Beginning in 1996,
entry to all
Walt Disney World
parks required use
of new,
credit-card
size tickets.
1996:
At Disneyland Paris, a "Fairy Tale Festival" celebrating the magic of great European storytellers begins. The attraction includes a full-sized gingerbread house and a candy apple tree in Fantasyland, plus a daily wedding ceremony between Princess Aurora and Prince Philip next to the castle. (The special attraction will run until April 4, 1996.)
2006:
Adriano Bastos of Sao Paulo, Brazil wins the 13th Annual Walt Disney World Marathon with a time of 2 hours, 19 minutes, 44 seconds. Bastos is the very first three-time winner in the 13-year history of the
Florida marathon.
1956:
Due to poor attendance, Disneyland's the Mickey Mouse Club Circus,
an attraction running since November 1955, closes. The first major addition to Disneyland, the circus was held in a pink and white striped tent (which was set-up in the area that later will house the Fantasyland Autopia). Capitalizing on the success of the Mickey Mouse Club TV series, the 75-minute circus show featured a cast of well-known Mousketeers in various roles.
1958:
The Disneyland TV series airs episode 88 - which includes portions of Disney's 6th full-length animated film Saludos Amigos (first released in the U.S. in 1943).
1960:
The TV series Walt Disney Presents airs the episode
"Swamp Fox: Day of Reckoning," starring Leslie Nielsen as Brigadier
General Francis Marion (a.ka. "The Swamp Fox").
1961:
Walt Disney Presents airs "Swamp Fox: A Woman's Courage."
1962:
Disneyland's Chicken Plantation Restaurant - in business
since the park's opening day - closes in Frontierland.
The space occupied by the restaurant is needed for the construction of New Orleans Square.
1978:
The Wonderful World of Disney airs the episode "Three on the Run".
1981:
Gert Schelvis becomes the 200-millionth Disneyland guest!
2001:
Actor Don Brodie - who appears in Disney's 1975 Escape to Witch
Mountain and is the voice of Barker in Disney's 1940 Pinocchio -
passes away in Los Angeles, California.
2004:
Disneyland welcomes its 500,000,000th guest Bill Trow (from Wentworth Falls, Australia). Trow is accompanied by his wife Ann-Marie and their 5-year-old daughter Aspen.
The 35th NAACP Image Awards nominations are announced. The Walt Disney Company is nominated for several awards that honor companies who support positive images for people of color in arts and entertainment.
2007:
After spending about a year on a redesign project, the Walt Disney
Company unveils the new Disney.com at the Consumer Electronics Show
in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Animator, television producer, and film director Iwao Takamoto passes
away at age 81 in Los Angeles. Best known for designing the Hanna-Barbera character Scooby-Doo, Takamoto first entered the world of
cartoons at Disney in 1947. He worked as an animator on such classics as
Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, and Lady
and the Tramp.
New Orleans Square, the final land to be added to Disney's Virtual Magic
Kingdom, opens to players. (VMK is a free online game run by Disney.)
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JANUARY 8
JAN
1926:
Actor Kerwin Mathews is born in Seattle, Washington. He plays composer
Johann Strauss Jr. in "The Waltz King," a 1963 2-part episode of
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color.
1987:
An "interplanetary launch" is held for Disneyland's newest attraction
Star Tours from 7pm-midnight in Tomorrowland. The official grand
opening will take place the following day.
1936:
Walt Disney is decorated with France's highest award - the Legion of Honor.
At a ceremony held on the grounds of his Hyperion Avenue Studio, Jean-Joseph Viala, the French
Consul in Los Angeles, pins the medal to Disney's left lapel.
"In recognition of Disney's work in creating a new art form in which good will is spread throughout the world." - Jean-Joseph Viala
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Disneyland welcomes 500,000,000th guest
2009:
The Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend steps off for 4 days of events beginning with the opening of Disney’s Health & Fitness Expo on this day at Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex.
JANUARY 08
THIS DAY MADE
IN THE
USA
2008:
The 34th People's Choice Awards, honoring the best in
popular culture for 2007, are held at the Shrine Auditorium in
Los Angeles, California, and broadcast on CBS. (The ceremony
was taped and winners are shown accepting their awards in pre-taped segments due to
actors not wanting to cross the picket lines of the striking Writers Guild of America.)
Pirates of the Caribbean:
At World's End
wins both
Favorite Threequel
and Favorite Movie
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Mickey Mouse Club Circus closes
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