2005:
Paul Winchell, the voice of Tigger, passes away at age 82 in Moorpark,
California. A versatile ventriloquist who became a fixture in early children's television along with his
puppet side-kicks Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff, Winchell first became the lovable Tigger in 1968
for Disney's Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day. Winchell earned a Grammy in 1974 for Best Children's
Recording with "The Most Wonderful Things About Tiggers" from the feature Winnie the Pooh and Tigger
Too. In addition, he was nominated for an Annie award for the 1998 animated feature-length Pooh's Grand
Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin. A giant in the field of cartoon voices, Winchell's Disney credits
also include Zummi Gummi in episodes of Adventures of the Gummi Bears, Boomer in the feature The Fox
and the Hound, and Shun Gon in The Aristocats. (Winchell was also the voice of Fleegle for TV's The
Banana Splits Adventure Hour.)
Disney's Herbie: Fully Loaded hits the big screen.
1893:
Roy Oliver Disney is born in Chicago, Illinois. He will be the middle of 5 children. Along with his younger brother Walt, they will start what is today The Walt Disney Company. He will go on to serve as president of Walt Disney Productions from 1945 to 1968 and chairman of the board from 1964 until his death in 1971. A modest man, it will be Roy's idea to change the name of the Florida park from simply Disney World to Walt Disney World (after the death of his brother in 1966). Married to Edna Francis in 1925, Roy is the father of Roy E. Disney.
1904:
Singer, songwriter, jazz musician, actor and comedian Phil Harris - the voice behind Disney's Thomas O'Malley in The Aristocats and Baloo the Bear in The Jungle Book - is born in Linton, Indiana. (He will begin his career in show business as a drummer in San Francisco before becoming the musical director for The Jack Benny Show in 1936.)
1913:
Alan Alexander Milne (future creator of Winnie-the-Pooh) marries Daphne de Selincourt. In 1920, they will have a son and name him Christopher Robin.
1942:
Actress Michele Lee - Miss Carole Bennett in Disney's The Love Bug - is born in Los Angeles, California.
1949:
Disney's Pluto cartoon Bubble Bee, directed by Charles Nichols, is released.
The short features the second appearance of a bee named Spike.
1956:
Walt Disney appears on Ed Sullivan's 8th Anniversary Show. Walt along with Ronald Reagan, Natalie Wood, Robert Walker, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz sing "Happy Anniversary" in a tribute to Sullivan.
1959:
Disney's Darby O'Gill and the Little People premieres in Dublin, Ireland.
1977:
Disney's Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, starring Dean Jones and Don Knotts, is released. It is the third in the series of Herbie films.
1994:
Disney's 32nd animated film The Lion King is generally released in U.S.
theaters. With award-winning music by Hans Zimmer, Elton John and Tim Rice, the film features the voices of Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Rowan
Atkinson, Jim Cummings, and Nathan Lane. Unlike previous Disney animated films, which featured only a select few famous voice actors alongside lesser-known performers, nearly all of the voice acting work
for this film is done by well-known actors. (It will rapidly becomes the most successful Disney film ever
and one of the top ten highest-grossing movies of all time!)
At Epcot, the Electric Umbrella fast-food facility opens in Communicore East.
1998:
Jacqueline D'Ambrosi, a 9-year-old from Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, becomes the 600-millionth person to walk through the turnstiles of the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World! With a click of the turnstile at 7:37 a.m., Jacqueline is immediately mobbed by Mickey Mouse and a cast of other Disney characters. She is awarded lifetime passes to the Florida park, and to Disney's 3 other theme parks, for her and her family.
2002:
The June 24th issue of TIME includes an article on Disney's newest animated feature Lilo & Stitch.
2003:
Disney's direct-to-video sequel Air Bud Spikes Back is released.
2006:
The Disneyland Resort hosts a world premiere event for the new feature film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.
Disney Channel first airs "Ill of the Future" the 40th Phil of the
Future episode.
1919:
Actor Al Molinaro - Drapery Man in Disney's 1976 Freaky Friday - is born in Kenosha, Wisconsin. TV fans know him best as Police Officer Murray Greshler on The Odd Couple and Al Delveccio on Happy Days.
2007:
The Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs Foundation host a prerelease charity screening for Disney/Pixar's new animated film Ratatouille
at the Disney Studio lot in Burbank, California.
Disney Channel debuts the Hanna Montana 2-part episode
"Achy Jakey Heart."
JUNE
"Television and its use of computers can make everything talk, so there's no need for the art of ventriloquism anymore." -Paul Winchell
2008:
The soundtrack for Disney/Pixar's WALL•E is released. The CD features an original score by Thomas Newman and a new Peter Gabriel single "Down To Earth."
Disney and NASA host a screening of the new movie WALL•E at the Newseum, a 250000-square-foot museum of news in Washington,D.C.
Disney is awarded six times at the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror’s 34th annual Saturn Awards, held at the Universal Hilton Hotel in Universal City, California. Disney's Enchanted takes home three awards for Best Fantasy Film, Best Actress (Amy Adams), and Best Music (Alan Menken). Other Disney winners include Brad Bird (Ratatouilee) for Best Writing, Ve Neill & Martin Samuel (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End) for Best Make-Up, and Ratatouilee for Best Animated Film.
1938:
Walt Disney graces the cover of this day's issue of The Family Circle periodical.
The cover's text reads: WALT DISNEY ... gave The Family Circle an exclusive interview, with emphasis on his
animals (which is why we show your friend Donald Duck here too). We believe you will be as much
interested as we were in George Kent's account of his tour of the Disney studio and his visit with Walt.
The inside article is titled Snow White's Daddy.
advertisement
JUNE 24
JUNE 24
THIS DAY MADE
IN THE
USA
 | ||||
| ||||
The Lion King generally released
Ventriloquist Paul Winchell credited Jean Freeman, his British-born wife, for coming up with Tigger's signature phrase "TTFN,"
or "Ta-ta for now."
2009:
The 35th Annual Saturn Awards (presented by the Academy of Science-Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films) are handed out in California. Best Animated Film goes to Disney/Pixar's WALL•E.
| ||||
