1913:
Senior executive and Disney Legend Donn Tatum is born in California.
He will go on to help Roy O. Disney build Walt Disney World and assist Company president Card Walker in developing EPCOT Center. Later Tatum will succeed Roy O. Disney as chief executive and board chairman - becoming the first non-Disney family member to head the company!
1987:
Disneyland's Star Tours attraction opens in Tomorrowland
(occupying the space where Adventure Thru Inner Space once stood).
A simulator ride based on the Star Wars movies by George Lucas, it is the park's first attraction not to use Disney-designed imagery. The celebration lasts for 60 hours and guests are given a Star Tours Watch when they enter.
The attraction features the voices of Paul Reubens (a.k.a. Pee Wee Herman) as Rex the bumbling pilot droid,
Anthony Daniels as the voice of C-3PO, Steve Gawley as Red Leader, Dennis Murren as one of three ILMers
(visible in a Maintenance Bay window), and Brian Cummings as the Vid-Screen announcer. The supervisor who
ducks under the desk at the end of the ride is Ira Keeler - not George Lucas!
2006:
It is reported that the Royal Plaza in the Walt Disney World Resort has reopened after undergoing a multi-million dollar renovation. The hotel had been closed since August 2004, when it sustained damages from Hurricane Charley.
"If we can dream it, we can do it!"
- Horizons' inspiring message
1916:
Administrator and Disney Legend Card Walker is born Esmond Cardon Walker in Rexburg, Idaho. A mailroom clerk for Disney in 1938, he will be elected president of The Walt Disney Company in 1971 - then called Walt Disney Productions. In 1976 Walker will be named chief executive officer, and finally in 1980 become chairman of the board, a position he will hold until his retirement in 1983.
1928:
Disney's Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon Harem Scarem is released.
1937:
Don Donald, featuring Donald Duck and directed by Ben Sharpsteen, is released. A
character named Donna Duck (who will later be called Daisy) makes her debut.
1959:
The Walt Disney Presents TV series airs the 3rd Tales of Texas John Slaughter episode titled "Killers from Kansas." The show, which stars Tom Tryon as T.J. Slaughter, is Disney's attempt to recreate the wild success of Davy Crockett.
1976:
Disneyland opens the first Disneyana Shop on Main Street.
1977:
The New Mouseketeers perform in the Super Bowl XI halftime production
number in Pasadena, California. The Oakland Raiders go on to thrash the
Minnesota Vikings, 32-14.
1992:
Painter, color stylist, Imagineer and Disney Legend Claude Coats passes away in
Burbank, California. His stunning backgrounds can be seen in such animated classics as Pinocchio,
Fantasia, Dumbo, and Peter Pan. As an art director & show designer, Coats also worked on such Disneyland
attractions as Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Alice in Wonderland, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Haunted Mansion. He was also involved in 3 of the 4 attractions Disney built for the 1964-65 World's Fair. Claude's wife, Evie Coats, was one of the unsung heroines of animation’s past. Hired by Disney in 1932 as an “inker” to trace animators’ drawings of cartoon characters onto clear sheets of celluloid - Evie was the oldest employee to have worked with Walt.
1999:
Horizons closes forever at Walt Disney World's Epcot park. Opened since
1983, Horizons took guests on a fascinating 15-minute ride through the world
of the 21st century. The pavilion will be destroyed and years later be replaced
with Mission:SPACE.
2002:
The Disney owned baseball team, the Anaheim Angels announce a new look for the team's uniforms. Capturing the tradition of Angel baseball and a contemporary "back to basics" flare, the new logo features the signature halo surrounding the "A" while the uniforms are reminiscent of decades past. Red is the dominant color for all 4 of the new uniforms: home, road, alternate home and a batting practice jersey.
C2004:
The daytime game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire, hosted by Meredith Vieira, tape episodes at the Disney-MGM Studios (for the next 3 days).
To celebrate the success of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover, Epcot guests, Mickey Mouse, and Cast Members sign a giant congratulatory postcard outside the Mission:SPACE attraction.
A new improved SaveDisney.com web site is launched.
2005:
Brazilian Adriano Bastos, 26 of Sao Paulo, posts a time of 2:19:16
winning the 2005 Walt Disney World Marathon. His second victory in the Florida
marathon is the 18th-fastest Disney time ever.
Amy Shertzer, 27, of Monument, Colorado, wins the women's full
marathon with a time of 2:56:06.
Michael McGrane of Somerville, Massachusetts, wins the men's half
marathon leading the field of nearly 8,500 runners with a time of 1:13:08.
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1938:
Leopold Stokowski conducts a
recording session in Culver City, California, for a Disney animated segment called
The Sorcerer's Apprentice. The musical piece, also called The Sorcerer's Apprentice,
is written by French composer Paul Dukas. Walt has had to rent a studio as the 85 musicians whom Stokowski has
selected cannot fit on Disney's Hyperion soundstage. The session is recorded late at night at the suggestion of
Stokowski. He chooses nighttime because the musicians will have to drink coffee to stay awake and this will make
them more alert! (The success of the session will help Walt decide to turn The Sorcerer's Apprentice into just one
segment of a bigger "concert feature" called Fantasia ... featuring Stokowski and The Philadelphia Orchestra!)
The now extinct Epcot attraction
Horizons was originally to
be named Century 3 (or Century
III), to recognize the third
century of American existence
(1976-2076).
JANUARY 9
JAN
"Horizons 1 is now departing. Our final destination today - the twenty-first century!"
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Richard M. Nixon, the thirty-seventh United States
President, is also born on this day, in Yorba Linda, California. As vice president, he will visit Disneyland many times including a trip with his family in 1959 to take part in the dedication of the park's new monorail system. As president he will present Lillian Disney with a special commemorative medal in honor of Walt in 1969. Visit Nixon and all the U.S. Chief Executives at Disney World's The Hall of Presidents.
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Disneyland's Star Tours debuts
2009:
The Walt Disney Company and Hanes officially opens “Disney Design-a-Tee presented by Hanes”, an innovative next-generation store for apparel souvenirs at Downtown Disney in the Walt Disney World Resort.
JANUARY 09
THIS DAY MADE
IN THE
USA
2007:
The 33rd People's Choice
Awards, honoring the best in
popular culture for 2006, are
held at the Shrine Auditorium in
Los Angeles, California.
- Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest wins both
Favorite Movie Drama and Favorite Movie
- Cars wins Favorite Family Movie
- Johnny Depp & Keira Knightley (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest) win Favorite On Screen Match-Up
- "Life Is a Highway" by Rascal Flatts (from Cars) wins both
Favorite Song From A Movie and Favorite Remake
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The Mickey Mouse Theater of the Air airs its second episode coast-to-coast on
the NBC radio network. Sponsored by Pepsodent Toothpaste, the program stars Walt Disney as the voice of Mickey Mouse, Thelma Boardman as Minnie, Stuart Buchanan as Goofy and Clarence Nash
as Donald Duck. Mickey and the gang travel through time - thanks to the Magic Mirror (from Snow White
and the Seven Dwarfs) - to celebrate Snow White Day.
Epcot's Horizons closes
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1958:
The Zorro episode "Shadow of Doubt" debuts on ABC-TV.
"When Star Tours debuted, we had to leave the park open for 60 hours to handle the crowds. It was an enormous success. And it
was an important turning point for the company and for the evolution of rides. It was the first real breakthrough
since animatronics and a major step forward." -Imagineer Tony Baxter
"Claude Coats did a lot. He was an architect but he was a wonderful painter and had a wonderful ability for these attractions. He did
all of the layout for Pirates and because of his architectural background he could do that so well." -Imagineer Harriet Burns
Hop aboard a Starspeeder 3000 for an exhilarating trip to Endor.
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2010:
Chad Johnson and Emily Mortensen, both of Rochester Hills, Michigan, win the top men's and women's finishers in the Walt Disney World Half Marathon. The 13.1-mile race, which began and ended at Epcot, featured almost 23,000 runners who competed despite rain, sleet and flurries and temperatures in the low 30s!
