December 26, 1961: Former United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower visits Disneyland with his family. Here, the President (right) pauses for a photo while driving the Disneyland fire engine with wife Mamie (left) and family in tow.
Later, President Eisenhower remembered Walt Disney’s life and accomplishments on a radio program.
The 1964–65 World’s Fair in New York celebrated a time of optimism, growth, and progress. The Fair, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, marked the creation of landmark Disney technology, music, and attractions including it’s a small world, Audio-Animatronics® technology, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, and the Carousel of Progress—with its memorable theme song “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow.” Disney twenty-three sat down with several Disney Legends responsible for these iconic landmarks including Marty Sklar, Alice Davis, and Bob Gurr. Stunning concept art and rarely seen photography from the Fair complement the stories in this issue, available exclusively to Gold Members of D23.
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Disney twenty-three’s spring issue also includes a look ahead at some of the latest entertainment coming from Disney. Ty Burrell, Tina Fey, Kermit the Frog, and Miss Piggy give readers a peek “behind the felt” at Muppets Most Wanted, which opens this March. Chris Evans talks about suiting up once again for April’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Plus, Jonathan Freeman discusses taking his characterization of the villainous Jafar from screen to stage, as Disney Theatrical Productions prepares to open Aladdin on Broadway this March.
Also included in the spring issue of Disney twenty-three:
Also in the spring issue, D23 Gold Members will receive a reproduction of the “Souvenir Map and Small World Guide” from the centerfold of the commemorative it’s a small world, guide book:
Disney twenty-three, which is delivered directly to fans’ doorsteps, is offered exclusively to D23 Gold Members as a benefit of their membership.
Walt’s own recipe for this family favorite!
So wrap yourself up under your favorite blanket, slot in your favorite Disney movie and relax with the perfect comfort food—Walt style!
Ingredients |
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| Chili 2 lbs. coarse ground beef 2 onions, sliced 2 cloves garlic 1⁄2 cup oil 1 cup chopped celery 1 tsp. chili powder (depending on taste) 1 tsp. paprika 1 tsp. dry mustard 1 large can solid pack tomatoes 2 lbs. dry pink beans Salt |
For Extra Zest Add a pinch of the following spices: 1 little yellow Mexican chili pepper Coriander seeds Turmeric Chili seeds Cumin seeds Fennel seeds Cloves Cinnamon Dry ginger |
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PreparationSoak beans overnight in cold water. Drain, add water to cover (2 inches over beans), and simmer with onions until tender (about 4 hours). Meanwhile, prepare sauce by browning meat and minced garlic in oil. Add remaining ingredients, and simmer for 1 hour. When beans are tender, add sauce to beans and simmer for 1⁄2 hour. Serves 6 to 8. |
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The wait is almost over!
Watch Broadway’s New Amsterdam Theatre prepare for the arrival of Disney’s new musical:
Disney’s all-new musical Aladdin, adapted from centuries-old Arabian folktales including One Thousand and One Nights, is only a month away from opening, and the New Amsterdam Theatre is transforming to welcome Prince Ali Ababwa.
Located in the heart of Times Square, the historic New Amsterdam Theatre is one of New York City’s most stunning Broadway theaters. It was built in 1903 and was once home to the legendary Ziegfeld Follies. Before Disney’s Aladdin, the New Amsterdam Theatre was previously home to the stage musical Mary Poppins.
Journey into the rehearsal studio:
Director and Choreographer Casey Nicholaw talks about the Disney’s new musical comedy:
Director and choreographer Casey Nicholaw and the show’s writers had previously collaborated on a well-received pilot production of the musical at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre in summer 2011 mounted for a limited run with the goal of trying out new material and structure. The Broadway version will be an entirely new production featuring a new script, tunestack and a wholly original design scaled to the Broadway stage and an epic story.
Book writer Chad Beguelin, talks about the development:
Previous live versions of the film, unrelated to the new Broadway production, have included Disney’s Aladdin – A Musical Spectacular at Disney California Adventure, regional productions of the show licensed last summer and versions of the script which have been available to schools for several years.
Adam Jacobs (Aladdin) has appeared on Broadway as Marius in Les Miserables and Simba in The Lion King.
James Monroe Iglehart (Genie) appeared in Memphis and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
Courtney Reed (Jasmine) has appeared in the Broadway productions of In the Heights and Mamma Mia.
As Jafar, Jonathan Freeman brings to the stage the role he indelibly created in the animated film. His Broadway credits include The Little Mermaid, The Producers and his Tony®-nominated turn in She Loves Me.
The show also stars Brian Gonzales, Brandon O’Neill, and Jonathan Schwartz as Aladdin’s sidekicks Babkak, Kassim, and Omar. Clifton Davis (Sultan) returns to Broadway where he received his first Tony nomination for the landmark production of Two Gentlemen of Verona in 1971; and Don Darryl Rivera as Iago. Merwin Foard and Michael James Scott will standby for several principals.
Aladdin comes to Broadway’s New Amsterdam Theatre February 26.
For those of you with a sweet tooth
—or a mouth full of them!—we recommend this sinfully sweet recipe, the mouth-wateringly perfect “topping of the cake” to any of your own home-cooked culinary masterpieces. Then again, who really needs a meal when you can proceed directly to this molten deliciousness? While this delectable dessert is no longer available at California grill, you can treat yourself at home!
8 1-ounce semisweet chocolate squares, chopped or 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 sticks of butter
5 egg yolks
4 whole eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
Cook’s Notes
You can also use muffin tins; recipe makes 12. Bake for 15 minutes or until set and middle is still soft.
On this day in 1959, Sleeping Beauty was awakened in theaters across the country. Based on the classic fairy tale and including musical themes from Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet version of the story, the entire look of the film was different from any animated movie ever produced, partly because of a budget that exceeded $6 million dollars—the most expensive of any of Disney’s features to date—and largely due to the unique painting style of artist Eyvind Earle.
The title role of sleeping beauty Princess Aurora, was voiced by Mary Costa. Her performance launched a successful singing career that has included everything from appearing with Frank Sinatra to singing at the Metropolitan Opera.
Mary told D23 about one particular memory of seeing the film. “When my mother was in her late 90s, I took her to a small complex to see Sleeping Beauty. She was sitting by me on my right and no one knew who we were. She just loved it. She had seen it before, but she just loved it and she just chuckled over it. During one scene my mother said, ‘(rather loudly) Oh, Mary! That looks just like you!’ Everybody turned around. I had to put my hand over her mouth. She never was a stage mother ever. She was extremely supportive and was a lady of great faith and she was just my buddy and my friend. But I can’t see [the movie] to this day without thinking of how sweet that was.”
In spectacular style, the film recounts the simple story of Princess Aurora, who is cursed by the evil fairy Maleficent to die before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday by pricking her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel.
Despite the loving attempts of the three good but often bumbling fairies, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather, the curse is fulfilled. The good fairies put everyone in the castle into a deep sleep until the spell can be broken.
It is only with the aid of Prince Phillip that Maleficent, transformed into a towering, fire-breathing dragon, is destroyed, and the Sleeping Beauty is awakened by a kiss.
The great voice cast included Bill Shirley as Prince Phillip. Bill was a stage and film performer, and was the uncredited singing voice for “On the Street Where You Live” in 1964′s My Fair Lady. The evil Maleficent was voiced by Eleanor Audley, who began her career as a radio actress in shows such as Father Knows Best and then successfully moved on to film and television. For Disney, she also voiced the wicked stepmother Lady Tremaine in Cinderella and the voice of Madame Leota inside the crystal ball for the Haunted Mansion Disney park attraction.
We all recall Mickey’s deeds of giant-clobbering glory as the Brave Little Tailor. Not to mention Donald Duck’s trip to Bahia—and Goofy’s super-goofy horseback riding lessons! But how many of us remember Mickey’s battle with a desert bandit? Or Goofy’s goof-ups as a lumberjack? Or Donald’s fight against an ultra-annoying teenage robot?
These cool cartoon concepts were developed alongside the classics we love; but unlike them, never got completed or released. Today they are footnotes in Disney history—
fascinating footnotes we want to know more about!
Join us as we vacuum the cutting room floor . . . for an up-close look at the untold tale, How to Be a Lumberjack.
A narrator loftily explains how “virgin timber” is “Nature’s most precious gift to man,” and its harvest is managed by “that almost-legendary figure—the lumberjack!” But Goofy, our demo model, is almost-legendary for goofing up! Lumberjack Goof wastes no time getting a longsaw stuck in his overalls. Then he tries to chop down an undersized runt tree; an un-choppable petrified tree; and a whole line of telephone poles. Gawrsh!
“Tree-topping is the lumberjack’s most dangerous job . . . every precaution known to science is employed to ensure his safety.” Alas, Goofy’s hi-tech safety seat catapults him into a lumber flume. He jumps in a hollow log to stay afloat—and ends up just missing a deadly sawmill blade!
“A dangerous life, you say? Yes; but thanks to these fearless men of the woods, [we have] 1001 life-sustaining necessities such as the chopstick, the yo-yo, the pogo stick, and that great old American tradition . . . the hot foot.”
Poor Goofy gets to demonstrate that, too—with a burning wooden match in his shoe. “YEOW!”
Disney’s axe-handled epic grew up from a twig—starting in the 1930s, when it was first planned to star Donald. In that form, it sort of reached the public eye: Disney’s licensed children’s page in Good Housekeeping magazine was just then adapting shorts in development, and “Lumberjack Donald” (October 1937) was included. This 1937 Good Housekeeping page represents the original Duck-centric version of Lumberjack. Penciled by Manuel Gonzales, painted finals by Tom Wood.
But the Duck finally landed in a very different treetop tale—1941’s Timber—and the woodman how-to reel was rebuilt for Goofy instead. Full storyboards were created . . . but then the story got the chop, and we’re not sure why.
Lumberjack is as funny as many Goof tales that reached the screen; somehow, the fertilizer must have run out.
Dreamed up in the minds of the animators at Disney Television Animation and brought to life on television, the city of St. Canard was filled with dark corners, fast cars, and lots and lots of bad guys. We recently came across some of the original concept art for the television series and just had to share with you. The concept art shows the beginnings of some of the famous characters, vehicles, and locations that became popular in the Disney Afternoon television show Darkwing Duck. The art shows early versions of some of the characters from the show, including Taurus Bulba, Major Synapse, J. Gander Hooter, plus a not-so-ducky version of the Thunderquack.
Let’s get dangerous!
Jerry Bruckheimer invited D23 to his Santa Monica production studio to talk about 40 years of filmmaking and about his new book Jerry Bruckheimer: When Lightning Strikes | Four Decades of Filmmaking. The book reveals the stories behind his films and television shows, written by Michael Singer, who has worked beside the producer in deserts, on tropical islands, and at every conceivable filming location in between.
See Our Interview With Jerry Bruckheimer at His Santa Monica Studio ►
Jerry Bruckheimer invited D23 to his Santa Monica production studio to talk about 40 years of filmmaking and about his new book Jerry Bruckheimer: When Lightning Strikes | Four Decades of Filmmaking. The book reveals the stories behind his films and television shows, written by Michael Singer, who has worked beside the producer in deserts, on tropical islands, and at every conceivable filming location in between.