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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Former preacher Graham Hess (Mel Gibson), still grieving over the accidental death of his wife, discovers crop circles in the cornfield that surrounds his rural home in Pennsylvania. He dismisses them as a hoax, but when Graham and his brother Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix), a former minor league baseball player who has moved into the house …
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When Lilo & Stitch co-writers and co-directors Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois visited Hawaii before beginning work on this beloved film about ‘ohana, the Hawaiian word describing the importance of family, they decided they would use watercolors to recreate the unique coloring, vegetation, and landscapes found everywhere on the islands. It was a technique that …
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On this day in 2002, The Rookie swung into theaters, telling the story of high school coach Jim Morris (Dennis Quaid) who thought his dream was over. He’d had his shot playing baseball, blew out his shoulder and retired without ever reaching the big leagues. Then in 1999, he made a bet with his perpetually …
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Before the The Lion King or Mary Poppins smashed Broadway box office records, another Disney Theatrical Productions—Beauty and the Beast—paved the way for Disney productions on the Great White Way. On this day in 2002, the tale as old as time became the 10th-longest running show on Broadway. Since then it has surpassed this mark …
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On January 18, 2002, Walt Disney Pictures’ live-action comedy Snow Dogs raced into theaters. Directed by Brian Levant, Snow Dogs stars Cuba Gooding, Jr. as Ted Brooks, a dentist from Miami, Florida, who receives a letter from Alaska telling him that he is the heir of Lucy Watkins. It is then his mother reveals that …
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