2005:
"Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" (hosted by Meredith Vieira) begins taping shows at Walt Disney World.
1628:
Author and storyteller Charles Perrault, who laid the foundation for the literary genre - the fairy tale, is born in Paris, France. A leading intellectual of his time, the most famous tales he collected and retold were "Sleeping Beauty," "Cinderella," "Puss-in-Boots," and "Little Red Riding Hood." His versions were mostly adapted from earlier folk tales that had never been written down and published before. (Some of Perrault's versions of old stories influenced the German versions published by the Brothers Grimm more than 100 years later.) Taking part in the creation of the Academy of Sciences as well as the restoration of the Academy of Painting, Charles Perrault died in Paris in May 1703, at the age of 75.
1936:
The New York Times publishes an interview titled "H.G. Wells in Close Up." He refers to Walt
Disney as "a genius." (Wells is the author of such science fiction classics as The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds,
The First Men in the Moon, and The Time Machine. In 1889–90 Wells was a teacher at Henley House School where he
taught a young A. A. Milne; future creator of Winnie-the-Pooh.)
1955:
The Disneyland television series airs part 2 of Disney's 1950 live-action film Treasure Island.
1957:
John Alan Lasseter, Academy Award-winning director, writer, producer and one time chief creative officer at Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios, is born in Hollywood, California. Originally a Jungle Cruise skipper at Disneyland, Lasseter obtained his first a job as an animator at Walt Disney Feature Animation. A co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios, he was also the Principal Creative Advisor for Walt Disney Imagineering.
1975:
Chase Hampton, a member of Disney Channel's The All New Mickey Mouse Club, is born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
1999:
Actress and Disney Legend Betty Lou Gerson, who supplied the voice for Cruella De Vil in Disney's 101 Dalmatians, and provided the narration for Cinderella, passes away in Los Angeles, California.
GO Network, an Internet portal site created by Disney and Infoseek, is launched.
2000:
Marc Davis, one of Disney's "Nine Old Men" (a core group of early
animators) passes away in California, just 3 months short of his
87th birthday. He masterminded the designs of heroines and villainesses like
Cinderella and Cruella de Vil. After leaving animation in 1961, Davis had a hand in
designing many attractions for the Disney parks as an Imagineer.
2001:
Downtown Disney, a separate restaurant, shopping
and nightclub zone beside Disneyland's new park,
officially opens to the public. This new center links the two
theme parks and the three Disneyland Resort hotels. AMC Theatres
also debuts its newest megaplex in Downtown Disney. The theaters
are housed in a 60,000-square-foot building showcasing architectural
features reminiscent of the golden age of Hollywood.
Disney and McDonald's start a New Collect-and-Build Happy Meal campaign starring Buzz Lightyear, the interstellar hero from Disney/Pixar's Toy Story and Toy Story 2 movies and an all-new animated television series.
Disney Channel airs a special sneak peek of "Rumors" the very first episode of the new Lizzie McGuire series. Also debuting is Zenon: The Zequel, a Disney Channel Original Movie starring Kirsten Storms.
Touchstone Pictures generally releases the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? starring George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson. (The film has been playing in select cities since December 2000.)
Double Take, an action comedy film starring Eddie Griffin and Orlando Jones, is released by Touchstone Pictures. Successful New York investment banker Daryl Chase (Jones) is suddenly on the run and has to switch identities with low-life petty thief Freddy Tiffany (Griffin).
Bill Hewlett, an American engineer and the co-founder, with David Packard, of the Hewlett-Packard Company (HP), passes away at age 87 in California. In his younger years, Hewlett developed a resistance-tuned audio oscillator, which was able to measure sound frequencies. He and Packard built the device in their garage and named it the Model 200A (in order to give the impression that it was manufactured by a company with a strong product line). In no time Disney came knocking on their door and ordered eight units of the 200B (an improved version of 200A). Disney at the time was working on Fantasia. In 2003, HP and The Walt Disney Company will launch a 10-year strategic alliance devoted to elevating consumer entertainment experiences through the collaborative development of new technologies and enhanced entertainment experiences.
2003:
A groundbreaking ceremony takes place in Hong Kong to mark the
official start of the construction phase of a new Disney park.
Brazilian Adriano Bastos clocks the fastest Disney Marathon time in
eight years at the 10th annual Walt Disney World Marathon and
Half Marathon. The 24-year-old finishes the race in 2:18:33 (his first win in 11 marathons).
Other winners (on this day) include:
Women’s Overall: Bea Marie Altieri, Clermont, Fla., 2:53:10
Men’s Masters: Dai Roberts, Virginia Beach, Va., 2:33:52
Women’s Masters: Carol Postigo, Miami, Fla., 3:06:45
Men’s Chair: Saul Mendoza, Wimberley, Texas, 1:36:39
Women’s Chair: Katherine Hunter, Alberta Beach, Canada, 2:53:40
Men’s Half: Ronnie Holassie, Miramar, Fla., 1:07:45
Women’s Half: Julie Peterson, Beverly, Mass., 1:21:05
The 29th People's Choice Awards, honoring the best in popular culture for 2002, are held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California.
ABC-TV's 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter wins Favorite New TV Comedy.
2004:
Tokyo Disneyland begins its 20th anniversary celebration with the live show "Remember the Dreams."
It is announced that Disney's Florida animation department
will close ... resulting in 258 jobs lost.
2007:
Disney Channel's newest series Cory in the House (a spinoff of That's So
Raven) premieres. Cory, which marks Disney Channel's first-ever series spinoff, features Raven's Kyle Massey and Rondell Sheridan reprising their roles as son and father Cory and Victor Baxter.
Also debuting is the Disney Channel Movie Jump In! starring Corbin Bleu, best known from the hit High School Musical. (Jump In! will draw 8.17 million viewers, making it the most-watched program in the network’s history!)
2007 Disney Dollars featuring Ariel, Princess Aurora and Cinderella are released at Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Disney Stores.
Shareholders are informed that Disney's 2007 Annual Meeting of shareholders, will be held on Thursday, March 8, 2007, at 10 a.m. at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Disney's Hollywood Pictures releases Primeval, a horror film partially inspired by the true story of Gustave, a 20 foot 2,200 pound giant man-eating crocodile.
The cast includes Dominic Purcel, Brooke Langton, Orlando Jones, Jürgen Prochnow, and Gideon Emery.
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Fifty people worked on the technology for the scene in
Frozen where Elsa builds her
ice palace. One frame of the scene took 30 hours to render!
JANUARY 12
1987:
The first Cast Premiere for Disneyland's newest attraction Star Tours is held from 7pm-midnight.
2008:
The West End production of Mary Poppins closes after
a run of more than three years.
JANUARY 12
THIS DAY MADE
IN THE
USA
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1927:
Animation artist Ray Aragon is born in Boyle Heights, California. While studying at
Chouinard Art Institute in the mid-1950s, instructor Marc Davis (one of Walt's Nine Old Men) recommended
Aragon for a job at Disney. He began in the layout department on Sleeping Beauty and later worked on 101
Dalmatians (before moving on to a diverse career at such studios as Hanna-Barbera and Filmation).
In memory of Imagineer Marc Davis
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1891:
Artist, animator & director Hugh Hennesy is born in New Lexington, Ohio. First
joining Disney in 1932, his vast credits include Pinocchio, Fantasia, Saludos Amigos, Melody Time, and
Lady and the Tramp. Hennesy's wife Helen was Disney's very first librarian!
SEASON 1 EPISODE 12
"I never understood why you wouldn't start designing a ride when you start making a film so two months after a film comes out you have a ride. I promise you we are not only going to make great motion pictures we are going to make great rides." -John Lasseter
"A simple rule of thumb is that the more geometric something is ... the easier it
is to reproduce on a computer. The more organic something is, the more difficult it is to reproduce on computer. And so, hence, 'Toy
Story' was the perfect story for our first film -- man-made world, man-made environment, flat floors." -John Lasseter
"The first job I had at the studio was Snow White. I don’t like the term particularly, but I got stuck with the
human characters. They just didn’t have that many people who could draw humans. It wasn’t a problem for me drawing humans although
I had originally come to the studio with the idea that what I had to offer them was my knowledge in the drawing of animals." -Marc Davis
The 300,000 square foot site features:
The Café Catal restaurant
The La Brea Bakery
The Naples Ristorante and Pizzeria
The Rainforest Cafe restaurant
The ESPN Zone restaurant and arcade
The Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen restaurant
The Y Arriba Y Arriba restaurant
The House of Blues nightclub
"My experience at Disney was one of the most beautiful parts of my life...just to have known all these great artists. I was really in heaven." -Ray Aragon
2010:
The Disney on Ice Celebrates 100 Years of Magic salute to the Olympic spirit
takes place at Bryant Park in New York City.
1990:
The International Gateway opens at EPCOT Center. This new second entrance allows park
access to guests staying in Epcot resort area hotels. Located directly north of Disney's Beach Club Resort, the
entrance puts guests between the United Kingdom and France pavilions.
2011:
United States Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, who was recently presented the
Medal of Honor by President Obama for his heroic actions in Afghanistan, takes
part in the daily flag retreat ceremony at Disneyland. (Giunta is the first living service member
to receive the medal for action in any war since Vietnam.) Also in attendance is United States Army Staff Sgt.
Erick Gallardo, Silver Star recipient and a Southern California native from Chula Vista.
2009:
The Achievement Awards are handed out at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association's annual dinner. WALL-E is recognized as the Best Picture of the year, the first time in the association's 33-year history that the honor has gone to an animated film.
JAN
JAN
10
2012:
Free satellite broadcast of Disney Channel launches this day in Turkey.
The 17th Critics' Choice Awards takes place at the Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood,
California. The Help (distributed by Walt Disney Pictures) wins Best Actress (Viola Davis), Best Supporting Actress
(Octavia Spencer), and Best Acting Ensemble. Disney's The Muppets wins Best Song ("Life's a Happy Song").
1912:
Animator John Sibley is born in Danville, Illinois. Known best for being the Goof master at Disney
for many years, he animated Goofy on over 40 shorts. His Disney credits also include Make Mine Music (animating
the Casey at the Bat, Martin and the Coy Boys, and All the Cats Join In segments) and The Adventures of Ichabod
and Mr. Toad (specifically on the Sleepy Hollow segment).
1988:
Actor Andrew Lawrence is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He provided the voice of T.J.
Detweiler (from the third episode of season two to the end of the series) for Disney's Recess and the video release
Recess: School's Out. "Andy" is the younger brother of the actors Joey Lawrence and Matthew Lawrence.
2013:
The Main Street Bakery at Disney World's Magic Kingdom, an iconic location since
the park first opened, closes. Disney has plans to turn the spot
into a Starbucks by May.
The Disney Half Marathon takes place at Walt Disney World. Taking part in the event is
17-year-old Kinzey Lynch, an avid runner. What is extraordinary is that the young cross-country runner from
Pennsylvania, is legally blind. Amazingly Lynch completes the run in 1 hour, 45 minutes, and 48 seconds!
Mike Morgan from Rochester Hills, Michigan, wins the Disney Half Marathon with a time of 1:05:26 ... a new
course record! The top women's finisher Melissa White (who is on the same Michigan-based running team as
Morgan) wins with a time of 1:14:56.
team as Morgan) wins with a time of 1:14:56.
January 12
This Day in Disney History - THE FIRST - THE ORIGINAL
Traveling in time since 1999!
2014:
The 21st Walt Disney World Marathon takes place in Florida. Thirty-six-year-old Brazilian
runner Fredison Costa wins the 26.2-mile race with an impressive time of two hours, 21 minutes and 39 seconds.
His third Walt Disney Marathon win, he manages to hold off eight-time winner and defending champion Adriano
Bastos, who finished in second just 75 seconds later. Angela Brita of Ecuador is the first woman across the finish
line with a time of 2:47:44.
Disney's Frozen wins the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature at the Golden
Globes ceremony in Hollywood. Directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee accept the award on
behalf of the Walt Disney Studio.
2016:
ABC Family sheds its moniker for a new name, Freeform. The name change (announced last
October) takes effect on the day of Pretty Little Liars' season premiere, and the debut of the new drama
Shadowhunters. The network—known in the '90s as The Family Channel and later Fox Family, before
Disney bought it in 2001—hopes its new name will speak to its target 14-34 audience.
Captain Jake and the Never Land Pirates: The Never Sea Conquest is released on DVD.
The collection includes the 46-minute special "The Great Never Sea Conquest!" and the episodes "Into the Heart of Coldness," "The Remarkable Beardini," "Escape from Ghost Island," "The Island of Doctor Undergear," "Rise of the Pirate Pharoah," and "The Golden Hook."
2018:
As part of the 20th-anniversary celebration of its ESPN Wide World of Sports
Complex, Walt Disney World Resort officially opens a new multi-purpose sports and entertainment arena. ESPN Wide World of Sports executives, along with AAU and Varsity executives, mark
the grand opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony that features streamers as cheerleaders performing a high-energy
routine with Minnie Mouse. The 8,000-seat arena will host a variety of major indoor sporting events.
The 2nd Epcot International Festival of the Arts begins.
Hollywood Records releases Euphoric, an EP by pop band Forever in Your Mind.
1993:
Singer-songwriter Zayn is born Zain Javadd Malik in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Best known as a member of the boy band One Direction, his cover version of "A Whole New World"
(with Zhavia Ward) is part of the soundtrack to the 2019 Disney film remake Aladdin.
2020:
Nick Hilton wins his second Walt Disney World Marathon with a time of two hours and 22 minutes. Behind Hilton are Benjamin Xie (2:27:02), Luis Barbosa (2:27:28), Daniel Dos Santos (2:39:21), and Tom Diliberto (2:44:10). The first woman to cross the finish line is Giovana Martins, a five-time winner of the Walt Disney World Marathon. Martins finishes the race in two hours and 54 minutes. Behind her are Jordyn Kleve (2:59:07), Conceicao de Maria Oliveira (3:12:28), Chelsea Ellis (3:14:40), and Ana Ceclia Cunha (3:17:27).
(Reigning men's champion Fredison Costa was unable to complete this year due to an illness.)
The 25th Critics' Choice Awards are presented at the Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica Airport, together with its television awards, honoring the finest achievements of 2019 filmmaking. Among the Disney-related winners:
-Best Young Actor/Actress: Roman Griffin Davis – Jojo Rabbit as Johannes "Jojo Rabbit" Betzler
-Best Visual Effects: Avengers: Endgame
-Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 4
-Best Action Movie: Avengers: Endgame
27th Annual Walt Disney World Marathon
1951:
Actress Kirstie Alley is born in Kansas. Appearing in the 1988 Touchstone film Shoot to Kill (as Sarah), she later hosted the television special Wonderful World of Disney: 40 Years of Television Magic, and starred in the 1997 made-for-television fantasy film "Toothless" on the Wonderful World of Disney. TV viewers will recall her as Rebecca Howe on the NBC sitcom Cheers (1987–1993).
1995:
Animator William Pomerance, who worked for Walt Disney Studios, passes away in Connecticut. First working as a business manager of cartoonists, his stay at Disney was short as he left after the Disney Strike of 1941.
2021:
Disney Books releases "City of the Plague God" and "The Owl House: Witches Before Wizards." An adventure based on ancient Mesopotamian mythology, "City of the Plague God" is written by Sarwat Chadda (author of the "Ash Mistry" series). An ancient wizard gives Luz a map for a mythical quest in
"Witches Before Wizards."
