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2005:
Disney releases its 1942 classic Bambi for the first time on
a special 2-disc DVD. The original soundtrack is also released on CD.
The premiere of Disney's live-action film The Pacifier takes place at the
El Capitan Theater in Hollywood, California.
1910:
Legendary actor David Niven is born James David Graham Niven in London, England. His Disney credits include the 1977 Candleshoe in which he played multiple roles, and the 1976 No Deposit, No Return. (Film fans will know Niven from Around the World in Eighty Days, The Guns Of Navarone, The Pink Panther and as Sir James Bond in the unofficial spoof Casino Royale.)
1924:
Disney's first Alice Comedy Alice's Day at Sea debuts in a handful
of east coast theaters. The combination live-action and animated
film features young Virginia Davis as Alice, and has been created
almost entirely by Walt himself (with assistance from brother Roy).
1930:
Disney animator & techincal genius Ub Iwerks, the first animator of Mickey Mouse, officially leaves Disney to set up his own animation studio. (His
character Flip the Frog will eventually fail and he will later return to Disney.)
1940:
A rare instance of Walt Disney's praise occurs at a "Bambi" screening
of two minutes of test animation by Frank Thomas and Milt Kahl. After
seeing the footage, Disney turns to the two animators with tears in his eyes and says "Thanks, fellows.
That's great stuff, no kidding. Those personalities are pure gold." Walt seldom gives a direct compliment.
(When "Bambi" is completed it will have the fewest lines of dialogue of any Disney animated feature.)
1941:
Walt Disney's speech "Our American Culture," is broadcast
during an intermission of the Metropolitan Opera.
Walt's words include:
Once a man has tasted freedom he will never be content to be a slave. That is why I believe that this frightfulness we see everywhere today is only temporary. Tomorrow will be better for as long as America keeps alive the ideals of freedom and a better life. All men will want to be free and share our way of life. There must be so much that I should have said, but haven't. What I will say now is just what most
of us are probably thinking every day. I thank God and
America for the right to live and raise my family under the
flag of tolerance, democracy and freedom.
(These words will be echoed some 60 years later by Disney President Michael Eisner after the terrorist
attacks of September 2001.)
1994:
At the 36th Annual Grammy Awards the song "A Whole New World," from Disney's Aladdin, wins 3 times! Song of the Year goes to the song's writers Alan Menken and Tim Rice. Singers Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle win for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal. Menken and Rice also win for Best Song Written Specifically For A Motion
Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion
Picture or for Television goes to Alan Menken for Aladdin.
1996:
The Hilton Head Resort in South Carolina, a Disney Vacation Club resort property,
opens. A 5-hour drive from Disney World, the resort is fashioned after a 1940s hunting and fishing lodge.
1998:
Bug Juice, a documentary series about a group of kids that attend summer camp, officially premieres on The Disney Channel.
1999:
At Disney-MGM, a third drop is added to the drop sequence for the Tower of Terror attraction. Also, Doug Live (a stage show) opens replacing Superstar TV.
Kali River Rapids (a whitewater rafting adventure) and Maharajah Jungle Trek both open in the Asia section of Animal Kingdom.
2002:
The Atlanta Braves take on the Florida Marlins in their first
big-league preseason game of the year at Disney's
Wide World of Sports in Florida.
2003:
Epcot features the final performances of Tapestry of Dreams, coinciding with the end of the 100 Years of Magic celebration.
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1971:
Actor Jack Davenport - known for his role of Norrington in both Disney
features Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - is born in Suffolk, England.
2006:
The soundtrack to Disney's High School Musical reaches the
number one spot on the Billboard 200 for the first time.
MAR
2007:
Meg Crofton, president of Walt Disney World announces that two large tracts of land on different areas of its 43-square mile property ar being developed. The first, a 900-acre golf community, will replace the existing Eagle Pines golf course at the Bonnet Creek Golf Club with a Four Seasons hotel. The second project, also unnamed, is located on 450 acres near the new Western Beltway that Disney plans to sell to an as-yet-unnamed developer or group of developers.
The Atlanta Braves play their first home spring training game against a Major League team at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Florida.
The Braves beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-2.
MARCH 1
1995:
The Lion roars at the 37th Grammy Awards, held at the Shrine Auditorium. Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male is awarded to Elton John for "Can You Feel the Love Tonight." Best Instrumental Arrangement With Accompanying Vocal goes to "Circle of Life," arranged by Lebo Morake and Hans Zimmer.
The Lion King—Original Motion Picture Soundtrack wins Best
Musical Album for Children. Best Spoken Word Album for
Children is awarded to The Lion King Read-Along.
1963:
Actor Bryan Batt - who in 2001 played the role of Lumiere in Disney's Broadway hit Beauty and the Beast - is born in in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Fans of TV's Mad Men know Batt for his role of Salvatore.)
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Today is Peanut Butter Lovers' Day
MARCH 01
THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
Aladdin wins 3 Grammys
Walt Disney received 32 Academy Awards personally
over his lifetime.
Along with members of his
staff, more than 950 honors
and citations from every
nation in the world (including
7 Emmys) were received
during Walt's 65 years.
2009:
New York Yankees pitchers C.C. Sabathia and Joba Chamberlain take a spin on the Toy Story Mania! 3-D attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The two hurlers are at Walt Disney World Resort for ESPN The Weekend.
"He knew anatomy. On 'Bambi,' they studied real deer, real rabbits and owls. He was the best at applying what he saw in the real thing and how that would work for an animated character, maintaining the realism but making it work so you have flexibility and the range of emotions and expressions. The way he put that down, nobody could ever touch it." -animator Andreas Deja on Milt Kahl
The March 1 issue of The Saturday Evening Post features this
Norman Rockwell painting. A bimonthly American magazine, it publishes
current event articles, editorials, human interest pieces, humor, illustrations, a letter
column, poetry, single-panel cartoons, stories ... and the work of painter/illustrator
Norman Rockwell. (Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life
scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening Post.) Rockwell will later give this
cover painting to his friend Walt Disney in 1943. He will inscribed the painting:
"To Walt Disney one of the really great artists - from an admirer Norman Rockwell."
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1954:
Film director, producer, and actor Ron Howard is born Ronald William Howard in Duncan, Oklahoma. First known to TV fans as Opie on The Andy Griffith Show, Howard directed the 1984 film Splash, Disney's first release under its Touchstone Pictures label (then known as Touchstone Films). He can also be heard on Disneyland Records' 1969 album release The Story and Song From The Haunted Mansion - playing the role of Mike, one of two teens who gets trapped in the mansion!
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"One of the great things about being a director as a life choice is that it can never be mastered. Every story is its own kind of expedition, with its own set of challenges." -Ron Howard
