1994:
A new sports tradition at Walt Disney World begins on this cold morning
when approximately 8,500 runners from around the world line up for the very first annual Walt Disney World Marathon. The 26.2-mile route runs along
normal and backstage roads, past several resorts, and literally through all three theme parks.
Leonid Shetsov of Russia (at 2:14:27) and Judit Nagi (at 2:32:32) of
Hungary are the overall winners.
Other 1994 winners include:
Men's Masters: Paul Cummings, Lehl, Utah, 2:27:50
Women's Masters: Carol Virga, Delray Beach, Fla., 2:49:53
Men's Chair: David Bailey, Vista, Calif., 1:52:29
Women's Chair: Katherine Hunter, Orlando, Fla., 2:31:47
1977:
The New Mouseketeers appear on Wonderama (a long-running children's television program). These Mouseketeers are the stars of a new daily series, titled The New Mickey Mouse Club, to be released in television syndication the following day (Monday January 17). Much like Wonderama, The New
Mickey Mouse Club will run on such Metromedia-owned stations as WTTG in Washington D.C., KMBC-TV in
Kansas City, KTTV in Los Angeles, WXIX-TV in Cincinnati, and WNEW-TV in New York City.
1890:
Edna Francis is born to pioneer parents in Reece, Kansas. She
worked, in the early days of the Disney Studios, as an ink artist. In April 1925 Edna
married Roy O. Disney (a friend of her brother's) and five years later gave birth to
their only son Roy E. Disney. A spirited woman, with an understanding heart and a
ready opinion to share, Edna provided enthusiastic support and sound counsel to
her business-genius husband as he helped grow his brother’s creative venture from
a humble storefront in Hollywood to an entertainment empire that spans the globe.
She was named a Disney Legend in 2003 (nineteen years after her death).
2005:
Starting on this day the NFFC (the Club for Disneyana Enthusiasts) host a Strictly
Disneyana Show & Sale at the Radisson Parkway Hotel in Kissimmee, Florida.
1932:
Disney's Silly Symphony cartoon The Bird Store, directed by Wilfred Jackson, is released.
1936:
The New York Journal reports that film director René Clair feels that Charlie
Chaplin and Walt Disney are both outstanding figures in the movies at this
time. "They have no outside interference," he explains, "they act as their own producer, director,
and even attend to their own stories and musical scores. Their artistry is sublime."
1949:
Actor Roger Mobley, the star of Disney's Gallegher television serial,
is born in Evansville, Indiana. His Disney credits also include The
Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again and Emil and the Detectives.
1957:
The Disneyland television series airs "Your Host, Donald Duck." Donald
Duck convinces Walt to let him take over the hosting duties for this episode!
1959:
The TV series Walt Disney Presents airs the episode "Noik."
1963:
Disney's live-action black-and-white feature film Son of Flubber (a sequel to the film
Stevenson, Professor Ned Brainard (played by MacMurray) gets into trouble again because of his experiments
with a gravity defying substance. The cast includes Nancy Olsen (as Betty Brainard), Tommy Kirk (as Biff Hawk),
and the father-and-son team of Ed and Keenan Wynn (as A. J. Allen & Alonzo Hawk). The film will be generally
released January 18.
2002:
The Writers Guild of America TV program nominations are announced with the
Disney-owned network ABC taking 5 nominations and Disney itself receiving 1
nomination for the children's pilot "Lizzie McGuire."
(Winners will be announced in March.)
2003:
It is announced that Walt Disney Records will release two of their best-selling
children's titles in Spanish for the very first time. The first album, "Favoritas de las Princesas de
Disney," spotlights Disney's most beloved heroines with Spanish versions of classic songs from films such as
Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid. The second release, "Disney Presenta Cantar y Jugar," is a collection
of children's favorite playtime songs from Latin America.
Disneyland Resort officially premieres Disney's Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular
at the Hyperion Theater in Disney California Adventure Park. The lavish dynamic stage show will become an instant hit with guests and go on to run through January 2016 with over 14,000 performances.
2004:
Disney's animated Teacher's Pet is released. Based on the animated television series, it
features the voices of Nathan Lane, Kelsey Grammer, Debra Jo Rupp, David Ogden Stiers, and Jerry Stiller.
Pixel Perfect, the 50th Disney Channel Original Movie, first airs. When a teen named Roscoe (played by Ricky Ullman) uses holography to create a new pop star, things start to go awry.
In 1934, the Encyclopedia
Britannica gave Mickey Mouse
his very own entry. First
published between 1768 and
1771, The Britannica is the
oldest English-language
encyclopedia still in print!
JANUARY 16
"Roy and I were just going together ... We stopped at a drugstore to get a soda, and Walt came to see Roy because he wanted a quarter or a half-dollar for paper to draw on. Even then, Roy provided the money for Walt's artistic ambitions." -Disney Legend Edna Francis Disney
1952:
Walt Disney presents cartoonist George McManus, creator of the comic strip Bringing
Up Father, with Banshee's Silver Lady award at a luncheon in Beverly Hills.
 | ||||
WDW Marathon debuts
JANUARY 16
THIS DAY MADE
IN THE
USA
| ||||
| ||||
Son of Flubber debuts
| ||||
1930:
Summer, a Silly Symphony short, is released. Directed by Ub Iwerks, it is the second
"4 seasons Symphony."
1942:
Disney's Donald Duck short The Village Smithy, directed by Dick Lundy, is released.
Donald's patience, as a blacksmith, is put to the test when he attempts to shoe a donkey named Jenny.
SEASON 3 EPISODE 13
2010:
Movie critic and author Leonard Maltin receives the very first Heritage
Award presented by the NFFC-Disneyana Fan Club. The award was
established to honor individuals outside the Walt Disney Co. who have made significant
contributions to promoting the awareness and preservation of Disney history. Composer
Richard Sherman makes the presentation to Maltin at the Disneyana Fan Club
luncheon (part of its convention that is being held over this weekend at the Crowne Plaza
Hotel in Garden Grove, California).
1970:
Legacy of Walt Disney opens on Main Street, U.S.A. at Disneyland. It features a display
of Walt Disney’s awards and other memorabilia along with an exhibit on the California Institute of the Arts.
2011:
Wild Africa Trek at Disney's Animal Kingdom begins operation. For the first time ever, small
groups of guests can get up close and personal with the animals that call DAK home. The adventure includes
trekking with experienced guides through areas of Harambe Wildlife Reserve (not typically opened to park
guests), crossing a seemingly precarious rope bridge over the Safi River and cliff-hanging at the edge of gullies
that are home to hippos and crocodiles!
Pixar Pals Countdown to Fun!, a new parade debuts at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
in Walt Disney World. It replaces Block Party Bash, which had its last performance on January 1.
Toy Story 3 wins Best Animated Feature Film at the 68th Annual Golden Globe Awards. Singer Justin Bieber and actress Halley Steinfeld present the award to director Lee Unkrich - "Were you
two even born when the first Toy Story came out?"
"Thank you to Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Pixar, Disney
and especially John Lasseter who trusted me with Toy Story 3, my incredible cast anchored by Tom Hanks and Tim Allen. I love you for
the humor and emotional honesty your brought to the film. Thanks to the audience who came out in record numbers and embraced an
animated movie that beat with a human heart." -Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich
JAN
JAN
1999:
The twenty-fifth episode of Disney's Recess, "Bad Hair Day/Dance Lessons" premieres
on ABC-TV. Actress Nada Despotovich guest stars as the voice of Madmoiselle Pavlova in "Dance Lessons."
January 16
This Day in Disney History - THE FIRST - THE ORIGINAL
Traveling in time since 1999!
2014:
The 86th Academy Awards Nominations are announced with Disney
receiving six nominations for three feature films and one short:
Animated Feature Film – Frozen
Music – Original Song – "Let It Go" from Frozen
Short Film – Animated – Get a Horse!
Music – Original Score – Saving Mr. Banks
Makeup and Hairstyling – The Lone Ranger
Visual Effects – The Lone Ranger
Also part of Disney’s movie empire are Marvel’s Iron Man 3 and Disney's United States distribution of
The Wind Rises, each nominated for one award:
Visual Effects – Iron Man 3
Animated Feature Film – The Wind Rises
The Academy Awards will air on ABC on March 2, 2014.
In the evening, the Broadcast Film Critics Association announces the winners for
the 19th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards, live from the Barker Hangar in
Santa Monica, California. Disney's Frozen nabs the honors for Best Animated Feature and
Best Original Song for "Let It Go."
Animator and painter Harold H. "Hal" Sutherland passes away at age 84 in
Washington. Beginning his career as a Disney animator in 1954, he worked on Sleeping Beauty, Lady and the
Tramp, Peter Pan and the last theatrical short that featured Donald Duck. One of the company's three co-founders in the late 1960s, Sutherland had a hand in a large number of Filmation's limited animation productions which were broadcast as Saturday morning cartoons. Sutherland's directorial assignments included the first sixteen episodes of Star Trek: The Animated Series in 1973 and The New Adventures of Flash Gordon in 1979. He also directed some
of Filmation's memorable superhero cartoons, including The Adventures of Batman, The Batman/Superman Hour, Aquaman, and The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure. Sutherland went into semi-retirement in 1974, moving to Washington State to focus on fine-art painting.
Actor Dave Madden passes away at age 82 in Florida. Hosting two episodes of The Mouse Factory (a syndicated television series produced by Walt Disney Productions which ran from 1972 to 1973), Madden is best remembered for his role on the 1970's musical sitcom The Partridge Family.
1980:
Lin-Manuel Miranda, actor, composer, rapper, and writer, best known for creating
and starring in the Broadway musical Hamilton (which premiered on Disney+ in July 2020), is born in New York City. His Disney credits include Mary Poppins Returns (as Jack; a cockney lamplighter and former apprentice of Bert from the original film), The Odd Life of Timothy Green (as Reggie), Star Wars: The Force Awakens (playing the role of Shag Kava and writing some of the film's music), DuckTales (supplying the voice of Gizmoduck), and Moana (one of 3 composers who contributed to the soundtrack). Miranda also played Guillermo, a
grocery store worker, in a 2011 episode of ABC's Modern Family.
1983:
Actor Marwan Kenzari is born in the Netherlands. He is the villain
Jafar in Disney's 2019 live-action adaptation of Aladdin.
1972:
Actor Richard T. Jones is born in Kobe, Japan, to African-American parents (he will grow up in Carson, California). Jones is best known for his portrayal of Lamont Carr in the Disney film Full Court Miracle (2003) and for his role on the ABC series The Rookie.
1910:
Illustrator, muralist, writer, and director Aurelius Battaglia is born in Washington, D.C.
Starting work at Disney on January 6, 1937 as an in-betweener, he soon moved to the Story Department, where he worked as a sketch man contributing ideas to Dumbo, Fantasia, and Pinocchio.
1961:
Composer & orchestrator Joseph Dubin passes away at age 60 in California. Scoring and orchestrating more than 200 motion pictures during his career, Dubin's Disney credits included such films and shorts as Alice in Wonderland, Donald Applecore, Pluto's Christmas Tree, Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom,
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and the 1950s television series The Mickey Mouse Club.
1964:
Special effect animator Cy Young passes away at age 66 in California. Hired by Disney to be head of his new special effects animation department (along with animator Ugo D'Orsi), his credits included Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Bambi, Fantasia, and Dumbo. Young left the studio after the 1941 Disney animators' strike and worked as a staff artist and clerk at the Air Force, where he worked on various projects.
1886:
Italian composer Amilcare Ponchielli passes away at age 51 in Milan, Italy. His ballet Dance of the Hours - from his opera La Gioconda - will later be featured in Disney's 1940 Fantasia. The Dance of the Hours will include animated ostriches, hippos, elephants, & alligators all attempting to perform the actual ballet! (The segment will be animated with an energy and franticness rarely seen in Disney films.) Although in his lifetime Ponchielli was very popular and influential in introducing an enlarged orchestra and more complex orchestration, the only one of his operas regularly performed is La Gioconda.
2001:
The 1977 Pete's Dragon is released on DVD under The Walt Disney Gold
Classic Collection.
