2005:
"Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" (hosted by Meredith Vieira) begin taping shows at Walt Disney World.
1628:
Author Charles Perrault, who laid foundations for a new literary genre - the fairy tale, is born in Paris, France. A leading intellectual of his time, his most famous tales - Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Puss-in-Boots, and Little Red Riding Hood, were mostly adapted from earlier folk tales.
1936:
The New York Times publishes an interview titled "H.G. Wells in
Close Up." (Wells is the author of such science fiction classics as
The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds, The First Men in the Moon,
and The Time Machine). He refers to Walt Disney as "a genius."
1955:
The Disneyland television series airs part 2 of Disney's 1950 live-action film Treasure Island.
1957:
John Alan Lasseter, Academy Award-winning director, writer, producer and chief
creative officer at Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios, is born in Hollywood,
California. Originally a Jungle Cruise skipper at Disneyland, Lasseter obtained his first a job as an animator at Walt Disney Feature Animation. A co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios, he is also the Principal Creative Advisor for Walt Disney Imagineering.
1975:
Chase Hampton, a member of Disney Channel's The All New Mickey Mouse Club, is born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
1999:
Actress and Disney Legend Betty Lou Gerson, who supplied the voice for Cruella De Vil in Disney's 101 Dalmatians, and provided the narration for Cinderella, passes away in Los Angeles, California.
GO Network, an Internet portal site created by Disney and Infoseek, is launched.
2000:
Marc Davis, one of Disney's "Nine Old Men" (a core group of early
animators) passes away in California, just 3 months short of his
87th birthday. He masterminded the designs of heroines and villainesses like
Cinderella and Cruella de Vil. After leaving animation in 1961, Davis had a hand in
designing many attractions for the Disney parks as an Imagineer.
2001:
Downtown Disney, a separate restaurant, shopping
and nightclub zone beside Disneyland's new park,
officially opens to the public. This new center links the two
theme parks and the three Disneyland Resort hotels. AMC Theatres
also debuts its newest megaplex in Downtown Disney. The theaters
are housed in a 60,000-square-foot building showcasing architectural
features reminiscent of the golden age of Hollywood.
Disney and McDonald's start a New Collect-and-Build Happy Meal campaign starring Buzz Lightyear, the interstellar hero from Disney/Pixar's Toy Story and Toy Story 2 movies and an all-new animated television series.
Disney Channel airs a special sneak peek of "Rumors" the very first episode of the new Lizzie McGuire series. Also debuting is Zenon: The Zequel, a Disney Channel Original Movie starring Kirsten Storms.
Touchstone Pictures generally releases the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? starring George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson. (The film has been playing in select cities since December 2000.)
2003:
A groundbreaking ceremony takes place in Hong Kong to mark the
official start of the construction phase of a new Disney park.
Brazilian Adriano Bastos clocks the fastest Disney Marathon time in
eight years at the 10th annual Walt Disney World Marathon and
Half Marathon. The 24-year-old finishes the race in 2:18:33 (his first win in 11 marathons).
2004:
Tokyo Disneyland begins its 20th anniversary celebration with the live show "Remember the Dreams."
It is announced that Disney's Florida animation department
will close ... resulting in 258 jobs lost.
2007:
Disney Channel's newest series Cory in the House (a spinoff of That's So
Raven) premieres. Cory, which marks Disney Channel's first-ever series spinoff, features Raven's Kyle Massey and Rondell Sheridan reprising their roles as son and father Cory and Victor Baxter.
Also debuting is the Disney Channel Movie Jump In! starring Corbin Bleu, best known from the hit High School Musical. (Jump In! will draw 8.17 million viewers, making it the most-watched program in the network’s history!)
2007 Disney Dollars featuring Ariel, Princess Aurora and Cinderella are released at Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Disney Stores.
Shareholders are informed that Disney's 2007 Annual Meeting of shareholders, will be held on Thursday, March 8, 2007, at 10 a.m. at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.
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A young John Lasseter was the second
student to ever be accepted into a
new program for animation at CalArts
(located in Valencia, California). There
he won the Student Academy Awards
for two consecutive years with his
animated films. Lasseter graduated in
1979, and later joined Disney, where
he worked for five years. In 1984,
Lasseter left Disney to join Lucasfilm
... which eventually became Pixar!
JANUARY 12
JAN
1987:
The first Cast Premiere for Disneyland's newest attraction Star Tours is held from 7pm-midnight.
2008:
The West End production of Mary Poppins closes after
a run of more than three years.
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JANUARY 12
THIS DAY MADE
IN THE
USA
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1927:
Animation artist Ray Aragon is born in Boyle Heights, California. While studying at
Chouinard Art Institute in the mid-1950s, instructor Marc Davis (one of Walt's Nine Old Men) will recommend
Aragon for a job at Disney. He will begin in the layout department on Sleeping Beauty and later work on 101
Dalmatians (before moving on to a diverse career with studios like Hanna-Barbera and Filmation).
In memory of Imagineer Marc Davis
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1891:
Artist, animator & director Hugh Hennesy is born in New Lexington, Ohio. First
joining Disney in 1932, his vast credits include Pinocchio, Fantasia, Saludos Amigos, Melody Time, and
Lady and the Tramp. Hennesy's wife Helen was Disney's very first librarian!
SEASON 1 EPISODE 12
"I never understood why you wouldn't start designing a ride when you start making a film so two months after a film comes out you have a ride. I promise you we are not only going to make great motion pictures we are going to make great rides." -John Lasseter
"A simple rule of thumb is that the more geometric something is ... the easier it
is to reproduce on a computer. The more organic something is, the more difficult it is to reproduce on computer. And so, hence, 'Toy
Story' was the perfect story for our first film -- man-made world, man-made environment, flat floors." -John Lasseter
"The first job I had at the studio was Snow White. I don’t like the term particularly, but I got stuck with the
human characters. They just didn’t have that many people who could draw humans. It wasn’t a problem for me drawing humans although
I had originally come to the studio with the idea that what I had to offer them was my knowledge in the drawing of animals." -Marc Davis
The 300,000 square foot site features:
The Café Catal restaurant
The La Brea Bakery
The Naples Ristorante and Pizzeria
The Rainforest Cafe restaurant
The ESPN Zone restaurant and arcade
The Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen restaurant
The Y Arriba Y Arriba restaurant
The House of Blues nightclub
"My experience at Disney was one of the most beautiful parts of my life...just to have known all these great artists. I was really in heaven." -Ray Aragon
