1926:
Legendary comedian/actor Don Rickles, the voice of Mr. Potato Head in all 4 of Pixar's Toy Story films, is born in Queens, New York. He also voiced everyone's favorite spud in the television specials Toy Story of Terror! (2013) and Toy Story That Time Forgot (2014). Although he would pass away before the 2019 Toy Story 4 could be made, he took part in the production via archival recordings. The film was later dedicated to him. Rickles as Mr. Potato Head is also featured in the Toy Story Midway Mania! attraction at both Disney's California Adventure and Disney's Hollywood Studios. He is also the voice of William in Disney World's Enchanted Tiki Room attraction and The Boss in the 1997 animated short Redux Riding Hood. In 1974, Rickles and his longtime pal, comedian Bob Newhart, visited Disneyland. Rickles has acted in comedic and dramatic roles, but was best known as an insult stand-up comic. A headline performer at Las Vegas hotel-casinos and peripheral member of the Rat Pack via friendship with Frank Sinatra, Rickles received widespread exposure as a frequent guest on talk and variety shows, including The Dean Martin Show, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and Late Show with David Letterman.
2005:
Live with Regis and Kelly tape 2 shows at Disneyland to help celebrate the
50th anniversary of the park. The episodes will air on ABC-TV May 9 and 10.
1960:
Jennifer Miller-Goff, Walt Disney's granddaughter, is born in Los Angeles County,
California, to Diane Marie Disney Miller and her husband Ronald William Miller.
1989:
Episode 11 of MMC airs on the Disney Channel. Today is Music Day!
2000:
Two-thousand young visionaries from around the world meet at Walt
Disney World for the 3-day Millennium Dreamers Celebration.
2002:
John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band begin a 2-day engagement
at Epcot (as part of the Flower Power Concert Series). They perform
at the America Gardens Theatre.
2006:
It is reported that Ashley Brown and Gavin Lee will play the roles of Mary
Poppins and Bert on Broadway when the production of Mary Poppins arrives
in New York City this fall. The stage production (which is currently a hit in London featuring Lee as Bert) is produced by Disney and Cameron Mackintosh. At this time, Brown is the current Belle in Walt Disney's Broadway production of Beauty and The Beast. Mary Poppins is to open on Broadway at the New Amsterdam Theatre on November 16, 2006, following previews from October 14, 2006.
In 1972, rooms for
Disney World's
Polynesian
Village Resort
ranged from
$29 to $44.
1884:
Farmer, railroad worker, clerk and 33rd President of the United States,
Harry S Truman is born in Lamar, Missouri. In 1957 he will visit Disneyland
and later be immortalized in Disney World's The Hall of Presidents.
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2008:
One hundred Central Florida students are honored as Disney Dreamers &
Doers during its 25th anniversary ceremony at Epcot. The finalists were selected
from 400 students nominated by schools in Orange, Lake, Polk, Osceola and Seminole counties.
1930:
Frolicking Fish, a Silly Symphony short directed by Burt Gillett,
is released. The frolicking marine life at the bottom of the ocean are having a
wonderful time, swimming & dancing about - until a hungry octopus threatens to disrupt their fun.
MAY 8
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Don Rickles born
2009:
The Forest Lawn Museum in Glendale, California presents "The Art of Marc
Davis" (through July 26). The exhibit features drawings and paintings by distinguished artist and
original Disney animator Marc Davis, one of Walt's "Nine Old Men."
Trail of the Panda, the second Disney collaboration with Chinese filmmakers, is released in China. A mute orphan boy rescues a lost panda cub.
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MAY 08
THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
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"Ages three and up! It's on my box! Ages three and up! I'm not supposed to be babysitting Princess Drool!"
-Don Rickles as Mr Potato Head
"One of the most famous overage kids was (former President of the United States) Harry S Truman, who went on
almost all the rides except Dumbo, during his Disneyland visit. Mr. Truman wanted nothing to do with any elephant,
even Dumbo. When he decided to see the miniature fairy tale settings in Storybook Land, there was a slight delay.
The canal boat was fully loaded, but, for some reason, the pretty young operator seemed unable to get it going.
Finally, she turned to her noted guest -'Pardon me, Mr. Truman,' she said. 'If you would lift your foot off the brake,
we could start.' "The former President of the United States instinctively lifted his right foot and the boat took off.
He looked down at the brakeless floorboard; then joined the laughter at having fallen for this old wheeze that
operators on many of the rides frequently pull on unsuspecting patrons." -Walt Disney (June 1958)
1991:
Newspapers report that Disney has proposed a $3.1 billion project to build a new
theme park called WestCOT in Anaheim. The tentative plans call to build hotels, retail space
and a second theme park (patterned after Epcot) on 470 acres. The park would be part of the Anaheim
Commercial Recreation Area ... a multi-day destination, just like Walt Disney World.
"If I were to insult people and mean it, that wouldn't be funny." -Don Rickles
2011:
At 4:30AM Kelsey Czako, Samantha Ogden, Kirk Moore, and James Moore
become the last four guest to leave the Magic Kingdom for Walt Disney World's
very last Grad Nite. The final attraction to run at Grad Nite 2011 is Mickey's PhilharMagic. The after-
hours event tailored to high-school seniors began last night, May 7 at 10PM. (A yearly event since 1972,
WDW has decided to retire Grad Nite.)
Located in the Animation Courtyard Theater when the park was called Disney-MGM Studios, Here Come the Muppets opened in May of 1990. Featuring a
cast of live actors in costume, it was a "temporary" show while the 3D Muppets attraction was being developed. Here Come the Muppets closed in
September 1991 to make way for Voyage of the Little Mermaid (an abridged version of the 1989 film The Little Mermaid). Muppet*Vision 3D opened
May 1991 in a 584-seat theater on New York Street.
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Photo by Bernie at Disney.Rocket9.net
MAY
May 8
The average yearly
income in 1972 was $11,800.
A new car would set you back
about $3,850. A movie ticket
was $1.75 and a gallon of
gas ... just 55 cents!
Don Rickles
2019:
Disney's Aladdin holds its world premiere at the Le Grand Rex (a cinema and concert
venue) in Paris, France. The musical fantasy, directed by Guy Ritchie, is a live-action adaptation of Disney's
1992 animated film of the same name. The film follows Aladdin, a street urchin, who finds a magic lamp and must
use it to win over Princess Jasmine and defeat the conspiring vizier Jafar. Starring Will Smith, Mena Massoud,
Naomi Scott, Marwan Kenzari, Navid Negahban, Nasim Pedrad, and Billy Magnussen, Aladdin will open in
U.S. theaters May 24.
Zoologist and TV host Jim Fowler passes away at age 89 in Norwalk, Connecticut. Best
known for hosting the documentary series Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, he was also a consultant for Disney's
1994 animated The Lion King.
1967:
Laverne Andrews, one-third of the popular singing trio The Andrews Sisters, passes away at age 55 in California. Aside from frequently playing themselves in movies, she and her sisters Maxene and Patty sold over 60 million records and lent their singing voices to Disney's Make Mine Music (1946) and Melody Time (1948). The trio also cut a version of "I've Got No Strings" (a song first heard in Pinocchio) with the Glenn Miller Orchestra in 1940.
1913:
Animator, producer, director, and puppeteer Bob Clampett, best known for his work on the Looney Tunes animated series from Warner Bros., is born in San Diego, California.
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
1971:
Lyricist and screenwriter Larry Morey passes away at age 66 in California. First joining Disney in 1933, he wrote songs for several animated shorts, including The Wise Little Hen and The Grasshopper and the Ants. Working with composer Frank Churchill, he also wrote some 25 pieces of music for Disney's first full-length cartoon, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs including "Heigh-Ho," "Some Day My Prince Will Come," and
"Whistle While You Work." In 1949, he received an Academy Award nomination, with composer Eliot Daniel,
for the song "Lavender Blue (Dilly Dilly)", sung by Burl Ives in the film So Dear to My Heart.
