Fantasy reigned throughout Disneyland Park this year, as a
whole new version of “the happiest kingdom of them all” was unveiled after an
extensive refurbishment. The new land cast aside its old, Renaissance-themed
façades of tournament tents and banners, and became the Fantasyland of Walt
Disney’s imagination: a quaint, Bavarian fairy-tale village, where the denizens
of Disney’s classic animated features lived and thrived. Old classics like Snow
White’s Adventures and Peter Pan Flight remained, but with new technology,
slightly altered names (they were now Snow White’s Scary Adventures and Peter
Pan’s Flight), and brand-new facades that stressed the distinct cultural origins
of each characters’ story. A new adventure fresh from Tokyo
Disneyland, Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, also joined the group. The whole park
celebrated the new Fantasyland with the aptly titled “Flights of Fantasy”
parade. Magic Kingdom Park at the Walt Disney World Resort is undergoing its own
transformation, with New Fantasyland opening in phases this year.
Orphaned before birth because of a vicious Carnotaurus
attack, Aladar was raised by a family of lemurs and grew to become a friendly,
compassionate 3 ton Iguanadon. After surviving the destruction of his island
home by a meteor shower, he swims to safety and meets members of his own kind
for the first time. Meteor showers continue to threaten their existence, and
Aladar gets unexpectedly thrust into bravely leading his friends in a race
against time to the safety of their nesting grounds. Along the way, they must
overcome obstacles and defend themselves against predators. Combining computer
animation with live backgrounds, shot in exotic locales such as Angel Falls in
Venezuela, “Dinosaur” was the 39th animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature
Animation. Shortly after the film’s opening, Dinosaur became the new name of the
Countdown to Extinction attraction at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park,
starring Aladar as the friendly dino Guests try to find on a wild off-road
journey back in time.
Also this week in Disney history:May 18
1951 – “Plutopia” (Pluto cartoon short)
debuts
1995 – Disney acquires a 25 percent interest in the California Angels
Major League Baseball team
2003 – Disney-Pixar’s “Finding Nemo” premieres at
the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles
2009 – Wayne Allwine, Disney Legend and
voice of Mickey Mouse, dies at age 62
May 19
1934 – “Gulliver Mickey” (Mickey Mouse cartoon
short) debuts
1960 – “Pollyanna,” Hayley Mills’ first film for the Walt
Disney Studios, is released
1971 – Davy Crockett’s Explorer Canoes open at
Disneyland Park
1984 – Pvt. Donald Duck received an honorable discharge from
the United States Army (after being drafted in a 1942 short)
2007 – The world
premiere of “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” is held at Disneyland
Park
May 20
1973 – Tom Sawyer Island, the Plaza Swan Boats and
the Richard F. Irvine riverboat open at Magic Kingdom Park
1996 – Fantasia
Gardens Miniature Golf opens at the Walt Disney World Resort
2011 – Star
Tours – The Adventures Continue opens at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
May 21
1948 – The animated short “Donald’s Dream Voice”
debuts
2001 – The world premiere of Touchstone Pictures’ “Pearl Harbor” is
held in Hawaii
May 22
1998 – DisneyQuest soft opens to Guests at the
Downtown Disney Area at the Walt Disney World Resort
1998 – Rocket Rods,
“Honey, I Shrunk the Audience,” Astro Orbitor and Redd Rockett’s Pizza Port open
as part of a renovated Tomorrowland at Disneyland Park
May 23
1922 – Walt Disney incorporates Laugh-O-Gram
Films, his first cartoon company, in Kansas City
1997 – Light Magic debuts at
Disneyland Park
2001 – The Magic Carpets of Aladdin opens at Magic Kingdom
Park
May 24
1968 – President Lyndon B. Johnson presents a
Congressional Gold Medal to Lillian Disney, commemorating Walt Disney’s
“distinguished public service and outstanding contributions to the United States
and to the world”
2004 – Toontown Online, a new Internet multiplayer game
from Disney Interactive, debuts
