2005:
The Academy Award-winning Disney/Pixar animated feature The Incredibles is
released on DVD. Included as a bonus feature is Mr. Incredible and Pals - an animated Pixar short.
Walt Disney Records releases 2 CDs - The Ice Princess soundtrack (a compilation of
music by such artists as Diana DiGarmo, Michelle Branch and Jesse McCartney) and
Disney's On The Record (a 2-disc original cast recording based on the touring stage
musical).
Although open to guests since March 13, Crush 'N' Gusher, a water coaster in
Disney's Typhoon Lagoon at Walt Disney World, has an official debut. The first water
coaster to be built for a Disney water park, local swimmers slosh and ride the new attraction as soap star Kirsten
Storms (from "Days of Our Lives") emcees the event.
1904:
Actor J. Pat O'Malley is born in Burnley, England. His Disney credits include Robin Hood (as the
voice of Otto), The Jungle Book (voicing both characters Col. Hathi the Elephant and Buzzie), Mary Poppins (playing
various secondary roles), Son of Flubber (as the Sign Painter) and One Hundred and One Dalmatians (voicing both
Colonel and Jasper). O'Malley also played the role of of Perkins, the English servant assigned to watch over Monty
Markham in The Adventures of Spin and Marty. Along with Paul Frees, O'Malley voiced many of the pirates for
Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean attraction.
1910:
Nick Stewart (sometimes credited as Nicodemus Stewart), the voice of Br'er Bear in the 1946 Song of the South, is born in New York City.
1927:
Jack Lindquist, Disneyland's first advertising manager who went on to become
President of Disneyland, is born in Chicago, Illinois. While an advertising manager, Lindquist created
Disney Dollars. An employee from September 1955 until his retirement in November 1993, he received a commemorative
window on Main Street, U.S.A., at Disneyland (that reads "J.B. Lindquist, Honorary Mayor of Disneyland") and
was named a Disney Legend in 1994. In 2010, Lindquist's memoir entitled "In Service to the Mouse: My Unexpected Journey to Becoming Disneyland's First President" was published by Chapman University Press/Neverland Media.
1957:
David Silverman, co-director of Monsters, Inc., is born in New York City. (He's also directed episodes of the TV animated series The Simpsons.)
1973:
Tenor Bob Mathis of the Dapper Dans of Disney World, performs with the popular barbershop quartet for the last time. A member since their inception, he leaves to direct a choral society in Atlanta, Georgia.
1987:
The Walt Disney Company airs Young Harry Houdini as part of their recently
relaunched "Disney Sunday Movie" on ABC-TV. The two-hour made-for-TV film stars Will
Wheaton and Jose Ferrer and features an introduction by the relatively new Disney CEO, Michael Eisner.
1998:
PB&J Otter, a half-hour animated television series, premieres on Playhouse Disney (the brand name for Disney Channel's preschool programs). A total of 65 episodes will be produced over the course of its three season run.
2001:
The Disneyland Resort in California officially welcomes its 450-millionth guest, first-
time visitor to Disneyland, Mark Ramirez of Texas, a civilian production management
specialist for the U.S. Air Force. Ramirez, his wife, and three daughters are honored during a
ceremony where he is presented with a lifetime pass to the Disneyland Resort (Disneyland and Disney's
California Adventure), a stay at the new Disney's Grand Californian Hotel and a gift pack. He is also given the
honor of changing the official attendance sign at Disneyland's Train Station from 400 million to 450 million.
2002:
The Lizzie McGuire episode "The Rise and Fall of Kate" debuts
on the Disney Channel.
Singer-songwriter Phil Collins (known for his music in Tarzan) is among the 10
inducted as Disney Legends. In honor of the opening of the Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland
Paris, all of this year's inductees are of European origin.
2006:
In another first for Disney and Apple, High School Musical, Disney Channel's hit, becomes the first full length movie to be sold on Apple's iTunes Music Store.
1975:
The revised film America the Beautiful opens at the Circle-Vision 360° Theater at Walt
Disney World, replacing Magic Carpet 'Round the World. Originally shot as a Circarama film for the
1958 World's Fair in Brussels, it debuted at Disneyland in 1960 and was later re-shot in 1967 as a Circle-Vision 360 film. The movie opened at the Magic Kingdom on November 25, 1971 and played until March 15, 1974.
This revised version now includes scenes of Philadelphia for the upcoming American Bicentennial.
Actress, producer, director, activist, and businesswoman Eva Longoria is born in Corpus Christi, Texas. She is best known for her role as Gabrielle Solis on the ABC-TV series Desperate Housewives,
which ran from 2004 to 2012 and for which she received Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.
1960:
Christopher Michael Sanders, film animator and voice actor best known for co-directing the Disney animated feature Lilo & Stitch, and providing the voice of
Experiment 626 & Leroy for Disney's Leroy & Stitch, is born in Colorado. A 1984
graduate of the California Institute of the Arts, he has also served as a storyboard artist, artistic director, and
character designer on Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Mulan.
Audio-animatronics was originally
a creation of Lee Adams, who
started his career with Disney as
an electrician at the Burbank,
California studio and was one of
Disney's original Imagineers. The
first Disney Audio-Animatronic
was the giant squid in the movie
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,
which was created by Adams!
1945:
The 1944 Academy Awards are held at Grauman's Chinese Theatre with hosts John Cromwell and Bob Hope. Although Disney's animated Goofy short How to Play Football is nominated for Short Subjects, Cartoon ... MGM's Mouse Trouble takes home the Oscar.
1767:
Andrew Jackson, the seventh United States President, is
born in the Waxhaws area near the border between North and
South Carolina. Jackson was the first president to be exhibited in a Disney park ...
a mannequin of "Old Hickory" was part of the Davy Crockett exhibit in Frontierland, later
moved to Tom Sawyer Island (a decade before "Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln").
Visit Jackson and all the U.S. Chief Executives at Disney World's The Hall of Presidents.
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1940:
Disney's Donald Duck short The Riveter - directed by Dick Lundy - is released.
An unhappy Donald lands a job working high steel as a riveter for construction foreman Pete.
MARCH 15
MARCH 15
THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
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1991:
Disney Afternoon Avenue, a colorful street of cartoon buildings located between It's a Small World and Videopolis, opens at Disneyland. Inspired by the success of the two-hour programming block Disney Afternoon (which will run through 1997) guests can meet TaleSpin star Baloo and Rescue Rangers stars Chip 'n' Dale and Launchpad McQuack. (This area will be eliminated 6 months later, when construction begins for Mickey's Toontown.)
2009:
Walt Disney World guests and cast members pause to catch a glimpse of space shuttle Discovery as it soars over the early evening Florida sky. The seven-member crew lifts off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 7:43 p.m. EDT to deliver the final set
of power-generating solar array wings and a new crew member to the International Space Station.
Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years, an exhibit about the history of Disneyland (located on Main Street, U.S.A. in the Opera House) closes. Hosted by Steve Martin and Donald Duck, the attraction first premiered in May 2005 to help celebrate the park's 50th anniversary.
2002 Disney Legends inducted
"I'll have the music, and then I'll just turn the microphone on, press Play and Record and sing. And whatever comes out ends up being the melody." -Disney Legend Phil Collins
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"Americans are not a perfect people, but we are called to a perfect mission."
-Andrew Jackson
MAR
MAR
March 15
Ides of March
This Day in Disney History - THE FIRST - THE ORIGINAL
Traveling in time since 1999!
1983:
Gun Shy, a new sitcom produced by Walt Disney Productions, debuts on CBS-TV.
Based on Disney's popular comedy-western films The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975) and The Apple Dumpling
Gang Rides Again (1979), it stars Barry Van Dyke (son of Dick Van Dyke), Tim Thomerson, and Geoffrey Lewis.
(It will only run for 6 episodes before being cancelled.)
2018:
We Love Mickey!, a multimedia show on Main Street, U.S.A. at Hong Kong
Disneyland premieres. The nighttime spectacular showcases cutting-edge visual effects and lighting
all over the buildings of Main Street.
1996:
Two Much, a romantic screwball comedy film based on Donald Westlake's novel of
the same name, is released in U.S. theaters by Touchstone Pictures. An unscrupulous
con man, played by Antonio Banderas, runs an ongoing scam that involves deceiving grieving widows. Distributed
in the U.S. by Buena Vista Pictures, the film also stars Melanie Griffith, Daryl Hannah, Danny Aiello, Joan Cusack, and Eli Wallach.
2020:
Walt Disney theme parks in Florida and Paris, France close at the end of this day due
to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Hotels, retail and dining complexes will temporarily remain open and cast members will be paid during the closure period.) The final performance of the Matsuraza Taiko Drumming group at the Japan Pavilion in EPCOT takes place. The group has played in the same location for 25 years. With WDW closing, contracts for several of the World Showcase international performance groups (such as The British Revolution at the U.K. Pavilion and Sergio the Italian Mime at the Italy Pavilion) have been terminated.
Today also winds up being the final day of the 27th Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival. It had only started March 4 and was set to run until June 1.
Primeval Whirl, a steel Wild Mouse roller coaster at Disney's Animal Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort, closes. The ride had been reduced to seasonal operation since June 2019.
Opened since 2002, the ride was a spinning roller coaster (purchased from Reverchon Industries) that was part of Chester and Hester's Dino-Rama.
1969:
Actress Kim Raver is born in New York City. Best known for her role on ABC's Grey's Anatomy, she also supplies the voice of Captain Marvel for the animated Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors.
1906:
Animator & director Paul Smith is born. Beginning as a cel painter for Walt Disney Animation in August 1926, he soon moved up to an animator to work on the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and Alice cartoons. His stay was short and Smith went on to work for Walter Lantz Studio through 1973.
2021:
The nominees for the 93rd Academy Awards are announced in a global livestream on the official website by Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Nick Jonas. Among the nominees:
-Best Picture: Nomadland – Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey, and Chloé Zhao
-Best Director: Chloé Zhao – Nomadland
-Best Actress: Frances McDormand – Nomadland as Fern
-Best Adapted Screenplay: Nomadland – Chloé Zhao, based on the book by Jessica Bruder
-Best Animated Feature Film: Onward – Dan Scanlon and Kori Rae & Soul – Pete Docter and Dana Murray
-Best Animated Short Film: Burrow – Madeline Sharafian and Michael Capbarat
-Best Cinematography: Nomadland – Joshua James Richards
-Best Costume Design: Mulan – Bina Daigeler
-Best Original Score: Soul – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon Batiste
-Best Sound: Soul – Ren Klyce, Coya Elliot, and David Parker
-Best Film Editing: Nomadland – Chloé Zhao
-Best Visual Effects: Mulan – Sean Faden, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury, and Steven Ingram
The Oscars are scheduled to be handed out on April 25, 2021.
DuckTales, a 2017 reboot of the original 1987 animated series of the same name, airs a 67-minute finale titled "The Last Adventure!" Developed by Matt Youngberg and Francisco Angones, and produced by Disney Television Animation, the series focused on the lives of Scrooge McDuck and his family as they engaged in a variety of adventures.
2016:
Disney's 1998 animated Mulan is released to Blu-ray.
1989:
Actress Caitlin Wachs is born in Eugene, Oregon. Her Disney film credits include Air Bud: World Pup, Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch, and Inspector Gadget 2. Wachs also appeared in the Disney Channel Original Movie Phantom of the Megaplex. Her television credits include Mickey's Fun Songs: Beach Party at Walt Disney World and the ABC TV series Commander in Chief.
