2005:
Disney's On The Record (a touring musical revue) begins a series of
performances at the Colonial Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts.
"I know where to start. Mr. Disney gets the biggest thanks."
-Julie Andrews' Oscar acceptance speech This Day in Disney History 1965
1614:
Pocahontas (the daughter of the chief of the Powhatan Indians) marries John Rolfe (a tobacco planter) in Jamestown, Virginia. The marriage will ensure peace between the Jamestown settlers and the Native Indians for several years.
1929:
Nigel Hawthorne, the voice of Professor Archimedes Q. Porter in Disney's 1999 film Tarzan, is born in Coventry, England.
1930:
Singer Mary Costa, the voices of Princess Aurora/Briar Rose in Disney's 1959
animated feature Sleeping Beauty, is born in Knoxville, Tennessee. Walt Disney personally hired the 22-year-old operatic soprano, giving Costa her first professional singing job.
She was named a Disney Legend in 1999. Costa's career included performances in 44 operatic roles on stages throughout the world.
1933:
Actor and impressionist Frank Gorshin is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He played
the role of Iggy the bank-robber in Disney's 1965 live-action film That Darn Cat!
(Fans of the 1960s TV series Batman will remember him as the Riddler.)
1956:
At Disneyland, the Bathroom of the Future (later known as the Bathroom of Tomorrow) presented by The Crane Company, opens in Tomorrowland.
1963:
Fairfax Cone - acting as temporary Chairman of the Illinois Commission on the New York World' Fair - visits the Disney Studios for a presentation of an animatronic Abraham Lincoln figure. A skeptical Cone is later very impressed and convinced that it should be part of the Illinois participation in the upcoming 1964-65 World's Fair.
1965:
At the 37th Academy Awards (held at The Santa Monica Civic Auditorium), Julie Andrews wins an Oscar - Best Actress - for her role in the Disney film Mary Poppins.
The film (which has been nominated for a total of 13 Oscars) also wins Academy Awards for Best Song "Chim Chim Cher-ee" (written by the Sherman Brothers), Musical Score (also by the Sherman Brothers), Film Editing (Cotton Warburton), and Special Visual Effects (Peter Ellenshaw, Hamilton Luske & Eustace Lycett). Although Mary Poppins is nominated for Best Picture and Best Director (Robert Stevenson) ... both Oscars go to My Fair Lady. The Academy also awards an Oscar (Scientific or Technical, Class I) to Ub Iwerks, Petro Vlahos, and Wadsworth Pohl for the conception and perfection of techniques for Color Traveling Matte Composite Cinematography (which was used in Mary Poppins). Julie Andrews is photographed with actor Sidney Poitier (who presented her Oscar), songwriters the Sherman Brothers, actor Rex Harrison (who has won Best Actor for his role in "My Fair Lady"), and actress Audrey Hepburn (who was controversially not nominated for Best Actress for her starring role in "My Fair Lady"). This year was the first in which three films received 10 or more nominations! Among the musical performers are The New Christy Minstrels singing "Chim Chim Cher-ee" from "Mary Poppins."
2001:
The Orlando Rays (the AA affiliate of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays)
start their second season of baseball at
Disney's Wide World of Sports in Florida.
The Disney Channel Brazil debuts.
Michael Eisner and the Walt Disney Company are honored for "visionary
architectural patronage" by the National Building Museum in Washington,
D.C. Eisner, chairman and chief executive of Disney, accepts the award at a gala in the Great Hall of the National Building Museum.
2002:
Starting on this day, Mickey's Detective School is featured on the Fantasyland
Theater stage at the Disneyland Resort.
Touchstone Pictures releases the comedy Big Trouble, based on the novel by
Dave Barry. The film tells the story of how a mysterious suitcase brings together, and changes, the lives
of a divorced dad, an unhappy housewife, two hitmen, a pair of street thugs, two love struck teens, two FBI
men and a psychedelic toad. The large cast includes Tim Allen, Rene Russo, Dennis Farina, Zooey
Deschanel, Sofia Vergara, Jason Lee, Janeane Garofalo, Patrick Warburton, and Andy Richter.
2006:
The Walt Disney Company Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial
Officer Tom Staggs presents on behalf of Disney Worldwide Outreach a donation of
$1.5 million to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America President Roxanne Spillett on ABC
News' Good Morning America. The funds donated by Disney will go towards rebuilding 16 Clubs in the
Gulf Coast that were severely damaged by hurricanes last year.
The very first Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, a themed store offering young guests the
opportunity for a makeover to become a princess or prince, opens in Downtown
Disney at Walt Disney World. (A second shop will open in the Magic Kingdom in September 2007.)
Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour closes at Tokyo Disneyland. A walk-through attraction
opened since July 1986, it was notable for being one of the few uses of The Black Cauldron in a Disney theme
park, with an encounter with the Horned King serving as the attraction's finale.
At one time, Walt Disney wanted to build Disney World in Sanford, Florida. But his
appeal to Sanford's city
council was declined. The citizens of Sanford did not want "the crime that was sure to come with tourism."
2007:
The 14th annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival (which has been expanded
to 60 days) begins. This year's theme - "Pirates and Princesses" - features 70 amazing
topiaries depicting Disney characters as Buccaneers and Royalty. Paul Revere and the
Raiders kick off the 2007 Flower Power Concert Series at the America Gardens Theatre.
1998:
The Enchanted Tiki Room (Under New Management), a modified version of Disneyland's Enchanted Tiki Room, opens at the Magic Kingdom in Disney World. The attraction originally opened as Walt Disney's Tropical Serenade back on October 1, 1971 (the park's debut). This new version features Iago and Zazu from Aladdin and The Lion King.
"Hey kid, that's a real smart idea, walking directly under a bird. Good thing you're wearing a hat." - Iago
1975:
Although Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too is nominated in the Short Films,
Animated category ... Closed Mondays takes home the Oscar at the 1974
Academy Awards. ("Oh, bother!")
1938:
Disney's first full length animated feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is released in Canada.
1940:
Disney's Donald Duck short Donald's Dog Laundry is released. Donald has built himself a "modern dog washer" and wants a reluctant Pluto to try it out.
Walt Disney, director Ben Sharpsteen, and their wives leave for New York City by
train. As Fantasia is in production, Walt and Ben want to see a demonstration of dimensional sound at
Carnegie Hall. A stereophonic reproduction will be demonstrated by Bell Laboratories on April 9.
APRIL 5
APRIL 05
THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
Julie Andrews wins Oscar for Mary Poppins
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2007 Flower & Garden Festival
Conservation Station, an attraction at Disney's Animal Kingdom, gives guests a fun and educational behind-the-scenes look at the animals who live at the park. The station is
part of Rafiki's Planet Watch, an area dedicated to the preservation and
conservation of animals.
2008:
The official press opening for The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror takes place at Walt Disney Studios Park in Disneyland Paris. Based on the same designs as the version at Disney's California Adventure, The Walt Disney Studios version has been opened since December 22, 2007. The name of the attraction in French is La Tour de la Terreur - Un Saut dans la Quatrième Dimension (The Tower of Terror - A Jump into the Fourth Dimension).
Veteran actor Charlton Heston passes away at age 84 in California. The narrator of Disney's 1997 animated feature Hercules, he also co-starred in the 1990 Disney Channel film The Little Kidnappers and appeared as himself on the 1986 TV special Walt Disney World's 15th Anniversary Celebration. In 1971 he took part in Disneyland's Candlelight Processional. (Renowned for playing historical figures, Heston's long list of
credits include The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur, and The Greatest Story Ever Told.)
2010:
NASA Space shuttle Discovery launches in the
predawn darkness from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
As with many launches, this one is easily viewed from Walt Disney
World. The STS-131 7-member crew will deliver a multi-purpose
logistics module filled with science racks and food to the International Space
Station. (It is the final Space Shuttle mission with a seven person crew.)
The image to the right is captured by Disney World photographer Kent Phillips.
1991:
Disney's Hollywood Pictures releases its fourth feature The Marrying Man, a romantic
comedy starring Alec Baldwin, Kim Basinger, Robert Loggia, Elizabeth Shue, and
Armand Assante. Charley Pearl (Baldwin), wealthy heir and gadabout, is slated to marry Adele (Shue), the
daughter of a Hollywood tycoon (Loggia). But, during a wild bachelor party in Las Vegas, Charley strikes up a
flirtation with nightclub crooner Vicki Anderson (Basinger) that soon leads to her bedroom. When the couple are
discovered by Vicki's beau, infamous gangster Bugsy Siegel (Assante), he makes a surprising pronouncement ...
they'd better marry, or Charley is a dead man.
1910:
Disney Legend Richard Irvine is born in Salt Lake City, Utah. Hired away from 20th Century Fox as an art director for Disney in 1952, Richard "Dick" Irvine was first asked to act as liaison between Walt Disney Productions and an architectural firm that was being considered for designing Disneyland. After a few preliminary meetings with the architects, however, Irvine (along with Walt Disney) concluded that the people who could best design the Magic Kingdom were members of Walt's own staff ... or Imagineers. In launching the world's first theme park, Irvine helped establish and lead a new team of artists, architects, designers and engineers.
"Because Dick had worked with movie set designs, creating structures and settings, he understood our needs more than standard architects, such as "forced" perspective, making things smaller to give the illusion of being farther away and other optical values." -Imagineer John Hench
2011:
Disney Store celebrates its Bronze Award win in the New Retail Frontiers category at the 2011 Edison Best New Product Awards™ at the historic Capitale ballroom in New York City. The distinguished award symbolizes the persistence and excellence personified by inventor Thomas Alva Edison, and recognizes companies at the forefront of innovation, creativity and ingenuity in the global economy.
1916:
Actor Gregory Peck is born in La Jolla, California. One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck shared hosting duties in December 1967 for Disneyland's Candlelight Ceremony.
April is 1964/65 New York World's Fair Month
1989:
Actress Lily Chloe Ninette Thomson, known professionally as Lily James, is
born in Esher, Surrey, England. Following her supporting role as Lady Rose MacClare in the
period drama series Downton Abbey (2012–2015), James had her film breakthrough playing the
eponymous role in Disney's 2015 fantasy film Cinderella. She was also photographed by Annie Leibovitz as
Cinderella, in the blue gown her character wears to the ball, for the December 2014 issue of Vogue.
1962:
Disney's comedy Moon Pilot (in release since February 9) debuts at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Based on Robert Buckner's 1960 novel "Starfire," it is the first science-fiction outer space movie by Disney. It stars Tom Tryon as Air Force Capt. Richmond Talbot who inadvertently volunteers to make the first manned flight around the Moon. To ensure that enemy operatives don't learn about his mission, the U.S. government begins shadowing him with FBI agents. The cast includes French actress Dany Saval, Brian Keith, Tommy Kirk, and a mischievous chimp named named Charlie. A young Sally Field makes her film debut as one of the beatnik girls in the lineup.
1982:
Actress Hayley Atwell is born in London, England. She portrayed Evelyn Robin (Christopher's wife) in Disney's 2018 live-action Christopher Robin, and Peggy Carter in various films and a television series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe; ABC's Agent Carter and such features as Avengers: Endgame and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Atwell also voiced Agent Carter in 2 episodes of the animated Avengers Assemble and the video games Captain America: Super Soldier and Lego Marvel's Avengers. In 2015, she played Ella/Cinderella's mother in Disney's romantic
live-action fantasy Cinderella.
1908:
Actress Bette Davis is born Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis in Lowell, Massachusetts. With a career spanning 60 years and 100 acting credits, she is regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history. Her Disney credits include the science fiction-adventure Return from Witch Mountain (1978) as Letha Wedge, and the supernatural horror The Watcher in the Woods (1980) as Mrs. Aylwood.
1976:
Actor Sterling K. Brown in St. Louis, Missouri. His film credits include Black Panther as N'Jobu and Frozen II as the voice of Lieutenant Destin Mattias. Brown is the narrator of the Disney+ series One Day at Disney.
1973:
Actress Élodie Bouchez is born in France. In the fall of 2005, she joined the cast of the ABC TV series Alias for its fifth and final season. She played Renée Rienne, an assassin who works unofficially for a black ops division of the CIA.
2012:
Scandal, a political thriller television series, first airs on ABC. Starring Kerry Washington as Olivia Pope (who runs a crisis management firm in Washington, D.C.), the series is partially based on former George H.W. Bush administration press aide Judy Smith, who serves as a co-executive producer. Scandal will run for 124 episodes over 7 seasons.
1904:
Animator William "Hicks" Lokey is born in Alabama. He worked at Walt Disney Productions (1940–41), where he provided character animation for the "Pink Elephants on Parade" segment in Dumbo and "The Dance of the Hours" in Fantasia. He spent the rest of his career at Hanna-Barbera.
2019:
Jessie's Critter Carousel opens at Disney California Adventure. First debuting as King Triton's Carousel of the Sea on February 8, 2001, it has been re-themed.
2016:
The Tomorrowland attraction UFO Zone closes in Hong Kong Disneyland.
2021:
Don Muchow of Plano, Texas, reaches Disney World on this day after over a year of running from California! Naming it the first-ever "Mouse2Mouse" challenge, the 59-year-old marketing director, ultrarunner, Ironman, and type 1 diabetic has jogged from Disneyland to Walt Disney World to raise awareness about the autoimmune disease. Muchow first started in Newport Beach on February 1, 2020, but stopped at 1,260 miles in Tarzan, Texas, on March 22 as the coronavirus pandemic escalated. Taking time off to be with family and for safety’s safe amid the outbreak, Muchow picked up again in Tarzan on September 24, 2020. As coronavirus cases surged across country, the ultrarunner stopped one month later in Texarkana. Fiercely focused, he started running from the eastern Texas city on March 2, 2021, reaching Disney World on this day! Disney security, cast members & guests cheer as Muchow runs up to the entrance of Magic Kingdom.
