2007:
Taping begins for Disney Channel Games at Disney's Wide World of
Sports Complex in Florida. Celebrities taking part in the 4-day event include Miley
Cyrus of Hannah Montana, Kyle Massey of Cory in the House, Monique Coleman,
Ashley Tisdale & Lucas Grabeel of High School Musical, Corbin Bleu of Jump In!,
and Cole & Dylan Sprouse of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.
Disney Channel debuts the Hannah Montana episode "Cuffs Will Keep Us Together."
1989:
MMC, also known as The All New Mickey Mouse Club,
debuts on the Disney Channel with host Fred Newman. The show is a mix of live skits, recorded comedy and songs - the Mouseketeers perform their own versions of popular songs live and in music videos. Today is Music Day! Filmed in front of a live studio audience at Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida, the Mouseketeers include Joshua Ackerman, Lyndsey Alley, Jennifer McGill, Tiffini Hale, Chase Hampton, Albert Fields, Deedee Magno, Damon Pampolina, Brandy Brown, Roque Herring, Braden Danner, David Kater, and Kevin Osgood. (The cast over the years will include such future stars as singers Britney Spears & Christina Aguilera, actors Ryan Gosling & Keri Russell, and members of NSYNC.)
Animation director Clyde Geronimi passes away at age 87 in Newport Beach,
California. Born 1901 in Chiavenna, Italy, he immigrated to the United States as a young child. In 1931 he joined
Walt Disney Productions, where he remained until 1959. Geronimi started off in the shorts department as an animator, eventually becoming a director. His 1941 short, Lend a Paw, won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. He moved into directing feature-length animated films and was one of the directors on Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, and One Hundred and One Dalmatians. After
leaving Disney in 1959, he worked in television for a number of years, including directing many episodes of the
1967 animated Spider-Man series. Geronimi will be posthumously inducted as a Disney Legend on July 14, 2017.
1959:
The TV series Walt Disney Presents airs the 1957 film "The Wetback Hound" on ABC.
Disney Channel's The All
New Mickey Mouse Club
was shot before
a studio audience at
the Disney-MGM Studios
in Florida.
MMC
"When I was in Nashville, I went to our Macy's and went and tried on all the Hannah Montana stuff. Then I said,
This is weird, I'm wearing my face." -Miley Cyrus
1985:
Actress Courtnee Draper is born in Orlando, Florida. Her Disney Channel credits include the series The Jersey (as Morgan Hudson), and the Disney Channel Original Movies The Thirteenth Year (as Sam), and Stepsister from the Planet Weird (as Megan Larson).
APRIL 24
APRIL 24
THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
 | ||||
| ||||
A
P
R
2009:
Imagineering legend Marty Sklar announces in a letter to "All
Imagineers" that he will say "goodbye" to Walt Disney Imagineering
on July 17. A Disney Legend, Sklar began as a Disney Cast Member 53 years ago at
Disneyland’s public relations department and joined WED Enterprises in 1961. Disney will
honor him with a window dedication ceremony on his date of retirement.
The Food and Wine Festival opens for its fourth consecutive year at Disney’s
California Adventure. This year’s festival, dubbed "World Celebration," focuses on the cultures,
experiences, & flavors from all around the world that influence California. The festival will run for 45 days.
| ||||
Food & Wine Festival opens
MMC debuts on Disney Channel
Walt Disney World has series of weather stations used to control water waste. The weather stations record the weather during the day and in turn automatically dials up or down the irrigation system, depending on if it’s a bright, sunny, or a hot day. There are more than 800 controllers throughout WDW, in addition to 80 rain sensors and more than 11,000 valves used
to deliver the irrigation.
1992:
Disney releases the Hollywood Pictures live-action comedy Passed Away,
starring Bob Hoskins and Jack Warden. During one long weekend, four grown children come together under the family roof for their 70-year-old father’s funeral. Each tries to cope with his or her personal failures and the family’s expectations. The cast includes Blair Brown, Tim Curry, and Frances McDormand.
1998:
The ABC-TV sitcom Sabrina, the Teenage Witch airs the episode "Disney World."
On a field trip to Disney's Animal Kingdom in Florida, Sabrina (played by Melissa Joan Hart), working to pass a critical
exam for her witch's license, accidentally turns Libby and Valerie into zebras!
(The episode was shot a week before the park opened.)
Actress Ryan Newman is born in Manhattan Beach, California. She is best known to Disney fans
for her role of Ginger Falcone in Disney XD's Zeke and Luther. She's also appeared in episodes of Hannah Montana
and Good Luck Charlie.
1951:
Film director, producer and screenwriter Steven Lisberger is
born in New York City (though raised in Philadelphia). He is best known for directing Disney's
1982 movie Tron and co-producing and co-writing the 2010 sequel Tron: Legacy. Lisberger also had a cameo role
in Tron: Legacy. He portrayed Shaddix, a program who works as a bartender at the End of Line Club. Along with
Bonnie MacBird, Lisberger also created the animated series Tron: Uprising.
2013:
Disney World rolls out its new "Monsters University" monorail.
Disney-Pixar's prequel to 2001's "Monsters Inc." debuts in theaters June 21.
2015:
King Triton's Concert premieres at Tokyo DisneySea's Mermaid Lagoon. King Triton hosts
a musical concert with Ariel, Flounder, Sebastian and other familiar characters from the film The Little Mermaid.
1973:
Screenwriter, comic book writer, and producer Damon Laurence Lindelof is born in
Teaneck, New Jersey. Co-creator, executive producer and showrunner of the ABC television series Lost, he also co-wrote & co-produced the 2015 feature film Tomorrowland and co-wrote the 2014 Phineas and Ferb episode "Lost in Danville."
1977:
Actress Rebecca Mader is born in Cambridge, England. She is best known for her roles as Charlotte Lewis on the ABC series Lost, and as Zelena, the Wicked Witch of the West, on ABC's Once Upon a Time. Her film credits include a small role in the 2013 Iron Man 3.
1964:
Cedric the Entertainer is born Cedric Antonio Kyles in Jefferson City, Missouri. An actor, stand-up comedian, and game show host, he voiced Bobby Proud in Disney's animated The Proud Family and Leadbottom (a grumpy airplane) in both the 2013 Planes and the 2014 Planes: Fire & Rescue. He also guest-voiced on the Phineas and Ferb spin-off Take Two with Phineas and Ferb in 2011, and hosted the 12th season of ABC's Who Wants to Be a Millionaire game show (2013-2014). He is best known for co-starring with Steve Harvey on The WB sitcom The Steve Harvey Show, as one of The Original Kings of Comedy, starring as Eddie Walker in Barbershop, and voicing Maurice in DreamWorks' Madagascar franchise.
Cedric was inducted to the St. Louis Walk of Fame on June 7, 2008.
1982:
Singer, songwriter and television personality Kelly Clarkson is born in Fort Worth, Texas.
Rising to fame in 2002, after winning the first season of American Idol, she helped open The American Idol Experience theme park attraction in Florida, in 2009. Her song "Breakaway" was featured in the 2004, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, and she voiced herself in the Phineas and Ferb Christmas special "A Phineas and Ferb Family Christmas."
1994:
Singer, dancer, and actor Jordan Fisher is born in Birmingham, Alabama. His Disney credits include Teen Beach Movie, Liv and Maddie, and Teen Beach 2. Fisher was the winner on season 25 of ABC's Dancing with the Stars.
1962:
Musician, songwriter, audio engineer, record producer, and YouTube personality Rick Beato is born Richard John Beato in Fairport, New York. Owner of Black Dog Sound Studios in Stone Mountain, Georgia, he produced the track "More Than A Feeling" (a cover of the Boston song performed by Ingram Hill) for the 2005 Herbie Fully Loaded soundtrack and wrote the song "Never Be The Same" for Touchstone's 2004 Raising Helen.
1952:
Film producer Ralph Winter is born in Glendale, California. His Disney/Touchstone credits include the films Hocus Pocus, Mighty Joe Young, and
Inspector Gadget. (Winter has helped to produce such blockbuster movies as the X-Men, Fantastic Four and Star Trek series as well as I, Robot and Planet of the Apes.)
1995:
Actor and country music disc jockey Sammy Jackson passes at age 57. He appeared in the Disney live-action films The Boatniks (1970) as Garlotti and The Million Dollar Duck (1971) as Frisby.
