Execute Older 69...

Today The Beard is celebrating a birthday...

That's right the Master Jedi himself, George Lucas is celebrating being sixty-nine years old.  And he's finally moving on to do those things in life he's wanted to do, but a little something got in the way.  After creating the iconic filmography that has included "American Graffiti , "Indiana Jones", and of course, "Star Wars", the film maker has finally moved on to being a museum curator.

That said, he's left an incredible mark on American pop culture and even global film history.  Although his life will now pursue another course, his legacy will endure, and his creations will be timeless.  Many (myself included) may fault him for the fallacy that are the Prequels, but most directors, writers and producers would kill for a career so prolific upon the consciousness of mankind.

Happy Birthday, George...

Excelcior's Birth...

Ninety years, true believers...

There are five pillars of the comic book industry...

Three are at DC Comics and two belong to Marvel Comics.  DC, or as it was called way back in the beginning of comic book creation, National Periodical Publications, had Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster and Bob Kane.  Marvel had Jack Kirby and Stan Lee.

Today, Stan "The Man" Lee celebrates his 90th year on this planet.  Now, I don't how old he is on another planet.  You might have to ask Reed Richards since he knows the Marvel galaxies better than me.  But Stan would go on to co-create most of the Marvel heroes we know and love today.  From "Fantastic Four," "Spider-Man," "The Avengers," to countless others, the world of young boys and girls would change forever after the early 60's.  He has handled the celebrity and success over the years with grace, flair and dignity.  Stan Lee has become an icon of pop-culture, a living monument to American myth.

And with great power, comes great responsibility...

The Entertainer...

Now appearing at the Golden Horseshoe...






On this day Ninety-two years ago, the mold of entertainment in Disneyland was filled...

Wally Boag (the original Wally B.) was born today. He would go on to perform in Disneyland and create the standard of high excellence that guests have come to expect from Disney Entertainment. He not only would go on to make many a fan of the people seeing his routines, but would inspire many Cast Members (including a young Steve Martin, who idolized him) as well.

The joy that you experience in the parks is a result of the talent and hard work of this creative and kind man...

Shadowy Beginnings...

Who knows what what eeeeeeviiiilllll...




Eighty-Two years ago today, an iconic figure in radio/pulp fiction was born...

On the Detective Story Hour at the beginning of the Thirties, on this night a despondent, tired and pessimistic America tuned into their radios for a break from the harshness that the stock market crash had spent over the nation.

On tonights program, a new and exciting character would right the wrongs and deliver justice to a society that looked for hope. The mysterious Shadow would go on to create a sensation for young and old alike. He was a pre-superhero, before Superman and Batman, that did things the common man couldn't, but wanted to. And he offered a chance for the listener to escape the Great Depression, if only for a few hours.

Happy Birthday, Lamont Cranston...

Seventy Year Old Doctor...

Candles, whey did it have to be candles...








Happy Birthday to the Man in the Hat...

Today, Dr. Henry Walton Jones, Jr., otherwise known as Harrison Ford/Indiana Jones turns 70. Wow, I hope I'm that agile when I'm that old. It seems at that age you'd be snapping that whip from a wheelchair.

Be careful blowing out those candles Mr. Ford, we don't want you to go starting any fires now...

Thought Different...

Stay hungry...




Today would have been the Walt Disney Company's Largest shareholder's birthday...

Steve Jobs would have been 57 today.

Who knows what else he'd have been working on that might have changed the world...

A Fourth Of Liberty...

Red, white and blue baby...







Two hundred, thirty-five years ago America was born...

Happy 4th of July! A group of representatives gathered from the thirteen independent colonies of Great Britain, to put together a union that would help them brush off the shackles of Mother England. What they put down with a quill in ink upon paper, this very day we celebrate. A day on which we cherish the God given freedoms that our Founding Fathers acknowledged to us on this historic event in 1776.

You may not believe it, but there was a time early on when people didn't really know which day to celebrate our founding, either the Declaration of Independence, which was signed on July 4, 1776, or when the Constitution was passed on September 17, 1787. It took many years for the tradition to take hold and become the celebration we now know it as. By the time our fiftieth anniversary had come along, it had taken hold and on that occasion, something very poignant happened.

Our second President(John Adams) and third President(Thomas Jefferson) both died on that day... in the same year, 1826... just as we were celebrating the 50th anniversary of the United States of America! And the president at the time was John Quincy Adams, the son of the former president. Both Adams and Jefferson had been bitter rivals in the early days of our founding. Years later, they started up a correspondence after many years of not speaking to one another and eventually became close friends. But the rivalry still remained. When John Adams breathed his last breath he was heard to say: "Jefferson still lives." But he was wrong. Jefferson had passed away a few hours before him earlier that day. Coincidence? No. Not in my belief, at least.

Providence, it was providence. Happy 235th Birthday, America! Everyone go out and celebrate the freedoms and liberty given to us by our Creator, acknowledged by our Founders and defended by our Forefathers. Don't just have a barbeque or a day at the beach.

Freedom and liberty are too precious to be so trivial...

The Planting Of The Tree...

Thirty-five years ago today, the seed that became Apple Inc. was born...

Started famously, in a small garage by two Steves, Wozniak and Jobs, it grew from a small business that turned a computer into something anyone could use, to a revolutionary computer named after an apple, to a fading niche player, to the phoenix-like rebirth with the return of Jobs. It's hard to believe that it's now the second most valued company in the world and that it's revenue will come close to IBM's this year, and possibly Hewlett-Parkard's next; moving toward being a $200 billion dollar a year company by the end of next year. Wow. A lot has happened since the time those programmers in Palo Alto showed Steve that little hobby they were working on called a GUI.

Disney's largest shareholder helped create a little fruit company with a very big shadow...

Creator Of Pooh...

Born on this day was the man that envisioned the Hundred Acre Woods...

A.A. Milne came into this world one hundred and twenty nine years ago, but his creations will be timeless.

Children the world over smile because of him...

Experiment 626's Idol...

Stitch's musical inspiration would have celebrated his birth today...

Elvis Aaron Presley was born on this day in Tupelo, Mississippi in 1935. He would have been 75 years old, but passed away at the spritely age of 42 earth years. Lilo introduce his songs to the cuddly alien from another planet and he took a likin' to his blue suede shoes.

Hey man, lay off of his blue suede shoes...

Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio Turns 87...

The Walt Disney Company, which was called Walt Disney Productions until the mid-80's and began life as Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio is 87 years old today...

Funny, it doesn't look that old, does it? What do you get it? A revised Second Gate at Disneyland? A Third Gate? A revived Animation Studio? So many things, so little time...

Imagine...

October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980

55/55...

On this day, fifty years ago the Disneyland Hotel opened...

Not only is the Happiest Place on Earth celebrating its fifty-fifth year in Anaheim, the original hotel is as well. Many of you knew that the Resorts first hotel is going through a three year renovation, but not everyone know that it's birthday is today. Originally owned by Jack Wrather, the hotel was bought by the Mouse back in 1988, when Eisner first decided to look into turning the park into an actual resort.

Come 2012 the hotel will look greatly different than it did a decade ago. Gone will be the bland, dated, concrete appearance in favor of a retro-contemporary look and feel. The idea is to makeover the hotel into the West Coast version of Walt Disney World's Contemporary Resort. Not to clone it so-to-speak, but to give the building its own distinctive variation of that kind of concept. Once those picturesque monikers run across the tops of each tower it'll look a whole lot swankier. While my own desire is to have a hotel with a V(m)ictorian feel like the Tokyo Disneyland Hotel/Disneyland Paris Hotel, plans for a hotel such as this won't likely arrive until the later part of the decade. Still, with all the new offerings, this classic hotel will finally move into this century and help turn the resort into an actual resort.

Happy Birthday, Disneyland Hotel...

Thirty-Nine And Growing...

Wow, it happened thirty-nine years ago today...

The very first guest descend on a new plot of land outside Orlando, Florida for the grand opening of Walt Disney World. The new park, the Magic Kingdom, the first since Walt Disney's original Disneyland is built on land that is twice the size of Manhattan, with its own police force, its own fire department and its own working government. The Walt Disney World Resort as it will be called, opens up with two hotels, the Contemporary and the Polynesian and a world of possibilities. It's still so today, just a wee bit bigger is all. And it's still growing.

I just hope that Tom Staggs puts his stamp on the resort and his own Suits...

First Foolish Mortals...

Coming out to socialize...


Or perhaps it should be the 41st...

Forty-one years ago today, the Haunted Mansion attraction opened up in Disneyland for the first time.

999 ghosts would start their haunt this day, and one would quickly and quietly disappear. The Hat Box Ghost would make a small, but brief greeting to the first guests to enter this beautiful, rundown Southern mansion and its eerie inhabitants.

Many people would enter the park in 1969, standing in long lines just to see the last wondrous new creation that Walt Disney was a part of before his passing. This would include a little three year old boy from Mexico named Guillermo del Toro, who has ridden the attraction at least once every year since then. He is currently prepping a film version of the ride which will likely not film until after he finishes filming "At the Mountains of Madness" next May. But he's one of many that this amazing attraction had thrilled since its opening those many years ago.

I have a feeling that fans of the attraction will see some much liked lovin' once that reboot comes out. It's come a long way since starting out as the Museum of the Weird.

Happy Birthday, old house...

Birth Of The Jedi...

A Long, Long Time Ago...



A Loooooooooooooooooooooong time ago...

Sixty-six years ago today in a small town up in Northern California...

George Walton Lucas Jr. was born. A near-death car crash right before his high school graduation forced him to consider another career path(he wanted to be a race car driver) and made him focus on something different at the local community college. He developed an interest in making films... Modern cinema would never be the same. He gave my childhood a constant wonder and my adulthood a continual pain. But I'm so very happy he decided to do that little takeoff on Saturday matinee serials. I owe him greatly for that.

Happy Birthday to the Father of the Force...

Happy Birthday, Uncle John...

And on a lighter note...

John Alan Lasseter was born on this date in 1957. If you don't know who he is... you... really... are... on... the... wrong... blog. Really.

Lasseter, head of Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Principal Creative Advisor for Walt Disney Imagineering, Head of development for Toon Disney Studios, advisor to Disney Consumer Products and wine maker, wasn't in town today. Believe it, or not. Can you imagine how busy this guy is with all these titles? It's a wonder he has time to tie his shoes. Well, let me just say, from everyone here at Blue Sky Disney, happy birthday Uncle John. Or Mr. Lasseter, which ever you want your highness. Hehe. Yes, say it if you want. I'm a lemming. But if you do, you'll realize that you don't have a sense of humor and you need one.

One of the great things about Lasseter is his passion and belief in a project. He also has the ability to inspire those around him to do better than what they expected or even believed they could do. And another sign of his authenticity came at the D23 Expo. When everyone came out, from Iger, Rasulo and even Cook, there was a giant teleprompter set up that had their exact script. All of their words were just calculated and prepared beforehand. Not John. If you would have looked at the monitor during his keynote you would have seen this:

Talk about Tinkerbell film.

Talk about new Winnie the Pooh film.

Talk about Princess and the Frog.

ect.

See? He just put bullet points up to remind him about stuff so that he wouldn't forget anything. His entire speech was ad-libbed and from his heart. What he said, he believed. That is something that is very hard to come by in life, and even harder in Hollywood. That's something of true value there folks.

Have fun blowing out those candles, sir...

Blue Sky Disney X's Three...

Three years...

That's how long Blue Sky Disney has been around as of today. Just a little thing I started to fill those nights when I couldn't sleep, so I started a simple blog to post my thoughts. I knew a few people so I posted news and some rumors I heard. I expected to have no one read it. At the very least, I expected a few people to read it and that's all.

I got almost half a million hits the first year. Whoa... Last year BSD got over 1.2 million hits and this year we hit that mark a couple months ago. Truly overwhelming, really.

I want to thank each and everyone of you that enjoys reading my blog. I want to thank all the people that have contributed columns/posts to this as well. I want to thank the Bothans and I want to that everyone that clicks on the sight with an interest in my thoughts on the Mouse and everything else.

Here's to making the next year even better for you, me and the entire world, not just the Disney one...

A Magical Beginning, A World Of Opportunities...

Thirty-eight years ago today...

The very first guest descend on a new plot of land outside Orlando, Florida for the grand opening of Walt Disney World. The new park, the Magic Kingdom, the first since Walt Disney's original Disneyland is built on land that is twice the size of Manhattan, with its own police force, its own fire department and its own working government. The Walt Disney World Resort as it will be called, opens up with two hotels, the Contemporary and the Polynesian and a world of possibilities. It's still so today, just a wee bit bigger is all.

And it's still growing...

What Do You Get The Girl That Has Everything...

Eight years ago today, the Walt Disney Company and the Oriental Land Company opened the most expensive and most beautiful theme park they have ever designed and built...

Tokyo DisneySEA swung open its gates on September 4th, 2001 and showed the world what Imagineers could do when given the freedom and opportunity to dream without Suit interference. This is what we know the name Disney is capable of. Happy Birthday, TDS. May you continue to grow more lovely and stunning with each passing year. And may the rest of the Disney Theme Parks catch up with you. You are a jewel and thorn in the side of the Disney Brand, and when Suits say something isn't possible, we point to you as a rebuttal.

No excuse can explain away what was built and could be built again...