1977:
The New Mouseketeers appear on TV's Wonderama. These Mouseketeers are the stars of a new Mickey Mouse Club series to be released in television syndication the following day.
1890:
Edna Francis is born to pioneer parents in Reece, Kansas. She will go on to work, in the early days of the Disney Studios, as an ink artist. In April 1925 Edna will marry Roy O. Disney (a friend of her brother's) and five years later give birth to their only son Roy E. Disney. She will be named a Disney Legend in 2003.
2005:
Starting on this day the NFFC (the Club for Disneyana Enthusiasts) host a Strictly
Disneyana Show & Sale at the Radisson Parkway Hotel in Kissimmee, Florida.
1932:
Disney's Silly Symphony cartoon The Bird Store, directed by Wilfred Jackson, is released.
1936:
The New York Journal reports that film director Rene Clair feels that Charlie
Chaplin and Walt Disney are both outstanding figures in the movies at this
time. "They have no outside interference," she explains, "they act as their own producer, director,
and even attend to their own stories and musical scores. Their artistry is sublime."
1949:
Actor Roger Mobley, the star of Disney's Gallegher television serial, is born in Evansville, Indiana. His Disney credits also include The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again and Emil and the Detectives.
1957:
The Disneyland television series airs "Your Host, Donald Duck."
1959:
The TV series Walt Disney Presents airs the episode "Noik."
1963:
Disney's live-action feature film Son of Flubber, starring Fred MacMurray,
Nancy Olsen, and Ed Wynn, is generally released. (It is a sequel to the
film The Absent-Minded Professor.)
1994:
A new sports tradition at Walt Disney World begins on this cold morning when approximately 8,200 runners from around the world line up for the very first annual Walt Disney World Marathon. The 26.2-mile route runs along normal and backstage roads, past several resorts, and literally through all three theme parks.
2002:
The Writers Guild of America TV program nominations are announced with the Disney-owned network ABC taking 5 nominations and Disney itself receiving 1 nomination for the children's pilot "Lizzie McGuire."
(Winners will be announced in March.)
2003:
It is announced that Walt Disney Records will release two of their best-selling children's titles in Spanish for the very first time. The first album, "Favoritas de las Princesas de Disney," spotlights Disney's most beloved heroines with Spanish versions of classic songs from films such as Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid. The second release, "Disney Presenta Cantar y Jugar," is a collection of children's favorite playtime songs from Latin America.
2004:
Disney's animated Teacher's Pet is released. Based on the animated television series, it features the voices of Nathan Lane, Kelsey Grammer, Debra Jo Rupp, David Ogden Stiers, and Jerry Stiller.
In 1934, the Encyclopedia Britannica gave
Mickey Mouse
his very own entry. First published between 1768 and 1771, The Britannica is the oldest English-language encyclopedia still in print!
"Roy and I were just going together ... We stopped at a drugstore to get a soda, and Walt came to see Roy because he wanted a quarter or a half-dollar for paper to draw on. Even then, Roy provided the money for Walt's artistic ambitions." -Disney Legend Edna Francis Disney
1952:
Walt Disney presents cartoonist George McManus, creator of the comic strip Bringing Up Father, with a "Silver Lady" award at a luncheon in Beverly Hills.
Son of Flubber generally released