JAN 15 Disney History

1975:

The Space Mountain attraction (sponsored by RCA)

opens in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World,

Florida. The first official ride is taken by Colonel

James Irwin, the pilot of the Lunar Module on

Apollo XV. Also opening on this day in the Magic Kingdom is the

Carousel of Progress, a Disneyland attraction that traces

100 years of innovations in electricity. Through a rotating carousel, the attraction carries seated guests into the homes of four generations of the same family from the days before electricity to the present. (COP originally debuted at the New York World's Fair and then made its way to Anaheim before coming to Florida.)

1986:

The third new Future World pavilion to be added to the

original roster, The Living Seas opens at Disney World's EPCOT. The attraction features "Animated Atlas of the World," a new short film explaining the geological and meteorological aspects of the ocean. It also includes a 5.7 million gallon aquarium with some 8,500 living creatures.

2005:

Actress Ruth Warwick, who portrayed Sally in Disney's 1946 Song of the South, passes away at age 88 in New York. Known for her performance in the classic 1941 classic film Citizen Kane, Warwick was also a fixture on the ABC-TV soap opera "All My Children."

Sadly on this same day, Pixar loses a member of its creative team when animator Dan Lee passes away at age 35 in California. In August 2003 he had been diagnosed with lung cancer - despite the fact that he was a nonsmoker. Best known as the creator of the title character from Finding Nemo, his credits also included Toy Story 2, A Bug's Life, Monsters, Inc., and Ratatouille. The 2007 Ratatouille, will be dedicated to Lee.

TODAY IS HUMANITARIAN DAY

(In observance of Martin Luther King's actual birthday)

1925:

Disney's Alice Comedy Alice the Toreador, featuring Virginia Davis, is released.

1955:

Despite plans to open Disneyland without it, Walt Disney decides to go ahead and have Tomorrowland built. (It will be completed in 6 months.)

1958:

The Disneyland TV series airs episode 89 - "Donald's Weekend."

1960:

The TV series Walt Disney Presents airs the episode "Swamp Fox: Redcoat Strategy."

1961:

Walt Disney Presents airs "Swamp Fox: Horses for Greene."

1997:

Production begins on Disney's The Emperor's New Groove.

(The animated feature will be released in December 2000.)

1999:

The third (and final) section of Disney World's All-Star Resort,

All-Star Movies Resort (located at 1901 W. Buena Vista Drive) opens. The property is

decorated with giant Disney film icons such as the Fantasia Pool; a Mighty Ducks themed Duck Pond Pool; Herbie,

The Love Bug, puppies from One Hundred and One Dalmatians and some of the residents of

Andy's Room from Disney's Toy Story.

2002:

Disney's 1994 live action adventure The Jungle Book, 1993 film Adventures of Huck Finn, 1982 computer drama Tron, and 1992 musical Newsies are all released on DVD.

2004:

Actor Johnny Depp is nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for his

role in Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

1943:

Education for Death: The Making of the Nazi - an animated short produced by Walt Disney is released by RKO. It is directed by Clyde Geronomi and principally animated by Ward Kimball. Intended as anti-Nazi propaganda (during the ongoing World War II) the film tells the story of Little Hans, a German boy born and raised in Nazi Germany, who is educated to become a merciless soldier.

1990:

CEO Michael Eisner announces plans to expand the Walt Disney World theme parks, and to add a fourth park during the 1990s. He also states that a pavilion from the Soviet Union will hopefully be added at EPCOT, and that

16 new attractions are planned for the Disney-MGM Studios.

Actor Chris Warren Jr. - known to High School Musical fans as Zeke Baylor - is born. He also appears as Zeke on a few episodes of Hanna Montana.

1954:

The Donald Duck short Spare the Rod is released.

2007:

Disney/Pixar's Cars wins Best Animated Feature Film at the 64th

Golden Globe Awards. It is the first ever given in the new

category of Best Animated Feature. John Lasseter accepts the award.

The tank used in Epcot's The Living Seas holds 5.7 million gallons of saltwater ... making it one of the largest saltwater tanks in the world! Called “the world’s sixth largest ocean,” Epcot’s Living Seas aquarium is packed with more varieties of fish than probably ever seen in a real ocean.