FEB 23 Disney History

2004:

"Snow White - An Enchanting Musical" begins running at Disneyland. The

live production is the most elaborate stage show to be produced for the

Fantasyland Theatre.

Fortune magazine reports The Walt Disney Company is

America's most admired entertainment company based on a survey of top

entertainment industry executives, directors and securities analysts.

1927:

A young artist - fresh out of high school - named Leslie James Clark reports to work at the Disney Studios at 2719 Hyperion Avenue in Hollywood, California. (Les had met Walt while serving him ice cream at a Hollywood confectionary on Vermont Avenue.) Walt warns him "it might be just a temporary job." (Les Clark will go on to become the first of Walt's "Nine Old Men" and stay with the Disney Studio for nearly half a century until his retirement in 1975!)

1935:

Disney's Mickey Mouse short The Band Concert is released at

the Radio City Music Hall in New York City (the first Mickey cartoon

to be shown at the Music Hall). The first Mickey cartoon

in Technicolor, it is directed by Wilfred Jackson, who will go on to

direct such Disney classics as Peter Pan.

1939:

Walt Disney receives a special Academy Award for his classic 83-minute animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, at the 1938 Academy Awards. Shirley Temple presents Walt with one statuette and seven miniature statuettes for "a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field for the motion picture cartoon." Also, the Disney/RKO short Ferdinand the Bull wins an Oscar (Short Subjects, Cartoon) - beating out 4 other animated shorts including Disney's own Brave Little Tailor!

1940:

Disney's Pinocchio is generally released in the U.S.

1955:

Disney's 3rd installment of the Davy Crockett trilogy

"Davy Crockett At the Alamo" airs on ABC-TV's Disneyland.

1964:

Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color airs the 3rd and final episode of "The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh."

2000:

British rocker Phil Collins wins a Grammy for his work on Disney's Tarzan soundtrack. Instrumental Composition for a Motion Picture or for Television is awarded to A Bug's Life composed by Randy Newman.

2001:

Mardi Gras at Downtown Disney Pleasure Island begins today in

Florida. (It will run through the 27th.)

Disney Channel airs the Lizzie McGuire episode "Jack of All

Trade" for the first time.

2002:

As part of Walt Disney's 100th birthday celebration,

The Disney Gallery (located in New Orleans Square in Disneyland) opens its doors to reveal a special art exhibit featuring 100 images of Mickey Mouse created by former Disney Imagineer Eric Robison.

The exhibit will remain on display through September 8th.

At Walt Disney World, one of the park's longest running shows, Legend of the Lion King, has its final curtain call after more than 75,000 performances.

(A new 20-minute 3-D film called Mickey's PhilharMagic will replace it.)

The premiere screening of Disney's Cinderella II: Dreams Come True is held at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood. (It will premiere exclusively on DVD and video on February 26.) Voice-over actresses Jennifer Hale and Russi Taylor and recording artist Brooke Allison are all on hand for the event.

2003:

At the 45th Grammy Awards (held in New York City) "If I Didn't Have You" - from Disney's Monster, Inc. written by Randy Newman - wins Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television, or Other Visual Media. Also Monsters, Inc. - Scream Factory Favorites (by Riders in the Sky) wins for Best Musical Album for Children.

When Pinocchio is changed

into a real boy, his hands are

transformed from three-fingered and white-gloved "Mickey Mouse"

hands into four-fingered (plus

thumb) human hands

sans gloves.

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FEB

2008:

Comedy legend Don Rickles (the voice of Toy Story's Mr. Potato Head) visits Walt Disney Imagineering in Los Angeles. Disney Imagineers have created a sophisticated Audio-Animatronics figure featuring the voice of Rickles for 'Toy Story Mania!'; an interactive ride-through attraction that combines 3-D technology and interaction with Disney-Pixar characters. The new attraction is scheduled to open late in 2008 at Disney World and Disneyland Resort.

1956:

The Disneyland episode "Davy Crockett" wins a Golden Globe Award for Best TV Show.

"When he was inside the whale and he sneezed Geppetto out, Walt came up with the line, "Gesundheit." One of the biggest laughs from the picture; it's that spontaneous stuff that makes all the difference."

-Joe Grant