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March 5

March 5, 1932 – The Mickey Mouse Short Film The Mad Dog is Released to Theaters

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“Look, don’t shoot him, mister. Don’t shoot him. He’s my pal.”

On March 5, 1932, the Mickey Mouse short film The Mad Dog premiered in theaters. The short was directed by Burt Gillett.

Mickey is washing something in a tub, and it revealed that under all the bubbles is Pluto. Pluto struggles to get away from Mickey, and finally does, though he ends up in a game of tug-of-war with Mickey. He plays with a slipped bar of soap and accidentally swallows it, and is bewildered when he starts hiccupping bubbles. Mickey chases him around the house, but Pluto slips outside and down the street. An old woman walking down the street sees Pluto and, mistaking the bubbles for a sign of rabies, screams and calls for the police. The whole town panics seeing the “mad dog” running down the road, and chase after him throwing things and trapping him in an empty lot. Pete the dog catcher walks in and is ready to put Pluto down, when Mickey runs in just in time to save him and plead his case. Mickey fights Pete, and helps Pluto make an escape. Pete continues to chase them down the road, but the pair are able to slow him down considerably. In the end, Pete gets his head stuck in his own dog catching vehicle, and Mickey gets Pluto, and all of his fleas, home safely.

March 4

March 4, 1937 – The Silly Symphony The Country Cousin Wins Best Animated Short Film at the Academy Awards

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On March 4, 1937, the 9th Academy Awards were held at the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California. Disney’s Silly Symphony The Country Cousin walked away as the winner for Best Animated Short Film, beating out the likes of Harman-Ising’s The Old Mill Pond and Fleischer Studios Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor. This was Disney’s fifth win in this category, having dominated since the category’s conception in 1932.

March 3

March 3, 2001 – Fantasia 2000 is Awarded the Vision Award at the Producers Guild of America Awards

Fantasia 2000

On March 3, 2001, the Producers Guild of America Awards were Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles, California. At the ceremony, the Disney animated feature Fantasia 2000 was honored with the Vision Award for Theatrical Motion Pictures, which was awarded to Roy E. Disney by Angela Lansbury. Disney was instrumental in creating the film, having pitched it as a sequel to the original Fantasia, which was originally seen as a neverending work in progress.

March 2

March 2, 2014 – Frozen Wins Disney’s First Best Animated Feature Academy Award

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“Happy Oscars to you! Let’s do Frozen 2!”

On March 2, 2014, the 86th Academy Awards were held at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, California. The animated feature film Frozen won two Academy Awards: one for Best Original Song for “Let it Go” by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, and one for Best Animated Feature. This was Disney Animation Studio’s first win in the category since it was established in 2001. Frozen won against The Croods, Despicable Me 2, Ernest & Celestine, and The Wind Rises.

March 1

March 1, 1999 – The Maharajah Jungle Trek Attraction Opens in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park

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“Embark on a self-guided tour of Southeast Asia – home to tigers, fruit bats, dozens of species of birds and a flying fox.”

On March 1, 1999, the Maharajah Jungle Trek attraction opened in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park. Located in Asia, guests are sent into the Anandapur Royal Forest, a former hunting ground turned animal preserve, where they can encounter several types of animals. The area is part of Disney’s commitment to wildlife conservation, providing several endangered species a home with a natural environment, including waterfalls and other jungle flora and fauna. Guests are able to tour the area by themselves, exploring “abandoned temples” while seeing animals in their natural habitats.

February 29

February 29, 2004 – Finding Nemo Wins Best Animated Feature Academy Award

Andrew Stanton, winner for Best Animated Feature for "Finding Nemo" The 76th Annual Academy Awards - Deadline Photo Room The Kodak Theater Hollywood, California United States February 29, 2004 Photo by Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com To license this image (2318862), contact WireImage: +1 212-686-8900 (tel) +1 212-686-8901 (fax) st@wireimage.com (e-mail) www.wireimage.com (web site)

Finding Nemo would have never been possible if it wasn’t for the extraordinary filmmaking environment created at Pixar Animation Studios by John Lasseter, Ed Catmull, and Steve Jobs.” – Director Andrew Stanton

On February 29, 2004, the 76th Academy Awards were held at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles, California. Nominated for four different awards, Pixar’s fifth animated feature scored a win for Best Animated Feature, beating out Disney’s Brother Bear and the French animated feature Les Triplettes de Belleville. This was director Andrew Stanton’s first Academy Award for his work at Pixar. Finding Nemo’s other nominations included Best Original Score for Thomas Newman, Best Sound Editing for Gary Rydstrom and Michael Silvers, and Best Original Screenplay for Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson, and David Reynolds.

February 28

February 28, 2003 – The Attraction Test the Limits Lab Opens in Innoventions

Test the Limits Lab

“UL is a welcome addition to Innoventions and their commitment to public safety echoes our own.” – Brad Rex, Vice President of Epcot

On February 28, 2003, the new interactive attraction hosted by Underwriters Laboratories Inc. called Test the Limits Lab opened in Ecpot’s Innoventions area. The area hosted five exhibits for kids to test, acting in the role of an engineer to test products in an effort to teach guests about product safety. The exhibits included tests on firefighters’ helmets and television screens. The attraction closed on January 6, 2015.

February 27

February 27, 2011 – Toy Story 3 Wins Two Academy Awards

Oscar®-winning producer Lee Unkrich, winner for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year for work on “Toy Story 3," poses backstage during the live ABC Television Network broadcast of the 83rd Annual Academy Awards® from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, CA Sunday, February 27, 2011.

“I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, but thank you to the Academy.” – Director Lee Unkrich

On February 27, 2011, the 83rd Academy Awards were held at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Pixar’s eleventh animated feature film Toy Story 3 was nominated in five categories, including Best Picture, making it the third animated feature in history to do so, and the second Pixar animated feature to be nominated in this category. The film would go on to win two awards: Best Animated Feature, beating out How to Train Your Dragon, and The Illusionist; and Best Original Song for Randy Newman’s “We Belong Together.”

February 26

February 26, 2012 – The Muppets’ “Man or Muppet” Wins Best Original Song Academy Award

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“I grew up in New Zealand watching the Muppets on TV; never dreamed I’d get to work with them.” – Writer Bret McKenzie

On February 26, 2012, the 84th Academy Awards were held at the Hollywood and Highland Center Theater in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. The song “Man or Muppet” from the 2011 live-action film The Muppets scored the win for Best Original Song, beating out the other nominee “Real in Rio” from the animated feature Rio. The song is the third Muppet song nominated for an Academy Award, with “Rainbow Connection” and “The First Time It Happens” being the other two; “Man or Muppet” is the first of these songs to win the Academy Award, and is the twelfth Best Original Song for the Disney Studios. The song was written by Bret McKenzie, known as half of the duo The Flying Conchords.

February 25

February 25, 2005 – Disney Sells the Mighty Ducks Hockey Team

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“We are confident that Henry and Susan Samueli will bring continued success to the Ducks and we will remain among the biggest fans of the team going forward.” – Michael Eisner

On February 25, 2005, Disney sold the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim hockey team to Broadcom Corporation co-founder Henry Samueli and his wife Susan. The team was originally founded by Disney in 1993, named after the hit 1992 film The Mighty Ducks, and Disney had tried to sell the team since 2002. In 2004, when the NHL’s labor dispute led to a lockout of the 2004-2005 season, Disney tried to sell again at well below the franchise’s original price. Samueli bought the team for $75 million, and promised to keep the Ducks in Orange County, California. The team would late be renamed the Anaheim Ducks.