Wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the forest, a little boy and his Bear will always be playing.
1882:
Alan Alexander Milne, author and creator of Winnie-the-Pooh, is born in London, England.
Credited as A. A. Milne, he was also known for his various children's poems and his adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's novel The Wind in the Willows for the stage as Toad of Toad Hall. Milne always acknowledged that it was his wife, Daphne, and his young son, Christopher Robin, who inspired him to write. Although a noted writer (primarily as a playwright) Pooh overshadowed all of Milne's work. He is most famous for his two Pooh books about a boy named Christopher Robin (after his son, Christopher Robin Milne), and various characters inspired by his son's stuffed animals, most notably the bear named Winnie-the-Pooh. Christopher Robin Milne's stuffed bear, originally named Edward, was renamed Winnie after a real Canadian black bear named Winnie (after Winnipeg), which was used as a military mascot in World War I, and left to London Zoo during the war. The fictional Hundred Acre Wood of the Pooh stories derives from Five Hundred Acre Wood in Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, South East England, where the Pooh stories were set. Not yet known as Pooh, the character made his first appearance in a poem "Teddy Bear," published in Punch magazine in February 1924. Pooh first officially appeared in the London Evening News on Christmas Eve, 1925, in a story called "The Wrong Sort of Bees." The book Winnie-the-Pooh was published in 1926, followed by a second book titled The House at Pooh Corner in 1928. Surprisingly, the success of his children's books became a source of considerable annoyance to Milne for the remainder of his life.
1941:
Actor David Stollery, Marty Markham on Disney's Spin and Marty TV serial, is
born in Los Angeles, California. The Adventures of Spin and Marty was one of the most successful segments of the 1950s ABC-TV series Mickey Mouse Club. Stollery was named a Disney Legend in 2006.
1956:
The Disneyland television series airs "A Tribute to Joel Chandler
Harris" (the author whose work inspired Song of the South).
1958:
Ken-L-Land, a pet care facility (sponsored by Quaker Oats Ken-L-Ration Division)
located outside the Disneyland main gate, opens for business.
1976:
Brandy Brown, a member of the Disney Channel's The All New
Mickey Mouse Club, is born in Alabama.
Actor Derek Richardson, the voice of Lanny for Disney's Prep &
Landing holiday television specials, is born in New York.
1978:
Junius Matthews, the voice of Rabbit for Disney's Winnie the Pooh from 1966 to
1977, passes away in Los Angeles, California. He also provided the voice of Archimedes the Owl
in Disney's 1963 The Sword in the Stone.
1987:
The television series The Wonderful World of Disney airs the episode
"Great Moments in Disney Animation."
1991:
Eastern Airlines, the official airline of Walt Disney World during the 1970s, officially shuts down. Just before Walt Disney World opened in 1971, Eastern established service at
Orlando International and became the official airline of Walt Disney World (through June 1987). Starting in June
1972, Eastern sponsored the Tomorrowland attraction "If You Had Wings."
Eastern was one of the "Big Four" domestic airlines created by the Spoils Conferences of 1930, and was
headed by World War I flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker in its early years. It had a near monopoly in air travel
between New York and Florida for decades.
Walt Disney Pictures releases the adventure drama White Fang. Directed by Randal Kleiser, and starring Ethan Hawke, Klaus Maria Brandauer and Seymour Cassel, it is based on Jack London's 1906
novel "White Fang." It tells the story of a friendship between a young Klondike gold prospector named Jack and
a wolfdog called White Fang.
1992:
Beauty and the Beast wins a Golden Globe Award for Best Picture - Comedy/Musical
(the first animated feature to do so). The animated feature also wins for Best Original Score (by Alan
Menken) and Best Original Song "Beauty and the Beast" (written by Menken & Howard Ashman).
1996:
The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences votes to award director/writer John Lasseter a Special Achievement Award for his contribution to the film Toy Story.
1997:
At Disneyland Paris, the Carnival Castle is officially unveiled for the park's 5th anniversary year. The theme is inspired by Disney's current animated feature, The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
2002:
Disney's comedy Snow Dogs starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. opens in theaters.
Gooding plays a Miami dentist named Ted who inherits a team of sled dogs in Alaska. The film features
veteran actor James Coburn as Thunder Jack, a premiere sled-dogger who wants Ted's pack for himself.
Disney designers meet with the director of the Kennedy Space Center at
Cape Canaveral to discuss a proposed Space Pavilion in Epcot. The
pavilion (expected to open late 2002 or early 2003) will feature interactive exhibits, shows, and
the brand new e-ticket ride, Mission: SPACE.
The Disney Channel Original Movie Double Teamed first airs as does the
Lizzie McGuire episode "Gordo's Bar Mitzvah".
1952:
Donald Applecore, a Disney short featuring Donald Duck and Chip 'n' Dale,
is released. Directed by Jack Hannah, this short finds Donald an apple farmer trying to save his crop from two mischievous chipmunks.
1913:
Legendary actor-singer-comedian Danny Kaye, the host
of the 1982 television program EPCOT Center: The
Opening Celebration, is born David Daniel Kaminsky in
Brooklyn, New York. (Popular in films for his bravura performances of
patter songs and for children's favorites such as The Inch Worm and The Ugly
Duckling, Kaye was also the first ambassador-at-large of UNICEF.)
As a youngster A.A. Milne had a teacher named H.G. Wells
(who went on to write
such classics as
The War of the Worlds and
The Time Machine).
JANUARY 18
Today is Winnie the Pooh Day
1998:
Although nominated for a Golden Globe, "Go The Distance" (written by Alan Menken and Dave Zippel from Disney's Hercules) is edged out by "My Heart Will Go On" (from Titanic) for Best Original Song - Motion Picture.
2007:
AFI’s 100 Years...100 Movies — 10th Anniversary Edition is announced. Disney's 1937 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs comes in at #34 and Pixar's Toy Story at #99.
JANUARY 18
THIS DAY MADE
IN THE
USA
 | ||||
| ||||
2009:
Singer Jay Mayer passes away in California. Disneyland fans knew him for his 13
years in the Golden Horseshoe Revue and as one of the singing busts in the
Haunted Mansion attraction. (Mayer appeared in countless television shows with people such as Ed
Sullivan, Danny Kaye, Frank Sinatra, & Bing Crosby, and sang in the chorus of such films as The Sound of
Music and Bye Bye Birdie.)
| ||||
SEASON 2 EPISODE 17
1974:
Buena Vista generally releases the Disney feature Superdad to theaters. A comedy directed by Vincent McEveety, the film stars Bob Crane as Charlie McCready a worried father who feels his daughter Wendy (played by Cathleen Cody) is hanging out with the wrong crowd. Superdad also features Kurt Russell (as Bart), Barbara Rush, Joe Flynn, Dick Van Patten, and Bruno Kirby. Released in Los Angeles last December 14, the movie was filmed on the hills of San Francisco, along its famed Fisherman’s Wharf, across the bay among the houseboats of Waldo Point in picturesque Sausalito, and at the Wedge at Newport Beach and the area’s Back Bay.
Actor Maulik Navin Pancholy is born in Dayton, Ohio. He is the voice of Baljeet Tjinder in Phineas and Ferb and Kamil Sattar in The Replacements.
Singer-songwriter Chrisitian Burns is born in Wigan, England. One time member of the popular British band BBMak, as a solo artist he recorded a version of "Everybody Want to Rule the World" for Disney's Sky High and wrote the song "Miss You More" for Disney's The Princess Diaries.
1963:
Buena Vista generally releases Disney's
live-action comedy Son of Flubber to theaters (two days after its debut). Starring Fred MacMurray, the film has
the distinction of being the first sequel produced by Disney.
2010:
It is reported that Disney's feature film adaptation John Carter of Mars (based on
the Edgar Rice Burroughs books) has begun principal photography in London.
This film marks the live-action directing debut of Andrew Stanton (of Finding Nemo and WALL•E fame) and
is based on the first story to feature John Carter, A Princess of Mars, which was first published as a novel in 1917.
1904:
Film star Cary Grant is born Archibald Alexander Leach in Bristol, England.
He narrated Disneyland's Candlelight Ceremony in 1969, 1973, 1974 and 1978. In December 1972 Grant narrated Disney World's Christmas Candlelight Processional for the first and only time. (With his distinctive yet not quite placeable Mid-Atlantic accent, Grant was noted as perhaps the foremost exemplar of the debonair leading man.)
1977:
The second episode of The New Mickey Mouse Club airs for the first time. Tueday's lesson is about self-control, and Donald Duck learns to control his temper in the cartoon short Self Control. Musical features include the theme park favorite "It's A Small World" and pieces from the classic Fantasia. The Mouseketeers dance with teddy bears and clowns while singing "Merry Go-Round" in the Talent Showcase.
When Professor Brainard experiments further on Flubber
derivatives, he gets in trouble and only his students can help!
Fred MacMurray ... Prof. Ned Brainard
Nancy Olson ... Elizabeth 'Betsy' Brainard
Keenan Wynn ... Alonzo P. Hawk
Tommy Kirk ... Biff Hawk
Ed Wynn ... A.J. Allen
2011:
In front of an auditorium packed with local and international press, Disney executives
unveil details on a new and improved Fantasyland at Walt Disney World, which is
scheduled to be completed by 2013. The biggest expansion in the history of the Magic Kingdom,
planned attractions include Castle of the Beast, Princess Fairytale Hall, Under the Sea - Journey of the Little
Mermaid, The Sound of the Calliope, Storybook Circus and The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. Much of the press are
in town for the next day's champagne christening of Disney Cruise Line's newest ship, the Disney Dream.
Nominees for the 2011 Orange British Academy Film Awards are announced with
Toy Story 3 earning three for Animated Film, Adapted Screenplay and Special Visual
Effects. The awards will be presented on Sunday, February 13 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden,
London, England.
Flights of Fantasy Parade in Hong Kong Disneyland premieres as part of the park's
"Celebration in the Air" (marking the park's 5th anniversary).
1980:
Actor, screenwriter, and composer Jason Segel is born in Los Angeles, California.
He co-wrote the screenplay and starred in the 2011 comedy The Muppets.
JAN
JAN
1999:
So Weird, a new mideason replacement, debuts its first two episodes on the Disney Channel. The series centers around teenage girl Fiona Phillips (Cara DeLizia) who tours with her rock star
mom (Mackenzie Phillips), encountering paranormal activity along the way.
Actor Karan Brar is born in Redmond, Washington. Disney Channel fans know him best for his
role of Ravi Ross in both sitcoms Jessie and Bunk'd. He also supplied the voice of Prince Zandar in 4 episodes
of the animated Sofia the First.
January 18
This Day in Disney History - THE FIRST - THE ORIGINAL
Traveling in time since 1999!
2015:
Nick Arciniaga wins the inaugural Star Wars Half Marathon presented by Sierra
Nevada Corporation at the Disneyland Resort. The Fountain Valley, California, native makes the jump
to hyperspace to win with a time of 1:08:13! Jennifer Berry, 34, of Denver, blasts across the finish line as the female winner with a personal record of 1:22:34.
The animated television series Star vs. the Forces of Evil debuts on Disney XD. It is the
first Disney XD series created by a woman, Daron Nefcy, and the third overall for Disney Television Animation. It
follows the adventures of Star Butterfly (voiced by Eden Sher), the young turbulent heir to the royal throne in the dimension of Mewni, who is sent to Earth so she can complete her education and learn to be a worthy princess.
The 4th (and final) season of Disney Channel's comedy Austin & Ally premieres with the episode "Buzzcuts & Beginnings." Set in Miami, the series centers on the relationship between two very different musicians: extroverted and fun-loving singer and instrumentalist Austin Moon, and introverted and awkward songwriter Ally Dawson, who is also a singer, but has a bad case of stage fright. The cast includes Ross Lynch as Austin, Laura Marano as Ally, Raini Rodriguez as Trish (Ally's best friend and Austin's manager), and Calum Worthy as Dez (an aspiring director who films Austin's music videos).
1961:
Animator, screenwriter, and voice actor Bob Peterson is born in Wooster, Ohio.
Hired at Pixar in 1994 as an animator for commercials, he later became an animator on the ground-breaking film Toy Story. His long list of credits (both shorts & features) include A Bug's Life, Geri's Game, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, Up (which he co-directed and supplied the voice for Dug the dog), Toy Story 3, Brave, Inside Out, and Dug Days.
2019:
The superhero thriller Glass is released. Security guard David Dunn (played by Bruce Willis) uses
his supernatural abilities to track Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy), a disturbed man who has twenty-four personalities. Although distributed in the U.S. by Universal Pictures, the film is also released on this day by Disney's
Buena Vista International in international territories.
Director, film editor, screenwriter, and animator Lee Unkrich announces he is leaving Pixar and the film industry to spend more time with his family. Responsible for some of the studio's most beloved (and profitable) films of the last few years - Toy Story 3 and Coco (both of which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature), Unkrich first joined Pixar in 1994 as a film editor. Co-directing Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc. and Finding Nemo, Lee and his fellow directors at Pixar were honored at the 66th Venice International Film Festival with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in 2009.
"It is impossible for me to adequately express how epic this twenty-five-year journey has been, and how much it has meant to work alongside such fantastic people and phenomenal talents." -Unkrich
A new high-energy projection/fireworks show called "Mickey's Mix Magic" premieres at
Disneyland in honor of Mickey Mouse's 90th birthday celebration.
The 3rd Epcot International Festival of the Arts begins.
1960:
Actor, theatre director, and playwright, Mark Rylance is born in Ashford, Kent, England.
He is the voice and motion-capture of The BFG (2016), an elderly, benevolent 24-foot giant who is also known as
"The Big Friendly Giant." Rylance also co-starred (along with Tom Hanks) in the 2015 Touchstone Pictures historical drama Bridge of Spies, playing the role of convicted Soviet KGB spy Rudolf Abel.
1948:
Actor M. C. Gainey is born Michael Connor Gainey in Jackson, Mississippi. With his
distinctive mustache, 6'2" height, and intimidating appearance, you may recognize him from The Mighty Ducks (1992), Con Air (1997), Meet the Deedles (1998), The Country Bears (1992), and episodes of Girl Meets World. He also supplied the voice for Captain of the Guard in Tangled (2010) and episodes of Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure.
1983:
Musician and composer Cedric Thorpe Davie passes away at age 69.
Specializing in film scores, his Disney credits included Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue (1953) and Kidnapped (1960).
1969:
Professional wrestler and actor Dave Bautista is born in Arlington, Virginia. Beginning his wrestling career in 1999, he gained fame under the ring name Batista and became a six-time world champion by winning the World Heavyweight Championship four times and the WWE Championship twice. He played the role of Drax the Destroyer in the films Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), and Avengers: Endgame (2019).
2017:
The 43rd People's Choice Awards are held in Los Angeles, California. Among the winners:
-Favorite Movie: Finding Dory
-Favorite Action Movie Actor: Robert Downey Jr.
-Favorite Animated Movie Voice: Ellen DeGeneres – Finding Dory as Dory
-Favorite Family Movie: Finding Dory
-Favorite Movie Icon: Johnny Depp
-Favorite Network TV Drama: Grey's Anatomy
-Favorite Comedic TV Actress: Sofía Vergara
2021:
Due to ongoing concerns with the COVID-19 pandemic and the prevailing conditions in Europe, Disneyland Paris postpones their intended reopening date of February 13 to April 2, 2021.
It is reported that Walt Disney World has already sold out tickets for its 50th Anniversary Celebration scheduled for October 1, 2021. The Disney Park Pass reservation system shows no reservations available for any ticket type on October 1, the date of the planned celebration. So far, there are no actual events announced for the golden anniversary event, but if history is any record, anniversary events tend to be year-long celebrations as opposed to a single-day event. Further complicating things is the ongoing impact of COVID-19.
2008:
Film, stage, radio, and television actress Lois Nettleton passes at age 80 in California.
Winner of two Daytime Emmy Awards, in her later years she did several voice roles for Disney, such as
Disney's House of Mouse and Mickey's House of Villains (as Maleficent), and the video game Herc's Adventures.
1964:
Actress Jane Horrocks is born in Rawtenstall, Lancashire, England. Best known for her roles of Bubble and Katy Grin in the BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous (1992–2012) and Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (2016), she is the voice of Fairy Mary for the Disney films Tinker Bell (2008), Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure (2009), and The Pirate Fairy (2014), and the television special Pixie Hollow Games (2011). Horrocks also provided the voice of Eliza for a 2011 episode of Phineas and Ferb.
