Disney Legends

Besides the already great list of activities planned for Disney’s first ever D23 Expo, Oscar-winning actor Robin Williams, the extraordinary actresses of The Golden Girls, the voices of Donald Duck and Goofy, and other incomparable contributors to the Disney legacy will be honored on September 10 at the 2009 Disney Legends Awards.

On the same day Disneyland is celebrating its 54th birthday, Disney Imagineering legend, Marty Sklar, is retiring after 54 years of service. Marty was honored today prior to the park’s opening with the dedication of a new window on Main Street, U.S.A. He rites from the position of International Ambassador for Walt Disney Imagineering and leaves behind an incredible legacy.

Wayne Allwine, a Walt Disney Studios voice-over artist who was the voice of Mickey Mouse for more than three decades, died of complications of diabetes early Monday morning at UCLA Medical Center. He was 62 years young. Wayne was the third voice of Mickey Mouse, a role he assumed from Jimmy MacDonald.

Disney Legend and Walt Disney Imagineering Ambassador Marty Sklar announced in a letter to all Imagineers last Friday that he would be retiring from his current position of “international ambassador for Walt Disney Imagineering” effective July 17. Marty’s retirement will mark the end of an era as he is one of the last Imagineers to know Walt Disney personally.

If Walt Disney were alive, he’d be celebrating his 107th birthday today. The man who has brought magic to so many lives was born this day (December 5) in the year of 1901 and in the town of Chicago, Illinois. Even though he has been gone for almost 42 years now, he is still alive in the hearts of so many people.

The Walt Disney Company inducted 11 new Disney Legends at a ceremony at the Burbank Walt Disney Studios yesterday. The Legends are chosen by a selection committee created by Roy E. Disney. The program honors gifted animators, Imagineers, songwriters, actors and business leaders as having made a significant impact on the Disney legacy.

There’s a new book out that any serious fan of nostalgic Disney should have in their collection. “Walt Disney’s Imagineering Legends and the Genesis of the Disney Theme” is available for purchase at The LaughingPlace Store for just $35.00.

Harriet Burns, the first woman ever hired by Walt Disney Imagineering in a creative rather than an office capacity, has died at the age of 79. Her role as an attraction and product designer for Walt Disney Imagineering laid a path for the many talented women who followed in her footstep.