2004:
Christy Carlsom 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.
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 will include 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. (Larson will start work at the Disney Studio the following June and become one of Walt's "Nine Old Men.")
1934:
Actor-comic Barry Humphries, the voice of Bruce in the 2003 Finding Nemo, is born in Victoria, Australia.
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 porgram was taped at Disneyland.
1963:
The TV series 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.
1993:
Disney's Aladdin is nominated for 5 Academy Awards.
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).
FEBRUARY 17 is Random Acts of Kindness Day
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Epcot's Spaceship Earth (located at Disney World)
weighs 16 million pounds!
FEBRUARY 17
FEB
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1900:
Actress Ruth Clifford is born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. She supplies the voice of Minnie Mouse 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 will thrive into the television era.
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