December 01: Volume 1, Number 1

"The Disney News will take you behind the scenes for fascinating stories of people and places which make possible the kind of entertainment that you have come to expect from Walt Disney. This is Volume 1, Number 1 and we hope you like it."

With those printed words, the Disney News was first published on this day in 1965. Just 16 pages long, articles included:
Walt's cruise on the U.S. Coast Guard's training vessel, Eagle
Disneyland's new Miss Ambassador Connie Swanson
The return of Maurice Chevalier to the U.S. for his role in Monkeys Go Home!
Schedule of movie releases for 1966
New attractions that would debut in Disneyland the following year

A free benefit for members of the Magic Kingdom Club during the 1960s, the Disney News would become the Disney Magazine in 1994.

Click HERE for more December 01 Disney history.

For an in depth view of all the Disney publications, visit Tim's Disney News Archive.

November 18: Their Happiness Castle

On this day in 1957, LIFE magazine ran this full-page color advertisement for Insurance By North America. Part of an ad campaign (running since Summer 1956), it features a vacationing family of four in front of Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle. A nostalgic example of Disneyland's early days, travelers could actually purchase insurance at the Carefree Corner Information Center on Main Street, USA.
The ad campaign ran well into the 1960s, always featuring a happy American family standing in a different location at Disneyland.

Click HERE for more November 18 Disney history.

(Happy Birthday Mickey!)

October 28: Birth of a Character Actress

Born this day in 1902, this actress (first known for her performance in the 1935 The Bride of Frankenstein) went on to appear in a handful of Disney live-action feature films and television episodes during the 1960s.


Who was she?

Just click HERE.

October 24: Home Movie Maven

It was on this day in 1908 that Robbins Barstow was born in Vermont. An amateur filmmaker (since the age of 10) whose camera documented every aspect of his Connecticut family's life for decades, Disney fans know him best from his film Disneyland Dream.
By day Barstow was the director of professional development for the Connecticut Education Association ... but by night and in retirement he was the auteur of tenderly shot documentaries, many of them travelogues chronicling the ordinary doings of everyday people.
With more than one hundred films to his name, Barstow garnered an online following with his Disneyland Dream, first shot in the summer of 1956 and starting in 2008 - downloaded some 76,000 times.

Learn more about Robbins Barstow HERE.

October 23: Save Mr. Toad

On this day in 1997 a new website to stop Mr. Toad's Wild Ride from being closed at Walt Disney World hit the Internet. Although no longer active (poor Mr. Toad was replaced with Winnie the Pooh) the website is still running ... get a blast from the past HERE.

Then click HERE for much more October 23 Disney history.

October 2: Disney World's First Riverboat

On this day in 1971, the Admiral Joe Fowler Riverboat left Liberty Square (the day after the park's debut) with Magic Kingdom guests for the very first time for a short trip on the Rivers of America. Walt Disney World's first riverboat, it was named after retired navy admiral Joe Fowler who was in charge of the construction for both Disneyland and Disney World. (Fowler was named a Disney Legend in 1990.)
The original Fowler Riverboat carried Disney World guests pass such attractions as Tom Sawyer Island and the Haunted Mansion for nearly ten years. When Fowler was damaged during refurbishment in 1980, the Richard F. Irvine Riverboat became the Magic Kingdom's second Liberty Square steam paddle boat. (It was later renamed the Liberty Belle Riverboat.)

Click HERE for more October 2 Disney history.

October 01: The New Biggest Show On Earth