Fact for the Day
In 1940 RCA Victor released an album described as "recorded from the original soundtrack of the
Walt Disney Production Pinocchio." This was the first time the phrase "original soundtrack" was used to refer to a commercially available movie recording.
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1809 -
Abraham Lincoln, the 16th U.S. President, is born in Hardin County, Kentucky. He will be the subject of such Disney attractions as Greatest Moments with Mr Lincoln (originally created for the 1964 World's Fair) and
Walt Disney World's Hall of Presidents - click here to read Lincoln's HOP speech. (Walt Disney was always fascinated with the life of Lincoln. He even recited Lincoln's Gettysburg Address to his elementary class as a small boy!)
1934 - Walt Disney Productions files an application for a trademark of "Mickey Mouse" for use in books and newspaper comic strips.
1942 - Disney's animated feature Pinocchio is released in Chile.
1951 - Disney's
Cinderella is nominated for 3 Academy Awards - Best Music, Original Song (for "Bibbidy-Bobbidi-Boo"); Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture; and Best Sound, Recording. The Disney short In Beaver Valley is nominated for Best Short Subject: Two Reel.
1960 - The ABC-TV series
Walt Disney Presents airs the episode "Texas John Slaughter: Desperado from Tombstone."
1964 - The live-action Disney feature The Misadventures of Merlin Jones - starring Tommy Kirk, Annette Funicello, and Leon Ames - premieres in Florida.
1988 - Siegfried and
Roy appear on the TV special Disney's Magic in the Magic Kingdom. The illusionists make Sleeping Beauty Castle disappear!
1999 - Disney's My Favorite Martian starring Christopher Lloyd, Jeff Daniels, Elizabeth Hurley, Darryl Hannah, and Ray Walston is generally released. Based on the popular 60's TV show (also starring Walston) the film is directed by
Donald Petrie (of Grumpy Old Men fame). Playing in front of My Favorite Martian is the animated short
Pluto Gets the Paper: Spaceship.
2000 - Disney fans dress up in tuxedos and formal gowns to attend the Royal Ball held at the Disneyland Hotel in California for
Cinderella's 50th anniversary. The night includes stories from the Disney legends that created
Cinderella including the voice talents who brought
Anastasia,
Drizella and
Cinderella to life.
2000 - Disney's 1998 animated feature Mulan premieres on the Disney Channel.
2001 - Ilene Woods - the original voice of
Cinderella - appears at a
Cinderella Ball in Disneyland to celebrate the anniversary of the motion picture.
2002 - Disney's 1953 Peter Pan; Special Edition is released on DVD. It includes commentary by
Walt Disney and veteran animators Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, and Marc Davis.
2003 - The Tokyo Disneyland CD Cinderellabration: Lights of Romance is released.
2004 - The SaveDisney website announces a rally in Philadelphia that will take place March 2 ... one day prior to Disney's Annual Shareholder Meeting.
2007 - Academy Award-winning visual effects pioneer/matte artist and Disney Legend Peter Ellenshaw passes away at his home in Santa Barbara, California at the age of 93. A hand-picked member of
Walt Disney's creative team since 1947, Ellenshaw was called upon to create a wide variety of visual effects for such films as Mary Poppins, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Darby O'Gill and the Little People, Treasure Island, and The Black Hole. He even painted the iconic first map of Disneyland that was featured on all the early postcards and souvenir booklets.
2007 - Disney announces that they're producing "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" as a live-action feature starring Nicholas Cage as the Sorcerer. The film will be based on Johann Wolfgang Goethe's original poem, not the
Mickey Mouse sequence in Fantasia.