2001:
The 2001 Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival kicks off
six weeks of events and displays at the Disney World park.
A rare collection of photographs, books, papers and other personal items that belonged to the real Alice In Wonderland, Alice Pleasance Liddell Hargreaves is previewed at Sotheby's in New York. (The collection will be auctioned by Sotheby's in London on June 6.) The archive of materials include photographs that Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) took of young Alice and her sisters in the mid 1800s, silver hairbrushes used by Alice, her wedding ring, and a copy of Alice's Adventure's Under Ground that the author personally inscribed "to her whose namesake one happy summer day" inspired his story.
The Disney Channel airs the Lizzie McGuire episode "Election" for the first time.
2004:
Disney's 2003 live-action film The Haunted Mansion
is released on DVD and VHS.
1914:
Disney Legend Betty Lou Gerson - the narrator of Disney's 1950 classic Cinderella and the voice of Cruella De Vil in the 1961 101 Dalmations - is born in Chattanooga, Tennessee (though she will be raised in Birmingham, Alabama). She also played an old crone in the 1964 live-action Mary Poppins.
1935:
Disney's Silly Symphony cartoon The Robber Kitten is released.
An eager young kitten, tired of being mothered at home, runs away seeking adventure.
But a scary encounter with a robber, soon sends him flying home to Mom!
1937:
Actor George Takei - the voice of First Ancestor in Disney's Mulan and Mulan II - is born in Los Angeles, California. (Star Trek fans know him best as Mr. Sulu.)
1946:
Disney's 8th animated feature Make Mine Music premieres in New York. It will have its national release the following August. The film's 10 segments include "A Rustic Ballad," a tale of feuding hillbillies; "A Tone Poem," a mood piece set on a blue bayou; "A Jazz Interlude," about a booby-soxer who goes jitterbugging with her date at the malt shop; "A Ballad In Blue," where rain and somber landscapes illustrate the loss of a lover; "A Musical Recitation," which tells the famous tale of Casey at the Bat; "Ballade Ballet," where ballet dancers perform in silhouette; "A Fairy Tale with Music," which tells the story of Peter and the Wolf; "After You've Gone," in which 4 musical instruments chase through a surreal landscape; "A Love Story," about the romance between a fedora and a bonnet, and "Opera Pathetique," the story of Willie the Whale.
1959:
Actor Clint Howard, the voice of Roo in Disney's 1968 classic Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, is born in Burbank, California. Younger brother of actor-turned-director Ron Howard, Clint was also the voice of the elephant Hathi's son Hathi, Jr. in the 1967 The Jungle Book. (Film and TV fans may recognize him as Whobris in How the Grinch Stole Christmas and by his appearances in My Dog Skip, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, HBO's From the Earth to the Moon, and of course as the little boy on the 1967-1969 TV series Gentle Ben.)
1996:
Christopher Robin Milne, the son of writer A.A. Milne
(creator of Winnie the Pooh) passes away at age 75.
2000:
Al Weiss (President of Walt Disney World) and Michael Capellas (CEO of Compaq) announce plans for Disney World's newest Epcot attraction, Mission: SPACE (on the site once occupied by Horizons).
Singer Robert Plant appears at Disney's Theatre of the Stars (located at Disney-MGM) to leave his handprints outside the theatre.
2002:
After 7 months at sea as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, U.S.
military personnel aboard the USS Shreveport are welcomed to their home port in Norfolk, Virginia, by Mickey Mouse & Disneyland Resort representatives. Cast Members "adopted" the Shreveport as part of the Resort's Operation Uplift program through which Disney employees send messages of support & thanks to United States servicemen and women on active duty outside the U.S.
2006:
Mickey Mouse unveils a new Creativity Center designed by Disney Imagineers at the Roy W. Roberts, II - Watts/Willowbrook Boys & Girls Club in Los Angeles (as part of Disney's continuing support of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America). The festivities also include the interactive Disney Channel stage show "Imagineer That!" and a special guest appearance by Kyle Massey of Disney Channel's original comedy series That's So Raven.
1991:
The Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant opens in the Disney-MGM Studios.
Disney Legend Salvador Camarata (who played the trumpet) was given his nickname "Tutti" - in his younger years - by bandleader
Jimmy Dorsey. Among his Disney accomplishments - producing Annette Funicello's records.
2007:
The first of 4 Disney Grad Nites (a high school senior-only celebration that takes
place annually) kicks off at Disney World's Magic Kingdom.
Earth Day celebrations begin at Disney's Animal Kingdom. The park's
"Party for the Planet" event is organized by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
(Earth Day is April 22.)
"Walt challenged and inspired you by talking to you. He wouldn’t give you detailed instructions about what he wanted you to do. Instead, he would simply point you in the direction he wanted you to go, then leave the rest up to you. He would get you started on the creative process and inspire you with confidence. As a result, you would go far beyond what you thought you were capable of doing." -Tutti Camarata
APRIL 20
Today is Volunteer Recognition Day
APRIL 20
THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
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"Cruella was such an exaggerated character and that's exactly how I played her. She was a lot of fun, but I never expected her to become the cult figure that she became." -Gerson
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Make Mine Music premieres
The 8,500-acre Disney Wilderness Preserve, located approximately 12 miles southeast of the Walt Disney World Resort property includes an important section of the Reedy Creek Swamp where it enters Lake Hatchineha. Formerly the Walker Ranch, the property was purchased by WDW in an innovative partnership among government, environmental organizations and the private sector to help compensate for the impacts of development on wetlands.
1945:
Disney's Goofy short African Diary, directed by Jack Kinney, is released.
2010:
Pixar Animation Studios opens a new studio in the downtown area of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, named the Glenn McQueen Pixar Animation Center (after Canadian-born Pixar animator Glenn McQueen who passed away in 2002). The studio will produce shorts and TV-specials based on characters from Pixar's feature films.
1992:
The new animated TV series Goof Troop previews on the Disney Channel. Featuring the
voices of Bill Farmer (as Goofy) and Dana Hill (as his son Max), the series will start its regular run in September on
The Disney Afternoon (a two-hour television programming block).
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