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs, it is directed by Chris Buck and Kevin Lima. The soundtrack features five songs by Phil Collins - who will later win both an Academy Award and a Grammy Award. To create the sweeping 3D backgrounds, the production team has developed a 3D painting and rendering technique known as Deep Canvas. This technique allows artists to produce CGI background that looks like a traditional painting. For this advancement, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will later award the creators of Deep Canvas a Technical Achievement Award in 2003.
2008:
It is reported that WALL-E is leading a campaign by NASA and Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures to promote interest among schoolchildren in science and technology. NASA and Disney have signed a Space Act Agreement for a series of educational and public outreach activities related to Disney-Pixar’s new movie, WALL-E (which opens in theaters nationwide June 27, 2008).
2010:
Pixar's Toy Story 3 is released along with the short Day & Night to theaters in the U.S. The plot focuses on the toys Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and their friends who have to deal with an uncertain future as their owner, Andy, is preparing to leave for college. Directed by Lee Unkrich, the film's score has been composed and conducted by Randy Newman. Day & Night, directed by Teddy Newton, centers on the personifications of daytime and nighttime who must learn to get along. Unlike most other Pixar shorts, the animation style combines 2D and 3D elements.

 

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6/19

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. His Disney voice credits also include The Aristocats (as Napoleon), Robin Hood (as Sherriff of Nottingham), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (as a toon bullet) and A Goofy Movie (as Possum Park Emcee, his final role). Fans of the 1960s television sitcom Green Acres will recognize Buttram as Mr. Haney!
He was also in Back to the Future III as a Saloon Old Timer
1942:
Mouseketeer & dancer Nancy Abbate - who appears on TV's Mickey Mouse Club for the first season - is born in Los Angeles, California.

Michael Broggie, a nationally-recognized authority on the life and legacy of Walt Disney and the son of Roger Broggie (Disney's original Imagineer) is born in California. At age 12, Michael will test-drive the miniature Autopia cars and accompany Walt Disney in the initial run of the Disneyland Railroad's steam trains in June 1955! (Michael is married to Sharon Charmagne Broggie, co-founder of the Carolwood Foundation.)
1946:
Actress Jennifer Darling is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her Disney voice credits include Brother Bear, Treasure Planet, Lilo & Stitch, Monsters Inc., The Emperor's New Groove, A Bug's Life, Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast. Although her voice credits are vast, she is probably best known for her TV role of Peggy Callahan, the secretary to Oscar Goldman on both the series The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman.
1960:
Freedomland U.S.A., a themed amusement park in New York City, opens its doors. Built in the shape of the United States, the 205-acre park's main theme is American history. It is conceived by Cornelius Vanderbilt Wood, a young Texan, who had previously worked in the planning, construction and management of Disneyland. This same evening, TV's The Ed Sullivan Show presents a promotional tour of the park and refers to it as Disneyland's equal on the East Coast. (The park will only remain in business for 4 years.)
1966:
Legendary comedic actor Ed Wynn, who appears in such Disney live-action classics as Mary Poppins, Those Calloways, Son of Flubber, and That Darn Cat! passes away in Beverly Hills, California at age 79. He is probably best known as the voice of the Mad Hatter in the animated Alice in Wonderland. (In 1959, Wynn appeared on Rod Serling's TV series The Twilight Zone in the episode "One for the Angels". Serling, a longtime admirer, wrote the episode especially for him!)
1987:
The Disney Channel Premiere Film Not Quite Human, featuring Alan Thicke, Robyn Lively, and Jay Underwood, debuts. It is based on a series of young adult novels by Seth McEvoy about a scientist who creates an android son.
1995:
A bronze statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse, called the Partners Statue, is installed at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney Word. It is identical to the statue created by Blaine Gibson first installed at Disneyland in November 1993.
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. (The film will have its general release 2 days later.)
1998:
In Florida, DisneyQuest opens in the West End area of Downtown Disney. Packed with 4 floors of high-tech, interactive virtual adventures, it is the first in a national chain of interactive entertainment centers. Housed in a five-story, windowless building, guests enter the first-floor lobby and are transported via a "magic" elevator to the third floor atrium to begin their visit.
2002:
The Travel Channel's Great Hotels series - hosted by Samantha
Brown - features Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa
2005:
Voting begins for Discovery Channel's Greatest American. Among the top 25 nominees is Walt Disney! (Disney will be voted in at #13 ... between Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein!)

 

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6/20

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.
1938:
Walt Disney and his wife Lillian arrive in Manhattan, New York by train on this Monday morning. They are on their way to New Haven, Connecticut and Cambridge, Massachusetts where Walt will receive honorary degrees from the universities of Yale (on June 22) and Harvard (on June 23).
Actor Robert Taylor (who happens to also be on board the train) later poses with Walt for the New York press
1951:
Voice actress Tress MacNeille is born in Chicago, Illinois. Her Disney voice credits include Anastasia Tremaine in many Cinderella video releases, Aunt Sarah in Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure, Hoonah in Brother Bear 2, Chip in Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, and Fang in Dave the Barbarian. (MacNeille's voice credits also include The Simpsons, Futurama, Rugrats, All Grown Up!, and Tiny Toon Adventures.)
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, Baloo in The Jungle Book 2 and Eli "Big Daddy" La Bouff in The Princess and the Frog. (TV fans will know Goodman as Dan Conner on the long-running sitcom Roseanne and for his roles in such features as Confessions of a Shopaholic, Evan Almighty, Beyond the Sea, and Sea of Love.)
1976:
Walt Disney World's River Country (a water park adjacent to Disney's Fort
Wilderness Resort and Campground) opens. Inspired by Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, it is Disney's first attempt at a themed water park. Positioned on the shore of Bay Lake near Discovery Island, River Country is filled with rocks and manmade boulders and features water slides and an inner tube river. On this day, U.S. President Gerald Ford's daughter Susan helps with the official opening. (River Country will close in September 2001, due in part to Florida Laws prohibiting the use of natural bodies of water for water park use, but its success will later lead to Disney's Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach.)
1995:
The Walt Disney Company announces plans for a fourth theme park in Florida, called Disney's Wild Animal Kingdom. The park is expected to cost only $760 million to create.

The Walt Disney World attraction ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter officially begins operation in Tomorrowland (replacing Flight to the Moon). A "theater-in-the-round" attraction, it is a darkly humorous science-fiction experience that used binaural sound to achieve many of its effects.
2004:
The Food Network airs "Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings" hosted by Sandra Pinckney
2006:
Disney announces that actress Brittany Murphy will provide the voice for the fairy Tinker Bell in an upcoming animated film. (The character of Tink has been silent in the past.) Fans of the animated series King of the Hill will recognize Murphy as the voice of Luanne Platter.

 

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6/21

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. The film features the songs "For Now, For Always," and "Let's Get Together," both written by the Sherman Brothers.Also released are the Donald Duck shorts The Litterbug (a combination live-action/animation) and the animated short Donald and the Wheel.
1985:
Singer-songwriter Kris Allen, the winner of the eighth season of American Idol and the second Idol to ever appear in an "I'm Going to Disney World!" TV ad, is born in Jacksonville, Arkansas.

Disney's live-action feature film Return to Oz is released in U.S.
theaters. The film's plot is a combination of L. Frank Baum's novels Ozma of Oz and The Marvelous Land of Oz, which were written as sequels to his classic novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Return to Oz is an unofficial sequel as Disney has made the film without the involvement of MGM, the studio responsible for the original 1939 film. (The film will receive an Academy Award nomination for "Best Visual Effects".)
1988:
The Touchstone/Amblin Entertainment film Who Framed Roger Rabbit premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Actor Bob Hoskins plays a private detective who investigates a murder involving the famous cartoon character, Roger Rabbit (voiced by Charles Fleischer). The film will be generally released in U.S. theaters the following day. Who Framed Roger Rabbit 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 eleased. Featuring the voices of Jason Alexander (as Hugo), Tom Hulce (as uasimodo),
Mary Kay Bergman (as Quasimodo's Mother), and Demi Moore (as Esmeralda), the film's music will be nominated for an Oscar. The story is loosely based on the Victor Hugo epic novel, first published in 1831
2000:
DisneyQuest unveils two new attractions at the Indoor Interactive Theme Park at Disney World: "Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Buccaneer Gold" (which allows guests to fulfill their fantasy of becoming a pirate and interacting in a pirate world) and "Songmaker" (which allows guests to become a record producer and create their own song).
2008:
The Disney/Pixar feature WALL-E premieres at the Greek Theatre (in Griffith Park) in Los Angeles, California. (It will open in wide release June 27.) The film, set the distant future, centers on a small waste collecting robot who inadvertently embarks on a space journey that will ultimately decide the fate of mankind. Special guests attending the premiere include cast members Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard, John Ratzenberger, Kathy Najimy, Sigourney Weaver and Elissa Knight.

 

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6/22

1917:
Walt Disney's older brother Roy O. Disney enlists in the U.S. Navy along with his friend Mitch Francis. Roy will first be assigned to the Great Lakes Naval Training Station outside of Chicago, and eventually be transferred to Charleston, South Carolina - where he will be responsible for transporting material between New York and France. (Roy wil later marry Mitch's sister Edna!)
1920:
Disney Legend Paul Frees, one of the most successful voice actors of all time, is born Solomon Hersh Frees in Chicago, Illinois. His large body of 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. (Frees also voices both John and George in the 1960s cartoon series based on The Beatles and the Burgermeister in the 1970 TV special "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town.")
1938:
Walt Disney receives an honorary degree from Yale University in New Haven,
Connecticut. Also receiving at the commencement ceremony are Lord Tweedsmuir, the governor general of Canada, Justice Stanley Reed of the U.S. Supreme Court and German novelist Thomas Mann.
"He has accomplished something that defied all the efforts and experiments of the laboratories in zoology and biology; he has given impressive significance to the word anima in animated; he has given animals souls. ... His work has the elements of a great romantic art; the beautiful, the fantastic, the grotesque, all combining in irresistible and ineffable charm." -Professor of English William Lyon Phelps
1968:
Disneyland Cast Members Tom and Janice Nabbe are married. Tom's career started when he was just 12-years-old - as the park's first Tom Sawyer. (He will transfer to Walt Disney World in Orlando as part of its opening crew in 1971, and later be named a Disney Legend.)
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. The song "Someone's Waiting For You," written by Carol Connors (lyrics), Ayn Robbins (lyrics), & Sammy Fain (music), will be nominated for an Academy Award.
1988:
Who Framed Roger Rabbit (distributed by Touchstone Pictures) is generally released. Directed by Robert Zemeckis and produced by Steven Spielberg, it is a joint venture between Walt Disney Pictures and Amblin Entertainment
2005:
Disney's Soda Fountain and Studio Store on Hollywood Boulevard, adjacent
to the historic El Capitan Theatre, begins serving the public the same day
Herbie: Fully Loaded is generally released. The film features the Aly & AJ re-make of "Walking on Sunshine" (originally a hit for Katrina & The Waves).
2007:
Epcot's newly-updated American Adventure debuts. It now includes
moments from 9-11-2001, current military operations, and other recent events.

A Red Carpet Premiere for Ratatouille takes place at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, California
2008:
Award-winning comedian-actor George Carlin passes away at age 71 in Los Angeles, California. Carlin was the voice of Fillmore the VW bus in Disney/Pixar's Cars and Zugor in Disney's Tarzan II. Known for his raunchy, but insightful humor, Carlin was best known for his routine "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television."
2009:
The new Luxo Jr. Audio-Animatronic (the small hopping desk lamp included in Pixar's corporate logo) unofficially premieres at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

 

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6/23

1956:
Disneyland's Skyway to Fantasyland and Skyway to Tomorrowland begin transporting guests across the park. Guests take off from a small Alpine chalet seated in gondolas in Fantasyland on their way to Tomorrowland. Tomorrowland guests pass over such attractions as the Richfield Autopia and the Goodyear PeopleMover on their way to Fantasyland. The Skyway was built by Von Roll, Ltd. based in Bern, Switzerland. When Walt Disney Imagineering bought the ride, it became the first Von Roll Type 101 aerial ropeway in the USA. (In 1959, Skyway riders will pass through the Matterhorn mountain when the Matterhorn bobsleds attraction is added!)
1963:
At Disneyland, the Enchanted Tiki Room, the first attraction to feature Audio-Animatronics figures patented and first developed by WED Enterprises, opens to the public. Sponsored by United Airlines, the presentation features over 150 talking, singing and dancing birds, flowers, a magic fountain, tiki drummers and tiki totem poles performing the attraction's signature tunes, "The Tiki Tiki Tiki Room" and "Let's All Sing Like the Birdies Sing." The Hawaiian-theme musical show is hosted by four macaws: José (voiced by Wally Boag), Michael (Fulton Burley), Pierre (Ernie Newton) and Fritz (Thurl Ravenscroft).
1989:
Disney's comedy feature Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, starring Rick Moranis, Matt
Frewer and Marcia Strassman, is released along with the Disney short Tummy
Trouble featuring Roger Rabbit and Baby Herman. Released through Walt Disney Pictures and Silver Screen Partners III, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids tells the story of an inventor (Moranis) who accidentally shrinks his and his neighbor's kids to 1/4 of an inch with his electromagnetic shrink ray and sends them out into the backyard with the trash. Disney and Amblin Entertainment's first Roger Rabbit short, Tummy Trouble, executively produced by Steven Spielberg, is produced by Don Hahn and directed by Rob Minkoff.

The Walt Disney World attraction Dreamflight (located in Tomorrowland)
opens to guests. Sponsored by Delta Airlines, it is a pop-up book version of the history of flight using simplistic sets, some Audio-Animatronics and projection effects.
1999:
At Disneyland, Tarzan's Treehouse opens in Adventureland replacing the Swiss Family Treehouse (which first opened in 1962).
2005:
An official dedication for the Ward Kimball, Disneyland Railroad's newest engine, takes place. (In February 2006 another dedication - a Cast Member ceremony - will be held partly to benefit Ward Kimball's family.)
2008:
The hit TV movie Camp Rock is shown on disney.com for the very first time. The Disney Channel Original Movie, starring the Jonas Brothers, had already debuted on television June 20.

Comedian-actor Jeff Garlin states in an interview about WALL-E: "I was the funniest kid in the school. And I had a passion for comedy. You know, George Carlin passed away last night. I'm very sad about that. My wife just called me about 20 minutes ago to tell me, and I'm hit pretty hard by that. I mean, he and Saturday Night Live-and he hosted the first Saturday Night Live. But there was a whole era of comedy in the '70s that had a profound effect on me. Steve Martin, you know. Enough to motivate me to become a comedian."
Best known for his role as Jeff Greene, Larry David's manager on the HBO show Curb Your Enthusiasm, Garlin is the voice of Captain McCrea in Disney/Pixar's newest film WALL-E.

 

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6/24

1893:
Roy Oliver Disney is born in Chicago, Illinois. The middle of 5 children, he along with his younger brother Walt started what is today The Walt Disney Company. Roy guided the business side of the Disney company leavng his brother, Walt, free to produce and create. Roy served as president of Walt Disney Productions from 1945 to 1968 and chairman of the board from 1964 until his death in 1971. A modest man, it was Roy's idea to change the name of the Florida park from simply Disney World to Walt Disney World (after the death of his brother in 1966). Married to Edna Francis in 1925, Roy was the father of Roy E. Disney
1919:
Actor Al Molinaro - Drapery Man in Disney's 1976 Freaky Friday - is born in Kenosha, Wisconsin. TV fans know him best as Police Officer Murray Greshler on The Odd Couple and Al Delveccio on Happy Days.
1956:
Walt Disney appears on Ed Sullivan's 8th Anniversary Show. Walt along with Ronald Reagan, Natalie Wood, Robert Walker, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz sing "Happy Anniversary" in a tribute to Sullivan.
1977:
Disney's Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, starring Dean Jones and Don Knotts, is released. It is the third in the series of Herbie films
1998:
Jacqueline D'Ambrosi, a 9-year-old from Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, becomes the 600-millionth person to walk through the turnstiles of the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World! With a click of the turnstile at 7:37 a.m., Jacqueline is immediately mobbed by Mickey Mouse and a cast of other Disney characters. She is awarded lifetime passes to the Florida park, and to Disney's 3 other theme parks, for her and her family.
2005:
Paul Winchell, the voice of Tigger, passes away at age 82 in Moorpark,
California. A versatile ventriloquist who became a fixture in early children's television along with his puppet side-kicks Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff, Winchell first became the lovable Tigger in 1968 for Disney's Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day. Winchell earned a Grammy in 1974 for Best Children's Recording with "The Most Wonderful Things About Tiggers" from the feature Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too. In addition, he was nominated for an Annie award for the 1998 animated feature-length Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin. A giant in the field of cartoon voices, Winchell's Disney credits also include Zummi Gummi in episodes of Adventures of the Gummi Bears, Boomer in the feature The Fox and the Hound, and Shun Gon in The Aristocats. (Winchell was also the voice of Fleegle for TV's The Banana Splits Adventure Hour.)

Disney's Herbie: Fully Loaded hits the big screen.
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."

Disney and NASA host a screening of the new movie WALL•E at the Newseum, a 250000-square-foot museum of news in Washington,D.C.

Disney is awarded six times at the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror’s 34th annual Saturn Awards, held at the Universal Hilton Hotel in Universal City, California. Disney's Enchanted takes home three awards for Best Fantasy Film, Best Actress (Amy Adams), and Best Music (Alan Menken). Other Disney winners include Brad Bird (Ratatouilee) for Best Writing, Ve Neill & Martin Samuel (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End) for Best Make-Up, and Ratatouilee for Best Animated Film.

 

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6/25

1927:
Publisher and Disney Legend Didier Fouret is born in Paris, France. He played a key role in bringing Disney's cast of characters to children and their parents throughout France. In 1979 he developed a restaurant for the French pavilion in EPCOT's World Showcase.
1932:
Walt Disney throws a "shindig on account of the studio saying goodbye to Columbia and hello to United Artists." Columbia Pictures had dropped the distribution of Disney cartoons earlier in the year. United Artists (founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks) will now be distributing Disney shorts. The celebration starts at 8PM at the Disney Studio on Hyperion Ave.
1934:
Milt Kahl from San Francisco begins what will be a long and illustrious career at the Disney Studios. Considered by many to be one of the finest animators ever to work for Disney, Kahl will go on to become one of Walt's Nine Old Men.
1948:
Disney's animated feature Dumbo is released in Denmark.
1965:
The Orlando Evening Star runs the headline "Let's Go! 2nd Stage Launched." In the article, attorney Paul Helliwell (who is involved in Disney's sercet purchase of Central Florida land) confirms that the still-anonymous buyer has completed nearly all of the land purchases for a mystery project.
1980:
Disney's live-action comedy Herbie Goes Bananas - starring Cloris Leachman &
Harvey Korman and the adventure film The Last Flight of Noah's Ark - starring
Elliott Gould & Ricky Schroder, are both released in the U.S. Herbie Goes Bananas, the fourth in a series of films about a Volkswagen Beetle with a mind of its own, loosely picks up where the 1977 Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo left off. It will be the last theatrical Herbie film for 25 yearsuntil the release of Herbie: Fully Loaded in 2005.

The Last Flight of Noah's Ark centers on fast-living pilot Noah Dugan (Elliott Gould), who due to his love of gambling, owes a large sum of money. He turns to his old friend, a greasy shyster named Mr. Stoney (played by Vincent Gardenia) who sends him on an unglamorous and risky job: to pilot a B-29 bomber plane filled with animals to an island for a new religious mission.
1985:
At about 9 p.m., a Walt Disney World monorail catches fire while enroute from Epcot to the Magic Kingdom. Over two hundred passengers are safely evacuated from the elevated tracks by ladders and cherry-picker cranes.
2004:
Disney Channel debuts "Tanner," the 5th episode of the series Phil of the Future. It is directed by Joana Kerns (who portrayed Maggie on the hit series Growing Pains between 1985-1992).
2005:
Voice actor and character actor John Fiedler, known to Disney fans as the voice of Piglet in countless Winnie the Pooh movies and TV specials, passes away at age 80 in Englewood, New Jersey (one day after the death of Paul Winchell). Fiedler's long list of Disney credits include The Emperor's New Groove, The Emperor's New Groove 2: Kronk's New Groove and The Fox and the Hound. (A stage, film, television & radio performer, he is also remembered as the nervous Juror #2 in the feature 12 Angry Men and as Mr. Peterson, a timid patient on the television sitcom The Bob Newhart Show.)
2010:
The Walt Disney Company holds a special celebration for the 40th anniversary of the Walt Disney Archives and for Dave Smith, the founder and chief archivist of the Walt Disney Archives. The occasion also marks Smith's fortieth (and final) year at Disney.

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announces the winners of the 37th Annual Daytime Entertainment Creative Arts Emmy® Awards at a gala held at the Westin Bonaventure in Downtown, Los Angeles.
Among the winners:
-Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade for both Outstanding Achievement in Live & Direct to Tape Sound and Outstanding Achievement in Technical Direction/Electronic Camera/Video Control
-Disney Channel's Phineas and Ferb for Outstanding Writing in Animation
The Disney-owned ABC picks up a total of 10 awards.