March 30 - Disney Legend Marc Davis is born

Mar 30, 1913

Disney Legend Marc Davis is born

On this day in 1913 Disney Legend Marc Davis was born in Bakersfield, California. It was some unpleasant experiences as a young child that indirectly led to his creating some of Disney’s most well-known characters, from Cruella De Vil to Tinker Bell and developing some of the most iconic scenes in Disney attractions such as the Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean. Marc’s widow, Alice Davis, a Disney Legend herself, explained to D23′s Scott Wolf, “Marc was in 26 schools before he was out of high school. His father was a rainbow chaser… somebody who would always see the pot of gold over the hill, or the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. He also was a very fine jeweler. He could fix those clocks and barometers for boats in nothing flat. So whenever the family was broke, all they had to do is go to a seaport and he had more work than he could possibly handle. Whenever Marc would go to a new school, at recess the boys would circle around him and just beat the (heck) out of him. That’s the way they greeted you. So he started doing a whole bunch of drawings and he’d have all these drawings when he’d go to school and everybody wanted one of the drawings. He would do drawings for them and they didn’t beat him up. He said that’s what started him as an animator, drawing for all these kids all the time so they wouldn’t beat him up.”

1822

The unified government of Florida is established with William P. Duval from Kentucky as its first Territorial Governor. (Florida had becomes a U.S. territory in 1821 after the U.S. acquired it from Spain as part of a deal to cancel $5 million in debts owed by the Spanish.)

1945

Disney's Donald Duck short The Eyes Have It, directed by Jack Hannah, is released. Donald uses hypnotism on Pluto and convinces him he is a mouse, turtle, chicken and finally a lion!

1957

Members of the Santa Fe Railway Co. visit Disneyland. Walt himself hosts Bob Waller, a Santa Fe
attorney; Hank O'Leary, special representative of the public relations department of the Santa Fe; James P. Reinhold, assistant to the president of the Santa Fe; and; Ralph Thomas, manager of communications for the Santa Fe. (Back in 1953, the Walt Disney Company had solicited major railroads for corporate sponsorship of the attraction. The Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway was the only company to respond.)

1968

Two children come across the lifeless body of a homeless man in an abandoned tenement building on East 10th Street in New York City. Because no one identifies the body, the deceased is buried in an unmarked pauper's grave on Hart Island. (A fingerprint check in 1969 will identify the corpse as Bobby Driscoll, 31, the voice of Disney's Peter Pan. It is also discovered that the cause of death is a heart attack. Sadly his long history of alcohol and drug abuse was a strong contributing factor to his early death.) 

2004

The Orlando Sentinel runs an article in which Walt Disney World president Al Weiss gives some insight into how the parks are maintained.

2006

The Disneyland Resort 50th anniversary celebration takes to the skies over Tucson, Arizona with a 100-foot tall, Mickey Mouse-shaped hot air balloon dubbed "The Happiest Balloon On Earth." With golden ears high atop its head, the Mickey balloon will travel throughout the western United States and Canada during an 11-week tour.

2008

Seasons Of The Vine, an opening day attraction at Disney's California Adventure, closes. A film presentation which took viewers through the journey of producing wine in California, it is shut down due to low attendance.

2011

The Walt Disney Pavilion at Florida Hospital for Children has its grand opening ceremony. Hundreds are on hand to celebrate the occasion (including Bob Iger, president and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, and Tom Staggs, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts), which includes a moving dedication ceremony featuring inspirational stories from former pediatric patients.