1982:
Wally Boag (the original Pecos Bill) gives his 39,522 and last performance at the
Golden Horseshoe Revue at Disneyland. He has done the show almost continuously since its opening in 1955, thus putting him in the Guiness Book of Records for the most number of performances of a
show! A party for Boag with friends, family and celebrities takes place after the show, where he is presented
with gifts and honors including his very own window on Main Street.
It took more than 650
Walt Disney Imagineers more than 350,000 hours (the equivalent of 40 years of time) to develop
Epcot's Mission: SPACE!
1942:
A press release from the federal government announces that Walt Disney has presented to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Claude R. Wickard an emblem designed for use on labels and markings of containers to identify anywhere in the world the food they hold. The Lend Lease insignia - created by Disney artist Hank Porter in December 1941 - features the United States Eagle (suggested by Roy Disney) protecting a cargo ship from an Axis bomber. Also included are four stars symbolizing the four freedoms pledged in the Atlantic Charter - freedom of speech and expression, freedom of every person to worship God in his own way, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.
2005:
Aliens of the Deep, a Walt Disney Pictures/Walden Media Presentation, is
released to large format/IMAX theaters. The documentary, about a team of
oceanographers and NASA scientists who investigate ten hydrothermal vents in both the Atlantic and Pacific, is directed by James Cameron.
1932:
The Mickey Mouse short The Duck Hunt, directed by Bert Gillett, is released. Mickey and Pluto find that duck hunting is not what it's quacked up to be!
1939:
Imagineer and Disney Legend Ralph Kent is born Ralph Kwiatkowski in Buffalo, New York.
First arriving at Disneyland as a marketing production artist in 1963, he went on to design the first limited-edition Mickey
Mouse watch for adults and in 1971 began designing souvenirs for Walt Disney World. In 1990, he joined the Disney
Design Group as a Corporate Trainer, mentoring new artists and creating an extensive reference collection of character
model sheets.
1946:
Academy Award nomination are announced with The Three Caballeros picking up two nominations and the short Donald's Crime receiving one. Oscars will be presented March 7.
1962:
The NBC-TV series Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color airs part 2
of "Sancho, the Homing Steer," about a Texas longhorn that sneaks away from
a cattle drive to find his way home again, traveling 1,200 miles in a year.
1965:
Disney's live-action feature film Those Calloways, starring Norman Tokar, Brian Keith, Vera Miles, and Ed Wynn is generally released. The film tells the story of Cam Calloway
(played by Brian Keith) and his family, who live in a densely wooded area in New England. He dreams of building
a sanctuary for the geese that fly over the area each year, and tries several schemes to buy a nearby lake for
his feathered friends. Also released is the live-action short A Country Coyote Goes Hollywood. Narrated by Rex
Allen, it features a coyote who is chased into the back of a moving van and later accidentally left in the Hollywood
hills ... where he learns the ins and outs of being an urban coyote.
1979:
The Wonderful World of Disney airs part 1 of "Shadow of Fear."
1980:
The Industrial Bank of Japan announces it and nearly 30 other Japanese banks have agreed to lend money to the Oriental Land Company to build a $300-million Disney theme park in Tokyo.
1988:
Groundbreaking for the Dolphin Hotel and Swan Hotel complex begins in Disney
World. Michael Graves of Princeton, New Jersey is the master architect behind these unique structures.
1997:
Tragedy strikes when Bub Thomas, a fixture on Main Street for over 25 years
singing and joking with Disney World's Dapper Dans (the famous barbershop
quartet), is killed in a car accident in Orlando, Florida. He is 85. Wearing a yellow stripped
vest, Thomas (an original WDW Dapper Dan) was instantly recognizable to hundred of thousands of Magic
Kingdom regulars. He brought a touch of Vaudeville to the Dapper Dans performances as he sang, danced, told
jokes, and even drew caricatures! Thomas was also responsible for introducing the Deagan Organ Chimes to the
Dapper Dans. (The unique instrument, first introduced to Thomas by entertainer Billie Bird, is a series of spiky
hollow tubes connected to each other, that when shaked in specific combinations produce melodies and chords.)
1999:
Cirque du Soleil, the Montreal-based touring circus that combines acrobatics, theatrics, special effects and original music, officially opens its third permanent U.S. facility at Downtown Disney West End in Florida.
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1990:
At Super Bowl XXIV (in New Orleans) quarterback Joe Montana of the San Francisco 49ers shouts "I'm going to Disney World!" after his team defeats the Denver Broncos, 55–10. It is the second year in a row that Montana appears in the Disney ad.
1996:
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Emmitt Smith declares "I'm going to Disneyland!" following his team's 27-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers at Super Bowl XXX (played at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona).
2001:
At Super Bowl XXXV (played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida) Baltimore Ravens quarterback Trent Dilfer exclaims "I'm going to Disney World!" after his team defeats the New York Giants, 34–7.
2007:
Actor Jacob Young (who recently appeared as Lumiere in Broadway's
Beauty and the Beast) hosts an exclusive event and raffle at World of
Disney’s 5th Avenue Flagship Store in Manhattan, New York. A raffle of rare
and unique Disney items include signed posters from the Broadway companies of Disney’s Tarzan and Mary Poppins. The event helps to raise awareness and funds to support the Sunday, February 25 “ABC Daytime Salutes Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS” concert at Town Hall in New York City. (The Emmy Award-winning Young is best known to fans of All My Children as JR Chandler.)
1968:
Twilight Zone creator and alumni Rod Serling delivers a commencement speech to January graduates at Binghamton Central High School in New York.
JANUARY 28
1978:
At the Golden Globe Awards, Best Original Score - Motion Picture goes to John Williams for his Star Wars music, beating out Al Kasha & Joel Hirschhorn nominated for Disney's Pete's Dragon.
1989:
At the Golden Globe Awards, Who Framed Roger Rabbit is edged out
by Working Girl for Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical. Although
nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical, Bob Hoskins (from Who Framed Roger Rabbit) is beat out by Tom Hanks (for his performance in Big).
1977:
Singer, actor, and television personality Joey Fatone is born Joseph
Anthony Fatone, Jr. in Brooklyn, New York. Best known as a member of the pop
group 'N Sync, Fatone has done voice work for Disney's Kim Possible and has appeared many
times at Disney World for special events. He also appeared in both the 1999 and the 2007
Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade TV specials and even an episode of Disney
Channel's Hannah Montana (portraying Joey Vitolo). In 2007, he came in second place on the
ABC reality show Dancing With The Stars, and starred as a baseball player in a 2009 episode of Imagination
Movers on Disney Channel.
It's Showtime Day on The New Mickey Mouse Club.Trudy Stolz, a young flutist from Sepulveda,
California, and Christi Christofferson, a country western singer from Modesto, California, perform.
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JANUARY 28
THIS DAY MADE
IN THE
USA
Wally Boag gives final performance
In Memory of Bub Thomas (1911-1997)
2009:
At Epcot, the Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure debuts. A treasure hunt with
high-tech spy gadgetry, the interactive game is based on the Disney animated TV series
Kim Possible. Using a hand-held “Kimmunicator” device, Epcot visitors receive clues and
trigger hidden surprises on a series of missions in seven World Showcase pavilions: Mexico,
Norway, China, Germany, Japan, France and the United Kingdom.
An 80-foot-tall hot air balloon, shaped like Epcot’s Spaceship Earth, floats
above the Magic Kingdom, carrying the Birkett family, of Scottsdale, Arizona. The
special flight was one of the dreams awarded as part of Disney Parks’ 2008 “Disney Dreams Giveaway”
(which ended December 31). Last September 17, Christian Birkett was chosen at random as the dream
recipient while riding The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh at Disneyland Park in California. In addition to
the tethered balloon flight, Birkett’s dream includes this VIP vacation to Walt Disney World!
At Disneyland the five Disneyland Railroad trains that circle a one-mile perimeter of
the park begin running on cleaner burning biodiesel ... made with recycled
discarded cooking oil (originating from the resort’s restaurants and hotels).
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"Graduates, ladies and gentlemen, faculty, friends and old acquaintances—unless you've reached my age and are as familiar with the taste of Serutan as you are with bourbon, it's unlikely that you can understand what kind of bitter-sweet poignance attends the return of a man like myself to this city ... this school ... this room. In its aged mustiness, in its archaic ugliness, in its depressing sameness ... it is nonetheless filled with ghosts and certain haunting memories that conjure up faces and names, sights and sounds, laughter and events—almost too sweet to be bearable." -Rod Serling (Sunday January 28, 1968)
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1944:
Disney's Goofy cartoon How to Be a Sailor, directed by Jack Kinney, is released.
Goofy takes us on a cruising history of sailing.
"I always wanted to be Geppetto." -Ralph Kent
2010:
Walt Disney World's 220-acre sports complex is rebranded when an ESPN logo is
lowered into place on the complex's entrance sign. Officially relaunching February 25 as "ESPN
Wide World of Sports Complex," the updated venue will also feature more than 40 high-definition and robotic video
cameras, plus 10 handheld cameras, and 40 high-definition video screens, including two Jumbotrons.
1998:
Actress Arial Winter, best known for her role as Alex Dunphy on the ABC comedy series Modern Family, is born in Los Angeles, California. She is also the voice of Gretchen for Disney Channel's Phineas and Ferb.
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