2000:
Artist, author and illustrator Eyvind Earle, known for his beautiful background
paintings on such Disney animated films as Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan and Lady
and the Tramp, passes away at age 84. He also created the look of the Academy Award-
winning Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom and designed five murals for Disneyland.
(Although much of his work was not exhibited in his lifetime, today such museums as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Rahr West Art Museum in Wisconsin have purchased Earle's works for their
permanent collections.)
1890:
Actress Verna Felton, best-known for providing many female voices in numerous Disney animated films (as well as voicing Fred Flintstone's mother-in-law for Hanna-Barbera) is born in Salinas, California. Her Disney voice credits inlcude the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella, the Queen of Hearts in Alice In Wonderland, and Winifred the Elephant in The Jungle Book.
1923:
Journalist-turned-publicist and Disney Legend Charlie Ridgway is born in
Chicago, Illinois. As a news reporter he wrote some of the first articles about Disneyland - before &
after its opening. (Ridgway was at the park's grand debut!) Starting as an employee in 1963 he helped
promote more than 150 major press events for Disney theme parks. In 2007, his book Spinning
Disney's World was published.
1955:
The Tomorrowland Boats (later named the Phantom Boats) debuts in Disneyland. The attraction features 14 brightly painted gas-powered fiberglass boats. (Poor mechanical design will cause the ride to be the park's first permanent attraction to close.)
1981:
TIME magazine runs an article titled
"The Great Era of Walt Disney" in this week's issue.
1985:
Virgil Waytes, Jr. becomes the 200,000,000th guest at Walt Disney World!
"For 70 years I've painted paintings, and I'm constantly and everlastingly overwhelmed at the stupendous infinity of creation ... Art is the search for truth."
-Eyvind Earle
1975:
Actor Jason Raize is born in Oneonta, New York. He will be best known as the original adult Simba in the Broadway stage musical version of The Lion King and as the voice of Denahi in the Disney animated feature Brother Bear.
1945:
Visual effects supervisor and matte artist Harrison Ellenshaw is born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Son of legendary Disney matte painter Peter Ellenshaw, Harrsion's Disney credits include No Deposit, No Return, Gus, The Shaggy D.A., Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, Pete's Dragon, and Captain EO.
From the Earth to the Moon,
the Space Mountain attraction
in Disneyland Paris, was built
by coaster designers Vekoma
(who also designed
Rock 'n' Roller Coaster).
1969
1995:
The Walt Disney Company signs a 49-year lease with the 42nd Street Redevelopment Project to manage and operate the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York City.
JULY
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JULY 20
Today is Moon Day
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JULY 20
THIS SITE MADE
IN THE
USA
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1951:
The Donald Duck short Lucky Number is released. Directed by Jack Hannah - Donald wins
a car from a sweepstake ticket, but trouble starts when Huey, Dewey, and Louie decide to pick it up for him.
Moon landing televised at Disneyland
"Disneyland is like Alice stepping through the Looking Glass; to step through the portals of Disneyland will be like entering another world." -Walt Disney
1969:
The historic Apollo 11 moon landing is televised on
Disneyland's Tomorrowland Stage. Neil Armstrong
(who in July 2005 will take part in the re-opening
of Disneyland's Space Mountain) becomes the
very first human to set foot on the moon. Also playing a key role in the lunar
landing is Stephen Bales, a member of mission control at NASA's Johnson Space Center. He
was inspired to become an aeronautical engineer by a 1950s Disney television show that
predicted how men might travel to and explore the moon.
1948:
The Chicago Railroad Fair opens at 10 o'clock on this morning on the lake front in
Burnham Park, Chicago, Illinois. The following month Walt Disney and Ward Kimball will visit the event -
and be greatly influenced by the collection of steam trains and the design and layout of the fair itself.
