On a hot summer day, a remarkable and unlikely friendship begins on the beach at Atlantic City. Eleven-year-olds C.C. Bloom and Hilary Whitney are from different worlds; brash, streetwise C.C. wants to be a famous singing star, while Hilary is a proper young lady from San Francisco. Although they go their separate ways, they vow …
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The Disney movie Oliver & Company, which was released on this day in 1988, tells the classic Charles Dickens tale of Oliver, the artful dodger, but with a twist. Departing from the typical timelessness of Disney’s animated features, Oliver & Company takes place in modern-day Manhattan, and in this telling, Oliver is a little kitten, …
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On this day in 1988, visitors to Walt Disney World were able to live the life of luxury as never before at a Disney resort, when Disney’s Grand Florida Beach Resort had its grand, quite grand in fact, opening. Although the name has been changed to Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Guests can still …
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For the first time ever, the greatest animated characters from major film studios came together as the cartoon cast of 1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit, one of the wackiest, wildest, zippiest, and zaniest films ever to come from the Disney studio. Warner Bros.’ top hare Bugs Bunny shared a scene with Disney’s top mouse, Mickey, …
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P-p-p-p-p-p-p-please, sit back and read about Charles Fleischer, the voice of the leading man, er, rabbit, in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which held its premiere at Radio City Music Hall on this day in 1988. Discovered by Roger Rabbit director Bob Zemeckis while performing in a comedy club, the standup comic/actor took his silly role …
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In 1988, Suzanne Somers took a break from her starring role in TV’s She’s the Sheriff to co-star with Minnie Mouse in the totally hip, totally cool Totally Minnie TV special which aired on this day in 1988. When Maxwell Dweeb, a complete nerd portrayed by Robert Carradine, realizes he needs some help, he sets …
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For years, Disneyland has been known as the Magic Kingdom, but on this day in 1988 the park got an extra dose of magic from some of the world’s top magicians, when Disney’s Magic in the Magic Kingdom appeared on televisions nationwide. Lance Burton, Harry Anderson, Morgan Fairchild, and John Ratzenberger were some of the guests …
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At the time of its premiere, IllumiNations was the most dazzling, high-tech nighttime spectacle ever produced by Disney. Taking place around World Showcase at EPCOT, IllumiNations included lighting effects, lasers, fountains, fireworks, and projected images all set to a lush orchestral score. Don Dorsey and Adam Bezark were the creative and show directors for this …
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Long before I was “D23’s Scott Wolf,” writing This Day in Disney, my first job with Disney was as a production assistant on DuckTales, which premiered on this day in 1987. It was a thrill to begin working on the second season of the series because it had just finished 65 episodes and was a …
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On this day in 1987, Patrick Dempsey made his Disney debut in the film Can’t Buy Me Love. As unpopular high school senior Ronny Miller, he is in love with Cindy Mancini (Amanda Peterson), the most popular girl on campus. At the most opportune time, he hires Cindy to pose as his girl so that …
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