Happy Birthday Walt Disney!

On December 5th, 1901 a baby boy was born in Chicago by the name of Walter Elias Disney. Disney is regarded as a legend in the world of animation and theme park design. Growing up in relative poverty, Walt, with the help of his brother Roy, built one of the most successful multi-media companies in the history of the world. He (with a little help from some of the most creative employees in history) created some of the world's most well-known characters including Mickey Mouse, for whom Disney provided the original voice. During his lifetime he won twenty-two Academy Awards from a total of fifty-nine nominations giving him more awards and nominations than any other individual in history (I like using the word history in this post don't I?). Overall, the guy was pretty amazing and is the reason we have fantastic vacation destinations like the Disneyland and Walt Disney World  theme parks in the U.S., and the international resorts Tokyo Disney, Disneyland Paris, and Disneyland Hong Kong. Unfortunately, he died of lung cancer on December 15, 1966 making the Jungle Book, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, and the Happiest Millionaire the last films he would work on. Happy Birthday Walt, you have made a mark on this world that can never be erased.

Happy 83rd Birthday Mickey and Minnie

Today we celebrate the 83rd birthday of Minnie Mouse and her boyfriend, the most recognizable and iconic animated character in the entire world, Mr. Mickey Mouse. So ladies and gentlemen I present to you the animated shorts that started it all.

Steamboat Willy was the first Mickey cartoon released but not the first created. While Walt was still under contract to Universal for his Oswald cartoons, he turned to his best friend and animator Ub Iwerks to create the first two Mickey cartoons incognito. By the time the contract with Universal was up, he had two cartoons ready to go. The problem was no theatre thought they were worthy of being shown. Luckily the Jazz Singer was released, the first "talking picture", and Walt saw the opportunity to be the first to create a sound cartoon and Steamboat Willy was born. After its success, he went back and added sound to the original two and released them after, also to great success.


Until next time kiddies,
Brian James Fichtner

Happy 100th Birthday Freddie Moore!

Today is the 100th Birthday of the amazing Disney Animator Fred Moore. Fred, or Freddie as he was known, is best known for his work on the one and only Mickey Mouse. In fact is was Fred that gave us Mickeys modern look when he redesigned the character for Fantasia. Moore was also responsible for characters like Timothy Mouse (Dumbo), Lampwick (Pinocchio), and the lost boys and mermaids from Peter Pan. For a brief time he left Disney and went to Walter Lantz where he redesigned Woody Woodpecker. He returned to Disney in 1948 and ended up dying due to complications from a traffic accident in 1952. Freddie's legacy lives on through all of his unforgettable characters.