1998:
Disneyland continues unveiling its newly renovated Tomorrowland. New
additions include Rocket Rods (a high- speed attraction running on the
former PeopleMover track), Redd Rockett's Pizza Port (a restaurant located in
the former Mission to Mars attraction), NASA Space Experience, and the short
"Honey, I Shrunk the Audience." Also re-opening is the Astro Orbitor
attraction (originally known as the Astro Jets). It has been relocated to the
entrance of Tomorrowland, and placed on ground level, thus making the ride
the new focal point as guests step from the main plaza of Disneyland into
Tomorrowland.
1996:
The Disney Store opens on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue (the largest Disney Store to date) and sets the all-time record for single-day volume in a Disney Store.
"Disneyland wouldn't have
been, and wouldn't be, the same without him. His voice was one of the things that made it all come alive."
- former Disneyland president Jack Lindquist
on Thurl Ravenscroft
1915:
Writer, cartoonist & animator George Baker is born in Lowell, Massachusetts.
In 1937, Baker will go out to Hollywood to work for Disney. For the next 4 years, he will work on virtually all of Disney's well-known pictures, including Pinocchio, Fantasia and Dumbo. In June 1941 he will be inducted into the army where he'll create the comic strip "The Sad Sack." (At the end of the war, the U.S. Army will create an advertising campaign with the phrase: "Don't be a Sad Sack, re-enlist in the Regular Army.") After the war Baker will transform the Sad Sack army cartoon into a syndicated comic strip & a long-lived comic book series!
1942:
Disney's Pluto cartoon The Army Mascot, directed by Clyde Geronomi, is released. Pluto schemes to become the army mascot at Camp Drafty, after seeing the tasty chow the other animals there are eating!
1968:
Walt Disney Travel Company is incorporated in Florida. The company will work with travel agents and individuals planning vacations to the yet-to-be-open Walt Disney World Resort. (The service will be expanded to California 4 years later.)
1989:
The 21st episode of MMC airs on Disney Channel. Today is Music Day!
2001:
Six cast members from the New York City production of The Lion King take part in the grand dedication ceremony for Walt Disney World's newest resort, Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge (which opened April 16). The cast performs the musical's signature song, "Circle of Life'' in the grand lobby of the African-theme hotel.
The soundtrack for Atlantis: The Lost Empire (which won't open in theaters until next month) is released on Walt Disney Records. Consisting mostly of James Newton Howard's score, it also includes the Diane Warren penned song, "Where the Dream Takes You", performed by Mýa.
2004:
In celebration of Mickey Mouse’s 75th Anniversary, Underground Atlanta plays host to 15 700-pound, 6-foot-tall Mickey Mouse statues, part of the Celebrate Mickey: 75 InspEARations touring statue program (that was first unveiled on November 18, 2003 at Walt Disney World). The statues debut at noon with the help of Mickey Mouse, Disney Legend Al Konetzni and Atlanta’s own artist Thomas Knechtel. They will remain on display at the venue through Tuesday, July 20.
2005:
Voice actor, singer and Disney Legend Thurl Ravenscroft passes away at
age 91 in Fullerton, California. Best known as the voice of Kellogg's Tony the Tiger,
Ravenscroft's numerous Disney credits include 101 Dalmatians, Alice in Wonderland, The
Aristocats, and Cinderella. He can also be heard in such Disney theme park attractions as Pirates
of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, and Country Bear Jamboree. (It is also Ravenscroft's
deep voice you hear singing "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" on the holiday TV classic How the
Grinch Stole Christmas!)
1985:
Retired Disney animator & director Wolfgang "Woolie" Reitherman (one of Walt's "Nine Old Men") passes away suddenly in Burbank, California at age 75. (In 1963, Woolie became the first animator in the history of the company to be given the directorial reins of an entire animated feature, beginning with The Sword in the Stone. He will be named a Disney Legend in 1989.)
Disney Legend Wolfgang
Reitherman (one of Walt's "Nine Old Men") was a lover of flying
and airplanes. He was a World
War II pilot - a deputy
commander who ferried planes
with the Army Air Transport
Command on dangerous missions.
2008:
The Indiana Jones Summer of Hidden Mysteries begins in Disneyland’s Adventureland, the same day Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull opens in theaters. The summer-long Disneyland promotion includes a daily show, collectible adventure map for guests with hidden clues, random Indiana Jones character appearances and a new Indiana Jones-themed photo location.
1946:
Disney's animated feature Pinocchio is released in France.
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MAY 22
THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
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1987:
Ernest Goes to Camp, a comedy film directed by John R. Cherry III and starring Jim Varney, is released through Disney's Touchstone Pictures. The second film to ever feature Varney's character of Ernest P. Worrell - it is Touchstone's 12th release.
2009:
Disney's interactive 40-city train tour, to promote the upcoming movie Disney's A
Christmas Carol, begins in Los Angeles at the Los Angeles Union Station. The free
traveling experience includes a 3D sneak peek of film footage, carolers, decorations, authentic artifacts (on loan from the Charles Dickens Museum of London) and giveaways. Amtrak locomotives and engineers will lead the four-car Train Tour (plus a private car), across the US, with stops ranging from 1-3 days along the way. The tour will finish at New York's Grand Central Terminal over the weekend of October 30th through November 1st.
(Starring Jim Carrey and directed by Robert Zemeckis, Disney's A Christmas Carol opens in theatres November 6.)
The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, a documentary about the siblings who wrote some of Hollywood's & Disney's most memorable songs, is released in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Palm Desert, California, for a limited run.
The first of 4 Star Wars Weekends for the 2009 season kick off at Disney's Hollywood Studios. A Disney tradtition at the Florida park since 1997, this weekend's celebrity guests include Ray Park, Warwick Davis, and James Arnold Taylor.
