Howdy folks. “Bear” with me as I tell you about what happened at Disneyland on this day in 1972. It was the opening of the one and only original Country Bear Jamboree. Host Henry the Bear invited audiences to “clap your hands and stomp your feet” as the show kicked off with the “Bear Band …
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Long before Aladdin took Jasmine on a magic carpet ride, Julie Andrews took TV viewers on a tour of a whole new world with new fantastic things to see when “The Grand Opening of Walt Disney World” debuted on The Wonderful World of Disney. After a song from Glen Campbell, Julie rides the Monorail into …
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Among Disney enthusiasts, it’s common knowledge that Walt Disney World Resort opened on this day in 1971, featuring the Magic Kingdom, two hotels, lakes, lagoons, golf courses, and a campground. What’s not as well known is that October 1 was not officially the grand opening. When Disneyland opened in 1955, things did not run smoothly, …
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On this day in 1971, audiences were first able to see, or not see as the case may be, Now You See Him, Now You Don’t. Disney Legend Kurt Russell appeared . . . and disappeared . . . as Dexter Riley, but this wasn’t the first time audiences saw Russell as Riley. He first …
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Among the many items Chief Archivist Dave Smith packed up in Walt’s office desk after his passing was a document in which Walt stated his strong interest in casting Kurt Russell — Disney’s top teen idol of the ’70s — in Disney films. After landing parts on TV westerns and Gilligan’s Island, Kurt Russell had …
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Pictured Clint Howard and Ron Howard Uprooted from their comfortable home in Pennsylvania, James and Kate Tanner (Steve Forrest and Vera Miles), along with their sons Virgil and Andy, journey to the wild country of 1890s Wyoming to become farmers. Soon, they come face-to-face with tornadoes, bears, and wolves. But through the hardships, their love …
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In this beloved animated feature—the first cartoon completed without Walt Disney—a pedigreed mother cat, Duchess, and her three kittens, Toulouse, Berlioz, and Marie, are catnapped by a greedy butler named Edgar. Edgar hopes that by stealing the cats, he will gain the inheritance left to them by their owner, Madame Bonfamille. Things look pretty hopeless …
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In 1969, a librarian at UCLA had just finished doing a bibliography of Disney. UCLA had contacted Disney, suggesting that Disney deposit Walt Disney’s papers at the library, and a meeting soon followed. The librarian sat in that meeting, in which it became obvious that what Disney was thinking of was not just the history …
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Corny jokes, Kurt Russell singing “Sugar, Sugar”, and The Osmonds’ singing of the 1970s staple “The Age of Aquarius.” Not only did viewers tune in and see some of the biggest stars in the world singing, they also were treated to a full 20 minutes of footage from the just-opened Haunted Mansion attraction, featuring cameos …
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On this day in 1969, Dexter Riley was introduced to the world, a character played by Kurt Russell. In The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, Dexter attempts to fix an early 1960s computer, but he gets an electric shock which essentially turns his brain into a computer. Kurt’s version of Dexter returned for two additional Disney …
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