2005:
Disney's On The Record - a touring musical stage show - begins performances at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The new Disney album Disney Bossa Nova is released. The CD performed in the suave, romantic musical style of bossa nova, contains 14 tracks.
1946:
Actor & singer Tim Curry, the voice of SIR (Simulated Intelligence Robotics) for Walt
Disney World's now extinct Alien Encounter attraction, is born in Cheshire, England.
His Disney voice credits include TaleSpin, Valiant, Teacher's Pet, Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas, Gargoyle, Higglytown Heroes and episodes of Phineas and Ferb. His live-action credits include the comedy Passed Away (1992), the adventure comedy The Three Musketeers (1993), and the musical comedy Muppet Treasure Island (1996). Curry was also the voice of Darth Sidious / Chancellor Palpatine for episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. In 1996 Curry recorded a version of "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" for the CD Disney's Music From the Park. (Fans know Curry best for his break-out role of Doctor Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show on both the stage and screen, and for his roles in such films as Home Alone 2: Lost in New York and Addams Family Reunion.)
1961:
Dr. Glenn C. Franklin of San Diego, California becomes the 25-millionth Disneyland
guest! Along with his wife, Helen, their three children, and his mother, the lucky Franklin family receive a private
guided tour of the Park, a table of honor at a luncheon and unlimited use of attractions all day long.
1987:
California of pneumonia. Often considered the finest draftsman of the Disney animators, Kahl contributed
to such classic films as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Cinderella, Mary Poppins, and The Jungle Book. (He will be named a Disney Legend in 1989.)
Team Mickey's Athletic Club shop opens at the Walt Disney World Village in Florida.
Child actor Courtland Mead is born in Mission Viejo, California. Ten year later he will voice the character of Ned in Disney's animated series Nightmare Ned (which will debut on this day in 1997). His Disney voice credits also include A Bug's Life, Recess: School's Out, Recess: Taking the Fifth Grade, Recess Christmas: Miracle on Third Street, Lilo & Stitch: The Series, and Lloyd in Space. In 1995, Mead appeared in Disney's live-action adventure-drama Tom and Huck. He also supplied the voice of Flounder for two Little Mermaid video games. His non-Disney credits include such films as Dragonworld, The Little Rascals, Babe, and Hellrasier: Bloodline.
The Simpsons, created by cartoonist Matt Groening, debut as one-minute animated shorts on the Fox variety program The Tracey Ullman Show. After a three-season run, the sketch will be developed into a half-hour prime time show called The Simpsons. Eventually it will become the longest-running American sitcom, the longest-running American animated program, and (in 2009) surpass Gunsmoke as the longest-running American primetime, scripted television series! In March 2019, following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by The Walt Disney Company, The Simpsons will become property of Disney.
1996:
Original Mouseketeer Annette Funicello and 60s teen idol Frankie Avalon make a special appearance in an afternoon parade at Disneyland.
The third annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival kicks off.
The comedy film Celtic Pride, released by Hollywood Pictures and Caravan Pictures,
hits U.S. theaters. Daniel Stern and Dan Aykroyd play two passionate Boston Celtics fans who hatch a
far-fetched scheme to sabotage the star player of the opposing team.
1997:
ABC-TV debuts the new animated Disney series Nightmare Ned, with two back-to-
back episodes - "Ned's Life as a Dog" and "A Doll's House." The series focuses on the young
Ned Needlemeyer (voiced by Courtland Mead) as he deals with his fears and problems through his nightmares.
Also featuring the voices of Brad Garrett and Victoria Jackson, Nightmare Ned will run for a total of 25 episodes.
1998:
"My Date with the President's Daughter," a television movie produced by Walt Disney Television, debuts on The Wonderful World of Disney. A teenager named Duncan unwittingly falls for the American President's daughter, and the pair soon find themselves off on a wild adventure. The cast features Dabney Coleman as President Richmond, Will Friedle as Duncan Fletcher, and Elisabeth Harnois as Hallie Richmond (the President's daughter). The film features the song "My Date with the President's Daughter" by the band the Presidents of the United States of America.
2001:
Starting on this day, Disney's Animal Kingdom celebrates Earth Day 2001 with "Artistry of the Earth" featuring exhibitions of wildlife paintings and photography and African furniture, butterfly releases, and specialty pin-trading.
2002:
Epcot hosts the 2002 International Flower & Garden Festival at Disney World.
(It will run through June 3.) Davy Jones of The Monkees leads off a lineup
of musical acts that will perform at Epcot as part of the Flower Power concert series during the festival.
2003:
Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom hosts the first of five Grad Nights.
2004:
Jiminy Cricket, along with representatives from the Walt Disney
World Community Relations department and Walt Disney World Ambassador, Sara Bishop, drop in on a fifth-grade class from West Gate Elementary School in West Palm Beach to tell the students that they are going to be honored at the Walt Disney World Resort in May as the winners of a statewide environmental education program called Jiminy Cricket's Environmentality Challenge. The program encourages students to think and act environmentally at home, at school and in the community.
The Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund
was established in 1995
(on Earth Day) as a a global awards
program for the study and protection
of the world's wildlife and
ecosystems.
"They'd take a lot of drawings from my animation and make a model sheet of those. It was much better that way because the model department ... they couldn't really draw that well anyway. When something gets into animation, it forces itself into a different design. Especially heads. Faces. Because to articulate them, there were certain things that just didn't work." -Milt Kahl
2008:
Disney Channel debuts "Greece Lightning," the 25th episode of the animated series Phineas and Ferb.
The final episode of Johnny and the Sprites airs on DIsney Channel.
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2009:
Disney World's Space Mountain shuts down for major renovations. It is the first time Space Mountain has temporarily closed for improvements since the popular attraction first opened at Disney World in 1975. The renovations include new track inside the enclosed coaster (although the layout of the track will remain the same), a new enclosure for the ride's queuing area, and a new ceiling. Fans of the ride can look forward to a Space Mountain that’s a bit more 21st century ... and a lot less 70s Sci-Fi!
"From the late '50s up until the 1960s and '70s, he became pretty much the de facto Disney designer. His drawing
style pretty much influenced every feature that came out of Disney." -animator Floyd Norman on Milt Kahl
2006:
The "Happiest Balloon on Earth" takes to the skies over the San Francisco Bay Area. The tour (an 11-week trek throughout the western United States and Canada celebrating Disneyland's 50th anniversary)
makes its fifth city stop at the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco, California.
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In Memory of Milt Kahl (1909-1987)
Flower & Garden Festivals kick off
In January 2009, the five Disneyland Railroad trains began running on cleaner burning biodiesel made with leftover waste oil that comes from the resort's restaurants and hotels. (Prior to this, the trains ran on regular diesel fuel.) This is good because it eliminates the food versus fuel issue as well as capitalizes on a waste-to-fuel approach.
2010:
Major League Baseball Properties and Disney Consumer Products
unveil 36 different designs of MLB-themed Mickey Mouse collectible
statuettes and related apparel and merchandise in celebration of the
2010 MLB All-Star Week festivities (which will take place July 9–13 in
Anaheim, California). In addition to the statuettes, starting next month, fans can obtain a
wide variety of merchandise and apparel featuring Major League Baseball and beloved Disney
characters, including caps, t-shirts, sweatshirts, drink ware, pins, throws and beach towels.
Volume II issue II of D23's publication Disney twenty-three premieres. The Summer 2010 installment features three different Toy Story 3 covers.
Its name was changed in 2008 to the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund.
1994:
The Palace Theater (in New York City) sets a Broadway record by selling $700,000
worth of advanced tickets for the Disney stage musical Beauty and the Beast, the
day after its official premiere.
1978:
Actor & director James Franco is born in Palo Alto, California. He played the role of Oscar Diggs in Disney's 2013 fantasy Oz the Great and Powerful, and Jake Huard in the Touchstone Pictures drama Annapolis. You may know Franco from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Milk, and 127 Hours.
1935:
Actor, comedian, musician and composer Dudley Moore is born Dudley Stuart John Moore in Charing Cross, London, England. Best known as a comedy actor in many success hit Hollywood films, he starred in Disney/Hollywood Pictures 1992 comedy Blame It on the Bellboy.
1979:
Actress Kate Hudson is born in Los Angeles, California, to actress Goldie Hawn and actor/comedian/musician Bill Hudson. First rising to prominence for her performance in the film Almost Famous (2000), her Disney roles include Lucy Owens in the 2000 Miramax film About Adam, Ethne Eustace in the 2002 Miramax/Paramount film The Four Feathers, and Helen Harris in Touchstones Pictures' Raising Helen in 2004. A Golden Globe winner, her films credits include How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, The Skeleton Key, You, Me and Dupree, Fool's Gold, Bride Wars, and Deepwater Horizon.
1981:
Troy Polamalu, a retired American football strong safety who played his entire twelve-year career for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League, is born in Garden Grove, California. Polamalu voiced a small role in Disney's 2016 film Moana.
1952:
Actor Tony Plana is born in Havana, Cuba. He is known for playing Betty Suarez's father, Ignacio Suarez, on the ABC television series Ugly Betty and Alejandro Perez on the ABC series Desperate Housewives. His Disney credits also include the 1998 film The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit and voice work on Elena of Avalor.
2019:
JD McCrary's EP Shine is released by Disney's Hollywood Records.
1995:
Animator Preston Blair passes away at age 86 in California. Best remembered for his work at Walt Disney Productions and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio, his Disney credits included short subjects, Mickey Mouse scenes in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" section of Fantasia (1940), the hippo-alligator dance in Fantasia's "Dance of the Hours" sequence, Pinocchio (1940), Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942). Preston was the brother-in-law of Disney artist and designer Mary Blair.
1907:
Animator and cartoonist Cecil Surry is born in Chelan, Washington. An assistant animator for Disney on early Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies cartoons from the late 1920s until 1931, he later worked for various animation studios like Walter Lantz, Warner Bros., MGM, and UPA.
1908:
Animator Robert Stokes is born. He worked for many studios between 1932 and 1941, including Harman-Ising Pictures, Iwerks Studio, and Walt Disney Productions. His Disney credits include The Old Mill, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Ferdinand the Bull, and Fantasia.
2018:
"Over a Cliff," the final episode of ABC's political thriller series Scandal, airs on television.
1982:
Comedian, actress, and writer Ali Wong is born Alexandra Dawn Wong in San Francisco, California. Noted for her Netflix stand-up specials, she supplied the voices for Felony in Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018), Gore in Onward (2020), and Super Super Big Doctor in Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Candace Against the Universe (2020).
2021:
A Touch of Disney ends at Disney California Adventure.
2015:
Disneyland's Star Wars Celebration comes to an end.
