1961:
Disney's black & white live-action film The Absent-Minded Professor, starring
Fred MacMurray, Nancy Olsen and Ed Wynn, is released. The film is produced in
black & white to facilitate a number of unique special effects. The film's "Medfield Fight Song" is written by
Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman, their first song for a Disney feature. The film is based on the short story A
Situation of Gravity, by Samuel W. Taylor. (A colorized version of The Absent-Minded
Professor will be released in 1986.)
Also released on this day is the animated short The Saga of Windwagon
Smith, featuring the vocals of Rex Allen and the Sons of the Pioneers.
2005:
It is reported that the Disney-Pixar animated feature
The Incredibles has sold about 5 million combined DVD and VHS units yesterday (March 15), its first day in release.
1911:
Motion-picture designer & Disney Legend Harper Goff, who collaborated with Walt Disney on Disneyland's design, is born in Fort Collins, Colorado. Harper's concepts for Main Street established the fact that a story could be told with architecture (he designed Disneyland's City Hall). He also led the design effort for Epcot's World Showcase pavilions. Goff played banjo as a member of the Firehouse Five Plus Two (a jazz band made up of Disney employees).
1923:
Animator, desginer, Imagineer and Disney Legend Joyce Carlson is born in Racine,
Wisconsin. Her 56 years at Disney include creating the original It's a Small World for the New York World's Fair of 1964. Carlson also worked as an ink artist on such films as Cinderella, Peter Pan and Sleeping Beauty. She
was also the lead ink artist for the 1955 Disney classic Lady and the Tramp. Carlson later moved to Central Florida
in 1982 to work at Disney World as a senior show production designer. She retired from her full-time position at
Disney World in 2000, but remained working for Disney through 2007. Carlson's Disney World window, which is on
the second floor of a structure along Main Street U.S.A, reads, "Dolls by Miss Joyce, Dollmaker for the World."
1934:
An Oscar is won for Disney's short subject cartoon,
The Three Little Pigs at the 6th annual Academy Awards (held in
the Fiesta Room of the Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles, California).
1935:
The Disney film Mickey's Service Station featuring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy is released. Directed by Ben Sharpsteen, it is the last Walt Disney animated short in black and white.
1967:
Actress Lauren Graham, who appears in Disney's 2005 comedy feature
The Pacifier, is born in Honolulu, Hawaii.
1968:
Louis Armstrong and his 7-piece band (augmented with a studio orchestra and choir) record 4 songs for the upcoming LP Disney Songs the Satchmo Way in a Hollywood studio. This day's session includes "The Ballad of Davy Crockett," "When You Wish Upon A Star," "Bibbidy-Bobbidy-Boo," and "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah."
1974:
At Walt Disney World, Magic Carpet 'Round the World replaces America the
Beautiful in Tomorrowland's Circle-Vision Theater. (A revised America the
Beautiful will later return in March 1975.)
1992:
The Dapper Dans film one of the opening segments of The Magic of Christmas At Disneyland (a souvenir video which is available during the holidays only at the Anaheim park).
1999:
Walt Disney Records & American Gramaphone release
Mannheim Steamroller Meets The Mouse.
2001:
The Atlanta Braves take on the New York Yankees at
Disney's Wide World of Sports in Florida.
2002:
Another Rock 'n' Roller Coaster debuts - this time at the grand opening of Walt Disney Studios Paris (located at Disneyland Resort Paris in France). It is Disney's 10th theme park in the world. Other attractions making their debut include Animagique (a black light show) & Armageddon: Les Effetcs Speciaux (a voyage through the history of special effects). The Studios is the smallest of all the Disney theme parks.
2004:
Walt Disney Home Video releases Lizzie McGuire - Star Struck (Volume 3) and Lizzie McGuire - Totally Crushed (Volume 4) to DVD. These two volumes include episodes from the popular Disney Channel series.
"To all who enter the studio of dreams, welcome. The Walt Disney Studios is dedicated to our timeless fascination and affection for cinema and for television. Here we celebrate the art and the artistry of storytelling from Europe and around the world to create the magic in a special place through our own memories of the past and our dreams of the future."
- Michael D. Eisner's dedication This Day in Disney History 2002
The capacity per elevator on Walt Disney World's
"The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror" is 22.
MAR
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1751:
James Madison, the fourth United States President, is born in
Port Conway, King George, Virginia. Visit him and all the U.S.
Chief Executives at Disney World's The Hall of Presidents.
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MARCH 16
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MARCH 16
THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
Walt Disney Studio Paris debuts
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"I liked the idea of working with Walt Disney, and when I called him he began to explain his idea for a kiddie-land near the Studio — perhaps with a steam train connected to Traveland across the L.A. River. He wanted to build something adults could enjoy along with their children." -Harper Goff
