1920:
Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks spot an ad in the Kansas City Star calling for artists at the Kansas City Slide Company. At this time the Iwerks-Disney Art Studio is doing okay, but the notion of getting a foot in the door at a place like the Kansas City Slide Company (later called the Kansas City Film Ad Co.) is intriguing. Walt applies on a whim and, to his surprise, is hired - at $40 a month. Disney will work there for more than 2 years helping to produce slides & one-minute films shown as advertisements in movie theaters, while Iwerks continues to run their art studio. (Eventually the Iwerks-Disney Studio will fail and Iwerks will too get a job at the KC Film Ad. It is there that the two young artists decide the future is in making movies.)
2002:
Disney's 2001 Atlantis: The Lost Empire is released on DVD and video.
Ten former Major League Baseball players participate in the
Atlanta Braves Dream Week Fantasy Camp at Disney's
Wide World of Sports in Florida.
1915:
Author, storyman, illustrator and Disney Legend
Bill Peet is born in Grandview, Indiana. First
joining Disney in 1937, he worked on such classics as
101 Dalmatians, The Sword in the Stone, Fantasia, Peter Pan,
Pinocchio, Dumbo, and The Jungle Book. While still working for Disney Studios, Peet drew pictures for
stories in his spare time. By the time he left Disney in 1964 he already had five of his own books
published, including Hubert's Hair-Raising Adventure.
1941:
Disney's 3rd feature film Fantasia has its Hollywood premiere. (The film debuted in New York City in November 1940.) The audience at the Carthay Circle are even more enthusiastic than the ones in New York!
1958:
The Disneyland TV series airs episode 91 - part 2 of "The Littlest Outlaw."
1959:
Disney's animated feature film Sleeping Beauty premieres at the Fox
Wilshire Theater in Los Angeles. The story is based on the fairy tale "La Belle au bois
dormant" by Charles Perrault, while much of the musical score is based on Pyotr Ilyich
Tchaikovsky's ballet "Sleeping Beauty." (It will be nominated for an Oscar for Best Music/Scoring of a
Musical Picture.) The voice cast includes Mary Costa (as Princess Aurora/Sleeping Beauty), Eleanor Audley (as
Maleficent), Barbara Jo Allen (as Fauna), Verna Felton (as Flora), Bill Shirley (as Prince Phillip) and in his last role -
Taylor Holmes (as Stefan). The film is directed by Les Clark, Eric Larson, and Wolfgang Reitherman, under the
supervision of Clyde Geronimi. Sleeping Beauty is also the first animated feature to be photographed in the
Technirama widescreen process (an alternative to CinemaScope) and the last Disney feature to use hand-inked cels.
Also released with Sleeping Beauty is the live-action documentary Grand Canyon, directed by James Algar. First
debuting back on December 17, 1958 Grand Canyon features beautifully shot scenes set to Ferde Grofé's musical composition "Grand Canyon Suite."
1960:
The television series Walt Disney Presents airs the episode "Wild Burro of The West."
1961:
Mailman Herbert A. Disney (oldest brother of Walt Disney) passes away.
Walt Disney Presents airs "Texas John Slaughter: End of the Trail," the
14th episode of a mini-series starring Tom Tryon.
1987:
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs parade onto the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, in celebration of Disney's highest-ever first quarter revenues.
1995:
Super Bowl XXIX is played at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami, Florida. The
halftime show is a Disney production called "Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye."
It features Indiana Jones & Marion, Patti LaBelle, Tony Bennett, Arturo Sandoval, and Miami Sound
Machine. Jerry Rice and Steve Young of the San Francisco 49ers shout "We're going to Disney World!" after
their team defeats the San Diego Chargers, 49–26.
The animated feature Sleeping
Beauty (premiering on this day in
1959) was made while Walt
Disney was building Disneyland
(hence the 4 year production
time). To help promote the
film, Imagineers named the
castle at the park Sleeping
Beauty's (it was
originally to be
Snow White's).
JANUARY 29
1977:
Although nominated for a Golden Globe, the song "I'd Like to Be You for a Day" (written by Joel Hirschhorn & Al Kasha for Disney's Freaky Friday) is beat out for Best Original Song - Motion Picture by "Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)" (written by Barbra Streisand & Paul Williams).
1843:
William McKinley, the twenty-fifth United States President, is born
in Niles, Ohio. The last veteran of the American Civil War to be elected to office, he
was also the last President to serve in the 19th century and the first to serve in the 20th.
Visit McKinley and all the U.S. Chief Executives at Disney World's The Hall of Presidents.
"Now sword of truth, fly swift and sure, that evil die and good endure!" -Flora
JANUARY 29
THIS DAY MADE
IN THE
USA
Sleeping Beauty premieres
Hollywood debut of Fantasia
1996:
At the 23rd American Music Awards, The Lion King wins Favorite Soundtrack.
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"I write about animals because I love to draw them. But, I also put people in my books, lots of people. There are farmers, clowns, hunters, lion tamers, hobos, school kids, teachers, cowboys, Indians, roustabouts, knights in armor, pirates, kings, ringmasters, and railroad engineers. Most of my animal characters have human personalities, and some are much like people I have known." -Bill Peet (born this day 1915)
"The free man cannot be long an ignorant man." -William McKinley
"You really can’t teach people how to draw though except to say
“Draw better!” You can go through all the routines of telling them how to do it, but if they don’t have a feel for it they will never become what you could call an artist or draftsman. You can point things out to them, but as far as taking them by the hand and carrying them along, there’s no way you can do that." -Bill Peet (1988)
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1943:
Disney's Donald Duck short Donald's Tire Trouble, directed by Dick Lundy, is released. A flat tire proves to be more than enough to upset impatient Donald!
2010:
At Epcot, the redesigned IBM exhibit "Smarter Planet" opens.
Located in the Innoventions pavilion, it offers park guests a peek at an energy efficient IBM data center.
Disney's Touchstone Pictures releases the romantic comedy When in Rome (in association with Krasnoff Foster Productions), starring Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel.
Beth is a young, ambitious New Yorker who is completely unlucky in love. However, on a whirlwind trip to Rome, she impulsively steals some coins from a reputed fountain of love, and is then aggressively pursued by a band of suitors.
1966:
Robert Stevenson, the director of Mary Poppins, is presented with a Blue Ribbon Award for Best Foreign Film. (Blue Ribbon Awards are handed out annually in Tokyo, Japan.)
1967:
NBC-TV airs the Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color episode "Gallegher
Goes West: Tragedy on the Trail."
2011:
The Disney Dream visits Castaway Cay (Disney's private island) for the very first time. The ship will head back to Florida the next day, ending her four-night maiden voyage.
JAN
JAN
2008:
Walt Disney Records releases a 26-track digital album containing the music of Paul Smith's original soundtrack score to the 1954 film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
Also released on Walt Disney Records; Hannah Montana 2: Non-Stop Dance Party.
2012:
Kellie Nickerson, sporting fairy wings and a green tutu, flies away from the field to win the inaugural Tinker Bell Half Marathon at the Disneyland Resort. Nickerson, from Albuquerque, New Mexico, captures her first win at a runDisney race with a finish time of 1:27:52, just ahead of Sharon Wilkinson of Winnetka, California, (1:28:18) and Stacy Schafer from Carlsbad, California (1:28:54). Hosted by the city of Anaheim and the Disneyland Resort, the Tinker Bell Half Marathon led participants on a 13.1-mile trek through Disneyland and Disney California Adventure parks, as well as by several Anaheim landmarks.
1951:
(based on the classic novel by Robert Louis Stevenson).
Bobby Driscoll revives his role of Jim Hawkins. Special guest stars include James Mason (who in 3 years will star in Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea) as Long John Silver and Nigel Bruce as Squire Trelawney.
January 29
This Day in Disney History - THE FIRST - THE ORIGINAL
Traveling in time since 1999!
2016:
The thriller motion picture The Finest Hours, produced by Walt Disney Pictures,
is released. The screenplay, written by Eric Johnson, Scott Silver, and Paul Tamasy, is based on "The Finest
Hours: The True Story of the U.S. Coast Guard's Most Daring Sea Rescue" by Michael J. Tougias and Casey Sherman. Starring Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Holliday Grainger, John Ortiz, and Eric Bana, the film chronicles the true account of the 1952 United States Coast Guard rescue of the SS Pendleton, after it split apart during a nor'easter off the New England coast.
The soundtrack for the second season of ABC's musical fantasy/comedy Galavant is released. It features performances by members of the cast and songs written by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater. The final track features "Weird Al" Yankovic.
1954:
Media executive, actress, talk show host, television producer and philanthropist
Oprah Winfrey is born in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Best known for her talk show "The Oprah
Winfrey Show," her Disney credits include The Princess and the Frog as the voice of Eudora, and the
live-action A Wrinkle in Time as Mrs. Which. Additionally, she played Sethe in and produced the 1998
Touchstone Pictures film Beloved.
1945:
Actor & film producer Tom Selleck is born in Detroit, Michigan. His Disney credits include Touchstone's Three Men and a Baby (1987) & Three Men and a Little Lady (1990) as Peter Mitchell, and Meet the Robinsons (2007) as the voice of adult Cornelius Robinson. Selleck attended the premiere of Meet the Robinsons in March 2007. He also starred in Touchstone's 1989 crime drama An Innocent Man. (Selleck is best known for his roles on the television series Magnum, P.I. and Blue Bloods.)
1985:
Songwriter Don Raye passes away at age 75 in California. Best known for his songs for The Andrews Sisters, Raye wrote such popular tunes as "Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar", "The House of Blue Lights", "Just for a Thrill" and "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy." He also wrote original songs for Walt Disney's The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949) as well as co-wrote "Beware the Jabberwock," a song for Alice in Wonderland (1951), which was not included in the final version of the film.
2017:
Fantasy in the Sky, the very first fireworks performance at Disneyland, closes for the 3rd time since 1958.
1957:
Actress Diane Delano is born in Los Angeles, California. Her Disney credits include the animated series American Dragon: Jake Long, and the live-action sitcoms Wizards of Waverly Place and Good Luck Charlie. She also appeared in episodes of such ABC shows as Dharma & Greg and Desperate Housewives.
1947:
Actor and acting coach Ernie Lively is born Ernest Wilson Brown Jr. in Baltimore, Maryland. Best known for his roles in Passenger 57, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, his Disney credits include the TV movie Balloon Farm and the series The Suite Life of Zack & Cody as the voice of Maddie's Father. Lively also appeared in episodes of the ABC sitcom The Drew Carey Show.
(He is the father of actors Blake and Eric Lively.)
