Plans for Marathon, Broadway, Star Wars: May 1993 in Disney History
Disney’s plans to take on Broadway theatre with Beauty and the Beast and the running circuit with a marathon, and Lucasfilm’s plans for prequels to Star Wars all made the news in May 1993. Also twenty-five years ago this month, the elusive Michael Jackson appears on the cover of Disney Adventures, parade costumes get an Emmy, Super Mario Bros hits theatres, and another studio’s attempt at a Snow White sequel fails miserably. Here’s what happened in May 1993:
Beauty and the Beast
In May 1993, Disney announced that they had set their sights on Broadway. A stage adaptation of Beauty and the Beast would debut that December in Houston, Texas, at the non-profit Theatre Under The Stars. Announced on May 5, 1993 as being a four-week run, the test production is quickly sold out, and extended to six weeks. The company hopes to open the production on Broadway in mid-1994, in what Walt Disney Company Chairman Michael Eisner said “hopefully will be the first in a series of theatre projects.”
Disney Adventures
Michael Jackson has posed for the cover of Disney Adventures magazine, New York’s Newsday reveals. The June issue, to arrive on newsstands in mid-May, will feature him holding Pinocchio, his favourite Disney character. The last time Jackson posed for a magazine cover was for Vanity Fair in 1989.
He worked cheap, being paid with a free subscription, and the image was shot by his personal photographer. A recent issue featuring Macaulay Culkin, Jackson’s friend, likely helped seal the deal. The June issue arrived on newsstands in mid-May.
Star Wars prequels
George Lucas intends to launch a new Star Wars triology between 1995 and 2000, The Orlando Sentinel reported. The newspaper was quoting “a recent issue” of The LucasFilm Fan Club Magazine. The publication’s editor, Dan Madsen, told the paper he had heard rumor of a May 25, 1997 launch, and Darth Vader suit actor David Prowse suggested he only learns of news from the fans. According to the Sentinel, the films would be a “pre-quel”.
Below is Carrie Fisher on Sci Fi Channel, July 1993, talking about the upcoming prequel films:
More news
May 20: Walt Disney World Marathon race director Jon Hughes tells Orlando Sentinel that the inaugural event in 1994 has signed up nearly 5000 runners, after a quiet launch. “Already assured of ESPN coverage,” the race was attracting attention from ABC Sports, thanks to the flat course and seasonal conditions being favorable to a world record. The Marathon was the first project of former NFLer Reggie Williams’ new Sports Development department.
May 26: Vicki Lawrence presents Walt Disney World costume designers Bill Campbell and Doug Enderle with an Emmy Award, for their work on the 1992 Walt Disney World Very Merry Christmas Parade. They were against nominees as varied as Sesame Street and The Joan Rivers Show.
May 28: With Disney re-releasing Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs later in 1993, First National Film Corporation tries to cash in by releasing Filmation title Happily Ever After. An unauthorized sequel, the Austin American Stateman newspaper says Disney’s “concepts are mimicked here right up to the ragged edge of infringement.” (The Dwarfs are replaced by Dwarfelles.) Irene Cara starred as Snow White, with Malcolm McDowell, Ed Asner, Tracey Ullman, Dom Deluise, Zsa Zsa Gabor, and Phyllis Diller rounding out the cast. It took in just $1.8 million over the Memorial Day weekend. Canada’s Famous Players was scheduled to open the film in July.
May 31: The Times of London publishes an interview with Mark Lilly, the Disney Store‘s head of European operations, stating that it hoped to grow from 17 to 50 locations within two years. Their location on London’s Regent Street attracted 50,000 guests a week.
In theatres
While the possible addition of 20th Century Fox to the Disney Company will add dozens of unlikely titles to the catalogue, it’s worth remembering some of the odder content already part of the pantheon. Case in point: Hollywood Pictures’ Super Mario Bros. (May 28, 1993).
Birthdays
Disney-connected actors born in May 1993? Spencer Fox (May 10, Dash in The Incredibles and Mudbud in Airbuddies), Debby Ryan (May 13, The Suite Life on Deck), Miranda Cosgrove (May 14, Lilo & Stitch: The Series), and Bobby Lockwood (May 24, 101 Dalmatians II: Patch’s London Adventure)