Who doesn’t know the lyrics to the classic song “Heigh Ho” from the first Disney animated feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs? But do you remember these lyrics? “Heigh ho, heigh ho, we’re the wisest Dwarfs we know,” or what about “Heigh ho, heigh ho, we all must help, you know. We’ll win the …
See more
The “This Day in Disney” that we’ve cooked up for you today is the Donald Duck cartoon short Chef Donald, which first arrived in theaters on this day in 1941. Intrigued by a radio cooking show, Donald sets aside his scrapbooking in an attempt to cook some waffles. Since Donald “gets stuck with all the …
See more
“Eeeeeeeeeh ho ho hooey!” If you’re ever skiing and hear that yell, it’s a safe assumption that Goofy might be skiing somewhere near you, or perhaps just a novice skier. Some expert skiers feel that Goofy’s performance in The Art of Skiing, released on this day in 1941, is somewhat reminiscent of every skier’s initial …
See more
Uncharacteristically, Donald Duck decides to do the right thing in the cartoon short Donald’s Camera, which snapped into theaters on this day in 1941. Passing a camera shop window, Donald reads the sign, “Shoot nature with a camera instead of a gun!” Taking this to heart, the level-headed duck takes to the forest for some …
See more
On this day in 1941, a story about a little elephant flew onto the big screen, instantly touching the hearts of audiences everywhere. Years later, when Dumbo aired on the Disneyland television show, Walt admitted that it was his favorite movie of all his films. In his on-camera introduction he said, “From the very start, …
See more
Hola! On this day in 1941, Walt Disney and his staff arrived in Rio de Janeiro on a goodwill tour of South America. Ted Thomas is the writer/director of the film on this subject, Walt & El Grupo, so we felt he was a perfect source to learn more about the topic. “Fearing growing Nazi …
See more
During World War II, with fear of a growing Nazi influence in Latin American capitals, Nelson Rockefeller’s agency —the Coordinator for Inter-America Affairs—asked Hollywood filmmakers to include Latin American themes in their films as part of a Good Neighbor Policy. Additionally, Walt Disney was personally asked to be a cultural ambassador to South America, so …
See more
In this classic Jack King-directed Donald Duck cartoon, Donald is a truant officer who spies his nephews luxuriating in a pond when they should be at school — or so he thinks. He artfully nabs each of them — one by net, one by stick, and one by carefully shot toilet plunger — but, as …
See more
When humorist Robert Benchley decides that Kenneth Grahame’s book The Reluctant Dragon would make a great film, without a shred of reluctance he decided to visit the The Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank, California to sell Walt on the idea. At least that’s the story portrayed in the 1941 Disney movie version of The …
See more
In 1941’s A Good Time for a Dime, Donald Duck proves that money can’t buy happiness. In fact, a few little coins turn out to be the source of much misery when Donald visits a penny arcade. (Perhaps he would have had more luck at Disneyland’s penny arcade, but that was still a decade and …
See more