1934 - Disney's Silly Symphony cartoon The Big Bad Wolf is released.

1936 - Kenneth Mars, the voice of King Triton in Disney's 1989 classic The Little Mermaid, is born in Chicago, Illinois. His Disney credits also include the 1979 live-action film The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again as Marshal Woolly Bill Hitchcock, and a 2007 episode of Hannah Montana in which he plays Gunther the Innkeeper. (Mel Brooks fans will know Mars from his appearances in the comedy features The Producers and Young Frankenstein.)

1936 - Disney's Silly Symphony cartoon Three Little Wolves is released.

1960 - Comedian & actor Brad Garrett - the voices of Auguste Gusteau in the 2007 Ratatouille, Bloat in the 2003 Finding Nemo, and Fred in the 2002 The Country Bears - is born in Woodland Hills, California. (TV fans know him for his Emmy Award-winning role of Robert Barone on the series Everybody Loves Raymond.)

1967 - Disneyland's annual Easter Parade takes place with 1950s Mouseketeer Annette Funicello as the Grand Marshall. The parade also features a new Dapper Dans quartet riding on a 4-seater bicycle.

1969 - At the 41st Academy Awards, Disney's animated Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day wins an Oscar (Short Subjects, Cartoon).

1980 - Although nominated for Best Visual Effects, Peter Ellenshaw, Art Cruickshank, Eustace Lycett, Danny Lee, Harrison Ellenshaw and Joe Hale (the team that worked on Disney's The Black Hole) - are edged out by the team who worked on Alien, at the 52nd Annual Academy Awards.

1984 - The newly updated Alice in Wonderland dark ride (originally in service since June 1958) re-opens in Disneyland's Fantasyland.

2000 - The Orlando Rays, the Class AA affiliate of Major League Baseball's Tampa Bay Devil Rays, open their first season of play at Disney World's Wide World of Sports complex against the Jacksonville Suns. (The defending Southern League champions will play a total of 70 home games at the Florida complex throughout the summer, culminating August 31.)

2000 - Disneyland's 45th Parade music changes from "Pomp in Circumstance" to a mixture of classic Disney music.

2001 - Disney's House of Mouse debuts the episode "Pluto Saves the Day."

2003 - A press preview of a special musical titled "Mickey's Gift of Dreams" takes place in front of the Cinderella Castle to mark the 20th anniversary of Tokyo Disneyland. (The park will officially celebrate its 20 year anniversary the following day.)

2004 - Animator and designer Harry Holt passes away at the age of 93 in Florida. For twenty years starting in 1936, he worked for Disney on many of their classic features and shorts (before going on to Hanna-Barbera and Filmation). He returned to Disney Imagineering in 1962, and helped design Audio-Animatronic figures for Disney theme park attractions. Although officially retired since 1982, Holt worked as a character sketch artist on Main Street at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom.

2006 - Disney's animated feature The Wild - featuring the voices of Kiefer Sutherland, Jim Belushi, Eddie Izzard, Janeane Garofalo, William Shatner, and Richard Kind - opens in theaters.

2006 - "I Can't Make You Love Hannah If You Don't" - the fourth Hanna Montana episode debuts on Disney Channel.

2007 - Heritage Auctions holds a 2-day music and entertainment signature auction at its headquarters in Dallas, Texas. Among the highlights are Walt Disney's passport from 1965 (which has already been gathering bids on e-bay) and a Walt Disney signed contract from 1953.

2008 - Legendary Disney animator Ollie Johnston passes away at age 95 in Sequim, Washington. The last surviving member of Walt's "Nine Old Men," Johnston's 43-year career at Disney included such classic features as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Bambi, The Three Caballeros, Song of the South, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, The Rescuers, and The Fox and the Hound. Besides animation, he and Walt Disney also shared another passion - trains. Johnston built a 1″ scale backyard railroad, with three 1/12th scale locomotives! His books with fellow Disney animator Frank Thomas (such as The Illusion of Life) have inspired a generation of animators.

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