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1925:
Scott Carpenter, the 4th American astronaut in space, is born in Boulder, Colorado.
His Disney credits include the 1986 TV special The Living Seas. The Scott Carpenter Space Analog Station (an
underwater habitat) was on display at Epcot in January 1998. Originally a test pilot, Carpenter became the second
American to orbit the Earth in May 1962. He also attended the grand opening of Disneyland's Space Mountain in 1977.
1989:
The Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park at Walt Disney World opens to
the public. Located south of EPCOT, it is Disney's 5th theme park in the world. Although
it rains throughout the day, the park is packed. It is the largest opening day press event
in Disney World history. Attractions in the park include Walt Disney Studios Animation
Studios (where guests can watch story personnel, animators, artists and technicians produce motion pictures), The
Great Movie Ride, SuperStar Television, The Studio Backlot Tour, and The Monster Sound Show. The Great Movie Ride,
a replica of the entrance to Graumann's Chinese Theater, features a courtyard for celebrity handprints and signatures. A
program called "Star Today" will allow celebrities over the years to leave their mark. The very first "Star Today" is
original Mouseketeer Annette Funicello. Released on this same day at the Animation Studios is a 9-minute short
titled "Back to Neverland." The special film features Walter Cronkite and Robin Williams. Among the Hollywood legends
visiting the park are George Burns and Bob Hope (who help cut the filmstrip ribbon dedicating the Studios).
In 2008, Disney's Hollywood
Studios hosted about 9.61
million guests, ranking it the
fourth-most visited amusement
park in the United States, and
seventh-most visited in the
world. That was the first year
the park was known as Disney's
Hollywood Studios, as prior to
2008 it was called
"The world you have entered was created by the Walt Disney Company & is
dedicated to Hollywood - not a place on a map, but a state of mind that exists wherever people dream & wonder & imagine, a place where illusion & reality are fused by technological magic. We welcome you to a Hollywood that never was - and always will be."
-dedication of Disney-MGM Studios (This Day in Disney History 1989)
C1886:
Robert Louis Stevenson's story Kidnapped is first published in Young Folks
magazine. The full novel will be published in book form the following July and seventy-four years
later - Disney will release the classic story as a live-action film directed by Robert Stevenson
(contrary to popular belief, not a descendant of Robert Louis Stevenson).
1924:
The Disney Alice Comedy Alice's Wild West Show - starring Virginia Davis as Alice - is released. Alice and her friends put on a Wild West Show for the neighborhood kids!
1927:
Walt Disney ships his second Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon,
Trolley Troubles, to Winkler Pictures - a distributor in New York City.
1940:
Walter E. Disney, of Los Angeles, receives patent #2,201,689 from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, for the "art of animation" camera. The multiplane camera allows for a more realistic three-dimensional image as well as depth and richness to the animation. The device uses up to seven layers of artwork (painted in
oils on glass) shot under a vertical and moveable camera.
1942:
Disney's Donald Gets Drafted (the first of what will be many Donald Duck World War II shorts) is released.
1946:
Actress Joanna Lumley, the voice of Aunt Spiker in Disney's 1996 James and
the Giant Peach, is born in India. (Comedy fans will recognize her from the
BBC series Absolutely Fabulous.)
1947:
The rights to use Donald Duck as the official mascot and insignia of the
University of Oregon (located in Eugene, OR) is granted by Walt Disney Productions. Although images of Donald had been appearing in yearbooks since the early
1940s, it wasn't until 1947 that Athletic Director Leo Harris was able to strike an informal, handshake agreement with the one and only Walt Disney to use Donald Duck’s image as the official mascot for the UO, free of charge, as long as he was used in a respectable manner. A couple years after the agreement, in 1949, Donald’s image (produced by the Walt Disney Studio) began appearing on posters and on the jackets for the UO athletes - but the actual costumed mascot who appeared live at games was called "Puddles" or simply "The Duck". Following Walt Disney's death in 1966, it became
apparent that a formal contract did not truly exist to allow the school the rights to Donald's image. So in 1973, a written contract was signed between Oregon's athletic department and Walt Disney Productions, allowing the continued use of the famous cartoon character. Although Disney allowed the athletic department use of the image of the green and gold clad Donald, terms changed over the years. By 2010, Disney agreed to disassociate Donald from the Duck, removing the trademark restrictions for the costumed mascot. Basically, the parties agreed that the current version of the duck doesn't closely resemble Donald Duck enough to be subject to the Disney trademark. The restrictions do remain for the image on merchandise and t-shirts, but the mascot itself is free to appear throughout the Eugene area as an ambassador without coming into conflict with Disney. (In 1984, Donald Duck - during the year of his 50th birthday - was named an honorary alumnus of the university!)
1977:
In a dedication ceremony in Florida, the "Empress Lilly,"
an historic replica of a three-decked Mississippi boat (complete with paddle wheel) is
christened by Walt Disney's widow, Lillian, for whom it is named. The new Walt Disney
World landmark, which contains 3 restaurants - Fisherman's Deck, Steerman's Quarters, and the Empress Room,
is unveiled at the Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village. The Empress Room and Steerman's Quarters serve dinner
only while Fisherman's Deck features a character breakfast; one of the few character breakfasts available at this
time on WDW property. (The Empress Lilly will close on April 22, 1995 and reopen as Fulton's Crab House in
March 1996 ... minus the paddle wheel.)
1983:
Card Walker steps down as chairman of Disney, turning the job over to Ray Watson.
1985:
The film-making team of Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker sign a two-year deal with Disney. (Within a week, they will begin work on the film, Ruthless People.)
1994:
Walt Disney: An American Original by author Bob Thomas is released.
Originally written in 1976, the book has been revised.
1996:
Actress Luana Patten, who appeared in such Disney films as Song of the South,
So Dear to My Heart, and Follow Me, Boys! passes away in California, at age 57.
1998:
Disneyland Paris presents its "Festival of Flowers" around the park.
He Got Game, a sports drama film written, produced and directed by Spike Lee
and starring Denzel Washington, is released by Touchstone Pictures. Jake
Shuttleworth (Washington) has spent the last six years in prison after accidentally killing his wife during a
violent domestic dispute, leaving his son, star basketball prospect Jesus Shuttleworth (played by Ray Allen),
to fend for himself. One day, the prison warden (portrayed by Ned Beatty) approaches Jake with an unusual
offer: He'll be given a week of parole to convince Jesus to attend the governor's alma mater, with the promise
of a shortened sentence if he succeeds.
1999:
Disney's ABC Saturday morning cartoon Mickey Mouse Works debuts on television.
Each half-hour episode will contains a selection of cartoons that vary in length from 90 seconds to 12 minutes.
2001:
Disney's The Emperor's New Groove is released to home video and DVD.
Because the city of Anaheim, California, receives two to five emergency calls a day from Disney (including heart attacks and heat stroke as well as accidents) two teams
of paramedics will be stationed at the two Disney theme parks beginning on this
day. The 12 paramedics, who are expected to shave precious minutes off response time to any accident in the
parks, will officially work for the city of Anaheim (however, Disney will pay the city $1.4 million a year to cover the labor
costs, and will provide housing and transportation in the resort). Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, already has
paramedics within its parks. The Disneyland Resort is getting them now because of the recent expansion.
Animal Kingdom's thrill ride "Countdown to Extinction" changes its name to "Dinosaur!".
2002:
The Sherman Brothers (a songwriting team whose music can be heard in countless
Disney films and attractions) are honored at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in
California. Actor Dick Van Dyke appears with his own Barbershop quartet "The Vantastix." Accompanied by the
Jr. Philharmonic Orchestra, they perform Sherman songs from Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (which
both featured Dick Van Dyke).
Disney World's Pleasure Island officially
opens on this day as well. (Although
Disney has been admitting guests since April 28.)
The Disney Channel airs episode 6 of
MMC. Today is Music Day!
Largely New York opens at the St. James Theatre in New York City. Among the
show's producers is The Walt Disney Studios. (It will run for 144 performances.)
1954:
The Anaheim Bulletin reports that Disney has purchased land in Anaheim, California for an amusement park.
1957:
The article "Gay '90s Favorite From Main Street, Disneyland" appears in Better Homes
& Gardens. The article features Disneyland recipes that "recapture the treats of yesteryear."
The Disneyland television series airs "The Yellowstone Story / Bear Country."
2007:
Corbin Bleu, star of Disney Channel's Jump In! and smash hit High School Musical releases his debut album, "Another Side," on Disney's Hollywood Records.
Walt Disney Records releases "High School Musical: The Concert."
C1915:
Art Stevens, an animator, writer, title designer,
and producer at the Disney Studios, is born in
Roy, Montana. He began his career in 1939 as an
in-betweener (an artist who makes the drawings between the animator's key poses) on Fantasia and Bambi. He retired in 1983.
1986:
At EPCOT, The Good Turn Restaurant (opened in The Land since the park's debut
in 1982) closes. It will become Garden Grille Restaurant.
May 1
MAY 1
Today is Mother Goose Day
MAY 01
THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
DEBUTS ON THIS DAY 1989
Among Stevens' credits as an animator - Peter Pan,
101 Dalmatians, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery
Day, Robin Hood, Mary Poppins and the underwater
sequence in Bedknobs and Broomsticks. He co-
directed The Rescuers with Wolfgang Reitherman
and John Lounsbery. Stevens also provided story
concepts and did animation for three landmark
television documentaries on space exploration that
were produced and directed by Disney animation
legend Ward Kimball for the Disneyland TV series
in the 1950s: "Man in Space" (1955), "Man and the
Moon" (1955) and "Mars and Beyond" (1957).
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2009:
Disney's Hollywood Studios celebrates its 20th anniversary. The park opens an hour early,
at 8:00 am, with a special rope-drop ceremony to kick off the birthday celebration.
The first phase of Kidani Village, the second time-share extension of Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, formally opens. The name comes from the Swahili word for “necklace” and is meant
to represent the resort’s layout. Meanwhile the Animal Kingdom Lodge building itself is renamed Jambo House.
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SEASON 3 EPISODE 24
Entrance price: $29 for Adults - $23 for Children (ages 3-9)
1943:
Disney's educational propaganda short Water, Friend or Enemy is released
through the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs. Aimed at the Latin American audience,
the 11-minute film teaches how to avoid cholera, typhoid and dysentery in drinking water.
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Photo by Bernie at Disney.Rocket9.net
2012:
including Best Musical. The DIsney production is also recognized with nominations for Best Performance by a
Leading Actor in a Musical (Jeremy Jordan), Best Original Score (Alan Menken and Jack Feldman), Best Book of a
Musical (Harvey Fierstein), Best Direction of a Musical (Jeff Calhoun), Best Choreography (Christopher Gattelli), Best
Scenic Design of a Musical (Tobin Ost and Sven Ortel), and Best Orchestrations (Danny Troob).
Peter and the Starcatcher, developed in a multi-year process by Disney Theatrical Productions, and produced on
Broadway by Nancy Nagel Gibbs, Greg Schaffert, Eva Price, Tom Smedes, and Disney Theatrical Productions,
receives nine nominations including Best Play.
With a flourish of confetti, Italian music, and Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Tutto Italia in the
Italy Pavilion at Epcot reopens its doors after a major renovation, along with the new
Tutto Gusto wine cellar next door.
Princess Merida, Disney's newest princess from the upcoming Disney/Pixar film Brave, makes her debut at Epcot. Although she is officially scheduled to begin greeting guests on May 15th at the
Magic Kingdom, Merida appears in various outdoor locations in Future World on this day, welcoming park guests in
her Scottish brogue.
The Avengers (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack), the film score for the Marvel Studios
film The Avengers by Alan Silvestri, is released by Disney's Hollywood Records.
A separate soundtrack and concept album, titled Avengers Assemble (Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture), by various artists is also released on the same day.
MAY
2013:
Disney VoluntEARS kicks off their 30th anniversary celebration.
2014:
Disney World marks 25 years of Disney's Hollywood Studios with a morning ceremony
led by Dan Cockerell, vice president of the theme park, who is joined by Mickey
Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Goofy and Donald, as well as a handful of Disney cast
members who have worked at the park for 25 years. One of these cast members, Donn Lamkin,
an Entertainment cast member who also hosted the original opening ceremony for the park back in 1989, now
performs in the "Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show." At 7 p.m., a motorcade called "Stars of the Studios"
travels up Hollywood Boulevard, featuring characters such as Captain Jack Sparrow, Darth Vader, Wreck-It Ralph,
Sofia the First and Mickey and Minnie Mouse. A dance party is then held in front of the Sorcerer Hat Stage.
2015:
Disney releases the superhero film Avengers: Age of Ultron, based on the Marvel Comics superhero team the Avengers and produced by Marvel Studios. The sequel to 2012's The Avengers, the film is written and directed by Joss Whedon. When Tony Stark / Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) jumpstarts a dormant peacekeeping program, things go terribly awry, forcing him, Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Captain America (Chris Evans) and the rest of the Avengers to reassemble in order to fight Ultron, an artificial intelligence obsessed with causing human extinction. Avengers co-creator Stan Lee makes a cameo appearance in the film as a military veteran who attends the Avengers' victory party. Brian Tyler has composed the film's score.
1955:
Animator, film director and voice actor Eric Goldberg is born in Pennsylvania.
His Disney credits include Aladdin, Pocahontas, Hercules, Fantasia 2000, The Emperor's New Groove, The
Fox and the Hound 2, The Princess and the Frog, and Wreck-It Ralph. He also directed four minutes of animation
for the Epcot attraction Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros and contributed to the 2007 animated
short How to Hook Up Your Home Theater, which starred Goofy.
2018:
Walt Disney World welcomes a second newborn Grevy's zebra. Born to Zuri at Disney's Animal Kingdom, the female foal will eventually join the zebra herd on Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail’s overlook. Grevy’s zebras are the most endangered species of zebra, with about 2,500 alive in the world today.
(This is the second zebra to be born in the last 2 weeks.)
2019:
Wonderful World of Animation, an all-new cinematic nighttime experience debuts at
Disney's Hollywood Studios on the park's 30th anniversary. The show is a celebration of
Disney and Pixar animation.
1967:
Country singer and actor Tim McGraw is born in Delhi, Louisiana. He played the role
of Eddie Newton, Casey's father and NASA engineer, in the 2015 film Tomorrowland.
1982:
Actor Jamie Dornan is born in Northern Ireland. He played Sheriff Graham Humbert in the ABC-TV series Once Upon a Time (2011–2013).
Actor Gene Sheldon, best remembered as the "mute" servant Bernardo on Walt Disney's live-action TV series Zorro (1957-1959), passes away at age 74 in California.
Sheldon also appeared in the films Toby Tyler or Ten Weeks with a Circus (1960) and Babes in Toyland (1961).
1972:
The railroad station in Frontierland at Magic Kingdom, Walt Disney World, opens. Since the park's debut in October 1971, the Walt Disney World Railroad has been a round-trip experience only. Guests
could only board at the Main Street, U.S.A. Station. Located in the westernmost point of Frontierland, this second station will serve guests for nearly 19 years (and a third station will open in 1988.) The Frontierland station is a tiny building with toy-like features with gingerbread molding on its rooflines and scrolled woodwork on its facade.
Frontierland Station will be demolished in November 1990 to make way for the new Splash Mountain attraction and be replaced by a new Frontierland Station, which will open in December 1991 just north of the original station site.
Actress Julie Benz is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Playing Ursula Stanhope, Queen of the Jungle in the 2003 George of the Jungle 2, her ABC -TV credits include Step by Step, Boy Meets World, and
Desperate Housewives.
1988:
Actor/musician Nicholas Braun is born in Bethpage, New York. His credits include Disney's Sky High and the ABC sitcom 10 Things I Hate About You.
2020:
Disney Channel Italy ceases broadcasting due to the launch of Disney+ in Italy
(and other European countries on March 24).
Prop Culture, a new series on Disney+, begins airing. Producer/writer and host Dan Lanigan teaches viewers about the beloved artifacts behind some of their favorite Disney films.
C1911:
Animation design legend Maurice J. Noble, co-director of the Academy Award winning
animated short subject Dot and the Line and many other cartoon classics, is born in Spooner Township, Minnesota. His work ranged from Disney's Snow White, Fantasia and Dumbo to Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who and many of the classic Bugs Bunny television cartoons. His contributions to the industry spanned more than 60 years!
C1898:
Hazel Mae Sewell Bounds, the first head of Walt Disney Studio's Ink and Paint Department, is born in Spalding, Idaho. Hired shortly after her sister Lillian Bounds (future wife of Walt Disney), Hazel first began working at the studio as an artist. Later as the head of the Ink and Paint Department, she developed new techniques in the inking and painting processes. Shortly after the release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Hazel resigned from the Studio in May 1938 after 11 years with the company. She soon after married studio employee Bill Cottrell (who later became the first president of what is today known as Walt Disney Imagineering). In 1941, Hazel accompanied the Disneys, Cottrell, and several other notable Disney artists, who referred to themselves as El Grupo, on a trip to South America.
1904:
Animator Fred Spencer is born in Missouri. First joining Walt Disney Productions in 1931, he worked on several early Mickey Mouse cartoons. In 1932 he began independently producing a two-tier Mickey Mouse comic strip, even though he was not connected with the comics department at Disney. The studio approved the project and the strip appeared in the national DeMolay newsletter. The character Donald Duck was introduced at Disney in 1934, and Spencer began to focus more on Donald than on Mickey. In 1935 Spencer wrote an analysis of Donald which served as the standard for writing for, drawing, and animating the character. Spencer's model sheets included in the report feature a redesigned version of Donald that was shorter and rounder – largely identical to his appearance today. He also included remarks on Donald's personality and mannerisms. Spencer helped animate seven Disney short films as well as the studio's first feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Sadly he was killed in an automobile accident in 1938.
1956:
The record album Walt Takes You to Disneyland is released on Disneyland Records.
Promoted as "A Musical Tour of the Magic Kingdom," it is narrated by Walt himself and produced by Jimmy Johnson. It will be the only record Walt ever recorded for the label bearing his name (although his Mickey Mouse character voice will pop up on a number of discs, accessed from film soundtracks). This is also the very first record on the Disney label made entirely by Disneyland Records, as prior to this the Disney Studios did not have its own record company. Instead, the major labels such as Columbia, RCA, Decca and Capitol (as well as smaller independent labels) produced, advertised and distributed all the recordings featuring Disney films, characters, songs and stories. Walt Takes You to Disneyland features four fully orchestrated suites by three of Disney’s greatest musical directors (Tutti Camarata, Oliver Wallace & George Bruns) each devoted to one of the four lands of Disneyland (as it was in 1955).
1916:
Actor Glenn Ford, most prominent during Hollywood's Golden Age as one of the
biggest box-office draws of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, is born Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford in Quebec, Canada. Often portraying ordinary men in unusual circumstances, he
played a ranch owner in Disney's 1969 western Smith!
2021:
Actress, director, producer, and teacher Olympia Dukakis passes away at age 89 in New York City. She starred in the film Two Ladies and a Champ on the "Wonderful World of Disney" in 2001 and played principal Helen Jacobs in the 1995 Mr. Holland’s Opus with Richard Dreyfuss. Performing in more than 130 stage productions, more than 60 films and in 50 television series, she is best known for her performance in Moonstruck.
