2003:
Former major league pitcher Jim Morris, the subject of the hit Disney film,
The Rookie and actor Angelo Spizzirri, who portrayed catcher "Joel De La Garza" in the film, both appear at the National Baseball Hall of Fame
Museum in Cooperstown, New York.
2005:
A digitally enhanced version of Disney's 1942 classic animated feature Bambi is screened at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Samuel Goldwyn Theater in California.
1913:
Writer and composer Tom Adair is born in Newton, Kansas. His Disney TV writing credits include the 1978 NBC Salutes the 25th Anniversary of the Wonderful World of Disney and the 1977 The Mouseketeers at Walt Disney World. Adair's music can be heard on Disneyland's Main Street USA, at The Golden Horseshoe Revue, and in the 1959 animated feature Sleeping Beauty. (Nominated for an Emmy in 1969, Adair's long list of TV credits include The Munsters, My Three Sons, and Maude.)
1917:
Art director, set designer and Disney Legend Bill Martin is born in Marshalltown, Iowa. He will go on to help Walt Disney create such classic Disneyland attractions as Sleeping Beauty's Castle, Snow White's Adventures, and Peter Pan's Flight.
1943:
Mouseketeer Eileen Diamond - a Mouseketeer during the 1956/1957
season of Mickey Mouse Club - is born in Los Angeles, California. After
leaving the show she will appear in small (uncredited) roles in the Disney feature Babes in
Toyland and later the classic The Music Man.
1944:
This day's Disney Studio Labor-Management Commission newsletter notes:
Ward Kimball's Huggajeedy 8 is doing a swell job of entertaining the boys in the hospitals. Next trip will be to the Norconia T.B. Ward, where they'll try a new act, complete with "chalk-talk," skits and jam session.
This is in reference to Kimball's musical group which will eventually turn into The Firehouse Five Plus Two.
1949:
Actor & comedian Jim Varney (famous for his "Ernest" character) is born in Lexington, Kentucky. He will go on to supply the voices for Jebidiah Allardyce 'Cookie' Farnsworth in Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and Slinky Dog in both Toy Story and Toy Story 2. Varney will also star in a string of live-action films for Touchstone Pictures based on his Ernest P. Worrell character.
1957:
At Disneyland, Don DeFore's Silver Banjo Barbecue restaurant
in Frontierland opens. Operated by well-known actor Don DeFore and his
brother Verne, the restaurant is inspired by a silver banjo their father had given them.
Located right next to Aunt Jemima’s restaurant, the Silver Banjo is the only
concession in Disneyland with the name of a real living person. (Although at this time
Art Linkletter owns the Kodak concession - his name is not visible.)
1959:
"Kodak Presents: Disneyland '59" airs on ABC-TV's Walt Disney Presents.
Art Linkletter hosts the 131st and live episode, which introduces viewers to the new attractions that had opened the day before - the Monorail, the Submarine Voyage and the Matterhorn Bobsleds. The 90-minute show also features Annette Funicello, Ricky Nelson, Fred MacMurray, and of course Walt Disney himself.
1964:
Gavin Greenaway is born in England. He will go on to compose "Tapestry of Nations," used for the spectacular parade procession that winds through Disney's Epcot, and "Reflections of Earth" used to accompany Disney's Millennium Fireworks/laser show.
1989:
Today is Party Day on Disney Channel's MMC.
1990:
The Disney short Roller Coaster Rabbit - featuring the voice of Charles Fleischer as Roger Rabbit - is released along with
the Touchstone/Disney feature film Dick Tracy, starring
Warren Beatty, Al Pacino, and Madonna.
Patented Pastimes opens on Disneyland's Main Street.
1994:
The TV special, "The Lion King: A Musical Journey With Elton John" is shown on ABC the same day that Disney's 32nd animated motion picture The Lion King premieres in selected U.S. cities.
1999:
Disney's Tarzan has its world premiere in Singapore.
2001:
The National Lum and Abner Society (an organization formed to preserve and document the history of Lum & Abner - two radio comedians of the 1930s & 40s) host four special Disney guests at their 2001 convention in Mena, Arkansas.
The guests; Sam Edwards (known for the long line of albums he made on the Disneyland Records label during the 1960s and early 1970s), Rhoda Williams (the voice of Drizella in Cinderella), Robie Lester (who performed countless characters for the Disneyland Records label), and Dick Beals (who played the parts of Huey, Dewey and Louie in several of the 1960s Disney productions) are honored at the Lime Tree Inn Motel.
Disney's 40th animated creation Atlantis: The Lost Empire
(featuring the voices of Michael J. Fox, Claudia Christian, Leonard Nimoy,
James Gardner, and Jim Varney) is released nationwide. This is Disney's first 70mm animated film since 1985s The Black Cauldron.
2002:
SHOCKWAVE (a new musical show from the creator of the Tony Award-winning Broadway hit Blast!) debuts at Epcot.
1991:
The Studio Pizzeria restaurant opens at the Disney-MGM Studios.
The Lion King originally started as a project called
"King of
the Jungle."
1967:
The Club 33 restaurant (for members-only) opens at
33 Royal Street, in New Orleans Square at Disneyland.
It is comprised of two dining rooms and several adjoining areas, all of which hold a wide array of magnificent
antiques and original works of art.
1961:
The very first Disneyland Grad Night Party is held. About 8,500 students attend,
making it the largest high school grad party to be held in the U.S.
2007:
The 34th Daytime Emmy Awards are held at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Outstanding Performer In An Animated Program is given to Eartha Kitt for her role of Yzma on The Emperor's New School.
Life's greatest adventure is finding your place in the Circle of Life.
JUNE
2008:
At the Shanghai International Film Festival, Walt Disney Studios together with Chinese filmmakers Castle Hero Pictures and Ying Dong Media announce that they are combining creative forces to make a movie tentatively titled Touch of the Panda. The film, shot in Sichuan, China with cooperation and supervision from the Wolong Giant Panda Nature Reserve, features Giant Pandas bred and nurtured in one of the world’s foremost research and preservation facilities for the endangered species.
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JUNE 15
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JUNE 15
THIS SITE MADE
IN THE
USA
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Club 33 opens
1978:
Millard Jones, 86, of Lakeland, Florida makes his 500th visit to Walt Disney World!
An amazing feat considering WDW has only been opened since October 1971.
The Lion King was the first Disney animated feature to be an original story, rather than being based on an already-existing story.
"Life`s just a bus stop to somewhere infinitely better." -Jim Varney
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