1922:
Twenty-year-old Walt Disney begins work at his own cartoon company called Laugh-O-gram Films in Kansas City, Missouri. He will produce one-reel animated versions of 6 fairy tales, each lasting just one minute. Walt had felt that Kansas City theaters - which featured cartoons made by studios on the east coast - might be willing to buy some from a local company. He created a few and brought them to the Newman Theater. In order to clinch the deal, Walt calls them ... "Newman's Laugh-O-Grams." He will incorporate Laugh-O-gram Films in May of 1922 with $15,000 from backers. (These cartoons will be regarded as Walt's first professional effort in the field of animation.)
1967:
Roy Disney outlines his late brother's plan to build a theme park and the
world's first futuristic metropolis, or EPCOT, when Disney Productions announces it will build the world's first glass-domed city in central Florida.
The movie presentation, narrated by Walt Disney, who past December 15, 1966, is termed by officials as "Walt's last film." Project Florida A Whole New Disney World premieres at the Park East Theater in Winter Park, Florida at 2:00 PM, where it is screened for business and government figures. The 25-minute film shows a 50-acre, air conditioned "city of tomorrow" centered in a 1,000-acre industrial park between Orlando and Kissimmee.
2004:
Walt Disney Records continues the legacy of the 1970s album Free To Be You and Me with the release of the new CD A World of Happiness. The collection includes original songs, poems and skits performed by well known artists.
Super Bowl hero Tom Brady of the New England Patriots returns to Disney World with family and friends to celebrate his team's big win the day before. (This is the quarterback's second post-Super Bowl celebration at Disney World in three years!)
1938:
The first Donald Duck daily strip in the USA - drawn by Al Taliaferro - is published.
1955:
The Disneyland television series presents the 1949
"The Wind in the Willows" featuring Mr. Toad.
1986:
Disney returns to Sunday night TV, with Michael Eisner hosting the first Disney Sunday Movie, "Help Wanted: Kids," starring Cindy Williams and Bill Hudson. (The comedy will rank 41 out of the week's 68 network programs.)
1988:
The first filming for the television movie Splash Too (a sequel to Touchstone's first feature Splash) begins at the Disney-MGM Studios.
1989:
Shooting begins on Touchstone Pictures' Dick Tracy. Based on the comic strip character created by Chester Gould, this live-action feature stars Warren Beatty (who is also directing) and Madonna. (Touchstone Pictures is a film division of The Walt Disney Company.)
1992:
The first phase of Disney World's Dixie Landings Resort opens at 1251 Dixie Drive, Lake Buena Vista. Located in the Downtown Disney resort area, it is themed after the Louisiana Countryside. It includes the Boatwright's Dining Hall restaurant and Fulton's General Store.
1994:
Disney announces it will operate and restore the
New Amsterdam Theater on 42nd Street in New York City.
1996:
Gerry Laybourne, of Nickelodeon, is hired as the new president of Disney/ABC Cable Networks, where she will oversee The Disney Channel and Disney's interests in A&E and Lifetime.
Shamus Culhane, one of the the last great cartoonists who
pioneered the 20th-century art of the animated film, passes
away at the age of 87. Born James Culhane in 1908, he joined the Disney studio in 1935 already a veteran animator (in fact he took a cut in salary just to be part of "the world's greatest animation studio"). While at Disney he worked on Snow White and Pinocchio before moving on to the studios of Fleischer and Walter Lantz. Culhane later produced animated specials for ABC Television and in 1986 wrote his autobiography, "Talking of Animals and Other People," a veritable history of cartoon films and animators.
2001:
The Disney Channel airs the Lizzie McGuire episode "Pool Party" (also referred to as "Pilot").
2006:
Disney announces that the Disneyland and Disney World Pirates of the Caribbean attractions will be undergoing a 3-4 month makeover to work in character and plot elements from the movie series
that took its inspiration from the original attraction.
1933:
Actor Tony Jay, the speaking & singing voice of Judge Frollo in the animated
Disney film The Hunchback of Notre Dame, is born in London, England. Jay's
distinctive baritone voice can also be heard as Monsieur D'arque in Beauty and the Beast, Shere Kahn in
The Jungle Book 2, the narrator of Treasure Planet and Dr. Rosenthal in Recess: School's Out.
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The Grand Californian Hotel in
Anaheim, is currently the
only hotel actually inside a U.S.
Disney theme park. There
is an exclusive guest turnstile
between Disney's California
Adventure and the hotel.
FEB
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1950:
The cover of this day's issue of Western Family magazine features Mickey and Minnie Mouse smooching through a giant valentine. The illustration is the work of Hank
Porter (originally a staff artist at the Disney Publicity Art Department).
2008:
Disney Channel airs the 4th Phineas and Ferb episode -
"The Fast and the Phineas."
Rock 'n' Roll Beach Club, a rock-themed dance club located in Disney World's Pleasure Island closes. Opened since April 1990, the popular club featured live bands. Rock 'n' Roll Beach Club and all of the other Pleasure Island nightclubs will eventually be replaced with restaurants.
(The beach club originally opened in 1989 as the XZFR Rockin’ Rollerdrome which included a roller rink inside the club. The rink was deemed too dangerous and was removed in favor of a beach theme.)
FEBRUARY 2
advertisement
Today is Groundhog Day
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FEBRUARY 02
THIS
SITE MADE
IN THE USA
Dixie Landings Resort opens
2009:
Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes (of the champion Pittsburgh Steelers)
takes part in a Victory Parade at the Magic Kingdom in Disney World.
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1990:
Stella, a film produced by Touchstone and released by Buena Vista Pictures, is
released. Starring Bette Midler and John Goodman, it is adapted from the 1920 novel "Stella Dallas."
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SEASON 1 EPISODE 15
"This role was made for me. It called for a theatrical performance, and I have theatrical background with the Royal Shakespeare Company. I knew the part from the novel and the 1930s movie- it's a great, gripping story."
-Tony Jay on his role in The Hunchback of Notre Dame
2010:
The 82nd Annual Academy Award nominations are announced.
Disney/Pixar's Up is nominated for Best Motion Picture, Sound Editing, Original Screenplay, Best Animated
Film, and Original Score. Disney's The Princess and the Frog is also nominated for Best Animated Film plus
twice in the Original Song category with "Almost There" and "Down in New Orleans" both written by
Randy Newman.
"Our corporation is dedicated to making Walt Disney's dream a reality, but it cannot be done without the
help of you people here in Florida." -Roy O. Disney
Disney's comedy feature Monkeys, Go Home! premieres. Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, the film tells the zany story of American Henry Dussard (played by Dean Jones) who inherits a picturesque but badly neglected olive farm in southern France. Determined to make it operational again, despite cautionary advice from the local priest (played Maurice Chevalier) and a pretty villager named Maria (portrayed by Yvette Mimieux), the inventive Dussard puts together a unique crew of olive pickers ... four mischievous monkeys!
(Although he would contribute his voice to the animated The Aristocats, Monkey's Go Home! would be
Maurice Chevalier's last appearance before a camera.)
