2005:
Disneyland receives the coveted Award of Excellence star, adjacent to
the Hollywood Walk of Fame, in recognition of its 50th anniversary.
The dedication takes place on Hollywood Blvd. in front of the El Capitan Theatre in California.
1998:
Disney's 1949 live-action film So Dear To My Heart is released on video.
Today is Spirit of Mickey Day in Marceline, Missouri
(Walt Disney's boyhood home town).
1865:
A 21-year-old Englishman and amateur artist named Edward Whymper and a group of climbers become the first to reach the summit of the Matterhorn, the most famous peak in the Swiss Alps. (Walt Disney and his family will visit the neighboring village of Zermatt during the 1950s. His love of the area will later inspire the 1959 live-action film Third Man on the Mountain and the Disneyland bobsled ride.)
1928:
Actress Nancy Olson is born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her Disney credits
include Pollyanna as Nancy Furman, The Absent-Minded Professor as Betsy Carlisle, Son of
Flubber as Elizabeth 'Betsy' Brainard, and Snowball Express as Sue Baxter. Olson also
makes a brief, uncredited cameo appearance in the 1997 re-make of The Absent-Minded
Professor titled Flubber (starring Robin Williams).
1934:
Disney's Silly Symphony cartoon The Flying Mouse is released. Directed by David Hand, it is considered a significant cartoon for the Disney Studios, as it marks a big step forward in creating a real personality for an animated character.
1946:
Original Mouseketeer - and the youngest male to audition to be
a Mouseketeer - Carl "Cubby" O'Brien is born in Burbank, California.
The youngest of three sons of Haskell "Hack" O'Brien, a well-known professional drummer, young Carl got his
nickname "Cubby" from his mom. At age five, he will begin playing drums while attending the Carl Babcock Music
School in Sherman Oaks, California. (Cubby will later become a professional drummer performing with acts like
The Carpenters, Debbie Reynolds, and Andy Williams and on the hit TV variety series The Carol Burnett Show.
Years later he will perform on Broadway for such productions as The Producers, Gypsy, and Chicago.)
1965:
Disney's live-action feature film The Monkey's Uncle, starring Tommy Kirk (his last Disney film) and Annette Funicello, is generally released. It also features the motion picture debut of the Beach Boys, who back Funicello on the title song - written by the Sherman Brothers. (The film is a sequel to the 1964 feature The Misadventures of Merlin Jones.)
1968:
The Dapper Dans and Disneyland performers & characters appear at the Hollywood Bowl (in California) during a sold-out "Family Night" concert hosted by comedic actor Morey Amsterdam.
1975:
The Disney company announces plans to build an Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (or EPCOT) in Florida.
1978:
The American Egg House opens on Main Street in Disneyland. Howard Helmer (a
demonstrating cook with the American Egg Board) breaks the world record for omelet preparation. Easily passing
the old record of 188 omelets, Howard produces 217 two-egg omelets in only 30 minutes, assuring himself a spot in
Guinness's next edition of its famous record book!
2000:
Tokyo Disneyland welcomes its 250-millionth visitor, Mrs. Hisae Do.
The Disney Channel Original Movie Ready to Run, about a 14-year-old energetic girl who dreams of becoming a jockey in a predominantly male sport, debuts.
2002:
In celebration of Bastille Day, the Disneyland Resort Paris holds a Holiday Pin Event.
Cadet Kelly - starring Hillary Duff & Christy Carlson Romano - airs on Wonderful
World of Disney. It is the first Disney Channel Movie ever to be repeated on the
ABC-TV series.
2003:
Walt Disney World introduces new lightweight language translation headsets. The headsets incorporate wireless technology that provides synchronized narration in five languages.
2006:
A new daytime harbor show called “The Legend of Mythica” debuts as part of Tokyo DisneySea Park’s 5th Anniversary celebration.
1999:
The Disney Wonder departs from Venice, Italy (where she was built) enroute to Port Canaveral, Florida.
1913:
Gerald Rudolph Ford, the 38th president and 40th vice president of the United States, is born in Omaha, Nebraska. (He will be raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan.) Visit Mr. Ford and all the presidents at Disney World's classic attraction The Hall of Presidents.
1955:
Final construction and preparation take place in Anaheim on Walt's new theme park (just 3 days before Disneyland's grand debut). During a test ride, Disneyland's Casey Jr. Circus Train almost tips backward while traveling uphill! Lead weights will be added to the front, allowing it to temporarily run on the park's grand opening day. (On July 18 the attraction will close allowing the steep uphill grade to be reduced.) Over in Tomorrowland, final details are added to the Disneyland Moonliner Rocket. A worker suspended from a crane 76 feet above the ground places the pointed silver top of the rocket in place.
1989:
Disney's 1953 Peter Pan is re-released in theaters for the fifth and final time.
2008:
Napster, the pioneer in digital music, announces a partnership with Walt Disney Records that includes an exclusive commercial-free “Best of Disney” radio station featuring music from Disney’s catalog.
JULY
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JULY 14
THIS SITE MADE
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A 31-year-old actress named
Joann Killingsworth was Disneyland's very first Snow White. She was a part-time sales clerk at the Neiman-Marcus department store in Newport Beach, California when she was found through a Disney nationwide search!
The Monkey's Uncle released
"We believed in our idea - a family park where parents and children could have fun - together." -Walt Disney
1919:
Animator and teacher Walt Stanchfield is born in Los Angeles, California. He will begin
his career in animation in 1937 at the Charles Mintz Studio and then later at the Walter Lantz Studio prior to his
lengthy tenure at The Walt Disney Studios. In the 1970s, Stanchfield will focus his efforts on establishing a training
program for new animators along with veteran animator and director Eric Larson. Stanchfield will work on every
full-length animated feature from the 1948 The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad through the 1986 The Great
Mouse Detective. In the mid-1980s, he will also teach weekly gesture drawing classes for the entire studio. His
weekly lecture notes and drawings are now gathered and published in a two-volume collection entitled Drawn to
Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes by animator/producer Don Hahn.
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2009:
Actor Dallas R. McKennon (often credited as Dal McKennon) passes away just 5 days short of his 90th birthday. Mostly known as a voice actor, his Disney credits include Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, Mary Poppins, and Bedknobs and Broomsticks. McKennon also provided the voices for many Disney attractions such as the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad safety announcement, Ben Franklin's voice in Epcot's American Adventure, and the voice of Zeke in the Country Bear Jamboree. (McKennon was also the original voice of Gumby for Art Clokey's 1950s stop motion clay animation.)
"Hold on to your hats and glasses... this here's the wildest ride in the wilderness!" -McKennon
