Tokyo Disneyland opens.
The Disney Channel begins broadcasting.
An overview of all Disney-related events that occurred in the year 1983.
Theatrical releases[]
Feature films[]
- March 11
- The Sword in the Stone (limited; re-issue)
- Trenchcoat
- March 25 - The Sword in the Stone (re-issue)
- April 29 - Something Wicked This Way Comes
- July 15 - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (re-issue)
- October 7 - Never Cry Wolf (limited)
- December 16 - The Rescuers (re-issue)
Shorts[]
- February 14 - A Goofy Look at Valentine's Day (educational)
- March 11 - Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore (limited)
- March 25 - Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore
- October 17 - Disney's Haunted Halloween (schools)
- December 16 - Mickey's Christmas Carol
- December 21 - Disney's Wonderful World of Winter
Theme parks and resorts[]
- March 3 - The original Journey Into Imagination ride-through attraction opens in Future World at Epcot.
- April 15 - Tokyo Disneyland opens.
- May 23 - Pinocchio's Daring Journey opens in Fantasyland at Disneyland.
- May 25 - The new Fantasyland opens at Disneyland as a heavily-revamped version of the original version.
- June 4 - 18-year-old Philip Straughan of Albuquerque, New Mexico drowns in the Rivers of America while trying to pilot a rubber emergency boat from Tom Sawyer Island that he and a friend had stolen from a "Cast members only" area.
- October 1 - Horizons opens in Future World at Epcot.
Events[]
- Something Wicked This Way Comes is the last Disney film to be released by Walt Disney Productions.
- The motion picture production company, Walt Disney Productions is renamed to Walt Disney Pictures.
- Never Cry Wolf is the first Disney film to be released by Walt Disney Pictures.
Television[]
- April 18
- The Disney Channel begins broadcasting.
- Contraption
- EPCOT Magazine
- Good Morning, Mickey!
- Welcome to Pooh Corner
- May 3 - After 29 years, the long-running Walt Disney anthology series airs its last episode "Mickey and Donald Kidding Around" on CBS. It would return three years later as The Disney Sunday Movie on ABC.
- September 1 - Donald Duck Presents
- November 2 - Happy Birthday, Mickey
- December 3
- December 25 - The first annual Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade premieres on CBS.
Home video releases[]
VHS[]
- March
- The Island at the Top of the World
- The Last Flight of Noah's Ark
- American Heroes: Featuring Paul Bunyan and Pecos Bill
- The Wind in the Willows: Starring J. Thaddeus Toad (re-issue)
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (re-issue)
- The North Avenue Irregulars (re-issue)
- May
- Goofy Over Sports (re-issue)
- Storybook Classics (re-issue)
- Pete's Dragon (re-issue)
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (re-issue)
- Bedknobs and Broomsticks (re-issue)
- Dumbo (re-issue)
- Alice in Wonderland (re-issue)
- June
- The Great Locomotive Chase
- Johnny Tremain and the Sons of Liberty
- Tex
- Trenchcoat
- Walt Disney Cartoon Classics: Chip N' Dale with Donald Duck and Pluto
- August
- Walt Disney Cartoon Classics: Scary Tales (re-issue)
- The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (re-issue)
- September
- The Black Hole (re-issue)
- Kids is Kids (re-issue)
- On Vacation with Mickey Mouse and Friends (re-issue)
- The Adventures of Chip 'n' Dale (re-issue)
- Tron (re-issue)
- October - Something Wicked This Way Comes
- November
- The Boatniks
- Kidnapped
- Walt Disney Cartoon Classics: Sport Goofy, Disney's Best of 1931-1948 and More Sport Goofy
- December
Laserdisc releases[]
- ? - Walt Disney Cartoon Classics: Chip 'N' Dale with Donald Duck, Pluto, Scary Tales, Sport Goofy, Disney's Best of 1931-1948, More Sport Goofy
Video games[]
- August 5 - Sorcerer's Apprentice (Atari 2600)
- Mickey in the Great Outdoors (Atari 8-bit computers)
- Discs of Tron (Arcade)
Events[]
- April 1 - Walt Disney Pictures opens as a studio division of Walt Disney Productions.
- October 16 - The Walt Disney Company celebrates its 60th anniversary.
- November 24 - The Mickey Mouse balloon makes his final appearance at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
- December 16 - The first Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party is held at Magic Kingdom.
Character debuts[]
- March 3 - Dreamfinder, Figment
- April 15 - Crane
- April 18 - Mr. Narrator
- April 29 - Mr. Dark
- October 1 - Robot Butler
- October 7 - Tyler, Rosie Little, Ootek, Mike
People[]
Births[]
- January 2 - Kate Bosworth (actress, model, and singer)
- January 7 - Brett Dalton (actor)
- January 16 - Marwan Kenzari (actor and comedian)
- January 17 - Rickey Collins (actor and voice actor)
- January 19 - Hikaru Utada (singer, songwriter, producer, composer, and arranger)
- February 16 - Charlet Chung (actress and voice actress)
- February 23
- Emily Blunt (actress and singer)
- Aziz Ansari (actor and comedian)
- February 27 - Kate Mara (actress)
- March 1 - Lupita Nyong'o (actress and director)
- March 10
- Carrie Underwood (singer, songwriter, and actress)
- Rafe Spall (actor)
- March 12 - Ron Funches (actor, voice actor, and comedian)
- March 28 - Natalie Lander (actress, voice actress, and singer)
- April 1 - Matt Lanter (actor, voice artist, former reality TV personality, and model)
- April 4 - Eric Andre (stand-up comedian, actor, television host, writer, and producer)
- April 10 - Jamie Chung (actress, voice actress, and former television personality)
- April 21 - Gugu Mbatha-Raw (actress)
- April 26 - Shiyoon Kim (character designer and animator)
- May 5 - Henry Cavill (actor and model)
- May 6
- Adrianne Palicki (actress)
- Gabourey Sidibe (actress)
- May 12 - Domhnall Gleeson (actor, director, and writer)
- May 15 - The Kid Mero (actor, voice actor, comedian, writer, and internet personality)
- June 9 - Justin Benson (director, actor, producer, and editor)
- June 10 - Leelee Sobieski (artist and actress)
- June 17 - Manish Dayal (actor)
- July 6 - Brady Bluhm (actor and voice actor)
- July 29 - Tania Gunadi (actress and voice actress)
- August 5 - Beau Black (actor, voice actor, singer, songwriter, producer, and composer)
- August 9 - Ashley Johnson (actress and voice actress)
- August 10 - Spencer Redford (actress and singer)
- August 11 - Chris Hemsworth (actor and producer)
- August 14 - Mila Kunis (actress)
- August 20 - Andrew Garfield (actor, producer, and screenwriter)
- August 22 - Jorge Diaz (actor and voice actor)
- August 30 - Charise Castro Smith (playwright, actress, television writer, producer, and co-director)
- September 21 - Joseph Mazzello (actor, director, and screenwriter)
- September 25 - Donald Glover (actor, comedian, singer, songwriter, writer, rapper, producer, director, and disc jockey)
- October 3 - Tessa Thompson (actress, voice actress, singer, and musician)
- October 24 - Adrienne Bailon (actress, singer-songwriter, dancer, and television personality)
- October 27 - Melanie Minichino (voice actress)
- November 7 - Adam DeVine (actor, comedian, singer, producer, and screenwriter)
- November 19 - Adam Driver (actor)
- December 8 - Utkarsh Ambudkar (actor, rapper, and singer)
- December 30
- Josh Sussman (actor)
- Kaitlyn Robrock (voice actress)
Deaths[]
- January 17 - John W. Dunn (screenwriter and animator)
- February 23 - Helen Ogger (ink painter and cartoonist)
- May 16 - Fred Hellmich (animator)
- May 23 - George Bruns (composer)
- July 29 - David Niven (actor and author)
- August 23 - Grace Bailey (ink artist and supervisor)
- September 5 - Yale Gracey (Imagineer, writer, and layout artist)
- December 8 - Slim Pickens (Rodeo performer, actor, and voice actor)
- December 28 - Dennis Wilson (musician, singer, singer-songwriter, record producer, and artist)
- December 31 - Ralph Wright (actor, writer, director, and animator)
Artists joined[]
- Rob Minkoff - Director for The Lion King and The Haunted Mansion.
- Kelvin Yasuda - Effects Animator on Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, and Oliver & Company.
- Philip Phillipson - Background Designer on The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Little Mermaid.
- Kelly Asbury - Disney/DreamWorks Director and Screenwriter who worked on Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and Toy Story.
- Philo Barnhart - Assistant Animator on The Little Mermaid and The Rescuers Down Under.
- Stephen Hickner - Current Storyboard Artist for Dreamworks Animation. Worked as an Assistant Animator on The Black Cauldron, The Great Mouse Detective, and The Brave Little Toaster.
- Steve Starr - Assistant Effects Animator on The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Little Mermaid.
1983