2000:
Disney's stage show Aida (featuring music by Elton John and lyrics by
Tim Rice) opens at the Palace Theatre in New York City. The tale of Aida, made
famous by Verdi's 1871 opera, tells of an enslaved African princess, Aida, and her doomed love for
the captain of the Egyptian guard, Radames, who is in turn desired by Aida's royal mistress,
Amneris. (The musical will go on to win four Tony Awards.)
2004:
Disney Publishing Worldwide announces that it is launching W.I.T.C.H., a new book series about five ordinary friends with an extraordinary secret - they each have the power to control a natural element. W.I.T.C.H. is the acronym of the first names of the 5 heroines.
1911:
Radio and television actress Paula Winslowe, the voice of Bambi's Mother in the
1942 Disney classic Bambi, is born in North Dakota.
1936:
Artist Ollie Johnston (future member of Walt's "Nine Old Men")
becomes master animator Fred Moore's assistant at the Disney Studio.
1950:
Bobby Driscoll is given a special Oscar at the Academy Awards, for outstanding
juvenile actor of 1949. He had portrayed Jerry in Disney's 1949 So Dear to My Heart (and earlier the role
of Johnny in Disney's 1946 Song of the South.) The Best Song award goes to "Baby, It's Cold Outside" (written
by Frank Loesser for Neptune's Daughter) beating out "Lavender Blue" (written by Eliot Daniel & Larry Morey)
from Disney's So Dear to My Heart.
1967:
Disney's 17-minute cartoon Scrooge McDuck and Money
is released. It is Uncle Scrooge's first major animated appearance.
1969:
At Disneyland, 100 Volkswagen Beetles parade down Main Street to celebrate Herbie Day (to promote The Love Bug film).
1975:
The Wonderful World of Disney airs the episode "Welcome To The World." Hosted by actress/singer Lucie Arnaz, the show celebrates the opening of the Magic Kingdom's new thrill ride Space Mountain!
1976:
Actress Keri Russell, a Mouseketeer on Disney Channel's All New Mickey
Mouse Club (from 1991 to 1993) is born in Fountain Valley, California. She also co-starred in Disney's 2008 comedy feature Bedtime Stories.
1977:
Josh Ackerman, who was a Mouseketeer for 7 seasons on the 1989
All New Mickey Mouse Club TV series, is born in St. Paul, Minnesota.
1987:
The Walt Disney Company signs a contract with the French national, regional and local governments, which promises Disney: favorable loan terms; that the rapid transit railway system will be extended to the theme park from Paris; that two interchanges will be built to link Euro Disneyland with a main highway; and that a special station for high-speed trains will be constructed at the park.
1996:
The Walt Disney Company and McDonald's Corporation sign a 10-year multi-national promotional alliance, set to begin in January 1997.
1998:
At the 70th Academy Awards, Don Iwerks (co-founder of Iwerks Entertainment) is given the Gordon E. Sawyer Award for accomplishments in the field of motion picture science and technology. Iwerks, who in his early years worked for Disney, is the son of legendary Disney animator/mechanical genius Ub Iwerks. Although nominated for Best Music, Original Song, "Go the Distance" (from Disney's Hercules) is edged out by "My Heart Will G On" (from this year's big winner Titanic).
2001:
The Lizzie McGuire episode "Aaron Carter's Coming
to Town" airs for the first time on the Disney Channel.
2003:
An animated 3D Mickey Mouse presents the Best Animated Short Oscar (to The ChubbChubbs!) at the 75th Annual Academy Awards hosted by Steve Martin. The Disney distributed Spirited Away is awarded Best Animated Feature, beating out Lilo & Stitch and Treasure Planet. Chicago (a Miramax Film - a division of The Walt Disney Company) wins 5 Oscars!
The Main Street Electrical Parade gives its last performance at Disneyland Paris.
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1912:
Wernher Von Braun, one of the world's foremost space scientist, is born in Wirsitz,
Germany. A rocket physicist, astronautics engineer and space architect, Von Braun helped produce the Disney "Man
In Space" TV episodes in the 1950s. His Saturn V booster rocket made possible the first Moon landing in July 1969. Von
Braun helped establish and promote the National Space Institute, a precursor of the present-day National Space Society,
in 1975, and became its first president and chairman.
Actor Jeff York is born in Los Angeles, California. His Disney credits include the Zorro television series,
The Saga of Andy Burnett serial, Old Yeller, Johnny Tremain, Westward Ho, The Wagons!, and The Great Locomotive
Chase. He also portrayed Mike Fink, the flamboyant keelboat operator in two episodes of Disney's hugely popular Davy
Crockett miniseries - "Davy Crockett's Keelboat Race" and "Davy Crockett and the River Pirates."
2007:
The new trailer for Disney/Pixar's Ratatouille premieres
during an episode of Cory in the House on Disney Channel.
Starting on this day, Lewis, Wilbur Robinson, and Bowler Hat Guy from
Meet the Robinsons meet and greet guests at the Disney-MGM Studios.
1999:
Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida, a concept album that contains songs which will be
used for next year's Broadway production of Aida, is released on Island Records. The
album features Elton John performing his songs along with such pop stars as Sting, LeAnn Rimes, Tina
Turner, Angelique Kidjo, Spice Girls, Janet Jackson, Boyz II Men, Shania Twain, Lenny Kravitz, James
Taylor, and Lulu. (Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida: Original Broadway Cast Recording, a conventional original
cast recording of the Broadway production will be released in 2000.)
2005:
The 9th Marc Davis Lecture on Animation takes place in the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in California. This year's event features two time Academy Award winning animation impressionist Frédéric Back.
Don Iwerks (the son of legendary Disney
animator Ub Iwerks) is the co-founder
of Iwerks Entertainment. He has been
associated with many accomplishments,
including the 360-degree CircleVision
camera and projection systems that he
worked on with his father. Don's
department designed and manufactured hundreds of unique film
projection systems
for Disney theme
parks such as
Disney's Star
Tours simulator.
2008:
Roger Federer, the world’s No. 1 ranked men’s professional tennis player, attempts to "pull the sword from the stone" in Fantasyland at Disney World's Magic Kingdom. Federer is visiting Disney World during Easter weekend before heading to Miami for the 2008 Sony Ericsson Open.
1957:
Actress Amanda Plummer - the voice of Clotho in Disney's animated Hercules - is born in New York City. She can also be heard as Professor Poofenplotz in an episode of Phineas and Ferb.
MARCH 23
MARCH 23
THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
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Iwerks wins Gordon E. Sawyer Award
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1973:
Disney's live-action Charley and the Angel, starring Fred
MacMurray, Cloris Leachman, Harry Morgan, and Kurt
Russell, is released. Set during the Depression, a crotchety & frugal
shopkeeper named Charley (MacMurray) is visited by an angel (Morgan), who
shows him what will happen if he doesn't change the error of his ways.
Nominated for a Golden Globe, it is MacMurray's 7th and final Disney film.
1951:
The Donald Duck short Corn Chips and the Goofy short Home Made Home are both
released. In Corn Chips, directed by Jack Hannah, Chip 'n' Dale are persuaded by Donald to shovel his
snowy sidewalk. Home Made Home, directed by Jack Kinney, finds Goofy attempting to build a house.
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"There is only one Walt Disney ... He is the greatest producer the industry has ever turned out."
-film star Mary Pickford (1936)
1990:
Disney's Touchstone Pictures releases Pretty Woman, a romantic comedy starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts and directed by Garry Marshall.
1905:
Film, television and theater actress Joan Crawford is born in San Antonio, Texas.
Known for her appearances in such features as Grand Hotel and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, in
1955 she became involved with the Pepsi-Cola Company, through her marriage to company president Alfred
Steele. After his death in 1959, Crawford was elected to fill his vacancy on the board of directors. It was
Crawford who suggested that Pepsi contact Walt Disney to build an idea for a "little boat ride" for the
1964/65 World's Fair in New York!
2011:
Shareholders re-elect Walt Disney Co.'s board slate, including Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs and 12 other nominees. Shareholders at the annual meeting held in Salt Lake City also approve a motion to give themselves an annual advisory vote on the Burbank entertainment giant’s executive compensation.
A Day in the Life - John Lasseter, a documentary by Leslie Iwerks, is filmed.
Shot during the end of production on Cars 2, the promotional video will be released in July.
(Leslie is the daughter of Disney Legend Don Iwerks and granddaughter to the animator and co-designer of
Mickey Mouse, Ub Iwerks.)
1949:
Cathy Birk, Disneyland's 1970 Ambassador, is born in Paris, France. First joining
Disneyland in 1968, she was chosen as the park's new Ambassador in November 1969.
MAR
MAR
March 23
This Day in Disney History - THE FIRST - THE ORIGINAL
Traveling in time since 1999!
2013:
Norman "Stormy" Palmer, who worked at Disney for 45 years and became closely
associated with the studio's acclaimed True-Life Adventure short-subject series of
documentaries, passes away at his home in Northridge, California, from natural
causes. He is 94. Born October 7, 1918, Palmer first came to work for Disney the year after graduating high
school. After six months, he moved into the editorial department, where he assisted on the 1940 animated
classics Pinocchio and Fantasia. A true pioneer in the field of nature documentaries, Palmer's greatest contributions
include the 1952 Oscar-winning Water Birds, Grand Canyon and Nature's Half Acre. Retired since 1983, Palmer
was named a Disney Legend in 1998.
