1998:
Disneyland continues unveiling its newly renovated Tomorrowland. New
additions include Rocket Rods (a high- speed attraction running on the former PeopleMover track),
Redd Rockett's Pizza Port (a restaurant located in the former Mission to Mars attraction), NASA Space
Experience, and the short "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience." Also re-opening is the Astro Orbitor attraction
(originally known as the Astro Jets). It has been relocated to the entrance of Tomorrowland, and placed
on ground level, thus making the ride the new focal point as guests step from the main plaza of
Disneyland into Tomorrowland.
1996:
The Disney Store opens on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue (the largest Disney Store to date) and sets the all-time record for single-day volume in a Disney Store.
 | ||||
"Disneyland wouldn't have
been, and wouldn't be, the same without him. His voice was one of the things that made it all come alive."
-former Disneyland president Jack Lindquist
on Disney Legend Thurl Ravenscroft
1915:
Writer, cartoonist & animator George Baker is born in Lowell, Massachusetts.
In 1937, Baker headed out to Hollywood to work for Disney and for the next 4 years, work on virtually all of Disney's well-known pictures, including Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo and Bambi. In June 1941 he was inducted into the army where he created the comic strip "The Sad Sack." (At the end of the war, the U.S. Army created an advertising campaign with the phrase: "Don't be a Sad Sack, re-enlist in the Regular Army.") After the war Baker transformed the Sad Sack army cartoon into a syndicated comic strip, a long-lived comic book series and even a feature film (starring Jerry Lewis).
1942:
Disney's Pluto cartoon The Army Mascot, directed by Clyde Geronomi, is
released. Pluto schemes to become the army mascot at Camp Drafty, after seeing the tasty chow
the other animals are eating!
1968:
Walt Disney Travel Company is incorporated in Florida. The company will
work with travel agents and individuals planning vacations to the yet-to-be-open Walt Disney World
Resort. (The service will be expanded to California 4 years later.)
1989:
The 21st episode of MMC airs on Disney Channel. Today is Music Day!
2001:
Six cast members from the New York City production of The Lion King take part in the grand dedication ceremony for Walt Disney World's newest resort, Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge (which opened last
April 16). The cast performs the musical's signature song, "Circle of Life'' in the grand lobby of the African-theme hotel.
The soundtrack for Atlantis: The Lost Empire (which won't open in theaters until next month) is released on Walt Disney Records. Consisting mostly of James Newton Howard's score, it also includes the Diane Warren penned song, "Where the Dream Takes You", performed by Mýa.
2004:
In celebration of Mickey Mouse’s 75th Anniversary, Underground Atlanta plays host to 15 700-pound, 6-foot-tall Mickey Mouse statues, part of the Celebrate Mickey: 75 InspEARations touring statue program (that was first unveiled on November 18, 2003 at Walt Disney World). The statues debut at noon with the help of Mickey Mouse, Disney Legend Al Konetzni and Atlanta’s own artist Thomas Knechtel. They will remain on display at the venue through Tuesday, July 20.
2005:
Voice actor, singer and Disney Legend Thurl Ravenscroft passes away at
age 91 in Fullerton, California. Best known as the voice of Kellogg's Tony the Tiger,
Ravenscroft's numerous Disney credits include 101 Dalmatians, Alice in Wonderland, The
Aristocats, and Cinderella. He can also be heard in such Disney theme park attractions as Pirates
of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, and Country Bear Jamboree. Ravenscroft was also a
member of The Mellomen, a singing group who worked for Walt Disney in films, on television, and
on records. (It is also Ravenscroft's deep voice you hear singing "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch"
for the holiday TV classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas!)
1985:
Retired Disney animator & director Wolfgang "Woolie" Reitherman (one of Walt's "Nine Old Men") passes away suddenly in Burbank, California at age 75. In 1963, Woolie became the first animator in the history of the company to be given the directorial reins of an entire animated feature, beginning with The Sword in the Stone. He will be named a Disney Legend in 1989.
Disney Legend Wolfgang
Reitherman (one of Walt's "Nine
Old Men") was a lover of flying
and airplanes. He was a World
War II pilot - a deputy
commander who ferried planes
with the Army Air Transport
Command on dangerous missions.
2008:
The Indiana Jones Summer of Hidden Mysteries begins in Disneyland’s Adventureland, the same day Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull opens in theaters. The summer-long Disneyland promotion includes a daily show, collectible adventure map for guests with hidden clues, random Indiana Jones character appearances and a new Indiana Jones-themed photo location.
1946:
Disney's animated feature Pinocchio is released in France.
advertisement
MAY
MAY 22
| ||||
| ||||
1987:
Ernest Goes to Camp, a comedy film directed by John R. Cherry III and starring Jim Varney, is released through Disney's Touchstone Pictures. The second film to ever feature Varney's character of Ernest P. Worrell - it is Touchstone's 12th release.
The Magical World of Disney airs the episode "Disney's Golden Anniversary of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," hosted by Dick Van Dyke.The Dwarfs wish to retire but Dick Van Dyke talks them out of it by telling them interesting facts about the 1937 movie and shows viewers deleted scenes and songs from Disney's first animated feature film.
2009:
Disney's interactive 40-city train tour, to promote the upcoming movie Disney's A
Christmas Carol, begins in Los Angeles at the Los Angeles Union Station. The free
traveling experience includes a 3D sneak peek of film footage, carolers, decorations, authentic artifacts (on loan
from the Charles Dickens Museum of London) and giveaways. Amtrak locomotives and engineers will lead the four-car Train Tour (plus a private car), across the US, with stops ranging from 1-3 days along the way. The tour will
finish at New York's Grand Central Terminal over the weekend of October 30th through November 1st.
(Starring Jim Carrey and directed by Robert Zemeckis, Disney's A Christmas Carol opens in theatres November 6.)
The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, a documentary about the siblings who wrote
some of Hollywood's & Disney's most memorable songs, is released in New York
City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Palm Desert, California, for a limited run.
The first of 4 Star Wars Weekends for the 2009 season kick off at
Disney's Hollywood Studios. A Disney tradition at the Florida park since 1997,
this weekend's celebrity guests include Ray Park, Warwick Davis, and James Arnold Taylor.
| ||||
MAY 22
THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
| ||||
| ||||
| ||||
1964:
Attorney Robert Price Foster and his Disney colleagues drive to Orlando from
Daytona to meet Jack and William Demetree at the offices of Stockton, Whately, &
Davin (a mortgage and real estate company). The Demetrees own a parcel of land that just might be
perfect for a new Disney resort/theme park. After touring the land ... Foster is impressed.
2010:
Disney-Pixar and Juvenile Diabetes Foundation team up to present two exclusive screenings of Toy Story 3 at Pixar Animation Studios, Emeryville, California. (The film will be released in the U.S. June 18.)
In memory of Woolie Reitherman
(1909-1985)
In memory of Thurl Ravenscroft
(1914-2005)
"Most of my evenings in the army were spent drawing cartoons of army life using the Sad Sack as the bewildered
civilian trying to be a soldier." -Baker
1955:
ABC camera crews begin rehearsing every Sunday at Disneyland for the park's
July 17 grand debut. As this is the early days of television - a live broadcast from a crowded theme park
is not a common event and much preparation is needed.
1992:
Disney's Hollywood Pictures releases Encino Man a comedy directed by Les
Mayfield and starring Brendan Fraser, Sean Astin and Pauly Shore.
