The Disney Look... to the Past! (June 8-21)

Good evening! Today we have a special edition of the great feature "The Disney Look... to the Past!" to share with you. We hope you will enjoy all these very interesting facts about the Walt Disney Company:
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This Week in Disney History: June 8-21

June 9, 2006 – Disney•Pixar releases “Cars” 

Lightning McQueen, a hotshot rookie race car focused on winning the Piston Cup, finds himself unexpectedly detained in the quiet Route 66 town of Radiator Springs en route to the championship race. As he meets the town’s eclectic residents, including Sally (a flashy blue Porsche), Doc Hudson (a gruff Hudson Hornet who’s hiding a secret) and the friendly tow truck Mater (“Like tuh-mater, but without the ‘tuh’”), Lightning learns it’s the journey in life that matters more than the destination. Inspired by a cross-country family road trip taken by director John Lasseter, the seventh full-length Pixar Animation Studios film yielded another box-office smash, which was followed by an international espionage-filled sequel in 2011. Beginning June 15, Guests will be able to visit Radiator Springs for themselves when Cars Land opens at Disney California Adventure Park. The “Cars” wing of Disney’s Art of Animation Resort at Walt Disney World opens June 18.

June 14, 1974 – Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue debuts at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground

Get your kinfolk and your appetite ready, and then find some good seats at Pioneer Hall. There’s a down-home, old- fashioned, foot-stomping good time to be had, led by the character-filled sextet of Claire de Lune, Johnny Ringo, Dolly Drew, Six Bits Slocum, Flora Long and Jim Hardy. As they present a Vaudevillian-tinged, sing-along filled show with a participatory flair (you might just find yourself filling in on washboard), chow down on country favorites like fried chicken and barbecued pork ribs, served by the bucketful. Now a Walt Disney World favorite for nearly four decades, “Hoop-Dee-Doo” also had a run at the Diamond Horseshoe in Tokyo Disneyland when it opened in 1983. The show had a distant cousin in the Golden Horseshoe Revue, which ran from 1955 to 1986 in Frontierland at Disneyland Park.

Also this week in Disney history:

June 8

1951 – The animated short “Test Pilot Donald” debuts

1956 – Walt Disney Pictures releases “The Great Locomotive Chase”

June 9

1934 – Donald Duck makes his debut in the cartoon “The Wise Little Hen”

1997 – Bistro de Paris becomes Les Chefs de France at Epcot

June 10

1960 – Pack Mules Through Nature’s Wonderland opens in Frontierland at Disneyland Park

1998 – BET Soundstage Club opens at Pleasure Island

June 11

1977 – The Main Street Electrical Parade debuts at Magic Kingdom Park

1993 – The Motor Boat Cruise closes at Disneyland Park

1994 – Tomorrowland Transit Authority (formerly the WEDway People Mover) opens at Magic Kingdom Park

2007 – Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage opens at Disneyland Park

2010 – The nighttime water spectacular “World of Color” debuts, and the Silly Symphony Swings attraction opens at Disney California Adventure Park

June 12

1942 – “Donald’s Garden” (Donald Duck cartoon short) debuts

1957 – Monsanto House of the Future opens at Disneyland Park

1994 – Sunset Boulevard officially opens at Disney’s Hollywood Studios; “Beauty and the Beast - Live on Stage” debuts at the new Theater of the Stars

1996 – Miles the giraffe is the first animal to arrive at Disney’s Animal Kingdom facilities

June 13

1931 – “The Delivery Boy” (Mickey Mouse cartoon short) debuts

1998 – Leaders host the grand opening of Mickey’s Retreat, formerly the Little Lake Bryan Cast Recreation Area

June 14

1958 – The Sailing Ship Columbia and Alice in Wonderland attractions open at Disneyland Park

1959 – Vice President Richard Nixon dedicates the Matterhorn, Monorail and Submarine Voyage at Disneyland Park

1959 – Disneyland-Alweg Monorail System begins operation at Disneyland Park

1997 – Hercules Weekend takes place in Times Square in New York, with a special Electrical Parade and world premiere of the film

June 15

1961 – The first Grad Nite takes place at Disneyland Park, attended by 8,500 high school seniors

1967 – Club 33 opens in New Orleans Square at Disneyland Park

1990 – Touchstone Pictures releases “Dick Tracy”

2001 – Walt Disney Pictures releases “Atlantis: The Lost Empire”

June 16

1934 – The animated short “Mickey’s Steam Roller” debuts

1955 – Disney’s “Lady and the Tramp” premieres in Chicago

1956 – Tom Sawyer Island opens at Disneyland Park

June 17

1933 – The animated short “Mickey’s Mechanical Man” debuts

1971 – Guest No. 100 million is welcomed to Disneyland Park

1972 – The Main Street Electrical Parade debuts at Disneyland Park

2008 – Toy Story Midway Mania opens at Disney California Adventure Park

June 18

1956 – Storybook Land Canal Boats open at Disneyland Park

1983 – Flights of Fantasy Parade debuts at Disneyland Park

1988 – Mickey’s Birthdayland (now Mickey’s Toontown Fair) opens at Magic Kingdom Park

1996 – The first residents move into Celebration, Fla.

1997 – The Kingdom Queen ferryboat at the Walt Disney World Resort becomes General Joe Potter

1999 – Walt Disney Pictures releases “Tarzan”

2010 – Disney/Pixar releases “Toy Story 3”

June 19

1995 – The “Partners” statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse is dedicated at Magic Kingdom Park

1998 – DisneyQuest officially opens to Guests at Downtown Disney West Side

1998 – Walt Disney Pictures releases “Mulan”

June 20

1976 – River Country opens at the Walt Disney World Resort

1995 – The ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter opens at Magic Kingdom Park

1995 – Plans for Disney’s Animal Kingdom are announced at the Walt Disney World Resort

1999 – 20th Century Music Company shop opens at Disneyland Park

2008 – “Camp Rock,” starring the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato, debuts on Disney Channel

June 21

1961 – “The Litterbug” (the last Donald Duck cartoon made) debuts

1961 – Walt Disney Pictures releases “The Parent Trap”

1991 – Walt Disney Pictures releases “The Rocketeer”

1996 – Walt Disney Pictures releases “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”

2002 – Walt Disney Pictures releases “Lilo & Stitch”

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Thank you for reading, and have a great rest of your week!

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