2005:
Legendary Disney artist and writer Joe Grant passes away days before his 97th birthday at his home in Glendale, California. His work ranged from the early classics like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Alice in Wonderland, and Dumbo to modern animated features such as
The Lion King, Pocahontas, Mulan, and The Incredibles.
"I think there was always a gentle
sweetness to Joe and his work. There's a gentility in
everything he touched. But there's also a great sophistication. He was one of the truly great craftsmen of our art, but he always saw his craft as a way to communicate ideas."
- Roy E. Disney on artist Joe Grant
1915:
Legendary film director, actor, and writer Orson Welles is born in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He will later be the voice of Eastern Airlines commercials (the official airline of Walt Disney World in the 1970s) and be heard in the queue area of the now-extinct If You Had Wings attraction.
1916:
Actress & Disney Legend Adriana Caselotti is born to musical parents in
Bridgeport, Connecticut. Her father, Guido, teaches music in New York,
while her mother, Maria, had performed at the Royal Opera in London. At age 18 she will go on to supply the voice and personality to Walt Disney's first feature-length cartoon heroine, Snow White.
1938:
Disney's Mickey Mouse cartoon Mickey's Trailer is released. The short features the voices of Walt Disney (as Mickey), Pinto Colvig (as Goofy) and Clarence Nash (as Donald Duck).
1940:
The Disney Studio completes a move into new quarters in Burbank, California.
1985:
Dumbo's Circus premieres on the Disney Channel.
1988:
The second new World Showcase pavilion to be added to the original
roster, Norway, opens at Disney World's EPCOT. It includes the Flording shop, Puffin's Roost shop, Kringla Bakeri og Kafe restaurant, and the Restaurant Akershus.
1989:
The body of television actor Guy Williams is found in his apartment in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He apparently died of a heart attack a week earlier. Williams is best-remembered for his lead TV roles in
Lost in Space and Disney's Zorro.
1990:
"The Muppets at Walt Disney World" airs on NBC-TV as an episode of The Magical World of Disney.
The 100th and final episode of DuckTales airs on television.
1991:
The Walt Disney Company becomes part of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
2004:
The El Capitan Theatre, launches a special 10-day salute to Walt Disney Pictures' 1982 landmark computer animated feature, Tron.
2006:
The Oakland Museum of California helps celebrate the first
half-century of Disney’s magical kingdom with the premiere of a
new exhibit: Behind the Magic - 50 Years of Disneyland. The 3-part exhibition features Disney’s early life as a cartoonist and filmmaker; renderings and plans for his amusement park; and a section on the Imagineers.
Fullerton Railroad Days kicks off for a weekend of festivities at the Fullerton Train Station in Fullerton, California. On display is the E.P. Ripley Steam Engine from Disneyland - the original steam engine engineered by Walt Disney! (This is the first time any Disney locomotive has been displayed at a public event off-site.)
Hollywood's El Capitan Theatre (owned by Disney since 1989) kicks off its 80th Anniversary. The California theatre debuted on May 3, 1926, as "Hollywood's First Home of Spoken Drama."
1964:
Voice artist/actress Dana Hill is born in Los Angeles, California. Her Disney credits include The Hunchback of Notre Dame, A Goof Troop Christmas, and Disney's Wonderful World TV episode "The Kids Who Knew Too Much." (National Lampoon movie fans know her as Audrey Griswold in the 1985 comedy feature European Vacation.)
1969:
Imagineers Roger Broggie and Earl Vilmer (a railroad superintendent with over 20 years experience) arrange for the purchase of five railroad engines in Yucatan, Mexico. These will be used for Disney's new Florida theme park.
1984:
The Disney Channel Premiere Film Gone Are the Dayes, featuring Harvey Korman, Susan Anspach, and Robert J. Hogan debuts.
1960:
Songwriter-singer John Conant Flansburgh, one half of rock duo They Might Be Giants, is born. The duo's Disney credits include the albums Here Comes the ABCs and Here Comes the 123s, and the soundtracks Disney's Return To Never Land, Disney's Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and Meet The Robinsons Soundtrack.
"We just did this amazingly huge remake of a song from the 1964 World Fair called "Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" that is going to be in an animated feature based on the book "A Day for Wilbur Robinson." It's totally orchestral with a soprano singing this Theremin-like line behind my vocal. It's really a nutty piece of arrangement." -John Flansburgh
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MAY
MAY 6
Today is National Tourist Appreciation Day
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MAY 06
THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
The Walt Disney World Preview Center (at one time located near the intersection of Interstate 4 and State Road 535) became
the first building on
WDW property to open to the public in 1970.
Norway opens at Epcot
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