2005:
Honorary Cruise Directors Christy Carlson Romano (the voice of Kim Possible) and Raven Symone (of That's So Raven) take part in an
"Evening of Magic" aboard the Disney Magic.
The fund-raising event (which will raise $2 million for the Make-A-Wish Foundation)
commemorates the 75th anniversary of The Children's Miracle Network.
Wishes: A Magical Gathering of Disney Dreams, a new fireworks show, debuts at Disneyland Paris.
2004:
At the Disneyland Resort, Mickey's All American Pin Festival kicks off. The event pays tribute to the U.S. Olympic Team going to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
Disney's stage show The Lion King premieres in Boston at
The Opera House.
The Disney Channel Original Movie Stuck in the Suburbs debuts.
Starring Danielle Panabaker as Brittany Aarons and Brenda Song as Natasha Kwon-Schwartz, it is one of the first made-for-television movies by Disney which is also accompanied by its own soundtrack.
Actress Ruby Barnhill is born in England. She played the lead role of Sophie in Steven Spielberg's 2016 fantasy animated adventure film The BFG (co-produced & distributed by Walt Disney Pictures).
Swedish/Finnish cartoon animator Andy Engman passes away at age 92 in California. Specializing in visual effects, his Disney credits include such features and shorts as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Brave Little Tailor, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Goofy's Glider, and Make Mine Music.
"I first saw the site for Disneyland back in 1953, In those days it was all flat land - no rivers, no
mountains, no castles or rocket ships - just orange groves, and a few acres of walnut trees." -Walt Disney
1927:
The 56th (and final) Disney Alice comedy film, Alice in the Big League is previewed in a Los Angeles theater. It will be released the following month.
1954:
The Donald Duck/Chip 'n' Dale short Dragon Around is released. Directed by Jack Hannah,
this cartoon finds construction worker Donald triying to oust Chip 'n' Dale out of their home to build a highway!
2002:
As of this day, Disney's Lilo & Stitch has taken in $119.5 million in the U.S.
2006:
Disneyland welcomes home the 100-foot tall "Happiest Balloon on Earth,"
which recently concluded an 11-city tour of the western U.S. and Canada.
The Mickey-shaped balloon will make one last appearance - as part of Disneyland's 50th anniversary -
the following day (the park's 51st birthday).
1955:
The Golden Horseshoe opens the day before Disneyland's debut for a private
party for corporate sponsors. The show, called the Golden Horseshoe Revue, marks Wally Boag's
first official performance as Pecos Bill/Traveling Salesman at the Golden Horseshoe Saloon. (The show had unofficially debuted on July 13 for the Disney's private anniversary party.)
1993:
Disney's live-action feature Hocus Pocus starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, and Omri Katz, is released in theaters. A children's Halloween-themed film, it is directed by Kenny Ortega (who will later be known for his hit High School Musical series of films). Accidentally brought back to life in Salem on Halloween night, three witches, known as the Sanderson sisters, attempt to steal the life essence from the town’s children so they can have eternal life. Not a critical or commercial success upon its release, through annual airings on Disney Channel and Freeform (formerly ABC Family), Hocus Pocus has been rediscovered by audiences, resulting in a yearly spike in home video sales of the film every Halloween season.
The role of Max Dennison in Hocus Pocus was originally offered to Leonardo DiCaprio, but was given to Omri Katz when DiCaprio turned it down ... to appear in What's Eating Gilbert Grape?, for which he ended up being nominated for an Academy Award.
1985:
Disney's 1940 animated feature Pinocchio is released on
VHS, Betamax and Laserdisc under the "Walt Disney Classics" brand.
1909:
Teddy Buckner, a jazz trumpeter associated with Dixieland music,
is born John Edward Buckner in Sherman, Texas. First playing professionally in Los Angeles at
the age of 15, his career spanned seven decades. A fervent disciple of jazz great Louis Armstrong, Buckner
deliberately modelled his trumpet playing upon that of his idol. From 1965 to 1981 Buckner performed with a
traditional jazz band in Disneyland's New Orleans Square.
1946:
Muppet performer Dave Goelz is born in Burbank, California. Working with Henson
Associates as a part-time puppet builder starting in 1973, Goelz went on to become a full-fledged Muppeteer
and the voices of Gonzo and Bunsen Honeydew. His Disney credits include Studio DC: Almost Live! and Disney Extreme Digital. Goelz is also the (second) voice of Figment, the mascot of the Imagination! pavilion at Epcot.
JULY
JULY 16
JULY 16
THIS SITE MADE
IN THE
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Actor Don DeFore (best known from the TV sereis Hazel) and his brother Verne were the only sole proprietors ever permitted by Walt Disney and Disneyland to operate an independent business and restaurant inside Disneyland. From 1957
to 1961, they operated Don DeFore's
Silver Banjo Barbecue
restaurant in Frontierland.
Disneyland's Golden Horseshoe opens
1997:
Walt Disney Pictures releases the live-action comedy George of the Jungle. Inspired by the original 1967 cartoon of the same name (a spoof on Tarzan), the film stars Brendan Fraser (as George), Leslie Mann, Thomas Haden Church, and Richard Roundtree, and features the voices of John Cleese and Frank Welker. A primitive man raised in the jungle by apes falls in love with a wealthy American heiress after he saves her life while on safari. The large gorillas who live with George are all costumed actors who are Henson puppeteers. Their faces are remote-controlled animatronic heads, which were provided by Jim Henson's Creature Shop (the special/visual effects company founded in 1979 by puppeteer Jim Henson).
2009:
A retirement celebration party takes place at Walt Disney Imagineering for legendary
WDI Imagineer Marty Sklar. The Walt Disney Company's International Ambassador for Walt Disney
Imagineering, he will be honored with his very own window on Main Street at Disneyland the following day.
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2000:
Members of the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society join members of the Los Angeles Live Steamers at Walt Disney's Carolwood Pacific Barn to celebrate the 50th
anniversary of Walt's favorite steam engine, the CP 173, Lilly Belle. The one-eighth scale
miniature working model was originally built in the Machine Shop at Disney Studios in nearby Burbank, under the
direction of Roger Broggie, who later became one of the first Imagineers selected by Walt to build Disneyland. This is the same Lilly Belle that ran in Walt's backyard before being displayed in Disneyland's Main Street station.
2010:
The Great Movie Ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios closes early at 6:00 p.m. for a
special Tables in Wonderland dinner event.
Over on the west coast, The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francsico holds
the first of three gatherings to celebrate Disneyland's 55th anniversary. In attendance
are Disney Legends, family members, former executives, and Imagineers who share their personal stories about
working with Walt.
2011:
Disney's Animal Kingdom celebrates the hatching of a female lesser flamingo, the first lesser flamingo to be hatched at the Florida park. The egg was laid on June 19 in a habitat near The Tree of Life.
July 16
1959:
Actress, animator, and writer Sherri Stoner, who served as a live-action reference model for both Ariel in Disney's The Little Mermaid and Belle in Beauty and the Beast, is born in Santa Monica, California. Animators worked in little ticks she exerted; Ariel biting her bottom lip and Belle brushing hair away from her face! Stoner co-wrote the 1999 Disney film "My Favorite Martian" (based on the original 1960s TV series), and worked as a story editor on the series "The 7D." Working extensively in animation, Stoner was a writer and producer for such 1990s animated shows as "Tiny Toon Adventures" and "Animaniacs."
1917:
Voice actor Bill Woodson is born in Glendale, California. His Disney credits include The Rocketeer and The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band. Woodson's legacy will be his long association with the Super Friends animated TV series,
where he served as narrator and sometimes voiced additional characters. He can also be heard in the
opening narrative of the 1970s television sitcom The Odd Couple.
2017:
Today is the 3rd and final day of D23 Expo 2017 at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Among the presentations:
-Celebration of Animated Classic: The Lion King
-Tangled: The Series Panel
-Walt Disney Signature Collection Presents: The 75th Anniversary of Bambi
-Zero to Hero: The Making of Hercules
-Voices of Disney Parks
-A Whole New World of Alan Menken
-Legends of Walt Disney Imagineering
-PopDisney: Six Degrees of Separation
-Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: The Search for the Lost Disney Cartoons
2015:
Nominations are announced for the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards.
Among the Disney/ABC nominations:
-Outstanding Comedy Series: Modern Family
-Outstanding Variety Talk Series: Jimmy Kimmel Live!
-Outstanding Limited Series: American Crime
-Outstanding Reality-Competition Program: Dancing with the Stars
-Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie: Timothy Hutton as Russ Skokie on American Crime
-Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie: Felicity Huffman as Barbara "Barb" Hanlon on American Crime
-Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Ty Burrell as Phil Dunphy on Modern Family
-Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: Julie Bowen as Claire Dunphy on Modern Family
-Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie: Regina King as Aliyah Shadeed on American Crime
Winners will be announced September 20, 2015.
1963:
Actor, singer, songwriter and filmmaker Paul Hipp is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Best recognized as the singing Reverend Tim Tom on the long-running ABC sitcom The Middle, his credits also include Touchstone's Face/Off (1997) as Fitch, and the ABC series Ugly Betty (2008) as Phil Roth. He attended the premiere of "WALL-E" in June 2008 at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Hipp starred in the stage musical "Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story" in both London and New York City (he was later honored with a Tony Award nomination). Hipp wrote and produced several songs sung by Hilary Duff for the 2008 action-comedy film "War, Inc."
Miramax Films releases the English-language German thriller film Benefit of the Doubt. Marking the first film to be released by Miramax after being acquired by The Walt Disney Company, the film stars Donald Sutherland as a man who twenty-two years earlier, had been convicted (with the aid of his daughter Karen) of murdering his wife. With his new freedom, thanks to parole, Frank returns home to seek revenge. Having always pleaded his innocence, Frank soon works his way back into Karen's (played by Amy Irving) life.
