2005:
The premiere of Disney's live-action feature Sky High takes place at the El
Capitan Theater in Hollywood, California. A comedic superhero family film about an
airborne school for teenage superheroes, Sky High will be generally released 5 days later.
Disney Channel airs "Dinner Time," the 25th episode of Phil of the Future.
1948:
Christopher Milne (son of Winnie-the-Pooh author A.A. Milne) marries his cousin
Lesley de Selincourt. His parents do not approve - in particular his mother, who does not get along with Lesley's father. Milne and his wife will move to Dartmouth and open the Harbour Bookshop.
1949:
Comedic actor Michael Richards, who appeared on the 1994 TV special The Wonderful World of Disney: 40 Years of Television Magic, is born in Los Angeles, California. TV fans know Richards best as Cosmo Kramer from the hit sitcom Seinfeld.
1951:
Actress Lynda Carter, Principal Powers in Disney's 2005 feature Sky High,
is born in Phoenix, Arizona. Comic book fans know Carter as TV's Wonder Woman!
1964:
Chicago Tribune runs a story titled "Lincoln Still Holds Hearers Spellbound." The article describes a new animated figure (at the
New York World's Fair) created by Disney that is
"so lifelike many find it hard to believe he isn't alive."
1966:
The New Orleans Square area opens at Disneyland, California, with
a ceremony presided over by Walt Disney and the real mayor of New
Orleans, Victor Schiro. The 3-acre site, the first new themed "land" added to
Disneyland after its 1955 opening, has cost $18 million to build. New Orleans Square (not a
square so much as an intricate series of "streets") is the only land in the Magic Kingdom to
debut without a single attraction. Although filled with shops and restaurants like the One of a
Kind shop and Mademoiselle Antoinette's Parfumerie, the Pirates of the Caribbean and
Haunted Mansion attractions won't open until 1967 and 1969. Taking part in this day's
dedication is the Firehouse Five Plus Two, the Dixieland jazz band led by animator Ward
Kimball, and Disneyland Ambassador Connie Swanson. (Sadly, due to his failing health, this
will turn out to be Walt's last major public appearance in the park.)
1985:
Walt Disney's 25th animated feature The Black Cauldron (based loosely on the first
two volumes of Lloyd Alexander's Chronicles of Prydain) premieres in U.S.
theaters. A young boy and a bunch of misfit friends embark on a quest to find a dark magic item of ultimate
power before a diabolical tyrant can. The film was 12 years in the making, at a cost of over $25 million. It is the
first Disney animated movie to get a PG rating and the first animated movie to ever use 3-D graphics. The Black
Cauldron is also the first animated Disney film made in cooperation with Silver Screen Partners II.
1989:
The Town Square Café, opened since 1971 and located on Disney World's Main Street USA, re-opens as Tony's Town Square Café.
Originally an open-air dining courtyard, the revised eatery is fully enclosed and themed
after the proprietor of the Italian restaurant in Disney's 1955 film Lady and the Tramp.
1991:
The 100th Disney Store opens - in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Touchstone Pictures releases The Doctor starring William Hurt, in four cities.
A successful surgeon, Dr. Jack MacKee, lacks one vital trait—true compassion for the patients under his care. Suddenly faced with throat cancer, he becomes an ordinary patient in his own hospital, and finds he has to deal with the red tape and dehumanizing conditions experienced by everyone else. The film will be generally released August 2.
1936:
Versatile comedic actress Ruth Buzzi is born in Westerly, Rhode Island.
First known from the late 1960s TV variety series Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Buzzi's Disney credits
include Darkwing Duck, The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again, The North Avenue Irrgegulars, It's Tough to Be
a Bird, and the original version of Freaky Friday. She was also the singing voice of Frou-Frou for the 1970
animated The Aristocats. (Buzzi was the only featured female player to appear in every episode of Laugh-In,
which aired from 1968 to 1973 on NBC.)
Disneyland premiered its first
fireworks presentation in
1956. The show was actually
created by hand - with
employees touching off the
fuses with a flare! (A few
years later, technology
enabled fireworks to be
launched electronically and
synchronized with a
soundtrack.)
1940:
A story meeting takes place at the Disney Studios for The Reluctant Dragon.
In attendance is Walt and 9 of his employees including animator Joe Grant, writer Ed Penner, and layout
artist Hugh Hennesy. The Reluctant Dragon will be released in June 1941.
1999:
The 10th Disney Channel Original Movie Johnny Tsunami, about a surfer
named Johnny Kapahala (played by Brandon Baker) who moves from Hawaii
to Vermont, debuts.
2007:
Billy Ray Cyrus, singer-songwriter and the co-star of the hit Disney Channel series Hannah Montana (which stars his real-life daughter Miley), makes his debut
on Walt Disney Records with his new album "Home At Last."
A multi-platinum selling recording artist (Cyrus has eight top-ten singles on the Billboard country music charts)
he also starred in the television series Doc from 2001-2004.
The Pursuit Begins When This Portrayal of Life Ends (commonly referred to simply
as The Pursuit), the second studio album by Canadian rock band Evans Blue, is released through Disney's Hollywood Records. (The album will sell over 30,000 copies in its first three weeks on-sale.)
Hidden by darkness. Guarded by witches. Discovered by a boy. Stolen
by a king. Whoever owns it will rule the world. Or destroy it.
JULY
JULY 24
JULY 24
THIS SITE MADE
IN THE
USA
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New Orleans Square Dedication
"To keep an operation like Disneyland going you have to pour it in there. It's what I call 'keeping the show on the
road.' You have to keep throwing it in; you can't sit back and let it ride. Not just new attractions but keeping it
staffed properly... you know, never letting your personnel get sloppy... never let them be unfriendly." -Walt Disney
2008:
Disney takes part in this year's Comic-Con with presentations on this day that include: The Disney Animation Story Process, Disney: Race to Witch Mountain, and Spotlight on Floyd Norman.
2009:
At Comic-Con 2009, animation legends Hayao Miyazaki and John Lasseter join
veteran animation directors Lee Unkrich, Kirk Wise, Ron Clements and John Musker
for an animation panel. Hosted by Lasseter, it highlights such upcoming animated films as Disney-Pixar’s
Toy Story 3, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ 3D version of Beauty and the Beast, Walt Disney Animation Studios’
half-hour holiday TV special Prep & Landing, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ The Princess and the Frog and
Miyazaki’s Ponyo. Actor/comedian Patton Oswalt moderates a group Q&A following the presentation.
Disney's Christmas Train (promoting a new version of A Christmas Carol - scheduled
for a November release) pulls into Chicago's Union Station. The 15th stop for Disney's "A
Christmas Carol Train Tour," it is traveling over 16,000 miles throughout the country and stopping at 40 cities
and 36 states along the way, all to promote the new movie starring Jim Carrey.
G-Force, a spy-fi comedy film produced by Jerry
Bruckheimer for Walt Disney Pictures in Disney
Digital 3-D, is released. A specially trained squad of
guinea pigs is dispatched to stop a diabolical billionaire from taking
over the world. It is the first live-action Disney film to be produced in
Disney Digital 3-D (not including the two concert films- Hannah Montana
& Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert and Jonas Brothers:
The 3D Concert Experience). The voice cast includes Sam Rockwell as
Darwin, Tracy Morgan as Blaster, Penélope Cruz as Juarez, Jon
Favreau as Hurley, Nicolas Cage as Speckles, Steve Buscemi as Bucky,
and Dee Bradley Baker as Mooch. The live-action cast features
Zach Galifianakis, Bill Nighy, Will Arnett, Kelli Garner, and Tyler
Patrick Jones. Trevor Rabin has scored the music for the film and
its soundtrack.
1968:
Actress Kristin Chenoweth is born in Oklahoma. She is the voice of Rosetta for the 2009 Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure and the 2008 Tinker Bell. In 2010 she appeared in Touchstone's comedy You Again. Her Disney/ABC television credits include Fillmore!, Ugly Betty, Pushing Daisies, and Descendants. A singer, musical theatre, film, and television actress, and author, TV fans may know her from The West Wing.
2001:
The soundtrack for The Princess Diaries is released. The collection includes performances
by Krystal Harris, Aaron Carter, and BBMak.
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"I had the honor of standing next to Walt for the opening of New Orleans Square. His eyes missed no detail and he spoke of how he would
improve on the concept. Accompanying us was the mayor of New Orleans." -1966 Disneyland Ambassador Connie Swanson
July 24
This Day in Disney History - THE FIRST - THE ORIGINAL
Traveling in time since 1999!
1942:
Disney's Donald Duck short Donald's Gold Mine is released. Directed by Dick Lundy,
Donald attempts to dig for gold with difficult equipment and an uncooperative donkey.
1982:
Actress Anna Paquin is born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. She voiced
Ramsey (Butch's daughter) for the 2015 Pixar animated release The Good Dinosaur.
1990:
Actress, voice actress, singer and model Daveigh Chase is born in Las Vegas,
Nevada. Her big break came in 2002 when she won the lead role as the voice of a Hawaiian girl, Lilo Pelekai, in
the Disney animated feature, Lilo & Stitch. For her performance, Chase won an Annie Award in 2003 and starred in
the follow-up TV series, Lilo & Stitch: The Series and the direct-to-video Stitch! The Movie. Chase also voiced the
role of the lead character, Chihiro Ogino, a 10-year-old Japanese girl, in the American dub of the animated
Japanese feature, Spirited Away (distributed in the U.S. by Disney).
1998:
Touchstone Pictures releases the comedy Mafia!. The film spoofs Francis
Ford Coppola's Godfather series and various other gangster films, notably Martin Scorsese's Casino. It also parodies films in other genres, ranging from Forrest Gump to The English Patient. Directed by Jim Abrahams, it stars Jay Mohr, Lloyd Bridges (in one of his final films), Olympia Dukakis and Christina Applegate.
1969:
Actress singer, dancer, fashion designer, and producer Jennifer Lopez is born in New York City. She posed as Princess Jasmine in "Where a Whole New World Awaits"; part of the Disney Dream Portrait Series (advertisements created by photographer, Annie Leibovitz) in 2008. Lopez played Miss Marquez in the 1996 Hollywood Pictures film, Jack, and Gertie Steiney in the 2004 Miramax Film Jersey Girl. In April 2015, Lopez was given the Radio Disney Hero Award (at the 2015 Radio Disney Music Awards) for her philanthropic work in the U.S. and around the world.
2019:
Producer, director and choreographer Kenny Ortega receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Among his Disney credits ... Newsies (1992), Hocus Pocus (1993), the High School Musical trilogy (2006–2008), and the Descendants trilogy (2015-2019).
2016:
Marni Nixon, a singer best known for being a "ghost vocalist" for featured actresses in movie musicals, passes away at age 86 in New York City. She supplied the singing voice of leading actresses on the soundtracks of several musicals, including Deborah Kerr in The King and I, Natalie Wood in West Side Story, and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady. Her Disney credits included a vocal performance as Grandmother Fa in the 1998 Disney film Mulan. Nixon also performed on such Disneyland Records as Songs From Walt Disney's Mary Poppins and The Story and Songs of Walt Disney's Mary Poppins. (She was the mother of singer/songwriter Andrew Gold, best known for his songs "Thank You For Being a Friend" and "Lonely Boy.")
2015:
Not an Apology, the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Bea Miller, is released through Hollywood Records and Syco Music (the first collaborative arrangement between the two labels).
2020:
Former TV host Regis Philbin passes away of natural causes in New York City, one month shy of his 89th birthday. The host of ABC's Live with Regis and Kelly (starting in 1988 when it was first titled Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee), he also hosted the primetime U.S. version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in 2004. For Disney, he voiced Typhon in the Hercules episode "Hercules and the Return of Typhon", and himself in the Lilo & Stitch: The Series episode "Drowsy". Philbin also co-hosted the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade television specials from 1991 to 2008.
Rogue Trip begins streaming on Disney+. Led by ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff and his 28-year-old son, Mack Woodruff, the two take viewers to places the average tourist is least likely to venture.
"Raven About Bunk'd", the thirtieth episode in Season 4 of Bunk'd (and eighty-eighth overall) airs on Disney Channel. It is a crossover special with fellow Disney Channel Series, Raven's Home.
Raven, Chelsea and the kids take a road trip to Maine to send Tess off to the posh Camp Champion; along the way, they take a wrong turn and end up at Camp Kikiwaka.
1899:
Chief Dan George is born Geswanouth Slahoot in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. A chief of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, he was also an actor, musician, poet, and author. He portrayed
Chief Peter A-Tas-Ka-Nay in Disney's 1974 live-action drama The Bears and I. (As an actor, he is best known for portraying Old Lodge Skins opposite Dustin Hoffman in the 1970 Little Big Man, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.)
2021:
The world premiere of Jungle Cruise takes place at Disneyland. Hosted by PEOPLE, in attendance are stars of the film Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt. The film will open July 30.
2022:
Actor David Warner, who appeared in Disney's 1982 Tron as Ed Dillinger/Sark and the Voice of Master Control Program, passes away at age 80 in England. Although often cast as villains, Warner actually narrated both the 1997 direct-to-video Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin and the 1999 television special Winnie the Pooh: A Valentine for You. Warner's voice can be heard on a 1993 episode of Dinosaurs and two episodes of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command in 2000. In 2018 Warner portrayed Admiral Bloom in the musical fantasy Mary Poppins Returns.
