1973:
In an hour-long televised question-and-answer session held at Disney World's
Contemporary Resort, U.S. President Richard Nixon declares "I am not a crook."
In front of 400 Associated Press managing editors, Nixon defends his record in
the Watergate scandal. He has flown to Orlando this evening from his Key
Biscayne, Florida home for this much-heralded event. (It will be a defining
moment of Nixon's career and the start of his presidency's downward spiral.)
2005:
Ten animated features are named for Oscar consideration by the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Among those chosen is ... Chicken Little.
1907:
is born in Ogden, Utah. Between 1927-1975 he worked on such Disney classics as
Steamboat Willie (the only one of the Nine to work on the origins of Mickey Mouse with Ub Iwerks
- his mentor), The Skeleton Dance, Sleeping Beauty, Lady and the Tramp, and Peter Pan. Unlike
most of the other Nine Old Men, Clark began his career with no art background - but advanced by
pure determination and hard work.
1934:
Disney's Mickey Mouse cartoon The Dognapper, directed by David Hand, is released.
In this short, Mickey and an early version of Donald Duck are police officers chasing dognapper Pegleg Pete!
1951:
Actor Stephen Root, the voice of Bubbles in the 2003 Finding Nemo, is born in
Sarasota, Florida. His Disney film credits also include the voice of Zeb in the 2002 The Country Bears and
the 2006 The Fox and the Hound 2 as the voice of Talent Scout. His television voice credits include episodes of Phineas and Ferb, Star vs. the Forces of Evil, Guardians of the Galaxy, and DuckTales. (Fans of the TV sitcom
NewsRadio will remember Root for his role of Jimmy James.)
1954:
The Disneyland television series presents "The Donald Duck Story" (a
clever take on "This is Your Life"). Clarence Nash, the voice of
Donald, appears along with Walt Disney.
1955:
Mickey Mouse Club airs on ABC-TV. Today is Circus Day.
1956:
The first of eight installments titled "My Dad, Walt Disney," by Diane
Disney Miller as told to Pete Martin (a "celebrity friendly" writer)
appears in The Saturday Evening Post (Vol. 229 Issue 20).
The Saturday Evening Post had first approached Walt with the proposal to have him write
(with the assistance of Martin) his biography in serial form back in 1950. They offered Walt
$150,000. At the time, Walt was deeply involved in building Disneyland but wanted to help
his daughter Diane and her husband Ron get a house. Walt had no money to give them
because everything was tied up in his new theme park. So Walt made a counter-proposal that he would be
interviewed but that Diane would be credited as the author so that she would receive the money. The cover of this
issue of The Saturday Evening Post has been created by former Disney Studio illustrator Gustaf Tenggren.
1963:
Another Disney plane tour of the eastern United States - to search for an ideal
location for a new Disney park - commences. Walt Disney, Buzz Price and other company
officials such as Joe Fowler, Donn Tatum and Card Walker leave on this Sunday aboard a private Grumman
turboprop. The trip will include stops in St. Louis, Niagara Falls, the Washington, D.C. area, and finally Florida.
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color airs "The Truth About Mother Goose."
1989:
Disney's The Little Mermaid is generally released in theaters. Loosely based upon the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale about a young mermaid willing to give up her life in the sea and her identity
as a mermaid to gain a human soul and the love of a human prince, it is the last Disney feature film to use the traditional hand-painted cel method of animation. Directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, a mermaid
princess named Ariel, voiced by Jodi Benson, makes a bargain with Ursula, an unscrupulous seahag, in order to meet a human prince named Eric, voiced by Christopher Daniel Barnes, who lives on land. The voice cast also features Pat Carroll as Ursula, Samuel E. Wright as Sebastian, Jason Marin as Flounder, Kenneth Mars as King Triton, Buddy Hackett as Scuttle, Paddi Edwards as Flotsam and Jetsam, Ben Wright as Grimsby, and Edie McClurg as Carlotta. Alan Menken has written the score, and along with Howard Ashman, all of the songs including "Part of Your World," "Under the Sea," and "Kiss the Girl." The soundtrack has already been released in October. (The Little Mermaid will earn three Academy Award nominations, making it the first Disney animated film to earn an Academy Award nomination since The Rescuers in 1977. The film will win two Oscars for Best Original Score and Best Original Song - “Under the Sea”.)
1993:
The Grand Ballroom at the Disneyland Hotel is packed with food, games,
movies, and children from all over the globe for the start of Mickey's
Worldwide Kids Day party.
1997:
Cruise Terminal 8, the Disney Cruise Line Terminal, is dedicated in Florida.
The $27 million, 70,000-square-foot facility is Port Canaveral's third
ultra-modern mega-ship terminal, and will be the exclusive home of Disney
Cruise Line's first two ships, the Disney Magic and Disney Wonder.
2001:
The Build-A-Bear Workshop at the Downtown Disney District in
Anaheim, California, has its grand opening.
2002:
Disney's Treasure Planet has its world premiere at the Cinerama Dome
Theater in Hollywood, California. (It will be generally released 10 days later.)
2003:
It is reported that Disney's Finding Nemo has sold an industry leading 15 million DVDs in less than two weeks at retail stores!
2004:
Disney launches an all-new Muppets Web site. The site, which debuts on this
day, features games, biographies of the Muppet characters, screensavers and
news about current projects, including the new film The Muppets Wonderful
Wizard of Oz, slated to air on ABC-TV next May. (The Walt Disney Company
purchased the Muppets in April 2004.)
2006:
An Alaska Airlines plane, painted with the blue Genie from Disney's Aladdin
movie and the Make-A-Wish logo, makes its inaugural flight from Seattle-Tacoma
Airport to Orange County, California. The uniquely painted Boeing 737-400 celebrates the long-term partnership between the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Alaska Airlines and Disneyland Resorts to make wishes
come true for ill children.
Raised on a farm in Marceline, Missouri, Walt Disney became interested in drawing at an early
age. He sold his first sketches to
neighbors when he was only
seven years old!
1944:
Animator Gary Goldman is born in Oakland, California. He began his career in animation with
Walt Disney Productions in 1972 as an in-betweener to legendary Disney animator Frank Thomas on the film
Robin Hood. He later worked alongside Don Bluth, as an animator on Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too! and The
Rescuers before serving as Directing Animator on Pete's Dragon and The Small One. (Goldman's post-Disney
career includes the animated features An American Tail and Anastasia.)
Actor Danny DeVito - the voice of Phil in Disney's animated Hercules - is born in
Neptune, New Jersey. He played Max Medici, the ringmaster and owner of a small, struggling circus in the
2019 Dumbo. Also a director & producer, DeVito's film credits include Miramax Films' Duplex and Pulp Fiction, and Touchstone Pictures' Tin Men and Ruthless People. (Fans of classic TV will forever know DeVito for his role as
Louie De Palma on the sitcom Taxi.)
1941:
Disney's fourth animated feature Dumbo is released in Brazil.
2007:
New versions of two classic board games are revealed at Once Upon a Toy in the
Downtown Disney Marketplace in Florida. Disney Theme Park Edition Monopoly and Disney
Theme Park Tower of Terror Clue both premiere at a special event with guests and Game Artists, Quhyn
Kimball and Cody Reynolds from the Disney Design Group.
2008:
Disney Legends Richard and Robert Sherman, the songwriting team behind Mary
Poppins, "It's a Small World", Bedknobs and Broomsticks and many other Disney
favorites, receive National Medals of the Arts from President and Mrs. Bush at a
ceremony in Washington, D.C.
Down in Disney World, the Grand Floridian's Gingerbread House
officially opens to guests for the holiday season.
NOVEMBER 17
Today is World Peace Day
THIS DAY MADE
IN THE
USA
NOVEMBER 17
N
O
V
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1971:
The Firehouse Five Plus Two (a Dixieland jazz band made up of Disney Studio
employees) officially plays its last gig; a car show at the Anaheim Convention
Center in California. First formed back in the late 1940s, the group (led by Ward Kimball) has
recorded albums and performed at nightclubs, private parties, on TV and of course at Disneyland.
The Little Mermaid generally released
| ||||
Ariel: "If I become human, I'll never be with my father or sisters again."
Ursula: "That's right. But - you'll have your man. Life's full of tough choices, innit?"
-The Little Mermaid
Today Marceline is
referred to as the
"Boyhood Home of
Walt Disney."
"I have earned every cent. And in all of my years of public life I have never obstructed justice." -President Nixon
2009:
The Themed Entertainment Association announces the recipients for the 16th
Annual Thea Awards. Among the winners ... Toy Story Mania! at Disney’s California Adventure Park
and Disney’s Hollywood Studios for Outstanding Achievement for an Attraction. The awards will be formally
presented in early 2010.
SEASON 1 EPISODE 4
1985:
The Disney Channel airs the Disney Channel Premiere Film The Blue Yonder.
Starring Peter Coyote as an aviator/inventor who travels through time, the fantasy film also features veteran
actor Art Carney.
1925:
Film and television star Rock Hudson is born Roy Harold Scherer, Jr. in Winnetka,
Illinois. He hosted Disneyland's Candlelight Ceremony in 1968 and 1972. Taking part in Walt Disney World's
three-day opening festivities in 1971, Hudson also narrated the very first Candlelight Processional at Walt Disney
World in December 1971 and again in 1973, 1974, 1977 and 1980.
Artist and color stylist Walter Peregoy is born in Los Angeles, California. Starting with Disney in 1951, he served as a designer and animator on "Peter Pan" (1953) and "Lady and the Tramp" (1955). Later a lead background painter on "Sleeping Beauty" (1959), Peregoy contributed to "The Sword in the Stone" (1963), "Mary Poppins" (1964), and "The Jungle Book" (1967). In 1977 he worked on the design of EPCOT Center. Later in his life he worked on such modern films as "Monsters, Inc." (2001), "Finding Nemo" (2003) and "Ratatouille" (2007). Peregoy passed away on January 16, 2015 at age 89.
2011:
Hong Kong Disneyland holds an opening ceremony to christen new attractions in
Toy Story Land, a new area based on the popular Toy Story movies. Almost identical to
Toy Story Playland at Walt Disney Studio Park in France (which opened in 2010), the Hong Kong version
features such attractions as Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop, Slinky Dog Zig Zag Spin and RC Racer.
2012:
The 21st Annual Magnificent Mile Lights Festival, a Chicago holiday tradition,
takes place with live musical performances, family fun and Santa! Among the
performers is singer/songwriter Shane Harper, one of the stars of Disney Channel's "Good Luck Charlie."
Hosted by Radio Disney, Harper's afternoon concert includes Disney XD star Olivia Holt. The late afternoon
Chicago Magnificent Mile Parade, which features Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse as Grand Marshals,
includes Harper riding and performing on The Best Western Float.
Former Mouseketeer Bonita Lynn Fields Elder, an agile dancer who showcased
those skills on the 1950s children's show "The Mickey Mouse Club" passes away
in Indiana at the age of 68. She was 12 in 1957, when her dancing abilities helped her win a slot on
the third season of "The Mickey Mouse Club." She auditioned in California, where her family had moved from
Indiana when she was 9. After the show ended, Elder continued performing at Disneyland.
November 17
1952:
Director and film editor Duwayne Dunham is born in Los Angeles, California.
He directed Disney's 1993 feature Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, and such Disney Channel films as
Halloweentown, The Thirteenth Year, Ready to Run, Double Teamed, Right on Track, Tiger Cruise and Now You See It....
1978:
Actress Rachel McAdams is born in London, Ontario, Canada.
Developing an interest in performing when she was just seven, she attended Disney and
William Shakespeare summer camps as a child. McAdams' early roles included a character
named Hannah Grant in a 2001 episode of Disney Channel's "The Famous Jett Jackson,"
and Jessica Spencer/Clive Maxtone in the 2002 Touchstone Pictures teen comedy film The Hot Chick - her Hollywood film debut. McAdams is also known for her role of fellow surgeon Christine Palmer in the 2016 "Doctor Strange" and the 2021 "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" - both distributed by Walt Disney Studios
Motion Pictures. (McAdams was originally director Jon Favreau's first choice for the role of Pepper Potts in the 2008 "Iron Man," but she turned it down.) She is probably best known for her roles in the 2004 romantic drama "The Notebook" (playing opposite former Mouseketeer Ryan Gosling), the 2005 comedy "The Wedding Crashers," the 2005 psychological thriller "Red Eye," the 2009 romantic science fiction drama "The Time Traveler's Wife," and the 2023 coming-of-age comedy-drama "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret."
Actor Tom Ellis is born in Cardiff, Wales. He portrayed Robin Hood in a 2013 episode of ABC's Once Upon a Time.
2014:
Jersey, the debut solo extended play by American recording artist Bella Thorne, is released by Hollywood Records.
2017:
The Punisher (Original Soundtrack Album) by Tyler Bates is released.
1913:
Animator Volos Jones is born. Starting his career at Disney, first as an in-between artist before graduating to full animator status in the late 1930s, he became a specialist in animating Donald Duck, earning him the nickname "The Duck Man" from his colleagues. His credits included such shorts as Mr. Duck Steps Out,
Donald's Vacation, Donald's Garden, Donald's Gold Mine and Canvas Back Duck. He also worked on such features as The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad and Alice in Wonderland, before leaving Disney in 1956. Jones went on to amass credits at numerous other studios including Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Animation, Harman-Ising Productions, Walter Lantz Productions, Format Films, Hanna-Barbera, Famous Studios and UPA.
2020:
Disney+ is launched in Latin America and the Caribbean.
1980:
Animator & director Paul Smith passes away at age 74 in California. Beginning as a cel painter for Walt Disney Animation in August 1926, he soon moved up to an animator to work on the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and Alice cartoons. His stay was short and Smith went on to work for Walter Lantz Studio through 1973.
