2004:
Sleeping Beauty's Royal Ball takes place at Disneyland.
June's Picture Show, the second studio album by the pop-rock band Ingram Hill, is released on Hollywood Records.
The Lizzie McGuire episode "Magic Train" debuts on the Disney Channel.
(It is considered to be the final episode of the series starring Hilary Duff.)
1903:
Actor Stuart Erwin is born in Squaw Valley, California. His Disney credits include The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, Son of Flubber, and Moochie of the Little League.
1913:
Disney Legend and screenwriter Roberto de Leonardis is born in Naples, Italy.
Starting in 1947 he will work for Disney translating films like Bambi and Pinocchio for Italian audiences.
1919:
Alan Alexander Milne (future creator of Winnie-the-Pooh) is discharged from
the Brtish Army. He has served as a signals officer during the world war.
Also discharged, but from the U.S. Navy on this day, is Roy O. Disney, one of Walt's older brothers. (He will return to Kansas City and resume his job at the First National Bank.)
1929:
A second Brown Derby restaurant opens at 1628 North Vine Street in California.
It does not feature the same "Derby Hat" design as the first and most famous Brown Derby on Wilshire Boulevard. The Brown Derby chain of restaurants began as the brainchild of Herb Somborn, Wilson Mizner, and Sid Grauman. Somborn asked Bob Cobb (later the creator of the famous Cobb Salad) to manage the Vine Street establishment. Eventually Cobb will take over all the restaurants (including the ones in Beverly Hills and Los Feliz) after the deaths of the original owners. The Los Feliz location will be the last of the four to survive. The Hollywood Brown Derby will later serve as the inspiration for the restaurant in Disney's Hollywood Studios.
1995:
A couple gets married at Walt Disney World's Tower of Terror attraction in Florida, as part of a Disney promotion featuring Valentine's Day weddings.
Nominations for the 67th Academy Awards are announced.
-Best Original Score: The Lion King (Hans Zimmer)
-Best Original Song: "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from The Lion King (Elton John & Tim Rice)
"Circle of Life" from The Lion King (Elton John & Tim Rice)
"Hakuna Matata" from The Lion King (Elton John & Tim Rice)
Oscar night is March 27.
1998:
The Ghirardelli Soda Fountain & Chocolate Shop has its grand
opening at the Downtown Disney Marketplace in Florida.
2001:
Dick Cook, chairman of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, announces that its Academy Award-winning animated motion picture Beauty and the Beast will be
released in IMAX and other large-format venues around the world in March 2002. Walt Disney Feature Animation has spent a year in production on the film, enhancing the image and refining character
faces, backgrounds, and special effects, in order to let the film shine brightly on the giant screen. In addition, the filmmakers have added an extraordinary, never-before-seen musical sequence. (The film will wind up being
released in January 2002.)
2002:
The acclaimed Napa Rose restaurant (located in the Disneyland Resort)
offers a tempting special four-course Valentine feast.
2003:
Disney's animated The Jungle Book 2, featuring the voices of John Goodman as Baloo and Haley Joel Osment as Mowgli, opens in theaters. The film, produced by the Australian office at DisneyToon Studios, is a sequel to Walt Disney's 1967 film The Jungle Book. Mowgli, missing the jungle and his old friends, runs away from the man village unaware of the danger he's in by going back to the wild. First premiering in Hollywood on February 9, the voice cast also includes Mae Whitman as Shanti, Bob Joles as Bagheera, Tony Jay as Shere Kahn, and Phil Collins as Lucky. The Jungle Book 2 features songs from the first film (composed by Terry Gilkyson and Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman) as well as new songs by Lorraine Feather, Paul Grabowsky, and
Joel McNeely. (Due to a legal dispute, the character of King Louie from the original Jungle Book could not be included
in this film.)
The Magic Kingdom's Liberty Belle (an old-fashionedpaddle-wheelcruiser) is re-launched.
The Belle and Tom Sawyer's Island (the attraction's main dock) has been refurbished.
2006:
A groundbreaking ceremony for a new hotel in Tokyo Disneyland takes place.
Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Chip & Dale appear in a safety prayer festival
held at the planned construction site in front of the entrance of the park. The
Tokyo Disneyland Hotel is scheduled to open in 2008 and will have about 700 guest rooms.
1957:
Disney re-releases Cinderella in theaters for a second time. Playing in front of the classic animated feature is the People and Places documentary film The Blue Men of Morocco.
1999:
The first Disney Cruise Line wedding occurs on Castaway Cay.
1923:
Skating star Donna Atwood (known for her performances with the Ice Capades) is
born in Newton, Kansas. She was the ice skating model for Thumper in Disney's Bambi.
2007:
Atlanta Brave pitchers and catchers report for spring
training at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex. It is the Braves 10th season at the Florida facility.
"Well, looks like the robins are getting ready to celebrate Valentine's Day today. What year is it?
Oh, right around the turn of the century. And things couldn't be any better than they are today."
-Father in Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress
Horizons - an extinct Epcot attraction -
was dedicated to "humanity's future."
One of Horizon's biggest backdrop
paintings was called "Looking Back at
Tomorrow." It was painted by Robert
McCall, a famous artists best known for
his powerful images created for NASA.
2005:
"I Won't Say (I'm In Love)" - the first single from the CD Disneymania 3, premieres on Radio Disney on its first day of release. Performed by the Cheetah
Girls, the song (written by Alan Menken and David Zippel) originally appeared on the Hercules soundtrack in 1997. Disneymania 3 will be released the following day.
1941:
The Disney Mickey Mouse short The Little Whirlwind is released. Minnie wants Mickey to
clean up the yard - or else he won't get a piece of her freshly baked cake. Mickey cleans the yard .. but then wrecks it
trying to get rid of a pesky tornado! This short features Thelma Boardman as the voice of Minnie for the first time.
1915:
Grammy Award-winning songwriter Iriving Gordon is born in Brooklyn, New York.
His song "Two Brothers" can be heard in Epcot's The American Adventure (sung by Ali Olmo). The song's lyrics tell the Civil War story of two brothers, fighting on opposite sides of the war.
Gordon's best known works include Nat King Cole's hit "Unforgettable" (first published in 1951) and
"Prelude to a Kiss (co-written with jazz great Duke Ellington).
FEBRUARY 14
FEBRUARY 14
THIS
SITE MADE
IN THE USA
Today is Valentine's Day
2009:
Disney’s Hollywood Studios celebrate the grand opening of its
newest attraction, The American Idol Experience. Guest park Vanessa Quillao (a 16-year-old from St. Petersburg, Florida) takes home the first ever 'Dream Ticket' (given on a normal day of operation) - with her rendition of "No One" (by Alicia Keys). The first actual Dream ticket was awarded on February 12 to Mark Ellis.
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1992:
Lost 70s Valentine Day celebration.
Actor Freddie Highmore is born in Camden Town, London, England. He is known for his starring roles in the 2004 Finding Neverland (Miramax Films), and the 2005 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Warner Bros. Pictures). Highmore is the star of the ABC-TV medical drama The Good Doctor.
2010:
Disney World's Atlantic Dance Hall at the Boardwalk Resort hosts a Valentine's Day Chocolate Dinner.
As of this day, the Walt Disney Company has operated longer without Walt Disney than it did with him. The company was founded on October 16, 1923 and Walt passed away December 15, 1966.
Starstruck, Disney Channel's 78th original movie, premieres with an audience of 6 million viewers. The movie follows the love-struck adventures of Jessica Olson (played by Danielle Campbell), a down-to-earth girl from the Midwest who literally collides with Hollywood teen pop star Christopher Wilder (portrayed by Sterling Knight).
The famous Pirates of the Caribbean ship docks in Oahu’s Kalaeloa Harbor in Hawaii. The ship has arrived as a prop to be used in filming the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film this year. Traveling at 10 miles per hour, its journey took it from the Bahamas to LA and then to Kalaeloa.
2008:
Touchstone Pictures releases Step Up 2: The Streets. The films stars Briana Evigan
as rebellious street dancer Andie West who lands at the elite Maryland School of the Arts and finds herself
fighting to fit in. The sequel to the 2006 film Step Up, the cast includes Robert Hoffman, Adam Sevani, Will
Kemp, and Cassie Ventura.
1956:
Trombonist Larry Collins (best known as a member of Spike Jones' band) performs
on the ABC-TV series Mickey Mouse Club. Today is Guest Star Day.
Actor and singer Tom Burlinson is born in Ontario, Canada. He played the role of Jim Craig in the western drama Return to Snowy River (1988), Disney's sequel to the 1982 The Man from Snowy River (released by 20th Century Fox & also starring Burlinson).
1969:
For the second day in a row, a recording session takes place at Walt Disney
Productions for the much-anticipated Haunted Mansion attraction (to open at
Disneyland in August). On this day singers Thurl Ravenscroft, Jay Meyer, Bob Ebright, Chuck Schroeder
and Verne Rowe perform the Grim Grinning Ghost theme. (Afterwards, session leader Allan Davies will notice how
well the five men look together and cast them as the famous "singing bust heads" for the attraction! The five
singers will return on February 21 to film the short scene.)
Dutch-born American film actor Charles Judels passes away at age 86 in San Francisco, California. He appeared in 137 films between 1915 and 1949, and did extensive work as a voice-over actor. Judels' Disney credits included Pinocchio (1940) as both Stromboli and the evil coachman, and narrator of Casey Bats Again (1954).
1977:
Episode 21 of The New Mickey Mouse Club airs. The Mouseketeers take a tour of the Disney Studio
animation department and learn the steps in making a cartoon. The Mouseketeer Talent Showcase presents the
Mouseketeers on the Rivers of America at Disneyland for the production number " Ohio River Medley." Mouseketeer
Allison is also featured in a special talent showcase with a song and dance number she wrote herself, "Sing Music
Sing." The Mouseka-Movie Special shows scenes from Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs.
2011:
Disney kicks off American International Toy Fair by unveiling the all new Disney·Pixar Cars 2 toy line of more than 300 toys before a capacity crowd of toy industry insiders and members of D23 (Disney's official fan community) in New York City. Academy Award®-winning actor Michael Caine, voice of the charming and eloquent new Cars 2 British agent Finn McMissile and actress Emily Mortimer, voice of his spy-in-training Holley Shiftwell, are on hand for a panel discussion and are presented with custom-built toys celebrating their Cars 2 characters.
Jake and the Never Land Pirates, a musical animated Disney Junior show based on the successful Disney franchise, Peter Pan, debuts on Disney Channel. The show revolves around a group of children who are pirates in Never Land, looking for treasure.
1990:
Oscar nominations are announced for the 62nd Annual Academy Awards:
Best Picture: Dead Poets Society (Disney's Touchstone Pictures)
Actor in a Leading Role: Robin Williams (Dead Poets Society)
Directing: Peter Weir (Dead Poets Society)
Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen: Tom Schulman (Dead Poets Society)
Song: "Kiss the Girl"; Alan Menken & Howard Ashman (The Little Mermaid)
& "Under the Sea"; Alan Menken & Howard Ashman (The Little Mermaid)
Original Score: Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid)
Oscar night is March 26.
FEB
FEB
1997:
Walt Disney Pictures releases That Darn Cat to theaters. A remake of the 1965 mystery comedy, this version stars Christina Ricci, Doug E. Doug, Dean Jones (who starred in the original), Peter Boyle, Michael McKean,
Bess Armstrong, Dyan Cannon and John Ratzenberger. In a small Massachusetts town, two bumbling criminals mistakenly kidnap a maid, thinking her to be the wife of a prominent businessman. When an alley cat stumbles upon the kidnap victim, bound and gagged in a shed, the kidnap victim scratches a plea for help on the back of her wristwatch and puts it around the cat's neck. Patti (Ricci) finds the watch and with the help of an FBI agent (Doug) tries to track down the captive.
1967:
Pirates Arcade Museum opens in New Orleans Square at Disneyland. Featuring a
collection of primarily one-of-a-kind arcade games with a buccaneer theme, the Pirates Arcade Museum is located next to what will be the exit from Pirates of the Caribbean attraction (which will open in March).
2012:
Entertainer Paul Abdul visits Walt Disney World on this Valentine's Day. She poses
with Minnie Mouse inside Disney's Holywood Studios for a photo opp. Abdul helped open the American Idol
Experience back in February 2009.
1986:
Disney's D-TV Valentine airs on NBC. Hosted by Ludwig Von Drake, this special stars Mickey, Minnie,
Pluto and all the Disney characters in classic "love-themed" shorts put to modern music. (It is the first of three D-TV
television specials.) Videos featured include Lionel Richie: "Hello," Huey Lewis and the News: "The Heart of Rock &
Roll," and Whitney Houston: "You Give Good Love."
Actress/singer Tiffany Thornton, best known for her co-starring role as Tawni Hart on the Disney Channel Original Series, Sonny with a Chance and the spinoff, So Random!,
is born in College Station, Texas. She also made appearances on such programs as
ABC-TV's 8 Simple Rules and Disney Channel's That's So Raven. Thornton played the role of Jamie Wynn
in the Disney Channel Original Movie Hatching Pete.
2013:
Walt Disney World celebrates Valentine's Day with love songs and a mass wedding-
vow renewal at the foot of Cinderella Castle. Fifty couples, selected through a promotion on the
official Disney Parks Blog, gather as Disney princesses Snow White, Cinderella and Aurora and their respective
princes perform on stage alongside Mickey and Minnie Mouse.
"Valentine's Day Party," the final episode of Handy Manny, a CGI-animated children's television series running for 3 seasons, airs. Originally part of Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney daily block intended for preschoolers, it was moved to the Disney Junior block, serving as Playhouse Disney's replacement,
in 2011. The show's title character is voiced by Wilmer Valderrama.
February 14
FEBRUARY IS DCA MONTH
1934:
Actress Florence Henderson, who went from Broadway star to become one of
America's most beloved television moms in The Brady Bunch, is born in Dale,
Indiana. Her Disney credits include the Hercules animated series, the preschool series Handy Manny, the
2003 Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade, and the Disney Channel animated Sofia the First.
2018:
Disney Home, a boutique at Downtown Disney in Anaheim, opens. The new store,
part of a larger project to revamp Disneyland's dining and retail area, offers guests everything from coffee mugs
and oven mittens to bath towels and wine glasses.
1973:
Walt Disney Productions releases the comedy film The World's Greatest Athlete.
Coach Sam Archer and his assistant Milo travel to Africa where they discover the world's greatest athlete - a white
Tarzan-type named Nanu. They bring him back to the U.S. to try and make history by winning every event at the
NCAA Track & Field Championship. Starring John Amos, Roscoe Lee Browne, Tim Conway, Dayle Haddon, and
Jan-Michael Vincent, the film also features many prolific athletes and sports journalists in small or cameo roles,
including Howard Cosell, Frank Gifford, Jim McKay, Bud Palmer, Joe Kapp, and Bill Toomey.
2014:
Puppeteer John Henson, the son of Muppet creator Jim Henson, passes away at
age 48 in Saugerties, New York. John performed Muppet character Sweetums starting in 1992 following
the death of Richard Hunt (who trained John in performing Sweetums). His credits included the Disney feature
films Muppet Treasure Island and The Muppets' Wizard of Oz.
1993:
Actor, singer, songwriter, and dancer Shane Harper is born in San Diego, California. He is known for playing Spencer on Disney Channel's Good Luck Charlie. Harper's Disney credits also include High School Musical 2 and an episode of Wizards of Waverly Place.
1978:
Actress and playwright Danai Gurira is born in Grinnell, Iowa. She is best known as Okoye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero films Black Panther (2018), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019). Fans of the horror drama series The Walking Dead know her as Michonne.
2020:
Downhill, a black comedy film directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, is released by
Searchlight Pictures (a division of the Walt Disney Company and the first film to be released under the name following Disney's acquisition of the Fox studios). A remake of
the 2014 motion picture Force Majeure, Downhill stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Will Ferrell. After being scared by
an avalanche during a family ski vacation in the Alps, a married couple is thrown into disarray as they are forced
to reevaluate their lives and how they feel about each other.
Also premiering is the Disney Channel Original
Movie Zombies 2 and season 2 of Disney’s Fairy
Tale Weddings on Disney+.
A sequel to the 2018 Disney Channel Original Movie Zombies,
Zombies 2 chronicles the continuing adventures of Seabrook High
students Addison and Zed, whose budding romance is threatened
by the arrival of werewolves. The cast, including Milo Manheim as
Zed and Meg Donnelly as Addison, return from the first Zombies.
Walt Disney Records releases Zombies 2 (Original TV Movie Soundtrack).
Available to stream exclusively on Disney+ on this Valentine’s Day, Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings follows couples
as they celebrate life’s most romantic milestone moments at Disney Parks and Resorts.
John Powell's The Call of The Wild (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is released digitally.
1960:
Child actor Eric Shea is born in Los Angeles, California. He played the role of Booton 'Little Maca' MacAvoy in Disney's 1974 adventure film The Castaway Cowboy. That same year Shea appeared in the
Disneyland television episodes of "The Whiz Kid and the Mystery at Riverton." Active from age six through seventeen, Shea is best known for his roles in the blockbuster feature films Yours, Mine and Ours (1968) and The Poseidon Adventure (1972).
1912:
Lyricist Jack Brooks is born in Liverpool, England. Among his many popular songs is
"That's Amore" (written with Harry Warren). It became a major hit and signature song for Dean Martin in 1953. "That's Amore" was re-recorded by actor James Marsden for Disney's 2007 Enchanted. It appears on the film's soundtrack as well.
1994:
Actor & singer Paul Butcher is born in Los Angeles, California. He provided the voice of
Stanley Pukowski in the 2007 Meet the Robinsons.
1972:
Singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Rob Thomas is born to American parents in West Germany. (The family returned to the United States when Thomas was six months old.) Best known as the lead singer of rock band Matchbox Twenty, his song "Little Wonders" was used in the 2007 animated feature Meet the Robinsons.
2016:
The 69th British Academy Film Awards (more commonly known as the BAFTAs) take place in London, England. Best Special Visual Effects goes to Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Chris Corbould, Roger Guyett, Paul Kavanagh, and Neal Scanlan). Best Animated Film is awarded to Inside Out (Peter Docter).
1935:
Artist Paul Wenzel, best known for his 42-year career with The Walt Disney Company, creating illustrations for movie posters and retail merchandise, is born. First starting at Disney in 1958, Wenzel worked on over 100 movie posters during his tenure as a designer/illustrator for the Motion Picture Advertising Department, including the Academy Award winning Mary Poppins; re-releases of Pinocchio and Song of the South; The Parent Trap; Herbie Goes Bananas; Gus; The Monkey's Uncle; The Misadventures of Merlin Jones; The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit; Moon Pilot; Summer Magic; Pete's Dragon; and Fox and the Hound. He also created concept paintings for Primeval World as part of Walt Disney's Ford Motor Company Magic Skyway attraction at the 1964–1965 New York World's Fair, and the concept art of The Haunted Mansion that would later become the cover of the 1964 Disneyland Records album "Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House." Wenzel became Disney Consumer Products first Art Director for their creative publishing team, and in 1985, was made Creative Director of Character Art. Wenzel's most famous work is the Walt Disney portrait made, after Disney's passing in 1966, for a 6-cent commemorative stamp issued in the United States on September 11, 1968.
