1944:
Actor Craig T. Nelson, the voice of Bob Parr/Mr. Incredible in the 2004
Disney-Pixar animated feature The Incredibles and the 2018 Incredibles 2, is born in Spokane, Washington. He also played Chief Hyde in the 1989 Touchstone comedy Turner & Hooch.
(Nelson is probably best known for his Emmy-winning role of Hayden Fox on the TV sitcom Coach and his recurring
role of Dale in the sitcom Young Sheldon.)
RKO Pictures re-releases the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in New York theaters.
2003:
The Lizzie McGuire episode "Grand Ole Grandma" debuts on Disney Channel.
1927:
Disney's Alice Comedy Alice's Auto Race, featuring Margie Gay, is released.
1928:
Poet, educator, author, actress and activist Maya Angelou, one of the original voices
of Walt Disney World's The Hall of Presidents attraction, is born Marguerite Johnson
in St. Louis, Missouri. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and is credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. Sadly she passed at age 86 in 2014.
Comedic actress Estelle Harris, the voice of Mrs. Potato Head in Toy Story 2, Toy Story 3, and Toy Story 4, is born in New York City. Known for her exaggerated shrill, grating voice, her long list of voice credits include the pet sitter, Mrs. Boogins in Teacher's Pet, Mrs. Turtle in the TV series House of Mouse, Mrs. Lipsky in Kim Possible, Old Lady Bear in Brother Bear, Audrey in Home on the Range, and Peg-Leg Peg in 3 episodes of Jake and the Never Land Pirates. Harris has also guest starred on such live-action Disney Channel series as Phil of the Future, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and Sonny with a Chance. (TV fans know her best as Estelle Costanza, George's mom, on the hit sitcom Seinfeld.) Sadly she passsed at age 93 in 2022.
1956:
The Disneyland series airs the episode "Where Do The Stories Come From?"
Along with actor Kirk Douglas & animators Ward Kimball and Ollie Johnston, Walt Disney answers viewers
questions about the stories from his films. Composer Oliver Wallace also appears, recreating the conception of a
song for Daisy Duck, "Crazy Over Daisy," and explaining how that song inspired a Donald Duck cartoon short.
Joanna Miller, Walt Disney's granddaughter, is born in
Monterey County, California.
1960:
Disney animator and technical genius Ub Iwerks wins an Oscar (Scientific or Technical,
Class III) for the design of an optical printer for special effects at the 32nd Annual Academy
Awards held at the RKO Pantages Theater, Los Angeles. (An optical printer is a camera and one or
more projectors operating in tandem, which makes it possible to photograph a photograph. Common optical effects include
fade outs & fade ins, dissolves, slow motion, fast motion, and matte work.) Although nominated, Sleeping Beauty, Noah's
Ark, Donald in Mathmagic Land, and Mysteries of the Deep are all edged out by their competitors.
1999:
Chart-topping acts Britney Spears and 98 Degrees hip-hop down Main Street, U.S.A. during the 14th annual Walt Disney World Happy Easter Parade. The event is broadcast on ABC-TV.
2001:
It is reported that actor Christopher Walken has closed a deal to play the
lead human in the largely animatronic film The Country Bears for the
Walt Disney Company. (He will go on to play the role of Reed Thimple.)
2006:
Western Way, the new rear entrance to Disney World from the new
Western Beltway expressway opens in Florida. The 4-lane, divided
boulevard gives Disney a western entrance for the first time, allowing
tourists coming in via Interstate 75 to enter Central Florida on Florida's Turnpike
and the Western Beltway (State Road 429), without ever entering Orlando or
driving on Interstate 4.
Walt Disney Records releases both Disneymania 4 (the follow up to the platinum-selling Disneymania CDs) and Disney's Karaoke Series: Disneymania Volume 2.
The Disney-owned Lyric Street releases Me and My Gang, the fourth studio album
from the American country music group Rascal Flatts. The album will go double platinum in
the first month of release.
The short-lived ABC sitcom Sons & Daughter airs its last episode.
1952:
Man's Best Friend, a Disney short directed by Jack Kinney, is released. The cartoon features Goofy as the owner of a new puppy.
The largest Hidden Mickey at Walt Disney World is a solar farm arranged into the shape of the famous mouse ears near Epcot. Made out of 48,000 solar panels, it sits on a 20-acre solar facility located near World Drive and Epcot Center Drive.
"All great achievements require time." -Maya Angelou
1990:
Rock 'n' Roll Beach Club, a rock-theme dance club, opens in Disney World's
Pleasure Island. It replaces XZFR Rockin' Rollerdrome, a short lived club where guests could strap on
skates and dance to rock music.
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Rock 'n' Roll Beach Club opens
1938:
LIFE magazine features a two-page spread - Snow White Breaks all Records - in part about Marjorie Belcher, an 18-year-old dancer from Los Angeles who aided the animators in capturing live-action movements for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Belcher was the model for a real-life Snow White, enacting all the scenes of the story so that animators could study her expressions and poses. (Belcher, dressed as Snow White, had taken part in the Tournament of Roses Parade last January 1.)
1966:
Actress Nancy McKeon is born in Westbury, New York. Best remembered for her role as Jo Polniaczek on the long-running NBC sitcom The Facts of Life, McKeon portrayed Connie Munroe (Sonny's mom) on Disney Channel's Sonny with a Chance. In 2018, she was a contestant on the 27th season of ABC's Dancing with the Stars.
2009:
At Shea's Buffalo (in Buffalo, New York) Walt Disney's Fantasia - the complete, uncut 1940 roadshow version - is screened.
Disney Channel's newest animated series Special Agent Oso debuts in the U.S. with two back-to-back episodes. Actor Sean Astin is the voice of Oso, a fuzzy, lovable, bumbling special agent-in-training who enlists the help of viewers at home to complete his assignments.
Playhouse Disney – Live on Stage!, a live show attraction featuring puppets of characters from Disney Junior's popular television programs, opens at Walt Disney Studios Park, Disneyland Paris. The third theme park to offer the attraction, it will run through 2019.
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Ub Iwerks wins Oscar
SEASON 2 EPISODE 25
As many as 150 species have reproduced at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The very first birth, a
kudu, which is a large African antelope, was born in October 1997 before the park even
opened! Kudus are highly susceptible to the rinderpest virus, and many scientists think
recurring epidemics of the disease have unfortunately reduced kudu populations in East Africa.
1994:
Michael Eisner temporarily assumes the titles of president and chief operating officer
of Disney the day after the tragic death of Frank Wells. (The Lion King, which will be released
in the summer of 1994, will be dedicated to Wells.)
1997:
Knight Ridder (at this time the second-largest newspaper publisher in the United
States) announces it is buying four newspapers from the Walt Disney Company for
$1.65 billion. As of this day, it is the most expensive newspaper acquisition in the history of the newspaper
business. The newspapers are The Kansas Star in Missouri, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, The Belleville News-
Democrat in Illinois, and The Times Leader in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
2010:
Disney Channel debuts its newest sitcom Good Luck Charlie, drawing 4.8 million viewers.
The series centers on the Duncan family, who are still adjusting to the "surprise" birth of their fourth child, Charlotte
"Charlie" Duncan. This evening's episode, titled "Study Date," finds mom Amy Duncan returning to work as a nurse, although she is obviously worried about her husband Bob's ability to take care of their baby daughter Charlie. Older daughter Teddy invites friend Spencer over for a study date since all the kids are supposed to be home helping Dad with Charlie while PJ and drummer friend Emmett try rehearsing with their band. Unfortunately, Dad falls down the stairs, leaving Teddy to look after Charlie and younger brother Gabe while PJ takes his father to the hospital. The cast includes:
Bridgit Mendler as Teddy Duncan
Leigh-Allyn Baker as Amy Duncan
Bradley Steven Perry as Gabe Duncan
Mia Talerico as Charlie Duncan
Eric Allan Kramer as Bob Duncan
Jason Dolley as PJ Duncan
Shane Harper as Spencer Walsh
Micah Williams as Emmett Heglin
2011:
Acclaimed author Ridley Pearson visits Walt Disney World to celebrate the launch of his newest book; Kingdom Keepers IV: Power Play.
In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a "Royal Edition" of Cinderella is released on DVD to commemorate the UK Royal Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.
1913:
Singer and entertainer Frances Langford, who was popular during the
Golden Age of Radio, is born in Lakeland, Florida. She sang "Once Upon a
Wintertime" for a segment of Disney's 1948 animated Melody Time. In 1940 she recorded her
own version of "When You Wish Upon a Star" for Decca Records. (Langford appeared in films
between 1932-1953 and was popular with U.S. troops for her performances as part
of Bob Hope's USO tours.)
"You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don't make money your goal. Instead, pursue
the things you love doing, and do them so well that people can't take their eyes off you." -Maya Angelou
1948:
Ward Kimball and Walt Disney visit the home of Dick Jackson, a wealthy businessman
who operates a scale-railroad in the backyard of his Beverly Hills home. All train
enthusiasts, it is the first time that Walt personally operates a scale-railroad.
April is 1964/65 New York World's Fair Month
2014:
Captain America: The Winter Soldier, a
superhero film featuring the Marvel
Comics character Captain America,
produced by Marvel Studios and
distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion
Pictures, is released in U.S. theaters. After
the cataclysmic events in New York with The Avengers,
Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America, is living quietly in
Washington, D.C., and trying to adjust to the modern
world. But when a S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague comes under
attack, Steve becomes embroiled in a web of intrigue
that threatens to put the world at risk. Joining forces
with Natasha Romanoff (The Black Widow), Captain America struggles to expose the ever-widening conspiracy while fighting off professional assassins sent to silence him at every turn. The films stars Chris Evans (Captain America), Scarlett Johansson (The Black Widow), Sebastian Stan (James “Bucky” Barnes/The Winter Soldier), Robert Redford (Alexander Pierce) and Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury).
The final episode of the animated series Fish Hooks airs on Disney Channel. First debuting in
2010, the series revolved around a fun-personified fish named Milo (voiced by Kyle Massey), his nervous brother Oscar
(Justin Roiland), and their "overly dramatic" best friend Bea Goldfishberg (Chelsea Kane), with whom Oscar is infatuated.
2016:
Disney surprises investors on this day by announcing the departure of its chief
operating officer and heir apparent Thomas Staggs. First joining Disney in 1990, Staggs rose from
his role as a manager of strategic planning to senior vice president of strategic planning and development in 1995.
He became executive vice president and chief financial officer in 1998, and became Senior Executive Vice President
and CFO in January 2000. On January 1, 2010, Staggs became Chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts,
overseeing the company's theme parks, cruise lines, and the vacation-ownership program along with roughly 130,000
employees. On February 5, 2015, Staggs was named chief operating officer of The Walt Disney Company.
Staggs will step down as COO, effective May 6, 2016.
Disney's feature The Jungle Book world premieres at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. Directed by Jon Favreau, the film is a live-action/CGI reimagining of Walt Disney's 1967 animated
film of the same name. The film stars and introduces Neel Sethi as Mowgli and features the voices of Bill Murray,
Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong'o, Scarlett Johansson, Giancarlo Esposito, Christopher Walken and the late
Garry Shandling (his final film credit). The Jungle Book will open nationwide April 15.
1935:
Kenneth Mars, the voice of King Triton in both the 1989 classic The Little Mermaid and
the 2000 follow-up The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, is born in Chicago, Illinois.
His Disney credits also include the 1979 live-action film The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again as Marshal Woolly
Bill Hitchcock and a 2007 episode of Hannah Montana in which he plays Gunther the Innkeeper. Mars also supplied
voices for both animated series Darkwing Duck and Tale Spin. (Often playing characters with exaggerated accents,
you may recognize Mars from his appearances in Mel Brooks' The Producers and Young Frankenstein and on the TV
sitcom Malcolm in the Middle.) Taken ill in 2006, he could not reprise his role as King Triton for The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, so Jim Cummings took over the role. Kenneth Mars passed in 2011 at age 75.
2018:
Korean-American actor Soon Tek Oh, best known as the voice of Fa Zhou in Disney's Mulan and the direct-to-video sequel Mulan II, passes away at the age of 85
in Los Angeles, California.
1975:
Screenwriter, author, television writer, and actress Pamela Ribbon is born in
Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. Her Disney credits include Ralph Breaks the Internet (screenwriter, story
writer, voice of Snow White), Moana (story writer), and Bears (narration consultant).
1965:
Actor Robert Downey Jr. is born in New York City. Although he has starred in numerous films and television series since his career started in 1970, including Disney's 2006 remake of The Shaggy Dog, he is best known
for his role of Iron Man. Downey first played the role of Tony Stark / Iron Man in the 2008 Iron Man. Since then he
has played the superhero in such feature films as The Incredible Hulk (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012),
Iron Man 3 (2013), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2017), Avengers:
Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019).
2019:
Oregon police discover a badly decomposed body in the home of Dennis Day, one of the original members of "The Mickey Mouse Club" TV show from the 1950s. He has been missing since July 2018. The following June investigators will determine that the remains belong to Day, age 76. A roommate will be charged with his death in July 2019.
Born in Las Vegas, Nevada, Day started acting at age six and after auditioning with his sister, was a Mouseketeer for the first two seasons of The Mickey Mouse Club in 1955–1957. After ending his career as a child actor, he went on to work
as a theater director before relocating to Oregon in the 1980s.
1976:
Actor, director and screenwriter James Roday is born in San Antonio, Texas.
Fans of ABC-TV's A Million Little Things know him as Gary Mendez.
Actress and singer Serena Autieri is born in Naples, Italy. In 2013, Serena supplied the speaking and singing voice for Elsa, the Snow Queen in the Italian dub of Disney's Frozen.
2000:
The Aristocats is released on VHS and DVD under the Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection banner.
1970:
Actor Barry Pepper is born in British Columbia, Canada. He played Captain Jay Fuller in Disney's 2013 The Lone Ranger. (You may recognize him as Private Daniel Jackson in Saving Private Ryan, Corrections Officer Dean Stanton in The Green Mile, and Roger Maris in 61*.)
1964:
Stand-up comedian, actor, director, and writer David Cross is born in Roswell, Georgia. Appearing on ABC's Modern Family (2011–2012), he also appeared in 2 episodes of the ABC sitcom The Drew Carey Show and supplied the voice of Fear for a 1998 episode of Hercules.
2020:
The revived version of DuckTales kicks off with season 3 on Disney XD.
