1997:
Gibson Guitars holds a demonstration at Disney World's Pleasure Island. Guitarists
have the opportunity to see new models and check out a display of classic guitars.
1924:
Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and the Louis B. Mayer Company merge to form
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer ... or MGM. MGM will become one of the biggest producers and distributors of films and television programs and even team-up with Disney to open a Florida theme park in 1989 called
Disney-MGM Studios (today known as Disney's Hollywood Studios).
1961:
At the 33rd Annual Academy Awards, hosted by Bob Hope,
an Oscar (Documentary, Feature) is won for the Disney film The Horse with the Flying Tail. Fifteen-year-old actress Hayley Mills wins an Oscar (Honorary Award) for most outstanding juvenile performance of 1960 for her role in Disney's live-action Pollyanna. Although Disney's Islands of the Sea is nominated for Short Subjects, Live Action ... it is edged out by Day of the Painter.
1964:
Disney's "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln" exhibit is flown from California to New York
for the upcoming World's Fair. Unfortunately once in New York, the truck delivering the exhibit to the
Illinois Pavilion is caught in heavy traffic around the Flushing Meadows area of Queens (one of the 5 boroughs of
New York City). The cause of traffic ... Shea Stadium - a new ballpark and home to the New York Mets - is hosting
their official opening day! The Pittsburgh Pirates defeat the Mets 4-3 and Lincoln never makes it to the fair.
2006:
Two of the stars of Disney/Pixar's new computer-animated feature Cars
race straight off the movie screen and into the real world as actual life-sized models for a
40 plus city promotional tour. Disney/Pixar's "CARS Road Trip 06" presented by State
Farm kicks off this day in Akron, Ohio. (The movie will premiere May 26.)
The Disneyland Resort 50th anniversary celebration takes to the skies over Fresno, California with a 100-foot tall, Mickey Mouse-shaped hot air balloon dubbed
"The Happiest Balloon On Earth."
1998:
Walt Disney Records/Pony Canyon releases the theme park album Disney Carnivale in honor of Tokyo Disneyland's 15th anniversary.
Disney World kicks off the 5th Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival.
(It will run through May 31.)
"I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something than educate people and hope they were entertained." -Walt Disney
2008:
Disney announces a new mobile Web site and texting program. Developed in conjunction with mDisney, part of the Walt Disney Internet Group, the new mobile site allows users with Web-enabled phones to receive Radio Disney information, listen to Radio Disney, view the last 10 songs played on the Radio Disney station, send shout-outs, request songs and take polls.
APRIL 17
APRIL 17
THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
"Cars Road Trip '06" kicks off
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1958:
Expo 58, also known as the Brussels World’s Fair, opens. It is the first major World's Fair following
World War II. Featured at the Fair, in the American Pavilion, is the first Disneyland-style attraction to ever live outside the Magic Kingdom ... America the Beautiful, a live-action film in Circarama. (The film will open at Disneyland 2 years later.)
1980:
The Watcher in the Woods, a horror film distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, first premieres. The film, about a teenage girl and her little sister who become encompassed in a supernatural mystery regarding a missing girl in the woods surrounding their new home, stars Bette Davis, Carroll Baker, David McCallum, Lynn-Holly Johnson, and Kyle Richards.
1973:
An amazing 73,168 guests visit Walt Disney World on this day! (A large number considering Disney World only consists of the Magic Kingdom at this time.)
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Hayley Mills wins Oscar
1957:
The Disneyland TV series airs the episode "More About the Silly Symphonies."
This is the second Disneyland episode to trace the development of Disney's elaborate cartoon features from
the studio's earliest Silly Symphony shorts. Among the cartoons featured are The Grasshopper and the
Ants, Who Killed Cock Robin?, Water Babies, Farmyard Symphony, and Wynken, Blinken and Nod.
SEASON 3 EPISODE 23
Epcot Center's The Land exhibits 3 different methods of hydroponic gardening: plastic bags filled with rock wool to hold the roots of the plants steady while they grow, small seedlings in
a foam "raft" that floats on the surface of a tank of nutrient-enriched water, and a technique called "aeroponics" where plants receive a spray of nutrient-laden water every few minutes.
1937:
Disney's Mickey Mouse short Mickey's Amateurs, featuring the animation of Les Clark and Art Babbitt, is released. Mickey hosts an amateur talent show starring Pete, Donald Duck, Goofy, Clarabelle Cow, and Clara Cluck.
2010:
The world premiere of the Disneynature film Oceans takes place at the El Capitan
Theater in Hollywood. The film will be released April 22.
1933:
Ronald William "Ron" Miller is born in California. A professional football player (for the Los Angeles
Rams) and the son-in-law of Walt Disney, Miller initially worked at Walt Disney productions for a few months in 1954 as a
liaison between WED Enterprises and Disneyland, before being drafted into the army. Married to Diane Disney in May
1954, Miller rose up the ranks at Disney to a variety of producer positions and also directed some of the lead-ins for the
popular weekly Disney television show. He became president of Walt Disney Productions in 1980 and CEO in 1983.
He also served as executive producer on the 1982 TRON. Miller is perhaps best remembered for creating the Touchstone
label in 1984, allowing Disney to produce and release adult-oriented films without harming the family-friendly reputation of the Disney name. In 2014, D23 joined Miller for a dedication of a bench in honor of his late wife, Diane Disney Miller, at the Griffith Park Merry-Go-Round. Ron W. Miller passed away at age 85 in February 2019.
Disneyland Hotel's blue tinted
double-pane glass windows look
very modern, but they also serve a
purpose ... they reduce energy
consumption by helping to keep
guests rooms at the desired
temperature.
2012:
Beginning today in Florida, Orange Bird returns to Sunshine Tree Terrace
signage and quirky drink cups in Adventureland at Magic Kingdom Park.
Orange Bird was a character who was developed back in 1970. Walt Disney Productions entered into
negotiations with the Florida Citrus Commission for an FCC-sponsored Walt Disney World attraction
early in 1967. A contract was signed in October 1969, formalizing the FCC's underwriting of a "tropical
bird show" at a cost of $3 million. The following year WED Enterprises created the Orange Bird
character to serve as the FCC's official mascot in promotional campaigns. (The Orange Bird also appeared
in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom as a walk-around character during the resort's first decade.)
1972:
Actress Jennifer Garner is born in Houston, Texas. She first gained recognition on television for
her performance as CIA agent Sydney Bristow in the thriller drama series Alias, which aired on ABC for five seasons
(2001-2006). Garner's Disney/Touchstone film credits include Mr. Magoo, Washington Square, Pear Harbor, The Odd
Life of Timothy Green, and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (with Steve Carell). At the 75th Academy Awards in 2003, she and a computer-animated Mickey Mouse presented the Academy Award for Best
Animated Short Film.
2015:
It is reported that All Nippon Airways (Japan's largest airline) will introduce a Star
Wars livery, with the iconic R2-D2, on its newest aircraft 787-9 Dreamliner to mark the
beginning of a five-year agreement with Walt Disney. In honor of the film’s upcoming release in
December, it marks the first time a Star Wars character will appear on the exterior of a commercial aircraft.
Disneynature releases Monkey Kingdom. A nature documentary film about a family of monkeys
living in ancient ruins founded in the jungles of Polonnaruwa in Sri Lanka, it is narrated by Tina Fey. Monkey Kingdom, directed and produced by Mark Linfield and Alastair Fothergill, is the eighth film by Disneynature, the independent film label of Walt Disney Studios. The film will raise money to help maintain the habitat of monkeys that live in the jungles of South Asia.
Disney Channel airs the special Girl Meets Boy episode "Girl Meets What the What" to tie into the channel's "What the What" special event. This episode airs between the ending of the
first season and the start of the second season (which will officially kick off in May).
2016:
Jason Ryf, 45 from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, wins the inaugural Star Wars Half
Marathon – The Dark Side at Walt Disney World Resort in 1:13:39. The 13.1-mile
race takes runners through Epcot, Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Katie McGrath
is the first female runner to cross the finish line, covering the course in 1:24:05.
For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration, a musical show based on Disney's 2013 animated film Frozen, closes at Disney California Adventure. Running since January 2015 in Hollywood Land, it will be replaced with Mickey's PhilharMagic.
2019:
In the wake of the devastating fire that engulfed Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris,
France, on April 15, The Walt Disney Company announces it will be donating
5 million dollars to the reconstruction efforts on the historic and beloved landmark.
Disney's link to Notre Dame goes beyond an appreciation for the 850-year-old building. It also served as the backdrop
for their 1996 animated classic, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, based on the 1831 Victor Hugo novel.
Penguins, a nature documentary film directed by Alastair Fothergill and Jeff Wilson,
is released by Disneynature. A coming-of-age story about an Adélie penguin named Steve who joins
millions of fellow males in the icy Antarctic spring on a quest to build a suitable nest, find a life partner and start
a family, it is narrated by Ed Helms.
The drama film Breakthrough, directed by Roxann Dawson and produced by 20th
Century Fox, hits theaters. The film tells the true story of a St. Louis teenager who slips through an icy lake
in January 2015 and is submerged underwater for 15 minutes before resuscitative efforts can start. Although being
rescued, he is in a coma, and his family must rely on their faith to get through the ordeal. The films stars Chrissy Metz,
Josh Lucas, Marcel Ruiz, and Topher Grace. It is the first film from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Walt Disney
Studios Motion Pictures, following Disney's acquisition of the company.
1971:
Songwriter, producer & music publisher Joacim Persson is born in Sweden. He's written and produced songs for such Disney artists as Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, and Ashley Tisdale.
1985:
Actor Luke Mitchell is born in Australia. In 2015, he joined the cast of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as the Inhuman Lincoln Campbell as a recurring character for its second season before being promoted to series regular for the third season.
1963:
Actor Joel Murray, the younger brother of actors Bill Murray, Brian Doyle-Murray, and John Murray, is born in Los Angeles, California. His Disney voice credits include episodes of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command and Team Supremo, and the animated feature Monsters University. Murray has had prominent roles in such television series as Mad Men, Grand, Dharma and Greg, and Shameless, and guest appearances on such ABC shows as The Drew Carey Show and Grey's Anatomy.
2007:
The Invisible: Original Soundtrack, a compilation album and soundtrack to the film The Invisible, is released on Hollywood Records.
1979:
Michael Treanor, an actor and martial artist who starred in 3 Ninjas and 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up, is born in Los Angeles, California.
1940:
Animator and television writer Chuck Menville is born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Moving to Los Angeles at the age of 19 with aspirations of becoming an animator, he got a job with Walt Disney Productions and served as an assistant on the 1967 film The Jungle Book. Leaving Disney soon after, Menville branched out into writing, and began a long working partnership with his friend writer/director Len Janson (who too had started at Disney). The two revived the all-but-forgotten technique of stop-motion pixilation, introducing it to a new generation. In the mid-1970s, the team began a stint at Filmation, during which they brought their style to Star Trek: The Animated Series.
1952:
Voice actor, broadcaster, impressionist and stand-up comedian Joe Alaskey is born in Troy, New York. Known as one of Mel Blanc's successors at the Warner Bros. Animation studio (due to his ability to successfully impersonate Looney Tunes characters), his film credits include Disney's Who Framed Roger Rabbit as Yosemite Sam, Touchstone's Spaced Invaders as Dr. Ziplock, and Disney's 1990 version of The Jungle Book as Kaa. Alaskey's voice can be heard in television episodes of The Little Mermaid, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, and Teamo Supremo.
1962:
Actor & musician Cactus Mack passes away at age 62 in California. Known for his roles in Western films and television shows, he appeared in the "Texas John Slaughter" and "Elfego Baca, Attorney at Law" episodes of Disney's weekly series.
2009:
The first Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in California opens at Disneyland.
