On this day in 1924, Alice’s Fishy Story hooked audiences on the fifth installment of Walt Disney’s Alice Comedy series, featuring young Virginia Davis in the lead role. In the live-action first portion of the film, Alice is practicing her piano when the local boys beckon her to join them on a fishing trip. She …
See more
On this day in 1924, audiences were introduced to Alice, Walt Disney’s first live- action heroine, who took to the high seas with the release of Alice’s Day at Sea. The first of 56 Alice comedies, Alice’s Day at Sea sets sail with a five-and-a-half-minute live-action introduction, as did the first six films in the …
See more
If it weren’t for the fact that Lillian Bounds began working at the Disney Brothers Studio on this day in 1924, the main mouse for The Walt Disney Company might have been named Mortimer. After all, when Walt asked her opinion of that name, she quickly disapproved, and thus “Mickey” was born. Lillian began work …
See more
When it comes to important dates in the history of The Walt Disney Company, perhaps none is more important than this day, because October 16, 1923 is the official start of The Walt Disney Company. For this auspicious occasion, here’s a D23 trivia question: Who was Disney’s first recurring animated character that had a name? …
See more
An innovator right from the start, Walt Disney had an idea of taking a live-action character, Alice, and placing her in an animated land of cartoon characters. Animated characters had been seen in live-action worlds, but this technique was a first. On May 14, 1923, Walt wrote to film distributor Margaret Winkler, hoping that she …
See more
Before there was Snow White, Mickey Mouse, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, or even the Alice comedies, Walt Disney was determined to get into the animation business, so he took a borrowed camera to the shed behind his house and created his first film. Soon, having raised $15,000 from family and friends, Walt hired a minimal …
See more
On this day in 1918, 16-year-old Walt Disney enlisted in the Red Cross Ambulance Corps. A very patriotic citizen, Walt wanted to join the military, but he was too young. The military would not take 16 year olds. He had heard about a Red Cross unit that would take 17 year olds, and he knew …
See more
Born on this day in 1917 in Oxfordshire, England, David Tomlinson starred in more than 50 films in his long career, including playing the roles of Peter Thorndyke in Disney’s The Love Bug and Emelius Browne in Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Yet, he is undeniably best known for his role in Mary Poppins. As the father, …
See more
Ward Kimball, a Disney Legend and one of Walt Disney’s esteemed “Nine Old Men,” was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on this day in 1914. Joining Disney in 1934 at age 20, Ward progressed from apprentice animator to supervising animator to director and producer, working on most of Walt Disney’s animated films, many Disney television features …
See more
Disney Legend Peter Ellenshaw, whose large-scale paintings known as mattes made the impossible possible — taking audiences to the watery worlds with Captain Nemo and enabling Mary Poppins to soar above the rooftops of London — was born in London on this day in 1913. One of the most gifted painters and visual effects experts …
See more