2008:
Disney's Block Party Bash makes its first public appearance at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida. The parade features the Pixar family of characters in three segments - Toy Story, Monsters Inc and A Bug's Life, with The Incredibles making an appearance at the parade's finale.
2005:
It is reported that the Hong Kong Disneyland theme park (set to open in September) has already booked 10,000 room reservations for its hotel since it opened a customer call center three weeks ago.
1911:
Cincinnati, Ohio. The youngest of three sons, shortly after he was born, the family moved to Colorado. While
attending the Art Center School of Design in Los Angeles, an instructor sent Lounsbery to interview with Walt Disney.
He began working for Disney in 1935 and went on to contribute to such animated classics as Fantasia,
Dumbo, Cinderella, and The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
1955:
On ABC-TV, Disneyland airs "Man in Space," the first of a 3-part series about space travel. The show features Walt Disney, animator Ward Kimball (the director of the series), and scientists Willy Ley, Heinz Haber, and Wernher Von Braun (who will later be one of the leaders in the American space program). The show is narrated by Dick Tufeld (who will later be known as the voice of the robot on the TV series Lost in Space). The next two parts "Man and the Moon" and "Mars and Beyond" will be aired over the next few years. (The Disney "science factual" series will be very influential in drumming up support in the U.S. for a manned space project.)
1984:
Touchstone Pictures (part of the Disney family) releases its first film,
Splash, directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah, and John
Candy. Touchstone Pictures has been created to allow Disney to produce non-G-rated movies. A young boy
saved from drowning by a beautiful mermaid, falls in love with her 20 years later when she returns to seek him out. In
a scene from Splash, Madison (played by Hannah) is at Bloomingdales' electrical department when she passes
television sets playing Disney's 1979 The Black Hole and the 1954 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. John Candy plays Hanks' womanizing brother Freddie. The cast also includes Eugene Levy, Shecky Greene, Jeff Doucette, and Dody Goodman. Ron Howards' father Rance and brother Clint both make cameo appearances.
Roy E. Disney resigns from the central board of the Walt Disney Company, setting
in motion a series of takeover bids and maneuvering that by August will actually
leave him in control of the company.
1985:
Tokyo Disneyland's Main Street Electrical Parade debuts.
It is basically a carbon copy of the original Disneyland parade.
1986:
Actress Brittany Snow, who appears in Disney's 2005 comedy feature
The Pacifier, is born in Tampa, Florida. She also took part in the short-lived TV series Walt Disney World Inside Out.
1994:
Previews begin for Disney's newest Broadway stage show
Beauty and the Beast. (Opening night will be April 18.)
Touchstone Pictures releases the comedy The Ref to a
limited amount of theaters. Bickering spouses (Judy Davis & Kevin Spacey) annoy the cat burglar (Denis Leary) who takes them hostage in their Connecticut home. Distributed by Buena Vista Pictures, the film will have a full release two days later.
2001:
Disney Channel's original movie, The Luck of the Irish airs. A teenager must battle for a gold charm to keep his family from being controlled by an evil leprechaun. (It will be the network's highest-rated original movie in the past three years.)
2004:
Disney's Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo is released on DVD. Roo is upset when
Rabbit cancels Easter and declares "Spring Cleaning Day" instead! The events of the film directly parallel those of
the classic Charles Dickens novel "A Christmas Carol." The Narrator (David Ogden Stiers) first shows Rabbit
events from the past, then has him listen in on another character in the present, then shows him a dismal future,
leading Rabbit to realize that he can change.
2006:
Movie fans catch a sneak peek of Pixar's new computer-animated feature Cars. Disney offers the World Premiere of the new theatrical trailer on a variety of broadcast outlets, basic cable channels, internet sites, and in person at the Disney Theme Parks, ESPN Zones, Disney Stores, and on the ABC SuperSign in Times Square in New York City. (Cars is scheduled for a June 9 release.)
Castaway Cay, a private island in
the Bahamas purchased by Disney
to use as a stopover for its
cruise line ships, was originally
known as Gorda Cay. Gorda Cay
was used for filming - the beach
scene where Tom Hanks first
encounters Daryl Hannah in
Splash was shot on the island.
1980:
Disney's made-for-TV movie The Kids Who Knew Too Much airs for the first time. Three young model-building aficionados (played by Rad Daly, Dana Hill and Christopher Holloway) team up with an ace reporter (portrayed by Sharon Gless), who is investigating a murder. Everyone is
plunged into peril when it is discover that the murder was committed to hush up a major political conspiracy!
MARCH 9
MARCH 09
THIS SITE MADE IN THE USA
Man in Space airs
Splash released
 | ||||
| ||||
"I don't understand. All my life I've been waiting for someone and when I find her, she's... she's a fish."
-Tom Hanks in Splash
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SEASON 1 EPISODE 20
1957:
Composer/guitarist Mark Mancina is born in Santa Monica, California. He co-wrote songs, produced, and arranged the score for both the film and musical production of The Lion King. Mancina also collaborated with Phil Collins on two feature animated films for Disney; Tarzan and Brother Bear. He and Collins received a Grammy Award for Best Soundtrack Album for Tarzan. In 2006, Mancina wrote an arrangement of "When You Wish Upon A Star" for the Walt Disney Pictures logo. His Disney/Touchstone film credits also include Con Air (along with Trevor Rabin), The Haunted Mansion, Tarzan II, Planes, Planes: Fire & Rescue, and Moana.
1975:
NBC-TV airs The Wonderful World of Disney episode "The Footloose Goose." Narrated
by Andrew Duggan, a pinioned trout-farm goose takes a wild gander for her mate, but when he's blown off course in
a storm, and then winged, he has to make his way back to her on foot.
MAR
MAR
2012:
Disney's science fiction action film John Carter is released
to U.S. theaters. Largely based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' A Princess of
Mars, the film is the live-action debut of director/writer Andrew Stanton
(known for the Pixar animated films Finding Nemo and WALL-E). Transplanted
to Mars, a Civil War vet named John Carter, played by Taylor Kitsch, discovers
a lush planet inhabited by 12-foot tall barbarians. The cast includes Lynn
Collins, Samantha Morton, Mark Strong, Ciarán Hinds, and Dominic West.
(With a total cost of $350 million, including an estimated production budget of $263 million, it is one of the most expensive films ever made. Due to the film's poor box office performance, Disney will cancel plans for a sequel.)
March 9
This Day in Disney History - THE FIRST - THE ORIGINAL
Traveling in time since 1999!
2014:
The Festival of Fantasy Parade debuts at the Magic Kingdom in
Disney World.
2018:
The live-action science fiction film A Wrinkle in Time is released by Walt Disney Pictures. Based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Madeleine L'Engle, the film stars Oprah Winfrey, Reese
Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Michael Peña, Storm Reid, Zach Galifianakis and Chris Pine. A Wrinkle in Time tells the story of a young girl who, with the help of three astral travelers, sets off on a quest to find her father, who went missing after discovering a new planet.
2019:
Director Tim Burton (who helms Disney’s all-new, live-action adventure Dumbo)
surprises guests at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Burton visits the Dumbo The Flying
Elephant in Fantasyland, introduces a sneak peek of the movie at the Main Street Opera House in Town Square,
and signs autographs.
1979:
Actor Oscar Isaac is born in Guatemala. He has appeared in the Star Wars sequel trilogy as X-wing pilot Poe Dameron, and in X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) as the titular mutant supervillain Apocalypse.
1999:
Disney's 1961 animated One Hundred and One Dalmatians is re-released as part of the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection video series. (First released in theaters on January 25, 1961, the film was re-released theatrically in 1969, 1979, 1985, and 1991. One Hundred and One Dalmatians was first released on VHS on April 10, 1992, as part of the Walt Disney Classics video series.)
2011:
Tangled is released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment as a four-disc combo pack. The combo pack includes a Blu-ray 3D, standard Blu-ray, DVD, and digital copy.
2020:
Disney's live-action Mulan premieres in Los Angeles, California. In attendance is actress
Liu Yifei (who plays the titular character) and many of her castmates, including actors Tzi Ma and Donnie Yen. Mulan is scheduled to hit theaters on March 27. (The release will ultimately be postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.)
1971:
Animator and film director Kyle Balda is born in Tucson, Arizona. Working for Pixar for a short time, his credits include A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, and Monsters, Inc. (He is best known for co-directing the animated films The Lorax and Minions.)
1974:
Composer, arranger, and music producer Deborah Lurie is born in Boston, Massachusetts.
Her Disney credits include Hercules: The Animated Series and Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. (She has also been a string arranger for rock and pop performers such as Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson, and The All-American Rejects.)
1997:
Mouseketeer Charley Laney passes away at age 53 in California. Chosen in 1956, he appeared in season 2 of Disney's The Mickey Mouse Club.
2021:
The Walt Disney Company's Annual Meeting Of Shareholders event is held virtually.
It is reported that Disney+ has topped 100 million subscribers just 16 months after it launched!
2010:
Disneymania 7, a variety of contemporary performers performing Disney songs, is released by Walt Disney Records. The 15 tracks include such artists as Allstar Weekend, Selena Gomez, Honor Society, Drew Seeley, and Debby Ryan.
1963:
Walt Disney visits the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in Santa Cruz, California. He and several of his staff (including Admiral Joe Fowler) examine the Autorama ride. In particular, they are interested in the guidance system. When Disneyland opened in 1955, Tomorrowland boasted the Autopia ride, a self-driven turnpike for kids of all ages. The cars were outfitted with bumpers, but they were plagued by collisions and occasionally jumped the curb that centered them on the roadway. When the Boardwalk’s Autorama ride opened in 1961, in addition to front and rear bumpers, the cars also had a center guide rail to control the cars steering range. Two years later Disneyland’s Autopia will have a similar center guide rail.
