Just more Stuff,,,,,

[Born 2 Fish]

Young Walt Disney and his family once lived in Kansas City (after living in Marceline) in a very small house at 2706 East Thirty- first Street. Compared to the large Marceline farmhouse, the Thirty-first Street home had only a tiny vegetable patch -
and no indoor plumbing!

I can remember as a child, not having indoor plumbing. And I gotta say, as I am, I don't miss that.
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Dec.13, 1966, Walt's wife Lily writes his annual birthday letter to sister Ruth. Her opening words include: "As you have probably surmised things have been a little irregular around here with Walt being ill and so your birthday remembrance from him is a little late. I know it comes with his best wishes that your day was a nice one and the hope that you will find something special to get for yourself with this check." Lily writes of her daughters and grandchildren and assures Ruth that her brother will write as soon as he is back in the office.
(Walt will pass two days later.)

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Dec.14, 1934, MGM releases their version of Babes in Toyland, featuring Laurel & Hardy. Also known as March of the Wooden Soldiers, a scene features the Three Little Pigs and a costumed child dressed like Mickey Mouse! The Hal Roach Studios has obtained permission from Disney to use the characters.

Babes in Toyland (released This Day in 1961) marked the first time Disney’s licensees had the opportunity to manufacture toys that were actually seen in a movie. The Fairy Princess doll played with by Annette Funicello in the "Just a Toy" number was designed for the film by Uneeda Doll Co., and 367 other items, including puzzles, puppets, Colorforms, costumes, and games were manufactured by 45 companies participating in the promotion.
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Dec.14, 1966, Lilly Disney visits her husband Walt at St. Joseph's Hospital (across from his studio) in Burbank, California. Although Walt is very ill, she is encouraged by the strength he shows. His brother Roy pays him a visit at night and they talk about company matters, EPCOT, and Disney World. Walt looks at the ceiling and points out the design of the new Florida park to a teary-eyed Roy. After he leaves, Walt asks to have his bed raised so he can look toward the nearby Disney Studios. At Roy's orders, every one of the studio's lights is left on to shine through the night.

 

[Born 2 Fish]

December 15, 1966:
Thursday
Walter Elias Disney passes away at St. Joseph's Hospital of
acute circulatory collapse (caused by lung cancer) just ten days after his 65th birthday. When the news of Walt's death reaches Disneyland in Anaheim, consideration is given to closing the park for the day, but instead it is kept open (as Walt would have wanted), but the flags on Main Street USA are lowered to half-mast. Disney will be cremated two days later.
(His 74-year-old brother Roy O. Disney will postpone his planned retirement and start construction in Florida on Walt's latest project, Disney World.)

On the CBS Evening News With Walter Cronkite,
commentator Eric Sevareid states this about Mr. Disney:
"He was a happy accident, one of the happiest this century has experienced. And judging by the way it’s behaving, in spite of all Disney tried to tell it about laughter, love, children, puppies, and sunrises, the century hardly deserved him."

"Indeed sorry to learn of passing of your husband and want to extend my heartfelt sympathy. I know words are most inadequate to ease your grief, but it is my hope that you will derive consolation from knowing that his outstanding contributions will be a lasting memorial to him. His dedication to the highest standards of moral values and his achievements will always stand as an inspiration to those who were privileged to know him. John Edgar Hoover. Director of Federal Bureau of Investigation."
-Western Union Telegram sent to Lillian Disney - December 15, 1966.


It was forty five years ago today that Walter Elias Disney passed away.
It is my opinion that what this man left behind, what he did and what he stood for, should absolutely be considered to be one of the great "Wonders" of this world.
When you read about the history of the world and our great nation, the USA, there are many men who are there because they were great. There are men who invented things that changed our lives, and many men of war who fought for the very ideas and existence of our great country. Walt Disney certainly placed himself firmly in our history for his love of family and country.

 

[WAWDWLUVER]

Wow! Thank you for your very "moving" and informative posts!

 

[Born 2 Fish]

There is a lot to read today. Altho for some,this may be a little bit long read, For me it is not, I print this in honor of the man behind the mouse.

December 16, 1966

At 5:00 p.m. on this Friday, a private service is held for Walt Disney's immediate family at Little Church of the Flowers of Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale,
California. No announcements of the funeral are made until after it has taken place.

The New York Times runs "Walt Disney, 65, Dies on Coast; Founded an Empire on a Mouse" the day after his passing. The obituary (penned by Marty Sklar, who at this time is a staff writer at WED) reads:
Walt Disney, who built his whimsical cartoon world of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs into a $100-million-a-year entertainment empire, died in St. Joseph's Hospital here this morning. He was 65 years old.
His death, at 9:35 a.m., was attributed to acute circulatory collapse. He had undergone surgery at the hospital a month ago for the removal of a lung tumor that was discovered after he entered the hospital for treatment of an old neck injury received in a polo match. On Nov. 30, he re-entered the hospital for a 'post-operative checkup.'
Just before his last illness, Mr. Disney was supervising the construction of a new Disneyland in Florida, a ski resort in Sequoia National Forest and the renovation of the 10-year-old Disneyland at Anaheim. His motion-picture studio was turning out six new productions and several television shows and he was spearheading the development of the vast University of the Arts, called Cal Art, now under construction here.
Although Mr. Disney held no formal title at Walt Disney Productions, he was in direct charge of the company and was deeply involved in all its operations. Indeed, with the recent decision of Jack L. Warner to sell his interest in the Warner Brothers studio, Mr. Disney was the last of Hollywood's veteran moviemakers who remained in personal control of a major studio.
Roy Disney, Walt Disney's 74-year-old brother, who is president and chairman of Walt Disney Productions and who directs its financial operations, said:
"We will continue to operate Walt's company in the way that he had established and guided it. All of the plans for the future that Walt had begun will continue to move ahead."
Besides his brother, Mr. Disney is survived by his widow, Lillian, two daughters, Mrs. Ron Miller and Mrs. Robert Brown.

Roy O. Disney sends a 6-page telegram to the London Disney office announcing the death of his brother Walt. It is then forwarded to the Paris Disney office. The telegram includes these words:
Walt Disney, who built his whimsical cartoon world of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs into a $100-million-a-year entertainment empire, died in St. Joseph's Hospital here this morning. He was 65 years old.
His death, at 9:35 a.m., was attributed to acute circulatory collapse. He had undergone surgery at the hospital a month ago for the removal of a lung tumor that was discovered after he entered the hospital for treatment of an old neck injury received in a polo match. On Nov. 30, he re-entered the hospital for a 'post-operative checkup.'
Just before his last illness, Mr. Disney was supervising the construction of a new Disneyland in Florida, a ski resort in Sequoia National Forest and the renovation of the 10-year-old Disneyland at Anaheim. His motion-picture studio was turning out six new productions and several television shows and he was spearheading the development of the vast University of the Arts, called Cal Art, now under construction here.
Although Mr. Disney held no formal title at Walt Disney Productions, he was in direct charge of the company and was deeply involved in all its operations. Indeed, with the recent decision of Jack L. Warner to sell his interest in the Warner Brothers studio, Mr. Disney was the last of Hollywood's veteran moviemakers who remained in personal control of a major studio.
Roy Disney, Walt Disney's 74-year-old brother, who is president and chairman of Walt Disney Productions and who directs its financial operations, said:
"We will continue to operate Walt's company in the way that he had established and guided it. All of the plans for the future that Walt had begun will continue to move ahead."
Besides his brother, Mr. Disney is survived by his widow, Lillian, two daughters, Mrs. Ron Miller and Mrs. Robert Brown.
"The death of Walt Disney is a loss to all the people of the world. In everything he did, Walt had an intuitive way of reaching out and touching the hearts and mind of young and old alike. His entertainment was an international language.
For more than 40 years, people have looked to Walt Disney for the finest quality in family entertainment. There is no way to replace Walt Disney. He was an extraordinary man. Perhaps there will never be another like him. I know that we who worked at his side for all these years will always cherish the years and minutes we spent in helping Walt Disney entertain the people of the world. The world will always be a better place because Walt Disney was its master showman.
As President and Chairman of the Board of Walt Disney Productions, I want to assure the public, our stockholders and each of our more than 4,000 employees that we will continue to operate Walt Disney’s Company in the way that he has established and guided it."

1997:
Ninety-eight-year-old Lillian Bounds Disney dies peacefully in her sleep at her home in West Los Angeles, after suffering a stroke the day before.
(Her husband Walt had died thirty-one years ago and a day in the early morning of December 15, 1966.)
2001:

"This really is the end of an era for the Disneys, and it's ironic and somehow fitting that it should be at this time of the year...Walt, in 1966, my dad in 1971, my mother in 1984, and now Lily have all gone during the 10 days before Christmas." -Roy E. Disney

 

[Born 2 Fish]

There has been a long-standing urban legend that after his death, Walt Disney was cryopreserved so he could be revived at a later date. This is not true.
Mr. Disney was cremated on December 17, 1966 and his ashes were later interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.
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Dec.17, 1990, Honey I Shrunk the Audience Movie Set Adventure opens in the backlot annex area of Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World.

My son was chosen from the audience to participate on/in this little performance. He rode the giant bee fly'n around.

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Dec. 18, 1812, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, known as the Brothers Grimm, publish the first volume of the first edition of Children's and Household Tales (today known as Grimm's Fairy Tales). Among the 86 stories ... Rapunzel, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Little Snow White.

Anyone watch the weekly TV series "Grimm" ?
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Dec.18, 1966, the television series Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color airs "Disneyland Around the Seasons." As this is the first episode to air after the December 15th death of Walt Disney, a portion of Walt’s narrative is substituted by a brief tribute from Dick Van Dyke and NBC newsman Chet Huntley. Walt takes viewers on a tour of Disneyland to point out some of the newest additions to the park, including New Orleans Square, It's a Small World and Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln. The episode also features Bob Cummings, Ronald Reagan and Paul Frees. (Weekly guest hosts will preside over the show for the remainder of the 1966-67 season.)

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Dec.19 1958

"This special holiday program has been made possible by the combined talents of the entire Walt Disney Studios. It is our way of saying 'Merry Christmas from all of us to all of you'."

ABC-TV airs the Walt Disney Presents episode "From All of Us to All of You"
for the very first time. Hosted by Jiminy Cricket along with Mickey Mouse and Tinkerbell, the special combines newly-produced animation with clips from vintage animated shorts and feature films, presented to the viewer as "Christmas cards" from the various characters starring in each one.
The show begins with Jiminy Cricket singing "From All of Us to All of You," written by Disney lyricist Gil George (the pen name for the Disney Studio's nurse, Hazel George) and veteran Disney composer Paul Smith.


just how cool would it have been to have seen this !!

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Dec.20, Roy O. Disney, (one of) Walt's older brothers, business partner, and co-founder
of The Walt Disney Company, passes away at the age of 78 of a cerebral
hemorrhage in Burbank, California. Roy served as the company's chief executive officer (1929–1971) and president (1945–1971). While Walt was the creative man, Roy was the one who made sure the company was financially stable - and it was Roy who made sure Walt Disney World was built. With both Disney brothers gone, the board of directors for the first time will have to turn outside the Disney family for leadership.
(Donn Tatum will become chairman and Card Walker president of Walt Disney Productions.)

There is a Roy O. Disney Suite in the main building of Walt Disney
World's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa and on Disney's cruise ships.

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Dec.20, 1971, Walt Disney World's very first Holiday Parade steps off at the Magic Kingdom.
To be performed twice each day (through January 2), it features marching toy soldiers, dancing reindeer, marching bands, and 50 famous Disney characters

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Dec.21, 1936, a baby girl named Sharon Mae is born. Less than two weeks later she will be adopted by Walt Disney and his wife Lillian.

(now how awesome was that !!)
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Would you like to read Walt Disney's Last Will and Testament ?
Here's the link,,
http://livingtrustnetwork.com/estat...s/last-will-and-testament-of-walt-disney.html

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Dec.23, 1954, the Disney live-action film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (based on the
classic story by Jules Verne) starring Kirk Douglas, James Mason, & Peter
Lorre, is released. It is only the sixth film to ever be shot in CinemaScope (a widescreen movie format) and the first science fiction feature produced by Disney. The film will be enormously popular at the box-office, grossing $6.8 million on its first release. It however will not make a profit ... because it is one of the most expensive movies produced up to this time, costing over $9 million! The film will also be highly praised for the performances of the leading actors ... the first time that major Hollywood stars have appeared in a Disney film.

The giant squid in Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea movie was constructed of rubber, steel spring, flexible tubing, glass cloth, lucite, and plastic. It had tentacles measuring 40 feet with 2 feelers of 50 feet & took a staff of 28 to operate its intricate remote controls! The film later inspired two theme
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Dec.23,1987
Disney's Touchstone Pictures releases the comedy-drama Good Morning
Vietnam starring Robin Williams.park attractions.
"I love the smell of napalm,,"
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"I don’t care about critics. Critics take themselves too seriously. They think the only way to be noticed and to be the smart guy is to pick and find fault with things. It’s the public I’m making pictures for." -Walt Disney

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Each Christmas season Walt Disney World Resort is decorated with more than 11 miles of garland, 3,000 wreaths and up to 1,500 Christmas trees!
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Dec.24, 1944, musician, record company executive, race car owner, and politician Mike Curb is born in Savannah, Georgia. In 1969, his group the Mike Curb Congregation scored a Top 10 hit on the Adult Contemporary charts with a version of "It's a Small World." The song was chosen by Disneyland as the ride's official theme song and the group for many years were considered the official Disneyland and Disney World singers.
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Dec.24, 1971, Disney World's Flight to the Moon attraction opens in Tomorrowland, just in time for the busy Christmas week. (It will close in the spring of 1975 and later house Alien Encounter and ultimately Stitch’s Great Escape.) The Magic Kingdom stays open on this Christmas Eve until 6 pm.

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Merry Christmas !!!

Walt Disney led Disneyland's very first Christmas Parade in November 1955.
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Dec.25,1950, Walt Disney's first television special, One Hour in Wonderland airs on NBC at 4 P.M. Sponsored by the Coca-Cola Company and hosted by Walt himself, it is watched by about 20 million people (an amazing feat considering only 10.5 million TV sets exist in the U.S.). Guests include Edgar Bergen and his dummies Charlie McCarthy & Mortimer Snerd, Walt's daughters Diane & Sharon, Kathryn Beaumont (the voice of Disney's upcoming newest animated feature Alice in Wonderland) and Bobby Driscoll (the voice of Peter Pan). The Firehouse Five Plus Two - a Dixieland ensemble made up of Disney employees - also performs.
("Edgar Bergen: "I've never told you the story of Alice in Wonderland, have I?"
Charlie McCarthy: "No, I've been lucky so far.")


Dec25,1951, the second Disney TV special The Walt Disney Christmas Show, hosted
by Walt Disney, airs on CBS at 3 P.M. Sponsored by Johnson and Johnson, the show
promotes the upcoming animated feature Peter Pan.

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Dec.25, 1924, Screenwriter Rod Serling is born Edwin Rodman Serling in
Syracuse, New York. His popular Twilight Zone TV series will be the
inspiration for Disney's Tower of Terror theme park attractions.
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"Christmas isn't about candy canes, or lights all aglow,
it's the hearts that we touch, and the care that we show."
-Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Dec.26, 2002, Florida Governor Jeb Bush & his parents, former President George Bush & former first lady Barbara Bush, board the Disney Wonder for a 3-night cruise.
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1967, the United States Federal Bureau of the Budget announces that California will be granted a right-of-way through Sequoia National Park for improved road access to Disney's proposed Mineral King ski resort. (The resort will never be built.)
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1939, the Disney staff begin the move from the old studio at Hyperion Avenue in Silver Lake to a new one in Burbank. The success of the 1937 Snow White has allowed Disney to build the new modern campus on some 51 acres of land. It is designed around the animation process, with the large animation building in the center of the campus, and adjacent buildings for the story department, the music department, the ink-and-paint departments, and the other various functions of the studio. (The move will take a little over a week.)

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Soon after the completion of the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, someone said,
"Isn’t it too bad Walt Disney didn’t live to see this?" Mike Vance, then dean of Disney University, replied, "He did see it. That’s why it’s here."
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Dec.27, 1972, Disney World is visited by 71,328 holiday visitors on this day!
Remember, WDW at that time was only the Magic Kingdom. Disney is famous for not revealing the crowd stats at their parks, but it's not unusual for Disney to close the Magic Kingdom gates early in the day during Christmas holidayz due to full capacity.
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Dec.27 2006, Holiday crowds are so thick at Walt Disney World this afternoon that three parks close or divert traffic at various times. Because they have reached capacity, Magic Kingdom and Disney's Animal Kingdom both close by 1:15 p.m. At Disney-MGM Studios there are parking issues, and traffic is diverted away from the main parking lots for a couple of hours after 3 p.m.

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Dec.28, 1972, the last scheduled flights into STOLport - Walt Disney's own airport - takes place. Opened since October 1971, the idea of affordable short-range air routes have become impractical.

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Dec.29, 1974, it is widely believed that John Lennon signs the paperwork that officially dissolves The Beatles while staying at Disney World's Polynesian Village Resort. He, along with his son Julian and friend May Pang are spending the Christmas holiday in Florida. Although The Beatles had stopped existing as a band in 1970, it has taken some 4 years to draw up legal paperwork to divide their massive earnings. The voluminous documents have been brought down to
Florida for Lennon to approve ... as the other 3 Beatles have already signed.

"I met John Lennon at Disney World while working as a monorail operator. He, Julian and May Pang rode in the front of the monorail on two different occasions with me. I allowed him and Julian to operate the train. The second day John came out to the station and actually ask if I was working. He and Julian waited until I arrived in the train and again rode with me and
drove the train. May Pang took a lot of pictures that day. As they left the train that day John ask if I would like to take some pictures and waited while I retrieved a camera. I have a great 8×10 of John Lennon and I together." -Cast Member Hal East

"He finally picked up his pen and, in the unlikely backdrop of the Polynesian Village Hotel at Disney World, ended the greatest rock 'n' roll band in history by simply scrawling John Lennon at the bottom of the page." -May Pang

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And that my friends, is some real Disney history.

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Dec.30, 1956, Walt Disney appears on TV's The Ed Sullivan Show (along with
Sid Caesar and Edward R. Murrow).
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Dec.30, 1980, the longest-running series in prime-time television history, The Wonderful World of Disney, is canceled (on NBC) after more than 25 years on the air.

(no sweat, Disney bought their own network inna few years)
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The Selective Service System, in the midst of reminding 18-year-olds to register for the draft, send a warning to Mickey Mouse at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. The Selective Service says that Mickey is in violation of registration compliance.
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1997
As of this day, Disney holds eight of the top ten spots on the All Time Movie Video Sales Chart with The Lion King (1); Aladdin (2); Cinderella (3); Beauty and The Beast (4); Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (5); Toy Story (7); 101 Dalmatians (8); and Pocahontas (10).
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Hidden Mickeys started out as an inside joke by Disney Imagineers in the 1980s.

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Dec.31,1920, Western entertainer & Disney Legend Rex Allen is born in his Grandmother Clark's home in Wilcox, Arizona. He performed as a narrator, singer, and actor in more than 80 Disney films and provide the voices for 150 different Disney
cartoon characters. Allen was the original voice of the father and later the voice of the grandfather in Disney's Carousel of Progress.
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Dec31, 2002, the Terror of Tower's new random drop sequence officially debuts at Disney-MGM Studios. It is the fourth show enhancement since the
attraction first opened in 1994.
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More than 8,000 construction workers
were originally employed to build Walt Disney World.

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Happy New Year !!

Jan.1, 1888, Elias Disney (an Irish Canadian) and Flora Call (a German American) are married in Acron, Florida - a town in eastern Lake County. They will later move to Chicago, Illinois in 1890 and in 1901 Flora will give birth to their 4th son Walter. (Although no longer in existence - Acron was located 40 miles due north of where Walt Disney World stands today!)
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Jan.1, 1943, Disney's anti-Nazi propaganda piece Der Fuehrer's Face (also titled Donald Duck in Nutziland) is released. Donald Duck has a nightmare that he is living in Nazi Germany, envisioning bayonet discipline, starvation, hard work on the munitions assembly line, and "heiling Hitler." He awakens to find himself in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty and glad to be a U.S. citizen. Directed by Jack Kinney, it will win the 1943 Academy Award for Animated Short Film and be voted #22 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time!
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Jan.1, 1966, Walt Disney serves as Grand Marshal of the Tournament of the Roses Parade in Pasadena, California. He and Mickey Mouse (portrayed by Paul Castle) ride together in a white Chrysler Imperial. Sitting curbside with his parents watching the parade is a young John Lasseter - future Jungle Cruise ride operator and Toy Story filmmaker! Also sitting curbside is the Burke family - watching their very first Rose Parade. When Walt's vehicle stops to make a corner turn, teen Pat Burke runs up and shakes Mr. Disney's hand. Six years later Pat will begin work at WED ... becoming one of Disney's top Imagineers!