March 31 - Robert Stevenson

On this day, in 1905, Robert Edward Stevenson was born in Buxton, Derbyshire, England. Robert attended St. Johns College, part of Cambridge, on a scholarship. While there he won an award for aeronautics and graduated in 1927 with a degree in engineering. At that point, his parents gave him six weeks to find employment, so, of course, he became an assistant to Michael Balcon, who was one of the most famous British film producers of the time.

Robert's first real task under Michael was to write scripts (not as hard as it might seem as movies were still silent at this point). The first film he received story credit on was the 1928 war picture Balaclava. But even as movies became talkies, it was evident that Robert had a real talent for story crafting. Over the next few years, he would write musicals (1930's Greek Street), mysteries (1931's Night in Montmartre), dramas (1931's The Calendar) and comedies (1932's Lord Babs).

In 1932, Robert was given his first shot at directing a movie, a musical called Happily Ever After. Throughout the rest of the Thirties, he continued cutting a path through the British film industry, sometimes writing, sometimes directing and often doing both. He did several films with Jack Hulbert, another writer/director/actor type, and worked with the likes of Paul Robeson and Boris Karloff. By 1940, Robert had gained the attention of American producer David O. Selznick, who invited him to hop the pond and ply his craft in Hollywood.

While under contract to Selznick, Robert was loaned out to RKO Pictures for hits like 1942's Joan of Paris and to Universal for 1941's Back Street, which garnered an Oscar nomination for Music. In 1943, he wrote and directed an well received adaptation of Jane Eyre starring Orson Welles. When his contract with Selznick ran out, Robert signed a new one with RKO in 1949 and produced a string of films that consistently lost money even though they had stars like Robert Mitchum, Joseph Cotton and Jane Russell. This led to a period of television directing in the early Fifties for everything from Alfred Hitchcock Presents to Gunsmoke. Many of the gigs he got during this period came from old friends in the industry (Robert and Hitchcock had worked closely together in 1940 for instance) and Robert's career could have fizzled into obscurity at this point, but a change of studio did wonders for his legacy.

In 1956, Robert was hired by the Walt Disney Studio to direct some of the live action movies they were starting to get more heavily into. His first project was Johnny Tremain. Set during the American Revolution, Tremain was filmed as part of the Disneyland television show but released to theaters before appearing on the small screen. Tremain was quickly followed up with one of the all time Disney classics, Old Yeller, the success of which cemented Robert's position with the studio.

Most of the rest of the nineteen films that Robert would direct for Disney over the next two decades are recognizable to the vast majority of people (and the few that aren't really are little gems just waiting to be discovered). His well known titles include Kidnapped, The Absent-Minded Professor and its sequel Son of Flubber, In Search of the Castaways, The Misadventures of Merlin Jones and its sequel The Monkey's Uncle, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, That Darn Cat!, The Love Bug and its sequel Herbie Rides Again, and The Shaggy D.A. His lesser known films are Darby O'Gill and the Little People, The Gnome-Mobile, Blackbeard's Ghost, The Island at the Top of the World and One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing.

Eagle eyed readers may have noticed that I've only listed eighteen movies so far. That's because the nineteenth film on the list (although in the middle of the pack chronologically) is the biggest one by far, for both Robert and the company. He was the man in charge of bringing Walt's magnum opus to life: Mary Poppins. Not only did Poppins become a run away hit, it gave Robert the only Oscar nomination for Best Director that Walt Disney Pictures had ever received (or would receive for years to come). Yes, he lost to My Fair Lady (which probably was extra galling because of the whole Julie Andrews 'controversy'), but that's still quite an accomplishment.

In a list published at the end of 1976, Robert was declared the most commercially successful director in the history of films. He had 16 films on the list of top grossing movies, all of them Disney pictures. The number two man (and of course it was a man, this was only the Seventies) only had 12. Robert's final picture, The Shaggy D.A., would join the list and push his supremacy even higher. It was estimated that he had worldwide grosses of over $750 million. I don't know if any of that was adjusted for the 20 year time frame the films spanned, but that's over $3.3 Billion in today's terms. Not to shabby for an engineer.

Robert spent the final decade of his life relaxing in his home in Santa Barbara, California with his fourth (and final) wife of 23 years, Ursula. He passed away on April 30, 1986 at the age of 81. He was posthumously declared an official Disney Legend as part of the class of 2002 as part of the opening of Disneyland Paris.

March 30 - Meet the Robinsons

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On this day, in 2007, Walt Disney Pictures released its 47th animated feature, Meet the Robinsons. Robinsons is (very) loosely based on a children's book by William Joyce, A Day with Wilbur Robinson (really the only similarities are the descriptions of the family members). The film had been scheduled for release a year earlier, but then Disney bought Pixar and John Lasseter became head of animation. When he saw a cut of the movie, he proposed so many changes that almost two thirds of the thing was scrapped and done over, pushing the release date back. It then became the first Disney animated film to be released under John's leadership.

Robinsons has a stellar cast: Tom Selleck, Adam West, Angela Bassett, Laurie Metcalf, Harland Williams and Nicole Sullivan, for starters. The film's director, Steve Anderson, took a page from Brad Bird's book and provided the voice of the enigmatic (and supremely incompetent) villain, Bowler Hat Guy, as well as Grandpa Bud and Cousin Tallulah. He enlisted fellow Disney director Don Hall (who helmed Big Hero 6)to play Uncle Gaston.

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The critical response to Meet the Robinsons was mostly positive. Many critics praised it for its lush visuals and dense time traveling story. Others called it the worst theatrical Disney release in some time (they either clearly hadn't seen Home on the Range just three years earlier or they really can't be trusted to review movies). Audiences were a bit mixed in their reaction. It managed to gross almost $170 million but, on a budget of nearly $150 million, that's barely more than a break even situation. A direct to video sequel had been planned until John said let's do less of those and more higher quality original stuff. Personally, I think Robinsons is one of those vastly underrated Disney films. I find it delightfully eccentric and worth several more looks than it generally gets. If you missed it before, check it out. Just beware of hats that don't stay where you put them (and it may be a good idea to steer clear of bowler hats all together).

March 29 - Jack Kinney

On this day, in 1909, John Ryan Kinney was born somewhere in Utah. By his teens, Jack's family had moved to Los Angeles, California where he was a football player at John C. Fremont High School with Roy Williams (who would later become the Big Mooseketeer on The Mickey Mouse Club). In February 1931, he began working at the Walt Disney Studio as an animator. He worked on Mickey Mouse shorts like The Band Concert and Silly Symphonies like The Cookie Carnival. He then moved into the story department and became a story director for Mickey and Pluto shorts. Some of his credits in this phase are the classics Brave Little Tailor, Mickey's Trailer and Bone Trouble.

By 1940, Jack had moved to sequence director for feature films. He worked on sections of Pinocchio, Dumbo, Saludos Amigos, The Three Caballeros, Make Mine Music, Fun and Fancy Free, Melody Time and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. During World War II, Jack help direct the animated documentary Victory Through Air Power and won an Academy Award for the Donald Duck short Der Fuehrer's Face.

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During the same time Jack was directing sequences for the feature films, he was one of two directors for all the Donald shorts (Jack King was the other) and he was the main director for all the Goofy shorts from 1940 until 1945. He is credited with the creation of Goofy's How to... series and directed the only Goofy short to ever receive an Oscar nomination, How to Play Football.

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As the Fifties began, Jack began directing some of the Walt Disney Specials series of shorts. 1954's Pigs Is Pigs nabbed him a third Academy Award nomination. The same year, he also directed The Lone Chipmunks, Chip and Dale's final short. Jack then briefly moved into television animation, putting together episodes of the Disneyland series, but the writing was on the wall. When the Shorts Department was dissolved in 1958, so was Jack's position. After 27 years with Disney, he no longer had a place to hang his hat.

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Not to be deterred, Jack started his own studio with Hal Adelquist, another former Disney man looking for a new home. Their first project was a feature for UPA/Columbia featuring Mr. Magoo, an adaptation of 1001 Arabian Nights. He then teamed up with his younger brother Dick (who had also been an animator for Disney) to produce a new television series of Popeye the Sailor. Then he became a story man for The New Three Stooges. He eventually landed at Hannah-Barbera in the late Seventies as a story director for Saturday morning fare like Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo and it was there that he ended his career in 1983.


Also in 1983, Jack was awarded the Windsor McCay Award at that years Annies for his lifetime of contributions to the art of animation. In 1988, he published a short memoir titled Walt Disney and Other Assorted Characters, detailing his years in Burbank. On February 9, 1992, Jack passed away quietly at his home in Glendale, California. He was 82.

March 28 - Jimmie Dodd

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On this day, in 1910, Ivan Wesley Dodd was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. After his parents divorced when he was a young child, his mother decided she’d never liked the name Ivan and by the time he was nine, he was known as James. The divorce must have been somewhat amiable as Jimmie’s father lived just two doors down from his aunt’s house, where he lived with his mother. When his father became a salesman for a music store nearby, Jimmie would spend a lot of time at the store, playing with all the instruments and cultivating a love for music.

Jimmie attended Withrow High School in Cincinnati, playing banjo in a local dance band. When he began attending the University of Cincinnati, he played in his own band. Then the Great Depression hit, money got tight and it was hard for Jimmie to stay in school and work to pay for it. He also spent time at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and the Shouster Martin School of Dramatic Arts (where he created a dance act with a young Tyrone Power), but never graduated from any school.

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Jimmie’s first big break came when he got a job on a local radio station in 1933. This lead to another gig in Fort Lauderdale, Florida which lead to Nashville, Tennessee. While picking up a few more classes at Vanderbilt  University, he became part of Louis Prima's orchestra and began touring the country. By the end of the Thirties (and the end of his run with Louis), Jimmie found himself in Southern California looking for the next big thing.

Starting with the 1940 William Holden picture, Those Were the Days!, Jimmie began a film career that covered more than 75 films over the next fifteen years. His biggest role was Lullaby Joslin in the Three Mesquiteers series of movies but he had small roles alongside the likes of John Wayne, Fred Astaire, Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney. A weak heart kept him out of any fighting during World War II, but he did tour Europe several times with his wife, a dancer, as part of the USO. He also wrote songs throughout much of the war, including once called Washington which became the official song of the United States capital city.

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One of their fellow USO performers, Jinx Falkenburg, would later introduce Jimmie to Arthur Godfrey, who would give him some of his first television appearances as the Fifties began. But it was the good luck of playing tennis with Bill Justice that really changed his life. Bill was an animator for the Walt Disney Studio and one day mentioned to his game partner that his boss needed a song about a pencil, could Jimmie write one? He banged one out, sent a demo over the studio and was hired to write songs for the Disneyland television show.  Producer Bill Walsh thought Jimmie would make a great host for another show in the works and had him perform The Pencil Song for the boss. Walt watched that one performance and immediately suggested that Jimmie be the host of The Mickey Mouse Club. Bill said that’s a fabulous idea and made it so.

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Jimmie and The Mickey Mouse Club were a match made in television heaven. His energy and positivity and honest sincerity were exactly what the show needed. The fact that he was really good at writing songs under pressure helped, too. In the few weeks leading up to the shows debut, Jimmie wrote more than two dozen songs, many of which, like The Mickey Mouse Club March and Today is Tuesday, have become iconic. His one air presence reassured parents and kids alike and his mini sermons, which became known as Doddisms, not only helped shape the kids playing the Mouseketeers into more professional actors, but inspired a whole generation of kids around the world to be better citizens.

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When The Mickey Mouse Club ended its run in 1958, Jimmie’s official contract with the studio also came to an end, but his involvement did not. With a select group of Mouseketeers, he would tour the United States making personal appearances for throngs of adoring fans. When the show was released and became a big hit in Australia, Jimmie and some of the kids made two tours of the Land Down Under in 1959 and 1960. And he continued to record promotional material and make appearances for the studio throughout the beginning of the Sixties as Disney launched a syndicated version of the show.

By 1964, Jimmie and his wife had relocated to Hawaii and were busy creating a new children’s show for television, Jimmie Dodd’s Aloha Time, but it would never make it to the air. He became gravely ill during preproduction and passed away in Honolulu on November 10, 1964, reportedly from cancer (although some sources claim it was his weak heart finally giving out). The Head Mouseketeer was only 54.

March 27 - Brenda Song

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On this day, in 1988, Brenda Song was born in Carmichael, California. The daughter of Thai immigrants, Brenda began her professional career as a fashion model in San Francisco long before she ever opened a schoolbook. By the time she was six, she’d already appeared in two big commercials, one for Little Caesars Pizza and one for Barbie dolls. Her first film role was in an AFI student short directed by Elizabeth Sung, Requiem (1995). That led to a thirteen episode run on a Nickelodeon show, 100 Deeds for Eddie McDowd, in 1999 and guest appearances on numerous other shows, including one on The Bernie Mack Show that earned her a Young Artist Award nomination.

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Brenda’s first gig for Disney came in 2000 when she starred in The Ultimate Christmas Present on the Disney Channel. She won a Young Artist Award for that performance and was ultimately asked to sign a contract with the company in 2002. That year she starred in the Disney Channel movie Get a Clue with Lindsay Lohan. She then appeared on That’s So Raven, had the recurring role of Tia on Phil of the Future and then starred in Stuck in the Suburbs.

In 2005, Brenda began playing her longest running role to date: the spoiled hotel heiress London Tipton. Beginning her run as London on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, she would continue being cluelessly rich when the series shifted gears and became The Suite Life on Deck in 2008. Personally, Brenda and Phill Lewis, who played Mr. Moseby, were the only two people worth watching on either show (yes, I’ve seen multiple episodes of them; I have kids of a certain age).

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Once Suite Life took off, Brenda became a regular on all things Disney Channel. Brenda leant her voice to the American Dragon: Jake Long series, The Emperor’s New School and Phineas and Ferb.  She made guest appearances on Wizards of Waverly Place and the Disney Games. She had a supporting role in Wendy Hu: Homecoming Warrior until the producers realized she had a black belt in taekwondo and recast her as the title character. In 2009, her Suite Life persona became one of the longest running characters in Disney Channel history.

Following the end of The Suite Life on Deck in 2011, Brenda began to take on projects outside of Disney. She appeared in Columbia Picture’s The Social Network, starred in an award winning short film, First Kiss, and had recurring roles in Scandal and New Girl on television. In 2013, she landed a starring role in the Fox comedy Dads, but the show only lasted one season. Since then, Brenda has appeared in a number of pilots for shows that didn’t manage to get picked up but don’t feel too bad for her. She currently has three projects in some stage of production: a Netflix movie, Secret Obsession, Seth Green’s directorial debut, Changeland, and a new animated series from the creator of Gravity Falls, Amphibia, for the Disney Channel. Brenda’s career is going to be just fine.

March 26 - Martin Short

On this day, in 1950, Martin Hayter Short was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Martin grew up as the youngest of five children. His mother was concertmistress of the Hamilton Symphony Orchestra and encouraged her children’s creativity. His father was an executive at a Canadian steel company and had arrived in Canada as a stowaway fleeing from the Irish War of Independence. His oldest brother died in a car accident in 1962, his mother died from cancer in 1968, his father died from a stroke in 1970 and he himself graduated from McMaster University in 1971 with a degree in social work, so, naturally, Martin ended up in a career in comedy.

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It all started when Martin was cast in a production of Godspell shortly after obtaining his degree (why did he audition? He was a newly minted social worker; he probably needed the money). The list of people he got to work with on that show is impressive: Victor Garber, Gilda Radner, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, Andrea Martin and Paul Schaffer. Godspell led to several roles on Canadian television and then, in 1977, a reteaming with Eugene and Dave when Martin became part of the Toronto branch of the Second City comedy troupe. When the troupe launched their television show, SCTV, Martin was first a writer then joined the on-air cast in 1982, developing characters like Irving Cohen, Jackie Rogers, Jr. and Ed Grimley. When SCTV ended its run in 1984, Martin made the jump, with his stable of characters, to Saturday Night Live for the 1984-85 season, giving the show some much needed new blood. The year on SNL in turn gave Martin some much needed exposure and helped launch a successful film career.

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His film debut had actually occurred in 1979 in Lost and Found but, apparently, if you’ve ever had the misfortune to see that picture, you know why he wasn’t in another one until 1986. Starting with Three Amigos, he enjoyed a string of mild successes, working with the likes of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan (Innerspace), Danny Glover (Pure Luck) and Jack Nicholson (Mars Attacks!). He also became a frequent voice actor, doing films like The Pebble and the Penguin, The Prince of Egypt and Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.

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The Nineties saw Martin returning to live theater, this time on Broadway. In 1993, he took the lead in a musical version of Neil Simon’s The Goodbye Girl earning a Tony nomination and winning an Outer Circle Critics Award. In 1999, he lead a production of Simon’s Little Me, again getting Tony and Outer Circle Critic nods, except this time he won both.

Martin is no stranger to Disney projects. He’s done several Touchstone Pictures productions including Three Fugitives with Nick Nolte, Father of the Bride (and its sequel) with Steve Martin, Mumford with Loren Dean and Captain Ron with Kurt Russell.  Under the Walt Disney Pictures brand, he’s been in the 2012 version of Frankenweenie, Jungle 2 Jungle and The Santa Clause 3 (the last two were both with Tim Allen). Martin lent his voice to B.E.N., the robot who lost his mind, in Treasure Planet and to Lars in 101 Dalmatians II. His most enduring legacy with the company though has come through the medium of theme park attractions. For 15 years he was featured in the short film about the history of movies, CineMagique, which played in Disneyland Paris from 2002-2017. For 18 years, he starred in the movie The Making of Me, which taught guests about human reproduction in the Wonders of Life Pavilion at Epcot from 1989-2007. And, since 2007, he can be seen as host of the Circle-Vision movie, O Canada!, that plays in the Canadian pavilion.

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On a more serious note, Martin’s wife, Canadian actress Nancy Dolman (they met way back during Godspell and married in 1980), passed away from ovarian cancer in August 2010. Since then he has included tributes to her in his one man show (he actually does an impression of her) and actively campaigns for the Women’s Research Cancer Fund on her behalf. He’s also raised funds for Loyola High School in Los Angeles and is a member of a Canadian charity, Artists Against Racism.

In more recent years, Martin has taken to the stage again. He appeared in a Los Angeles production of The Producers as Leo Bloom, a role Mel Brooks had asked him to originate on Broadway but he ultimately had to pass on. His one man show, that utilizes many of the characters he’s created over the years, is sometimes called Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me (it also goes under the names Stroke Me Lady Luck and If I’d Saved, I Wouldn’t Be Here). It spent a year on Broadway and continues to tour the country. In his spare time, Martin also helps design commemorative Canadian coins (no really; a 2013 $3 coin featured an image of his lake house). And he has finished recording his parts for an upcoming animated movie, The Willoughbys, which will be distributed through Netflix sometime later this year.

March 25 - Matthew Garber

On this day, in 1956, Matthew Adam Garber was born in Stepney, London, England. Matthew's parents were stage actors, the kind that work steadily but never become famous, so it was natural that when one of their friends, a Shakespearian actor of the time named Roy Dotrice, came scouting for child actors, Matthew caught his eye. Roy let his boss, the Walt Disney Company, know about the precocious young man. At the ripe old age of seven, Michael was cast in his first film, The Three Lives of Thomasina. He played opposite a young lady named Karen Dotrice, who happened to be Roy's daughter (he apparently didn't feel the need to look very far for his prospects).

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The mild success of Thomasina, led to Michael and Karen being cast as the Banks children in Walt's magnum opus, Mary Poppins, the very next year. Poppins became an international sensation and catapulted its two young stars to fame. Which neither of them were quite sure how to respond to. Michael and Karen would team up a third time three years later for The Gnome-Mobile as Walter Brennan's grandchildren. Gnome would mark the last film both kids ever did as adolescents. Karen would star in one more movie in the late Seventies, The Thirty Nine Steps, and several television productions before retiring from acting in 1984 to raise a family (she does make a cameo in Mary Poppins Returns). Michael never got that chance.

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Following the release of Gnome, Michael, already a bit uneasy with stardom, would take a break from acting to finish his schooling. He graduated from Highgate School in North London in 1972. We'll never know if he ever intended to return to acting. He took a trip to India in 1976 and contracted hepatitis. By the time he could make it back to England, and better health care, it was too late. The virus had attacked his pancreas. On June 13, 1977, Matthew passed away in Hampstead, London from haemorrhagic necrotising pancreatitis. He was cremated and lays at rest in St. Marylebone Crematorium in East Finchley. In 2004, Michael was posthumously made an official Disney Legend for his short but highly acclaimed career. He was only 21 when he died.

March 24 - R. Lee Ermey

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On this day, in 1944, Ronald Lee Ermey was born in Emporia, Kansas. After spending his formative years on a farm near Kansas City with his five brothers, Lee and his family moved to Zillah, Washington when he was fourteen. The transition did not go well for the teenager. At the hearing for his second arrest for criminal mischief, the judge gave Lee, then seventeen, a choice: go to jail or enlist. He choose the military and never looked back.

In 1961, Lee became a United States Marine. After surviving training in San Diego, he spent almost four years in aviation support. He then got a position that would serve him well beyond the two years he actually held it: drill instructor. From 1965-67, Lee honed his skills, barking orders at new recruits and presenting an aura of absolute command. He then transferred to the Marine base in Okinawa, Japan, which was just a short hop away from South Vietnam. Starting in 1968, Lee spent 14 months fighting the Viet Cong as part of the Marine Wing Support Group 17. He advanced to the rank of E-6, Staff Sergeant, and earned numerous awards including: a Meritorious Unit Commendation, a Good Conduct Medal with two bronze stars, the National Defense Service Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal with one silver star, the South Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with palm, a South Vietnamese Presidential Unit Citation, the South Vietnamese Campaign Medal, a Rifle Marksman Badge and a Pistol Sharpshooter Badge. In 1972, Lee received a medical retirement due to injuries sustained in the line of duty.

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As a veteran, Lee began attending the University of Manila in the Philippines on the G.I. Bill. While there, he got a part as a Marine drill instructor in The Boys in Company C, a picture that was filming nearby. Boys was one of the first movies to come out after the Vietnam War that was about the Vietnam War. This led to a role as a chopper pilot in Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (Lee also served as a technical advisor) and a handful of other parts over the next several years. His breakout role came in 1987 in a film similar in plot to Boys, Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket. As Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, Lee earned Golden Globe and Boston Society of Film Critics nominations.

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Jacket jumpstarted Lee’s acting career and he would spend the next three decades playing… well, mostly drill sergeants. But let’s face it, he was really good at it. Whether it was a one off on The Family Guy or Dr. House’s ex-military father on House or a drill-sergeant –turned-therapist selling GEICO Insurance, Lee became Hollywood’s quintessential military man. Sure he’s played a minister on The X-Files and a registered sex offender on Law and Order: SVU, but the overbearing drill master was his gig and he knew it. Lee even had a couple of shows of his own on the History Channel that leaned into the persona, Mail Call in which he answered viewer questions about various military topics and Lock n’ Load with R. Lee Ermey which chronicled the history of various weapons.

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Naturally, when Pixar was creating the first fully computer animated feature, Toy Story, released in 1995, they picked Lee to lead their band of green army men. He voiced the role of Sarge in all three of the original films, as well as a handful of direct-to-video pieces and video games. Whether admonishing Woody to do the right thing or reminding everyone that we never leave a man behind, Sarge gave both backbone and heart to the world of toys.

Throughout his life, one of Lee’s joys was to spend time at the Marine base in San Diego talking to new recruits. In 2002, for his tireless dedication to the Corps, he was given an honorary promotion to E-7, Gunnery Sergeant. He passed away on April 15, 2018 in Santa Monica, California and was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. He was 74.

March 23 - Norman Palmer

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On this day, in 2013, Norman Palmer passed away in his sleep at his home in Northridge, California. Norm was born on October 7, 1918 in Santa Ana, California the fourth generation of his family to be native to the area. He graduated from Hollywood High School in 1937 and became a projectionist for the Walt Disney Studio the following year. After six months on the job, he moved into the Editing Department and stayed there for the rest of career.

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After helping edit features like Pinocchio and Fantasia, World War II came along and Norman did his patriotic duty, enlisting in the United States Navy. He quickly became part of the Field Photo branch and began working with the likes of legendary director John Ford. He spent most of his tour editing films for the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington but he did spend some time on the front as an aerial photographer doing reconnaissance work.

When the war was over, Norman returned to Burbank and resumed his editing duties for Disney. It wasn't long before a young lady in the Ink and Paint Department caught his eye. In December 1947, Barbara Major became Mrs. Norman Palmer and happily remained his wife until her death 52 years later.

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As the Fifties began, Norman made two important contributions to the company. First, he created a whole new genre of wildlife pictures with the Tru-Life Adventure series. His ability to edit thousands of hours of raw footage down into entertaining nature films, perfectly paired with just the right music, set the standard for years to come. It's really his editing that won Oscars for movies like The Living Desert, Water Birds and In Beaver Valley. Second, he took on the potentially thankless task of mentoring the boss' kid. When Roy E. Disney joined his father and uncle's company, he started in the Editing Department and learned everything he needed to know from Norman.

After the Tru-Life Adventures ran their course, Norman continued editing other live action movies for the studio like The Incredible Journey, The Gnome-Mobile and The Shaggy D.A. He also edited more than two dozen episodes of the Wonderful World of Color (and all its later versions) right up to his retirement in 1983. In 1998, for his 45 years of hit making genius in the editing room, Norman was made an official Disney Legend. He also received a posthumous homage in the video game Bendy and the Ink Machine: one of the game's characters is a projectionist named Norman Polk. He was 95 when he died.

March 22 - Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village

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On this day, in 1975, the Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village opened its doors for business. The Village is built on an area of land that Walt decided he wanted at the last minute. His lawyers had been trying to avoid the parcel wedged between I-4 and 535, but Walt decided it could be a prime shopping and entertainment area. The lawyers were actually winding down the land acquisition part of the Florida Project but couldn't say no to the boss and would have to spend an additional year negotiating just to get this new lot. It's taken a few decades, but the time spent was (eventually) worth it.

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The Village was the first Disney shopping experience not located within a theme park (the first Disney Store was still 12 years away) and was envisioned as a local shopping mall. The original offerings of the new shopping district included a Gourmet Pantry, a Bath Parlour, the Captain's Tower, It's a Small World After All Shop, the 2 R's - Read'n & Rite'n, Toys Fantastique, The Pottery Chalet and Posh Pets among various other boutique shops. Just two years later, the area got a mild theme makeover into a European boutique and was renamed the Walt Disney World Village. The Empress Lilly riverboat restaurant was also added at that time.

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When Michael Eisner became CEO, he began looking for ways to keep guests from having to go off property to find entertainment. In 1989, Pleasure Island, a night club complex, was built next to the village to do just that. In order to rebrand the whole area another name change was instituted and the village was now referred to as the Disney Village Marketplace (a name I still sometimes use without thinking). By the mid Nineties, Disney was booming and all sorts of upgrades and investments were being made all across the Florida Project, including the Marketplace area. More restaurants and shops, as well as DisneyQuest and the Cirque Du Soleil, were built on the far side of Pleasure Island in a new area called the West End. All three areas (The Disney Village Marketplace, Pleasure Island and the West End) were again rebranded under the umbrella name Downtown Disney starting in 1997. The 2001 expansion of Disneyland in California created a similar district with the same name on the West Coast.

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In 2013, the first major renovations to the area in 16 years were announced (there had already been some changes happening since the closing of Pleasure Island five years before). The Downtown Disney area would be doubling the number of venues it contained, be expanding into four districts and getting another new theme and name. Instead of the trendy area Downtown Disney tried to be, the new shopping district would be themed after an early twentieth century seaside resort and would be called Disney Springs. The area now includes the original (but extensively renovated and expanded) Marketplace, The Landing (the former Pleasure Island area), the West Side and Town Center (an all new area that used to encompass parking lots). Since the parking lots were turned into shops, Disney World also built its first two parking garages for guests to accommodate the space squeeze.

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In the four decades it's been open, the Lake Buena Vista Shopping Village has undergone enough changes to make it almost unrecognizable (although for the sharp eyed there are still a few small details that have survived). What I find marvelous about the latest iteration, is that it seems like it has finally become a destination in its own right. With multiple live music choices, a restaurant for every taste and entertainment options from bowling to a movie to renting an aquacar, a person can spend an evening breaking the bank or just stroll around, spending nothing at all. 54 years after Walt pointed to a map and began casting a vision, it's finally coming true.

March 21 - Mission to Mars

On this day, in 1975, the Mission to Mars ride began taking guests to the red planet in Disneyland's Tomorrowland. Walt Disney had an abiding interest in space travel. Beginning with the depictions of moving through galaxies in the Rites of Spring segment of 1940's Fantasia, he knew that animation was the perfect medium to explore what was, at that point, science fiction. In the early Fifties, he struck up a relationship with Wernher von Braun, the man who would oversee a great deal of NASA's projects, including going to the moon. Walt and Wernher collaborated on a series of space related episodes for the Disneyland television series. Using animations based on science provided by Wernher, Walt's enthusiasm for the topic helped sell space travel as an attainable reality to the American public.

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In addition to the Disneyland episodes, Walt sought Wernher's advice on an attraction for his new theme park. When Disneyland opened in 1955, it included Rocket to the Moon, a show sponsored by TWA that simulated what it might be like to travel into space. Three rings of seats surrounded a round screen on the floor and another on the ceiling. The screens were treated like windows in a spacecraft: the floor showed where you'd been and the ceiling showed where you were going. Over a ten minute presentation, guests experienced lift off, travel to and around the moon (but not a moon landing) and a return to earth.

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In 1962, TWA ended its sponsorship and McDonnell Douglas took over. When Tomorrowland got an upgrade in 1967, the Rocket to the Moon show building was demolished and a new, bigger theater was built, same design but with four rings of seats (that now moved) and an Audio-Animatronic pre-show. The attraction also got a new name: Flight to the Moon. Two years later, reality caught up with the show when Neil Armstrong took a giant leap for mankind on the actual moon. Flight to the Moon would remain a part of Tomorrowland for six more years, even though it clearly wasn't a vision of the future anymore. The last trip to the moon would take place in January 1975.

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Less than three months later, the show would reopen. It was essentially the same setup, but had now been rethemed (and renamed) as a Mission to Mars. It still wasn't terribly futuristic but Mission to Mars would remain in operation until November 1992. After the building remained shuttered for several years, it's now a dining area known as Redd Rocket's Pizza Port.

Flight to the Moon was also an original attraction in Tomorrowland when the Magic Kingdom opened in 1971, which means it was dated before it opened. The Florida version was also changed to Mission to Mars in 1975 and lasted all the way to October 1993, almost a year longer than the Disneyland version. Space travel lives on in Florida, though it has changed venues. The thrill ride Mission: Space in Future World in Epcot actually does simulate taking off on an extraterrestrial adventure, complete with stomach churning g-forces and it's even been updated since it's 2003 opening. I think Mission: Space's continuing popularity means that both Walt and Wernher are somewhere smiling and anticipating what will come next.

March 20 - Holly Hunter

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On this day, in 1958, Holly Hunter was born in Conyers, Georgia. Holly moved north when it came time for college, earning a degree from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She hung around the three rivers area for a few years after graduation, performing at City Theater on Pittsburgh's southside. Eventually she moved to New York City where she roomed with another young actress named Frances McDormand. In 1982, she was briefly stuck in an elevator and that random event changed the course of her career. The only other person stuck with her just happened to be a playwright, Beth Henley, who just happened to have a show playing on Broadway, Crimes of the Heart, that just happened to need a replacement actress.

Holly followed up Crimes with Beth's off-Broadway show The Miss Firecracker Contest. The two together gave her the means to move to Los Angeles, California to take on Hollywood. She got a few bites in made-for-television movies before landing her first significant role in 1984's Swing Shift, starring Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. That same year she had her first collaboration with the Coen Brothers, albeit an uncredited one as the voice on an answering machine. Holly's breakout happened three years later when she reteamed with the Coens for Raising Arizona (which included her old roommate, Frances, another Coen favorite) and was nominated for an Oscar for Broadcast News.

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Holly followed up 1987 with the screen adaptation of Miss Firecracker, a Steven Spielberg movie (Always) and, on television, Roe v. Wade (which earned her an Emmy Award). In 1992, Oscar smiled on her twice more, first with a nomination for Best Supporting Actress for The Firm and then with a gold statue for Best Actress in The Piano. Holly continued to divide her time between the big and small screens. She earned another Emmy in 1993 for her part in The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom. She's been in dramas like Levity and comedies like Little Black Book. She earned another Oscar nomination in 2003 for the film Thirteen. Starting in 2007, Holly executive produced and starred in her own drama, Saving Grace, on the TNT network. Grace ran for three seasons and earned its star two SAG Award nominations, a Golden Globe Nomination and another Emmy nomination.

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Holly first joined the Disney family with her third collaboration with the Coen Brothers, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, which was a Touchstone Pictures production. She also appeared in Touchstone's 2002 drama Moonlight Mile. Her biggest contribution to Disneyana though came in 2004, when she gave voice to Helen Parr (also known as Elastigirl) in Pixar's smash hit The Incredibles. She reprised the role in the sequel (14 years later) in The Incredibles 2 as well as several video games that have featured Elastigirl.

In recent years, Holly has continued to spend time on screens both large and little. She earned a whole slew of award nominations (and two wins) for her supporting role in The Big Sick. She also was nominated for a SAG Award and won an Equity Award for her work in the Sundance network miniseries Top of the Lake. In 2016, for all her accomplishments in the theatrical world, Holly was presented with an honorary doctorate from her alma mater, Carnegie Melon University. No word on what Dr. Holly's next project might be, but the chances that it will make a splash come award season are pretty high.

March 19 - The Shaggy Dog

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On this day, in 1959, Disney's first live action comedy, The Shaggy Dog, debuted in theaters. Made for less than a million dollars, it grossed over $9 million in its initial run, making it a more profitable movie than Ben Hur which was released the same year. This fact wasn't lost on Walt and his executive team and the formula of The Shaggy Dog was used over and over again for the next couple of decades: put a supernatural element in a light hearted comedy, preferably involving some kind of animal, using the same sets on the backlot and starring recognizable, but not too pricey, actors. If you think about it, that describes most of the films the studio made throughout the Sixties and Seventies. Sure, most of them would never be called masterpieces, but they created more than sufficient cash flow to subsidize everything else the company was doing.

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The Shaggy Dog is also notable for being the first Disney movie to star Fred MacMurray. Fred had already been a staple around Hollywood for years, but mostly in Westerns and film noir. This picture would start a string of comedic roles for the company that would stretch over the next fourteen years and include classics like The Absent-Minded Professor and The Happiest Millionaire (it would also be instrumental in landing Fred his long running sitcom gig on television, My Three Sons). The rest of the cast was filled out with Mickey Mouse Club regulars like Annette Funicello, Tommy Kirk, Tim Considine and Kevin Corcoran. Even the film's director, Charles Barton, came from the show (he'd directed the Spin and Marty series). Paul Frees, the veteran voice actor, makes a rare live appearance in The Shaggy Dog as the psychiatrist, but interestingly doesn't receive credit for it.

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Not only did The Shaggy Dog create a formula for comedy success, it was the start of a mini franchise. In 1976, Disney released The Shaggy D.A. starring another company staple, Dean Jones. The sequel took place about 30 years after the original, but if you're wondering what happened during that time, you are in luck. The Return of the Shaggy Dog aired in two parts on the Disney Sunday Movie in 1987, starring Gary Kroeger. Two remakes have been produced as well, one for The Wonderful World of Disney in 1994 and a theatrical release starring Tim Allen in 2006, but, for my money, just stick with the original.

March 18 - Pirates of the Caribbean

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On this day, in 1967, the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction began operating in the New Orleans Square area of Disneyland. Opening three months and three days after his passing, Pirates is the last ride that Walt Disney himself had a hand in designing (While Walt was integral to the concept of The Haunted Mansion, which opened two years later, that ride was almost completely redesigned after his death). On the original coming soon map of New Orleans square, Pirates was listed as a walk through wax museum attraction. After the huge success of It's a Small World at the 1964 World's Fair, it was decided to use the same boat system to carry guests through the Caribbean and to incorporate Audio Animatronics instead of wax figures.

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When Walt Disney World was being planned, it was decided that Pirates would not be one of the attractions that was replicated from Disneyland. Why? Because Florida already had a rich culture of real pirates, no one would want any fake pirates, right? Wrong. When the Magic Kingdom opened in October 1971, one of the biggest complaints from guests was the lack of a Pirates of the Caribbean ride. Disney had to then scramble to put one together. It wasn't until December 1973 that the Florida version opened. While it has a lot of similarities, it isn't the same ride. Version two is several minutes shorter and doesn't have the thrilling drops that version one has (it can't because of the high water tables in the Sunshine State), but it remains one of the most popular and treasured rides in the park. As the Disney empire expanded worldwide, executives did not repeat their 1971 mistake. There is a version of Pirates in Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris and Shanghai Disneyland.

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Pirates is a fairly unique attraction in the Disney family. There are plenty of rides that are based on movies in the parks, but Pirates is a ride that spawned not only a movie but a whole franchise (and while it's fine to mention Tower of Terror here, please don't embarrass yourself by bringing up the Haunted Mansion). While there are plenty of homages to the attraction in the original film, no one really knew how big the series would become. As the world of Pirates expanded and new characters and situations became beloved, it was increasingly obvious that the ride was out of synch with the new reality. So the ride that inspired a movie was in turn inspired by the movie and changed itself. In 2006, Animatronics of Jack Sparrow, a character created for the movie, were added into the California and Florida versions. Paris got Jack, as well as a Captain Barbossa figure, in 2017.

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Other modifications to the attraction have been made over the years to make it more politically correct. While those changes aren't historically accurate, they are entertaining and that's really what the ride is all about. X Atencio, one of the attractions original developers and the man who wrote its theme song, A Pirates Life for Me, once groused that his attraction was being turned into The Boy Scouts of the Caribbean, but I think that was just because no one likes to see their work changed (even if it no longer belongs to you once you've released it into the world). In spite of (or just as likely because of) all the changes Pirates of the Caribbean has gone through over the last four decades, it remains a must see in my book (and based on its wait times, millions of other books as well).