Pinocchio premiered in New York on February 7, 1940. Directed by Ben Sharpsteen and Hamilton Luske. Voices include Dickie Jones (Pinocchio), Cliff Edwards (Jiminy Cricket), Christian Rub (Geppetto), Evelyn Venable (Blue Fairy). 87 min. The film required the talents of 750 artists, including animators, assistants, inbetweeners, layout artists, background painters, special-effects animators, and inkers and …
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As families grow, it’s sometimes necessary to move into new homes. That was certainly the case as the Disney family grew. For 14 years, the Disney Studios were located on Hyperion Avenue in the Silver Lake district of Los Angeles. This is where Mickey Mouse was “born” in 1928, as well as Minnie, Donald Duck, …
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What do Dracula and the demon character Chernabog from Fantasia have in common? Hollywood legend Bela Lugosi first portrayed the most famous Count on Broadway and later starred in the title role of the 1931 classic horror film Dracula. Although he went on to appear in more than 100 other films, including The Raven and …
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Back in 1939, when Donald Duck tried to get into fictional “Hollywood Studios” in the cartoon short The Autograph Hound, he was met by a cruel and unreasonable security guard, whom he consistently had to outwit during his hunt for autographs of the biggest stars of the day. Amongst the Hollywood stars and starlets he …
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With an emphatic “hi-ho,” Captain Donald keeps time for his nephews, Huey, Duey, and Louie, as they paddle aboard a little brown schooner in Sea Scouts, a Donald Duck short released on this day in 1939. As any Donald Duck fan worth his weight in feathers knows, it isn’t long before something — and just …
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At the start of Donald’s Cousin Gus, which premiered on this day in 1939, Donald is just sitting down to a large feast when he’s disrupted by a loud knock at his door. There, standing on his porch in a bowtie and top hat is Donald’s cousin, Gus Goose. Gus even has a note from …
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Lighter than air, Donald Duck glides along the icy surface of a winter pond on a pair of ice skates. Suddenly, his regal performance of “duck lake” is put to a halt when his pesky nephews show up to play hockey. Donald pulls out a trophy that he happens to have on hand. It reads: …
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On this day in 1939, the beautiful Silly Symphony The Ugly Duckling swam into theaters, and although released early in Disney’s history, this was not Disney’s first version of the classic Hans Christian Andersen story. In the 1981 television special, Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life, Frank Thomas explained, “In 1931 we made the first …
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Something goofy happened on this day in 1939, when, after appearing in Mickey Mouse cartoon shorts, Goofy finally starred in his own cartoon, Goofy and Wilbur. Co-starring was a non-verbal grasshopper, Wilbur, and some other incidental critters, and although Pinto Colvig was the original creator of Goofy’s voice and trademark laugh, in Goofy and Wilbur …
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Disney’s successful Silly Symphony, 1933’s Three Little Pigs, led to three little sequels. The third, The Practical Pig, first danced onto screens on this day in 1939. When the pig who built the wolf-proof house is working on his latest practical invention, a lie detector, the other two pigs laugh and make sport of the …
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