MAR 26 Disney History

2005:

Radio Disney AM 1110 and the City of Burbank Park, Recreation

and Community Services Department host the 7th Annual Easter Eggs-plosion 2005 event at Johnny Carson Park in Burbank, California.

Robert Iger makes his first move at the helm of Disney when he reassignes Peter Murphy, the company's Chief Strategic Officer, and pledges to disband the company's strategic planning division. (The division, which was created by Michael Eisner, has been charged by many with stifling creativity under a superfluous layer of bureaucracy.) Iger's first official day as CEO won't begin until October 1.

1827:

Ludwig van Beethoven - perhaps the most famous German composer of

classical music - passes away in Austria. His Symphony No. 6 in F major (also known as the

Pastoral Symphony and completed in 1808) will be used for the Pastoral Symphony segment of Disney's

1940 Fantasia.

1906:

Continental cinema representative and 1997 Disney Legend Wally Feignoux is born in Paris, France. During the 1930s and 40s, he will represent Disney's interests to its motion picture distributor at the time, RKO, and make heroic contributions while keeping the Disney's Paris office open during the Nazi occupation, between 1939 and 1945.

1907:

Academy Award-winning composer, arranger & scorer Leigh Harline, whose music appears in such Disney classics as Pinocchio, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and many of the Silly Symphony shorts, is born in Salt Lake City, Utah. Among his best known songs ... "When You Wish Upon a Star," "Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee" and "Give a Little Whistle." (He will be inducted a Disney Legend in 2001.)

1927:

Live action filming is shot for 5 of Walt Disney's Alice comedy films.

1931:

Actor Leonard Nimoy, the voice of King Kashekim Nedakh in Disney's 2001 release Atlantis: The Lost Empire, is born in Boston, Massachusetts. (Sci-fi fans know Nimoy best as Mr. Spock from Star Trek.)

1946:

Johnny Crawford, an original Mouseketeer, is born in Los Angeles, California. (In 1955 his singing impersonation of Johnnie Ray will lead to a contract with Disney.) Besides appearing on the 1955 TV series The Mickey Mouse Club, he also portayed Mark McCain on the popular ABC-TV series The Rifleman.

1948:

Singer-songwriter Steven Tyler, who appears with his band

Aerosmith in Disney's Rock 'n' Roller Coaster attraction, is born

Steven Victor Tallarico in Yonkers, New York.

1950:

Actor Martin Short - the voice of B.E.N. in Disney's 2002 animated feature Treasure

Planet and the voice of Lars in 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure - is

born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The narrator of Epcot's The Making of Me and O Canada, he

can also be seen in the 2006 The Santa Clause 3 as Jack Frost! (Comedy fans will know Short from his work on

SCTV and SNL and for his memorable characters Jiminy Glick and Ed Grimely.)

Film score composer & conductor Alan Silvestri is born in New York City. His music can

be heard in Disney's 1986 Flight of the Navigator, 1988 Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, 1998 remake of The Parent

Trap, and 2002 Lilo & Stitch.

1955:

"The Ballad Of Davy Crockett" sung by Bill Hayes - and written by George Bruns & Tom Blackburn - peaks at #1 on the pop singles chart (it will stay there for five weeks).

1958:

At the 1957 Academy Awards in Los Angeles, Disney's The Wetback Hound is

awarded an Oscar (Short Subjects, Live Action). Disney's The Truth About

Mother Goose is edged out by Warner Bros.' Birds Anonymous in the Short

Subjects, Cartoon category.

1961:

The TV series Walt Disney Presents airs "Man in Flight II."

1976:

Disney re-releases Dumbo in theaters for the 5th and final time.

1990:

Alan Menken and Howard Ashman's "Under the Sea" from Disney's The

Little Mermaid wins an Oscar for Best Song at the 62nd Academy Awards.

Menken is also awarded for his original score for The Little Mermaid.

1994:

At Disney's EPCOT, Food Rocks - an animatronic musical food group revue - replaces Kitchen Kabaret (which has been closed since January).

1999:

The Disney/Jumbo Pictures animated film Doug's 1st Movie (based on the Saturday morning animated series) is officially released.

2000:

"You'll Be In My Heart" - written and performed by Phil Collins

for the Disney feature Tarzan - wins an Oscar for Best Song

at the 72nd Academy Awards (hosted by Billy Crystal).

2001:

The Wonderful World of Disney airs the special "South Pacific" (a new production of the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical) on ABC-TV.

2003:

The film Wonders of China ends its run at Epcot. It will be replaced with Reflections of China.

2004:

An article titled "Hats off to 'Davy,' Fess Parker" (by Susan Wloszczyna)

appears in USA TODAY. Parker is best known for his role of Davy

Crockett in the Disneyland TV series.

1985:

Actress Keira Knightley - known for her role of Elizabeth Swann 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 Middlesex, England.

1996:

The EP album Songs From The AristoCats is released on Walt Disney Records.

It features a cover version of "Ev'rybody Wants to Be a Cat" performed by Brian Setzer. Also released on this day

is Bibbidi Bobbidi Bach on Delos Records. This CD features Disney tunes in the style of great

classical composers.

Roy Disney gives a speech to the Council of Institutional Investors in Washington, D.C. He discusses the ongoing situation at The Walt Disney Company and the relationship between the owners of public companies and their stewards.

The Dixon Middle School Stage Band (from Jacksonville, North Carolina)

performs at the Magic Kingdom in Tomorrowland as part of Disney

World's Magic Music Celebration.

2007:

It is reported that Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center has teamed up with Walt Disney Parks and electronics company Siemens to create a collection of arcade games called Project Spaceship Earth for Disney’s Epcot. The project is part of a 12-year alliance between Siemens (a technology company devoted to creating a wide range of products, including communications, transportation, and power technologies) and Disney. The attraction, which will occupy 9000 sqaure feet, will take the form of several exhibits that relate to health care, transportation, and energy.

A 10-year-old giraffe named Nikki gives birth to a calf,

named Rori, at Disney's Animal Kingdom.