2002:
Mannheim Steamroller make their Disney World debut at Epcot - as part of the Flower Power Concert Series. They perform at the American Gardens Theatre. (In 1999 Mannheim Steamroller released Mannheim Steamroller Meets the Mouse, a unique collection of well-known Disney tunes).
"Walt Disney loved America because his dreams came true ... The entire world owes Walt a great debt. He achieved much, but perhaps his greatest accomplishment is that he made children of us all."
-Bob Hope
1889:
Don Brodie - the voice of Barker in the 1940 Disney classic
Pinocchio - is born in Cincinnati, Ohio.
1903:
Legendary comedian-actor and entertainer Bob Hope is born in England. Hope's connection to Disney began in 1939 when he presented the Short Subject Award and personally gave Walt the Oscar for Ferdinand the Bull. In 1965, Hope appeared on the television special Jack Benny Visits Walt Disney, and in 1971 took part in NBC-TV's Grand Opening of Walt Disney World. Hope later was a guest on NBC Salutes the 25th Anniversary of WDW. In 1999 he participated in the very first Disneyland official Christmas lighting ceremony. Bwana Bob's a small, freestanding store in Walt Disney World's Adventureland (originally called the Adventureland Kiosk) is actually a tribute to Bob Hope!
"This is the biggest vacation-entertainment complex in the world. And to think it all started with a gentle mouse, a bad-tempered duck and seven mixed-up dwarfs. It's a fantastic achievement. They took a swamp and turned it into a Magic Kingdom. It wasn't easy. Have you ever tried to relocate 8,000 angry alligators?" -Bob Hope
1906:
Author Terence Hanbury White (also known as T. H. White) is born in Bombay,
India. One of his most memorable stories "The Sword in the Stone" will be the
inspiration for Disney's 1963 animated feature The Sword in the Stone.
1937:
Disney's Donald Duck short Modern Inventions, directed by Jack King, is released. Donald (voiced by Clarence Nash) visits "The Museum of Modern Marvels", which showcases various futuristic electronic appliances and inventions. This short is Donald's first solo appearance and the first time he exhibits his trademark fist-shaking temper tantrum!
1953:
Composer Danny Elfman is born in Amarillo, Texas. His unique music can be
heard in such Disney-related films as the 2007 Meet the Robinsons, the 1997
Flubber, the 1993 Nightmare Before Christmas, and the 1990 Dick Tracy.
(As a singer-songwriter, Elfman led the rock band Oingo Boingo from 1978 until its breakup in 1995.)
1957:
The Disneyland television series airs "The Liberty Story" (essentially a promotional film for the upcoming Disney theatrical release Johnny Tremain).
1959:
The TV series Walt Disney Presents airs "I Captured the King of the Leprechauns."
1963:
Actress Lisa Whelchel, a member of the 1977-1978 TV show The New Mouseketeers (and the 70's sitcom Facts of Life) is born in Texas.
1973:
Carl Barks - Disney Studio illustrator & creator of
Donald Duck comic books - states:
"The thing that I consider most important about my work is this: I told it like it is. I told my readers that the bad guys have a little of good in them, and the good guys have a lot of bad in them, and that you can't depend on anything much; nothing is always going to turn out roses."
1989:
The Disney Channel airs the 26th episode of MMC. Today is Music Day!
1991:
Tokyo Disneyland welcomes its 100-millionth guest!
2000:
Singer Chuck Negron (formerly of Three Dog Night) brings his Joy To The World 2000 tour to the Walt Disney World Resort for three days.
2006:
Today is Memorial Day.
The Disneyland Resort hosts the premiere of Disney/Pixar's Cars.
1928:
A gag meeting for the second Mickey Mouse short is held at Walt Disney's house. Walt tells Wilfred Jackson and other members of his staff the idea of producing a sound cartoon.
Grauman's Chinese Theater - the replica that stands in Disney's Hollywood Studios was built from the original blueprints of the real thing in Hollywood. The copy is so good that the owners of the original theater asked Disney to borrow molds and other fabrication tools to be used in the restoration of the real theater.
 | ||||
1917:
John F. Kennedy, the thirty-fifth United States
President, is born in Brookline, Massachusetts. Visit him and all
the U.S. Chief Executives at Disney World's The Hall of Presidents.
| ||||||
2008:
Disney and NASA announce that Buzz Lightyear (the Disney/Pixar character) will visit space for real when he becomes part of Discovery's crew on May 31. Lightyear is scheduled to take to space on Discovery’s STS-124 mission stowed inside a locker in the space shuttle's crew compartment. The toy astronaut will mark an educational partnership between NASA and Disney.
Verstaile Emmy-winning comic actor Harvey Korman, best known for his funny contributions to TV's "The Carol Burnett Show," passes away in Los Angeles,
California at age 81. His Disney credits include voice work for Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, the
1980 feature film Herbie Goes Bananas, the 1965 television episodes of The Adventures of Gallegher, and an
uncredited role in the 1963 Son of Flubber. He was also cast in the 1989 short-lived Mel Brooks'
Touchstone/Disney sitcom The Nutt House. (Korman appeared in many of Brooks' films such as Blazing
Saddles and High Anxiety.) Cartoon fans know Korman as the voice of the The Great Gazoo on countless
episodes of The Flintstones during the 1960s.
"He always made it real, always made it work." -Mel Brooks
1984:
Actress, singer, and dancer Kaycee Stroh is born in Salt Lake City, Utah. Fans of all
3 High School Musical films know her as Martha Cox. She also has a recurring role
in the Disney Channel Original Series, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody as Leslie.
1998:
Mulan merchandise debuts in Disney Stores. (The film will debut June 5.)
advertisement
MAY
MAY 29
| ||||
| ||||||
MAY 29
THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
| ||||
| ||||
Bob Hope born
| ||||
2009:
Disney's interactive 40-city train tour, to promote the upcoming movie Disney's A
Christmas Carol, pulls into Williams Depot in Arizona for 3 days. The free
traveling experience includes a 3D sneak peek of the film (to be released in November), carolers, decorations, authentic artifacts (on loan from the Charles Dickens Museum of London) and giveaways.
Thousands of fans turn out at Disney's Hollywood Studios to see singer Kris Allen celebrate his crowning achievement as the new American Idol. The 23-year-old singer from Conway, Arkansas takes part in a party-filled procession through the Florida theme park.
Disney/Pixar's Up is generally released in North America. Directed by Pete Docter (of Monsters, Inc. fame), Up features the voices of Edward Asner as Carl Fredricksen, Christopher Plummer as the villainous Charles F. Muntz, animator Bob Peterson as Dug and young Jordan Nagai as Russell.
Cars premieres
1941:
Disney animator Eric Larson arrives at work to discover his wing of the Disney Studio empty! Some 300-plus employees are outside on a picket line participating in a labor strike against the studio. The strikers are mostly assistant animators, inkers, and painters who want union representation, higher wages, and job security. None of the animators who are Walt's Nine Old Men - which include Larson - join the strikers. Disney is in the midst of production on Dumbo. (The strike will last for 5 weeks.)
