2003:
The Lizzie McGuire episode "Grand Ole Grandma" debuts on Disney Channel.
1927:
Disney's Alice Comedy Alice's Auto Race, featuring Margie Gay, is released.
1928:
Poet, educator, author, actress and activist Maya Angelou, one of the original voices of Walt Disney World's The Hall of Presidents attraction, is born Marguerite Johnson
in St. Louis, Missouri.
1932:
Comedic actress Estelle Harris - the voice of Mrs. Potato Head in both Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3 - is born in New York City. Her long list of voice credits include the pet sitter, Mrs. Boogins in the animated Teacher's Pet, Mrs. Turtle in the TV series House of Mouse and Mrs. Lipsky in Kim Possible. Harris has also guest starred on such live-action Disney Channel series as Phil of the Future and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. (TV fans know her as Estelle Costanza, George's mom, from the hit sitcom Seinfeld.)
1944:
Actor Craig T. Nelson, the voice of Bob Parr/Mr. Incredible in the 2004
Disney-Pixar animated feature The Incredibles, is born in Spokane, Washington.
(Nelson is probably best known for his Emmy-winning role as Hayden Fox on the TV series Coach.)
RKO Pictures re-releases the film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in New York theaters.
1956:
The Disneyland series airs the episode "Where Do The Stories Come From?"
Along with actor Kirk Douglas & animators Ward Kimball and Ollie Johnston, Walt Disney answers viewers questions about the stories from his films.
Joanna Miller, Walt Disney's granddaughter, is born in
Monterey County, California.
1960:
Disney animator and technical genius Ub Iwerks wins an Oscar (Scientific or Technical,
Class III) for the design of an optical printer for special effects at the 32nd Annual Academy
Awards held at the RKO Pantages Theater, Los Angeles. (An optical printer is a camera and one or
more projectors operating in tandem, which makes it possible to photograph a photograph. Common optical effects include
fade outs & fade ins, dissolves, slow motion, fast motion, and matte work.) Although nominated, Sleeping Beauty, Noah's
Ark, Donald in Mathmagic Land, and Mysteries of the Deep are all edged out by their competitors.
1999:
Chart-topping acts Britney Spears and 98 Degrees hip-hop down Main Street, U.S.A. during the 14th annual Walt Disney World Happy Easter Parade. The event is broadcast on ABC-TV.
2001:
It is reported that actor Christopher Walken has closed a deal to play the lead human in the largely animatronic film The Country Bears for the
Walt Disney Company. (He will go on to play the role of Reed Thimple.)
2006:
Western Way, the new rear entrance to Disney World from the new
Western Beltway expressway opens in Florida. The 4-lane, divided
boulevard gives Disney a western entrance for the first time, allowing
tourists coming in via Interstate 75 to enter Central Florida on Florida's Turnpike
and the Western Beltway (State Road 429), without ever entering Orlando or
driving on Interstate 4.
Walt Disney Records releases both Disneymania 4 (the follow up to the platinum-selling Disneymania CDs) and Disney's Karaoke Series: Disneymania Volume 2.
The Disney-owned Lyric Street releases Me and My Gang, the fourth studio album
from the American country music group Rascal Flatts. The album will go double platinum in
the first month of release.
1952:
Man's Best Friend, a Disney short directed by Jack Kinney, is released. The cartoon features Goofy as the owner of a new puppy.
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The corporate headquarters
of Walt Disney Imagineering
are in, and have been
since the 1950s,
Glendale, California.
"All great achievements require time." -Maya Angelou
1990:
Rock 'n' Roll Beach Club, a rock-themed dance club, opens in Disney World's Pleasure Island. It replaces XZFR Rockin' Rollerdrome, a short lived club where guests could strap on skates and dance to rock music.
APRIL 4
APRIL 04
THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
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Rock 'n' Roll Beach Club opens
1938:
LIFE magazine features a two-page spread - Snow White Breaks all Records - in part about Marjorie Belcher, an 18-year-old dancer from Los Angeles who aided the animators in capturing live-action movements for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Belcher was the model for a real-life Snow White, enacting all the scenes of the story so that animators could study her expressions and poses. (Belcher, dressed as Snow White, had taken part in the Tournament of Roses Parade last January 1.)
1966:
Actress Nancy McKeon is born in Westbury, New York. Best remebered for her role
as Jo Polniaczek on the long-running NBC sitcom The Facts of Life, McKeon
portrays Connie Munroe (Sonny's mom) on Disney Channel's Sonny With a Chance.
2009:
At Shea's Buffalo (in Buffalo, New York) Walt Disney's Fantasia - the complete, uncut 1940 roadshow version - is screened.
Disney Channel's newest animated series Special Agent Oso debuts in the U.S. with two back-to-back episodes. Actor Sean Astin is the voice of Oso, a fuzzy, lovable, bumbling special agent-in-training who enlists the help of viewers at home to complete his assignments.
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Ub Iwerks wins Oscar
SEASON 2 EPISODE 25
As many as 150 species have reproduced at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. The very first birth, a kudu, which is a large African antelope, was born in October 1997 before the park even opened! Kudus are highly susceptible to the rinderpest virus, and many scientists think recurring epidemics of the disease have unfortunately reduced kudu populations in East Africa.
1994:
Michael Eisner temporarily assumes the titles of president and chief operating officer of Disney the day after the tragic death of Frank Wells. (The Lion King, which will be released in the summer of 1994, will be dedicated to Wells.)
1997:
Knight Ridder (at this time the second-largest newspaper publisher in the United States) announces it is buying four newspapers from the Walt Disney Company for $1.65 billion. As of this day, it is the most expensive newspaper acquisition in the history of the newspaper business. The newspapers are The Kansas Star in Missouri, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, The Belleville News-Democrat in Illinois, and The Times Leader in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
2010:
Disney Channel debuts its newest sitcom Good Luck Charlie, drawing 4.8 million viewers.
The series centers on the Duncan family, who are still adjusting to the "surprise" birth of their fourth child, Charlotte "Charlie" Duncan.
2011:
Acclaimed author Ridley Pearson visits Walt Disney World to celebrate the launch of his newest book; Kingdom Keepers IV: Power Play.
