This Week in Disney History: March 8-14

March 13, 1969 – Walt Disney Pictures releases The Love Bug
The star of the highest grossing film of 1969 was a pearl white Volkswagen Beetle named Herbie. The Love Bug was the final live action film produced with direct involvement from Walt Disney, who suggested Gordon Buford’s Car, Boy, Girl as the story’s basis. Paired with down-and-out demolition derby driver Jim Douglas (played by Dean Jones), Herbie becomes an unlikely success story on the racing scene while proving he truly has a mind of his own. Herbie has starred in four additional theatrical releases and appears daily in “Lights! Motors! Action! Extreme Stunt Show” at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

March 10, 2009 - Disney launches D23
“Are you 23?” was the question that had Disney fans guessing - and circling March 10 on the calendar. Announced this day by CEO Robert Iger, D23 is the first official community for Disney fans in company history (the “23” refers to 1923, the year Walt Disney founded his studio in Burbank.) Members receive the quarterly collectible magazine Disney twenty-three, delivering the ultimate insider’s perspective, as well as access to exclusive special events, gifts and merchandise. The inaugural D23 Expo was held at the Anaheim Convention Center last September, featuring new attraction first-looks, world-premiere screenings and celebrity appearances from Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, Miley Cyrus and Robin Williams.

March 8:
1986 - Pirates of the Caribbean and Alice’s Tea Party open at Tokyo Disneyland
1999 - Disney’s Doug Live!” stage show debuts at the Disney-MGM Studios (replacing SuperStar Television)
2002 - “Disney's Around the World," a new shop featuring items from Disney theme parks around the world, opens at the Main Street Cinema at the Magic Kingdom Park

March 9:
1984 - Splash, the first film released under the Touchstone Pictures banner, debuts
1994 - “Ellen” debuts on ABC as “These Friends of Mine”
1999 - Frank and Ollie, a documentary about animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, debuts on video

March 10:
1978 - Walt Disney Pictures releases Return from Witch Mountain
1996 - Fulton’s Crab House opens at the Downtown Disney Marketplace

March 11:
**1977 - Walt Disney Pictures releases The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh** :-D

March 12:
1999 - Disney’s Winter Summerland Miniature Golf opens next to Blizzard Beach at the Walt Disney World Resort

March 13:
2005 - Crush ‘n’ Gusher, a new water coaster, opens at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon

March 14:
1960 - The CircleVision 360 film “Circarama” closes at Disneyland Park
1998 - The stand-alone McDonald’s restaurant near Blizzard Beach opens at the Walt Disney World Resort
2008 - Block Party Bash officially debuts at Disney’s Hollywood Studios

(c) Disney

HAVE A MAGICAL WEEK!