2005:
At Westville Trumbull Mall in Trumbull, Connecticut, Disney celebrates
the grand opening of the first in a series of completely remodeled
Disney Store locations.
1920:
In London, Daphne Milne, wife of writer A.A. Milne, gives birth to a son at 8 A.M.
The couple names him Christopher Robin. (Christopher was immortalized in his father's books
Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner.)
1956:
Actress Kim Cattrall, who appeared in Disney's 2005 Ice Princess, is born in
Liverpool, England. She is best known for role of Samantha Jones in the HBO comedy/romance
series Sex and the City.
1989:
Actress Hayden Panettiere, who appeared in Disney's 2005 skating
drama "Ice Princess," is born in Palisades, New York. At age 10 she played
the role of Sheryl Yoast (the coach's daughter) in the Disney feature film "Remember the Titans."
Panettiere also supplied the voice of Suri for the Disney animated "Dinosaur" and the voice of Dot for
Disney/Pixar's "A Bug's Life." She was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1999 for "A Bug's Life," making her the 5th youngest artist ever to be nominated for a Grammy. Panettiere also voiced Kairi, the main female protagonist, for the video games "Kingdom Hearts" and "Kingdom Hearts II." In 2004, she portrayed Audrey Davis in Touchstone's comedy-drama "Raising Helen" and Madeline "Maddie" Dolan in the Disney Channel Original Movie "Tiger Cruise." She is perhaps best known for her roles as cheerleader Claire Bennet on the NBC series "Heroes," singer Juliette Barnes in the ABC musical drama series "Nashville," and film geek Kirby Reed in the "Scream" franchise.
1995:
The PeopleMover (sponsored by Goodyear) closes at Disneyland. Running since
July 1967 (as part of the New Tomorrowland) guests could board small trains that ran on elevated tracks
for a "grand circle tour" above Tomorrowland. The PeopleMover will be replaced by a faster new
attraction called Rocket Rods on May 22, 1998.
1999:
The Disney Channel Original Movie Genius, about teen Charlie Boyle (played by Trevor Morgan), a science wiz, hockey lover, and all around genius who is tired of being friendless, premieres. The cast includes Emmy Rossum, Charles Fleischer (best known as the voice of Roger Rabbit), and Yannick Bisson.
Discovery River Boats, an attraction at Walt Disney World's Disney's Animal Kingdom, closes. Opened since April 1998, the ride was a non-stop trip that brought guests near to the Tree of Life and past all the lands of the theme park.
2004:
A new half-hour animated series Brandy & Mr. Whiskers premieres on Disney Channel.
Mickey Mouse and Radio Disney welcome the Mickey Statue
Tour to Minnesota. Fourteen (of the 75) Mickey statues are
unveiled at the Galleria in Edina.
Animal Kingdom is the largest
of all the Walt Disney World parks.
It encompasses 500 acres!
1929:
Vance Gerry, a writer, story artist, character designer, & layout
artist for Disney, is born in Pasadena, California. Gerry studied art at
the Chouinard Art Institute before being hired at Walt Disney Studios in 1955 as an
assistant in-betweener. His early works include such classics as Oliver & Company,
The Black Cauldron, The Great Mouse Detective, The Fox and the Hound, and The
Jungle Book. In the 1990s he worked on Pocahontas, Hercules, The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, and Tarzan.
2007:
The "Muppet Mobile Lab," featuring robotic Muppets Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his able assistant Beaker riding a two-wheeled rocket-ship, interact with guests at Epcot.
The Lab is part of a play test that Walt Disney Imagineering is running for the next few weeks, giving the research and development staff a chance to try out more advanced robotic, interactive and transportation technologies, mixed with human comedy talent.
Cold in California, the third studio album by the Tennessee rock band Ingram Hill, is released on Hollywood Records. It is their second release by Hollywood.
2008:
Tropical Storm Fay stalls along the eastern coast of Florida near Port Canaveral,
causing the Port Authority to temprorarily shutdown operations. Thus this day's sailing of the Disney Wonder sets sail on its 3-night itinerary from Port Everglades, in Fort Lauderdale instead.
AUGUST 21
THIS DAY
MADE IN
THE USA
AUGUST 21
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"Even though he had retired from the Walt Disney Company, Vance (Gerry) continued to come into work one day a week. I do not kid you when I say Vance accomplished more in one day than the rest of us did in a week."
-Animator & Disney Legend Floyd Norman
It is also the first Disney theme
park to be themed entirely around
animal conservation, a
philosophy once pioneered by
Walt Disney himself.
Disneyland PeopleMover closes
Vance Gerry born
2010:
Spring-a-Leak, a 2,400-square-foot water playground, opens at Disney Cruise Line’s Castaway Cay. Themed to be a storm-ravaged structure, guests enter and are greeted by dripping pipes and broken plumbing. Open to all ages, it is the latest in a series of improvements to Disney’s private island.
The Creative Arts Emmys are announced with ABC's holiday program Prep & Landing winning four awards - more than any other broadcast program.
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2011:
The third and final day of D23 Expo 2011 takes place at the
Anaheim Convention Center. This day's 15-plus events include:
-Imagineering The Dream and the Fantasy with Imagineers Joe Lanzisero
and Bob Zalk discussingt the design of Disney's latest cruise ships
-The Making of Star Tours — The Adventures Continue hosted by
Imagineering's Tom Fitzgerald
-Filmmakers behind Monsters University and Brave, two of Pixar’s upcoming films, sit down
with fans to discuss their upcoming animated features
-Cast of Shake It Up featuring Bella Thorne, Zendaya, Davis Cleveland and Roshon Fegan
August 21
This Day in Disney History - THE FIRST - THE ORIGINAL
Traveling in time since 1999!
2015:
The Legacy Collection: The Aristocats is released as a two-disc album on Walt Disney Records, to coincide with the 45th anniversary of The Aristocats. The album features the film's complete original soundtrack—released for the first time in its entirety—as well as, eight "Lost Chords" and five bonus tracks. Walt Disney Records the Legacy Collection is a compilation album series that commemorates distinct anniversaries of Disney films and the 60th anniversary of Disneyland. The Legacy Collection: The Aristocats is the
12th (of what will be 14) in the series.
1992:
Touchstone releases The Gun in Betty Lou’s Handbag starring Penelope Ann Miller.
A pretty but shy librarian, Betty Lou Perkins, is bored with her small-town life, and Alex, her police detective husband, ignores her. The town is shaken into life by the discovery of a murder victim. When Betty Lou stumbles upon the murder weapon, she decides to confess to the crime hoping her bold action will grab everyone’s attention. Mobster Billy Beaudeen is both intrigued and threatened by the sudden appearance of the new "hit-woman" on the scene. Betty Lou uses her newly-gained self-confidence and notoriety to uncover the truth about the murder and, at the same time, to show her husband that she refuses to be taken for granted. The cast includes Eric Thal, Alfre Woodard, William Forsythe, and Cathy Moriarty.
2009:
X Games 3D: The Movie, an action sports/documentary 3-D film, is released by
ESPN Films. Emphasizing six of the sport’s biggest stars—Shaun White, Travis Pastrana, Danny Way,
Ricky Carmichael, Bob Burnquist, and Kyle Loza—the film covers the death-defying extreme action sports of
the 2008 X Games. It is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
2019:
Ready or Not, a black comedy horror film, is released by Fox Searchlight Pictures and
distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The film stars Samara Weaving as Grace a
newly-wed woman who becomes hunted by her rich eccentric in-laws. The cast includes Adam Brody, Mark O'Brien,
and Andie MacDowell.
2018:
Tony Award-winning actress Barbara Harris passes away at age 83 in Arizona.
Disney fans remember her as Ellen Andrews in the 1976 Freaky Friday and Vickie Simms in the 1979 The North Avenue Irregulars. Harris also appeared in the 1997 Grosse Pointe Blank, a Hollywood Pictures release.
1987:
Actor Cody Kasch is born in Santa Monica, California. He is known for his role of Zach Young on
the ABC comedy-drama series Desperate Housewives. Kasch also appeared in a 2004 episode of Disney
Channel's Phil of the Future.
1921:
An 18" high Alpha Farnell teddy bear from Harrod's in London, England is
given to Christopher Robin Milne on his first birthday. The bear will first be named
Edward Bear before being known as Winnie-the-Pooh. (This is the exact stuffed bear that in
September 1987 will bes put on permanent display at The New York Public Library.)
2020:
Disney+ begins to stream The One and Only Ivan.
An adaptation of the award-winning book about a special gorilla,
the live-action The One and Only Ivan is a tale about the beauty of
friendship, the power of visualization and the significance of the
place one calls home. Ivan is a 400-pound silverback gorilla who
shares a communal habitat in a suburban shopping mall with
Stella the elephant, Bob the dog, and various other animals. He
has few memories of the jungle where he was captured, but when
a baby elephant named Ruby arrives, it causes him to question his
life. The film stars Bryan Cranston (as Mack), Ramón Rodríguez
(as George), and Ariana Greenblatt (as Julia). The voice cast
features Sam Rockwell (as Ivan), Angelina Jolie (as Stella, an elephant), Danny DeVito (as Bob, a stray dog), Helen Mirren (as Snickers, a poodle), Chaka Khan (as Henrietta, a chicken), and Brooklynn Prince as (Ruby, a baby African elephant). The film was originally scheduled for a theatrical release on August 14, 2020.
The One and Only and Ivan: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, featuring music by Scottish composer Craig Armstrong, is released on Walt Disney Records.
Lululemon, a popular athletic brand, celebrates their grand opening at Disney Springs. Founded in Vancouver, Canada in 1998, lululemon is a yoga-inspired, technical athletic apparel company for women and men.
2012:
Pocahontas 2-Movie Collection is released.
1916:
Bill Lee, a playback singer who provided a voice or singing voice in many films, for actors
in musicals and for many Disney characters, is born in Johnson, Nebraska. Growing up in Des Moines, Iowa, his initial musical focus was as a trombone player, but subsequent to singing in several college vocal groups, he decided to concentrate on his voice. Much of Lee's best-known work was part of the popular singing quartet known as The Mellomen, founded by Thurl Ravenscroft. It was Lee, rather than Ravenscroft, who provided Shere Khan's sung line during "That's What Friends Are For" in The Jungle Book. (Songwriter Richard Sherman confirmed this fact on the audio commentary on its 2007 DVD release.) Though George Sanders, Shere Khan's voice actor, was an accomplished singer, he was not available during the finalized recording of the song. For the million-selling second-cast Disneyland album of Mary Poppins, Lee performed as Bert and Mr. Banks. In the film itself, Lee sang as one of the barnyard menagerie in "Jolly Holiday". He also appeared as Goofy on the 1965 LP "Children's Riddles and Game Songs." At the Disney theme parks, Lee is the voice of Melvin the moose in Country Bear Jamboree. His Disney film credits also include Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, and Cinderella.
1906:
Animator, cartoonist, director and producer Isadore "Friz" Freleng is born in Kansas City, Missouri. Beginning his career in animation at United Film Ad Service, he made the acquaintance of fellow animators Hugh Harman and Ub Iwerks. In 1923, Iwerks' friend, Walt Disney, moved to Hollywood and put out a call to his Kansas City colleagues to join him. Freleng made the move to California in January 1927 and joined the Walt Disney studio. While at Disney, he worked on the Alice Comedies and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons. By the early 1930's, Freleng was working for Warner Bros. where he introduced and/or developed several of the studio's biggest cartoon characters like Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Tweety, Sylvester the Cat, and Yosemite Sam.
1938:
Singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and entrepreneur Kenny Rogers is born in Houston, Texas. A Country Music Hall of Famer, he charted more than 120 hit singles across various music genres. One of his hit songs "The Gambler" (written by Don Schlitz) can be heard on the soundtrack for Disney's George of the Jungle 2.
1939:
Actor Clarence Williams III is born in New York City. First known for his role as Linc Hayes in the ABC series The Mod Squad (1968-1973), for Disney, he voiced Councilor Andam on American Dragon: Jake Long and Kobe in The Legend of Tarzan. (Fans of Prince will remember Williams for his role in the 1984 Purple Rain.)
1944:
Stan Freese, a tuba soloist, band director, and Talent Casting & Booking Director with Disney Entertainment Productions, is born in Edina, Minnesota. During his 43rd years working for Disney, his career has included the Director of Bands at both the Walt Disney World Resort and the Disneyland Resort. Freese also served as a Show Director for Tokyo Disneyland, an Entertainment Producer for Pleasure Island & Walt Disney World, and a Musical Show Director for Tokyo Disney Seas. His final role was that of Talent and Casting Director for Disneyland - finding talent, developing musical ensembles, and overseeing the multitude of live musical performances at Disneyland, Disney California Adventure and Downtown Disney. From conducting the triumphant percussions of the Disneyland Band to bringing in 500 tubas to simultaneously play holiday music, Stan Freese has set the musical beat at Disney theme parks. He retired in April 2016.
