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1924:
Disney's Alice Comedy Alice and the Dog Catcher, a short mixing live-action and animation, is released. Alice (played by Virginia Davis) presides over a secret club which proposes to rid the town of dog catchers and free all pooches!
Actress Florence Stanley is born Florence Schwartz in Chicago, Illinois.
With a long career on stage, film and TV (starting in the 1940s), she provided the voice of Wilhelmina Packard in Disney's animated feature film, Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) - for which she was nominated for an Annie Award for Voice Acting by a Female Performer in an Animated Feature Production - and the direct-to-video sequel Atlantis: Milo's Return (2003). Her credits include Touchstone's comedy "Outrageous Fortune," the ABC-TV sitcom "Dinosaurs," and Disney's "A Goofy Movie." Fans of the 1977 sitcom Fish, a spin-off of Barney
Miller, will remember Stanley for her role of Bernice, the wife of Detective Fish (played by Abe Vigoda). She passed at age 79 in October 2003.
2005:
Disneyland's improved Space Mountain begins soft openings.
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1911:
Entertainer Charles David Thomas is born in Lewistown,
Montana. Better known as "Bub," he was one of the original
singing Dapper Dans of Walt Disney World.
1932:
The Official Bulletin of the Mickey Mouse Club (Volume II Number 12) is published.
1933:
Disney's Mickey Mouse cartoon Mickey's Gala
Premier, directed by Burt Gillett, is released.
A "movie within a movie," Mickey Mouse is the guest of honor
at the debut of his latest film held at the Grauman's Chinese
Theatre. Caricatures of current Hollywood stars - animated
by Joe Grant (his first Disney credit) - include Laurel & Hardy,
Clark Gable, Mae West, Jimmy Durante, Greta Garbo, Eddie
Cantor, Buster Keaton and the Marx Brothers.
1946:
Original Mouseketeer Karen Pendleton is born in Glendale, California. Popular during
the the first season of Mickey Mouse Club, she was given her own mini-series entitled Karen in Kartoonland.
She later appeared in the 1956 Disney feature Westward Ho the Wagons.
1951:
Singer/actor Terrence Mann is born in Kentucky. In 1994 he originated the role of the Beast
in Disney's Broadway musical hit Beauty and the Beast, and a year later reprised his role in the Los Angeles production.
1959:
Popular Mechanics runs the article "Disneyland Adds Submarine and Monorail."
Walt Disney arrives in Sweden. He is to oversea the production of his newest live-action
movie Hans Brinker.
1966:
Primeval World debuts at Disneyland. Originally featured as part of the Ford
Magic Skyway attraction for the 1964-1965 World's Fair, guests aboard the
Disneyland Railroad now travel through a diorama featuring animatronic dinosaurs.
1970:
Disney's comedy film The Boatniks, starring Robert Morse, Stefanie Powers, Phil
Silvers, Norman Fell, Wally Cox, Don Ameche and Bob Hastings, is released.
Although young and awkward Coast Guard Ensign Thomas Garland (played by Morse) who suffers from the
comparison with his late father, a war hero, falls for pretty Kate Fairchild (Powers), a young woman who runs a
sailing school. Trying to express his feelings for the lady leaves much to be desired, and his situation goes
awry when a trio of bumbling jewel thieves (led by Silvers) interfere!
Actor Henry Simmons is born in Stamford, Connecticut. He played Detective Baldwin Jones on the ABC police drama NYPD Blue, and Agent Alphonso "Mack" MacKenzie on ABC's action adventure Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
1975:
At Walt Disney World, the WEDway PeopleMover, a futuristic way of shuttling
people around Tomorrowland, opens. It is located at Rockettower Plaza, where passengers
enter and exit onto a circular moving platform. The ride is based on Disneyland's PeopleMover, but unlike
Disneyland's version, WDW's is sponsored by The Edison Electric Institute.
1986:
Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom celebrates Bub Thomas - of the
popular Dapper Dans barbershop quartet - turning 75 years young!
1988:
The Norway Pavilion officially debuts at EPCOT with a dedication by Crown Prince
Harald (the king of Norway). Opened to guests since May, the 58,000-square-foot Norway pavilion is
designed to look like a Norwegian village.
1994:
The Lion King Celebration Parade debuts at Disneyland. Moving down the street
to the music of "I Just Can't Wait to be King," the parade features detailed floats
that depict artist interpretations of various African landscapes, and stars all the
characters from the hit The Lion King. It is the first parade to include an Animatronic character
on a moving float!
At Disney World's EPCOT park, Innoventions East and West
open replacing the outdated CommuniCore
with all new exhibits. Innoventions is a showcase of new
products and ideas covering 100,000 square feet.
1996:
At Walt Disney World, the last of the Epcot resorts planned
around Crescent Lake, Disney's BoardWalk Inn opens at 2101 N. Epcot Resorts
Blvd. The resort re-creates the vacation charm of the Mid-Atlantic coastal cottages of the 1930s. It is located on a
small lake on the Epcot-Studio waterway, visible to and just across from the Yacht and Beach Club Resorts. The
resort's Atlantic Dance Nightclub, ESPN Club, BoardWalk Bakery, and Spoodles Restaurant all debut as well. The BoardWalk Villas (a Disney Vacation Club property) opens on this day too.
1997:
The sound effects demonstration attraction ABC Sound Studio opens at the
Disney-MGM Studios Park in Florida (replacing Monster Sound Show).
Face/Off: Original Soundtrack, a film score by John Powell, is released on Disney's Hollywood Studios.
1999:
The Dapper Dans are invited to perform a set on the SPEBSQSA International
Convention contest stage after the quartet semi-finals. After a warm reception from the
audience, Mickey Mouse enters to greet over 10,000 barbershoppers who have come
to Anaheim. The Dapper Dans then officially receive the Charter and Resolution for the Honorary Main Street
U.S.A. Disneyland Chapter from SPEBSQSA President Ed Waesche. (SPEBSQSA stands for Society for the
Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America.)
Euro Disney releases the theme park album A Day At Disneyland Paris.
2002:
At Disney World, the Atlantic seaboard-inspired Disney's Beach Club Villas opens at 1800 Epcot Resorts Blvd. Essentially an add-on to the Beach Club and Yacht Club resort complex, the
villas are a Disney Vacation Club property and are located just a short walk from Epcot.
2003:
The Florida Indoor Clean Air Act takes effect at Walt Disney World. It requires all enclosed
indoor workplaces (including resort lobbies, convention spaces, common areas, dining locations and enclosed
backstage areas) to be designated as non-smoking.
At Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, Goofy's New Country Dance Party premiers
at The Diamond Horseshoe.
Actress Storm Reid is born in Atlanta, Georgia. She portrayed Meg in the 2018 fantasy adventure
A Wrinkle in Time.
2004:
Villain's Lair, a shop in Disneyland's Fantasyland opened since October 1998, closes.
1998:
The Disney Magic departs from Venice, Italy (where she was built) on her way to Florida, USA.
The sci-fi/disaster film Armageddon, distributed by Disney's Touchstone Pictures
and starring Bruce Willis, is released in theaters. When an asteroid the size of Texas heads
for Earth, the world's best deep core drilling team is sent to nuke the rock from the inside! The cast also includes Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler, Ben Affleck, Will Patton, Peter Stormare, Keith David, and Steve Buscemi.
NASA technical advisors who have helped with scientific accuracy to the film include former Director of Advanced Programs, Ivan Bekey, and former astronaut, Joseph Allen.
1935:
As of this date, any employee who has been with the Disney Studio a full year is
granted a two-week vacation.
Also on this day, 34-year-old Helen Josephine Ludwig begins work at the Disney
Studio as Disney's very first librarian. A divorced mother, Helen had graduated in 1929 from the Los Angeles Public Libraries accredited Library School. (In 1937 she married legendary layout artist Hugh Hennesy.)
Disneyland's original Tinker Bell
was a 70-year-old Hungarian
circus performer named Tiny
Kline. She was the first
to fly off the top of the
Matterhorn on a zip
line, which was probably easy for
her - she previously worked as a
stunt aerialist, hanging from a
flying airplane
by her teeth!
ALICE
"Tomorrowland Transit Authority Metroliner non-stop now departing Rockettower Plaza Station for a
round trip Super Skyway tour."
1960:
Future Disney Legend Antonio Bertini joins Disney as an assistant to the
Company's Italian sales representative Major John "Jack" William Holmes.
Bertini had answered an anonymous ad in the local newspaper for a job. Little did he know at the time, the
Company was Walt Disney Productions and he was about to embark on his life-long career.
"I love doing Tink because of the flying. I'm partially a ham anyway. I enjoy my work...I wouldn't otherwise do it. In show business I can put forth what I've been observing and learning all my life. I like satisfying people. Show people stay young - Tiny Kline was a classic example of that." -Judy Kaye (Disneyland's third flying Tinker Bell)
1957:
Disneyland's Casa De Fritos, a Mexican eatery in operation since August 1955,
opens at a new location - a one-story adobe structure (which will later become
Casa Mexicana). Its famous chip dispensing machine is also relocated ... to a fenced-in area just outside
the entrance. Visiting Disneyland on this day ... comedienne and film & television actress Lucille Ball!
JULY 1
JULY 1
THIS DAY MADE
IN THE
USA
JULY
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1987:
Adventures in Babysitting, a comedy-adventure starring Elisabeth Shue, is
released through Disney's Touchstone Pictures. Chris Parker's quiet evening of babysitting
turns into turmoil when she leaves suburbia to rescue a friend in the big city. It is the first PG-13 rated film
released by a Disney film division and the 13th feature by Touchstone. Directed by Chris Columbus (who in a few years will direct "Home Alone" & "Home Alone 2"), the cast features Keith Coogan, Anthony Rapp, Maia Brewton, Penelope Ann Miller, Bradley Whitford, George Newbern, Vincent D'Onofrio, and musician Southside Johnny. (A remake of the film will air on Disney Channel in June 2016.)
Effective this day, Delta Airlines is the official airline of Walt Disney World.
Songwriter and pianist Jerry Livingston passes away at age 78 in California. With Mack David, Livingston was nominated for an Academy Awards for the song "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" from Cinderella (1950). He also co-wrote "The Unbirthday Song" for Alice in Wonderland (1951) and "Trick or Treat For Halloween" for the short Trick or Treat (1952). Originally from Colorado, Livingston had a successful career with such songs as "It's the Talk of the Town," "Mairzy Doats," and "The Twelfth of Never."
Disneyland's Primeval World debuts
MAN THE LAFFBOATS!
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1952:
Walt and Lillian Disney, their daughters, Sharon and Diane and Lillian's niece,
Marjorie Sewell Bowers, set sail from New York aboard the Queen Elizabeth. They
are headed to London as Walt will be working on his new British feature film, The Sword and the Rose.
Actor, producer, comedian, musician, and filmmaker Dan Aykroyd is born in Ontario, Canada. An original member of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" on Saturday Night Live (1975–1979), his
Disney film credits include Celtic Pride (1996) as Jimmy Flaherty, Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) as Grocer, and
Pearl Harbor (2001) as Captain Thurman. He also starred in the short-lived ABC sitcom Soul Man (1997-98) playing Reverend Mike Weber, and appeared in episodes of the ABC sitcom According to Jim (starring Jim Belushi).
Aykroyd (along with other celebrities) took part in Mickey's Toontown grand opening at Disneyland in 1993.
2010:
Disney Legend Ilene Woods, who spoke and sang the voice of Cinderella, passes away at age 81 in California. Born in 1929, she first appeared on radio at the age of 14 where she met the songwriters whose songs would later make her the star of Disney's 1950 Cinderella.
"I did the discs for them, in a studio with a piano — 'Bibbidi-Bobbidi Boo,' 'So This Is Love,' 'A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes.' Two days later, Walt called. He wanted me to come over and have an interview. I gladly said, 'Yes, anytime you say.' We met and talked for awhile, and he said, 'How would you like to be Cinderella?" -Ilene Woods
Betty Lawyer Kimball, who joined the Walt Disney Studios in the Ink & Paint
Department where she later met and married animator Ward Kimball (one
of Walt's Nine Old Men), passes away at age 97. She was first hired in 1935 at Walt
Disney Productions and a year later married Kimball (their marriage lasted 66 years until Ward’s death in
2002). Betty worked her way up the ranks at Disney and her duties expanded from painting cels to also
choosing colors and creating color models to guide the work of other painters. She left the studio in 1938 to
raise a family.
Disney announces the purchase of Tapulous, Inc., a leading developer of music games for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch.
Captain EO reopens at Tokyo Disneyland. First running from 1986-1996, the attraction is billed as "Captain EO Tribute" to distinguish the presentation of the film from its original run. A 3D science fiction film starring Michael Jackson, it was written by George Lucas and directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
2011:
Goofy’s Sky School officially opens at Disney California Adventure in the newly
renovated Paradise Pier area. The roller coaster (on the site of the former Mulholland Madness) is
themed on the 1940 cartoon Goofy’s Glider, in which Goofy attempt to build and successfully launch a glider. Riders
are taken on a winding journey past signs giving lessons from Goofy on how to fly. Also debuting at
Paradie Pier; Paradise Garden Grill restaurant and Boardwalk Pizza and Pasta restaurant.
Also on this evening at Disneyland, the park displays its special Fourth of July
fireworks (for the first of four nights).
To celebrate the launch of the Vinylmation™ – Pirates of the Caribbean series,
Disney holds a special release party at D-Street located at the Downtown Disney
West Side in Florida.
Today is Canada Day
2007:
Jambo House Villas, the first phase of the new timeshare resort
Animal Kingdom Villas, opens at Walt Disney World. The Villas are
located on the 5th and 6th floors of Animal Kingdom Lodge's main building.
(The second phase, an extended string of buildings called Kidani Village, will open in
May 2009 and the lodge's main building will be renamed Jambo House.)
2008:
Built for Success: The Story of Disney by author Valerie Bodden is first published
by Creative Education Children Press. A published author of children's books and young adult
books, Bodden's book The Story of Disney is part of a Built for Success series.
Identified, the second studio album by Vanessa Hudgens, is released on Disney's Hollywood Records.
July 01
1961:
The King of Swing Benny Goodman returns to Disneyland with
his big band for their final park performance of 1961.
2013:
Starting on this day, Disney uses its Limited Time Magic promotion to expand its
celebration of Independence Day to a full 7 days at both Disney World and Disneyland.
Disney World announces the arrival of the first car for the new Seven Dwarfs Mine
Train (set to open in the updated Fantasyland in 2014).
Construction begins to install the nearly 12-foot-tall C-A-L-I-F-O-R-N-I-A letters,
that once stood in front of Disney California Adventure, outside the Main Gate at Cal
Expo in Sacramento, California. First donated by Disney last May 2012, the installation is expected to be
complete by July 12 in time for the opening of the 160th State Fair.
"…travel back in time back to
the fantastic Primeval World –
land of the dinosaurs."
2015:
Disney announces that Christine McCarthy has been promoted to chief financial officer.
This makes her the company's first female CFO and its most senior female executive ever. McCarthy has been with
the "Mouse House" since 2005, most recently as an executive VP of corporate real estate and alliances, and treasurer.
2016:
Disney's adventure film The BFG is released in
U.S. theaters. Directed and produced by Steven Spielberg,
it tells the story of an orphan human girl named Sophie who
befriends a benevolent giant, dubbed the "Big Friendly Giant."
Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, the film
stars Mark Rylance (as the voice and motion-capture of The
BFG, an elderly, benevolent 24-foot giant), Ruby Barnhill (as
Sophie), Penelope Wilton, Jemaine Clement, Rebecca Hall,
Rafe Spall, and Bill Hader. It is based on the 1982 novel of the
same name by Roald Dahl.
On this same day The BFG (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
is released. John Williams has composed and conducted the
film's musical score, marking this the twenty-seventh
collaboration between Spielberg and Williams.
Disney's Hollywood Records releases FIYM, the
first extended play by the pop boy band Forever
in Your Mind. (Following the band's creation in 2013 from a
group of contestants on The X-Factor, Forever in Your Mind
released several pop singles before signing with Hollywood Records in November 2015.)
1993:
Actress/singer Raini-Alena Rodriguez is born in Bryan, Texas. Best known for her roles as Trish in the Disney Channel original series Austin & Ally, she has also appeared in an episode of The Suite Life
of Zack & Cody and on the Disney XD show I'm in the Band.
The Apple Dumpling Gang, a comedy-western film produced by Walt Disney Productions, is released. About a slick gambler named Russell Donovan who is duped into taking care
of a group of orphans who eventually strike gold during the California Gold Rush, the cast includes Bill Bixby,
Susan Clark, Don Knotts, Tim Conway, David Wayne, and Slim Pickens.
2020:
Tokyo Disney Resort welcomes visitors to its two theme parks for the first time since late February due to the coronavirus pandemic. All of Disney's Asia parks have now officially reopened. (Shanghai Disneyland was the world's first Disney park to reopen, welcoming guests on May 11, and Hong Kong Disneyland followed suit a month later.).
1929:
Animator and painter Harold H. "Hal" Sutherland is born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning his career as a Disney animator in 1954, he worked on Sleeping Beauty, Lady and the Tramp, Peter Pan and the last theatrical short that featured Donald Duck. (One of the company's three co-founders in the late 1960s, Sutherland had a hand in a large number of Filmation's limited animation productions which were broadcast as Saturday morning cartoons. Sutherland's directorial assignments included the first sixteen episodes of Star Trek: The Animated Series in 1973 and The New Adventures of Flash Gordon in 1979. He also directed some of Filmation's memorable superhero cartoons, including The Adventures of Batman, The Batman/Superman Hour, Aquaman, and The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure. Sutherland went into semi-retirement in 1974, moving to Washington State to focus on fine-art painting.)
1967:
Actress & model Pamela Anderson is born in Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada.
She played Lisa, the first "Tool Time girl," for 23 episodes of the ABC sitcom Home Improvement.
