2004:
The Walt Disney Company breaks ground on the first phase of a 125-acre campus that eventually will house its theme-park designers, sound stages and a high-tech business center. The Grand Central Creative Campus project (or GC3) at Grandview Avenue and Flower Street in Los Angeles is expected to be completed by December 2006.
1859:
Writer and linguist Wilhelm Grimm dies in Berlin, Germany. He and his brother Jacob were the first to write down such classic tales as Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty.
1903:
Hardie Albright, one of the adolescent voices of Disney's 1942 Bambi, is born in Charleroi, Pennsylvania.
1929:
The Walt Disney Studios is incorporated as a partnership and replaced by 4
companies: Walt Disney Productions, Ltd.; Walt Disney Enterprises; Liled
Realty and Investment Company; and the Disney Film Recording Company.
The Walt Disney directed Silly Symphony cartoon The Merry Dwarfs is released.
1937:
Actress Joyce Bulifant is born in Newport News, Virginia. Best known for her role of Marie Slaughter (Murray's wife) on the classic series Mary Tyler Moore, Bulifant appears in Disney's 1967 live-action feature The Happiest Millionaire as Rosemary.
1952:
WED Enterprises is founded as a private company owned solely
by Walt Disney to design and create Disneyland and to manage
Disney's personal assets. WED stands for Walter Elias Disney.
(In 1986, it will be renamed Walt Disney Imagineering.)
1955:
The Mickey Mouse Club airs on ABC-TV. Today is Talent Round-Up Day.
1962:
The TV series Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color
airs "Hurricane Hannah."
1966:
At 5:00 p.m. on this Friday, a private service is held for Walt Disney's immediate family at Little Church of the Flowers of Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. No announcements of the funeral are made until after it has taken place.
1978:
Disney's animated short The Small One, directed by Don Bluth, is released.
Set in the town of Bethlehem on the eve of the first Christmas, it is based on
the children's book by Charles Tazewell.
1983:
Disney's 25-minute Mickey Mouse short Mickey's Christmas Carol is released. A Disney version of the Charles Dickens tale, it is Mickey's first appearance since The Simple Things in 1953. The short features the final performance of Clarence Nash as Donald Duck (the only character in the film to be voiced by his original actor) and the first performance of Wayne Allwine as Mickey Mouse.
The very first "Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party" premieres at
Disney World.
1990:
Disney Channel Christmas airs on the Disney Channel.
The Commisary restaurant opens at Disney-MGM Studios
1994:
After extensive renovations, Walt Disney World's Snow White's
Adventures reopens as Snow White's Scary Adventures.
Meanwhile over in Tomorrowland, the new ExtraTERRORestrial Alien
Encounter offers a soft opening.
1997:
Ninety-eight-year-old Lillian Bounds Disney dies peacefully in her sleep at her home in West Los Angeles, after suffering a stroke the day before.
(Her husband Walt had died thirty-one years ago and a day in the early morning of December 15, 1966.)
2001:
The Disney Family invites fans to celebrate the holidays at Walt's Carolwood Barn in Griffith Park, California. The festive gathering features free refreshments, candy canes, and "Engineer Santa."
2003:
Disney's 2003 comedy hit Freaky Friday is released on DVD and VHS.
Actor Edward James Olmos narrates Epcot's Candlelight Processional.
It is reported that Disney has set a July start date for its remake of the
1959 feature The Shaggy Dog. The studio has asked Brian Robbins to
direct Tim Allen as a man who occasionally changes into a sheepdog.
Disney's Finding Nemo, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black
Pearl, Brother Bear, and Freaky Friday are all nominated for
BFCA Awards (given by the Broadcast Film Critics Association).
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2006:
The Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association presents Al Weiss, president of worldwide operations for Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, the 2006 Charles Andrew Hospitality Award for Community Leadership. Each year, the award honors one local leader for his or her contribution to the area's tourism industry through community service.
Florida governor-elect Charlie Crist spends the morning at Disney World's Magic Kingdom with 20 foster families for "Florida's Youth Day." Families are later led through the park with personal guides, armed with Fast Passes to the most popular rides and attractions.
1977:
The Disney live-action feature Candleshoe - starring Jodie Foster as Casey Brown, Helen Hayes as Lady St. Edmund (in her last screen appearance), and David Niven playing 3 roles including the part of Priory - is released.
Walt Disney World
has a horticultural
staff of over 650.
DEC
1953:
Disney's animated Peter Pan is released in Italy.
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DECEMBER 16
advertisement
THIS DAY MADE
IN THE
USA
DECEMBER 16
WED Enterprises founded
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"This really is the end of an era for the Disneys, and it's ironic and somehow fitting that it should be at this time of the year...Walt, in 1966, my dad in 1971, my mother in 1984, and now Lily have all gone during the 10 days before Christmas." -Roy E. Disney
"Mrs. Disney was a full-time partner to Walt and we are all grateful for her contributions in the creation of Mickey Mouse and the Disney company and for the example she set for family life and community service. Lillian and Walt Disney and Edna and Roy Disney were pioneers in turning a creative vision through hard work and sacrifice into an American institution. For that, the world is grateful." -Michael D. Eisner
1954:
In an official memo to J. Edgar Hoover (Director of Federal Bureau of Investigation)
dated on this day, Los Angeles agent John Malone of the Los Angeles Field
Division recommends that Walt Disney be made a Special Agent in Charge (SAC)
Contact. Walt will be approved for that role on January 12, 1955.
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