1942

Feature films

 * January 6 - Fantasia (severely edited version)
 * August 8 - The fifth Disney animated feature, Bambi, premieres in London, England
 * August 13 - Bambi premieres in New York City
 * August 14 - Bambi (Salt Lake City, Utah)
 * August 21 - Bambi
 * October 29 - Bambi (Hollywood, California)

Shorts

 * January 11 - Donald's Decision
 * January 13 - All Together
 * January 16 - The Village Smithy
 * January 23 - The New Spirit
 * February 7 - Mickey's Birthday Party
 * February 28 - Pluto, Junior
 * March - Stop That Tank
 * March 20 - Symphony Hour
 * April 10 - Donald's Snow Fight
 * May 1 - Donald Gets Drafted
 * May 22 - The Army Mascot
 * June 12 - Donald's Garden
 * July 3 - The Sleep Walker
 * July 14 - Four Methods of Flush Riveting
 * July 21 - Food Will Win the War
 * July 24 - Donald's Gold Mine
 * July 30 - Out of the Frying Pan Into the Firing Line
 * August 14 - T-Bone for Two
 * September 4 - How to Play Baseball
 * September 25 - The Vanishing Private
 * October 9 - The Olympic Champ
 * October 23 - How to Swim
 * November 6 - Sky Trooper
 * November 20 - Pluto at the Zoo
 * November 23 - South of the Border with Disney
 * December 4 - How to Fish
 * December 18 - Bellboy Donald

Births

 * January 5 - Dany Saval (French actress)
 * January 8 - Yvette Mimieux (actress)
 * January 19 - Michael Crawford (actor)
 * January 21 - Mac Davis (singer, songwriter, and actor)
 * February 1 - Terry Jones (comedian, screenwriter, actor, director, and author)
 * March 6 - Lynda Petty (actress)
 * March 7 - Michael Eisner (former CEO of The Walt Disney Company)
 * March 25 -
 * Richard O'Brien (actor and voice actor)
 * Aretha Franklin (singer and songwriter)
 * March 27 - Michael York (actor)
 * May 11 - Terry McGovern (voice actor)
 * June 10 - Chantal Goya (actress and singer)
 * June 18 -
 * Roger Ebert (journalist, film critic, and screenwriter)
 * Paul McCartney (singer and songwriter)
 * June 23 - Ralph Grierson (musician and composer)
 * July 13 - Harrison Ford (actor)
 * July 24 - Chris Sarandon (actor)
 * July 27 - Susan Silo (actress and voice actress)
 * August 7 - Garrison Keillor (author and comedian)
 * August 28 - Peter Bartlett (actor)
 * September 11 - Lola Falana (singer, dancer, and actress)
 * September 18 - Marco Rota (artist)
 * September 27 - Masaru Ikeda (voice actor)
 * September 29 - Madeline Kahn (actress) and Ian McShane (actor)
 * October 20 -
 * Earl Hindman (actor)
 * Robert Costanzo (actor, voice actor, and comedian)
 * October 22 - Annette Funicello (actress)
 * October 26 - Bob Hoskins (actor)
 * October 31 - David Ogden Stiers (actor and voice actor)
 * November 1 - Marcia Wallace (actress, voice actress, and comedian)
 * November 2 - Stefanie Powers (actress)
 * November 18 - Susan Sullivan (actress)
 * November 23 - Susan Anspach (actress)
 * November 24 - Billy Connolly (actor)
 * December 30 - Fred Ward (actor and producer)

Deaths

 * March 4 - Albert Hurter (artist)
 * May 14 - Frank Churchill (composer)

Character debuts

 * August 13 - Bambi, Thumper, Flower, Friend Owl, The Great Prince of the Forest, Bambi's mother, Thumper's sisters, Miss Bunny, Bluebelle, Faline, Man, Hunter Dogs, Ronno, Ronno's mother, Mrs. Quail
 * December 16 - Pete Junior

Behind the scenes

 * Carl Barks leaves the Disney studio and begins working as a writer and artist for comic books.