1962:
The Firehouse Five Plus Two (a spare-time Dixieland group made up of writers, animators, producers and directors at the Walt Disney Studios) are recorded live at The Golden Horseshoe in Disneyland. Their performance the following day will also be recorded and eventually be released on Good Time Jazz Records.
2005:
Disney announces that David Vixie, an 8th-grade Humanities teacher from Paradise, California, has been named the 2005 Teacher of the Year.
1916:
Actor Keenan Wynn (son of legendary comic Ed Wynn) is born in New York City.
His live-action Disney credits include The Absent Minded Professor, Son of Flubber, Snowball Express, Herbie
Rides Again, and The Shaggy D.A. Originally encouraged to become an actor by his dad Ed, the two appeared
together in the original Playhouse 90 television production of Rod Serling's Requiem for a Heavyweight. Keenan
appeared in hundreds of movies and television shows between 1934 and 1986 - TV fans may recognize his voice
as the Winter Warlock in the 1970 holiday special Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town.
1945:
Disney's Pluto cartoon Canine Casanova, directed by Charles A. Nichols,
is released. Pluto (voiced by Pinto Colvig) is smitten with Dinah the dachshund ... but
unfortunately she ignores him.
2006:
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers return for their fourth year of training camp at
Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Florida. The first official day of
practice is scheduled for the following day.
1956:
The Disney short In the Bag, featuring Humphrey the Bear and Ranger Audubon
J. Woodlore, is released. It is the second of only two cartoons to headline the characters of
Humphrey and Ranger Woodlore (both of whom had appeared in a number of Donald Duck shorts). In the
Bag is also one of only a few CinemaScope cartoon shorts to be produced by Disney.
Disneyland Upper Deck
Preview Series trading cards were released in 1991. They
featured photos from
Disneyland along with the
fab five Disney characters
dressed in their favorite
sports gear.
1953:
Disney's Peter Pan is released in the U.K.
1955:
Future Disney Legend Bill "Sully" Sullivan officially starts working at
Disneyland as a ticket taker on the Jungle Cruise attraction, at the age of 19.
After three years of working as a "Jungle Bunny," he will become a part of Disney management. Sully will later
work on the Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley and the New York World's Fair. Eventually he will be relocated to
Florida to assist with the opening of Walt Disney World. In 1987, he will be named vice president of the Magic Kingdom.
"I watched the opening ceremonies for Disneyland. The following Saturday I went down and applied for a job. On Monday, I quit Northrop Aircraft and Tuesday, I reported to work as a ticket taker at the Jungle Cruise." -Bill "Sully" Sullivan
JULY
JULY 27
JULY 27
THIS SITE MADE
IN THE
USA
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Firehouse 5 Plus 2 live at Disneyland
"I do not consider myself a star. I'm a craftsman and I know my craft." -Keenan Wynn
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2010:
D23, the official Disney fan club, gives members the chance to be the last to go
on Star Tours before it closes for rehabilitation at Disneyland. (Yesterday, Monday July
26, was the attraction's last regular day in business.) Before Disneyland shuts down Star Tours for a year (to
transform the attraction into a 3-D journey), D23 members take a final ride after 1 a.m.
"I took my final ride on Star Tours late Monday night. It was cool riding the “Flight to Endor” for the last time, particularly with
an audience that was there specifically to see it before all flights were grounded. On board during my final flight was a person
dressed in an Imperial Stormtrooper’s costume and a woman dressed up like Princess Leia." -Imagineer Mark Eades
Keenan's Disney roles:
The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) - villainous Alonzo Hawk
Son of Flubber (1963) - reprising the role of Alonzo Hawk
Snowball Express (1972) - banker Martin Ridgeway
Herbie Rides Again (1974) - portraying Alonzo Hawk for the third and final time
The Shaggy D.A. (1976) - corrupt district attorney John Slade
2011:
Jennings Osborne, the creator of the Osborne Family Spectacle of
Dancing Lights, passes away at the age of 67 in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Known as the man with the dazzling lights outside his home in Arkansas and each year at
Christmas time at Disney World, Osborne was a successful business man and self-made
millionaire who started a medical research facility with his wife in 1968. (A microbiologist
by training, he opened a prescription drug testing laboratory that grew to become one of the
premier human-trial research facilities in the industry.) A holiday tradition at WDW, Osborne first lit up Residential
Street at Disney-MGM Studios (today known as Disney's Hollywood Studios) back in November 1995.
July 27
This Day in Disney History - THE FIRST - THE ORIGINAL
Traveling in time since 1999!
2017:
Martin A. "Marty" Sklar, The Walt Disney Company's
International Ambassador for Walt Disney
Imagineering, passes away at age 83 in Hollywood
Hills, California. Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Sklar was
a student at UCLA and editor of its newspaper in 1955 when he
was recruited to create a 1950s-themed newspaper, The Disneyland
News, a month before the theme park opened. After graduating, he
joined Disneyland full-time in 1956, where he was responsible for
most of the park's publicity and marketing materials. In 1961, he
moved to WED Enterprises (later renamed Walt Disney Imagineering)
and worked on attractions for the 1964 New York World's Fair. For the
next 10 years, he wrote personal materials for Walt Disney for use in
publications, television and special films. In 1974 he became vice
president of concepts/planning, and guided the creative development of EPCOT Center and supervised the design and construction of Tokyo Disneyland, the Disney-MGM Studios, Disneyland Paris, Disney's Animal Kingdom, Disney California Adventure Park, Tokyo DisneySea, the Walt Disney Studios Park and Hong Kong Disneyland. Recognized as a Disney Legend in 2001, Sklar retired in July 2009.
2003:
Legendary stand-up comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer, and author Bob Hope passes away at age 100 in Toluca Lake, Los Angeles, California. Hope's first of many connections to Disney was in 1939 when he presented the Short Subject Award and personally handed Walt the Oscar for
Ferdinand the Bull. In 1965 Hope appeared on the television special Jack Benny Visits Walt Disney, and in 1971 took part in NBC-TV's Grand Opening of Walt Disney World. Hope was at the Walt Disney World Tencennial in 1981 where he helped lead a thousand piece marching band and eight years later spoke at the ribbon cutting for Disney-MGM Studios dedication. He left his hand prints in the cement of the forecourt of The Great Movie Ride. Hope later was a guest on NBC Salutes the 25th Anniversary of WDW and in 1999 participated in the very first Disneyland Christmas lighting ceremony (one of his last official appearances). Bwana Bob's a small, freestanding store in Walt Disney World's Adventureland(originally called the Adventureland Kiosk) is actually a tribute to legendary Bob Hope!
2004:
The soundtrack to the Touchstone film The Village is released on Hollywood Records. The film's score is composed by James Newton Howard, and features solo violinist Hilary Hahn.
2015:
The final episode of the animated Disney XD series, Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja airs with the 2-part "Ball's Well That Friends Well".
2020:
Walt Disney World doubles down on every effort to keep guests and cast members safe within the park as the coronavirus pandemic continues, most recently updating its face mask policy to ban certain kinds of coverings. As of this morning, facial coverings with valves or holes are no longer acceptable. Based on guidance from health authorities, neck gaiters, open-chin triangle bandanas, and face coverings containing valves, mesh material or holes of any kind are no longer acceptable face coverings.
1984:
Actor James Mason passes away at age 75 in Switzerland. Widely considered to be one of the greatest film actors of the 20th century, Disney fans know him as Captain Nemo in the 1954 film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Mason achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming one of Hollywood's biggest stars with such films as A Star is Born, North by Northwest, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and The Boys from Brazil.
1906:
Ben Clopton, an artist best known for his work on Walt Disney (and Harman-Ising) animated cartoons, is born in Montana. Hired by Walt Disney in February 1927, he began working under animator Ub Iwerks as an in-betweener. His first cartoon was Alice's Three Bad Eggs but later assisted Iwerks in drawing the first Mickey Mouse cartoon, Plane Crazy. In Spring 1927 Clopton left the Disney studio.
1907:
Comic artist, writer and animator Jesse Marsh is born in Florence, Alabama. Best known for his work on the early Tarzan books for Western Publishing (which included Dell Comics and later Gold Key Comics), he began his career at the Walt Disney Company in 1939. A self-taught artst, he worked on Make Mine Music and the shorts Pluto's Kid Brother and Canine Casanova. During World War II, he served as a radar man in Army Air Force, after which he returned to Disney. While continuing at Disney, Marsh began taking on freelance jobs from Western Publishing. He left Disney in 1947.
1877:
Actress and voice actress Florence Gill is born in London, England. For 20 years, she played hens, including Clara Cluck, in Disney animated films. Gill's credits included such shorts as Orphan's Benefit, The Wise Little Hen, Cock o' the Walk, Mickey's Grand Opera, and Mother Pluto. She also played Clara Cluck on the 1938 radio show The Mickey Mouse Theater of the Air.
1919:
Screenwriter, animator, director, and producer David Swift is born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Best known for writing the screenplay for the 1967 comedy film "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" (by United Artists), he also worked as an animator and filmmaker at The Walt Disney Studios. Swift
adapted the story of "Pollyanna" for the screen, wrote and directed "The Parent Trap," and wrote "Candleshoe." His early animation credits include "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "Pinocchio," "Fantasia," "The Reluctant Dragon," and "Peter Pan." His final project was the screenplay for the 1998 remake of "The Parent Trap," starring Lindsay Lohan, Natasha Richardson and Dennis Quaid. Also known for directing television episodes of "Barney Miller," "Eight is Enough," and "Camp Runamuck," Swift passed at age 82 in December 2001.
1969:
Pixar animator and voice actress Bret Parker is born. Her voice credits include Inside Out, Monsters University, Toy Story Toons: Small Fry, Jack-Jack Attack, and The Incredibles. Parker's animation credits include such features and shorts as Incredibles 2, Piper, Brave, Ratatouille, Finding Nemo, and Toy Story 2.
1972:
Actress, comedian and singer Maya Rudolph is born to singer-songwriter Minnie Riperton and composer Richard Rudolph, in Gainesville, Florida. First gaining prominence in the 1990s as a member of the alternative rock band The Rentals, Maya later became a cast member on Saturday Night Live. For Disney, she voiced Aunt Cass in the 2014 animated feature film Big Hero 6 and reprised the role for the television series of the same name. She also played the karaoke hostess in the 2000 Hollywood Pictures film Duets and voiced Griselda in the 2015 Lucasfilm animated feature film Strange Magic. Maya is also the voice of Daniela Paguro in the 2021 Disney/Pixar animated feature film Luca, and is set to play Malvina Monroe in the upcoming live-action/animated musical fantasy romantic comedy Disenchanted (scheduled for a November 2022 release). Fan films may recognize her from appearances in Grown Ups, Bridesmaids, Inherent Vice,
Sisters, CHiPs, Life of the Party and Wine Country.
2021:
It’s a Small World closes in Walt Disney World for refurbishment. The closing is scheduled to last only 3 days.
