Hello and welcome to what I hope will be the first of many “Mouse FACTory” reports.
The following is a look back at this week in Disney history. It’s not surprising that spring is a busy time for a major entertainment corporation like the Walt Disney Company. After a long, hard winter, the country is beginning to thaw and people are ready for a change.
But even for Disney, this is a pretty significant week. Take — for instance — all the interesting stuff that happened on:
Significant Dates this Week
April 18th
April 18, 1983 — At 7:00 a.m. the Disney Channel begins its first broadcast day with an episode of “Good Morning Mickey”, showcasing classic Disney cartoons. The channel has 18 hours of programming a day for the first three and a half years. Twenty-four hour programming begins in December of 1986.
April 18, 1994 — “Beauty & the Beast: A New Musical” officially opens at the Palace Theater in New York. Disney’s musical includes all of the songs from the Academy Award winning film as well as “Human Again,” a new number that had originally been cut from the film’s score. Working with lyrcist Tim Rice, Alan Menken wrote several new songs for the Broadway production.
This popular play, now in its 11th year, holds the record for sixth longest running Broadway play. With approximately 4500 performances under its belt, “Beauty” only needs to run 7 or 8 more years to replace “Cats” as longest running play. (Can you see the headlines? Mouse finally catches “Cats” “Disney beats Cats”, etc.)
April 18, 1998 — To celebrate Disney Channel’s 15th birthday, Toon Disney is launched. The twenty-four hours of cartoon programming is targeted towards kids aged 2-11. This is where “The Disney Afternoon” went to die.
April 20th
April 20, 1946 – “Make Mine Music” debuts. While the war years were profitable for many Hollywood studios, it was a lean time for Disney. Since most of Walt’s animators enlisted or were drafted, production at the studio slowed down considerably. For the most part, the Disney Company got through the war making training films for various branches of the military.
To get some much needed cash after the war, Disney cobbles together “Make Mine Music,” a patchwork film consisting of 10 separate cartoon shorts. Nicknamed “the poor man’s Fantasia,” this mixed bag included “Casey at Bat,” “The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at The Met” and “Peter & the Wolf.” Interestingly enough, “Make Mine Music” ‘s premiere was held in New York almost four months before the film’s general release.
April 22, 1964 – The 1964-1965 New York Worlds Fair Opens. Six hundred and twenty six acres of Queens known as Flushing Meadows became the site for the 1939/1940 Worlds Fair. New York Park Commissioner Robert Moses transforms what was once a dump site into an amazing and popular world showcase. It’s Moses dream to eventually build a huge beautiful park on this site once the fair is over. It didn’t happen.
To borrow a phrase from the boss, “Why For?” … Well, while the 1939/1940 fair is acclaimed as a monumental achievement, it wasn’t a financial success. Since the fair operated on a loss, the funding necessary to transform the fair grounds into a state-of-the-art park just wasn’t there. However, twenty years later, a small group of NYC businessmen want to try & hold another Worlds Fair on the Flushing Meadow site. Moses sees this as his last opportunity to build his dream park, so he agrees to head up the project.
In crunching the numbers, the fair committee finds it needs about 70 million people coming through the turnstiles in order for this project to be profitable. To reach those numbers, the fair will need 2 years of operating from April to October. The fair is submitted to the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE), a governing body for Expos and they have issues with the plan.
Seattle is going to be the home of the 1962 Expo and — according to the BIE — a country can only have an Expo every 10 years. New York also planned to lease the space to exhibitors, another BIE no-no.
Moses takes his case to the media and the BIE resents the ploy. Not only do they deny New York’s sanction, they ask host nations to boycott the fair. Many nations are conspicuously absent but the loss is made up with US corporations looking to make an international impression. The Fair opens with 140 pavilions covering approximately one square mile.
A few years before the opening of the 1964 Worlds Fair, Walt is out offering the services of his company to American corporations who want to create a pavilion. His Imagineers think he’s nuts. The method to Walt’s madness is creating good relationships with big business while getting them to foot the bill for innovations he can use at Disneyland and beyond.
When the fair opens, Disney has four exhibits:
- The State of Illinois’ “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln”
- General Electric’s “Progressland”
- Ford Motor Company’s “Magic Skyway”
- Pepsi/UNICEF’s “it’s a small world”
The attractions are four of the five top rides for the two year run of the Fair. “Mr. Lincoln,” “small world” and “Progressland” (AKA”The Carousel of Progress”) are moved to Disneyland pretty much intact. “Magic Skyway” doesn’t make it back whole, but a piece of it becomes “The Primeval World” diorama that can be seen from the Disneyland Railroad.
While most sponsors are happy with their participation, the 1964/65 New York Worlds Fair (just like its 1939/40 counterpart) loses money. Initial attendance projections of 70 million people prove to be highly optimistic. Give that the Fair’s overall attendance for its two years is actually closer to 57 million. If there hadn’t been a huge spike in attendance in the last few weeks, New York might still be footing the bill for the thing. Sadly, Robert Moses’ plan to turning Flushing Meadow into a beautiful park falls flat .. again.
April 22nd
April 22, 1998 — Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park opens at Walt Disney World. Everything about WDW’s newest theme park, including its trivia:
Size of park: More than 500 acres, five times the size of the Magic Kingdom. The “Kilimanjaro Safari” ride is larger than Disneyland
Parking Capacity: 6,000 cars
Attractions (on opening day): 13 attractions. DAK is separated into 5 lands: Camp Minnie-Mickey, Dinoland U.S.A., Africa, Safari Village, and the Oasis
Admission (on opening day): $42.14 for Adult; $33.92 for children
Initial construction Cost: $800,000,000
Keep on truckin’ : Sixty dump trucks of dirt were delivered to the DAK’s construction site every day for two years straight, equaling 4.4 million yards of dirt.
There’s one million sq. feet of rockwork to be found in this theme park. That’s twice the volume of the sculpting that was done on the Mt. Rushmore sculptures.
Employees: More than 4,500 people were hired to be members of Animal Kingdom’s original cast.
April 23rd
April 23, 1957 — Midget Autopia Opens. Disneyland’s “Autopia” was one of the most popular rides at the Anaheim theme park when it opened in July of 1955. Unfortunately, it seemed that two tracks aren’t enough to hold all of the moppets who were rarin’ to rear-end their friends & family. So Walt ordered that a third track be designed: A “Midget Autopia,” which would cater to the under five crowd.
The roadsters used in the “Midget Autopia” had two steering wheels and yet neither one makes any difference. Why? Because this Fantasyland attraction is really an outdoor dark ride on a track. No kiddie whiplash here. Instead of a noisy drive through a cloverleaf jungle, the ride is a slow Sunday drive along a country road, rolling past grassy berms and weaving through the countryside.
To make way for “it’s a small world” in 1966, the “Midget Autopia” was removed from Disneyland and sent to Walt’s boyhood home, Marceline, MO. The city of Marceline rebuilt the track and ran the ride for a few years. But maintenance became a problem and the ride eventually closed. When Disneyland opened their new “Autopia” in 2002, the Imagineers negotiated with Marceline and arranged for one of the cars to be returned. The now bronzed Midget vehicle stands as a statue along the new “Autopia” highway.
April 24th
April 24, 1989 — The All New “Mickey Mouse Club” show debuts on the Disney Channel. While some elements of the first “Mickey Mouse Club” are evident (themed days, dance numbers, the serials), these are not your father’s Mouseketeers. In fact, the performers on the show were never referred to as Mouseketeers and they skipped wearing the mouse ears as well. This Disney Channel exclusive runs for seven seasons and gives 34 kids the chance to sing, dance and perform. Among the future big name performers that appeared on this program were pop stars Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake as well as Keri Russell and Ryan Gosling (who eventually made names for themselves in movies and television).
This week’s birthdays
April 18th
Leopold Stokowski (1882-1977) – Leopold Stokowski was a character. He was born in London England in 1882 but he liked to make up the year he was born. His parents were native to England, yet he told the tale of his parents being Polish and Irish and somewhere, he picked up an undefined accent that sounded vaguely European. He was married to the rich and famous 3 times and he had a very public affair with Greta Garbo. In spite of his eccentricities, no one denied that Leopold loved music.
His first job was as organist at St. James Church in London. That gig got him invited to become the organist of St. Bartholomew’s in New York and he jumped the pond. While well liked for his exuberant performances, he was actually fired from the church for ending a service with Stars & Stripes Forever with the volume on the organ cranked. His first conductor job was a stand in when someone got sick. This led to a job as conductor of the Cincinnati Orchestra. From there he went to Philadelphia where he established himself as one of the preeminent conductors of the day.
A chance meeting with Walt Disney at a party led to Fantasia. Walt told Stokowski of his plans to make a cartoon using composer Paul Dukas Sorcerers Apprentice as the backdrop to a Mickey Mouse cartoon. The idea intrigued the conductor and he volunteered to come to the studio to conduct the piece. The visit snowballed into a feature film with Stokowski’s involvement every step of the way.
As a conductor, he was always controversial, Stokowski chose new music pieces and placed them next to old standards in concert. He rewrote certain pieces of compositions by Bach and others to better suit his needs. He was an inveterate tinkerer, moving entire sections of the orchestra to see how it changed the sound and always using the newest recording technology. He made over 600 sound recordings in his lifetime. Obviously an optimist, he signed a six year recording contract when he was 94. Stokowski died in 1977 at the age of 95.
Melissa Joan Hart – Sabrina the teenage witch was going to be a one shot character in an “Archie” comics parody of old monster movies in 1962, but she proved a little too popular for just a one-shot. She was introduced to the Riverdale regulars in 1968 and became an animated cartoon in 1971. In 1996, Showtime did a TV movie starring Melissa Joan Hart. The movie was picked up by ABC and turned into an anchor show for their Friday “TGIF” lineup and then moved to the WB. The witch gets around. Melissa turned 29 this week.
Eric Roberts – Star of ABC’s “Less Than Perfect” celebrates 49.
Rick Moranis – The SCTV alum who played Wayne Szalinski in Disney’s “Honey” trilogy: “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” (1989), “Honey, I Blew up the Kid” (1992) and “Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves” (1997); turns 51
James Woods – Hades, God of the Underworld turns 58
Hayley Mills – In the early 60’s, Disney had two “it” girls: Annette Funicello and Hayley Mills. Hayley starred in “The Parent Trap” (1961), “In Search of the Castaways” (1962), “The Moon-Spinners” (1963) and “That Darn Cat” (1965). She turns 59
April 19th
Tim Curry – Probably best know for his portrayal of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” Curry has voiced too many animated villains to count. For Disney, he’s voiced “Gargoyles,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Teacher’s Pet” and “Teamo Supremo.” He was also the voice of S.I.R for the now defunct “Alien Encounter” attraction at WDW’s Magic Kingdom.
Clint Howard — I’m sure that — just once — Clint Howard would like to see an article or column that doesn’t mention that he’s Ron Howard’s younger brother. Sorry, but that’s not going to be this one. While I personally remember him as the kid who got to play with “Gentle Ben,” Clint was also the original voice of Roo in “Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree” (1966), “Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day” (1968) and “Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too” (1974).
April 20th
Betty Lou Gerson (1914 – 1999) – The narrator of “Cinderella” (1950), and the voice of Cruella DeVil in “One Hundred and One Dalmatians” (1961), Gerson’s extremely expressive voice made her a much sought after radio star and animation voice.
April 21st
Charles Grodin – While I’m sure it’s not the most taxing role he ever did, Grodin plays a wonderfully stodgy Left Brain in the “Cranium Command” show for the “Wonders of Life” pavilion at WDW’s Epcot. IMDB also says that Charles played an uncredited drummer in Disney’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” (1954). Can anyone tell me the scene that they might be talking about?
April 22nd
Flora Call (1868 – 1938) – A young Flora Call has a crush on Elias Disney but the older Elias was a rather tongue-tied man who couldn’t bring himself to court her. When Flora and her parents move from Kansas to Florida in 1884, Elias Disney moves as well. The two are finally married New Year’s Day 1888. The Disney’s have five children; Herbert, Ray, Roy, Walt and Ruth. The youngest son, Walt, becomes mildly famous for making some funny animal cartoons.
Joseph Bottoms – “When I volunteered for this mission, I never thought I’d end up playing straight man to a tin can.”– Lt. Charles Pizer, “The Black Hole” (1979). Bottoms turns 51
April 23rd
George Lopez – ABC’s funniest low-rider turns 44
Shirley Temple – In 1938, Walt Disney was given a special Oscar in recognition of “Snow White.” The Oscar had seven little Oscars in tow; a nod to the Seven Dwarves and the remarkable achievement of Hollywood’s first full length cartoon.
This one-of-a-kind trophy was presented by 10-year-old Shirley Temple. Who, like Mickey Mouse, had just saved a studio (I.E. 20th Century Fox) from bankruptcy. Shirley Temple was the number one box office draw in the country at that time. More to the point, the diminuative darling had been Hollywood’s top draw for the last 4 years; a feat which has never been duplicated. Which is Ms. Temple was probably Walt’s closest competitor when it came to prying the nickels and dimes from the piggy banks of Depression era kids.
Film footage of the “Snow White” Oscar presentation ceremony is fun to watch because Shirley is so much more at ease in front of the cameras than Walt is. In fact, Shirley advises Walt:”Relax, Mr. Disney”. Shirley will be 77.
Okay, that’s it for the debut of Dale Ward “Mouse FACTory.” If you liked this JHM column, be sure and sling a note at Jim and let him know. Hopefully — if enough positive notes come in — I’ll be back with another edition of this column next week.