1950:
Disney's Treasure Island, starring Robert Newton in the role of Long John Silver & based on the book by Robert Louis Stevenson, is released in the U.S. and the U.K.
A young boy named Jim gets caught up with Long John Silver in search of the buried treasure of the buccaneer Captain Flint. Treasure Island is the first Disney live-action film without any animation (although Walt Disney's original plan was to make the movie as a full-length cartoon). Treasure Island is also the first Disney film to be shot in England. The decision to film in there, rather than the West Indian setting of the story, was financially motivated. Sales of Disney product had stockpiled a large sum of money in the UK - whose laws prevented their pounds sterling from being exchanged totally into American dollars - so the studio decided to use the frozen funds to make the film in England.
Treasure Island cast:
Bobby Driscoll as Jim Hawkins
Robert Newton as Long John Silver
Basil Sydney as Captain Smollett
Walter Fitzgerald as Squire Trelawney
Denis O'Dea as Dr. Livesy
Finlay Currie as Capt. Billy Bones
Also released is the True-Life Adventure Beaver Valley about a two-year-old beaver who sets forth into the wild world to establish a home with a young widow beaver and her baby. (It will win the Academy Award® for
Best Two-Reel Short Subject.)
2002:
The Walt Disney Company signs a letter of intent with the city of Shanghai to builds its third Asian theme park there.
The Lizzie McGuire episode "Best Dressed for Much Less"
debuts on Disney Channel.
2005:
A tragedy is averted when famed sports agent Drew Rosenhaus performs
life-saving CPR on a 3-year-old at Walt Disney World. After being pulled from the
kiddie pool at the Grand Floridian, the young child from Chicago is revived by Rosenhaus (who is in
town for a function at ESPN Club).
1919:
Dal McKennon, the voice of Benjamin Franklin in Disney's
American Adventure (located at Epcot), Andrew Jackson in
WDW's The Hall of Presidents, and the narrator of the
now-retired Disneyland attraction Mine Train thru Nature's
Wonderland, is born in La Grande, Oregon. Best remembered for
his Big Thunder Mountain Railroad safety announcement used at U.S. Disney parks, he also appeared
in a few Disney live-action films. McKennon had a small role in Son of Flubber (1963), played a detective in The Misadventures of Merlin Jones (1964), voiced a few characters in Mary Poppins (1964), voiced an animated bear in Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), played Charlie in the sci-fi comedy The Cat from Outer Space (1978), and played Saloon Man in Hot Lead and Cold Feet (1978). His Disney animation voice credits include Lady and the Tramp (1955), Paul Bunyan (1958), One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), and Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966). (McKennon's best known non-Disney voice roles include Gumby for Art Clokey's Gumby, and Archie Andrews for Filmation's Archie series.)
1934:
Disney signs a contract with the Lionel Corporation to produce a Mickey
Mouse wind-up hand-car. Lionel Corporation, an American toy manufacturer and
retailer, first began as an electrical novelties company in 1900. Lionel specializes in various
products, but toy trains and model railroads are its main claim to fame. At this time the company is
attempting to avoid bankruptcy (due to the Great Depression). The wind-up handcar will be widely credited with saving the company as Lionel will manufacture 250,000 units ... and still be unable to keep up with demand!
1942:
Character actor and future Disney voice star Sterling Holloway enlists in the U.S.
Army at the age of 37. He will be assigned to the Special Services and help develop a show called
"Hey Rookie", which will run for nine months and raise $350,000 for the Army Relief Fund.
1999:
Disney fans, railroaders, members of the Disney family, local government
officials and press gather in Griffith Park in Los Angeles, for the official
dedication of Walt Disney's Carolwood Barn. (Disney had a miniature railroad in his
backyard on Carolwood Drive and this exact barn where he could monitor and control the 2,615 feet of
track that made up his railroad. The barn also served as a workshop and a place for Walt to relax.)
1955:
A 12-year-old Californian named Tom Nabbe starts his job as a "newsie" -
hawking The Disneyland News at the new Anaheim park. Published monthly,
it covers the ongoing events happening at Disneyland and costs a dime - Nabbe earns 3 cents per copy. Nabbe will go on to become Disneyland's first Tom Sawyer, a monorail manager and later manager of distribution
services at Disney World ... and ultimately a Disney Legend in 2005!
1957:
The Disney animated short "The Story of Anyburg, U.S.A.", directed by Clyde Geronimi, is released. A "humorous message on auto sanity," it features the voices of Hans Conried, Thurl Ravenscroft, Dal McKennon, and Bill Thompson. The city of Anyburg decides its traffic situation has gotten out of hand, so it puts the automobile on trial. The prosecuting attorney talks to three different automobiles: a nervous car accused of speeding and crashing into a restaurant, a red sports car who has no qualms about guzzling gasoline and burning rubber, and a decrepit old wreck, who does not appear at all road-worthy. In the end, they are declared “not guilty” since it is the people who drive them who must admit their guilt and promise to drive carefully.
1940:
Disney's Donald Duck short Put Put Troubles is released. Directed by Riley Thompson, Donald and Pluto go boating ... but have nothing but trouble at sea!
JULY
JULY 19
JULY 19
THIS SITE MADE
IN THE
USA
Most of Jack Wagner's Disney
recordings were made at his own
house where he had a recording
studio (which was installed by
Disney in the 1970s).
A voiceover booth in his home
was connected to Studio D at
Disneyland in Anaheim. At the
time, Jack's home in Southern
California was one of the first to
use a direct
audio link
from a
remote
recording
studio!
 | ||||
| ||||
1989:
The ceremony is held at the Disney Legends Promenade (sidewalk area in front of the Disney Studio
Theatre) with Michael Eisner and Roy E. Disney presenting.
Treasure Island released
"I don't want the public to see the world they live in while they're in the park.
I want to feel they're in another world." -Walt Disney
| ||||
1946:
The Pluto cartoon The Purloined Pup, directed by Charles Nichols, is relesed. Pluto the policedog must save Ronnie (a Saint Bernard puppy) who has been kidnapped by a bulldog named Butch!
2011:
Cars 2 star Lightning McQueen joins Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show
at Disney’s Hollywood Studios for the first time.
Buena Vista Records releases the soundtrack for Captain America: The First
Avenger on the day the film (distributed by Paramount Pictures) has its world
premiere at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California. The soundtrack includes
the original score by Alan Silvestri, as well as an original song titled "Star Spangled Man" written by Alan
Menken (music) and David Zippel (lyrics). (The film will be screened two days later at the 2011 San Diego
Comic-Con and be generally released in North America July 22.)
This Day in Disney History - THE FIRST - THE ORIGINAL
Traveling in time since 1999!
2013:
Some 8.4 million viewers tune in to Disney Channel's Teen
Beach Movie. A couple of surfers are mysteriously transported into a beach
party movie, where opponents break into song and dance as they battle for the
beach hangout. The cast includes Ross Lynch, Maia Mitchell, Grace Phipps,
Garrett Clayton, John DeLuca, Chrissie Fit, Suzanne Cryer, and Barry Bostwick.
Directed by Jeffrey Hornaday, Teen Beach Movie was filmed in Puerto Rico. The
premiere of the film is dedicated to beach party film star (and original Mouseketeer)
Annette Funicello, who died on April 8, 2013.
Liv and Maddie, a comedy television series created by John
D. Beck and Ron Hart previews on Disney Channel. (It will officially
premiere in September.) Liv and Maddie Rooney, both played by actress Dove
Cameron, are identical twins who come together after living completely different lives
for the last few years. Liv has been in Hollywood for the past four years starring on a
hit TV show and Maddie is a high school basketball phenom in Wisconsin. Also
featuring Joey Bragg, Tenzing Norgay Trainor, Kali Rocha, and Benjamin King, the series will run for 4 seasons.
Emmy Buckner plays Liv's double, and Shelby Wulfert plays Maddie's double.
July 19
2016:
Garry Marshall, the legendary writer and director who created the wildly popular television programs "Happy Days," "The Odd Couple," "Laverne & Shirley" and
"Mork & Mindy" passes away at the age of 81 in California. A fan of Disneyland, Marshall's
Disney credits included directing the motion pictures Beaches (1988), Pretty Woman (1990), The Princess Diaries (2001), Raising Helen (2004) and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004). He also directed The Lottery, a short film which for years was a fixture of the Backstage Tour at the Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park. As an actor he had small roles or cameos in Beaches, Pretty Woman, Hocus Pocus (1993), and Race to Witch Mountain (2009). Marshall also supplied the voice for Buck Cluck in Disney's 2005 Chicken Little.
2019:
The Lion King, a photorealistic computer-animated remake
of Disney's traditionally animated 1994 hit film The Lion
King, is released in U.S. theaters. Directed and produced by Jon
Favreau, the film stars the voices of Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, Chiwetel
Ejiofor, Alfre Woodard, Billy Eichner, John Kani, John Oliver and Beyoncé
Knowles-Carter, as well as James Earl Jones reprising his role from the
original. The plot follows Simba, a young lion who must embrace his role as
the rightful king of his native land following murder of his father, Mufasa, at
the hands of his uncle, Scar.
The soundtrack for the 2019 The Lion King is also released on this day. It
consists of songs from the original 1994 film written by Elton John and Tim
Rice, and performed by the film's cast, as well as a new song by Beyoncé
and an end-credit song titled "Never Too Late", written by John and Rice
and performed by John, and a score composed by the original film's
composer Hans Zimmer. (The soundtrack was digitally released on July 11.)
Singular: Act II, the fourth studio album by singer Sabrina
Carpenter, is released by Hollywood Records.
1930:
Actress Rhoda Williams is born in Denver Colorado. In Walt Disney's 1950 Cinderella, she was the voice and model for the nasty stepsister, Drizella. Williams was also the voice and model for the Audio-Animatronic mother and teen-age daughter at the General Electric Carousel of Progress at Disneyland (from 1964-1973).
1976:
Actor Benedict Cumberbatch is born in London, England. He played Dr. Stephen Strange in Doctor Strange (2016), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019).
1974:
Character actor Joe Flynn passes away unexpectedly at age 49 in Los Angeles, California. Best known for his role as Captain Wallace Binghamton in the 1960s ABC television situation comedy McHale's Navy, he also appeared in several Walt Disney films. His credits include Son of Flubber (1963), The Love Bug (1968), The Barefoot Executive (1971), The Million Dollar Duck (1971), Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972), Superdad (1973), and The Strongest Man in the World (1975). Flynn also hosted an episode of Mouse Factory and supplied the voice of Mr. Snoops for the animated The Rescuers (his final film role).
1984:
Actor and singer Harry Stockwell passes away at age 82 in New York City. Although a noted Broadway performer, he is best remembered for providing the voice of "The Prince" (seen at the beginning and again in the finale) in Walt Disney's 1937 animated classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
2014:
Actor James Garner passes away at age 86 in Los Angeles, California. He was the voice of Commander Lyle Tiberius Rourke in Disney's 2001 animated release Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Garner's live-action Disney film credits include the 1974 The Castaway Cowboy and the 1973 One Little Indian. He was added to the cast of ABC-TV's 8 Simple Rules after the sudden death of John Ritter in 2003. (He starred in several television series over more than five decades, including popular roles such as Bret Maverick in the 1950s western series Maverick and as Jim Rockford in the 1970s private detective show, The Rockford Files.)
The second season of the animated television series Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja debuts with the episodes "On the Poolfront" and "Flume-Igation."
1969:
Ash Brannon, an animator, writer & director, is born in Columbus, Georgia.
He was a story artist and directing animator on Toy Story and co-director on Toy Story 2.
