Destino, the surrealistic film Salvador Dali and Walt Disney collaborated on in 1946 but left abandoned after eight months of storyboarding, finally was premiered on this day in 2003 at the Annecy International Film Festival, a prestigious event that celebrates achievement in animation. Resurrecting and completing Destino, based originally on a story by Dali and …
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The first time the general public could “sea” Disney·Pixar’s Finding Nemo was on this day in 2003. The film made a huge splash at the box office and went on to become the highest-grossing animated film and hooked an Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature. Pixar’s Andrew Stanton told us how he came up with …
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Back in 2001, long before Hannah Montana hit the small screen, Disney Channel premiered a new series aimed at teens and tweens, Lizzie McGuire, and it became a smash hit. The half-hour series featured Hilary Duff in the title role, along with her animated alter ego. The series spawned a feature film, aptly titled The …
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In Holes, Shia LaBeouf plays Stanley Yelnats, a young man with a family curse that plagues him with bad luck. Sent away to the bizarre Camp Green Lake, Stanley and his camp mates are commanded by his warden to dig holes every day. Before Holes was a movie, the novel by Louis Sanchar hit a …
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Deep in the Hundred Acre Wood, er, Disneyland’s Critter Country, you’ll meet one of the most famous literary bears there ever was. Replacing the Bear Country Playhouse, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh attraction opened on this day in 2003. Park visitors can climb inside a massive beehive and buzz through famous scenes from …
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A whole new world of entertainment, Disney’s Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular held its official premiere at Disney California Adventure on this day in 2003. The Broadway-style show features a hilarious genie, who undergoes about an hour and a half of makeup and prosthetics to achieve just the right look, a life-size elephant costume designed to …
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On this day, treasures were discovered by Disney fans across the country. The Walt Disney Treasures DVDs, that is. The DVD series, which would appear around Christmastime annually, featured some of the more rare and obscure films from Disney’s vault. Throughout its run, each DVD would be hosted by famed film critic (and Disney fan) …
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While Treasure Planet wasn’t Disney’s first foray into Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island—Walt Disney Studios also released a live-action version of the story in 1950—this animated version, which takes place in outer space, certainly taught a classic old pirate new tricks. “We took the best of traditional Disney animation and merged it with cutting-edge digital …
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After many sports championships, athletes are often asked, “What are you going to do next?” and quite often that answer is, “I’m going to Disneyland!” So after the Anaheim Angels won their first World Series championship, on this day in 2002, the whole team did just that. Jackie Autry, the widow of the team’s founder, …
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On this day in 2002, guests at Disney California Adventure could spin with ladybugs, fly on a leaf, or ride on a caterpillar in the all new a bug’s land, inspired by the Disney·Pixar hit film a bug’s life. Walking through a giant box of Cowboy Crunchies cereal (from Toy Story 2), park guests can …
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