Happy Steve Irwin Day!

This date has officially been designated Steve Irwin Day. It's dedicated to the life and hard work of Australian-born wildlife expert Steve Irwin. He was popularly known as "The Crocodile Hunter". This special designation is all about things that were of the highest importance to Irwin: family, wildlife, conservation and fun

Born on 2/22/1962, in Essendon, one of the many suburbs of Melbourne, Australia, he grew up surrounded by Australian wildlife. His mother Lyn cared for injured animals, such as snakes, kangaroos, lizards and birds. his family moved to Beerwah, Queensland in 1970. Both of his parents opened a reptil park, which is now the Australia Zoo. He became known as "The Crocodile Hunter" and had a program of the same name on the Animal Planet channel. This program taught everyone, from little kids to older adults, all about the wildlife that inhabits this planet of our. Sadly on 9/4/2006, while on a diving excursion off the coast of Port Douglas in Queensland, he was filming a new program when he didn't know that he had startled a sting ray. The sting ray shot its barbed, venomous tail into Irwin's chest, piercing his heart. He died from cardiac arrest

The Lion King

The Lion King

Summary
-Simba is a lion cub born to King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi of the Pride Lands. Later on, Mufasa tells Simba that should he die, Simba will be the next King. Scar, his brother, would have been king if Mufasa did not have a child. One day, while playing in the canyon, wildebeest are forced to stampede and when Mufasa tries to save Simba, he does so at the cost of his own life. Scar uses this as his chance to rule Pride Land. So Simba must return to Pride Rock and take his rightful throne from his scheming uncle

Cast
-Jonathan Taylor Thomas: Young Simba
-Matthew Broderick: Adult Simba
-James Earl Jones: Mufasa
-Jeremy Irons: Scar
-Moira Kelly: Adult Nala
-Niketa Calame: Young Nala
-Ernie Sabella: Pumbaa
-Nathan Lane: Timon
-Robert Guillaume: Rafiki
-Rowan Atkinson: Zazu
-Madge Sinclair: Sarabi
-Whoopi Goldberg: Shenzi
-Cheech Marin: Banzai
-Jim Cummings: Ed

Did You Know?
-The line "What do you want me to do, dress in drag and do the Hula?" was improvised by Nathan Lane
-The wildebeest stampede took 3 years to animate

-The first Disney cartoon to be dubbed in Zulu for its African release
-Pumbaa the Warthog is the first Disney character to be flatulent
-Several of the characters have names that are words in Swahili

• Shenzi: Barbarous/Uncouth/Uncivilized/Savage
• Pumbaa: Ignorant/Lazy/Careless
• Sarabi: Mirage
• Rafiki: Comrade/Friend
• Simba: Lion/Courageous Warrior
• Mufasa: the name of the last king of the Bagada people, who were dispersed during English colonization
• Nala: Gift

-Rowan Atkinson was chosen to play the role of Zazu after the animators watched episodes of Mr. Bean
-Tim Curry and Malcolm McDowell were considered for the role of Scar
-The animators were impressed with Jeremy Irons' facial expressions, so they worked some of his facial features into Scar's facial features
-The main locations in the film, Pride Rock and the Gorge, were modeled after Hell's Gate National Park in Kenya
-During the scene of "Be Prepared" the hyenas are marching past Scar. This was based on real footage of Nazis marching past Adolf Hitler while he was on a podium
-The second film where James Earl Jones (Mufasa) and Madge Sinclair (Sarabi) perform together as an African king and queen. The first time was in the movie Coming to America, playing the king and queen of a fictional African nation

The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid

Summary
-Loosely based on the story by Hans Christian Andersen, The Little Mermaid is the story of Ariel, the youngest daughter of Triton, the king of Atlantica. She is unsatisfied with life under the sea and longs to be with the humans above. She argues with her father constantly over what she calls the "barbaric fish eaters" above. When she goes to see Ursula, the Sea Witch, about how to go and see the humans, Ursula has other plans

Cast
-Christopher Daniel Barnes: Prince Eric
-Jodi Benson: Ariel/Vanessa
-Pat Carroll: Ursula
-Paddi Edwards: Flotsam & Jetsam
-Buddy Hackett: Scuttle
-Kenneth Mars: Triton
-Edie McClurg: Carlotta
-Will Ryan: Seahorse
-Ben Wright: Grimsby
-Samuel E. Wright: Sebastian

Did You Know?
-Christopher Daniel Barnes was only 16 years old when he recorded his voice for Eric. The producers felt and heard his voice sounded much older than he really was
-Pat Carroll, who voiced Ursula, modeled her voice after Tallulah Bankhead and Maurice Evans
-The first Disney fairy tale since Sleeping Beauty
-Ariel's body type and personality were based on Alyssa Milano. The effect of her hair underwater was based on footage of astronaut Sally Ride in zero gravity
-Ursula has six tentacles and two human arms, which can classify her as an octopus
-When Ariel is singing "Part of Your World" in her grotto there is a bust of Abraham Lincoln
-Originally, Sebastian was supposed to have an English accent. Instead, he was given a Jamaican accent, which suggested some calypso-themed songs, like "Under the Sea"

Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden

Cincinnati Zoo

This is one of my favorite places to go, even as an adult. I've loved animals all my life, and every time I go, I feel like a little kid again. I love the animals here. Not too big on the Insect House cuz there's spiders in it, ewww!!! But I love the zoo though!!

Stellers Sea Hawk

Okapi

Harapan

FLAMINGOS!!!!!!

Animales!

This post is about some of my favorite animals. Not necessarily dogs, but animals from other countries, animals from the wild, etc.

Elephants

Koalas

Tigers. Ironically enough, the tiger was the mascot for my old high school

Monkeys

Gorillas

Pandas

Bears

Wolves

Dingoes(these may be vicious dogs or whatever, but they do what they need to protect themselves)

Cows

Horses

Birds

Owls

Kangaroos