1981

Shorts

 * July 10 - Once Upon a Mouse
 * September 6 - Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons

Books

 * The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation

Artists Joined

 * Kathy Zielinski - Animator on Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Frozen.
 * Rick Farmiloe - Animator on Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, The Great Mouse Detective and The Rescuers Down Under.
 * David Pruiksma - Supervising Animator on The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and Pocahontas.
 * Barry Cook - Director/Effects Animator who worked on Mulan (Director), Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid. Began his career as an effects animator on Tron.
 * Andrew Phillipson - Background Designer on The Little Mermaid, The Great Mouse Detective and Oliver & Company.
 * Wes Chun - Assistant Animator on The Lion King, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid and Mulan.
 * Brian Clift - Assistant animator on The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid.
 * Terrey Hamada - Assistant Animator on The Little Mermaid, The Great Mouse Detective, Oliver & Company and The Black Cauldron.
 * Martin Korth - Lead Key Assistant Animator on Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid.
 * Lureline Weatherly - Key Assistant on The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Great Mouse Detective and The Princess and the Frog.
 * David Stephan - Animator on films such as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King.
 * Stephan Zupkas - Key Assistant on The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid.

Home video releases

 * June 26 - Dumbo (rental only), The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (rental only), The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again, Davy Crockett and the River Pirates, The Absent-Minded Professor, Gus, The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band, Snow White Live at Radio City Music Hall, and Mickey Mouse & Donald Duck Cartoon Collections Volumes 1, 2, and 3.
 * October 15 - A Dream Called Walt Disney World, Alice in Wonderland (rental only), Old Yeller, Darby `O Gill and the Little People, Amy, Treasure Island, Herbie Rides Again, The Shaggy Dog, Goofy Over Sports, Pollyanna, A Walt Disney Christmas, The Sign of Zorro, Condorman, Blackbeard's Ghost, The Devil and Max Devlin, A Tale of Two Critters, and The Watcher in the Woods.

Events

 * After 26 years, the last Disney animated feature to use the Buena Vista logo was The Fox and the Hound.
 * Walt Disney Pictures purchases the rights to Gary K. Wolf's novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, the basis for the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988).

Births

 * January 1 - Eden Riegel (actress)
 * January 5 - deadmau5 (music producer and performer)
 * January 26 - Colin O'Donoghue (actor)
 * January 28 - Elijah Wood (actor)
 * January 31 - Justin Timberlake (actor and singer)
 * February 9 - Tom Hiddleston (actor)
 * February 14 -  Erin Torpey (voice actor)
 * February 17 - Joseph Gordon-Levitt (actor)
 * February 23 - Josh Gad (actor)
 * March 2 - Bryce Dallas Howard (actress, writer and director)
 * March 29 - Megan Hilty (stage and television actress)
 * April 8 - Taylor Kitsch (actor)
 * April 10 - Laura Bell Bundy (actress and singer)
 * April 13 - Courtney Peldon (actress and voice actress)
 * April 19 - Hayden Christensen (actor)
 * May 5 - Danielle Fishel (actress)
 * May 28 - Laura Bailey (voice actress, actress, ADR director, line producer)
 * June 4 - T. J. Miller (actor and stand-up comedian)
 * June 9 - Natalie Portman (actress)
 * June 13 - Chris Evans (actor)
 * July 29 - Fernando Alonso (racing driver)
 * August 3 - Travis Willingham (actor and voice actor)
 * August 4 - Abigail Spencer (actress)
 * August 8 - Roger Federer (tennis player)
 * August 14 - Kofi Sarkodie-Mensah (professional wrestler and actor)
 * August 20 - Ben Barnes (actor)
 * August 24 - Chad Michael Murray (actor)
 * September 4 - Beyoncé Knowles (singer and actress)
 * September 8 - Jonathan Taylor Thomas (actor)
 * September 9 - Julie Gonzalo (actress)
 * September 12 - Jennifer Hudson (actress, singer, and spokesgirl)
 * September 15 - Ben Schwartz (actor, comedian, and writer)
 * September 16 - Alexis Bledel (actress, model and producer)
 * September 21 - Michael Adamthwaite (Canadian voice actor)
 * September 22 - Ashley Eckstein (film and television actress)
 * September 22 - Katie Lowes (actress and voice artist)
 * September 26 - Christina Milian (singer and actress)
 * October 16 - Caterina Scorsone (actress)
 * October 17 - Liam Garrigan (actor)
 * November 1 - Matt Jones (actor, voice actor, and comedian)
 * November 14 - Russell Tovey (English actor)
 * November 18 - Christina Vidal (actress)
 * December 2 - Britney Spears (singer)
 * December 3 - Brian Bonsall (actor)
 * December 15 - Victoria Summer (actress, model, and singer-songwriter)
 * December 16 - Krysten Ritter (actress, musician, and model)
 * December 18 - Josh Dallas (actor)
 * December 27 - Emilie de Ravin (actress)

Deaths

 * January 16 - Bernard Lee (actor)
 * March 16 - Bill Baucom (actor)
 * April 16 - Berneice Hansell (cartoon voice actor)
 * November 25 - Jack Albertson (actor)

Artists Joined

 * Kathy Zielinski - Animator on Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Frozen.
 * Rick Farmiloe - Animator on Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, The Great Mouse Detective and The Rescuers Down Under.
 * David Pruiksma - Supervising Animator on The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and Pocahontas.
 * Barry Cook - Director/Effects Animator who worked on Mulan (Director), Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid. Began his career as an effects animator on TRON.
 * Matthew O'Callaghan - Director and Animator who worked on The Little Mermaid, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and The Great Mouse Detective.
 * Andrew Phillipson - Background Designer on The Little Mermaid, The Great Mouse Detective and Oliver & Company.
 * Wes Chun - Assistant Animator on The Lion King, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid and Mulan.
 * Brian Clift - Assistant animator on The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid.
 * Terrey Hamada - Assistant Animator on The Little Mermaid, The Great Mouse Detective, Oliver & Company and The Black Cauldron.
 * Martin Korth - Lead Key Assistant Animator on Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid.
 * Lureline Weatherly - Key Assistant on The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Great Mouse Detective and The Princess and the Frog.
 * David Stephan - Animator on films such as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King.
 * Stephan Zupkas - Key Assistant on The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid.