The Lion King, one of the highest-grossing
films of all time, was released on this day in June in New York and Los
Angeles (it would open in wide release on June 24). Today, almost
everyone in the world knows the story of the young lion cub Simba, who
tries to find his place in the circle of life and follow the long
honorable shadow cast by his father, King Mufasa, after he is killed by
Scar (voiced with oozy relish by Jeremy Irons). But during
pre-production, when the project was called King of the Jungle,
the production teams wasn’t so sure they had a hit on their hands. “In
the early stages, there was great skepticism that a modern audience
would embrace a movie that didn’t include any human characters, much
less one built around singing animals,” Michael Eisner, then chairman
and chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company, remembered in
his book Work in Progress. “But through countless drafts over five years, The Lion King
evolved into one of those magical films in which everything comes
together… It was also a daunting standard to match.” Eisner also noted
that it was “probably the most profitable film ever made, including Titanic (lions and meerkats don’t demand a percentage of the gross).”
On this day in Disney history, If You Had Wings, one of Walt Disney World Resort’s first attractions to celebrate flight, debuted to guests in 1972.
At If You Had Wings, guests boarded Omnimover vehicles that
took them on a flight around the world, making stops in Bermuda, Puerto
Rico and other vacation destinations. One stop took guests through New
Orleans for a jazz band performance.
Another stop was a city in Mexico where guests caught a lively
cultural dance performance. The attraction ended by offering a
bird’s-eye view of the United States, and then a descent back to the
Walt Disney World Resort flight terminal.
The attraction was very popular with guests in the 1970s, and in just six years, more than 40 million guests had taken a flight.
While the attraction was refurbished in 1987 to become If You Could Fly (the space is now Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin), the attraction’s original theme song is sure to live on in the minds of Disney fans.
On this day in 1966, people from all over the world joined together under the golden sun at Disneyland for the opening of it’s a small world.
The group included young performing groups from America and abroad, and
more than 50 consul generals, consuls and vice consuls representing
nations worldwide. Amongst the opening day festivities was a phone call
between Walt, who was at Disneyland for the dedication, and Disneyland
Ambassador Connie Swanson, who, in keeping with the international theme,
was in Sweden, to be heard on the loud speakers via an international
phone call. Connie recently told D23′s Scott Wolf, “I opened [the event]
from Sweden. I was over in Skansen, which is a cultural amusement park
in Stockholm, and I was with the Minister of Communication, Olaf Palma,
and when I said the dedication words in that office in Sweden it went on
the loud speaker. I could hear Walt saying, ‘There’s some difficulty,
we can’t get it through,’ and I thought, ‘Oh dear, here I am in
Stockholm with the press and this Minister of Communications and the
line is going down, so I just read my script as I was asked to do.’”
Another aspect of the festivities was the brainchild of Jack Lindquist
who recently said, “We needed something to open the attraction. Walt was
going to be there and Louis Lundborg, the chairman of Bank of America,
and I came up with the idea of going to Disney reps all over the world
and saying, ‘Send me a bottle of water,’ and they did a great job.
Pretty soon my office had about 15 different bottles. Water came from
Thames, Seine, Amazon, Danube, Nile, Volga, Rhine, Caribbean,
Mediterranean, Atlantic, Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, among
others. To me, it was just a symbolic way to open the ride. Here was
water from all over the world, and we got kids representing those
countries to pour some water into the moat. It was symbolic and it
worked fine… and it was cheap. It also gave me an opportunity to get to
know the Disney reps around the world.” In his dedication speech, Walt
said, “I’d like to welcome all of you to the dedication of it’s a small world,
and I’d like to thank all of these wonderful children who have
performed here to make these dedication such a success. Thank you,
children! Beautiful children! When we completed it’s a small world
for presentation at the New York World’s Fair, we felt that we had
accomplished what we’d set out to do. We wanted to foster a better
understanding among nations of the world by showing the dress, the
customs, the language, the music and a little of the culture of our
neighbors around the world, and we wanted to show it to be a very happy
one. I think it’s safe to say that having fun has universal appeal.”
Saturday, May 28, marks the anniversary of one of the most endearing attractions to ever open at a Disney park when “it’s a small world” celebrates 45 happy years at Disneyland park.
When he originally imagined this attraction for the 1964 New York World’s Fair, Walt Disney tasked a talented team of Imagineers, including artist and Disney Legend Mary Blair, to bring his vision of brotherhood and friendship to life. Mary’s concept was that of a “pop-up book” that looked like the children within the story had designed their worlds themselves.
Mary Blair also designed the iconic facade when the attraction was moved to its new home at Disneyland park. With whimsical representations of the Eiffel Tower, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Big Ben and the Taj Mahal, the exterior is no less impressive than the ride itself.
Of course it is the playful music, by legendary songwriting team Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman that keeps us humming long after we have exited the attraction. Walt asked the duo to write a simple piece that could be repeated and sung in different languages. The Sherman Brothers succeeded creating quite possibly the catchiest Disney attraction theme song of all time.
In 1966, Walt Disney presided over the opening ceremonies of the attraction in its new home at Disneyland park. Children representing countries from around the world came together to pour water from all seven continents into the “Rivers of the World.”
“Disney’s Golden Anniversary of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” Airs
On this day in 1987, with a smile and a song
“Disney’s Golden Anniversary of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” was
celebrated in an episode of The Magical World of Disney. Using
Disneyland as a backdrop, host Dick van Dyke is joined by the Seven
Dwarfs and Jane Curtin, who portrays the wicked Queen, while Sherman
Hemsley (TV’s George Jefferson) appears in the Magic Mirror. Highlights
include very rarely seen scenes that were deleted from the movie, done
in pencil animation. Although now available as bonus features on DVD,
this was the first time the public was given the chance to view those
scenes. In a dance number with the Dwarfs, Dick van Dyke sings “You’re
Never Too Old To Be Young.” With all that was packed into this hour
special, the “happy” program didn’t have a single “sleepy” moment.
1968:
From the late 1950s to 1968 Los Angeles Airways provided regularly scheduled helicopter passenger service between Disneyland and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and other cities in the area. The helicopters first operated from Anaheim/Disneyland Heliport, located behind Tomorrowland. Service later moved, in 1960, to a new heliport north of the Disneyland Hotel. Arriving guests were then transported to the Disneyland Hotel via tram.
English: Los Angeles Airways Sikorsky S-61L helicopter,
lifting off from the Disneyland Heliport, 1963.
This is the same aircraft that crashed—killing all on board
in August, 1968. Note the Matterhorn Mountain in the background.
The service ended after two fatal crashes in 1968: The crash in Paramount, California, TODAY killed 23 (the worst helicopter accident in aviation history at that time). The second crash in Compton, California on August 14, 1968, killed 21
Attention space travelers: It was on this day in 1977 that Space Mountain
first blasted off guests at Disneyland, rocketing them into a
simulation of outer space, aboard a roller coaster dark ride. But this
attraction, which still remains popular today in the year 2011, actually
has a history that goes back to the 1960s. Disney Legend John Hench
designed this attraction, years before the technology was readily
available. The first Space Mountain opened in the Magic Kingdom
at Walt Disney World in 1975, and after it proved its success, it
landed at Disneyland two years later, with the first American men in
space, consisting of the U.S. Mercury Astronauts Scott Carpenter, Gordon
Cooper, John Glenn, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, Donald “Deke” Slayton
and Betty Grissom (widow of Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom) on hand for the
opening ceremonies. Over the years, the attraction has seen improvements
with all new visual effects and a fully synchronized onboard audio
soundtrack. The next time you walk thru the queue for the attraction,
take a look around at the symbol for “Space Station 77,” paying homage
to the year Space Mountain first took flight.
Pluto’s kid brother (called “K.B.” in this short not
“Pluto Junior” as another younger brother of his was called in the 1942
cartoon of the same name) stretches brotherly love to the limit in this
hilarious short, in which Pluto’s rambunctious, perpetually panting,
leash-evading sibling gets into all manner of difficulties despite
Pluto’s best custodial efforts. When Pluto discovers that Butch the
Bulldog has inveigled K.B. to sneak into a meat market and purloin some
sausages, he arrives to right the situation just as the burglar alarm
begins bleating. The brothers manage to evade a menacing dogcatcher, but
Butch meets a less happy fate.
1961
Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space, when he makes a 108-minute orbital flight in his Vostok spacecraft. (Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard will become the first American in space less than a month later.) Today there is a plaque commemorating Gagarin's milestone flight in Epcot's Mission: SPACE.
1964
At the soon-to-be-open World's Fair in New York, Walt Disney, Henry Ford Jr., and Robert Moses (president of the New York World's Fair Corporation) visit the Ford Pavilion. The three are photographed by the press riding the "Magic Skyway."
1992
The Euro Disney Resort, featuring the Euro Disneyland park, opens in France, east of Paris. Inaugural ceremonies are broadcast to the entire continent by five national networks.
Although 500,000 visitors are expected, only 50,000 are admitted because of protests from French people who fear their culture will be damaged by Euro Disney. Power cables are vandalized by some French citizens, which black out the road signs to Disneyland on the motorway.
Euro Disney also premieres its 5 hotels (Hotel Cheyenne, Santa Fe, Newport Bay Club, Hotel New York and Disneyland Hotel) and a campground (Davy Crockett Ranch) located several miles away from the main resort area.
1993
One year after its opening, Euro Disneyland welcomes its 10.5-millionth guest.
1995
In Florida, the Polynesian's Papeete Bay Verandah, opened since 1971, becomes the 'Ohana restaurant - featuring the world's largest fire pit.
1997
Carl Barks - the genius behind the creation of Scrooge McDuck and the cartoonist who drew the comic book version of Donald Duck - celebrates his 96th birthday at a special weekend event at Walt Disney World.
2007
Hilton Hotels Corp. breaks ground for a resort development adjacent to Walt Disney World Resort.
2009
Disney World's newest attraction Characters in Flight, a tethered helium filled balloon ride (operated by Aerophile - a company specializing in tethered helium balloons) continues its "soft opening" at Downtown Disney. The balloon, which can hold up to 30 guests (depending on weather conditions), rises 400 feet above Disney World for a breathtaking view.
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh Attraction Opens at Disneyland
Deep in the Hundred Acre Wood, er, Disneyland’s Critter
Country, you’ll meet one of the most famous literary bears there ever
was. Replacing the Bear Country Playhouse, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh attraction
opened in 2003. Park visitors can climb inside a massive beehive and
buzz through famous scenes from Pooh’s most beloved escapades. Along the
way, you’ll meet Tigger, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Rabbit, Piglet, Gopher and
Owl. But if you are still longing to see the mugs of some of the stars
from Country Bear Jamboree, do not fret. Max, Buff and Melvin—a
few remaining “fixtures” from the previous attraction—can still be seen
as you pass through the doorways after meeting the Heffalumps and
Woozles. They are up above the doors, watching over the enchanted
neighborhood of Christopher Robin’s childhood friends.
