In this week’s edition of This Week in Disney History, we will explore some of the milestones from April 24th-April 30th that helped shape and form the Walt Disney Company as it exists today.
This Week in Disney History: April 24th-April 30th
- On April 24th, 2009, Disney Imagineering Legend Marty Sklar, wrote a letter saying he would step down from being an imagineer on July 17, 2009. Marty first became a cast member 61 years ago.
- On April 25th, 2003, the 10th annual Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival kicked off at Epcot.
- On April 26th, 2009, Michael Eisner made the top CEO on Forbes’ list of worst CEOS in America.
- On April 27th, 2002, Disney’s The Lion King on Broadway kicked off their national tour by performing in Denver, Colorado.
- On April 28th, 1997, the restaurant inside Cinderella Castle at Magic Kingdom was officially renamed Cinderella’s Royal Table. Previously, it had been called King Stefan’s Banquet Hall, a fascinating fact is that King Stefan was actually the father of Sleeping Beauty.
- On April 29th, 2007, Disney Channel was officially launched in Turkey. The channel is on the DIGITURK platform.
- Lastly on April 30th, 1952, the very first toy ever to be advertised on national television was portrayed to kids all across America. What was that toy? Well, it was the one and only Mr. Potato Head. Mr. Potato head was invented by George Lerner in 1949 but later the rights were sold to Henry and Merrill Hassenfeld in 1951 to produce and ship across the nation. Interesting fact about Henry and Merrill is that they themselves actually founded and created the toy company Hasbro which was founded in 1923.
I hope you have enjoyed this week’s edition of This Week in Disney History. If you have enjoyed this, stay tuned for next week’s edition.