Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society

Dead Poets Society Premieres

Somewhere between playing the alien character Mork from Ork on television and voicing the all-powerful Genie in Disney’s Aladdin, the usually zany Robin Williams made the grade in the dramatic role of English prep school professor John Keating in Touchstone Pictures’ Dead Poets Society. The thought-provoking film earned unparalleled praise among audiences and critics alike, …

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Typhoon Lagoon in Walt Disney World

Typhoon Lagoon Opens at Walt Disney World

Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale…a tale of the shrimp boat Miss Tilly, journeying from Safen Sound, Florida. During a fierce typhoon, the tiny ship was tossed to the peak of the volcanic mountain, Mount Mayday, which became a source of many fantastic waterslides. Surrounding the mountain, a 56-acre topsy-turvy tropical paradise …

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Mickey and Donald

Animation Cel and Background from Orphan’s Benefit Sells

In 1934, the Mickey Mouse cartoon short Orphan’s Benefit was released, the first time Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were featured together. With an audience of mischievous mice orphans, Master of Ceremonies Mickey Mouse introduces Donald Duck for some recitations, followed by Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, and Goofy performing some acrobatics. Donald Duck returns to the …

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Disney-MGM Studios

Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park Opens

When the Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park opened on this day in 1989, the park had hope…Hollywood legend Bob Hope, that is, to assist Disney CEO Michael Eisner in the opening day celebration. “It’s the largest theme park run by actors, or cartoon characters, unless you want to count Washington, D.C.,” the comedian quipped during the …

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Mickey Mouse Club

The Mickey Mouse Club Debuts on Disney Channel

Hey, Mouseketeers, the third incarnation of the Mickey Mouse Club first aired on this day in 1989. This time, the Club aimed at a slightly older audience than its predecessors, so gone were the mouse ear hats of Mouseketeers past, and in were newer, hipper, trendier jackets. As the show continued, the audiences grew up …

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Newsweek Magazine Features Mickey Mouse On Its Cover

“Mickey’s New Magic – Disney World Unveils a $1 Billion Movieland” was the headline on the cover of the Newsweek magazine that hit bookshelves on this day in 1989. Just a month before the opening of the all-new Disney-MGM Studios, the publication took a backstage look at what the public may expect at the new …

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Three Fugitives Premieres

On this day in 1989, former bank robber Daniel Lucas (portrayed by Nick Nolte) was released from prison when the comedy film Three Fugitives opened in theaters. On his first day as a free man, while depositing his prison paycheck in a local bank, Lucas finds himself in the middle of a bank heist and …

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Beaches

Beaches is released

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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Scene from Disney animated feature Oliver and Company

Oliver & Company is Released

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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Disney's Grand Floridian Resort

Disney’s Grand Floridian Beach Resort Opens

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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