2005:
The Chronicles of Narnia receive Golden Globe nominations for Motion Picture - Best Original Score and Best Original Song. The 63rd annual Golden Globe Awards (given by by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association) will be presented in January 2006.
A special exhibit of more than 50 of Walt Disney’s original World War II insignia designs has its debut at the National Museum of the United States Air Force (six miles northeast of downtown Dayton, Ohio).
Kronk's New Groove, a direct-to-video sequel to the 2000 animated The Emperor's New Groove, is released. Former meddler Kronk (voiced by Patrick Warburton) has turned over a new leaf and now runs a bustling pizza parlor in an Incan village. When Kronk hears that his judgmental father, Papi (John Mahoney), plans to visit, he scrambles to raise money to impress him. And, just when it seems as if he might succeed, Kronk's evil former employer, Yzma (Eartha Kitt), appears, with an eye toward drawing him back into her crooked ways! The voice cast also includes Tracey Ullman as Miss Birdwell, David Spade as Kuzco, John Goodman as Pacha, and John Fiedler as Rudy. It is the final film to feature the voice of Fiedler (best known as the voice of Piglet), as he passed away 6 months earlier.
"I thought he (Walt Disney) hired me because I was such a great
singer and dancer. As it turns out, he had heard me in an interview talking about what
was happening to family entertainment. I was decrying the fact that it seemed like no holds were barred anymore in entertainment. ... He knew about the "Van Dyke Show," about our little sitcom, but that's why he called me in, because I said something he agreed with. And I got the part."
-Dick Van Dyke on how he got the role of Bert in Mary Poppins
1925:
Emmy Award-winning actor Dick Van Dyke, best known to Disney fans as
Bert the Cockney chimney sweep in the 1964 musical feature Mary Poppins,
is born in West Plains, Missouri. Van Dyke received a Grammy Award in 1964, along with
Julie Andrews, for his performance on the soundtrack to Mary Poppins. He hosted such TV specials as Florida's Disney Decade (1981), Donald Duck's 50th Birthday (1984), and Walt: The Man Behind the Myth (2001). Van
Dyke's Disney credits also include the features Dick Tracy, Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N., and Never a Dull Moment.
He also took part in Disneyland's annual Christmas Candlelight Procession - in particular Disneyland's 1965
version ... the last Candlelight ceremony that Walt Disney himself attended. A fan of barber shop quartets, Van
Dyke has his own singing group The Vantastix, who performed at the 2011 D23 Expo. (With a career spanning 6 decades, fans know Van Dyke as Rob Petrie from the 1960's TV comedy series The Dick Van Dyke Show, Caractacus Potts in the 1968 feature film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and as Dr. Mark Sloan on the television
series Diagnosis Murder.)
v1926:
Disney's Alice Comedy Alice's Brown Derby, starring Margie Gay, is released.
Directed by Walt Disney, Julius the cat takes part in a race riding a mechanical horse.
1941:
Actor, singer and TV host John Davidson is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
His live-action Disney credits include the musicals The Happiest Millionaire (1967) and The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968).
1955:
Mickey Mouse Club airs on ABC-TV. Today is Guest Star Day with veteran funny man Morey Amsterdam, who in a few years will play the role of Buddy Sorrell on the sitcom
The Dick Van Dyke Show. Many years later Amsterdam will leave his handprints in front of
Hollywood Hills Amphitheater at Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park in Florida.
Disney Imagineer Lanny Smoot is born in Brooklyn, New York. With over 100 lifetime patents, he has developed interactive attractions, special effects, new concepts for ride vehicles, and numerous other technological advancements for Disney’s theme parks, attractions, resort hotels and cruise ships. Fascinated with invention since childhood, Smoot attended Brooklyn Technical High School and was selected as a Bell Labs Engineering Scholar, earning a full scholarship to Columbia University, summer work at Bell Labs and a guarantee of full-time employment with the company after graduation. In 1998, Smoot was approached by Disney representatives who had taken an interest in his electronic panning camera invention. He accepted their offer to manage the company’s research arm on Long Island, New York. He later moved to California, becoming Disney’s most prolific inventor. Among Smoot’s many Disney innovations is the “Where’s the Fire?” attraction (which was at EPCOT from 2004 through 2014) and the realistic, extendable and retractable lightsaber that wasd used in the "Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser" (2022-2023). In May 2024 he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame - the first Imagineer to ever be inducted.
1957:
Actor Steve Buscemi, the voices of Wesley in Home on the Range and
Randall Boggs in Monsters, Inc. is born in Brooklyn, New York. He returned to
the role of Randall for the 2013 Monsters University, and also voiced Bucky in G-Force and Saloso in
the Elena of Avalor episode "The Tides of Change " Buscemi's Touchstone Pictures credits include the
1988 Armageddon and the 1997 Con Air. Raised in Valley Stream (on Long Island), Buscemi was a New York City firefighter between 1980-1984. The day after the attack on the World Trade Center in September 2001, he showed up at his old firehouse and volunteered to work at Ground Zero. For the next week he worked 12 hour shifts digging through the rubble in an effort to recover bodies ... anonymously. In 2022, he attended the premiere of the Disney Original Documentary "If These Walls Could Sing" in New York. (Fans of HBO's Boardwalk Empire know Buscemi for his role of Nucky Thompson. Some of his best known film credits include Reservoir Dogs, Airheads, Pulp Fiction, The Big Lebowski, and Grown Ups.)
1959:
Child-actor Johnny Whitaker, who starred in Disney's 1972 Napoleon and Samantha with Jodie Foster, and Snowball Express with Dean Jones, is born in
Van Nuys, California. (TV fans may remember Whitaker for his roles on the 1960s series Family
Affair and the 1970s series Sigmund and the Sea Monsters.)
1966:
Walt's wife Lily writes his annual birthday letter to sister Ruth. Her opening words include:
"As you have probably surmised things have been a little irregular around here with Walt being ill and so your
birthday remembrance from him is a little late. I know it comes with his best wishes that your day was a nice one
and the hope that you will find something special to get for yourself with this check." Lily writes of her daughters
and grandchildren and assures Ruth that her brother will write as soon as he is back in the office. (Walt will
pass two days later.)
1971:
Disney's Bedknobs and Broomsticks, starring Angela Lansbury, David Tomlinson,
and Roddy McDowall opens in major U.S. theaters. An apprentice witch, 3 kids and a
cynical con-man search for the missing component to a magic spell useful to the defense of Britain during
World War II. The cast also includes veteran British actor Reginald Owen - his final film role. A musical shot
almost entirely on the Disney Studio lot in Burbank, California (the castle scenes were shot on location at Corfe
Castle, Dorset, England) the film features live-action and animation. (It will receive 5 Academy Award nominations
- winning one for Best Visual Effects.)
Disney throw its Annual Family Christmas Party for "permanent" employees and
their families at Disneyland.
1975:
Disney announces it will begin construction of EPCOT in 1976, instead of 1977 as originally planned.
2003:
Christian music performer Steven Curtis Chapman narrates Epcot's Candlelight Processional. (This yearly Epcot event recounts Christ's birth through story and song.)
2004:
Nominations are announced for the 62nd annual Golden Globe Awards.
The Disney/Pixar feature The Incredibles earns one for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy.
It is also announced that Robin Williams (best known to Disney fans as the voice of the Blue Genie in the 1992 Aladdin) will receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award. (Winners will be announced in January 2005.)
Snow, a Christmas-themed film starring Tom Cavanagh and Ashley Williams, premieres on ABC-TV. Nick Snowden, who is really the son of Santa Claus, falls for Sandy Brooks, a pretty zookeeper who works at the zoo from which he must rescue Buddy, a young reindeer who has not yet learned to fly. (Snow will become a staple on ABC Family's annual 25 Days of Christmas programming block.)
2006:
Because Disney had a spectacular 2006, posting record revenues,
record net income, and record cash flow - The Walt Disney Company
is named SeekingAlpha's Top Media Company of the year.
Young Walt Disney and his
family once lived in
Kansas City (after living in Marceline) in a very small
house at 2706 East Thirty-first Street. Compared to the
large Marceline farmhouse,
the Thirty-first Street home
had only a tiny
vegetable patch -and no
indoor plumbing!
1940:
Disney's Donald Duck cartoon Fire Chief, directed by Jack King, is released
Donald's fire department, consisting of himself and his nephews, are unable to cope when their own
building goes up in flames!
1969:
A special preview of "Disney on Parade," a touring holiday show to debut in Chicago
on Christmas Day, takes place in the Long Beach Arena in California. The preview is for
8,500 underprivileged children in the Orange County and Los Angeles areas. Using a mixture of live production,
sound effects, and motion pictures, 100 performers bring "Disney on Parade" to life.
DECEMBER 13
Today is Ice Cream Day
THIS DAY MADE
IN THE
USA
DECEMBER 13
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v1929:
Emmy Award-winning actor Christopher Plummer, the voice of Charles
Muntz in the Disney-Pixar animated feature UP, is born in Toronto,
Ontario, Canada. Plummer is perhaps best recognized for his role of Captain Georg von
Trapp in the 1965 musical feature The Sound of Music and for the role of John Adams Gates in
the 2004 Walt Disney Pictures release National Treasure.
1989:
Touchstone Pictures releases Blaze starring Paul Newman and Lolita Davidovich.
The movie tells the highly-fictionalized story of the latter years of Earl Long, a flamboyant Governor of
Louisiana (played by Newman). Brother of assassinated governor and U.S. Senator Huey P. Long and uncle
of longtime U.S. Senator Russell Long, Earl falls in love with a young stripper named Blaze Starr
(played by Davidovich).
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1956:
Disney's 1944 animated feature The Three Caballeros is released in the Philippines.
DEC
"Mickey was my first introduction to humor and comedy. Mickey's character
was always visually funny to me. He was the good guy." -Dick Van Dyke
| ||||
You'll beWITCHED! You'll beDAZZLED! You'll be swept into a world of enchantment BEYOND ANYTHING BEFORE!
2010:
An exclusive "Pirates Fans First!" event takes place at AMC Downtown Disney 12
theater at the Disneyland Resort. About 500 contest winners are the first to get an exclusive look at the
brand-new trailer for Walt Disney Pictures Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides in 3D. This is followed with
a group ride on the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction!
Nominees for the 16th Critics' Choice Awards are announced.
Toy Story 3 is nominated in multiple categories: Best Picture, Best Song ("We Belong Together"), Best Visual Effects,
and Best Animated Feature. Alice in Wonderland is nominated for Best Art Direction, Best Makeup, and Best Visual
Effects. "I See The Light" from Tangled is nominated for Best Song as well. Tangled is also nominated for Best
Animated Feature. Winners will be announced January 14, 2011.
2012:
In Florida, Mickey Mouse joins a group of VoluntEARS to
deliver nearly 35,000 toys donated by Disney and its
cast members to the U.S. Marine Corps
Reserve's Toys for Tots program.
Christmas comes early for some Disney California Adventure
guests when they are treated to a surprise performance by
country singer Brad Paisley in Cars Land.
Paisley's performance is taped for a segment of the 2012 Disney Parks Christmas
Day Parade ABC-TV special (to air December 25). His performance marks
the first time DCA will appear in Disney's annual
TV holiday special.
December 13
2013:
Disney's Saving Mr. Banks has a limited release on this day to U.S. theaters.
Centering on the development of the 1964 Walt Disney Studios film Mary Poppins, the film stars Emma Thompson
as author P. L. Travers and Tom Hanks as filmmaker Walt Disney.
(Saving Mr. Banks will be generally released in the U.S. on December 20.)
2015:
Dick Van Dyke celebrates his 90th birthday at Disneyland! The Disney Legend takes part
in a special dedication inside the Jolly Holiday Bakery Café and a cavalcade down Main Street, U.S.A.
2016:
Canadian actor, songwriter, and game and talk show host Alan Thicke (best known for his
role as Jason Seaver, the father on the ABC television series Growing Pains, which ran
for 7 seasons starting in 1985) passes away at age 69 in Burbank, California.
Thicke co-hosted the Walt Disney World Very Merry Christmas Parade (now the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade)
with Joan Lunden from 1983 to 1990. In 1987 he starred in the Disney television film Not Quite Human playing the
role of a doctor who creates an android that looks just like a human 17-year-old boy so he may adopt him as his son. In
March 2013, he participated on ABC's Celebrity Wife Swap, in which he swapped wives with comedian Gilbert Gottfried.
Nominations for the 70th Golden Globe Awards are announced.
Brave, Frankenweenie, and Wreck-It Ralph are all nominated for Best Animated Feature Film.
Steven Spielberg's live-action feature Lincoln, distributed in North America by Walt Disney Studios Motion
Pictures, earns 7 nominations including:
-Best Motion Picture - Drama,
-Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln
-Best Supporting Actress: Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln
-Best Supporting Actor: Tommy Lee Jones as Thaddeus Stevens
-Best Director: Steven Spielberg
-Best Screenplay: Tony Kushner
-Best Original Score: John Williams
ABC-TV's Modern Family earns 3 nominations for Best Series Musical or Comedy, Best Supporting Actor (Eric Stonestreet as Cameron Tucker), and Best Supporting Actress (Sofía Vergara as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett).
All winners will be announced January 13, 2013.
2011:
Nominees for the 17th Critics' Choice Awards are announced. The Help (distributed by Walt Disney Pictures) is nominated in multiple categories including Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Acting Ensemble, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Costume Design. The Muppets is nominated for Best Comedy and Best Song ("Life's a Happy Song"). Winners will be announced January 12, 2012.
1970:
Actor Bart Johnson is born in Hollywood, California. Disney fans know him best for his
role as Coach Jack Bolton in the High School Musical film series.
1993:
Art director, writer, and animator Ken Anderson passes away at the age of 84 in California. Originally from Seattle, Washington, he studied architecture at the University of Washington, prior
to getting a job at at Walt Disney Animation Studios. He became a key player in some of the studio's most well-
known animated films such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, One Hundred and One
Dalmatians, and The Jungle Book. As an Imagineer, he later helped with the development of Disneyland and
EPCOT Center. He was named a Disney Legend in 1991.
1996:
Touchstone Pictures releases the family film The Preacher's Wife, directed by Penny
Marshall. An angel comes to Earth to help a preacher save his church and his family. The film stars Denzel
Washington, Whitney Houston, Courtney B. Vance, Gregory Hines, and Jenifer Lewis. The motion picture was
developed by Denzel Washington's Mundy Lane Entertainment, with the role of Julia (the reverend's wife) written
with Whitney Houston in mind.
2002:
Touchstone Pictures releases the teen comedy The Hot Chick. About a teenage girl whose body
is magically swapped with that of a criminal, the film stars Rob Schneider, Rachel McAdams, Anna Faris, Matthew
Lawrence, and Michael O'Keefe.
1987:
Actor Michael Socha is born in Littleover, Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2013, he portrayed the Knave of Hearts in Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, a spin-off to the ABC-TV fantasy series Once Upon a Time.
2019:
The historical drama film A Hidden Life is released by Disney's Fox Searchlight Pictures. An Austrian farmer named Franz Jägerstätter faces the threat of execution for refusing to fight for the Nazis during World War II.
The Disney Channel Holiday Party @ Walt Disney World airs on Disney Channel. Disney Channel’s "ZOMBIES 2" stars Meg Donnelly and Milo Manheim co-host this holiday party with artist Matthew Morrison, treating viewers to a magical holiday celebration.
1950:
Actress Wendie Malick is born in Buffalo, New York. She supplied the voice of Chicha for "The Emperor's New Groove" (2000), "Kronk's New Groove" (2005), & "The Emperor's New School" (2006-2007), and Aunt Siqiniq for "Brother Bear 2" (2006). Malick's Disney television voice credits also include "Kim Possible," "Fillmore," "American Dragon: Jake Long," "Handy Manny," and "The Owl House." Malick's ABC credits include episodes of the sitcoms "American Housewife" and "Modern Family." In 2009, she appeared in the Disney Miramax comedy-drama "Adventureland" as Mrs. Brennan. She may be best recognized for her roles of Victoria Chase in the TV Land comedy series "Hot in Cleveland," Nina Van Horn in the NBC sitcom "Just Shoot Me!" and President Hagemeyer in the CBS sitcom "Young Sheldon."
2007:
Ratatouille is nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film.
Javier Bardem is nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture for his role in No Country for Old Men (a Miramax film - at this time owned by Disney). Joel Coen and Ethan Coen are nominated for Best Screenplay – Motion Picture for No Country for Old Men. Amy Adams is nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for her role in Walt Disney Pictures' Enchanted. "That's How You Know" (performed by Amy Adams) from Enchanted is nominated for Best Original Song. Winners of the 65th Golden Globe Awards will be announced January 13, 2008.
1967:
Jamie Foxx is born Eric Marlon Bishop in Terrell, Texas. An actor, singer-songwriter, comedian,
and record producer, he became widely known for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biographical film Ray. Foxx voiced Joe Gardner, a passionate jazz pianist and music teacher, in Pixar's 2020 animated release Soul.
1983:
Actress Leora Dana passes at age 60 in New York City. She portrayed Mrs. Paul Ford in Disney's 1960 Pollyanna.
