2003:
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is released on DVD.
Steve Blanchard and Megan McGinnis, the stars of Disney's Broadway hit Beauty
and the Beast, appear at the Lincoln Center tree lighting ceremony in New York
City. They perform a special duet version of the musical's title tune.
Disney's 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure wins a DVD Exclusive Award
for Best Animated DVD Premiere Movie at a gala ceremony in Los Angeles. Finding
Nemo is honored for Best Menu Design, Best Games and Interactivities, and Best
Deleted Scenes, Outtakes and Bloopers.
1935:
Marc Davis begins working as an apprentice animator at the
Walt Disney Studios. He is immediately thrown into 2 weeks of intense
drawing classes - taught by the studio's resident instructor Donald Graham. Davis
will go on to become one of Walt's "Nine Old Men" and create such memorable
Disney characters as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Tinker Bell and Cruella de Vil!
He will later become one of Walt's original Imagineers and ultimately a Disney Legend.
1955:
Mickey Mouse Club airs on ABC-TV. Today is Talent Round-Up Day.
1962:
The NBC-TV series Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color airs part 1
of "The Mooncussers: Graveyard of Ships." Young Jonathan Feather (played by
Kevin Corcoran) discovers the existence of a group called the Mooncussers - a gang of pirates
who work at night sending out false homing signals to ships at sea. These signals force the ships
to crash on the shore ... where they can be easily looted by the gang!
1965:
Disney's live-action feature film That Darn Cat!, starring Hayley Mills
and Dean Jones, is generally released. Based on the book Undercover Cat by
Gordon and Mildred Gordon, the film about bank robbers, a kidnapping and a mischievous cat - is directed by
Robert Stevenson. The cast includes Dorothy Provine, Roddy McDowall, and Frank Gorshin. (Disney will
remake this film in 1997 starring Christina Ricci - with a cameo appearance by Dean Jones!)
1968:
Actress-film producer Lucy Liu, the voice of Mei in Disney's Mulan II, is born in Queens, New York. She is also supplied the voice of Silvermist for Disney's Tinker Bell series of animated films and appeared in the Touchstone films Play It to the Bone and Shanghai Noon. In 2008, she starred in an ABC comedy-drama, Cashmere Mafia, as Mia Mason, which ended after one abbreviated season. (Liu began acting in 1989, after auditioning for a role in the University of Michigan's production of Alice in Wonderland during her senior year!)
1981:
Britney Jean Spears, a member of Disney Channel's The All New Mickey Mouse Club, is born in in McComb, Mississippi. As a singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress, her global successes made her the best-selling teenage artist of all-time.
1984:
Twenty-year-old old Margarita Granados gives birth to a baby girl at Disneyland!
Nine months pregnant, she gives birth while waiting for her husband Juan ... who is riding Space Mountain.
It is only the second birth in Disneyland history.
1988:
KCAL (earlier known as KHJ) Channel 9, a television station in Los Angeles, is acquired by Disney.
The Company D Cast Member store opens at Disneyland.
Actor Alfred Enoch is born in Westminster, London, England. Best known for playing Dean Thomas in the Harry Potter film series, in 2014, Enoch was cast in the series regular role of Wes Gibbins in the ABC legal drama series, How to Get Away with Murder.
1990:
Actor Bob Cummings, who helped host the grand opening of Disneyland in 1955, passes away at the age of 80 in Woodland Hills, California. First achieving stardom in the 1939 Three Smart Girls Grow Up, Cummings went on give memorable performances in such notable dramas as Kings Row and Dial M for Murder. He later began a long career on television starting in 1952 with the comedy My Hero. (Cummings was the godson of airplane co-inventor Orville Wright!)
2001:
Disney's live musical production The Lion King opens in Hamburg, Germany.
Brian's Song, a remake of the 1971 television film Brian's Song, airs on ABC's "The Wonderful World of Disney." Produced by Columbia TriStar Television, it tells the story of Brian Piccolo (Sean Maher), a white running back who meets, clashes with and befriends fellow Chicago Bears running back Gale Sayers (Mekhi Phifer).
Wingate Chase Craig, a writer-cartoonist who worked principally on comic strips and
comic books, passes away at age 91 in California. From the mid-1940s to mid-1970s he was a
prolific editor and scripter for Western Publishing's Dell and Gold Key Comics, including the popular Disney comics
line. Throughout the 1950s and into the 1970s Craig served as editor of Dell/Western Publishing's Disney titles,
including Walt Disney's Comics and Stories, Uncle Scrooge, Chip 'n' Dale and other titles. Recognizing the genius
of Carl Barks whose Scrooge McDuck, Junior Woodchucks, and other Disney duck characters delighted
generations of fans, Craig served as Bark's last and longest-serving editor. For Dell's Disney titles, Craig created
and scripted such characters as the Li'l Bad Wolf, Br'er Rabbit, Little Bear Bongo and José Carioca.
2006:
Disney Channel is launched in Poland with the local TV premiere of The Incredibles.
Walt Disney was so passionate
about trains ... that he built
a 1/8-scale railroad running
through his backyard and
among the rose gardens of
his California home! Walt controlled the track of his
backyard Carolwood Pacific
Railroad from a special barn.
2002:
"Santa Claus Lane," the second single from Hilary Duff's debut album
Santa Claus Lane is released (on Buena Vista Records). It is also the theme
song for the new Disney feature film The Santa Clause 2 starring Tim Allen (in release since November).
Animator and story artist Tex Henson passes away in Texas, at age 78. Beginning his career at Disney in 1944, he is credited with having named Disney's chipmunk duo "Chip 'n' Dale". Henson worked on such films as Song of the South, Pecos Bill, Mickey and the Beanstalk and Peter and the Wolf. (After leaving Disney, Henson moved to Mexico, where he headed up the studio that produced animation for The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show, as well as cartoons featuring the characters Underdog, Tennessee Tuxedo, and the Trix cereal rabbit.)
Today is National Fritters Day
THIS DAY MADE
IN THE
USA
DECEMBER 2
DECEMBER 2
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1929:
Disney's Mickey Mouse short Haunted House, directed by Walt Disney, is released.
When Mickey takes shelter from a storm inside an old haunted house, he must play the organ for the ghost and
skeleton dance. It is Mickey's first ever encounter with supernatural beings!
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"Drawing is giving a performance; an artist is an actor who is not limited by the body, only by his ability and, perhaps, experience." -Marc Davis
DEC
1933:
Clarence Charles Nash from Oklahoma joins Disney's studio as employee
number 125. Impressed by Nash's vocal skills, Walt Disney had asked Nash to make an informal audition after
first meeting him in 1932. "Ducky" Nash will be best known for providing the original voice for Donald Duck (as well
as Donald's nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie).
2008:
Disney releases The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian on DVD and Blu-Ray.
A Walden Media/Walt Disney Pictures production, the film had originally opened in U.S. theaters in May 2008.
It is based on Prince Caspian, the second published, fourth chronological novel in C. S. Lewis's epic fantasy series, The Chronicles of Narnia.
2010:
Toy Story 3 is named Best Animated Feature by the National Board of Review of
Motion Pictures. This is Pixar's fifth consecutive win in the category, and seventh since the NBR
established the category a decade ago.
2011:
It is reported that Disney fanatics Clinton and Lynette Hamblin of Petaluma, California
have purchased the house in Utah modeled after the colorful home featured in the
animated movie Up. They initially looked in California until they saw news reports about the house (officially
recognized as the Up house by Disney last summer) located in the Salt Lake City suburb of Herriman. With a price
tag of $400,000, the Hamblins plan on moving into the home after closing January 4.
Austin & Ally, a new comedy series created by Kevin Kopelow and Heath Seifert, airs on Disney Channel for the first time with the episode "Rockers & Writers." Set in Miami, the show centers on the relationship between two very different musicians: extroverted and fun-loving singer and instrumentalist Austin Moon (played by Ross Lynch), and introverted and awkward songwriter Ally Dawson (played by Laura Marano), who is also a singer, but has a bad case of stage fright.
The premiere of Disney Channel's holiday movie Good Luck Charlie: It's Christmas,
inspired by the series Good Luck Charlie, is watched by 6.9 million viewers.
John Lasseter appears on the Charlie Rose show. His words include:
"Pete Docter, from Monsters, Inc. and Up, is doing a new film that takes place inside of a girl’s mind and it is
about her emotions as characters, and that is unlike anything you’ve ever seen."
1997:
The first ever batch of Disney movies to appear on DVD are released.
Among the eight films:
George of the Jungle, Phenomenon, Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, The Rock,
and The Nightmare Before Christmas.
December 2
1967:
Disneyland's Flight to the Moon gets a "boost" when McDonnell Douglas takes over
sponsorship. McDonnell Douglas Chairman James S. McDonnell and 15,000 of the company's employees
descend on Disneyland for McDonnell Douglas Night and the dedication of the attraction in the New Tomorrowland.
" You might say that Tomorrowland is our business and we work in a Magic Kingdom of creativity from which
emerges many contributions to the betterment of mankind." -James S. McDonnell
2013:
WestJet and Disney Parks Canada hold an event at the WestJet hangar in Calgary,
Alberta, Canada to unveil the Magic Plane. The iconic Boeing 737 features Sorcerer Mickey on the tail.
The nominations for the 41st Annual Annie Awards (honoring excellence in the field
of animation in 2013) are announced.
-Frozen is nominated in 10 categories including Best Animated Feature, Outstanding Achievement - Character Animation
in a Feature Production, Outstanding Achievement - Character Design in an Animated Feature Production, Outstanding Achievement - Directing in an Animated Feature Production, Outstanding Achievement - Music in an Animated Feature Production, Outstanding Achievement - Production Design in an Animated Feature Production, Outstanding
Achievement - Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production, Outstanding Achievement - Voice Acting in an
Animated Feature Production, Outstanding Achievement - Writing in an Animated Feature Production, and
Outstanding Achievement - Editorial in an Animated Feature Production.
Other nominees include Monsters University (with 10 nominations), Mickey Mouse (6), Toy Story of Terror (5),
Gravity Falls (3), Sofia the First (2), and Wander Over Yonder (2). Planes, Get a Horse, Tron Uprising,
and The Wind Rises are all nominated in 1 category each. Winners will be announced February 1, 2014.
2009:
Nominations for the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards are announced. Among the nominees:
-Best Score Soundtrack Album: Up - Michael Giacchino
-Best Instrumental Composition: "Married Life" (from Up) Michael Giacchino, composer
-Best Instrumental Arrangement: "Up With End Credits" (from Up) Michael Giacchino & Tim Simonec, arrangers
Winners will be announced January 31, 2010.
1970:
Actor Joe Lo Truglio is born in Queens, New York. Best known for his role as Charles Boyle on
the Fox/NBC sitcom Brooklyn Nine-Nine, he supplied the voice of Markowski in the 2012 Wreck-It Ralph.
2019:
The International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood, announces nominations for its 47th Annual Annie Awards. Among those nominated:
-Best Feature: Frozen 2 and Toy Story 4
-Best TV/Media - Preschool: Elena of Avalor
-Best TV/Media - Children: Disney Mickey Mouse
-Best FX for Feature: Frozen 2 and Toy Story 4
-Best Character Animation - TV/Media: Disney Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure
-Best Character Animation - Animated Feature: Frozen 2
-Best Character Design - Feature: Frozen 2
-Best Direction - TV/Media: Disney Mickey Mouse
-Best Direction - Feature: Frozen 2
-Best Music - Feature: Toy Story 4
-Best Production Design - TV/Media: Disney Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure
-Best Voice Acting - Feature: Frozen 2 and Toy Story 4
-Best Writing - Feature: Frozen 2 and Toy Story 4
-Best Editorial - TV/Media: Big Hero 6: The Series and Disney Mickey Mouse
-Best Editorial - Feature: Toy Story 4
The winners will be announced at a black tie ceremony on Saturday, January 25, 2020
at UCLA's Royce Hall.
2014:
Toy Story That Time Forgot, a prehistoric-themed 22-minute television special produced by Pixar Animation Studios & Walt Disney Television Animation, airs on ABC. During a post-Christmas play-date, the toys have to go up against some fearsome and aggressive new dino toys. The special will turn out to be Don Rickles' (the voice of Mr. Potato Head) final project that he completed, as he will pass away on April 6, 2017. (His performance in the 2019 Toy Story 4 will be put together with previously unused audio.)
2022:
The computer-animated comedy Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Bardel Entertainment, debuts on Disney+. A sequel to Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2021), Greg Heffley (voiced by Brady Noon) and his older brother Rodrick (voiced by Hunter Dillon) are left alone when their parents and baby brother Manny leave for the weekend. What ensues can only be described as chaotic, with epic parties and very loud music!
