1980

Herbie goes bananas poster

The Last Flight of Noah Ark

T.rex at Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

Popeyemovieposter

An overview of all Disney-related events that occurred in the year 1980.

Theatrical releases

Feature films

February 8 - Midnight Madness
March 7 - Lady and the Tramp (re-issue)
April 17 - The Watcher in the Woods (New York City, New York)
May 23 - Mary Poppins (re-issue)
June 25
- Herbie Goes Bananas
- The Last Flight of Noah's Ark
July 30 - Donald Duck Goes West
October 10 - Song of the South (re-issue)
December 6 - Popeye (Paramount Pictures) premiered in Los Angeles, California.
December 12 - Popeye (Paramount Pictures)
December 19 - The Aristocats (re-issue)

Shorts

Character debuts

June 25 - Pete Stancheck, Davy Johns, Paco, Prindle, Quinn, Shepard, Melissa
November 15 - Cumulus Isobar

Theme parks and resorts

February - The Fort Wilderness Railroad closes at Walt Disney World Resort.
June 7 - 18-year-old Gerardo Gonzales dies in an accident on the PeopleMover in Tomorrowland at Disneyland.
July 17 - Disneyland and Disneyland Resort celebrates its 25th anniversary.
September 14 - Mickey Mouse Revue closes in Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom to be moved to Tokyo Disneyland.
November 15 - Big Thunder Mountain Railroad opens in Frontierland at the Magic Kingdom.

Events

November 27 - The Mickey Mouse balloon makes its tenth appearance in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Home video releases

VHS releases

March 4 (All tapes were rental only until September)
September 2 - Fall 1980 trailer reel (featuring 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Pete's Dragon)
December 30 - Mary Poppins

Laserdisc releases

March 4

People

Births

January 2 - Georgie Kidder (voice actress)
January 4
- Greg Cipes (actor, voice actor, singer, musician, and composer)
- June Diane Raphael (actress, comedian, and screenwriter)
January 16 - Lin-Manuel Miranda (actor, writer, composer, and rapper)
January 17 - Zooey Deschanel (actress, model, singer-songwriter, and musician)
January 18 - Jason Segel (actor, screenwriter, comedian, composer, puppeteer, musician, and singer)
January 30 - Wilmer Valderrama (actor, voice actor, singer, dancer, and producer)
January 31 - James Adomian (actor, voice actor, comedian, and impressionist)
February 9 - Margarita Levieva (actress)
February 11 - Matthew Lawrence (actor)
February 12 - Christina Ricci (actress)
February 17 - Jason Ritter (actor and voice actor)
February 21 - Justin Roiland (animator and writer)
March 9 - Matthew Gray Gubler (actor, producer, and model)
March 31 - Kate Micucci (actress, voice actress, singer-songwriter, comedian, and artist)
April 8 - Katee Sackhoff (actress)
April 26 - Channing Tatum (actor, film producer, dancer, model, and former male stripper)
May 2 - Ellie Kemper (actress, voice actress, comedian, and screenwriter)
May 24 - Sabrina Alberghetti (screenwriter, storyboard artist, and author)
May 27 - Ben Feldman (actor and voice actor)
May 31 - Andy Hurley (drummer)
June 10 - Jessica DiCicco (actress, voice actress, and singer)
June 18 - Kevin Bishop (actor, comedian, and writer)
June 23 - Melissa Rauch (actress, voice actress, and comedian)
June 26 - Jason Schwartzman (actor and musician)
July 3 - Olivia Munn (actress, model, and presenter)
July 6 - Eva Green (actress and model)
July 17 - Philip Lawrence (songwriter, record producer, and voice actor)
July 18 - Kristen Bell (actress, voice actress, singer, and producer)
July 19 - Chris Sullivan (actor and musician)
August 4 - Daniel Ross (actor, voice actor, and producer)
August 26 - Chris Pine (actor)
September 13 - Ben Savage (actor, comedian, and screenwriter)
September 29 - Zachary Levi (actor, voice actor, comedian, director, and singer)
October 4 - Nick Mohammed (actor, comedian, and writer)
October 14 - Ben Whishaw (actor)
October 17
- Justin Shenkarow (actor and voice actor)
- Angel Parker (actress)
October 18 - Natasha Rothwell (actress, voice actress, comedian, and writer)
November 10 - Niketa Calame (actress and voice actress)
November 12 - Ryan Gosling (actor, director, producer, screenwriter, writer, and musician)
November 13 - Monique Coleman (actress, dancer, singer, philanthropist, and entrepreneur)
December 5 - Jessica Paré (actress, voice actress, and singer)
December 9 - Simon Helberg (actor, voice actor, comedian, and musician)
December 18 - Christina Aguilera (actress and singer)
December 19 - Jake Gyllenhaal (actor and producer)
December 26 - David Lowery (director, producer, and screenwriter)
December 30 - Eliza Dushku (actress)

Deaths

February 6 - James Bodrero (storyboard artist, character designer, and illustrator)
March 5 - Jay Silverheels (actor, athlete, stuntman, poet, and salesman)
April 15 - Raymond Bailey (actor)
May 31 - Sonny Burke (musical arranger, composer, Big Band leader, and producer)
July 24 - Peter Sellers (actor, comedian, and singer)
September 12 - Lillian Randolph (actress and singer)
November 15 - Bill Lee (playback singer)
December 8 - John Lennon (musician)
December 20 - Ben Sharpsteen (animator, director, and producer)

Artists joined

Andreas Deja - Supervising Animator on The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King.
Mark Henn - Supervising Animator on The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King.
Mark Dindal - Director on The Emperor's New Groove and Chicken Little. Effects Animator on The Fox and the Hound, The Little Mermaid, and Aladdin.
Barry Temple - Animator for Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, and Mulan.
Ruben Procopio - Animator/Sculptor who worked on The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King.
Sandra Borgmeyer - Animator for The Black Cauldron and The Great Mouse Detective.
Retta Davidson - Coordinating Animator/Animation Teacher with Eric Larson and Walt Stanchfield, who worked on The Fox and the Hound, Mickey's Christmas Carol, The Black Cauldron, and The Great Mouse Detective.
Karen Keller - Layout Artist on The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Hercules.
Tia Kratter - Background Designer for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin.
Donald A. Towns - Background Designer/Art Director on The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin.
Brian Sebern - Background Designer for The Fox and the Hound, The Great Mouse Detective, and The Little Mermaid.
Tony Anselmo - Current voice actor for Donald Duck and animator on The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast.
Gail Frank - Assistant Animator on The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King.
Peter Gullerud - Visual Development Artist/Assistant Animator on The Little Mermaid and Aladdin.
Mike McKinney - Assistant Animator on The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King.
David Pacheco - Assistant Animator on The Fox and the Hound, The Great Mouse Detective, and The Little Mermaid.
Natasha Selfridge - Assistant Animator on Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King.
Toby Shelton - Storyboard Artist/Character Designer/Director for DuckTales, The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and The Return of Jafar. Also worked as an Assistant Animator on Mickey's Christmas Carol, The Black Cauldron, and The Great Mouse Detective.
Peggy Tonkonogy - Assistant Animator on The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King.

1980