1919:
Disney Legend Dodie Roberts is born in Plainview, Nebraska. Starting in 1939, she created
colors and mixed paints for the Disney Studios and later served as supervisor of the paint lab. (In the pre-computer
days when cel paints were mixed and matched by hand, animation paint mixing was a demanding job requiring both
technical and artistic skills.) Disney kept their cel paint mixtures a secret, and mixers were only given partial color information for each batch, without knowing what colors the others were adding. It wasn't until Roberts was
promoted to department supervisor in 1972 that she was trusted with the complete formulas for over 500 paints
and hues. Roberts mixed paints for virtually every Disney animated project in her 42 years at the company!
"I love puzzles and mixing paint was like putting together a puzzle." -Dodie Roberts
1929:
Walt Disney is granted a trademark for the use of the image of Mickey Mouse in motion pictures.
1951:
Actor Ronald Reagan (future U.S. president) and ventriloquist Paul Winchell take
part in a celebrity race at the Soap Box Derby in Akron, Ohio. Paul and his dummy Jerry
Mahoney beat Reagan in the competition! (Reagan will go on to co-host the opening of Disneyland and Winchell
will voice the character of Tigger in countless Winnie the Pooh features.)
1958:
Disney's stunning True-Life Adventure White Wilderness
- directed and written by James Algar - is released. The 72-minute film, narrated by Disney
producer-writer-actor Winston Hibler, tells the story of the animal inhabitants of Canada's subarctic and Alaska's
arctic wilds. (White Wilderness will be nominated for 2 Academy Awards and in 1959 be awarded an Oscar for
Best Documentary Feature as well as a Golden Bear at the 1959 Berlin International Film Festival.)
Film director and animator Barry Cook is born in Nashville, Tennessee.
In 1981, Disney hired Cook as an effects animator for Tron (1982). He subsequently animated or supervised effects
for various films including The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), and Aladdin (1992). Cook later
became the supervisor for the special-effects animation department at Disney. Along with Tony Bancroft, Cook
directed Mulan (1998) and won the 1998 Annie Award for Best Animated Feature.
1965:
Mary Adams (of Solano Beach, CA) becomes the 50-millionth Disneyland guest!
1969:
Disneyland televises the historic Apollo 11 moon landing (which had occurred the month before) on the Tomorrowland Stage.
2000:
The Disney Magic embarks on its first seven-day cruise. The luxury liner has previously only offered three- and four-day cruises.
2003:
Disney's The Lizzie McGuire Movie is released to DVD. A comedy film based on the Disney Channel series Lizzie McGuire, it was originally released to theaters in May 2003.
Walt Disney Records releases the soundtrack to The Cheetah Girls.
2004:
Manatees, dolphins, and turtles are evacuated from Mote Marine in Sarasota to Epcot’s Living Seas (and to SeaWorld) as Central Florida braces for Hurricane Charley - the third named storm, the second hurricane, and the second major hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season.
On August 11, Florida governor Jeb Bush had issued a state of emergency declaration - due to the impending threat Charley presented to the state while the storm was still located south of Jamaica. Property damage from Charley in the U.S. will be estimated to be $15 billion ... making Charley the second costliest hurricane in United States history.
2005:
Christy Carlson Romano, the voice of Kim Possible and the star of the
hit show Even Stevens, greets guests at the World of Disney store on
Fifth Avenue in New York City. On display at the store are nine of the 75 unique,
700-pound, 6-foot-tall Mickey statues, created in celebration of Mickey's 75th Anniversary.
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Nine photographers
spent almost 3 years gathering material in Alberta, Canada, for Disney's 1958 White Wilderness nature documentary.
2006:
Disney Channel airs the Hannah Montana episode "You're So Vain, You Probably Think This Zit Is About You" for the first time. It is the thirteenth episode of the hit series starring Miley Cyrus.
2008:
Disneyland Resort Paris welcomes its 200-millionth visitor! The Yernaux family from Salon de Provence in France are given the momentous accolade of being European Disney resort’s 200 millionth guests. After a festive welcome and photos with Mickey and Minnie Mouse and Euro Disney Vice President François Banon, they enjoy an unforgettable day at the park.
"Get Back," the first single from Demi Lovato's debut album
Don't Forget, is released on Hollywood Records.
A Little Bit Longer, the third studio album by the American band the Jonas Brothers, is released on Disney's Hollywood Records. Preceded by three singles, "Burnin' Up", "Lovebug" and "Tonight," it is their second album released on Hollywood Records.
AUGUST 12
THIS DAY
MADE IN
THE USA
AUGUST 12
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It later won the Academy
Award for Best
Documentary Feature.
"See, food I can talk about. I'm Italian, I know the food." -Christy Carlson Romano
From The Top Of The World!
A fabulous new adventure in exciting entertainment.
1994:
Disney's Hollywood Pictures releases the comedy feature In the Army Now starring Pauly Shore, Andy Dick and David Alan Grier. Two friends sign up for the U.S. Army hoping to make a little money with a minimum of responsibility. But when they get shipped off to the Middle East, they soon find themselves engaging in armed combat with the Libyan forces. The cast also includes Lori Petty, Esai Morales, and Lynn Whitfield.
White Wilderness released
Disneyland welcomes 50-millionth guest
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2011:
Del Connell, known for his many contributions as a Western
Publishing Company comic book writer and editor, a Mickey Mouse
newspaper comic strip writer for more than 20 years, and the creator
of dozens of characters, including Disney’s April, May, and June (Daisy Duck’s nieces
to complement Donald’s nephews), passes away at the age of 93 in California.
Born in June 1918, Connell joined the Disney Studios on Hyperion Ave. in 1939, first working in the Character Model Department. Connell served in the military during Wordl War II, but returned to Disney in 1945 as a screenwriter, contributing to The Three Caballeros, Alice In Wonderland and numerous shorts. In the 1950s, he started a thirty-year run at Western Publishing where he wrote and edited thousands of Dell and Gold Key comics featuring cartoon
characters from Disney (as well as Warner Bros., Walter Lantz, Hanna-Barbera, and MGM). Although (like many
comic-book writers and artists) Connell's talents went uncredited, his original pencil drawings and proof sheets of the Mickey Mouse strip now reside in the UCLA special collections at the Charles E Young Research Library.
August 12
This Day in Disney History - THE FIRST - THE ORIGINAL
Traveling in time since 1999!
2016:
Disney's remake of its 1977 Pete's Dragon is generally
released in theaters. This fantasy-adventure stars Oakes Fegley as Pete,
a young orphan who lives in the forest and whose only friend and protector is
Elliott the Dragon. The film features Bryce Dallas Howard (as forest ranger Grace
Meacham), Karl Urban (as hunter/lumberjack Gavin Magary), Robert Redford
(as Grace's father), Wes Bentley (as widowed lumber mill owner Jack Magary),
and Oona Laurence (as Jack's daughter Natalie).
Also released on this same day is Pete's Dragon (Original
Motion Picture Soundtrack) by Walt Disney Records. "Candle
on the Water" is the only original song to be featured on the 2016 soundtrack
from the 1977 soundtrack (though the song was not used in the film, and was
re-recorded by Okkervil River for the 2016 soundtrack.)
2019:
NBA Experience, a one-of-a-kind environment where guests of all ages can enter the world of professional basketball, officially opens its doors at Disney Springs at Walt Disney World Resort. In collaboration with the NBA, Disney Imagineers developed NBA Experience as a
one-of-a-kind environment packed with 13 interactive elements and hands-on activities across 44,000 square feet
and two floors, giving fans a chance to feel like their favorite NBA superstar. The opening ceremony, hosted by ESPN personality Rachel Nichols, is attended by such basketball greats as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Grant Hill.
1988:
Actress Leah Pipes is born in Los Angeles, California. She played Samantha in the 2004 Disney Channel Original Movie Pixel Perfect.
2017:
DuckTales, a new animated television series developed by Matt Youngberg and Francisco Angones, premieres as a sneak preview on Disney XD. Produced by Disney Television Animation, the series is a reboot of the original 1987 series of the same name. The voice cast includes David Tennant as Scrooge McDuck, Danny Pudi as Huey Duck, Ben Schwartz as Dewey Duck, and Bobby Moynihan as Louie Duck. DuckTales will start airing regularly on September 23, and later moved to the Disney Channel on May 4, 2018.
2014:
The Hundred-Foot Journey: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, the soundtrack album to the comedy-drama film of the same name, is released on Hollywood Records. All music is composed by A. R. Rahman. Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, the film has been in release since August 8.
2020:
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs its series finale with two episodes; "The End Is at Hand" and "What We're Fighting For".
1941:
Actress Deborah Walley is born in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Best known for playing the title role in "Gidget Goes Hawaiian" (1961), she also appeared in Disney's 1962 "Bon Voyage!" as daughter Amy, and the 1963 "Summer Magic" as daughter Julia. Walley later provided voices for 3 episosdes of Disney's "Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers." Her career included the film "It's a Bikini World" (co-starring Disney favorite Tommy Kirk) and appearances on television's "Naked City" and "Route 66." Sadly, Walley passed in 2001 at age 59 in Arizona.
2001:
The 2001 Teen Choice Awards ceremony is held in California. Among the winners:
-Choice Movie: Actor - Ben Affleck – Pearl Harbor
-Choice Movie: Action/Drama - Pearl Harbor
2018:
The 2018 Teen Chocie Awards take place in California. Among the winners:
-Choice Action Movie: Avengers: Infinity War
-Choice Action Movie Actor: Robert Downey Jr. – Avengers: Infinity War as Tony Stark / Iron Man
-Choice Action Movie Actress: Scarlett Johansson – Avengers: Infinity War as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow
-Choice Sci-Fi Movie: Black Panther
-Choice Sci-Fi Movie Actor: Chris Hemsworth – Thor: Ragnarok as Thor
-Choice Sci-Fi Movie Actress: Letitia Wright – Black Panther as Shuri
-Choice Fantasy Movie: Coco
-Choice Movie Villain: Michael B. Jordan – Black Panther as N'Jadaka / Erik "Killmonger" Stevens
-Choice Summer Movie: Incredibles 2
1995:
The Disney Channel Original Movie "The Four Diamonds" debuts. Based on a fantasy themed, allegorical short story written by Chris Millard in 1972 shortly before succumbing to cancer at the age of 14, the film stars Tom Guiry, Christine Lahti, Kevin Dunn, and Jayne Brook. In a school essay, a 13-year-old cancer patient named Chris (Guiry) recalls a summer of pain as one of medieval gallantry. "The Four Diamonds" television film, written by Todd Robinson and directed by Peter Werner, weaves the stages of Millard's real life with Arthurian parallels in the story. He cast members of his family in various roles, including himself as Sir Millard, and his doctor, Dr. Burke, as Raptenahad, the evil sorceress. Taken prisoner by Raptenahad, Sir Millard must win his freedom by carrying out a quest demanded by the sorceress: he must obtain for her the four diamonds of courage, honesty, wisdom, and strength.
