2003:
Roy E. Disney's fiftieth anniversary at The Walt Disney Company
is celebrated in Burbank, California.
1875:
Writer Hans Christian Andersen, known for his many classic fairytales including
"The Little Mermaid," passes at age 70 near Copenhagen, Denmark. Among his best-known
stories: "The Princess and the Pea," "The Snow Queen," "Thumbelina," "The Little Match Girl," and "The Ugly Duckling." Disney has turned many of his tales into animated features and shorts (undoubtedly the most successful being The Little Mermaid). In March 1955 the Disneyland television series aired the episode "From Aesop to Hans Christian Andersen." Disneyland Records released Walt Disney Presents the Stories of Hans Christian Andersen in 1965 (narrated by Robie Lester). Disney’s IMAX feature Fantasia 2000 has a sequence inspired by Andersen's short story "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," which sees a one-legged toy soldier coming to life to save a music-box ballerina from an evil Jack-in-the-box. (Today there is a sculpture of Hans Christian Andersen in New York's Central Park; built primarily with funds raised by Danish and American schoolchildren in memory of the author.)
1901:
Jazz trumpeter Louis Armstrong is born in New Orleans, Louisiana.
(Although Armstrong himself often cited his birthday as July 4, 1900, his baptismal records show
that he was born on this day.) In the mid-1960s he recorded an album of Disney music,
performed at 4 of the 5 Dixieland at Disneyland events, and appeared on Disney-related
television shows. Nicknamed Satchmo, Armstrong was a trumpet virtuoso and a foundational
influence on jazz, shifting the music's focus from collective improvisation to solo performers.
1989:
Disney cartoonist and comic artist Paul Murry passes away in California at age 77.
During his career, Murry drew thousands of pages of comics (for Western, Dell and Gold Key) and was one of
the very few artists who could essentially draw all of the Disney characters. Like many Disney comic book artists
Murry started his career working at the Walt Disney Studios. During his time there he was an assistant to
legendary animator Fred Moore. In the 1940s, Murry worked on Disney newspaper strips, including the Sunday
Uncle Remus and His Tales of Brer Rabbit strip from the first installment in October 1945 through July 1946.
After leaving the studio in 1946 he began to work for Western Publishing doing stories featuring the Disney
characters.
1991:
Screenwriter/artist Don DaGradi passes away near Friday Harbor, Washington, at
age 79. He started out as a layout artist during the 1940s working on Disney's cartoons. A self-confessed
"misplaced cartoonist," DaGradi later wrote for animated shorts, served as art director for Dumbo and as a
production designer for Sleeping Beauty. DaGradi's greatest achievement was for his visual screenplay for Mary
Poppins in 1964 for which he shared an Oscar nomination for "Best Screenplay" with Bill Walsh. DaGradi will be
named a Disney Legend in October 1991.
1992:
Identical twins Dylan and Cole Sprouse are born in Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy to American parents. (Dylan is 15 minutes older than Cole.) Disney Channel fans know them as the stars of both original series The Suite Life of Zack and Cody (2005-08) and The Suite Life on Deck (2008-11). Dylan also supplied the voice for Shasta in the 2008 direct-to-video Snow Buddies. They both appeared as themselves on a 2012 episode of So Random! The brothers have a franchise known as the Sprouse Bros brand, which includes a clothing line, book series and magazine.
1995:
A ground breaking takes place for Disney's newest Florida theme park Disney's Animal Kingdom. (The largest of all of Disney's theme parks, it will open in
2002:
The Soundsation Pin Pursuit takes place at the Disneyland Resort.
Chewing gum cannot be purchased anywhere at Walt Disney World ..
or at the Orlando International
Airport (thus cutting down the
chances of actually stepping
in some).
1941:
A letter of agreement is signed between the Walt Disney Company and the
National Film Board of Canada. The Walt Disney Studios will make movies for the Government
of Canada such as a series of films for the War Savings Committee and an anti-tank gun training film for the
Canadian military titled Stop That Tank.
2007:
The Hanna Montana episode "Song Sung Bad" debuts on Disney Channel.
AUGUST 4
THIS DAY
MADE IN
THE USA
AUGUST 4
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Perhaps the busiest airport in the
state of Florida, Floridians joke that
MCO (the airport's code) stands for
"Mickeys Corporate Office." The
airport code MCO actually stands
for the airport's former name,
McCoy Air Force Base.
Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875)
"Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale." -Hans Christian Andersen
1961:
Barack Hussein Obama II, the 44th President of the United
States, is born in Honolulu, Hawaii. He is the first African American
to hold the office. Added to The Hall of Presidents in 2009, Obama is the most dynamic
figure Disney has ever created. Imagineers traveled to Washington, D.C., to record
Obama's voice for the show. They also worked with White House staffers to make
sure his wardrobe, hair and mannerisms were portrayed as accurately as possible. In early
2012, President Obama appeared at Magic Kingdom Park on official business to make a
special announcement regarding U.S. travel and tourism before a crowd of invited guests
and media. Visit him and all the U.S. leaders at Disney World's The Hall of Presidents.
1985:
Animator Ollie Johnston (one of Walt's "Nine Old Men") is profiled on an episode of the Disney Channel series Disney Family Album. Narrated by Buddy Ebsen, the new series has been running since June 1984.
2009:
Walt Disney World celebrates the opening of the first new
monorail line resort hotel in more than two decades, when Bay
Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort debuts. A pedestrian
walkway connects the new 16-story Disney Vacation Club resort (which features 295 villas) to the grand concourse of Disney’s Contemporary Resort. Bay Lake Tower is the ninth Disney Vacation Club resort and
the sixth located at WDW. Although designated as a standalone Vacation Club resort hotel, the tower is considered an addition to the Contemporary and follows the same modern design. Similar to the California
Grill on top of the Contemporary, atop Bay Lake Tower is a lounge called "Top of the World Lounge,"
featuring a viewing deck and an indoor seating area with a full bar.
2008:
The official website for Disney's upcoming animated feature The Princess and
the Frog is launched with the first teaser trailer of the movie.
The 2008 Teen Choice Awards ceremony is held in California. Among the winners:
-Choice Movie: Action: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
-Choice Movie: Drama: Step Up 2: The Streets
-Choice TV: Comedy Show: Hannah Montana
-Choice TV: Comedy Actress: Miley Cyrus – Hannah Montana as Miley Stewart
-Choice Music: Female Artist: Miley Cyrus
-Choice Music: Single: "When You Look Me in the Eyes" – Jonas Brothers
-Choice Music: Love Song: "When You Look Me in the Eyes" – Jonas Brothers
-Choice Music: Breakout Group: Jonas Brothers
-Choice Music: Summer Song: "Burnin' Up" – Jonas Brothers
-Choice Hottie: Male: Jonas Brothers
-Choice Hottie: Female: Vanessa Hudgens
Bay Lake Tower debuts
1953:
Actor & opera singer Richard White, the voice of Gaston in Disney's 1991 animated
Beauty and the Beast and TV's House of Mouse, is born in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Known for his career on and off Broadway, his stage credits include such musicals as "Jekyll & Hyde," "Gigi," and "Oklahoma."
1920:
Educational technology visionary Alexander Schure, the founder of the New York
Institute of Technology (NYIT) in 1955, is born in Hamilton, Ontario. An interest in the
undeveloped world of computer animation led him to establish a computer graphics lab at NYIT's Old Westbury
campus during the 1970s. Schure hired a young computer scientist named Ed Catmull (who had developed texture
mapping) to work with computer graphics. Catmull formed a talented research group along with Alvy Ray Smith and
began working with 2D animation. But when their efforts attracted an interest from George Lucas, Catmull's group
was hired away to Hollywood by Lucasfilm's digital division ... which eventually became Pixar.
(After Disney acquired Pixar in January 2006, Ed Catmull became president of Walt Disney Animation Studios
and Pixar Animation Studios.)
It can be said that Schure's vision and support from 1975–1980, and the low-pressure academic research lab
environment at NYIT, was an essential contributor to the development of many of the technical innovations needed
to produce realistic computer generated films.
1962:
Meet Me at Disneyland (a limited TV series broadcast live on KTTV directly from the
Anaheim park) airs episode 9 "Fun in Fantasyland." A parade of Disney characters pass through the arches of Sleeping Beauty Castle, where Alice from Wonderland joins host Johnny Jacobs. Guests include Ray Anthony and His "Book Ends" Orchestra. Meet Me at Disneyland is designed to boost park attendance during the summer weeknights.
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4600 North World Drive Lake Buena Vista, Florida
1998:
Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World, a straight-to-video sequel to the 1995
Disney film Pocahontas, is released. The film, inspired by true events in the life of Pocahontas
which took place several years after her encounter with John Smith and the founders of Jamestown,
features the voices of Irene Bedard (as Pocahontas) and Billy Zane (as John Rolfe).
"Are these like wax figures or holograms? … They’re robots. Oh, that’s kind of cool."
-President Obama
August 04
This Day in Disney History - THE FIRST - THE ORIGINAL
Traveling in time since 1999!
2017:
Disney releases The Legacy Collection: Robin Hood, a two-disc soundtrack album.
The album features the complete original soundtrack from the 1973 animated Robin Hood, released for the first time
in its entirety. The album also includes five unreleased demos and the full 1974 album, Let’s Hear It for Robin Hood.
Walt Disney Records the Legacy Collection is a compilation album series commemorating distinct anniversaries
of Disney films and the 60th anniversary of Disneyland. Robin Hood is the 13th release (of 14).
2000:
Touchstone Pictures releases the romantic musical comedy-drama Coyote Ugly. Aspiring songwriter Violet Sanford, after getting a job at a women-run trendy New York City bar named Coyote Ugly, that teases its male patrons, comes out of her shell. The film features Piper Perabo, Adam Garcia, John Goodman, Maria Bello, Izabella Miko, and Tyra Banks.
1955:
Actor, filmmaker, singer, songwriter, and musician Billy Bob Thornton is born in Hot Springs, Arkansas. His film credits include Hollywood Pictures' Tombstone (1993), and Touchstone's Armageddon (1998) & The Alamo (2004).
2001:
Actor, voice actor and musician Lorenzo Music, best known as the voice of television's animated cat Garfield, passes away at age 64 in California. His Disney voice credits include
Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears (1985-1991), Fluppy Dogs (1986), TaleSpin (1990-1991), and Darkwing Duck (1991). Music was the co-creator of The Bob Newhart Show and supplied the sleepy, husky voice of Carlton the doorman (who was only heard but never seen on camera) for the sitcom Rhoda.
1968:
Actor, voice actor and producer Daniel Dae Kim is born in South Korea.
Among his best known roles is Jin-Soo Kwon in the ABC series Lost.
1972:
Actor Daniel Payne is born in Victoria, British Columbia. His credits include The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005), Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (2014), Descendants (2015), Descendants 2 (2017), Once Upon a Time (2018), and Descendants 3 (2019).
1958:
Filming begins for Disney's newest live-action movie The Shaggy Dog. Walt Disney would later recall, "We made the picture for one and a quarter million dollars while the rest of the town was turning out super dupers." Released in March 1959, The Shaggy Dog will be the second-highest grossing film of the year.
