1900:
Animator David Dodd Hand is born in Plainfield, New Jersey. Exactly 30 years later he will join the Disney Studios as its 21st animator and eventually become one of Walt's top directors.
1928:
Disney's Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon Neck 'n' Neck is released.
Oswald takes Miss Rabbit out for a ride in his jalopy but soon finds himself in a race with a chasing police car!
1942:
The Disney cartoon The New Spirit (distributed by the War Activities
Committee of the Motion Picture Industry) is released. Patriot Donald Duck, eager to learn what he can contribute to the war effort, is disappointed when a radio announcer advises him to pay his income tax promptly. The announcer turns him around by explaining the vital need for his money and he guides Donald through the simplified tax form to help him use his "Taxes to beat the Axis." The New Spirit will be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary.
1943:
Worthey (an employee in Disney's Ink and Paint Department) at the chapel at
Stanford University in California - where Ollie’s father is head of the Romance
Languages department.
1946:
from the Army Air Corps. Enlisted in the service since December 1942, he will
return to work at the Disney Studio in April 1946.
1957:
The Disneyland television series airs "Our Friend, the Atom." Dr. Heinz Haber (who co-hosted Disney’s "Man in Space") hosts this look at the possibility of an exciting new power source. As the US feels it is moving into an Atomic Age (and threat of Mutually Assured Destruction hangs heavy during the Cold War) it is believed that all power generators in the future will be atomic in nature. A German physicist and science writer, Dr. Haber has the ability to explain hard scientific facts in a manner and language which is understandable and entertaining.
("Our Friend, the Atom" will be shown to almost all baby boomers in their public school auditoriums or their science classes and will be instrumental in creating within that generation a mostly favorable attitude toward nuclear power.)
1959:
The TV series Walt Disney Presents airs "Texas John Slaughter: Showdown at Sandoval." It is the 4th (of what will be 17 episodes) starring Tom Tryon as cowboy Texas John Slaughter.
1964:
Kelly Parsons, a member of the 1977-1978 TV series
The New Mickey Mouse Club, is born in Florida.
1976:
Actor and singer/songwriter Tony Lucca, a member of Disney Channel's The
Mickey Mouse Club (during seasons 4-7), is born in Pontiac, Michigan.
1999:
The Disney Channel Original Movie Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century, about a thirteen-year-old girl (played by Kirsten Storms) living in the year 2049, airs for the first time.
2000:
The 57th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and television for
1999, are presented. Phil Collins wins Best Original Song in a Motion Picture for "You'll Be In My
Heart" from Disney's Tarzan. The Disney-Pixar feature Toy Story 2 is awarded Best Picture - Comedy/Musical.
2001:
Disney's The Kid (starring Bruce Willis, Spencer Breslin, and Lily Tomlin) is released
on video. Willis plays a wealthy but unhappy and disliked image consultant who gets a second shot at life when
an eight year old version of himself (Breslin) mysteriously appears. (The Kid originally opened in theaters last July 2000.)
The soundtrack to Disney's Recess: School's Out is released on CD and cassette. The
album features such 1960s hits as Martha and the Vandellas' "Dancing in the Street," Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild,"
the Surfaris' "Wipe Out," and the Strawberry Alarm Clock's "Incense and Peppermints."
Injury Loves Melody, the first album by New York rockers Diffuser, is released on Hollywood Records.
2004:
Disney's animated series Dave the Barbarian debuts on Disney
Channel. Created by Doug Langdale, the series takes place in the Middle Ages
and centers on a powerful yet cowardly barbarian named Dave, voiced by Danny
Cooksey. The voice cast also includes Tress MacNeille as Fang, Erica Luttrell as
Candy, Kevin Michael Richardson as Oswidge, Frank Welker as Faffy and Estelle
Harris as Lula. Running through 2005, it will be one of the shortest-run Disney
Channel Shows, with just 21 episodes produced.
Television producer and actor Bob Keeshan passes away in Vermont at age 76. Best known for the children's television program Captain Kangaroo (1955-1984), which he created and starred in, he also played the original Clarabell the Clown on the Howdy Doody television program. Keeshan supplied the voice of Aesop in a 1998 episode of Disney's Hercules.
2005:
The NFFC hosts the World's Largest Strictly Disneyana Show & Sale at the Crowne Plaza Resort Hotel in Garden Grove, California.
2006:
Monsters, Inc.: Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!, a new dark ride, officially opens
to the public at Disney's California Adventure. In previews since December 2005, the attraction offers a slow taxicab ride through the city of Metropolis.
The Walt Disney Co. headquarters building in Burbank, California is renamed as
"Team Disney - The Michael D. Eisner Building." (Eisner was chief executive officer of the
company for 21 years.)
In 1957, the average
Disneyland guest shelled out
$4.90 ... $2.72 for rides and
admission, $2 for food, and
another 18 cents for various
souvenirs.
(In 1957, gas cost 31 cents a
gallon and a person's average
annual salary was $5,500.)
JANUARY 23
1979:
The feature Take Down, released through Disney's Buena Vista Distribution company, is released. The drama, about a coach of a high-school wrestling team who tries to help one of his players, stars Edward Hermann and Lorenzo Lamas. (This is Disney's first PG-rated film, five years before the launch of their Touchstone Pictures.)
Today is National Pie Day
1995:
Plans for the Walt Disney World Speedway are announced. Construction on the racing facility will begin later in the year.
1913:
Singer Max Smith is born in Des Moines, Iowa. As a founding member of the MelloMen (a singing quartet) his Disney film credits include Alice in Wonderland and Lady and the Tramp. Along with Bob Stevens, Bill Lee & Thurl Ravenscroft, the MelloMen also performed on countless
Disney television programs and records.
1998:
The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit, a Touchstone Home Video production based on a
Ray Bradbury story, is released direct-to-video. The film, produced by Stuart Gordon and Roy
E. Disney, stars Joe Mantegna and Edward James Olmos. Mantegna plays Gomez, a middle-aged man who
dreams of buying a gorgeous white suit from a nearby store. Because he is short on cash, he finds 4
people of same size, who each give $20 and get to wear the suit for an hour each in return. But the suit is
more than just clothing ... it makes wishes of the one wearing it come true.
1987:
The new Mark V monorails debut at Disneyland. The Mark V monorails are the second of the
"Learjet" styled monorails used for Disney and are based on the design of the Bombardier Mark IVs in service at
Walt Disney World. Built by Ride & Show Engineering, Inc., the 5-train Mark V monorails can carry 145 passengers.
(The Mark V monorail will be used until 2008 when they will be completely replaced by the Mark VII monorail.)
JANUARY 23
THIS DAY MADE
IN THE
USA
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SEASON 3 EPISODE 14
"Jump off cliffs and build your wings on the way down." -writer Ray Bradbury
1948:
Disney releases the Goofy short They're Off, directed by Jack Hannah.
Goofy demonstrates the proper way to pick a winning race horse.
2010:
Actor Paul Castle, Sr., who portrayed Mickey Mouse for 25 years at Disneyland,
passes away at age 86 in Edmond, Oklahoma. The world's smallest professional speed skating
barrel jumper in the world (standing at a height of just 4'6"), Castle was selected by Walt Disney himself to be his main Mickey Mouse at Disneyland and to tour with Walt. It was Paul who rode along with Walt in the 1966 Tournament of Roses Parade. Retired from Disneyland since 1986, Castle was honored with a Lifetime Achievement award from Walt Disney Productions and inducted into the Disney Hall of Fame.
2007:
Disney's Really Short Report, a mini-show on the Disney Channel to promote
upcoming Disney DVD releases, debuts. Replacing the long-running Mike's Super Short
Show, Disney's Really Short Show is a creation of 7-Ate-9 Entertainment and is taped in Walt Disney Studio
Sound Stage 5 in Burbank.
Nominations for the 79th Academy Awards are announced. Among the nominations:
-Best Animated Feature Film: Cars
-Best Animated Short: The Little Match Girl
-Best Original Song: "Our Town" (from Cars – Music & Lyrics by Randy Newman)
-Best Sound Editing: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
-Best Sound Mixing: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
-Best Art Direction: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
-Best Visual Effects: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Winners will be announced February 25, 2007 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.
JAN
JAN
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2002:
Disney's Recess: School's Out is released on DVD and video in France as
La Cour de récré: Vive les vacances!
January 23
This Day in Disney History - THE FIRST - THE ORIGINAL
Traveling in time since 1999!
2009:
Celebrate A Dream Come True Parade debuts at the Magic Kingdom park in
the Walt Disney World Resort.
2015:
Strange Magic, an animated feature by Lucasfilm distributed by Disney's Touchstone
Pictures, is released. About goblins, elves, fairies and imps, and their misadventures sparked by the battle
over a powerful potion, the film features the voices of Alan Cumming, Evan Rachel Wood, Kristin Chenoweth,
Maya Rudolph, and Alfred Molina. Directed by Gary Rydstrom, it is the first Lucasfilm production to be distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, following their parent company's acquisition of the studio in 2012.
British-born actor Barrie Ingham passes away at age 82 in Florida. In 1986, he voiced Basil of Baker Street, the lead character of Disney's animated The Great Mouse Detective.
2018:
The nominations for the 90th Academy Awards are announced. Among the nominations:
-Best Animated Feature Film: Coco
-Best Animated Short Film: Lou
-Best Original Score: Star Wars: The Last Jedi (John Williams)
-Best Original Song: "Remember Me" (from Coco – Music & Lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez)
-Best Sound Editing: Star Wars: The Last Jedi
-Best Sound Mixing: Star Wars: The Last Jedi
-Best Production Design: Beauty and the Beast
-Best Costume Design: Beauty and the Beast
-Best Visual Effects: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Awards will be presented March 4, 2018 at a ceremony held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
1993:
The 50th Golden Globe Awards take place in Beverly Hills, California.
Among the Disney/ABC winners:
- Aladdin - Alan Menken: Best Original Score
- "A Whole New World" performed by Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle - Aladdin: Best Original Song
- Roseanne: Best Television Series Comedy or Musical
- John Goodman – Roseanne: Best Lead Actor in a Television Series
- Roseanne Barr – Roseanne: Best Lead Actress in a Television Series
1974:
Actress Claire Rankin is born in Canada. She played the role of Summer in the 2016 teen film
The Swap, which premiered on Disney Channel.
2016:
The second season of the animated series The 7D debuts. First premiering in July 2014, it
is a re-imagining of the title characters from the 1937 film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
2021:
Actor Hal Holbrook, the voice of Amphitryon in the 1997 Hercules and Mayday in the 2014 Planes: Fire & Rescue, passes away at age 95 in California. His Disney credits also included the 1970 2-part TV episode "The Wacky Zoo of Morgan City" portraying Mitch Collins and the 2012 feature film Lincoln as journalist Francis Preston Blair. Nominated for an Academy Award 5 different times during his long
career, Holbrook is best remembered for his one man show as Mark Twain.
