2007:
Kathryn Beaumont, the original voice of Wendy, and Tinker Bell model
Margaret Kerry join local celebrities to celebrate the March 6th Platinum
Edition 2 disc DVD release of Peter Pan in London's Leicester Square.
1995:
The Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye attraction officially
opens in Disneyland's Adventureland. In attendance for the attraction's debut is filmmaker George
Lucas, Michael Eisner (who was the president of Paramount Pictures that green-lighted Raiders of the
Lost Ark back in 1980), and actors Dan Aykroyd and Carrie Fisher. Based on the Indiana Jones films, guests are
taken on an adventure in military transport vehicles through a lost temple with Indiana Jones. (It is one of the first
Disney attractions that has a different experience each time guests ride.)
The Lion King becomes the top-selling home video of all time, selling over 30 million
units domestically and surpassing the record set in 1994 by Snow White and the
Seven Dwarfs.
Walt Disney Pictures releases the comedy Man of the House, starring Chevy Chase,
Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Farrah Fawcett, Zachary Browne and George Wendt. A resourceful
11-year-old boy, Ben, tries to scare off his mother’s suitor, Jack, a beleaguered federal prosecutor unprepared for stepfatherhood. It is Thomas' motion picture debut (as his only prior credit for a feature is the animated The Lion King).
Roommates, a comedy-drama film starring Peter Falk, D. B. Sweeney and Julianne
Moore is released through Hollywood Pictures, Interscope Communications, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, and Nomura Babcock & Brown. At 75, feisty old timer Rocky adopts his orphaned grandson Michael. At 100, Rocky moves in with the boy who is now a medical intern, but can they be roommates? Also featuring Ellen Burstyn and Ernie Sabella, Roommates is distributed by Buena Vista Pictures.
1845:
Florida becomes the 27th state to join the United States of
America when President John Tyler (on the last day of his
administration) signs into law the act granting statehood to
Florida's 57,921 inhabitants.
2005:
Disneyland hosts a special evening event in celebration of the
10th anniversary of the Indiana Jones Adventure attraction.
In celebration of the
Star Spangled Banner
(written by Francis Scott Key)
becoming the U. S. National Anthem
in 1931, today is ...
1906:
Don Novis, the Golden Horseshoe's Irish tenor, is born in East Sussex, England. Novis
came to the United States in the late 1920s to pursue a career in acting and singing. Throught the 1930s, he
appeared on screen in numerous films and on the Broadway stage. From 1932-1934 Novis led his own orchestra
which made several recordings for Brunswick Records. In 1955 he co-created the script for the long-running "Golden
Horseshoe Revue" at Disneyland’s Frontierland with Wally Boag. The show ran continuously to 1986, and Novis
himself starred in the production from its inception until his retirement 9 years later in 1964.
1937:
Bobby Driscoll, the voice and model for Peter Pan in the 1953 Disney classic,
is born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He also appeared in such live-action Disney features as the 1950
Treasure Island (playing the role of Jim Hawkins), the 1948 So Dear to My Heart (as Jeremiah), and the 1946
Song of the South (as Johnny).
1963:
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color airs "A Square Peg in a Round
Hole." Ludwig Von Drake, founder of the Research Institute For Human Behavior to study humans'
psychological makeup, uses Donald Duck as his guinea pig for the testing.
1975:
Albert Fields, a member of the Disney Channel's
The All New Mickey Mouse Club, is born in Gary, Indiana.
1983:
The EPCOT attraction Journey Into Imagination (sponsored by Kodak) debuts.
It will have its official opening 2 days later.
The Buena Vista Palace hotel opens at Lake Buena Vista at Walt Disney World.
1999:
Shania Twain's television special Winter Break airs, featuring Elton John as a special
guest. She performs "Amneris' Letter" (written by John & Tim Rice for Disney's stage show Aida) with John
accompanying her on piano. (Twain appears on Elton John's Aida CD - to be released later in the month.)
2000:
Mardi Gras 2000 takes over the Florida streets of
Downtown Disney's Pleasure Island for five nights of festivites.
2001:
The animated Disney's House of Mouse debuts the 7th episode
"Gone Goofy."
Disney's town of Celebration, Florida, hosts its first
annual Celebration Art Festival in the Market Street
shopping district. The two-day festival features artwork
from more than 200 local and national artists.
At the Producers Guild of America awards, the Kodak Vision Award in
Theatrical Motion Pictures is presented to
Roy E. Disney (by actress Angela Lansbury) for Fantasia 2000.
2004:
Disney's Board of Directors hold their Annual Meeting of Shareholders
at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia at 10 a.m. The
meeting is available live via webcast at the Investor Relations' Web site.
Roy Disney's speech includes these words:
"My Dad was quoted once as saying, It's easy to make decisions, once you know what
your values are. Unfortunately, our corporate values have been compromised in
recent years."
Hours after the meeting, the Board announces that Michael Eisner will
be replaced as Chairman of the Board by Senator George J. Mitchell.
2006:
The 3rd Annual ESPN The Weekend Presented by Speed Stick 24/7 kicks off at Disney-MGM Studios.
Phil Simms was the first NFL player to say, "I'm going to Disneyland!" in the popular TV advertising campaign.
1984:
The Disney Channel premieres the series The Edison Twins (a popular Canadian
program running since 1982 on CBC Television) with the episode "Code Affair."
The show centers around Tom & Annie, two twins who use their interest and knowledge of science to
solve mysteries. (Geared toward young adults, it will run for 6 seasons.)
MARCH 3
NATIONAL ANTHEM DAY
MARCH 03
THIS SITE MADE IN THE USA
Bobby Driscoll born
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1957:
The first annual Disneyland Pancake Races kick off for the next 3 days.
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"Don't you understand, Tink? You mean more to me than anything in this whole world!" -Peter Pan
2010:
The 17th Annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival begins in Florida.
The 75-day event features thirty million blooms, half a million plants, 60 tons of topiary and 600 butterflies.
The festival’s weekend Flower Power concert series will includes 11 artists and groups such as Jose
Feliciano, Paul Revere & The Raiders, and David Cassidy.
The Atlanta Braves beat the New York Mets 9-5 in their second spring training
game of the season at Champion Stadium in Disney's Wide World of Sports.
1934:
Disney releases the Mickey Mouse short Playful Pluto. Directed by Bert Gillett, Pluto
pesters Mickey while doing his housecleaning.
1928:
Walt Disney, still visiting New York, continues to re-negotiate a deal (for the third day in
a row) with Charles Mintz of Winkler Productions for the next series of Oswald
cartoons. Mintz once again raises his offer from the day before to $1800 per film plus 50 percent of the profits. But
now Mintz also wishes to take over the Disney studio, paying Walt and Roy $200 per week as his employees. Walt
absolutely refuses.
1977:
Episode 34 of The New Mickey Mouse Club airs on television. Donald Duck introduces
Mickey and the Beanstalk, a Mouska-movie special.
1946:
Bobby Driscoll celebrates his ninth birthday on the set of Disney's Song of the
South. Director Harve Foster and Walt Disney himself present Bobby with a cake.
2011:
Disney and HP executives are joined by sports celebrities and ESPN personalities at
ESPN Wide World of Sports for the dedication ceremony for the newly named "HP
Field House." The HP Field House is a 165,000-square-foot, multi-sport venue, which debuted in 1997 when
the Disney sports complex opened. With the new HP partnership, the facility is now outfitted with HP technology.
MAR
MAR
1950:
The Brave Engineer, a Walt Disney-produced short subject cartoon, based on the
exploits of legendary railroad engineer John Luther "Casey" Jones, is released. Jones
was a real-life engineer who worked for the Illinois Central Railroad during the late 1800s.
2013:
D23′s Disney Fanniversary celebration continues its 10-city tour with a stop at
the Phoenix Center for the Arts in Phoenix, Arizona.
The Broadway production of the award-winning Disney-Cameron Mackintosh musical
Mary Poppins plays its final performance at the New Amsterdam Theater. The 3PM show
is the production's 2,619th and final performance.
March 3
This Day in Disney History - THE FIRST - THE ORIGINAL
Traveling in time since 1999!
2016:
Disney announces plans to add two more ships to the line's fleet, bringing its total to
six. At 135,000 tons, the new ships will be slightly larger than Disney's two newest vessels, the Disney Dream and
Disney Fantasy, which measure 130,000 tons a piece and debuted in 2011 and 2012, respectively. Each of the
newcomers will have about 1,250 cabins, the same number found on the earlier ships. They are expected to debut
in 2021 and 2023.
2015:
Disney's Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast is released direct-to-video.
A computer-animated fantasy film directed by Steve Loter, it had a limited theatrical release, opening on
January 30, 2015 at the El Capitan Theatre for a 13-day engagement. Fun and talented animal fairy Fawn believes
you can't judge a book by its cover, or an animal by its fangs, so she befriends a huge and mysterious creature known
as the NeverBeast. While Tinkerbell and her friends aren't so sure about this scary addition to Pixie Hollow, the elite
Scout Fairies set out to capture the monster before he destroys their home. The voice cast includes Ginnifer Goodwin
(as Fawn), Mae Whitman (as Tinker Bell), Lucy Liu (as Silvermist), and Raven-Symoné (as Iridessa).
1964:
Teddy Newton, an artist, writer, director, and voice actor at Pixar Animation Studios,
is born in Encino, California. Newton co-wrote the short Jack-Jack Attack as well as did the voices of multiple characters in movies such as The Incredibles, Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up, and Toy Story 3. His directional debut was Day & Night, which he was nominated at Oscars for Best Animated Short Film.
1967:
Buena Vista releases Disney's animated and live-action feature film
The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin to theaters. An upbeat Gold Rush era Western, the film is
based on the novel "By the Great Horn Spoon" by Sid Fleischman. The cast includes Roddy McDowall (as
Bullwhip Griffin), Suzanne Pleshette (as Arabella Flagg), Karl Malden (as Judge Higgins), Harry Guardino (as
Sam Trimble) and Richard Haydn (as Quentin Bartlett). Although a live-action film, The Adventures of Bullwhip
Griffin features an animated opening credits sequence and some clever cartoon interstitials and transitions by
veteran Ward Kimball (who is credited with "Titles & Things").
1970:
Actress/model Julie Bowen is born Julie Bowen Luetkemeyer in Baltimore, Maryland.
Best known for playing Claire Dunphy on the ABC-TV comedy Modern Family (starting in 2009), she also voiced
Lil' Dipper in the 2014 animated Planes: Fire & Rescue. Her Modern Family role brought her six nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (2010–2015), which she won in 2011 and 2012. Bowen's voice credits also include Queen Arianna (Rapunzel's mother) for Tangled: The Series, and six episodes of DuckTales as Lieutenant Penumbra.
1993:
Motion-picture designer, artist & musician Harper Goff, who collaborated with Walt Disney on Disneyland's design, passes away just short of his 82nd birthday in Palm Springs, California. He began in the business at Warner Brothers as a set designer on such films as Casablanca and The Adventures of Don Juan. Harper met Walt Disney in 1951, and was asked to sketch out a possible True-Life Adventure short called 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. A huge Jules Verne fan, Harper designed what became the film's famous Nautilus. Harper later worked on Disneyland where his concepts for Main Street established the fact that a story could be told with architecture (he designed the park's City Hall). He also led the design effort for Epcot's World Showcase pavilions and played banjo as a member of the Firehouse Five Plus Two (a Dixieland jazz band made up of Disney studio employees). His non-Disney credits included Fantastic Voyage (1966) and Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971). Ralph Harper Goff will be posthumously named a
Disney Legend in October 1993.
2018:
Actor David Ogden Stiers passes away in Oregon at age 75. He voiced a number of Disney characters during the 1990s and 2000s, most notably Cogsworth in 1991's Beauty and the Beast, Governor Ratcliffe and Wiggins in the 1995 Pocahontas, and Dr. Jumba Jookiba in 2002's Lilo & Stitch, its sequel films, and Lilo & Stitch: The Series. (Television fans will remember him as Major Charles Emerson Winchester III on the series M*A*S*H.)
1992:
Classic Queen, a compilation album by the British rock band Queen, is released on Disney's Hollywood Records. The album is a U.S. version of Greatest Hits II and is issued to capitalize
on the renewed popularity of Queen in the United States following the release of the movie Wayne's World and the death of singer Freddie Mercury. The 17 tracks include such hits as "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Under Pressure," "Radio Ga Ga," and "The Show Must Go On."
2017:
The debut EP from the rock trio Ocean Park Standoff is released on Disney's Hollywood Records.
2020:
The 1998 A Bug's Life, the 2001 Monsters, Inc., and the 2008 WALL-E are all
released to 4K Blu-ray.
1913:
Disney comics artist. Manual Gonzales is born in Zamora, Spain. Emigrating to the USA in 1918, he began working at the Walt Disney Studios in September 1936. He initially started as an "in-betweener" on several short animated stories and on the motion picture Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and as an artist in the Publicity Department creating pencil art for publicity drawings and Good Housekeeping Disney children's pages. Later working in the comic strip department, Gonzales took over the illustrating of the Mickey Mouse comic strip's Sunday page from Floyd Gottfredson in 1938. He also worked on other Disney comic strips and illustrations, such as inking Donald Duck and Scamp dailies, illustrating newspaper comic adaptations of different Disney films (like Song of the South) and illustrating some Disney books. Only interrupted by his military service for the USA in World War II from 1942 to 1945, Gonzales performed this job for Disney until his retirement in 1981.
1976:
Lyricist and author Ray Gilbert passes away at age 63 in California. First coming to Hollywood in 1939, he later began working for Walt Disney. Gilbert is best remembered for the lyrics to the Oscar-winning song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" from the film Song of the South, which he wrote with Allie Wrubel in 1947. He also wrote American English lyrics for the songs in The Three Caballeros featuring Donald Duck. Gilbert's "All the Cats Join In" and "Without You," were featured in Make Mine Music.
2021:
Epcot’s Flower and Garden Festival returns for its 28th year starting on this day and running through July 5.
Nominations for the 48th Annie Awards are announced. Among the nominees:
-Best Feature: Onward and Soul
-Best TV/Media - Children: Star Wars: The Clone Wars
-Best FX for Feature: Soul
-Best Character Animation - Feature: Onward and Soul
-Best Character Animation - Live Action: The Mandalorian and Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made
-Best Character Design - TV/Media: The Owl House
-Best Character Design - Feature: Soul
-Best Direction - TV/Media: The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse
-Best Direction - Feature: Soul
-Best Music - TV/Media: Star Wars: The Clone Wars
-Best Music - Feature: Onward and Soul
-Best Production Design - Feature: Onward and Soul
-Best Storyboarding - Feature: Soul
-Best Voice Acting - TV/Media: Phineas and Ferb the Movie
-Best Voice Acting - Feature: Onward
-Best Writing - TV/Media: Fancy Nancy
-Best Writing - Feature: Onward and Soul
-Best Editorial - Feature: Onward and Soul
Winners will be announced Friday April 16. Juried Awards will also be presented honoring unparalleled achievement and exceptional contributions to animation. The Special Achievement Award will be presented to Howard, a 2018 American documentary film written and directed by Don Hahn about the life of songwriter Howard Ashman.
2022:
Actor, writer, photographer, and automotive historian Tim Considine passes at age 81 in California. He was best known for his roles in the 1955–1957 Disney TV serials Spin and Marty (playing Spin) and Hardy Boys (portraying older brother Frank opposite Tommy Kirk as Joe), both of which appeared in 15-minute segments on The Mickey Mouse Club. Considine also appeared in The Swamp Fox as Gabriel Marion, nephew of Francis Marion; and in the Disney motion picture The Shaggy Dog. In 2000, Considine and David Stollery, his co-star in the Spin and Marty serials, made cameo appearances in The New Adventures of Spin and Marty. In 2006, Considine was named a Disney Legend.
