1915:
Actor Harry Morgan is born in Detroit, Michigan. His Disney film credits include
The Barefoot Executive (1971), Scandalous John (1971), Snowball Express (1972), Charly
and the Angel (1973), The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975), The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides
Again (1979) and The Cat From Outer Space (1978). In 1972, he hosted two episodes of Disney's
syndicated series The Mouse Factory and in 1988 appeared in the made-for-television comedy 14 Going on 30. TV fans will recognize him from both the classic series Dragnet (as Officer Bill Gannon) and M*A*S*H (as Col. Sherman T. Potter). Close friends with bandleader Glenn Miller, Morgan was cast in the 1954 film The Glenn Miller Story playing Chummy MacGregor (10 years after Miller's death). Appearing in over 100 films, Morgan passed away at age 96 in California.
2003:
Regis Philbin, the daytime co-host of Live with Regis and Kelly
and former host of ABC's game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, receives the 2,222nd star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Disney chairman Michael Eisner is among the celebrities in attendance.
Disneyland's Space Mountain closes for rehab. The popular Tomorrowland attraction will
be redesigned and relaunched in conjunction with the Disneyland 50th Anniversary in 2005.
1924:
Actress Jane Kean, Miss Taylor in Disney's 1977 Pete's Dragon, is born in
Hartford, Connecticut. (TV fans may recall her role of Trixie Norton and other various characters
on the 1960s variety hit The Jackie Gleason Show.)
1927:
Walt Disney delivers the first Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon, Poor
Papa, to distributor Charles Mintz in New York.
1957:
The Disneyland television series airs "People of the Desert."
1959:
Singer-guitarist & songwriter Brian Setzer (first known in the early
1980s as the leader of The Stray Cats) is born in Massapequa, New
York. Besides performing at Walt Disney World with his big band - The Brian Setzer
Orchestra, Setzer's musical credits include a version of "Everybody Wants To Be A Cat" for the 1996 soundtrack to
The Aristocats, the song "I'm Only In It For The Honey" for the 2002 The Country Bears, and "Rockin' at the House
of Mouse," the theme for the animated television series House of Mouse. Disney's 2006 The Santa Clause 3: The
Escape Clause featured Setzer's tune "Santa Drives a Hot Rod," and he & his 17-piece big band performed at Disney’s
Pleasure Island in July 1996 and on the 2005 broadcast of Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade. His first big band CD, The Brian Setzer Orchestra, was released by Disney's Hollywood Records in 1994.
1964:
Walt Disney arrives in New York City to oversee
his four exhibits at the upcoming World's Fair.
1972:
At the 44th Academy Awards, Alan Maley, Eustace Lycett and Danny Lee win
for Special Visual Effects for their work on Disney's live-action Bedknobs and
Broomsticks. The Sherman Brothers' tune "The Age of Not Believing" (from Disney's Bedknobs and
Broomsticks) is beat out by Isaac Hayes' "Theme from Shaft." Although Bedknobs is also nominated for Scoring:
Adaptation and Original Song Score, John Williams' Fiddler on the Roof takes home the Oscar. Best Costume
Design and Best Art Direction both go to Nicholas and Alexandra beating out Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
1988:
Disneyland's America Sings closes in Tomorrowland at the end of this day. A 24-minute
patriotic musical production that included over 100 characters (the biggest Audio Animatronics cast ever assembled for
a Disneyland attraction at this time) it had been in operation since June 1974. America Sings used the same Carousel
Theater that its predecessor Carousel of Progress had. Many of the America Sing characters will later be placed in
Critter Country and the Splash Mountain attraction. The Carousel Theater will be used as office space for the next ten
years before finally being replaced by Innoventions, a version of the Epcot attraction.
1992:
Disney's live-action feature film musical Newsies is released in theaters. Directed by
choreographer Kenny Ortega (his directorial debut), the films stars Christian Bale, David Moscow, and Bill Pullman
with appearances by Robert Duvall, Ann-Margret and Max Casella. Based on the true story of the Newsboys Strike of 1899 in New York City (a youth-led campaign to force change in the way that Joseph Pulitzer's and William Randolph
Hearst's newspapers compensated their child labor force), Newsies features the music of Alan Menken.
Nearly 20 years later Newsies will be presented as a staged musical.
The Grand Inauguration of the hotels at Euro Disneyland (Disneyland Paris Hotel,
Disney's Hotel New York, Disney's Newport Bay Club, Disney's Sequoia Lodge,
Disney's Hotel Cheyenne and Disney's Hotel Santa Fe) takes place. The resort (later renamed
Disneyland Paris) in Marne-la-Vallée, a new town in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France, will debut in 2 days.
The 1961 animated 101 Dalmatians is released on VHS.
Actress Daisy Ridley is born in London, England. She rose to international prominence through playing the role of Rey in the Star Wars sequel trilogy: The Force Awakens (2015), The Last Jedi (2017), and The Rise of Skywalker (2019).
1997:
The campaign to build the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, takes another
major step forward with a combined $15 million gift from Ron Burkle and The
Ralphs/Food 4 Less Foundation. The donation is announced at a morning press conference on the roof
terrace of The Museum of Contemporary Art, overlooking the future site of the Walt Disney Concert Hall. (Disney
Hall will serve as the winter residence of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.)
1999:
The Disney Channel Original Movie Can of Worms premieres.
A teen is visited by aliens after he broadcasts a message into space!
2001:
The official groundbreaking ceremony for Walt Disney's original
Laugh-O-Gram Studio Building in downtown Kansas City takes place. The two-story brick
building (located at 31st and Forest Streets) was the site of Disney's first film studio, Laugh-O-Gram, which he
incorporated in 1922. The studio (which operated out of five rooms and was occupied by as many as eleven employees) is where Walt Disney befriended a very special mouse. With it's collapsing roof and boarded up
windows, the building which housed the studio hardly looks like the birthplace of the world's biggest entertainment
empire. Disney enthusiasts hope to preserve and restore the building, and establish a museum on the site.
Armored trucks loaded with collectible prizes, Mickey Mouse and Regis Philbin arrive
at Disney-MGM Studios to launch the opening of the "Who Wants To Be A
Millionaire-Play It!" - a live-show attraction at Disney World. The show will run continuously throughout the day in a 600-seat studio located in Soundstages 2 and 3 at the Disney-MGM Studios. (The
attraction had opened to the public on the 7th.)
2006:
Building a Thrill Ride - Expedition Everest airs on the Science
Channel. The special gives a behind-the-scenes look at Animal
Kingdom's newest attraction Expedtion Everest.
1994:
At Epcot, the Stargate fast-food facility (opened since 1982) closes.
The voice of Scat Cat
in Disney's 1970
The Aristocats
was performed by
Scatman Crothers.
It was originally to
be voiced by
jazz great
Louis Armstrong.
1991:
Actress-singer Amanda Joy Michalka, half of the sister pop group Aly & AJ (also known as
78violet), is born in Torrance, California. Aly & AJ's first 3 studio albums (Into the Rush, Acoustic Hearts of Winter, and Insomniatic) were released by Disney's Hollywood Records. In March 2006, AJ made her Disney Channel debut in the Disney Channel Original Movie "Cow Belles" (playing the role of Courtney Callum) along with sister Aly. A model before becoming an actress, AJ portrayed Kate Tweedy in Disney's 2010 sports drama "Secretariat." Between 2013-2023 she played the reoccurring role of Lainey Lewis on the ABC sitcom "The Goldbergs." She also appeared as herself in the ABC music television special "The Disney Family Singalong" in April 2020, and in 2022 guest-starred in an episode of the ABC medical drama "The Good Doctor."
"Just remember, there's a right way and a wrong way to do everything and the wrong way is to keep trying to make everybody else do it the right way." -Harry Morgan
APRIL 10
APRIL 10
THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
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A
P
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2008:
The second new Mark VII monorail, Blue, is delivered to Disneyland.
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America Sings closes
SEASON 3 EPISODE 22
Approximately half of the 30,000 acres at The Walt Disney World Resort are conservation lands, water bodies, and other green spaces that will never be developed. Over 7,500 acres were
originally set aside by Walt Disney himself, and are now known as the
Wildlife Management Conservation Area.
1968:
The 40th Academy Awards honoring film achievements of 1967 takes place at the
Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California. (Originally scheduled for April 8,
the awards were postponed because of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) "The Bare Necessities" written by Terry Gilkyson (from The Jungle Book) loses out to "Talk to the Animals" (from Doctor Dolittle) for
Best Music, Original Song. Although nominated for Best Costume Design, Disney's The Happiest Millionaire is edged out by Camelot.
1942:
Disney's Donald Duck short Donald's Snow Fight, directed by Jack King, is released.
After getting Donald aggravated in a sledding "accident," it's an all out snow-war between Donald and his nephews!
Clarence Nash supplies all the voices (Donald, Huey, Dewey and Louie).
2009:
Walt Disney Pictures releases Hannah Montana: The Movie, starring Miley Cyrus. As Hannah
Montana's popularity begins to take over her life, Miley Stewart, on the urging from her father Robby Ray (Billy Ray Cyrus)
takes a trip to her hometown of Crowley Corners, Tennessee to get some perspective on what matters in life the most.
Rascal Flatts (whose albums are released through Disney's Lyric Street) appear as themselves singing their songs
"Backwards" during the scene of Miley's grandma's birthday party and then "Bless the Broken Road" in an evening scene
on the front porch.
1984:
Singer-songwriter, actress and fashion designer
Mandy Moore is born Amanda Leigh Moore in
Nashua, New Hampshire. Growing up in Orlando, Florida,
she became interested in singing and acting at a young age.
Moore co-starred with Anne Hathaway in Disney's 2001 live-action
The Princess Diaries. She is best known for supplying the voices of Nita for Disney's animated Brother Bear 2, and Rapunzel for Disney's animated Tangled, the short Tangled Ever After, television's Tangled: The Series, and an episode of Sofia the First. Moore's voice credits also include Tron: Uprising as Mara and Sheriff Callie's Wild West as Callie.
In 2010, Moore appeared in 4 episodes of ABC's medical drama Grey's Anatomy as Mary Portman.
1974:
The television special Sandy in Disneyland airs on CBS. Sandy Duncan, an acclaimed Broadway
performer best known at this time for playing Peter Pan on stage, hosts this one-hour musical tour. (Duncan had
also appeared in Disney's 1971 feature The Million Dollar Duck.) Among her guests are Academy Award-winning
actor Ernest Borgnine, The Jackson 5, The Mary Tyler Moore Show's Ted Knight, John Davidson and Ruth Buzzi.
2012:
It is announced that Disney will join an initiative to develop China's animation industry.
The agreement unites the Burbank entertainment giant with an animation arm of China's Ministry of Culture and
China's largest Internet company, Tencent Holdings Ltd. (Disney is currently building its first theme park in mainland
China, a $3.7-billion attraction in Shanghai slated to open in 2015.)
2014:
The 50th anniversary of "it's a small world" is celebrated when hundreds of voices from Disneyland Resort in California, Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, Tokyo Disney Resort in Japan, Disneyland Paris in France and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort sing the unforgettable theme song of the "happiest cruise that ever sailed the seven seas." Fans
around the world are invited to join the celebration at SmallWorld50.com, where they may record videos of themselves singing "It's a Small World" and create virtual Small World dolls to benefit UNICEF.
April is 1964/65 New York World's Fair Month
1993:
Actress-singer Sofía Daccarett Char, better known as Sofia Carson, is born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Her first appearance on television was as a guest star on the Disney Channel show,
Austin & Ally. In 2015, she appeared as Evie, the daughter of the Evil Queen, in the Disney Channel Original Movie, Descendants, and later the 2017 sequel, Descendants 2. Carson played the role of Lola Perez in the
2016 Adventures in Babysitting.
2019:
Mickey's PhilharMagic opens at Disney California Adventure. A 4-D film attraction which first
opened in Florida, the 10-minute long show features 3D effects and scents, and stars Donald Duck,
Mickey Mouse, and a number of other Disney animated characters.
1990:
Actor Alex Pettyfer is born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. He played the role of John Smith in the 2011 teen science fiction action film I Am Number Four (distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures).
1954:
Actor Peter MacNicol is born in Dallas, Texas. His Disney voice credits include Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2000), Recess: School's Out (2001), Star Wars Rebels (2014), and Tangled: The Series (2017). MacNicol also appeared in episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
1982:
Actress & singer Chyler Leigh is born in Charlotte, North Carolina. She played Lexie Grey
on the ABC medical drama series Grey's Anatomy (2007–2012).
1929:
Actor Max von Sydow is born in Sweden. His 70-year career in European and American cinema, television and theatre include the voice of Zeus in Disney's 1997 Hercules and the role of Lor San Tekka in the 2015 Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Ann Sullivan, an animator and ink-and-paint artist who primarily worked on iconic films of the Disney Renaissance, is born in Fargo, North Dakota. Following her sister Helen to California, she later studied at the Art Center in Pasadena and upon graduation landed a job at Walt Disney in the animation paint lab in the early 1950s. After working on Peter Pan, Sullivan took a hiatus to start a family. She later returned to Disney (after working for Hannah Barbera for a short time) and worked on such classics as Oliver & Company, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Pocahontas, Tarzan, Lilo & Stitch, and Home on the Range. Nicknamed "Giggles," Sullivan made the switch to computerized animated production later in her career and worked at Disney until her retirement in the early 2000s. Sadly she passed of complications from COVID-19 at the age of 91 in April 2020.
2020:
Disney+ begins to stream A Celebration of the Music from Coco, a reimagined live-to-film concert experience recorded from the iconic Hollywood Bowl last November. Hosted by Eva Longoria, Benjamin Bratt, Jaime Camil, and other stars bring Disney-Pixar's Coco to life.
Walt Disney Records releases Disney Junior Music: T.O.T.S. (Volume 2).
2015:
Marvel and ABC Studios presents Marvel’s Daredevil, a new series on Netflix. Matt Murdock (played by Charlie Cox), blinded as a young boy, is imbued with extraordinary senses, and he fights against injustice by day as a lawyer and by night as the super hero Daredevil in modern-day Hell’s Kitchen, New York City. The series will run through October 2018.
1985:
Actress Christie Laing is born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She appeared in the ABC series Once Upon a Time as Marian (in seasons 2,3 & 4) and Zelena/Wicked Witch of the West (in season 3 & 4).
