- 1877
| Sep 11 | The first comic-character timepiece was patented by the Waterbury Clock Company. It was another 56 years before the same company produced the first Mickey Mouse watch. | Ref: 4 |
- 1893
| Jun 24 | Roy O Disney, brother of Walt, is born. | Ref: 68 |
- 1899
| Feb 15 | Lillian Disney, Mrs Walt Disney, is born. | Ref: 5 |
- 1901
| Mar 24 | Ub Iwerks, animator and designer of Mickey Mouse, born. | Ref: 73 |
| Dec 05 | Walt Disney is born in Chicago. |
- 1902
| Jun 08 | Walt Disney is baptised at St.Pauls's Congregational Church in Chicago. (Ref: "Disney, The First 100 Years", 1999, ISBN 0-7868-6442-7) | |
- 1903
| Dec 06 | Ruth Flora Disney, Walt Disney's sister is born. (Ref: "Disney, The First 100 Years", 1999, ISBN 0-7868-6442-7) | |
- 1907
| Jul 30 | Roy Williams (Roy, the big mooseketeer on "The Mickey Mouse Club") is born in Coleville WA. Ref | |
- 1909
| Mar 22 | Milt Kahl, Disney animator, is born. | Ref: 73 |
- 1910
| Jun 16 | Pete Burness, Disney animator born. | Ref: 73 |
- 1911
| Sep 07 | Fred Moore- master Disney animator born. | Ref: 73 |
- 1912
| Sep 14 | Disney master animator Frank Thomas born. | Ref: 73 |
- 1913
| Mar 30 | Marc Davis, Disney animator, born. | Ref: 73 |
- 1917
| Jun 08 | Walt Disney graduates from Benton High School. | Ref: 5 |
- 1920
| Jan 29 | Walt Disney starts first job as an artist; $40 week with Kansas City Slide Co. | Ref: 5 |
- 1922
| Feb 01 | Walt Disney founds Newman's Laff-O-Grams in Kansas City. | Ref: 73 |
| May 23 | Walt Disney incorporates his first film company Laugh-O-Gram Films. | Ref: 5 |
- 1923
| Oct 16 | "Alice's Wonderland" distribution deal signed; the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio is born. |
- 1924
| Mar 01 | "Alice's Day At Sea", the first of Walt Disney's Alice Comedies, is released. (Ref: "Disney, The First 100 Years", 1999, ISBN 0-7868-6442-7) | |
- 1925
| Jun 05 | Bill Hayes, actor and singer (The Ballad of Davy Crockett, Wringle, Wrangle) is born. | Ref: 4 |
| Jul 13 | Walt and Lillian Disney marry. | Ref: 73 |
- 1926
| Feb 08 | Walt Disney Studios is formed. | Ref: 5 |
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- 1928
| May 15 | Mickey Mouse first appears in "Plane Crazy", the 1st MM cartoon | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 29 | Mickey Mouse appears in "Steamboat Willie", the 3rd MM cartoon actually shown before the 2nd cartoon | Ref: 62 |
| Aug 07 | Mickey Mouse appears in "Gallopin' Gaucho", the 2nd MM cartoon | Ref: 62 |
| Sep 02 | Paul Terry premiered his sound cartoon RCA Photophone system for a short called "Dinner Time". Young studio head Walt Disney came by train out from Los Angeles to see it. He telephoned his studio back in L.A." My gosh, terrible!" reported Walt, " A lot of racket and nothing else!" He said they could continue to complete their first sound cartoon "Steamboat Willie". | Ref: 73 |
| Sep 19 | Mickey Mouse's screen debut (Steamboat Willie at Colony Theater NYC). | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 18 | Walt Disney debuted his talking, animated cartoon, Steamboat Willie, at the Colony Theatre in NY. The short film featured a character who had been named Mortimer. Walt changed the name to Mickey Mouse. Steamboat Willie was the first cartoon with synchronized sound. | Ref: 4 |
- 1930
| Jan 10 | Roy E Disney CEO (Disney) Jr, is born. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 13 | "Mickey Mouse" comic strip 1st appears. | Ref: 5 |
| Jan 28 | Leon Schlesinger, a producer at Pacific Art and Title, picked up a group of unemployed former Disney cartoonists and makes a deal with Warner Bros. to produce cartoon shorts. Bugs, Daffy and Elmer and the Looney Tunes will result. | Ref: 73 |
| Feb 03 | Roy Disney signed a deal with M. George Borgfeldt Co. of NY to sell figurines of Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Disney merchandising is born! | Ref: 73 |
| Mar 01 | Ub Iwerks, master animator and designer of Mickey Mouse, left his friend Walt Disney to set up his own studio. | Ref: 73 |
| Jul 30 | The first color cartoon. Walt Disney's "Flowers and Trees" the first Technicolor cartoon. Disney had worked out a deal with Technicolor creator Herbert Kalmus to use his technique exclusively for two years to show larger Hollywood studios its quality. | Ref: 73 |
- 1931
| Jun 01 | Swiss artist Albert Hurter joined the Disney staff, giving the look of cartoons like Snow White a more Germanic storybook look. | Ref: 73 |
- 1932
| Jan 10 | "Mickey Mouse" & "Silly Symphony" comics syndicated. | Ref: 5 |
| May 12 | Goofy, aka Dippy Dawg, first appears in 'Mickey's Revue' by Walt Disney. | Ref: 5 |
| May 25 | Goofy makes his first appearance as "Dippy Dawg" in "Mickey's Review", released this day. (Ref) | |
| Nov 15 | Walt Disney Art School created. | Ref: 5 |
- 1933
| May 27 | Walt Disney's "3 Little Pigs" released. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 03 | The world-famous Mickey Mouse Watch was introduced. The timepiece sold for $2.75. A Mickey Mouse Clock sold for $1.50. | Ref: 4 |
- 1934
| Jun 09 | Walt Disney's The Wise Little Hen, the first Donald Duck cartoon. | Ref: 73 |
- 1936
| Mar 13 | Clarence Nash animation voice (Donald Duck), is born. | Ref: 5 |
- 1937
| Dec 21 | Walt Disney presented the first full-length, animated feature. It debuted on this day at the Carthay Circle Theatre in Hollywood, CA. The cost to produce Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was $1.5 million. Disney got his total investment back in the first year of the film’s showing. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is 83 minutes in length and is the work of 750 artists. Nearly one million drawings were made, of which 250,000 were used in the final print of the classic film. | Ref: 4 |
- 1938
| Jan 13 | First animated feature "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"opens at Radio City Music Hall. | Ref: 10 |
- 1939
| Sep 03 | British Prime Minister Chamberlain's War announcement interrupts a Disney Cartoon "Mickey's Gala Premiere" showing on the fledgling BBC television service. Television shuts down for the duration. | Ref: 73 |
- 1940
| Feb 07 | Movie fans watched the world premiere of the Walt Disney animation, Pinocchio, at the Center Theatre in Manhattan. The showing followed that of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as Disney’s second feature-length film. | Ref: 4 |
| Feb 23 | Walt Disney's animated movie "Pinocchio," released. | Ref: 5 |
| Feb 24 | Frances Langford recorded one of the classic songs of all time -- and one that would become a Walt Disney trademark. When You Wish Upon a Star was recorded on Decca Records during a session in Los Angeles. Many artists have recorded the song, including pop diva Linda Ronstadt (with the Nelson Riddle Orchestra in the early 1980s). One can hear the song not only on record, but as the theme in the opening credits of any Disney movie, video and TV program and those “I’m going to Disneyland/World!” commercials, too. | Ref: 4 |
| Nov 12 | Walt Disney released Fantasia. One critic called the film ?As terrific as anything that has ever happened on the screen.? | Ref: 4 |
| Nov 13 | The first stereo movie. Walt Disney's "Fantasia" opened. The film did poorly at the US box office and was cut off from foriegn markets by World War Two. The film didn't turn a profit until it was re-released in the late 60s (after Walt's death). | Ref: 73 |
- 1941
| May 29 | The Disney Studio Strike. Picketers included Art Babbitt (Goofy), Bill Tytla (Dumbo), John Hubley (Mr. Magoo), Chuck Jones & Maurice Noble (Bugs Bunny), Bill Melendez (Charlie Brown), Bill Hurtz ( Rocky & Bullwinkle), Hank Ketchum (Dennis the Menace), Walt and Selby Kelly (Pogo). The crowd was catered by Toluca Lake restaurant cooks and was addressed by actor John Garfield and writer Dorothy Parker. Aircraft mechanics from Lockheed were on hand in case of rough stuff. The strike was finally ended by federal mediation and the Bank of America making Uncle Walt give in to the union's demands. | Ref: 73 |
| Jun 20 | The Hollywood Premiere of Walt Disney's The Reluctant Dragon was disrupted by a mob of his striking cartoonists. The police actually cordoned off Hollywood Blvd. around the Pantages Theater for fear of what the rampaging cartoonists might do. | Ref: 73 |
| Aug 17 | Walt Disney, his studio paralysed by a cartoonist's strike, goes on a goodwill tour of South America (underwritten by a $70,000 government grant.). The film "Saludos Amigos" and "The Three Caballeros"result. Federal mediators later settle the strike. | Ref: 73 |
| Sep 12 | The Disney animation strike ended by federal mediators. | Ref: 73 |
| Oct 23 | Walt Disney's "Dumbo" released. | Ref: 5 |
- 1942
| Mar 07 | Walt Disney Company chairman Michael Eisner is born in Kisko NY. (TWA, 1997) | Ref: 95 |
| May 14 | Frank Churchill, the composer of Whistle While You Work and Some Day My Prince Will Come, shoots himself over a piano. | Ref: 73 |
| Jun 14 | Walt Disney's "Bambi" is released. | Ref: 5 |
| Aug 13 | The Walt Disney classic Bambi opens at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. | Ref: 73 |
| Oct 22 | Annette Funicello, actress and Mouseketeer, was born in Utica NY | Ref: 5 |
- 1943
| Apr 02 | Disney's "Private Pluto", the first Chip & Dale cartoon | Ref: 73 |
| Nov 27 | St. Joseph's Medical Center, across the street from the Disney Studio in Burbank is dedicated. Walt had designed his buildings like hospital wards, so in the event he went bankrupt he figured he could sell the property to the hospital. | Ref: 73 |
- 1945
| Feb 03 | Walt Disney's "The 3 Caballeros" released. | Ref: 5 |
- 1946
| Nov 12 | Walt Disney's "Song Of The South" released. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 14 | Michael Ovitz president (Walt Disney Company), star-maker, is born. | Ref: 5 |
- 1947
| Oct 24 | Walt Disney headed a list of "friendly" witnesses testifying to the first House Un-American Activities Committee investigation on Communist subversion in Hollywood. Others that week included Gary Cooper, Robert Taylor and Ginger Rodgers mother. Disney accused reds in the cartoonists union and the League of Women Voters with trying to "subvert the spirit of Mickey Mouse." *just a note: Is this where the term "rat bastard" got started ? | Ref: 73 |
- 1950
| Feb 15 | Walt Disney's "Cinderella" released. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 04 | Walt Disney’s Cinderella was released. It was the first full-length, animated, feature film in eight years from the man who brought us Mickey Mouse. | Ref: 4 |
| Mar 15 | Disney's "Cinderella" the studios return to fairy tale stories and the first voice work of June Foray premieres. | Ref: 73 |
| Jul 29 | RKO pictures released the Walt Disney adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson literary classic, Treasure Island. | Ref: 4 |
| Dec 25 | NBC-TV got Walt Disney to lend his creative genius to a one-hour special which marked the cartoonist’s first jump into TV. | Ref: 4 |
- 1951
| Jul 28 | The Walt Disney film Alice in Wonderland was released by RKO pictures. | Ref: 4 |
- 1952
| Mar 27 | First public announcement of Walt Disney's plans to build Disneyland are printed in the Burbank Daily Review. | Ref: 67 |
| Nov 23 | Fred Moore, master Disney animator of Mickey Mouse in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", dies in a car accident in Tujunga Canyon. | Ref: 73 |
- 1954
| Apr 02 | Plans to build Disneyland first announced. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 16 | Groundbreaking for the construction of Disneyland. | Ref: 73 |
| Oct 27 | "Disneyland" premiers on ABC-TV. The first shows was "The Disneyland Story". The title changes over the years to include: "Walt Disney", "Walt Disney Presents", "Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color", "The Wonderful World of Disney", "Disney’s Wonderful World", "The Disney Sunday Movie" and "The Magical World of Disney". | Ref: 4 |
| Dec 15 | Davy Crockett, Indian Fighter was featured on Walt Disney’s TV series for the first time. | Ref: 4 |
| Dec 23 | The classic movie, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, was released. The film was one of Walt Disney’s most successful. Kirk Douglas and James Mason starred. | Ref: 4 |
- 1955
| Jun 23 | Walt Disney's "Lady & the Tramp" released. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 16 | "Golden Horseshoe Revue" first of 50,000+ performances, Disneyland. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 17 | Disneyland opened the gates to “The Happiest Place on Earth” in Anaheim, California. In the famous theme park’s first year of operation, some four million people visited Main Street USA, Fantasyland, Frontierland and Tomorrowland. On its opening day, Disneyland held a gala TV broadcast featuring Walt Disney, Bob Cummings, Art Linkletter and Ronald Reagan. | Ref: 4 |
| Sep 08 | Disneyland entertains its One Millionth Guest | Ref: 67 |
| Oct 03 | Walt Disney premiers The Mickey Mouse Club on ABC-TV. | Ref: 4 |
| Oct 11 | Ticket books available for the first time, containing A, B, and C Tickets (D Tickets added, 1956; E Tickets added, June, 1959) | Ref: 67 |
| Nov 16 | "Davy Crockett's Keelboat Race" airs. | Ref: 67 |
- 1957
| Dec 31 | Disneyland receives its 10 Millionth Guest | Ref: 67 |
- 1959
| Jan 29 | Walt Disney's "Sleeping Beauty" released. | Ref: 5 |
| May 10 | Sharon Disney, Walt Disney's second daughter, marries Robert B. Brown at the Presbyterian Church in Pacific Palisades, CA. (Ref: "Disney, The First 100 Years", 1999, ISBN 0-7868-6442-7) | |
| Sep 19 | Nikita Krushchev is refused admitance to Disneyland for "security reasons". (XDG, p. 4A, 9/19/2000) | Ref: 83 |
- 1961
| Jan 25 | Walt Disney's "101 Dalmations" released. | Ref: 5 |
- 1963
| Jun 23 | Walt Disney's "Enchanted Tiki Room" opens at Disneyland. It is Disney's first audio-animatronic attraction. | Ref: 4 |
| Dec 25 | Walt Disney's "The Sword In The Stone" is released. | Ref: 5 |
- 1964
| Aug 29 | Walt Disney's "Mary Poppins" released. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 14 | Walt Disney awarded the Medal of Freedom at the White House. | Ref: 5 |
- 1965
| May 04 | The Orlando Centinnel reports of an "east coast Disneyland". (Ref: "Disney, The First 100 Years", 1999, ISBN 0-7868-6442-7) | |
| Oct 25 | Florida Governor Hayden Burns confirst reports of an "east coast Disneyland". (Ref: "Disney, The First 100 Years", 1999, ISBN 0-7868-6442-7) | |
| Nov 15 | Walt Disney gives a press conference in Orlando publically announcing his intent to build Walt Disney World. (Ref: "Disney, The First 100 Years", 1999, ISBN 0-7868-6442-7) | |
- 1966
| Dec 15 | Walt (Walter Elias) Disney dies at age 65 in St.Joseph's Hospital in Burbank, CA. | Ref: 4 |
- 1967
| May 30 | Site preparation begins at Walt Disney World in Orlando. (Ref: "Disney, The First 100 Years", 1999, ISBN 0-7868-6442-7) | |
| Oct 18 | Walt Disney's "Jungle Book" is released. | Ref: 5 |
- 1968
| Mar 30 | Two children in the Bowery come across the body of a homeless drug addict later identified as Bobby Driscol, 31, the voice of Disney's "Peter Pan". | Ref: 73 |
| Aug 27 | Disney rejects the final attempt of master animator Bill Tytla, creator of Grumpy, Dumbo and the Devil on Bald Mountain, to get his old job back. Tytla even offered to work on spec on a test to get back in. Tytla died later that year. | Ref: 73 |
- 1969
| Mar 13 | On this day, the Walt Disney studio released "The Love Bug", featuring a Volkswagon Beetle in the title role. | Ref: 3 |
| May 27 | Walt Disney World construction begins. | Ref: 5 |
- 1970
| Feb 11 | Variety reported this day that Walt Disney had secretly taken its movie, Song of the South, out of circulation back in 1958. Originally released in 1946, the live-action/animated flick featuring Brer Fox, Brer Rabbit, Brer Bear, Uncle Remus and kids, Johnny and Ginny, won an Academy Award in 1947 for the song, Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah. James Baskett won an Oscar for his Uncle Remus role. Variety said Song of the South was pulled because of ...racist attitudes reflected in the Negro roles in the film. | Ref: 4 |
| Jun 22 | The Walt Disney Archives are established and charged with recording and preserving the history of Disney. (Ref: "Disney, The First 100 Years", 1999, ISBN 0-7868-6442-7) | |
| Aug 06 | Hippies and Radical Yippies try to take over Disneyland. 750 infiltrate the park, take over the Wilderness fort, raise the Vietcong flag and pass reefers out to passersby. Later, when the radicals marched in a Main Street parade, they sang thier own lyrics to Zipadee Doo Dah ("Ho, Ho, HoChi Mihn is going to win..."). More conservative park guests tried to drown them out by singing America the Beautiful. Suddenly, as the confrontation heated up toward a flash point, a platoon of Anahiem Police officers in full riot gear poured into the park from backstage areas. A riot was adverted,and for many years afterward Disneyland selectively enforced a "dress code" at the park, occasionally refusing admission to "long-haired hippies". The 1970 incident is the only time an outside security force made a full-blown public appearance in The Happiest Place on Earth. | Ref: 73 |
| Dec 24 | Walt Disney's "The Aristocats" is released. | Ref: 5 |
- 1971
| Jun 17 | Valerie Suldo becomes Disneyland's 100,000,000th guest. (Ref: "Disney, The First 100 Years", 1999, ISBN 0-7868-6442-7) | |
| Oct 01 | Walt Disney World opens in Orlando, Florida, USA. The opening was planned for October when the crowds were slower. Disney planners wanted everything to move slowly at first, so any problems that sprang up could be fixed with minimal guest inconvenience. | Ref: 4 |
| Oct 25 | Walt Disney World is dedicated by Roy Disney. It was opened on October first. | Ref: 4 |
| Nov 29 | First pro golf championship at Walt Disney World. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 20 | Roy O Disney, brother of Walt, dies of cerebral hemorrhage at 78. | Ref: 68 |
- 1972
| Apr 25 | Actor George Sanders, the voice of Disney's Shere Khan in "The Jungle Book", commits suicide at age 65, leaving a note saying he was bored with it all and not looking forward to old age. | Ref: 73 |
- 1973
| Apr 15 | Walt Disney Story opens. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 15 | Golf Resort (The Disney Inn) opens. | Ref: 5 |
| Dec 15 | Pirates of Caribbean ride opens at Disneyland. | Ref: 5 |
- 1974
| Nov 22 | Lake Buena Vista Club opens. | Ref: 5 |
- 1975
| Jan 15 | Space Mountain opens (Disneyland). | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 22 | Walt Disney World Shopping Village opens. | Ref: 5 |
| Jul 14 | EPCOT Center (Florida) plans announced. | Ref: 5 |
- 1976
| Mar 02 | Walt Disney World logged its 50 millionth guest. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 07 | Roy Williams (Roy, the big mooseketeer on "The Mickey Mouse Club") dies. Ref | |
- 1977
| Jun 11 | Main Street Electrical Parade premiers [Disneyland? WDW?]. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 22 | Walt Disney's "The Rescuers" released. | Ref: 5 |
| Nov 03 | Disney's "Pete's Dragon" opened. | Ref: 73 |
- 1978
| Oct 13 | Mickey Mouse is awarded a star on Hollywood Blvd's Walk of Fame. | Ref: 73 |
- 1979
| Sep 13 | Animator Don Bluth leads one third of the young Disney artists in mass resignation to set up their own studio. | Ref: 73 |
| Oct 22 | Walt Disney World's 100-millionth guest is Kurt Miller. | Ref: 5 |
- 1980
| Jul 09 | Walt Disney's "The Fox & The Hound" released. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 28 | Annette Funicello, Cubby O’Brien, Tommy Cole, Sherry Alberoni and Dickie Dodd joined other Mouseketeers wearing black ears and white shirts on a sound stage in Burbank, CA. They were celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Mickey Mouse Club. While we’re celebrating the Mickey Mouse Club, do you remember the five special events each week? There was Fun with Music Day on Monday, Guest Star Day on Tuesday, Anything Can Happen Day on Wednesday, Circus Day on Thursday and Talent Roundup Day on Friday. “Y? Because we LIKE you!” | Ref: 4 |
| Dec 30 | The Selective Service System sent a warning to Mickey Mouse at Disneyland in Anaheim, CA: Register for the draft or else! The Selective Service said that Mickey was in violation of registration compliance. Of course, Mickey, age 52 at the time, sent in his registration card proving that he’s a World War II veteran. | Ref: 70 |
| Dec 30 | The longest-running series in prime-time television history was canceled this day by NBC. The Wonderful World of Disney was axed after more than 25 years on the tube. | Ref: 70 |
- 1981
| Jan 08 | Gert Schelvis becomes Disneyland's 200 millionth guest. (Ref: "Disney, The First 100 Years", 1999, ISBN 0-7868-6442-7) | |
| Mar 07 | 1st homicide at Disneyland, 18 year old is stabbed to death. | Ref: 5 |
- 1982
| Jul 08 | Walt Disney's "Tron", the first film attempting to be made chiefly with computer graphics, premiered. It's poor box office performance earned Ron Miller, then Disney CEO and Walt's son-in-law, the unaffectionate nickname of "Tron" Miller. | Ref: 73 |
| Oct 01 | EPCOT Center opens in Orlando Florida. | Ref: 5 |
| Oct 24 | EPCOT (experimental prototype community of tomorrow) Center was dedicated by Disney Chairman, E. Cardon Walker at Walt Disney World, Florida: “May EPCOT Center entertain, inform and inspire, and above all, may it instill a new sense of belief and pride in man's ability to shape a world that offers hope to people everywhere.” | Ref: 4 |
- 1983
| Apr 15 | Tokyo Disneyland opens. | Ref: 5 |
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- 1984
| Feb 15 | Touchstone Pictures created, so Disney could release non-"G" rated films. | Ref: 73 |
| Jun 11 | The Disney Company paid $32M in greenmail to corporate raider Saul Steinberg to make him go away. | Ref: 73 |
| Sep 23 | Michael Eisner and Frank Wells become Chairman and President of Walt Disney Productions. |
- 1985
| Feb 19 | Mickey Mouse was welcomed to China as part of the 30th anniversary of Disneyland. The touring mouse played 30 cities in 30 days. Tough schedule even for a mouse! | Ref: 4 |
| Feb 20 | Clarence Nash voice of Donald Duck, dies at 80 of leukemia, in California. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 22 | Disney animation director Wolfgang "Woolie" Reitherman died in an auto accident driving home from lunch at the SmokeHouse. | Ref: 73 |
| May 22 | Wolfgang Reitherman, Disney director of films like The Jungle Book and The Aristocats, drove his car into a tree at Olive and Kenneth in Burbank and died. | Ref: 73 |
| Jul 24 | Walt Disney’s The Black Cauldron opened in movie houses around the country. The film was the 25th full-length cartoon produced by the Disney Studios in Burbank, CA and was its most expensive to that time. The Black Cauldron cost Disney $25 million to produce. (Smith, David, "Disney A to Z: The Updated Official Encyclopedia:, (c) 1996, ISBN 0-7868-6391-9) | |
| Sep 20 | Walt Disney World's welcomes its 200-millionth guest. | Ref: 5 |
- 1986
| Jan 15 | Living Seas opens at World Showcase in EPCOT, Walt Disney World. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 27 | Disney-MGM Studio Tour ground breaking. | Ref: 5 |
| Sep 13 | Captain EO, a 17-minute, three-dimensional, musical, science-fiction flick starring Michael Jackson, made its gala premiere at Disneyland in Anaheim, CA and at Disney’s Epcot Center in Orlando, FL this day. The innovative movie cost approximately $1,000,000 a minute to produce. | Ref: 4 |
| Oct 26 | Donald Duck was shown for the first time in the People’s Republic of China. Chinese television launched a weekly half-hour of old Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse cartoons. | Ref: 4 |
| Nov 02 | A record price for a poison apple was paid in NY City. The 12-by-16-inch celluloid, from Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, was purchased for $30,800. | Ref: 4 |
- 1987
| Aug 02 | The 50-year-old Walt Disney movie classic, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, was rereleased. The film was the most popular animated film in motion picture history. It grossed almost $20 million in its first two weeks of rerelease. | Ref: 4 |
- 1988
| Jun 22 | Disney's "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"opens;to gross over $150 million. | Ref: 10 |
- 1989
| Mar 29 | As part of the Oscar ceremony, Rob Lowe perfomed a song and dance number with a Las Vegas showgirl dressed as Snow White. The Disney Company threatened a lawsuit and the Academy apologized. | Ref: 73 |
| May 01 | 135 acre Disney's MGM studio officially opens to the public. | Ref: 5 |
- 1991
| Jan 21 | Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast' became the first animated film ever nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. | Ref: 73 |
| Feb 01 | James G MacDonald cartoon voice (Mickey Mouse), dies at 84. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 20 | Court awards Peggy Lee $3 million in contract violation suit against Disney. | Ref: 5 |
- 1992
| Mar 04 | Arthur Babbitt ,Disney animator (Mr Magoo, Goofy), dies at 84 of heart failure. | Ref: 5 |
| Mar 14 | C V Wood Jr theme park developer (Disneyland), dies of cancer at 71. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 11 | Euro-Disney opens near Paris France. | Ref: 5 |
| Apr 12 | Euro Disneyland, a $4 billion theme park, opens at 09:01 a.m. 20 miles east of Paris at Marne-la-Vallée. | Ref: 70 |
- 1993
| Feb 16 | Sharon Disney, Walt Disney's second daughter dies at age 57. (Ref: "Disney, The First 100 Years", 1999, ISBN 0-7868-6442-7) | |
| Mar 12 | Cleveland radio station WMMS-FM/101.7 is bought by Disney. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 30 | Disney acquires Miramax Films. (Ref: "Disney, The First 100 Years", 1999, ISBN 0-7868-6442-7) | |
- 1994
| Apr 08 | Frank Wells president (Disney), dies in helicopter crash. | Ref: 5 |
| Jun 24 | Lion King is released to theaters. (Ref: "Disney, The First 100 Years", 1999, ISBN 0-7868-6442-7) | |
| Dec 09 | Disney animators move into their Riverside Drive building designed by Daniel Stern. A prominent feature is the large conical "sorcerer's hat" at the fromt entrance. The building becomes known as "The Hat Building". | Ref: 73 |
- 1995
| Jun 10 | 110,000 people attend the premiere of Disney's Pocahontas in Central Park New York, the largest ever opening for an animated film. | Ref: 73 |
| Jul 31 | Disney announces the acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC for $19B. (Ref: "Disney, The First 100 Years", 1999, ISBN 0-7868-6442-7) | |
| Oct 12 | Walt Disney World receives its 500,000,000th guest. (Ref: "Disney, The First 100 Years", 1999, ISBN 0-7868-6442-7) | |
- 1997
| Dec 15 | Lillian Disney widow of Walt Disney, dies at 98. | Ref: 5 |
- 1998
| Apr 22 | Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park opens. (Ref: "Disney, The First 100 Years", 1999, ISBN 0-7868-6442-7) | |
- 2000
| May 01 | About three and a-half million Time Warner cable subscribers temporarily lost access to seven Disney-owned ABC stations in a quarrel over transmission rights. | Ref: 6 |
- 2002
| Jul 08 | Oscar winning animator Ward Kimball, creator of Jiminy Cricket, dies at age 88. (USA Today, p. 1D, 7/10/2002) | Ref: 13 |
- 2003
| Jan 15 | Mickey Mouse and The Walt Disney Company scored a big victory as the Supreme Court upholds longer copyright protections for cartoon characters, songs, books and other creations worth billions of dollars. (XDG, p 4A, 1/15/2004) | Ref: 83 |
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Disney Chronology