2006:
Disney releases High School Musical Encore Edition on DVD.
The release contains two versions of the Disney Channel movie - Original Version and
Sing Along Version. High School Musical is the highest-rated original programming in the history of the network.
A one-of-a-kind 100-foot high Mickey Mouse hot-air balloon makes
an appearance in downtown Salt Lake City during an 11-week North
American tour to promote Disneyland's 50th anniversary.
1989:
Today is Guest Day on Disney Channel's MMC.
Singer-actress Reba McEntire appears as herself.
2005:
The Alex Theatre in Glendale, California presents the documentary Dream
On Silly Dreamer (which features the story of artists who were affected
most by Disney's decision to close its animation facility in Florida).
The beta version of Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom opens to the public.
Also known as VMK, it is a free massive multiplayer online game run by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
Online. Launched as part of the Happiest Celebration on Earth (the promotional campaign to
commemorated fifty years of Disney theme parks) VMK is a representation of the actual Disneyland and
Magic Kingdom theme parks.
1910:
Character actor, singer & dancer Scatman Crothers, the voice of Scat Cat
in Disney's 1970 animated The Aristocats, is born Benjamin Sherman
Crothers in Terre Haute, Indiana. He also appeared on a 1976 episode of The Mike Douglas Show (which was taped at Walt Disney World), appeared as himself on the 1978 television special NBC Salutes the 25th Anniversary of the Wonderful World of Disney, and played the role of Sherman in Disney's 1985 live-action film The Journey of Natty Gann. A prolific voice-over actor, cartoon fans know Crothers as the voices of Meadowlark Lemon in The Harlem Globetrotters, Jazz the Autobot in The Transformers and the title character of Hong Kong Phooey. Crothers appeared in the 1970s sitcom "Chico and the Man" as Louie the Garbage Man. You may remember him best from such feature films as Porgy and Bess, The King of Marvin Gardens, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Shining, and Twilight Zone: The Movie. Crothers passed in 1986 at the age of 76 at his home in Van Nuys, California, after struggling with lung cancer for nearly four years.
1922:
Walt Disney incorporates his Kansas City cartoon company, Laugh-O-Gram
Films, Inc. It is located on the upper floor of the McConahy Building located at 1127 East 31st Street.
(This is the same building that today is the focus of a grass roots restoration and urban renewal effort, the
details of which can be found at Thank You Walt Disney.) Unfortunately, Disney will sell his one-reel
cartoons for less than it cost to produce them, and Laugh-O-Grams will go belly-up.
1931:
Actress & author Barbara Barrie, the voice of Alcmene in Disney's animated Hercules, is
born in Chicago, Illinois. Her Disney credits also include the 1978 TV episode "Child of Glass" as Emily
Armsworth. Barrie has had a lengthy career on stage and in film and television, including a 1963 Twilight Zone episode.
Disney's Silly Symphony short The China Plate, directed by Wilfred Jackson,
is released. Painted characters on a china plate come to life.
1955:
Fourteen-year-old actor Tim Considine is signed to a $400-a-week
contract to play Spin in Disney's Spin and Marty TV serial.
1958:
Comedian, actor, photographer and game show host
Drew Carey, star of Disney's 2000 TV film Gepetto and
the Disney theme park attraction Sounds Dangerous,
is born in Cleveland, Ohio. Sounds Dangerous, a 12-minute film
attraction, first debuted at Disney-MGM in 1999. Carey, who also had a
small role in Disney's 1995 TV version of Freaky Friday, is best known for
his ABC-TV sitcom The Drew Carey Show and as host of the U.S. version of ABC-TV's Whose Line Is It Anyway? - which debuted in 1998. (Carey can sometimes be spotted on the sidelines of U.S. National Team soccer games as
a press photographer!)
1983:
Disneyland continues with the grand re-opening of the new Fantasyland.
The children of the original kids that first crossed the drawbridge in 1955 are the first to re-enter twenty
eight years later. In the presence of Mrs. Walt Disney, the drawbridge of Sleeping Beauty Castle is lowered for
only the second time in the park's history! New attractions include Pinocchio's Daring Journey.
Tokyo Disneyland welcomes its 1-millionth guest.
(The park has only been opened for less than 2 months!)
Composer & Disney Legend George Bruns passes away in
Portland, Oregon at age 68. Among his musical accomplishments -
Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me) co-written with Xavier Atencio & used in the
Disney theme park attraction Pirates of the Caribbean and the movies based
on that ride, The Ballad of Davy Crockett co-written with Thomas Blackburn,
and Love for the Disney animated film Robin Hood.
The Fairest of The All, a syndicated television special in celebration of the re-release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, airs. Directed by Cardon Walker (the son of Disney executive
E. Cardon Walker), it is hosted by actor Dick Van Patten. Viewers are introduced to many of the artists who worked on the 1937 film, and Adriana Caselotti and Harry Stockwell, the voices of Snow White and the Prince, are reunited.
1996:
Disney joins McDonald's in a 10-year multinational marketing alliance linking McDonald's restaurants to Disney theatrical releases, theme
parks and home video releases.
1997:
The Disneyland parade Light Magic debuts.
2001:
The Magic Carpets of Aladdin soar to life at Disney World's Magic Kingdom.
Based on the 1992 film "Aladdin," guests ride aboard one of sixteen 'rugs' surround by a giant Genie lamp.
Located in Adventureland, the attraction design is very similar to Dumbo the Flying Elephant.
The Magic Kingdom Park is the first Disney theme park in the world to have The Magic Carpets of Aladdin.
A second will open in 2002 at Walt Disney Studios Park and a third in 2011 at Tokyo DisneySea.
2002:
It is reported that Home Depot and the Walt Disney Co. have agreed in principle on a three-year, $100 million cross-platform deal. It includes ad spending across assorted Disney media properties ABC, ESPN & Lifetime. Part of the deal will also include the development of The Disney Paint Program,
an exclusive room decorating program featuring a line of Disney-brand children's paint.
2003:
Herman's Hermits featuring Peter Noone perform at
Epcot as part of the Flower Power concert series. They will
play 3 shows a day throughout the Memorial Day weekend at America
Gardens Theatre - a large outdoor waterfront venue opposite the American
Adventure Pavilion. (Playing keyboards as a member of Noone's road
Hermits is the webmaster of This Day in Disney History.)
Winnie-the-Pooh's name was hyphenated in the A.A. Milne books, but lost its hyphens in the Disney incarnation!
1936:
Actor Charles Kimbrough is born in St. Paul, Minnesota. He supplied the voice
of Victor, one of the three gargoyles in Disney's 1996 animated feature The Hunchback of Notre
Dame. (TV fans remember Kimbrough for playing the straight-faced anchor Jim Dial on Murphy Brown.)
MAY 23
Drew Carey born
1982:
The television special Computers Are People Too! airs. Exploring the
possibilities of interaction between man and computer, the show features
techniques introduced in the 1982 Walt Disney movie Tron.
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MAY 23
THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
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"This is my Ear-Force One." -Mickey Mouse hot-air balloon co-pilot Scott Spencer
In memory of George Bruns (1914-1983)
Interestingly, Milne didn't write the Pooh stories and poems for
children, but instead intended
them for the child within us.
selected Disney music credits:
The AbsentMinded Professor (1961)
Son of Flubber (1963)
The Sword in the Stone (1963)
The Ugly Dachshund (1966)
The Jungle Book (1967)
The AristoCats (1970)
Herbie Rides Again (1974)
2010:
The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra presents the 21st Silent Film Gala at
Royce Hall. Among the evening's presentations - the 1924 Walt Disney short, Alice’s Wild West Show,
starring Virginia Davis. The film is presented in honor of the late Roy E. Disney, who had been a great
supporter of the silent gala over the years.
The final 2 episodes of ABC's Lost airs on television. Simply titled "The End," the sixth and final season had premiered on February 2, 2010,
2009:
A Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique themed shop opens as My Little Princess at the
Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel.
Meanwhile over at Disney-MGM, the second (of 5) Star Wars Weekends takes
place with celebrity guests Andy Secombe (Watto) and Warwick Davis (Wicket).
MAY
Sounds Dangerous, a 12-minute audio show at Echo Lake inside Disney's Hollywood Studios starring comedian Drew Carey, first debuted in
April 1999. Upon entry into the theater, guests were given state-of-the-art headphones which were worn throughout the show. When the lights went
out and the mayhem began, guests experienced crystal-clear sound through the use of biaural audio technology, where a multitude of
unique sounds seemed to come at the audience from all directions. The attraction closed in May 2012.
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Photo by Bernie at Disney.Rocket9.net
1934:
Robert Arthur "Bob" Moog, pioneer of electronic music and best known
as the inventor of the Moog synthesizer, is born in New York City.
Composer Wendy Carlos used a Modular Moog synthesizer to perform the score for Disney's
1982 TRON, and the Moog put the "electric" in Disney's Main Street Electric Parade.
The Main Street Electrical Parade's underlying theme song is entitled "Baroque Hoedown," first created in
1967 by early synthesizer pioneers Jean-Jacques Perrey and Gershon Kingsley. In 1977, it was updated and
arranged by electronic music artist Don Dorsey for Disney's theme parks. Among Dorsey's arsenal of electronic keyboards used to record the music for Main Street Electrical Parade: a Moog Model III and a Mini-Moog.
2012:
The construction walls surrounding the Carthay Circle Theatre on Buena Vista Street
at Disney California Adventure are taken down. For the first time, park visitors get a chance to see
the details of the mosaic tile in the entrance foyer, as well as the menu for the restaurant and lounge. The inside of
the building remains closed to visitors, who will officially be allowed in June 15.
May 23
2013:
Disneyland holds the official premiere event for a new show called "Mickey and the Magical Map" for invited media and guests. Kicking off the premiere at the Fantasyland Theatre is
recently-named Disneyland President Michael Colglazier, with the help of Mickey Mouse. The stage show
will open to all guests May 25.
Later this evening, about 60 people form a line by 9:30 p.m. at Disneyland to
wait for a 24-hour party (that will take place in California and Florida), which will
start at 6 a.m. Friday (May 24). The first person, Victor Serrano of Santa Ana, got there at 5:30 p.m.
Disneyland Resort's Monstrous Summer All-Nighter will help kick off the Memorial Day Weekend.
2014:
Rock Your Disney Side 24-Hour event kicks off in Disney's Florida and California parks.
From 6:00 AM to 6:00 AM, May 23 to May 24, 2014, guests are invited to dress up for the occasion and join a
gathering of Disney heroes and villains for 24 hours of fun and follies.
2016:
Alice Through the Looking Glass Red Carpet Premiere takes place in Los Angeles, California. Among those in attendance are Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Crispin Glover, Matt Lucas, and Tim Burton. The film opens May 27.
1979:
Josh Cooley, an animator, screenwriter, director and voice actor, is born in Berkeley, California. Best known for working on the 2015 Pixar animated film Inside Out and directing the short film Riley's First Date?, he made his feature film directorial debut in 2019 with Toy Story 4. Cooley was recruited by Joe Ranft at Pixar, where he started his career as an intern, mostly working as a storyboard artist on films including The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, Up, and Cars 2. Cooley left Pixar during March 2020.
2019:
Rivers of Light closes at Animal Kingdom. Located in the park's Discovery River lagoon between Discovery Island and Expedition Everest, the show featured water fountains, mist screens, floating lanterns, fire effects, lasers, lights, fog, and projection mapping. (A retooled version of the show featuring animated characters, titled Rivers of Light: We Are One, will debut the next evening.)
