2002:
25th Anniversary Edition of the Many Adventures of Winnie
the Pooh is released on DVD and VHS.
The Walt Disney Company puts the nose of one of their old
Mark IV monorail cabs up for sale via online auction.
1879:
Star of stage & screen Lucile Watson - the grandmother in Disney's 1946 feature Song of the South - is born in Quebec, Canada. Beginning her career on the Broadway stage, Watson went on to appear in such feature films as Watch on the Rhine and Little Women.
1933:
Disney's animated Silly Symphony short Three Little Pigs, directed by Bert
Gillett, is generally released. It features the song "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" written by
Frank Churchill. (The popularity of the film will lead to 3 sequels including Three Little Wolves and The
Practical Pig.) Even though Carl Stalling (Walt's original musical director) left the Disney Studio in 1930, he
can be heard in this short. Still making occasional visits to the studio, Stalling made one such visit at Disney's
on the day that the music track was to be recorded - and was immediately drafted for
the session!
The Century of Progress Exposition opens in Chicago, Illinois.
In August, Walt Disney and animator Ward Kimball will visit the
show to see its acres of famous railroad engines.
1938:
Disney's Silly Symphony cartoon Wynken, Blynken, and Nod is released. The 8-minute
dream fantasy is based on a popular poem for children written by journalist Eugene Field in 1889. Disney makes
lavish use of its new multi-plane camera, which gives scenes great depth & beauty - most particularly to the
opening sequence. It is directed by Graham Heid.
1948:
Disney's 13th feature film Melody Time, made up of multiple animated stories, is released.
Segments include "Once Upon A Wintertime" (featuring the singing voice of Frances Langford), "Bumble Boogie" (featuring the music of Freddy Martin and his orchestra), "Johnny Appleseed" (with radio star Dennis Day providing all the voices), "Trees" (with Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians), "Little Toot" (featuring the singing Andrews Sisters). "Blame it on the Samba" (starring Donald Duck and José Carioca), and "Pecos Bill" (featuring Roy Rogers & the sounds of the Sons of the Pioneers). Melody Time is directed by Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, Jack Kinney, and Wilfred Jackson. (Many of the segments will later be released separately as shorts.)
1977:
Disneyland holds a grand opening ceremony for its newest attraction, Space
Mountain (just in time for the Memorial Day weekend crowds). Attending the
debut are the six surviving astronauts from the original seven Project Mercury space travelers and the
widow of the seventh. Also opening along with Space Mountain is the 1,100-seat Space Stage, the 670-seat Space Place fast-food restaurant and the Starcade electronic arcade. It is the second
Space Mountain in the world (the first one opened at WDW in Florida in 1975).
In the evening, Disneyland hosts a GradNite 77.
1984:
Roy E. Disney's son, Roy P. Disney marries Linda Ross.
1987:
Disney's featurette Sport Goofy in Soccermania debuts on television. This cartoon marks
the first time Russi Taylor voices Huey, Dewey, and Louie (taking the role from Clarence Nash). Joe Ranft (future
Pixar storyboard artist) and Tad Stones (who has been at Walt Disney Television Animation since its formation in
1984) have written the story.
1992:
Disney's Sequoia Lodge - a recreation of an American wilderness hideaway -
opens in Euro Disney Resort (later known as Disneyland Paris). The main lodge, which
faces Lake Disney, includes 1011 rooms. It is designed by French architect Antoine Grumbach to evoke the
atmosphere of the American National Park lodges built around the beginning of the 20th century.
1995:
The Coca-Cola Refreshment Corner, located on Main Street in the
Magic Kingdom (at Disney World), is renamed Casey's Corner. A counter
service eatery, Casey's Corner specializes in hot dogs, french fries and refreshments.
1911:
Legendary actor & writer Vincent Price, the voice of Professor Ratigan in
Disney's 1986 animated "The Great Mouse Detective," is born in St.
Louis, Missouri. One of his last major roles, it was one of his favorites! Price also provided
voice roles as the original narrator and The Phantom in the Phantom Manor ride at Disneyland Paris. (His part was later replaced by French actor, Gérard Chevalier.) Tim Burton directed a short stop-motion film as a tribute to Vincent Price called "Vincent," about a young boy named Vincent Malloy who is obsessed with the grim and macabre. Distributed by Disney's Touchstone in 1982, "Vincent" was narrated by Price himself! Horror film fans know Price best from such classics as "Tower of London," "The House of the Seven Gables," and "House of Wax." Fans of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" album will recall Price for his sinister monologue on the title track. An art collector and arts consultant (with a degree in art history), Vincent Leonard Price Jr. passed at age 82 in 1993.
1996:
Disneyland's Toy Story Funhouse closes in Tomorrowland. The Toy Story Funhouse (along
with Hamm’s All-Doll Revue) had opened in Tomorrowland in early 1996. Both planned as temporary attractions,
the Toy Story Funhouse was first part of "Totally Toy Story" at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood in 1995.
1998:
Animator, Imagineer and Disney Legend Ken O'Connor passes away at age 89 in Burbank,
California. As a Disney layout artist and art director he worked on such classics as Cinderella, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Peter Pan. He also art directed the first CinemaScope cartoon, Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom, which won an Academy Award in 1953. As an Imagineer he worked on such projects as the Universe of Energy at EPCOT Center and the Back to
Neverland introduction to animation film, one time featured in the Animation Building at Disney-MGM Studios in Florida. Born in Australia in 1908, O'Connor was considered a genius among his Disney peers.
1997:
The soundtrack to Disney's animated Hercules is released on Walt Disney Records.
Featuring music written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist David Zippel, it offes two versions of the song "Go The Distance." The single version is performed by Michael Bolton (who was personally chosen by Menken). A second version is performed by Roger Bart (the singing voice of Young Hercules). The soundtrack also includes vocal performances by the film's voice cast: Lillias White (Calliope The Muse), LaChanze (Terpsichore), Roz Ryan (Thalia the Muse of Comedy), Danny DeVito (Philoctetes/Phil), and Susan Egan (Megara).
When the Star Tours attraction
officially opened at Disneyland
in 1987, it marked the first time
an aerospace simulator was
used in a theme park.
1985:
U.S. President Ronald Reagan and his wife visit EPCOT for the President's
Second Inaugural Parade. (The original outdoor parade in January had been cancelled due to very bad weather in Washington, D.C., and an indoor mini-parade had been hastily organized in the Capital Centre sports
arena.) Some 2,500 bandsmen from sixteen states participate at EPCOT on this day and the event makes
television news and newspaper headlines around the world. The President is brought in by helicopter that lands
behind the American Adventure pavilion. (Reagan, then an actor, took part in Disneyland's debut in 1955.)
MAY 27
A Star Tours opened in
Disney-MGM Studios (today
know as Disney's Hollywood
Studios) in December 1989.
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod released
Disneyland's Space Mountain grand opening
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MAY 27
THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
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"You are go for Earth side launch." -Space Mountain
2010:
A special screening of Toy Story 3, to benefit Emery Ed Fund, takes place at Pixar Animation Studios. (The much-anticipated Toy Story 3 will be released June 18.)
Disney begins running their famous "I'm Going to Disney World" TV spot following the
crowning of the newest American Idol Lee DeWyze the night before at the Nokia
Theater in Los Angeles, California.
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2008:
Disney Live! Three Classic Fairy Tales opens at the Shanghai Oriental Art
Center in China (the first Disney Live! tour to ever debut in Asia).
2005:
Disney-MGM hosts the second (of what will be six) Star Wars Weekends.
Celebrity guests include Peter Mayhew and Rob Coleman.
2011:
"Mickey’s Soundsational Parade" makes its official debut at Disneyland.
(Yesterday, May 26, guests were given an unannounced preview of the new parade.) The nine-float affair
kicks off Disney Soundsational Summer, which will also include the openings of The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s
Undersea Adventure and Star Tours, along with new experiences at the Disneyland Hotel and Paradise Pier.
1965:
The Miami Herald runs the banner headline,
"Giant Land Deal Near Orlando Revealed." Staff writer Clarence Jones states:
A Miami law firm working with $5 million in cold cash has quietly engineered one of the biggest, most-talked-about
Florida land deals in years.
Twelve miles southwest of Orlando, the firm has bought 30,000 acres of strategically located land that could
become the state’s largest industrial complex.
Hottest current speculation says the purchasers will offer 3,000 acres to the Atomic Energy Commission for its new
national accelerator laboratory, then develop the remaining 27,000 acres for related space age industry.
Rumor also says the Ford Motor Co. plans to break into missile and space technology at the secret site. Ford officials
in Detroit deny it.
The McDonnell Aircraft Corp., builder of the Mercury and Gemini space capsules and a series of supersonic
warplanes, is also mentioned as a possible buyer. McDonnell now has headquarters in St. Louis. There were some St.
Louis men involved in the land negotiations.
Still another possibility is Disneyland East, the longplanned amusement park that would be bigger and better than
the original Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif. Walt Disney was at Cape Kennedy several weeks ago, but denied that he’s
still considering Florida for his new venture.
Bankers and real estate brokers have been trying for months to find out what’s in the works. If any outsiders know,
they aren’t telling.
MAY
Back to Neverland was a short film featured at Disney's Hollywood Studios (in the days when the park was called Disney-MGM). A tourist in a Goofy hat
(played by Robin Williams) is magically transformed into a cartoon "lost boy" so that he can learn firsthand how animation is produced. Little Robin is
happy about his transformation until his host (veteran newsman Walter Cronkite) drops him into a background painting of a pirate ship where Robin encounters Captain Hook himself! This short played for 14 years - from the park's opening in 1989 until it was pulled in September 2003.
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Photo by Bernie at Disney.Rocket9.net
1973:
Actor Jack McBrayer, the voice of Fix-It Felix Jr. for both the 2012 Wreck-It-Ralph and the 2018 Ralph Breaks the Internet, is born in Macon, Georgia. He is also the voice of Irving for episodes of Phineas and Ferb and the TV movie Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension. McBrayer's television voice credits include The Lion Guard, Milo's Murphy Law, and DuckTales. (McBrayer is best known for his role as NBC page Kenneth Parcell on NBC primetime comedy 30 Rock.)
Open Vault Disney, a Disney DVD fan campaign, begins.
May 27
1961:
Jazz great Benny Goodman performs the first of a
3-day Memorial Weekend engagement at Disneyland.
A clarinetist and bandleader, his music was featured in
Disney's 1946 Make Mine Music.
2013:
Memorial Day is observed on this last Monday of May in the USA.
Candice Glover, season 12 winner of American Idol, visits Walt Disney World
to tape new audio and video segments for the Disney's Hollywood Studios attraction.
2016:
Starting on this Friday night, Disney's Animal Kingdom features nocturnal entertainment for the first time, including projections on the signature Tree of Life and nighttime tours of the Savannah where lions, giraffes and monkeys roam. The park stays open until 11 p.m., a first for the 18-year-old DAK. (The park has typically closed at 6 p.m.) Disney has carefully designed lighting and soundtracks to ensure that the animals won't be disturbed.
Alice Through the Looking Glass, a fantasy adventure
film, directed by James Bobin, written by Linda
Woolverton, and produced by Tim Burton, is released by
Walt Disney Pictures. Based on the characters created by Lewis
Carroll, it is the sequel to the 2010 Alice in Wonderland. The film stars
Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen,
and Mia Wasikowska as Alice. Alice has spent the past few years following
in her father’s footsteps and sailing the high seas. But upon her return to
London, she comes across a magical looking glass and returns to the
fantastical realm of Underland. The cast includes Matt Lucas as
Tweedledee / Tweedledum, Rhys Ifans as Zanik Hightopp - the
Mad Hatter's father, and Helena Bonham Carter as
Iracebeth / Red Queen.
Frozen – Live at the Hyperion, a musical stage show inspired by Disney's 2013 animated film Frozen, premieres at the Hyperion Theater in Hollywood Land at Disney California Adventure. It will run through March 2020.
2003:
Inspector Gadget is re-released on DVD by Buena Vista Home Entertainment. Co-
produced by Walt Disney Pictures and originally released to theaters in 1999, it is loosely based on the 1983 animated television series of the same name. The film stars Matthew Broderick as the title character, Rupert
Everett as Dr. Claw, Michelle Trachtenberg as Penny and Dabney Coleman as Chief Quimby.
The DVD of A Bug's Life, fully remastered in anamorphic widescreen with substantial bonus features, is re-released.
2017:
Pandora – The World of Avatar, a themed area inspired by James Cameron's Avatar, located within Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park at Walt Disney World, opens to the general public. Set a generation after the events of the Avatar films, the area is based upon the fictional
exoplanetary moon, Pandora, and features Pandora's floating mountains, alien wildlife, and bioluminescent plants.
Attractions include Avatar Flight of Passage - a 3D flying simulator where guests fly on a mountain Banshee over the landscape of Pandora, and Na'vi River Journey - a dark ride boat attraction through the Kapsavan River.
Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout!, an accelerated drop tower dark ride attraction, opens at Disney California Adventure. Based on the Marvel Comics characters, it depicts Rocket Raccoon recruiting guests to attempt to free the remaining Guardians of the Galaxy from display within the Collector's fortress. The attraction uses the same infrastructure and ride system as the previous attraction, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Opening 22 days after the release of the film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, it is the second Disney attraction to be based on a Marvel property (following Iron Man Experience which opened at Hong Kong Disneyland in January 2017).
1971:
Actor Paul Bettany is born in London, England. He is known for his voice role of J.A.R.V.I.S. and Vision in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, specifically the films Iron Man (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), The Avengers (2012), Iron Man 3 (2013), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016) and Avengers: Infinity War (2018). Bettany also portrayed Dryden Vos in Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018).
2019:
Memorial Day is celebrated on this Monday in the United States.
1955:
Actor & comedian Richard Schiff is born in Bethesda, Maryland. Beginning September 2017 he has had a leading role in ABC's medical drama The Good Doctor, as Dr. Aaron Glassman. He also appeared in 2 episodes of AB's Once Upon a Time.
2020:
Walt Disney World officials propose a plan on this day that would allow it to begin reopening theme parks on July 11. (WDW has been closed since mid-March due to the Covid-19 pandemic.) The phased reopening plan is presented on this morning during a meeting with the Orange County
Economic Recovery Task Force. Under the plan, Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom would open July 11. Epcot and Hollywood Studios would open July 15. The plan must be endorsed by Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and then Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
The phased reopening of Disney Springs continues with the opening of several Disney-owned locations, including World of Disney, Marketplace Co-Op, and D-Luxe Burger.
Signage at the entrances remind guests of the new rules including social distancing, wearing a face covering, and washing hands frequently.
Season 7 of the series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. debuts on ABC.
ABC's "The Wonderful World of Disney" presents Thor: The Dark World. The Marvel feature film continues the adventures of Thor, the Mighty Avenger, as he battles to save Earth and all the Nine Realms from a shadowy enemy that predates the universe itself. This is the second of 4 consecutive Wednesday presentations of beloved films from the Disney+ library.
1969:
Screenwriter, film director and producer Glenn Ficarra is born in New Jersey. He and John Requa wrote Disney's 2021 live-action film Jungle Cruise.
1980:
Actor Ben Feldman is born in Potomac, Maryland. His Disney voice credits include Big Hero 6: The Series and Monsters at Work.
1922:
Actor, voice actor, singer, author, and musician Sir Christopher Lee is born in Belgravia, Westminster, London, England. With a career spanning nearly seven decades, he often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in several Hammer Horror films. Lee's Disney roles included Dr. Victor Gannon in the 1978 Return from Witch Mountain, and voicing Ansem the Wise in the Kingdom Hearts games Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and Jabberwocky in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. Stock footage of him from one of his Dracula films was utilized in the 2012 animated feature film Frankenweenie. Lee also played Count Dooku in the Star Wars films Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002) and Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005). He passed away
at age 93 in June 2015.
