This Week in Disney History (May 17-23)
1904: Actor Fred Shields (Narrator for Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros) is born in Kansas City, Missouri.
1906: Sound effects guru James Macdonald (Mickey and the Beanstalk, House of Mouse, Snow White, Alice in Wonderland) is born in Dundee, Scotland.
1908: Writer Ralph Wright (Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too!, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, The AristoCats) is born in St. Paul, Minnesota.
1909: Science expert Julius Sumner Miller (Professor Wonderful on The Mickey Mouse Club from 1955-1959) is born in Bellerica, Massachusetts.
1910: Imagineer, and Disney Legend, Dorothy Halt Redmond (Disneyland’s New Orlean’s Square) is born in Los Angeles, California.
1910: Actor Scatman Crothers (Scat Cat in The AristoCats) is born in Terre Haute, Indiana.
1911: Director, and Disney Legend, Larry Lansburgh (worked his way from ‘gofer’ to ‘director’ in the Walt Disney Studios) is born in San Fransisco, CA.
1914: Animator John Hubley (Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi, Fantasia) is born in Marinette, Wisconsin.
1915: Salesman Al Konetzni (in charge of the character merchandising division of the Walt Disney Company) is born in Brooklyn, New York.
1915: Animator George Baker (Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo) is born in Lowell, Massachusetts.
1931: Actress Barbara Barrie (Alcmene in Hercules) isborn in Chicago, Illinois.
1935: In Los Angeles, the Pan-Pacific Auditorium opens. A full-scale, stylized replica of the Pan-Pacific’s facade acts as the main entrance to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
1936: Actor Charles Kimbrough (Victor the Gargoyle in The Hunchback of Notre Dame) is born in St. Paul, Minnesota.
1940: Computer Scientist Alan Kay (VP of Research and Development at Walt Disney Imagineering early 1990’s until 2001) is born in Massarchusetts.
1941: Actress Miriam Margolyes (Matchmaker in Mulan, Glowworm/Aunt Sponge in James and the Giant Peach) is born in England.
1949: Actor Dave Thomas (Tuke in Brother Bear and Brother Bear II) is born in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada.
1950: Lyricist, and Disney Legend, Howard Ashman (Oliver & Company, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin) is born in Baltimore, Maryland.
1954: Lyricist David Zippel (Mulan, Hercules) is born in Easton, Pennsylvania.
1955: Actor/director Bill Paxton (The Greatest Game Ever Played) is born in Fort Worth, Texas.
1957: Actor Judge Reinhold (Neil Miller in The Santa Clause films) is born in Wilmington, Delaware.
1958: Singer Judy Kuhn (Singing voice of Pocahontas in Pocahontas and Pocahontas II) is born in New York City.
1958: Actor Drew Carey (Gepetto, Disney-MGM’s Sounds Dangerous) is born in Cleveland, Ohio.
1960: Actor Tony Goldwyn (Tarzan in Tarzan and Tarzan Untamed) is born in Los Angeles.
1960: Disney’s Pollyana premieres.
1962: Disney’s Bon Voyage premieres.
1962: Actor Nathaniel Parker (Master Gracey in The Haunted Mansion) is born in London, England.
1968: Three years before Disney World opens The Walt Disney Travel Company is incorporated.
1969: Animator Dan Lee (Finding Nemo, Toy Story 2, A Bug’s Life, Monsters Inc., Ratatouille) is born in Montreal, Quebec.
1973: In Walt Disney World’s Frontierland, Tom Sawyer Island, the Tom Sawyer Rafts, and the Plaza Swan Boats all open.
1983: In Disneyland, Fantasyland reopens after a facelift.
1986: Actor Eric Lloyd (Charlie Calvin in The Santa Clause features, Blanky in The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars and The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue) is born in Glendale, CA.
1987: The Disney Channel Premiere Film Anne of Avonlea premieres on the Disney Channel.
1987: Touchstone Pictures’ Ernest Goes to Camp premieres
1991: At Walt Disney World, Disney’s Port Orleans Resort opens to the public.
1991: At Walt Disney World, the Disney Vacation Club Resort (now Disneys’ Old Key West) opens to the public.
2002: Actor Spencer Breslin (The Kid, The Santa Clause 2, The Santa Clause 3, The Princess Diaries 2, The Shaggy Dog, Return to Neverland) is born in New York City.
1996: Disney and McDonald’s sign a 10-year international marketing deal which allows McDonald’s to create merchandise which advertises the latest Disney movie and theme park developments.
1996: On Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, the largest Disney Store ever opens its doors.
1996: Between the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resorts, Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf opens to the public.
1997: In Disneyland, the Light Magic Parade debuts.
1998: In Disneyland, Tommorowland reopens after having undergone a facelift.
2000: Disney’s Dinosaur premieres.
2001: In Walt Disney World’s Adventureland, The Magic Carpets of Aladdin opens to guests.
2003: Disney/PIXAR’s Finding Nemo premieres
2004: At Walt Disney World, Phase 1 of Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort opens to the public.
2005: Disney’s first MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online) game, Virtual Magic Kingdom (VMK), opens to beta testers.
2008: On May 22 at 10 p.m., VMK shuts down to all players.
2009: The stars of Disney’s A Christmas Carol embark on a promotional train tour.
I hope you will remember the birthdays of all the original Mouseketeers in This Week In Disney History. I’m thinking in particular of original Mouseketeer Lonnie Burr, whose birthday is May 31, 1943. In addition to being on the Mickey Mouse Club for all three years, he also is — I think — the only Mouseketeer to appear in a film as an adult with annette. The film was Lots of Luck and I think Disney produced it.