The Disney Look... to the past! (May 7-13)

Take a look at this week's "Disney Look... to the Past"!:

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This Week in Disney History: may 7-13

May 13, 1992 - "Fantasmic! Show" debuts at Disneyland Park

Night is typically quiet on the Rivers of America, unless Mickey Mouse's vivid imagination is at work. And when he conjures up an epic battle between classic Disney heroes and villains, it transforms Tom Sawyer Island, the Sailing Ship Columbia and Mark Twain Riverboat along the way into " Fantasmic! Show." The entertainment has wowed Disneyland Park guests for nearly two decades with its water, pyrotechnic and laser effects. "Fantasmic! Show" also has been continually improved with new technology, including high-definition projection against the 40-foot mist screens and a fully articulated Audio-Animatronics Maleficent dragon which debuted in 2009. Disney's Hollywood Studios opened its own version of the show in a purpose-built amphitheater in 1998, and "Fantasmic! Show" goes international in 2011 with its debut at Tokyo DisneySea.

May 13, 2009 - Disney-Pixar's "Up" debuts at the Cannes Film Festival

Cranky septuagenarian Carl Fredericksen wants to fulfill his lifelong dream of travelling to South America, just like his childhood hero, explorer Charles Muntz. Driven by the memory of his late wife, Ellie, he sends his house soaring by attaching thousands of helium balloons. There's just one small problem: talkative 9-year-old Russell, a Wilderness Explorer working on his "assisting the elderly" badge, accidentally gets taken along for the ride. As they negotiate jungle landscapes, encounter endangered birds and talking dogs (squirrel!), Fredericksen learns that adventure is indeed out there - but also that some of life's best stuff is the boring stuff. Directed by Pete Docter, "Up" notched Pixar's fifth Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, along with only the second nomination of any animated film for Best Picture.

Also this week in Disney history:

May 7

1950 -- The first engine runs on the Carolwood Pacific Railroad, a model train line in the backyard of Walt Disney's home in California (later providing inspiration for Disneyland Park)

May 8

1998 -- Lagoona Gator, a new Disney's Typhoon Lagoon character, is introduced at the water park

2000 -- The Millennium Dreamers Celebration, featuring 2,000 kids from more than 90 countries, begins at the Walt Disney World Resort

May 9

1947 -- "Sleepy Time Donald" (cartoon short) debuts

1953 -- "For Whom the Bulls Toil" (Goofy cartoon short) debuts

1991 -- Disney announces plans to build WestCOT at Disneyland Park

May 10

2006 -- The musical "Tarzan" opens in New York at the Richard Rogers Theatre

May 11

1935 -- The Silly Symphony short "Water Babies" debuts

2002 -- Bill Peet, author and storyboard artist credited with writing Disney's "One Hundred and One Dalmatians" and "The Sword in the Stone," dies at age 84

May 12

1956 -- The Horseless Carriage opens at Disneyland Park

1967 -- The cities of Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista are chartered by the state of Florida to perform municipal functions within the Reedy Creek Improvement District (clearing the way for construction of the Walt Disney World Resort)

May 13

1933 -- "The Mail Pilot" (Mickey Mouse cartoon short) debuts

1997 -- The Magic Kingdom II ferryboat at the Walt Disney World Resort is renamed the Richard F. Irvine

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