1945:
throughout Disney theme parks and in Disney's The Rescuers Down
Under, Bambi II, and Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco, is born in Los Angeles,
California. He has composed in almost every medium, from theatrical motion pictures and television to computer
games, in styles ranging from large symphonic settings to contemporary electronic scores. Broughton also conducted
and supervised the recording of Gershwin’s "Rhapsody in Blue" for Fantasia 2000.
Broughton's theme park credits include:
O Canada! – Epcot
Spaceship Earth – Epcot
Cinemagique – Disneyland Paris
One Man's Dream – Disney's Hollywood Studios
Golden Dreams – Disney California Adventure
Seasons of the Vine – Disney California Adventure
It's Tough To Be A Bug – Disney California Adventure
Ellen's Energy Adventure – Disney's Hollywood Studios
Timekeeper – Magic Kingdom
Honey, I Shrunk the Audience – Epcot
From Time to Time – Disneyland Paris & Tokyo Disneyland
The Making of Me – Epcot
(Broughton was originally chosen to score the John Hughes Christmas comedy Home Alone, but had to pass on it
because he was busy with Disney's The Rescuers Down Under.)
2002:
The Lizzie McGuire episode "Mom's Best Friend" debuts on the Disney
Channel as does the Disney Channel Original Movie Cadet Kelly, starring
Hilary Duff and Christy Carlson Romano.
1859:
Author Kenneth Grahame is born in Edinburgh, Scotland.
His most famous story The Wind in the Willows was re-told in Disney's 1949 animated feature The Adventures of Icahbod and Mr. Toad. His 1898 childrens book The Reluctant Dragon served as the key element for Disney's 1941 feature film The Reluctant Dragon.
1924:
Actor Sean McClory is born in Dublin, Ireland. His Disney credits include the live-action features
The Gnome-Mobile, The Happiest Millionaire, and Follow Me Boys!. McClory's career spanned six decades and
included well over 100 films and television series.
1986:
The Pirates of the Caribbean and Alice's Tea Party attractions both open in Tokyo Disneyland.
1987:
The television series The Disney Sunday Movie airs "Big Foot." Directed by Danny Huston, a family goes to the mountains for a few days where there they meet... Bigfoot!
2001:
Disney On Ice begins a 4-day engagement at the
Tri-Cities Coliseum in Kennewick, Washington.
2006:
Actress Rhoda Williams, the voice of Drizella in Disney's 1950 animated Cinderella, passes away at age 75 in Oregon. Williams was also the voice and model for the Audio-Animatronic mother and teen-age daughter at the General Electric Carousel of Progress at Disneyland (from 1964-1973). A star of radio, television, and movies, Williams appeared on such programs as Dragnet, Ironside, The Twilight Zone, and Marcus Welby, M.D.
In 1994 Disney World
dropped the word "Center"
and changed the letters to
lowercase "Epcot".
2008:
Celebrities visiting Disney World's Magic Kingdom on this day include entertainer
Wayne Newton and St. Louis Cardinals All Star first baseman Albert Pujols.
Over at Disney's Animal Kingdom, a baby zebra named Kidani is born. The first
Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra born at the Walt Disney World, he is named for the
new expansion of Animal Kingdom Villas, which will be named Kidani Village.
1998:
Art director and Imagineer Marvin Davis passes away in Santa Monica, California, at
the age of 87. Retired since 1975, Marvin Davis (not to be confused with Marc Davis - one of Walt's Nine Old
Men) worked on the original concepts for Disneyland and later on such features as Moon Pilot, Babes in
Toyland, Bon Voyage and Big Red, as well as television projects like the Zorro television series. Davis was
responsible for designing the Alamo set for the Davy Crockett series and in 1962 received an Emmy Award for his
art direction on Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. Married to Walt Disney's niece, Marjorie Sewell since
"Marvin was a bulldog. He pushed things and kept pushing them until everyone, especially him, was completely satisfied with them. He was just extremely thorough and professional." -Marty Sklar
"Because Marvin had a rich background in live-action motion picture design, he had a strong sense and understanding of theater and how to give life or meaning to structures, which typically, most formally-trained architects aren't interested in. He knew how to create architectural form that had a message for people. For instance, his structures on Main Street U.S.A. are irrepressibly optimistic." -John Hench on Marvin Davis
THIS SITE MADE IN THE USA
Today is International Women's Day
2009:
Liza Hunter-Galvan wins the inaugural Disney’s Princess Half Marathon at Epcot
with a time of 1 hour, 18 minutes, 18 seconds! Galvan, originally from New Zealand, is a
two-time Olympic marathoner.
Margaret "Mank" Johnstone of Orange County, California, celebrates
her 107th birthday at Disneyland!
"Hear ye, hear ye! Our princess is 107 years old today!" -Disneyland Town Crier
1928:
The Disney studio completes the 22nd Oswald the Lucky Rabbit film Sky Scrappers, and ships it to Winkler Productions just days after negotiations with Charles Mintz (of Winkler Productions) breaks down. As Walt cannot come to an agreement with Mintz, it looks as if the Disney Studios will be giving up their character Oswald.
1946:
Disney's Goofy short A Knight for a Day, directed by Jack Hannah and featuring the
animation of Hugh Fraser, Eric Larson, Judge Whitaker and John Reed, is released.
Goofy (playing the role of Cedric) is preparing his knight, Sir Loinsteak, for a joust against Sir Cumference when an
accident demands that Goofy take his place!
1964:
NBC-TV airs part one of the Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color episode
"For the Love of Willadean." This two-part comedy-drama centers around Harley (played by Roger Mobley), a boy from the city whose family moves to the country. His friendship with J.D. (Michael McGreevey), a
boy who lives on the same street, is tested when they both develop a crush on the same girl, Willadean (Terry Burnham). The cast also includes Billy Mumy and Ed Wynn.
1970:
The Wonderful World of Disney features part two of "Menace on the Mountain."
1983:
U.S. President Reagan pays a visit to EPCOT, escorted by Dick Nunis, President of
Walt Disney World, and several hundred math and science students from Central
Florida. He first visits the American Experience attraction before making an afternoon speech at a podium
located on the World Showcase Lagoon, directly opposite of Spaceship Earth. Reagan speaks of the promise of
EPCOT Center and what it meant to his friend Walt Disney and to the world.
1976:
NFL wide receiver Hines Ward is born in Seoul, South
Korea, to an African American father and a Korean
mother. Drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1998, he led them to a
Super Bowl victory in 2006 ... and later proclaimed "I'm going to Disney
World!" In 2011 he and Kym Johnson won season 12 of ABC-TV's Dancing With
the Stars. Considered to be one of the best wideouts in the NFL, he played all 14 seasons of his career for the Steelers.
1999:
Disney’s Doug Live! officially debuts in the ABC TV Theater at the Disney-MGM Studios
in Florida. The 30-minute musical stage show (which has been in previews since March 1) is based on the cartoon
series Doug. It will be performed 5 times a day through May 2001.
Comic artist Giovan Battista Carpi passes away at age 71 in Italy. He worked mainly for Disney comics featuring Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck, although he occasionally drew Mickey Mouse as well.
This Day in Disney History - THE FIRST - THE ORIGINAL
Traveling in time since 1999!
2013:
Disney's fantasy adventure Oz the Great and
Powerful opens in conventional 2D, as well as
in the Disney Digital 3D, RealD 3D and IMAX
3D formats. Based on L. Frank Baum's Oz novels, Oz the
Great and Powerful is a prequel to Baum's 1900 introductory
novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Directed by Sam Raimi,
the cast features James Franco, Michelle Williams, Rachel
Weisz, Mila Kunis, and Zach Braff. When Oscar Diggs
(Franco), a small-time circus magician and con artis, is hurled
away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he's hit the jackpot - fame and fortune are his for the taking - that is, until he meets three witches who are not convinced he is the great wizard that everyone has been expecting.
1996:
Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco, an adventure comedy film (and a sequel
to the 1993 film Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey) is released by Walt
Disney Pictures. The Seaver family arrives at San Francisco International Airport to catch a flight to Canada.
They check in their pets: Chance (voiced by Michael J. Fox), an American bulldog; Shadow (voiced by Ralph Waite),
a golden retriever; and Sassy (voiced by Sally Field), a nervous cat. But the confused pets burst out of their
carriers and escape to the city! Can the trio find their beloved owners? The film features the music of Bruce Broughton.
2019:
Captain Marvel, a superhero film produced by Marvel
Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion
Pictures, is released to U.S. theaters. Carol Danvers, played
by Brie Larson, becomes Captain Marvel, one of the universe's most
powerful heroes, when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war
between two alien races. The cast includes Samuel L. Jackson (as Nick
Fury), Jude Law (as Yon-Rogg), and Annette Bening (as Supreme
Intelligence / Dr. Wendy Lawson). Captain Marvel will later be the first
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures-distributed film not to stream on
Netflix (due to Disney's licensing deal with Netflix expiring), but will
become the first theatrical Disney release to stream exclusively on
Disney+.
Also released is Captain Marvel (Original Motion
Picture Soundtrack) on Disney's Hollywood Records.
The score has been composed by Pinar Toprak (a Turkish-American
composer for film, television and video games).
1931:
Actress Paddi Edwards is born Patricia Mary Ursula Edwards in Bristol, UK. She and her
family moved to the United States, settling in Waban, Massachusetts. (She later became a naturalized U.S. citizen
in December 1952.) Although a successful actress working steadily in film & television, she began doing voiceover
work in projects for Disney, later in her career. Starting in 1989 she voiced the two eels Flotsam & Jetsam for The Little Mermaid. This was followed by The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue as Lab Computer, Hercules as Atropos, The
Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars as Satellite 1, and An Extremely Goofy Movie as the voice of the Office Receptionist. (Sadly she passed at only age 68 in 1999.)
1969:
Film director, writer and voice actor Don Hall is born in Glenwood, Iowa. His Disney credits include Tarzan (story), The Emperor's New Groove (story artist), Chicken Little (character designer), Winnie the Pooh (co-director), and Big Hero 6 (primary director). Hall co-directed the 2016 Moana (with Ron Clements, John Musker & Chris Williams). He also voiced Coach and Gaston Framagucci in Meet the Robinsons and Darnell in The Princess and the Frog.
Actor Freddie Prinze Jr. is born Frederick James Prinze Jr. to actor-comedian Freddie Prinze and Katherine Elaine Barber in Los Angeles, California. His Disney voice credits include Kim Possible: A Sitch In Time and Star Wars Rebels.
2018:
Star Wars: Path of the Jedi closes in Discoveryland at Disneyland Park (Paris).
Walt Disney Records releases Disney Junior Music: Dance Party! The Album.
1943:
Actress Susan Clark is born Nora Golding in Ontario, Canada. Best known to American audiences for her role as Katherine Papadopolis on the television sitcom Webster, her Disney film credits include The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975) as Magnolia Dusty Clydesdale and The North Avenue Irregulars (1979) as Anne Woods.
2020:
Actor Max von Sydow passes away at age 90 in France. His 70-year career in European and American cinema, television and theatre included the voice of Zeus in Disney's 1997 Hercules and the role of Lor San Tekka in the 2015 Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
1962:
Actor Leon Robinson is born in New York City. He starred as Derice Bannock in Disney's 1993 comedy sports film Cool Runnings. Also a singer, Robinson is best known for his roles as David Ruffin in the TV Movie The Temptations (1998) and J.T. Matthews in the 1991 Robert Townsend film The Five Heartbeats.
1974:
Actress Martha Wentworth passes away at age 84 in California. Called the "actress of 100 voices," her Disney credits included One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) as Nanny, Queenie & Lucy, and The Sword in the Stone (1963) as Old Lady Squirrel & Madam Mim.
1981:
Artist Justin Wright is born in Sacramento, California. Born with several congenital heart defects, Wright received a heart transplant at the age of 12. A year later, he was a recipient of a wish from the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which was to visit Disney World. The visit cemented his love of animation and storytelling. He graduated from Sacramento Adventist Academy in 1999, attended Pacific Union College for two years, and also graduated from California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California. Prior to attending California Institute of the Arts Justin worked as a Production Assistant at Pixar. Wanting to pursue his education, he chose to leave Pixar hoping one day to return, which he did. His animation credits included the line drawings at the end of the film Ratatouille (2007), the storyboards for WALL-E (2008) and the short film Presto (2008). Sadly Wright passed in March 2008.
1985:
Stage, film and television actor. Edward Andrews passes away at age 70 in California.
One of the most recognizable character actors on television and films from the 1950s into the 1980s, his stark white hair, imposing build and horn-rimmed glasses added to the type of roles he received. Andrews had parts in several live-action Disney features including The Absent Minded Professor (1961) as Defense Secretary, Son of Flubber (1963) returning to the role of Defense Secretary, A Tiger Walks (1964) as Governor Robbins, The Million Dollar Duck (1971) as Morgan, and Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972) as Mr. Sampson. (Fans of the 1984 John Hughes' film Sixteen Candles may remember Andrews for his role of "Grandpa" Howard Baker.)