The Pluto short Pluto, Junior, directed by Clyde Geronomi, is released. Like his father, young Pluto has a knack for getting into trouble, even while Pluto Sr. attempts to nap and relax.
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Michael Eisner and filmmaker George Lucas are on hand at Disneyland for the official dedication of the park's newest attraction, Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Forbidden Eye. (Although the attraction had its grand opening ceremonies the day before, Indiana Jones won't open to the public until March 3.)
Walt Disney Himself receives The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. It is presented periodically to creative producers whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion picture production. The award is named for the “boy wonder” vice president and supervisor of production at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the 1920s and ’30s who personally supervised the studio’s top productions until his death from pneumonia in 1936 at the age of 37. On this day in 1942, Walt Disney was the fourth recipient of the award. Shortly after receiving the award, Thalberg’s widow disapproved of the rendering of her husband’s head on the trophy, so she commissioned a new sculpture at her own expense and had the new version sent to Walt and all the previous winners.
Walt Disney Imagineering and cast members at Disney California Adventure park bury a time capsule, containing items specific to the park, in Buena Vista Plaza. It is to be opened by Disneyland Resort cast members in 2037.
Steve Jobs, one of the leading figures in the computer industry, is born in San Francisco, California. A co-founder & CEO of Apple Computer, Jobs bought Lucasfilm's computer graphics division in the mid-1980s and helped turn it into Pixar Animation Studios. He is credited as executive producer of the 1995 Disney/Pixar film Toy Story. As of 2009 Jobs was the Walt Disney Company's largest individual shareholder and a member of its Board of Directors. When Walt Disney Co. looked to revamp its troubled retail stores in 2008, Chief Executive Robert A. Iger sought advice from the company's largest shareholder. A great visionary, Jobs pioneered the personal-computer industry and changed the way people think about technology.
Walt Disney receives a special Oscar for his classic 83-minute animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, at the 11th Academy Awards held at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California. Eleven-year-old child star Shirley Temple presents Walt with one statuette and seven miniature statuettes for "a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field for the motion picture cartoon." (It is film director Frank Capra who has come up with the idea of a full-sized Oscar statuette with seven smaller ones descending in a row.) Also awarded is the Disney/RKO short Ferdinand the Bull for Best Short Subject, Cartoon, beating out 4 other animated shorts including Disney's own Brave Little Tailor! (It is the first Academy Awards show without any official host.)
Wall-E wins the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film at the 81st Annual Academy Awards. Although it doesn't win, Wall-E is also nominated for Best Original Score, Best Original Song, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing.
The very first Star Wars Weekend ever debuts at Disney-MGM Studios in Florida. They will be held for the next 5 consecutive weekends. (Not "weekend" events as they are known today, Disney World did stage two Star Wars events back in 1977 and again in 1980.) Although a success in 1997, Star Wars Weekends won't be held again until
Clarence Nash, the voice of Donald Duck for over 50 years, passes at age 80 of leukemia in California. Supplying the voice for some 120 shorts and features, starting with The Wise Little Hen in 1934, the last film to feature Nash's famous voice was Mickey's Christmas Carol, released in 1983. In addition to Donald's voice, Nash also voiced Daisy Duck, in her earliest appearances, as well as Donald's nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie. For the last two years of his life, Nash continued to provide Donald's voice for commercials, promos and other miscellaneous projects, while training Disney animator Tony Anselmo to take up the voice of the famous duck. The tombstone of the grave he will share with his wife Margaret (who will pass in 1993 - the same year Clarence is named a Disney Legend) will depict a carving of Donald and Daisy Duck holding hands.
Keller's Jungle Killers, a circus act in the Mickey Mouse Club Circus tent, opens at Disneyland. The act features George Keller, a college professor-turned-lion tamer who has previously performed with the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus! Keller's Jungke Killers include African lions, tigers, leopards, mountain lions, jaguars, black panthers and even a cheetah. Keller will continue his show at Disneyland through September. Originally a popular college professor of visual arts at Bloomsburg Teachers College in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, Keller's interest in show business started back in 1939 when he ran a Jungle Farm sideshow in his spare time.
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