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 Although no longer active (poor Mr.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

September 1: Born This Day

On this day in 1875, Edgar Rice Burroughs, the creator of Tarzan and one of the great

pioneers of modern science fiction, was born in Chicago, Illinois.

Burroughs was a soldier, business executive, gold miner, cowboy, storekeeper, and policeman before he turned to writing as a career. He wrote more than 20 novels depicting the adventures of Tarzan. After the release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, he wrote a letter to Walt Disney about the possibility of making his creation into an animated feature. His work eventually did become the inspiration for Disney's 1999 animated feature Tarzan and later a Disney produced Broadway stage musical.

Burroughs also wrote popular science fiction and fantasy stories involving Earthly adventurers and Martians.  He began writing a series called the Barsoom books in the second half of 1911. (Barsoom was his fictional representation of the planet Mars.) The final book in the series was titled John Carter of Mars (to be released as a major motion picture by Disney in 2012). In the early twentieth century, Burroughs compiled a glossary of the terms used in these novels. In 1957, Walt Disney created an animated version of it for his "Mars and Beyond" TV episode. Today Burroughs even has a large crater on Mars named for him!

Click HERE for much more September 1 Disney history.

August 11: Mike Douglas

On this day in 1925 Mike Douglas, a singer, entertainer, and TV talk show host, was born in Chicago, Illinois. First singing as a choirboy, in his teens he worked as a singer on a dinner cruise ship on Lake Michigan. After briefly serving in the U.S. Navy, Douglas moved to Los Angeles and began performing on radio and as a vocalist for the big band of Kay Kyser (at the time a popular bandleader and radio personality).
This led to Douglas taking part in Disney's 1950 animated release Cinderella. Although William Phipps supplied the speaking voice for Prince Charming, it was Douglas who provided the character's singing voice.
Take a quick listen to Douglas on "So This is Love."
 

In 1961 Douglas began a local talk show in Cleveland, Ohio. The Mike Douglas Show became immensely popular and soon was seen coast-to-coast from studios in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His successful afternoon show went on to make 6,000 telecasts through 1982. Everyone and anyone in show business at some point made an appearance on The Mike Douglas Show including such musical acts as The Beach Boys, Herman's Hermits, Louis Armstrong and Billy Joel and such Hollywood stars as Bob Hope, Judy Garland, Jimmy Stewart and Paul Newman.

In 1983 Douglas co-hosted the very first broadcast of Walt Disney World Very Merry Christmas Day Parade. The 90-minute special was actually broadcast live from the Magic Kingdom on Christmas Day.

Sadly Mike Douglas passed away on his 81st birthday in 2006.

Click HERE for more August 11 Disney history.