Fact for the Day
The classic 1951 film The African Queen helped inspire the design of Disneyland's Jungle Cruise attraction.
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1889 -
Walter Catlett, the voice of J. Worthington Foulfellow in the 1940 classic Pinocchio, is born in San Francisco, California. Catlett also portrayed Colonel Plug in the 1956 Disney film Davy Crockett and the River Pirates. (Originally a vaudeville performer, Catlett supplied the comic relief in such films as Yankee Doodle Dandee, Bringing Up Baby, and Mr. Deed Goes to Town.)
1918 - 
Voice actress
Janet Waldo - one of the voices of the grandmother in Disney's Carousel of Progress - is born in Grandview, Washington. (Cartoon fans know her as the voice of Judy Jetson and Josie in Josie and the *****cats!)
1922 - 
Actor
William Phipps, the voice of
Prince Charming in the 1950
Cinderella, is born in Indiana. (In the early days of 1950s science-fiction, he was one of the first actors to become identified with the genre, appearing in such features as Invaders from Mars and The War of the Worlds.)
1932 - 
Disney Legend
Bob Allen is born in Corona, California. He will begin working for Disney in 1955, as a ride operator at Disneyland, and eventually rise through the ranks to become vice president of
Walt Disney World.
1938 - 
Disney's
Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs is generally released to U.S. theaters (although the film had its premiere last December 21, 1937 in California).
1944 - 
Musician
Jimmy Johnson is born in Sheffield, Alabama. A member of the legendary Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section that was attached to FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Johnson's guitar playing can be heard on records by such legends as Wilson Pickett and Aretha Franklin. One of Disney's most unusual albums, The Sounds of Christmas (1973), was conceived by Johnson. The album had a sound-effects-laden story on side 1, featuring a small cast and original songs, told, sung and directed by Disney studio staffer
Pete Renaday. The flip side featured the effects by themselves - reminiscent of the Disney record Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House.
1947 - 
Disney consultant
Tim Onosko is born in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Known as the go-to guy for the future, Onosko will accurately forecast how technology will alter the entertainment landscape. He will help define Epcot in the 1980s by steering the theme park's designers toward cutting-edge gadgets.
1954 - Disney's Rob
Roy, the Highland Rogue (about Robert
Roy MacGregor, a famous Scottish folk hero) premieres.
1962 - The NBC-TV series
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color airs "Fantasy on Skis."
1966 - Disney's animated short Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree is released along with the live-action feature The Ugly Dachshund. Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree is Disney's first animated treatment of the famous children's books written by A.A. Milne. Directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, it features the voices of Sterling Holloway (as Pooh), Wolfgang's son Bruce Reitherman (as Christopher Robin), and
Sebastian Cabot (as the narrator). The Ugly Dachshund stars Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette.
1974 -
Stuart Buchanan - the voice of of Humbert the Huntsman in the 1937 animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - passes away in Cleveland, Ohio.
1979 - The Wonderful World of Disney airs part 2 of "Shadow of Fear."
1990 - The Disney television series airs the episode Disneyland's 35th Anniversary Celebration. The special - presented in a series of sketches - features Tony Danza, Michael Eisner, Charles Fleischer, Kelsey Grammar, Woody Harrelson, and Frank Oz.
1999 - Pixar Animation Studios announces that it has developed a proprietary laser recording system called PIXARVISION for converting digital computer data into images on motion picture film stock with unprecedented quality. The new system was successfully tested on the 1998 animated hit, A Bug's Life, and will be used to produce Pixar's future animated features including Toy Story 2.
2002 - Super Bowl XXXVI MVP Tom Brady of the New England Patriots appears in a gala parade down Hollywood Boulevard at Disney-MGM Studios in Florida.
2003 - Walt Disney Records releases the CDs"Sing Along With Disney's Princesses" and "Jungle Book 2: Songs From the Film and Other Jungle Favorites."
2004 - The Disney World special event "This Is Love: A Royal Knight to Remember" takes place at the Magic Kingdom.
2005 - A racecar sponsored by Disney & Pixar and driven by film legend Paul Newman takes part in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, a motorsport event. Newman is the voice of a 1951 Hudson Hornet in Cars, a Disney/Pixar animated film to be released in 2006.
2005 - It is announced that the
Walt Disney Company will open a third Disney hotel within Tokyo Disney Resort in 2008. The nine-story high hotel will have about 700 guestrooms and will be larger than either of the park's other two hotels.
2006 - The 33rd Annual Annie Awards are presented at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, California. Disney's Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has A Glitch wins for Best Home Entertainment Production. Although Chicken Little is nominated, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit takes home the Annie for Best Animated Feature.
2007 - At Super Bowl XLI in Miami, Indianapolis Colts' head coach Tony Dungy and running back Dominic Rhodes take part in the 37th Disney television ad following their win over the Chicago Bears, 29-17.