JULY 15 Disney History

2005:

Disneyland's Space Mountain reopens after a two-year refurbishment.

Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, takes part in the opening ceremony.

Disney's California Adventure opens its newest attraction - Turtle Talk with Crush - in the Hollywood Pictures Backlot. Designed by Walt Disney Imagineering in collaboration with Pixar, the attraction consists of an unscripted, real-time conversation with Crush, the sea turtle from the Disney/Pixar film Finding Nemo. (It is the 2nd "Crush" attraction to open, as one debuted in Epcot in 2004.)

The Anaheim park also announces that the Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage will be built on the site of the old Submarine Voyage attraction.

(Nemo will debut in June 2007.)

Life is Ruff, a Disney Channel Original Movie, debuts.

1912:

Imagineer and writer Al Bertino, who helped design such Disneyland attractions as Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, the Haunted Mansion, and the Country Bear Jamboree, is born in California. Big Al, the most familiar face in Frontierland's Grizzly Hall, is a tribute to Bertino!

1944:

Actor Jan-Michael Vincent, the star of Disney's 1973 live-action feature The World's Greatest Athlete, is born in Denver, Colorado.

1946:

Grammy award winning singer Linda Ronstadt, who recorded a contemporary version of Disney's "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" (in both English and Spanish) is born in Tucson, Arizona. She also appeared in the 1987 TV special "Golden Anniversary of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." (During her 4-decade career, Ronstadt's run on the Billboard charts includes one single or album charted every year from 1970 to 2000! She was the first female in music history to score three consecutive platinum albums and ultimately rack up a total of eight consecutive platinum albums.)

1975:

Construction begins on Disneyland's

Space Mountain. (It will open in May 1977.)

1988:

Disney re-releases Bambi in theaters for the 7th and final time.

1995:

In Florida, Disney's Wedding Pavilion - located south of the Grand Floridian Beach Resort - opens. Built on a private island

surrounded by Seven Seas Lagoon, it is a glass-enclosed Victorian-style

non-denominational chapel.

1998:

Building a Company: Roy O. Disney and the Creation of an Entertainment Empire by author Bob Thomas is published by Hyperion Press.

The Disney Magic arrives at Port Canaveral, Florida for the first time.

2000:

Six Walt Disney Imagineers come together for a special lithograph signing to

pay tribute to Disneyland Park and "45 Years of Magic." The event takes place at

The Disney Gallery located in the New Orleans Square.

2006:

The 2006 DisMeets in Allentown, Pennsylvania takes place. The 3rd annual event features presentations by leading Disney-site webmasters.

"Oops! I Meddled Again" - the eleventh episode of Hannah Montana debuts on Disney Channel.

The Carpenters official video

for their re-make of "Please

Mr. Postman" (from the 1975

album From the Top) was shot

at Disneyland. Mickey Mouse

even appears mailing a letter

on Disneyland's Main Street!

1941:

U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt sends federal labor conciliator Stanley White to Hollywood, California. White is to make an attempt to settle the Disney workers' strike.

1955:

Two days before the grand opening of Disneyland, the Long Beach Press-Telegram, the Santa Ana Register and other Southern California newspapers include an advertising supplement for Disneyland in their papers. It highlights all the "wonderous attractions" that guests will find, and ads from Disneyland’s sponsors - such as the Richfield Oil Corporation.