January 26: Hop A Ride With Lenny

On this day in 1994 Disneyland's Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin debuted in Mickey's Toontown.

A dark ride based on the 1988 Academy Award-winning Who Framed Roger Rabbit, guests board a yellow toon cab named Lenny (the twin cousin of Benny who is already "on the road" carrying Roger). With a steering wheel that is active, guests can spin to their hearts content for about 3 minutes through Toontown all while being surrounded by some pretty cool special effects.

Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin features the voices of Charles Fleischer (as Roger, Benny, Greasy, and Psycho), Kathleen Turner (as Jessica Rabbit), David Lander (as Wiseguy), Fred Newman (as Stupid) and veteran voice actress June Foray (as Wheezy).

A first for Disneyland, a second Roger Rabbit opened at Tokyo Disneyland in 1996.

Click HERE for more January 26 Disney history.

January 25: An Historic First For Michigan Family

On January 25, 2007 at 9:50 a.m. a family of four from Michigan boarded the Star Tours attraction at Disney-MGM Studios and got more than a ride to Endor.

When the Fouch family boarded Simulator 4, sixteen-year-old Brad Fouch had no idea he would be randomly selected to win a night's stay at Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom as part of the ongoing Disney Dreams Giveaway during The Year of a Million Dreams campaign. "I was thinking I had the bad seat because I was sitting on the end," he later explained. But Brad was in the right seat at the right time ... seat 8 row 2 to be exact.

Jim and Lisa Fouch and their children Brad and (eight-year-old) Hannah were the first Walt Disney World guests to win a night's stay four stories above the surrounding Magic Kingdom. They were also honored in a special ceremony, served as grand marshals of the afternoon parade, dined at Cinderella's Royal Table restaurant, and given passes to skip lines at attractions for the day.

Click HERE for more magical January 25 Disney history.

January 24: Big News Out Of Burbank

Catmull, Jobs, Iger & Lasseter

It was on this day in 2006 that Robert Iger, President and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, announced that Disney had agreed to acquire Pixar (for $7.4 billion).

Iger stated, "With this transaction, we welcome and embrace Pixar's unique culture, which for two decades, has fostered some of the most innovative and successful films in history."

In this same announcement it was also revealed that Pixar President Ed Catmull would now serve as President of the new Pixar and Disney animation studios and Pixar Executive Vice President John Lasseter would be Chief Creative Officer of the animation studios, as well as Creative Principal Advisor at Walt Disney Imagineering.

Pixar Chairman and CEO Steve Jobs (of Apple fame) was also appointed to Disney's Board of Directors. The transaction catapulted Jobs to Disney's largest individual shareholder (and brought Disney closer to Apple). "Disney and Pixar can now collaborate without the barriers that come from two different companies with two different sets of shareholders," Jobs explained.

Disney had first entered into a feature film agreement with Pixar back in 1991 that resulted in Toy Story. This day's acquisition was officially completed on May 5, 2006.

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January 23: Disney Channel's Dave

On this day in 2004, Disney Channel debuted a new animated series titled Dave the Barbarian.

Created by Doug Langdale (who had previously worked as a writer on Buzz Lightyear of Star Command) Dave the Barbarian centered on a powerful but cowardly barbarian who lived in the fictitious land of Udrogoth during the Middle Ages.

Dave was voiced by Danny Cooksey, an actor and musician best known in his younger years for his role of Sam on the sitcom Diff'rent Strokes. Narrated by Jeff Bennett (today known as the voice of Johnny Bravo) the cast of Dave the Barbarian included such veteran voice actors as Tress MacNeille, Frank Welker, Kevin Michael Richardson and Estelle Harris.

Twenty-one episodes of Dave the Barbarian ran between 2004 and January 2005.

Click HERE for more January 23 Disney history.

January 22: Happy Birthday Actress Diane Lane

Star of Disney's 2010 Secretariat, actress Diane Lane was born this day in 1965 in New York City.

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January 21: Freaky On A Friday

On this day in 1977, Disney's live-action comedy Freaky Friday was generally released ... appropriately on an actual Friday, just like today (as the 1977 calendar is identical to 2011).

Based on a children's  novel by Mary Rodgers (who also wrote the screenplay), it would be the first of 3 film adaptations by Disney. The original Freaky Friday (which had been playing in some select cities since December 1976) starred Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster as a mother and daughter whose personalities are switched. The cast also included such recognizable talent as John Astin, Dick Van Patten, and Ruth Buzzi.

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January 20: Happy Birthday Buzz

On this day in 1930, astronaut Buzz was born ... not Lightyear ... but the astronuat who is the inspiration for the Toy Story space traveler: Buzz Aldrin.

Aldrin, born in Montclair, New Jersey, became the second human to ever set foot on the Moon back in July 1969 during the historic Apollo 11 flight.
The photo to the left (taken by fellow Apollo crew mate Neil Armstrong) is of Buzz Aldrin on the lunar surface. But just how Mr. Lightyear got in there is a complete mystery.

Click HERE for much more January 20 Disney history.