2004:
Marceline, Missouri honors the memory of Walt Disney with a ceremony
renaming the Marceline Post Office as the Walt Disney Post Office
Building. (In 1968, the US Postal Department issued a Walt Disney commemorative stamp
from this same location.) Today is also "Walt Disney Day" in the state of Missouri.
1962:
Curtis Wong, a member of the 1970s TV series The New Mickey Mouse
Club, is born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
1965:
Disney's Mary Poppins is released in Sweden.
1986:
The U.S. Senate passes a bill, Public Law 99-391, designating December 5, 1986 as "Walt Disney Recognition Day."
2002:
The Lizzie McGuire episode "Lizzie in the Middle" (with special guest
Frankie Nuniz as himself) debuts on Disney Channel as does the
Disney Channel Original Movie A Ring of Endless Light.
Based on the Madeleine L'Engle book, A Ring of Endless Light
stars Mischa Barton as a teen who finds comfort with dolphins after learning
her grandfather is terminally ill.
Although it was always rumored
that Marilyn Monroe was the
model for Disney's Tinkerbell ... actress Margaret Kerry
actually was!
2007:
Disney's newest musical The Little Mermaid opens at Denver's Ellie
Caulkins Opera House. This stage production, which has been in previews since
July 26, is scheduled to open on Broadway in New York at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
Zac Efron, star of High School Musical, appears on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.
1997:
The Disney Channel Original Movie Northern Lights, starring Diane Keaton,
debuts. It is the first film to be called a Disney Channel Original Movie as prior
to this, movies were called Disney Channel Premiere Films.
1929:
Actress Vera Miles is born in Boise City, Oklahoma. Known from such classic films as The Searchers, Psycho and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, her Disney credits include A Tiger
Walks, Follow Me, Boys!, Those Calloways, One Little Indian, and The Castaway Cowboy.
1912:
Legendary animator and layout artist Ed Benedict (best known for his work with
Hanna-Barbera Studios - most notably on The Flintstones) is born in Ohio. Benedict
began his animation career in 1930 at Walt Disney Studios working on such shorts as "The China Plate" and "Blue Rhythm." He left in 1933 to work at Universal Studios as an animator on Walter Lantz's "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit" shorts, but in 1940 briefly returned to Disney as a layout artist for "Make Mine Music." By 1952, Benedict was MGM’s lead layout artist and later went on to work for Hanna-Barbera as a designer of such characters as Yogi Bear, The Flintstones, Huckleberry Hound and Quick Draw McGraw. Winner of the Winsor McCay Award in 1994, he retired in 2001. Ed Benedict passed at age 94 in August 2006.
2001:
Running since June 16, The Power of BLAST! performs its final show at Epcot's America Gardens Theatre.
1942:
Actor, choreographer, and director Lee Roy Reams is born in Covington,
Kentucky. In 1995 he will play the role of Lumiere in Disney's Broadway show Beauty and the Beast.
AUGUST 23
THIS DAY
MADE IN
THE USA
AUGUST 23
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1953:
The newspaper article "Vacaction Ducky for Donald's 'Ghost,' Arkansas Visitor"
appears in this day's Arkansas Gazette. The story centers on Disney cartoonist Al Taliaferro who
is on a working vacation with his wife and children at Tanglewood Acres (a camping facility).
Disney released Peter Pan
at about the time Monroe
had begun to make an
impact, and an urban legend
immediately sprung up
attributing the role to her.
1990:
Disney releases updated versions of You - and Your Five Senses, You - the
Human Animal, You - the Living Machine, and You - and Your Food all for
educational use. The "You and Your ..." series of educational shorts were originally produced for TV's
"Mickey Mouse Club" back in the mid-1950s.
Record producer, songwriter & guitarist, and voice actor Wesley Singerman is born
in Tarzana, California. As an actor, Singerman is most recognized for his role in the 2007 Walt Disney Animation Studios' animated film Meet the Robinsons as Wilbur Robinson.
1991:
Disney's Touchstone Pictures releases the adult comedy True Identity. When
Miles Pope, an African-American man (played by actor-comedian Lenny Henry) has to escape from the
mob, he disguises himself as a white man. The cast also features Frank Langella, Charles Lane (who also
directs the film), Michael McKeon, and James Earl Jones.
"He was the look of the early Hanna-Barbera cartoons. The look was instantly recognizable and so different from what everybody else was trying." -John Kricfalusi (creator of The Ren & Stimpy Show) on Ed Benedict
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Vera Miles born
Walt Disney Day
1999:
Hollywood Scoops Ice Cream begins serving Disney World guests at Disney-
MGM Studios (today known as Disney's Hollywood Studios). Located on Sunset
Boulevard, Hollywood Scoops stands down the road from The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.
August 23
This Day in Disney History - THE FIRST - THE ORIGINAL
Traveling in time since 1999!
2013:
The Walt Disney Imagineers, who are in the midst of putting finishing touches
on Princess Fairytale Hall in New Fantasyland at Florida's Magic Kingdom Park,
reach a milestone when they add the attraction's marquee. The hall, which is set to
open this fall, will allow guests to meet either Cinderella or Rapunzel, each of whom will be joined by a
fellow Disney princess.
2019:
D23 Expo 2019 kicks off for the next 3 days. The largest Disney fan event in the world, D23 Expo
celebrates all the wonderful worlds of The Walt Disney Company under one roof, including the best of Disney,
Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars across film, television, theme parks, products, online, music, live entertainment, and
more. D23 Expo 2019 marks the sixth biennial Expo held in Anaheim, California. Among today's presentations:
-The induction of the 2019 Disney Legends (an eagerly awaited D23 Expo tradition), hosted by Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger
-Dancing with the Stars and Disney!
-Great Moments with Walt Disney
-The Music and Sounds of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge
-In Conversation: Disney Legend Bill Farmer
-Disney + Screening - High School Musical: The Musical: The Series
2016:
Disney Channel's sitcom Bunk'd kicks off its second season with the episodes
"A Bad Case of the Weasels" and "Griff Is in the House!"
1949:
Actress Shelley Long is born in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In 2009, she began playing the recurring role of DeDe Pritchett on the ABC comedy series Modern Family. Long played Lauren Ames in the Touchstone Pictures movie Outrageous Fortune and Lucy Chadman in Hello Again. She also played Ellen Andrews/Annabel Andrews in the 1995 remake of Freaky Friday and voiced Grandma Murphy in the Milo Murphy's Law episode "A Christmas Peril." (She is best known for her role of Diane Chambers on the hit sitcom Cheers.)
2005:
Almost Honest, singer Josh Kelley's second album, is released on Hollywood Records. (It will be his last album on the Disney label.)
1983:
Disney Legend Grace Bailey passes away in Ocklawaha, Florida. In 1932 she began working for the Disney Studios in the Ink and Paint department. Bailey worked her way up through the ranks of the department from painting supervisor to inking supervisor - where she trained new artists to ink the animators' drawings. In 1954, she was selected as head of the entire Ink and Paint department, a
position she held until her retirement in 1972
1961:
Character animator Nik Ranieri is born in Toronto, Canada. Working for Disney from 1987 to 2013, his credits include Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Cranium Command, The Little Mermaid, The Rescuers Down Under, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Hercules, Fantasia 2000, The Emperor's New Groove,
Treasure Planet, Chicken Little, Meet the Robinsons, Bolt, The Princess and the Frog, Tangled, Winnie the Pooh, and Wreck-It Ralph.
1992:
Animator and film director Charles August Nichols passes away at age 81 in California. Starting his career at the Disney Studio, he worked on such feature films as Pinocchio (animating the villainous Coachman) and Alice in Wonderland. He also served as a film director for such animated shorts as Mickey Down Under, Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom, and Plutopia. Moving on to Hanna-Barbera, he directed television episodes of The Jetsons, Jonny Quest and The Flintstones.
2020:
Disney Channel airs the series finale of Elena of Avalor.
