2005:
Oscar-winning actor and Disney Legend John Mills, who portrayed Father Robinson in Disney's 1960 live-action film Swiss Family Robinson, passes away in England at age 97.
(His daughters Hayley and Juliet have also starred in Disney films.)
Disneyland Park guests are offered a sneak peek at Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams. The all-new parade highlights classic Disney stories and characters that have contributed to Disneyland over the past five decades.
Romano Scarpa, one of the most famous Italian creators of Disney comics, passes away in Spain at age 77.
1923:
The parents of child actress Virginia Davis sign a contract with Disney's Laugh-O-gram Films, giving her 5% of receipts from the film, Alice's Wonderland (for which she stars in).
1928:
Shirley Jane Temple, the child star who presented Walt Disney with special
Oscars for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, is born in Santa Monica,
California. The actress was also caricatured in the 1939 Disney animated short
Autograph Hound. As an adult, she served on the board of directors of some of
the largest enterprises including The Walt Disney Company (1974–75).
1957:
The Midget Autopia opens in Disneyland. It is the third (and smallest) Autopia track, following the Tomorrowland Autopia (1955) and the Junior Autopia in Fantasyland (1956). The Midget Autopia, located right next to the Storybook Land Canal Boats, is for very young guests who are too small to ride the other Autopia attractions. (It will close in April 1966.)
1961:
The TV series Walt Disney Presents airs "Texas John Slaughter: Frank Clell's in Town," the 17th & final episode of a western mini-series starring Tom Tryon.
1969:
Musical cues and various sound effects are recorded at the Whitney
Studios and the Walt Disney Productions Recording Stage (both located in California) for Disneyland's much anticipated Haunted Mansion attraction.
1983:
The Fantasy in the Sky fireworks show debuts at the new Tokyo Disneyland.
1986:
In Florida, ground is broken for Walt Disney World's
Grand Floridian Beach Resort.
1993:
At a dedication service, Walker Ranch officially becomes Disney
Wilderness Preserve. Disney and the South Florida Water Management
District had come to an agreement in 1992, allowing Disney to develop on an area in Central Florida (closer to their theme parks) if Disney would purchase
and preserve Walker Ranch, 8,500 acres of wetlands located about twelve
miles south of Disney World. The preserve is home to two endangered
species, the bald eagle and the wood stork, as well as several other
threatened species. Disney will use the Central Florida area to build Celebration, a new city themed
after a typical small American town of the 1940s and '50s. Today the Disney Wilderness Preserve is
owned and operated by The Nature Conservancy.
2002:
Disney release its 1991 White Fang, 1994 White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf, 1994 Iron Will, and the 1994 Angles in the Outfield all on DVD.
President Bush hosts "movie night" at the White House with
a viewing of Disney's The Rookie (starring Dennis Quaid).
Disney Chairman Michael Eisner is in attendance.
2004:
Walt Disney World confirms that It's A Small World will be closing for almost a year for improvements. (Disney hopes the boat ride will re-open in March 2005.)
The HBO series From the Earth to the Moon (Tom Hank's 13-part drama about space exploration) was in production at the Disney-MGM Studios in 2 soundstages in 1997.
1943:
Disney releases the Donald Duck film Fall Out - Fall In to theaters.
2007:
The second season of Disney Channel's Hannah Montana
kicks off with the episode "Me and Rico Down by the School Yard."
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1996:
Pamela Lyndon (P.L.) Travers, creator of "Mary Poppins," passes away at age 96 in London, England.
1886:
Actress & vaudeville performer Belle Montrose is born Isabelle Donohue in Illinois. Her Disney credits includeThe AbsentMinded Professor and Son of Flubber. (She and her husband Carroll Allen were the parents of television celebrity Steve Allen!)
1931:
The crime drama film The Public Enemy, starring James Cagney and Jean Harlow, is released. (A scene from this film is featured in the Disney-MGM attraction The Great Movie Ride.)
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"A writer is, after all, only half his book. The other half is the reader and from the reader the writer learns."
-P. L. Travers
1791:
James Buchanan, the fifteenth United States President, is born in a
log cabin at Cove Gap, near Mercersburg, Franklin County,
Pennsylvania. Visit him and all the U.S. Chief Executives at Disney
World's The Hall of Presidents.
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APRIL 23
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APRIL 23
THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
Ground broke for Grand Floridian
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A
P
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1998:
The day after the debut of Disney's Animal Kingdom, The Orlando Sentinel
runs the story - "What a day in Kingdom" by staff writers
Cory Lancaster, Tim Barker and Lesley Clark.
The house was packed. The lines generally were short. The glitches were few. And the weather was perfect.
Add to that good news from federal investigators and a splendid earnings report announcing a planned stock split.
Could even Disney have scripted a day like this?
The planets seemed in perfect alignment Wednesday as Walt Disney World opened its fourth and largest theme park to a crowd of thousands, who began arriving at the gates before dawn.
1999:
Pixar animator & writer Joe Ranft (in the middle of a Florida vacation with his family)
visits Walt Disney World. He offers a presentation for Disney Feature Animation Florida and later drops by
the Disney Institute to spend some time with the Animation Team (including instructor Jim Korkis).
