2004:
Christy Carlson Romano (of Disney Channel's series
Even Stevens and the voice of the animated Kim Possible) joins the cast of the Broadway musical Beauty and the Beast. The 19-year-old Romano is the 13th actress to portray Belle since the musical opened in New York City in 1994.
Meanwhile over at the Palace Theatre, pop singer Deborah Cox replaces Michelle Williams in the title role of Aida.
Disney announces its deal to buy the Muppets
and Bear in the Blue House from Jim Henson.
2002:
The Studio Chapter of the NFFC, The Club for Disney Enthusiasts hosts Disney singer-songwriter Bob Moline at the Autry Museum of Western Heritage in Griffith Park California. Moline's work includes such Epcot songs as "Listen to the Land," "Canada," and "Golden Dream."
Voice-over actress Margaret Kerry (Tinker Bell's alter ego) and David Pacheco (Creative Director of Disney's Art Classics) appear as special guests of the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society at Walt Disney's Barn in Griffith Park, California.
1906:
Story man Otto Englander is born in Yugoslavia. His work at the Disney Studios included such classics as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, and Dumbo.
1933:
Artist Eric Larson marries Gertrude Jannes in Utah. With marriage, he will seek a new job with greater potential. (He will start work at the Disney Studio the following June & become one of Walt's "9 Old Men.")
1934:
Actor-comic Barry Humphries, the voice of Bruce in the 2003 Finding Nemo, is born in Victoria, Australia.
Disney's Mickey Mouse cartoon Camping Out, directed by David Hand, is released.
Mickey, Minnie, Horace, and Clarabelle are bothered by a mosquito while camping. But when Horace swats the
'skeeter, the little bug flies back to the swamp and rallies his relatives for a full-bore attack on the campers!
1960:
Disneyland's Satellite View of America, originally called Space Station X-1 when the park first opened in 1955, closes.
(It will be replaced by The Art of Animation the following May.)
1961:
The TV special Bell Telephone Hour: The Sounds of America airs on NBC.
This music and dance program was taped at Disneyland.
1963:
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color airs part 1 of "Banner in the Sky."
1981:
Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the voice of Jim Hawkins in the 2002 Disney feature Treasure Planet, is born in Los Angeles, California.
(TV fans may recognize him as Tommy on 3rd Rock from the Sun.)
1983:
Disney's Tron is nominated for 2 Academy Awards - Best Costume Design and Best Sound. The 55th Academy Awards will take place April 11.
1993:
Disney's Aladdin is nominated for 5 Academy Awards: Best Sound, Best Effects - Sound Effects Editing, twice for Best Music - Original Song, and Best Music - Original Score. The 65th Academy Awards will be presented March 29.
2001:
The animated Disney's House of Mouse airs the 5th episode "Unplugged Club."
John Elliot Sutherland, an award-winning industrial and educational filmmaker,
and one of the voices of the mature Bambi in the 1942 Disney classic, passes
away at age 90 in Van Nuys, California.
2006:
Disney's live-action feature Eight Below, a fictional re-interpretation of a real 1958 Japanese expedition to Antarctica, opens in theaters.
Air Force One carrying U.S. President Bush touches down at Orlando International Airport (just in time for rush hour on busy Interstate 4). From there the president is transported to Disney's Contemporary Resort to speak at a $500-a-plate dinner (a fundraiser for Republicans).
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Epcot's iconic Spaceship Earth
weighs 16 million pounds!
One of the most recognizable
structures at Disney World, it is
not only the centerpiece and
main focal point of Epcot, but
also the name of the attraction
housed within the 18-story
geodesic
sphere.
1900:
Actress Ruth Clifford, the second voice of Minnie Mouse, is
born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. She supplied the voice of Minnie for such shorts as Mickey's Delayed Date (1947), Pluto's Sweater (1949), and Pluto and the Gopher (1950). A leading lady in Hollywood silents of the 1920s, her career thrived into the television era with appearances on such series as Dr. Kildare, Hazel, and Playhouse 90.
1925:
Actor Hal Holbrook - the voice of Amphitryon in Disney's animated Hercules - is
born in Cleveland, Ohio. His Disney credits also include the 1970 2-part TV episode "The Wacky Zoo
of Morgan City" portraying Mitch Collins. Nominated for an Academy Award 5 different times during his long
career, Holbrook is known for his one man show as Mark Twain.
1992:
Singer/actress Meaghan Jette Martin is born in Las Vegas, Nevada.
She is best known for her role as Tess Tyler in the Disney Channel original movie Camp Rock and
has made guest appearances on The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.
1977:
Actress & writer Erin Cardillo is born in White Plains, New York (though she will be raised in Connecticut). Disney Channel fans know her as Emma Tutweiller from The Suite Life on Deck.
Episode 24 of The New Mickey Mouse Club airs. Mickey and Pluto get plenty scared in the Mousekartoon Mickey's Parrot, and "Escape from Apache Cliff," the sixth episode of the serial "The Mystery of Rustlers' Cave," finds Patty and Doug sneaking off to Apache Cliff to explore a secret cave.
FEBRUARY 17
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FEBRUARY 17
THIS
SITE MADE
IN THE USA
1998:
Construction begins on Rock 'n Roller Coaster at Disney-MGM.
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2009:
Walt Disney World Resort welcomes a black and white colobus monkey -
the first of its species born at Disney’s Animal Kingdom!
Eight Below opens in theaters
1957:
Walt Disney receives the Milestone Award of the Screen Producers Guild at a banquet held in the Grand Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel in California. The Milestone Award is presented to producers who have made "an historic contribution to the entertainment industry."
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"In my career, it helps to have some kind of genius. I’ve got it, but it happens to be in the person of my brother Roy who runs the company, the whole works, at home and abroad. He has a talent for self-effacement which isn’t going to do him a bit of good right at this moment." -Walt Disney (This Day 1957)
2011:
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) hosts its Investor Conference at the Grand
Californian Hotel in Anaheim, California. Tom Staggs, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts,
announces a plan for visitors to avoid lines and personalize their vacations using new time-saving programs at
Disney parks. Presentations by Disney's management team are also available via a live audio Webcast.
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