It was exactly 25 years ago this week that the cartoon mainstays of Disney and Warner–and many other old-school animation houses–shared the screen with the effects-laden family hit Who Framed Roger Rabbit? You can toon into the other film landmarks we’ve prepared.
June 19, 1905: The first “nickelodeon” opens its doors, on Smithfield Street in Pittsburgh, charging a five-cent fee. First attraction: The Great Train Robbery.
June 16, 1916: The merger of Famous Players and Jesse Lasky Feature Play Co. brings together Lasky, Adolph Zukor and Samuel Goldfish (Goldwyn).
June 16, 1943: Over the objections of her playwright father, Eugene, 18-year-old Oona O’Neill weds 54-year-old Charlie Chaplin.
June 16, 1960: Unprecedented secrecy surrounds the opening of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, with the director stipulating no patron be admitted once the film starts.
June 22, 1961: The Guns of Navarone, starring Gregory Peck, leads off with a bang at its London premiere and will go on to be the year’s box office champ.
June 22, 1965: Heart failure claims the life of the legendary producer behind Gone With the Wind, Rebecca, A Star Is Born and many more, David O. Selznick, 63.
June 22, 1969: MGM musical legend Judy Garland, 47, dies in London, England; cause of death will be ruled an “incautious self-overdosage of Seconal.”
June 17, 1970: Beyond the Valley of the Dolls, sexploitation maestro Russ Meyer’s first major studio film (co-written by critic Roger Ebert), opens.
June 20, 1975: Steven Spielberg‘s Jaws opens, eventually grossing $458 million, and the summer blockbuster is born.
June 22, 1987: Legendary Hollywood hoofer Fred Astaire, about whom one screen test said “can dance a little,” dies at the age of 88.
June 22, 1988: Donald Duck and Daffy Duck finally appear onscreen together, as do Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse, in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
June 22, 1990: Joe Eszterhas sells his script for the erotic thriller Basic Instinct for a record $3 million to Carolco Pictures.