2004:
Walt Disney World's It's a Small World attraction officially closes
for renovations. (It is scheduled to reopen Spring 2005.)
1878:
Actor-comedian & composer Roy Atwell - the voice of Doc in
Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - is born in Syracuse, New York.
1922:
Athlete-turned-actor Roscoe Lee Browne, the voice of Mr. Arrow in Disney's 2002
Treasure Planet, is born in Woodbury, New Jersey. His Disney credits also include the 1988 Oliver & Company as Francis, the 1973 live-action feature The World's Greatest Athlete as Gazenga, and the series The Proud Family as Clarence.
1927:
Disney's Alice Comedy Alice's Knaughty Knight, featuring Lois Hardwick, is released.
The 48th Alice Comedy released, Pete, dressed in a suit of armor, steals away the object of Julius the cat’s
affection. In an attempt to win her back, Julius fashions his own makeshift suit of armor using mostly junk that he
finds lying around.
1937:
Actor, writer, television producer, musician and voice actor Lorenzo Music is born
Gerald David Music in Brooklyn, New York. He voiced characters for such Disney television shows as TaleSpin, Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears, and Darkwing Duck. (He is best remembered as the voice
of the cartoon cat Garfield and the voice of Carlton the doorman on the CBS television sitcom Rhoda.)
1964:
Disney's 4th World's Fair exhibit, "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln,"
finally makes its New York debut after weeks of technical problems.
1989:
Disney Channel airs episode 7 of MMC. Today is Guest Day!
1990:
Actress Kay Panabaker, who lent her voice to Monsters Inc., is born in Orange, Texas.
Also appearing on an episode of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and 13 episodes of Phil of the Future, television
fans will recognize her as Nikki on the short-lived but popular series Summerland and as Lindsey on
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
1993:
The Theater of the Stars, a 1500-seat amphitheater opened since the park's debut
and located just to the right of the Hollywood Brown Derby restaurant at
Disney-MGM, temporarily closes. It will be moved to make way for
the construction of the new Sunset Boulevard area.
2003:
The popular Disney Channel series Lizzie McGuire hits the big screen with
The Lizzie McGuire Movie starring Hilary Duff, Adam Lamberg, Clayton Snyder, Ashlie Brillault, and Jake Thomas. The film was primarily shot on location in Rome with some
scenes shot in Los Angeles at Ren-Mar Studios (where the series was filmed).
The That's So Raven episode "Teach Your Children Well" airs for the first time on
Disney Channel.
2006:
At 9:02 a.m., Disneyland welcomes 12-year old Emmalee Mason of Colorado Springs,
Colorado - the honorary two-billionth guest to visit a Disney Park! Emmalee is presented
with a giant golden key and a lifetime pass to all 11 Disney Parks around the world.
The 32nd Saturn Awards, honoring the best in science fiction, fantasy & horror film and television in 2005, are held at the Universal City Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles, California.
Among the winners:
-Best Sci-Fi Film: Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
-Best Costume: Isis Mussenden - The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
-Best Make-Up: Howard Berger, Nikki Gooley, Greg Nicotero - The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch
and the Wardrobe
-Best Score: John Williams - Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
-Best Network TV Series: Lost (ABC)
-Best Television Actor: Matthew Fox - Lost (ABC) as Jack Shephard
-Best DVD Television Release: Lost Season 1
On its debut in 1989 Disney-MGM
Studios (today known as
Disney's Hollywood Studios) was so crowded that officials had to
close its parking lot at only 9:15
a.m. - just about an hour after
opening!
2007:
The annual Dreamers and Doers Awards are handed out at Epcot.
The program honors well-rounded students who have shown academic success, leadership, character and
community involvement. Among the 100 honored are Floridians Owen Fasolas, a senior at Winter Park High,
Hayley Nielsen, a fifth-grader from T.W. Lawton Elementary in Seminole County, and Christopher Dela Cruz,
an eighth-grader at Orlando St. John Vianney Catholic School. The honorees receive the red-carpet treatment, including a welcome from Disney characters, a confetti shower and a performance by former American Idol
contestant Diana DeGarmo.
1982:
Today is the first day of EPCOT Center site tours for Cast Members and their
families. Narrated tours for the soon-to-be-open theme park leave every half hour.
(EPCOT will have its grand debut on October 1.)
Grumpy: "Ask her who she is, and what she's doing here!"
Doc: "Ah, yes. What are you, and who are you doing here?"
MAY 2
Today is Brothers and Sisters Day
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MAY 02
THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
Lincoln debuts at World's Fair
1972:
Actor Dwayne Johnson also known by his former ring name The Rock, and occasionally credited as Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, is born in Hayward, California. A former professional wrestler, his Disney credits include the live-action features The Game Plan (2007) and Race to Witch Mountain (2009), and the 2016 animated Moana (voicing the character Maui). Johnson also made an uncredited cameo in Touchstone's You Again (2010). In April 2017 he surprised Disney World guests by commandeering a Jungle Cruise boat! (He is scheduled to play a riverboat captain in Disney's 2021 live-action adventure film Jungle Cruise.)
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2000:
The Fox and the Hound, Saludos Amigos, and The Three Caballeros are all released on VHS and DVD under the Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection banner.
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2008:
Disneyland Resort Ambassador Liz Hetzel, along with Disney's Senior Vice President
of Corporate Responsibility, Jennifer Anopolsky, host Disney's Environmentality
Challenge at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim. The challenge is a statewide competition for fifth
graders who develop environmentally friendly programs as a class.
1986:
The Disney film Portraits of Canada, produced in conjunction with Telecom Canada, is released at the opening of Expo '86, the world exposition held in Vancouver, Canada.
A Circle-Vision film, it is directed by Jeff Blyth (whose credits include Wonders of China and American Journeys.)
1916:
Cinematographer, animal trainer, logger and explorer S. Lloyd Beebe is born in
Huntingdon, a community within Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada. He and his wife
Catherine were founders and owners of Olympic Game Farm in Sequim, Washington (which originally started as
a filming location for Walt Disney in the early 1950’s). They worked many years with the Disney Studios, filming
numerous animal pictures such as Charlie the Lonesome Cougar, White Wilderness, The Vanishing Prairie,
Jungle Cat, and The Incredible Journey.
2011:
Thor premieres at Disney's El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. Stars Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky arrive at the red carpet in a personal fleet of Acura S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicles inspired by the film. Also in attendance is Walt Disney Company President and CEO Robert Iger.
(Based on the comic book character of the same name published by Marvel Comics, the film will be generally released in the U.S. on May 6.)
2009:
John Lasseter (animator, director and the chief creative officer at Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios) receives an Honorary Doctorate degree from
Pepperdine University. He encourages the graduating class of more than 500 students to
"never let anyone kill your dreams."
In its original conception, Disney-MGM Studios was to operate not only as a theme park, but also as a fully functioning television and movie production.
Several feature films, including the comedy Ernest Saves Christmas and the musical Newsies, were produced there before its opening as a theme park.
This caused trouble with MGM, who filed suit against Disney in 1988 alleging that using the park as a working production studio violated the terms of their
contract. Disney later countersued, and the case was settled in 1992. The verdict allowed Disney to continue using the MGM name and logo on films
produced at the theme park facility and MGM to open a movie-themed theme park of its own, which it did in Las Vegas in 1993 (later closing in 2000).
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Photo by Bernie at Disney.Rocket9.net
1938:
The New York Times acknowledges the great success of Disney's Snow White and
the Seven Dwarfs with an editorial on this day titled "Prosperity Out of Fantasy." The
article reports: "Figments of Disney’s imagination have already sold more than $2,000,000 worth of toys since
the first of the year."
MAY
May 2
2014:
At an early morning dedication ceremony at Magic Kingdom Park, Walt Disney
World Parks and Resorts Chairman Tom Staggs announces that the "crowning jewel"
of New Fantasyland, the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, will officially open on May 28.
On the same day, it is announced that "Disney's Polynesian Resort" will revert to the "Disney's Polynesian Village Resort" title and expand further to include Disney Vacation
Club accommodations as well as enhanced resort amenities.
1977:
Actress Jenna von Oÿ is born in Danbury, Connecticut. Her Disney voice film credits include A Goofy Movie (1995) as Stacey and An Extremely Goofy Movie (2000) as Co-ed. Von Oÿ played the role of fast-talking Six LeMeure on the NBC sitcom Blossom (1990-1995); co-produced by Touchstone Television and distributed by Buena Vista Television, and supplied the voice for Trinket St. Blair in the ABC animated series Pepper Ann (1997-2000). In 1994, she appeared as herself on the TV special Circus of the Stars Goes to Disneyland.
1971:
Film producer Jonas Rivera is born Castro Valley, California. In 1994, in the last year of making Toy Story, he joined Pixar as their first production intern. Since then he has worked on almost every Pixar film (at first as a coordinator and manager). He produced the animated films Up (2009) which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, and Inside Out (2015) & Toy Story 4 (2019), which both won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
His credits also include A Bug's Life (1998), Toy Story 2 (1999), Cars (2006), and Riley's First Date? (2015).
2020:
The 33rd Annual Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards are held virtually. Among the winners:
-Favorite Movie: Avengers: Endgame
-Favorite Movie Actress: Dove Cameron – Descendants 3 as Mal
-Favorite Animated Movie: Frozen II
-Favorite Male Voice from an Animated Movie: Josh Gad – Frozen II as Olaf
-Favorite Female Voice from an Animated Movie: Beyoncé – The Lion King as Nala
1984:
Animator, producer, director, and puppeteer Bob Clampett, best known for his work on the Looney Tunes animated series from Warner Bros., passes away at age 70 in Michigan.
Dropping out of high school a few months short of graduating in 1931, Clampett got a job working at a doll factory owned
by his aunt, Charlotte Clark. Clark was looking for an appealing item to sell and Clampett suggested Mickey Mouse due to the character's growing popularity. Unable to find a drawing of the character anywhere, Clampett took his sketchpad to a theater to see Steamboat Willie, and came out with several sketches. Being concerned with the copyright, Clampbett and his aunt drove to the Disney studio to speak with Walt and Roy Disney. The Disney brothers were delighted with the idea and a Mickey Mouse doll business was set up not far from the Disney studio.
"Walt Disney himself sometimes came over in an old car to pick up the dolls; he would give them out to visitors to the studio
and at sales meetings. I helped him load the dolls in the car. One time his car, loaded with Mickeys, wouldn't start, and I pushed while Walt steered until it caught, and he took off." -Bob Clampett
1952:
Actress Christine Baranski is born in Buffalo, New York. Her Disney credits include Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse as the voice of Featherduster, Prunella Stickler in the 2003 film Eloise at the Plaza (and its sequel Eloise at Christmastime), the Wicked Stepmother in the 2014 live-action fantasy musical film Into the Woods, Carol in the 1993 Life with Mikey, and the voice of Mrs. Devine in the animated Fancy Nancy. Her non-Disney credits include such films as Addams Family Values, The Birdcage, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Mamma Mia! Fans of The Big Bang Theory know Baranski for her recurring role of Dr. Beverly Hofstadter. Baranski won two Tony Awards for Best Featured Actress in a Play for the original Broadway productions of The Real Thing in 1984 and Rumors in 1989.
2019:
Cartoon director, graphic designer, animator, character designer, musician, producer, writer and storyboard artist Christopher Reccardi passes away at age 54 in California.
Best known for his work on The Ren & Stimpy Show, Samurai Jack, The Powerpuff Girls, and Tiny Toon Adventures, his Disney credits include the 2019 Lady and the Tramp.
