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2005:
The largest Disney theme park ticket give-away takes place at the Fed Ex Orange Bowl National Championship game in Miami, Florida. Seventy-two thousand ticket holders shout “I’m going to Disneyland!” after each of them receive a surprise free ticket to any Disney theme park in the world. Mickey Mouse makes a surprise appearance at the end of the third quarter and personally invites each of them to the global celebration saluting the 50th anniversary of Disneyland Park in California.
The Southern California Trojans win over the Oklahoma Sooners by a score of 55-19.
The Wonders of Life pavilion "closes" at Epcot as it is now considered a seasonal attraction. It will reopen when the park is projected to hit near capacity during the high spring months and big holiday season.
"No one knows when or where
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was first told. Jacob Grimm
was a very learned man ... a scientist. You would hardly think he would
go in for fairy tales. But just as a hobby he and his brother collected a lot
of old folk stories and legends, put them into a book and called the
book Grimm’s Fairy Tales."
-Walt Disney
1785:
Writer and linguist Jacob Grimm is born in Hanau, Germany.
He and his brother Wilhelm will collect folktales and help to establish the science of folklore. They will be the very first to write down such classic stories as Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty.
1905:
Character actor & Disney Legend Sterling Holloway - the original voice of Winnie the Pooh - is born in Cedartown, Georgia. His countless Disney voice credits include Dumbo (as Mr. Stork), Bambi (as Adult Flower), The Three Caballeros (as Professor Holloway), Make Mine Music (narrator of "Peter and the Wolf"), The Jungle Book (as Kaa), and The AristoCats (as Roquefort).
1918:
Composer and Disney Legend Norman 'Buddy' Baker is born in Springfield,
Missouri. He will compose nearly 200 scores for Disney motion pictures, television, and theme parks. He
will be nominated for an Oscar for the 1972 Napoleon and Samantha and become musical director for
EPCOT Center. Among Baker's most noted musical contributions will be TV's The Mickey Mouse
Club and the Haunted Mansion attraction.
1936:
Disney's Mickey Mouse cartoon Mickey's Polo Team, directed by David Hand, is released. The short features a game of polo between a team made up of Mickey, Goofy, the Big Bad Wolf, & Donald and a team made up of four animated caricatures of film actors Stan Laurel, Oliver Hardy, Harpo Marx, and Charlie Chaplin. Animated spectators include Hollywood stars Shirley Temple, Eddie Cantor, W.C. Fields, and Clark Gable. (The film is created as a result of Walt Disney's interest in the sport.)
1937:
The first cels of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs are taken to the Disney Ink and Paint department at the studio on Hyperion Avenue in California. Walt wants the film completed for a Christmastime release.
1943:
Original Mouseketeer Mary Lynn Satori is born in Glendale, California.
1956:
Walt Disney and a handful of his staff lunch with animation pioneer
Max Fleischer and his son Dick at the Disney commissary.
The Disneyland television series airs episode 36 - part 1 of
"When Knighthood Was in Flower" (an edited version of the theatrical release The Sword and the Rose).
1962:
Voice actress, writer, and radio host April Winchell is born in New York City. Her Disney voice credits include Kim Possible: So the Drama, Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas, and Tarzan & Jane. April is the daughter of Paul Winchell (ventriloquist & the voice of Tigger) and actress Nina Russel.
1963:
Comedic actor Dave Foley, the voice of Flik in Disney's 1998 A Bug's
Life, a member of the comedy team Kids in the Hall, and Dave
Nelson on TV's News Radio, is born in Etobicoke, a suburb of
Toronto, Canada. Foley also appears in the 2005 live-action Disney
feature Sky High, as Mr Boy.
1989:
The Walt Disney World attraction If You Could Fly (opened since June 1987) closes. (It will reopen the following June as Delta Dreamflight.)
1996:
Michael Eisner speaks to a group of Disney shareholders in New York. He discusses Disney's plans for Animal Kingdom, Disney World's 25th anniversary, the Florida community of Celebration, and the Disney Cruise Lines.
1998:
Both Bob Hope and the late Roy O. Disney (Walt's brother) are among the Los
Angeles citizens honored during an Investiture ceremony for the Papal Order of
St. Gregory the Great. The honorees are cited for their contributions to the
Catholic Church, the Christian faith and their service and charity work.
2002:
The two-day 2002 Disney Marathon Health and Fitness Expo in the Milk House at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex kicks off. The Expo will lead up to the 2002 Walt Disney World Marathon and Half Marathon on January 6.
The Orlando Sentinel reports that the U.S. Army is planning to double the size of Shades of Green, its 287-room hotel at Walt Disney World, in a $50 million expansion project that could start as soon as April. In sharp contrast with Disney's recent closings of thousands of rooms at some of its resorts because of slow business, Shades of Green (located near the Magic Kingdom) has been turning guests away lately with occupancy rates consistently ranging from 90 to 99 percent.
2003:
Walt Disney World's Polynesian Revue, a tropical-themed dinner show performed at the Polynesian Resort, gives its last
performance. It will be replaced in February 2003 with the Spirit of Aloha Dinner Show.
2004:
The Toronto production of Disney's The Lion King is staged for the last time. The live show closes after more than 1,500 performances over nearly four years at
the Princess of Wales Theatre.
Actress/singer Lisa Brescia assumes the role of Amneris in Disney's Broadway
show Aida. Brescia has played the role in several road productions.
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2007:
Kendi, an eight year old White Rhino gives birth to her second baby – a male named Tom, at Disney's Animal Kingdom. The healthy baby White Rhinoceros is the sixth White Rhino born at Disney's Animal Kingdom, - his mother, Kendi, was the first!
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JAN
1958:
Actor Matt Frewer is born in Washington, D.C. He is the voice of Panic for Hercules
and Mickey's House of Villains, and appears in the live-action Honey, I Shrunk the
Kids as Big Russ. (TV fans may remember him as Max Headroom!)
In 1937, the Boy Scouts of America bestowed upon Mickey Mouse
membership in
the Cub Scouts
in honor of
his 9th birthday.
JANUARY 4
advertisement
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Brothers Grimm
Sterling Holloway
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JANUARY 04
THIS DAY MADE
IN THE
USA
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1952:
The Goofy short Father's Lion is released. Goofy teaches his son the finer points
of camping outdoors ... unfortunately with a mountain lion in hot pursuit!
