1915:
Pat Buttram, the voice behind many Disney animated characters - including
Chief in the 1981 release The Fox and the Hound and Luke in the 1977 release
The Rescuers, is born in Addison, Alabama. His Disney voice credits also include
The Aristocats (as Napoleon), Robin Hood (as Sherriff of Nottingham), Who Framed Roger Rabbit
(as a toon bullet) and A Goofy Movie (as Possum Park Emcee, his final role). Fans of the 1960s
television sitcom Green Acres will recognize Buttram as Mr. Haney!
1942:
Mouseketeer & dancer Nancy Abbate - who appeared on TV's Mickey Mouse Club
for the first season - is born in Los Angeles, California.
Michael Broggie, a nationally-recognized authority on the life and legacy of Walt
Disney and the son of Roger Broggie (Disney's original Imagineer) is born in
California. At age 12, Michael test-drove the miniature Autopia cars and accompanied Walt Disney in the initial
run of the Disneyland Railroad's steam trains a month before Disneyland opened! Broggie's first job with Disney
was in 1960, as an attractions Cast Member at Disneyland on the Autopia and Mine Train during summer seasons
while attending college. After completing his undergraduate education, he joined the Walt Disney Studios in
Burbank as a publicity writer in the motion picture marketing department. Today he is an author and public speaker,
who tours the country lecturing on his first-person experiences with Walt and many of the Disney Legends. With his
wife, Sharon, Broggie is also co-founder and Chairman of the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society and the Carolwood Foundation, which operates Walt Disney's Carolwood Barn Museum in Griffith Park.
1946:
Actress Jennifer Darling is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her Disney voice credits include
Brother Bear, Treasure Planet, Lilo & Stitch, Monsters Inc., The Emperor's New Groove, A Bug's Life, Aladdin and
Beauty and the Beast. Although famous for her voice credits, she is probably best known for her TV role of Peggy
Callahan, the secretary to Oscar Goldman on both the series The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman.
1957:
Disney's live-action adventure film Johnny Tremain is released
along with the short The Wetback Hound.
About a young silversmith's apprentice in colonial Boston who is drawn into the American Revolutionary War, Johnny Tremain stars Hal Stalmaster (as Johnny) and Luana Patten, and features a cameo by Walt's daughter Sharon.
Produced by Larry Lansburgh, the 20-minute The Wetback Hound tells the story of a hunting-dog name Paco who
is too easily distracted by other animals whenever he goes out on a hunt. Narrated by Rex Allen, it will later be expanded to 48 minutes for its first television airing in 1959.
Cinematographer Karl Walter Lindenlaub is born in Bremen, Germany. His list of
credits incude Disney's 2001 The Princess Diaries.
1960:
Freedomland U.S.A., a themed amusement park in New York City, opens its doors. Built in the shape of the United States, the 205-acre park's main theme is American history. It is conceived by Cornelius Vanderbilt Wood, a young Texan, who had previously worked in the planning, construction and management of Disneyland. This same evening, TV's The Ed Sullivan Show presents a promotional tour of the park and refers to it as Disneyland's equal on the East Coast. Like its Californian predecessor, Freedomland is divided into seven regions: Little Ole New York, Old Chicago, the Great Plains, the Old Southwest, San Francisco, New Orleans, and Satellite City - a town of the future modeled on Disney’s Tomorrowland. (The park will only remain in business for 4 years.)
1964:
After 5 seasons on television, The Twilight Zone airs its last
episode,"The Bewitchin' Pool." Rod Serling's popular series will
later be the inspiration for Disney's The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror attraction!
1965:
Actor Sean Marshall, better known as Pete in Disney's 1977 Pete's Dragon, is born in Canoga Park, California. He was the first person to play Pete for Disneyland's Main Street Electrical Parade!
1966:
Legendary comedian and actor Ed Wynn, who appeared in such Disney
live-action classics as Mary Poppins, Those Calloways, Son of Flubber, and
That Darn Cat! passes away in Beverly Hills, California at age 79. First starting out in
vaudeville in 1903, Wynn was known for his silly costumes and props and for the giggly, wavering voice he
developed for the 1921 musical review, The Perfect Fool. Disney fans known Wynn best as the voice of the Mad
Hatter in the 1951 animated Alice in Wonderland. His last movie, released in 1967, was Disney's The Gnome-
Mobile in which he played the character Rufus. (In 1959, Wynn appeared on Rod Serling's TV series The Twilight
Zone in the episode "One for the Angels". Serling, a longtime admirer, wrote the episode especially for him!)
Actor, theater director and voice actor Samuel West is born in London, England. Known for working across theater, film, television and radio, he voiced Pongo in Disney's 2003 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure.
1995:
A bronze statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse, called the Partners Statue, is
installed at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney Word. It is identical to the statue created by artist/sculptor Blaine Gibson first installed at Disneyland back in November 1993 to celebrate Mickey's birthday.
1996:
Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame has its world premiere at the Superdome in New Orleans, utilizing six enormous screens, and a parade through the French Quarter.
(The film will have its general release 2 days later.)
1998:
In Florida, DisneyQuest opens in the West End area of Downtown Disney. Packed with 4 floors of high-tech, interactive virtual adventures, it is the first in a national chain of interactive entertainment centers. Housed in a five-story, windowless building, guests enter the first-floor lobby and are transported via a "magic" elevator to the third floor atrium to begin their visit.
Disney's 36th animated feature Mulan
(featuring the singing voices of Lea
Salonga and Donny Osmond) opens
nationwide in the United States and
Canada. Based on the Chinese legend of Hua
Mulan, young Fa Mulan must save her father from
death in the army by secretly going in his place
and becoming one of China's greatest heroes in
the process. Directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry
Cook, it is the first film primarily produced
at Walt Disney Feature Animations Florida, Disney's state-of-the-art animation
studio at Disney-MGM. (The film will earn an amazing 10 Annie Awards.)
Disney's Mulan Parade also premieres at the
Disney-MGM Studios in Florida on this same day.
Actor Atticus Shaffer is born in Santa Clarita, California. Best known for playing Brick Heck on the ABC sitcom The Middle (2009–2018), his Disney television credits include 28 episodes of Fish Hooks, an episode of Shake It Up, The Lion Guard, and 3 episodes of Star vs. the Forces of Evil. Shaffer's film credits include
Frankenweenie, Super Buddies, The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar, The Lion Guard: The Rise of Scar, and The Lion Guard: Battle for the Pride Lands.
2002:
The Travel Channel's Great Hotels series - hosted by Samantha
Brown - features Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa.
2005:
Voting begins for Discovery Channel's Greatest American. Among the top 25
nominees is Walt Disney. (Disney will be voted in at #13 ... between Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein!)
Walt Disney, excited by the
new technology already in use
at Disneyland, approached Las
Vegas officials in 1960 with the
idea of running a monorail down the strip. He was turned down.
(In 1995 a monorail mass transit
system opened on the Las
Vegas Strip.)
1958:
A fourth locomotive (purchased in New Jersey for $2,000) arrives at Disney's backlot. It is to be rebuilt and put into service at Disneyland.
1987:
The Disney Channel Premiere Film Not Quite Human, featuring Alan Thicke, Robyn
Lively, and Jay Underwood, debuts. It is based on a series of young adult novels by Seth McEvoy
about a scientist who creates an android son.
Disneyland Grad Nite '87 takes place on this evening. Entertainment includes Wang Chung,
Ready For The World, Glass Tiger, Bobby Brown, Nancy Martinez, and Krash.
Disney generally releases the feature Benji the Hunted. A children's drama film about a dog trying to survive in the wilderness, it is distributed by Buena Vista Distribution. The cast includes Frank Inn, Red Steagall, and a dog named Benjean.
"Walt had more confidence in us as artists than we had in ourselves. I’m a sculptor now, but I used to be an animator, and I loved it. I didn’t want to leave animation and go work in the theme parks. But Walt saw me as a sculptor and he sold me on it. He made me believe I could do it. He gave us the confidence to do things we never imagined were possible." -Disney Legend Blaine Gibson
JUNE
JUNE 19
JUNE 19
THIS SITE MADE
IN THE
USA
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DisneyQuest opens in Florida
2009:
Touchstone Pictures releases the comedy feature The Proposal starring
Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. A pushy boss forces her young assistant to marry
her in order to keep her Visa status in the U.S. and avoid deportation to Canada.
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Mulan voice cast:
Ming-Na - Fa Mulan
Eddie Murphy - Mushu
B. D. Wong - Captain Li Shang
Harvey Fierstein - Yao
June Foray - Grandmother Fa
Pat Morita - The Emperor of China
George Takei - First Ancestor
Miriam Margolyes - The Matchmaker
Freda Foh Shen - Fa Li
James Shigeta - General Li
Frank Welker - Cri-Kee & Khan
Chris Sanders - Little Brother
1991:
The special Rocketeer: Excitement in the Air, a behind-the-scenes look at
the upcoming feature film The Rocketeer (which hits theaters June 21) airs
on Disney Channel, the same day the film premieres at the El Capitan Theater in
Hollywood.
2011:
Winners of the 38th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Awards are announced
live on CBS from the Las Vegas Hilton. Hosted by Wayne Brady, Disney/ABC scores 14 Daytime
Emmy Awards.
1969:
Disneyland Grad Nite 1969 takes place at the Anaheim park.
June 19
This Day in Disney History - THE FIRST - THE ORIGINAL
Traveling in time since 1999!
1947:
Milt Albright (originally from Missouri) begins work at the Walt Disney Studio as a junior
accountant. Working in the Payroll Department, he will be entrusted with the job of preparing and delivering paychecks for top executives, which will bring him into direct contact with both Walt and Roy Disney. By 1954, Albright will be hired as manager of accounting for Disneyland.
Future Disney Legend (Class of 2005)
2015:
Inside Out, a 3D computer-animated
comedy film produced by Pixar Animation
Studios and Walt Disney Pictures, is
released to U.S. theaters. After young Riley,
voiced by Kaitlyn Dias, is uprooted from her Midwest
life and moved to San Francisco, her emotions - Joy,
Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness - conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house and school. The voice cast
includes Amy Poehler as Joy, Bill Hader as Fear, Lewis Black as Anger, Mindy Kaling as Disgust, and Phyllis Smith as Sadness. The film is directed by Pete Docter and co-directed by Ronnie del Carmen.
Playing in front of Inside Out is the computer-animated musical short film Lava. The Pixar short is a musical love story that takes place over thousands of years. It is set to a song (also titled "Lava") written by the film's director James Ford Murphy, and was inspired by the "isolated beauty of tropical islands and the explosive allure of ocean volcanoes." The
voice cast consists of Hawaiian singer-songwriters Kuana Torres Kahele and Nāpua Greig.
ABCD 2 (also known as Any Body Can Dance 2) is released. An Indian 3D dance film directed
by Remo D'Souza, it is produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur under Walt Disney Pictures.
1978:
Actress Zoe Saldana is born in Passaic, New Jersey. She portrayed Anamaria in the 2003 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Gamora in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, beginning with Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014. This was followed by Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
Actress and songwriter Mía Maestro is born in Argentina. In 2004, she joined the cast of ABC’s critically acclaimed series Alias for two seasons. In 2018, Maestro appeared in 2 episodes of ABC's Nashville.
1990:
Actor Chuku Modu is born in London, England. He's known to fans of ABC's medical series The Good Doctor as Dr. Jared Kalu. Modu also played Soh-Larr in the 2019 feature film Captain Marvel.
1937:
Sir James Matthew Barrie, also known as novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie, passes away at age 77 in London, England. Born and educated in Scotland, he is best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. His character of "Peter Pan" first appeared in The Little White Bird, a novel published in the UK by Hodder & Stoughton in 1902, and serialized in the US the same year in Scribner's Magazine. Barrie's
more famous and enduring work Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up had its first stage performance in December 1904. In 1911, he developed the Peter Pan play into the novel Peter and Wendy. Barrie never described Peter's appearance in detail, even in his novel, leaving it to the imagination of the reader and the interpretation of anyone adapting the character. (In 1953, Walt Disney will release an animated film based on Barrie's most famous character.)
2000:
Pop Trash, the 10th studio album by English new wave band Duran Duran, is released on Disney's Hollywood Records. (It is the band's first release after parting ways with EMI, with whom
they had been signed since 1981.) The album includes the lead single "Someone Else Not Me".
2020:
Tony Award-winning actor Sir Ian Holm, the voice of Skinner in the Disney/Pixar
Ratatouille (2007), passes away at age 88 in London, England. Film fans know him as the hobbit Bilbo Baggins in the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film series.
1974:
Actor and voice artist Bumper Robinson is born Larry Robinson in Cleveland, Ohio.
His television credits include Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Black-ish. He voiced Falcon in the animated series Avengers Assemble.
