The Disney Magazine began life
as the Disney News in 1965. The publication changed its name
to the Disney Magazine
in 1994 and unfortunately
ceased to exist by 2005.
2003:
The Disney short Destino is released and given a surprise world premiere
at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Originally an abandoned project from the
1940s, the piece features the beautiful work of painter Salvador Dalí (and Disney studio artist John Hench). The
six-minute short follows the love story of Chronos and the ill-fated love he has for a mortal female. The story
continues as the female dances through surreal scenery inspired by Dalí's paintings. Although there is little
dialogue, the sound track features a song by the Mexican composer Armando Dominguez.
The final episode of the series Even Stevens airs on Disney Channel. The Even Stevens Movie, a Disney Channel Original Movie, will air 11 days later - serving as the series finale.
1989:
Touchstone Pictures, part of Disney's Buena Vista Entertainment family, releases
Dead Poets Society, to limited theaters. Starring Robin Williams, the film takes place at a conservative and aristocratic boys prep school, and tells the story of an English teacher named John Keating (Williams) who inspires his students to change their lives of conformity through his teaching of poetry and literature. The cast includes Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke, Josh Charles, Norman Lloyd, and Kurtwood Smith. Dead Poets Society will win the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. (The film will be generally released June 9.)
Disney Channel airs the 30th episode of MMC. Today is Hall of Fame Day!
2002:
The Nelsons finish out their 2-day engagement at Epcot on the final day of the
Flower Power Concert Series and The 2002 Flower & Gaden Festival.
Epcot's new Journey Into Imagination with Figment is dedicated. Contained
within The Imagination! Pavilion, it is the third incarnation of the attraction. Unlike the first two versions,
Figment plays a larger role as the small purple dragon appears in every show scene.
Actress Madison Hu is born in Texas. She is known for the role of Frankie on the Disney
Channel series Bizaardvark, and for the role of Marci on the Disney Channel series Best Friends Whenever.
Hu also appeared in a 2014 episode of the ABC sitcom The Goldbergs.
1998:
features the film version of "Reflection" (written by Matthew Wilder & David
Zippel) as well as a pop version sung by former-Mouseketeer Christina Aguilera.
2007:
The completed Ratatouille is viewed by the Pixar staff at a wrap party.
(The animated feature will be released in theaters June 29.)
1997:
Space traveler Story Musgrave appears at Disney Institute in Florida. An astronaut,
surgeon, mathematician, computer analyst, pilot, parachutist, ex-Marine and student
of the humanities, Musgrave shares his wealth of knowledge as the Discover
Magazine scientist-in-residence.
"Dalí had a good sense of humor - obviously you could tell just looking at him; he was funny."
-Joe Grant (Disney artist & writer)
JUNE
1944:
The Donald Duck short Commando Duck, directed by Jack
King, is released. Probably one of the worst soldiers in the Army, Donald
(voiced by Clarence Nash) is dropped out of an airplane ... right into enemy territory!
JUNE 2
JUNE 2
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2008:
Space Shuttle Discovery docks at the International Space Station on day #3 of its mission, delivering a mammoth lab and two new occupants: a NASA astronaut and Buzz Lightyear. American astronaut Greg Chamitoff officially joins the Expedition 17 crew (replacing
American astronaut Garrett Reisman) and a 12-inch action figure of Buzz moves in as part of NASA’s toys-in-
space educational program. Buzz will remain on the International Space Station until September 2009.
Destino released
THIS SITE MADE
IN THE
USA
1963:
production of The Little Mermaid, is born in Eatonville, Florida.
2009:
Broadway's The Little Mermaid gets a new Ariel when Chelsea Morgan Stock
takes over the lead role from Sierra Bogges. Stock, a native of San Jose, California, made her
Broadway debut in 2007 with the original company of The Little Mermaid. She originated the role of Andrina,
one of King Triton’s seven daughters, and was also the understudy for the role of Ariel.
At the Licensing International Expo in Las Vegas, Disney announces plans for a new
hand-drawn animated Winnie the Pooh feature film (to hit theaters in spring 2011).
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1962:
Disneyland hosts the "Cavalcade of Big Bands" for the very first time. The week-
long event features Tex Beneke, Charlie Barnet, Ray Eberle & the Modernaires with Paula Kelley, and the
legendary Count Basie and his orchestra.
1972:
Emmy Award winning actor, singer, comedian and television personality, Wayne Brady
is born in Columbus, Georgia. Raised in Orlando, Florida, at age 15 Brady worked at Walt
Disney World as Goofy. But his career truly began as one of the improvisational theater performers in the original
(British) version of Whose Line Is It Anyway?, after which he became a regular on the American version, hosted by
Drew Carey and broadcast on ABC. He went on to star in his own ABC variety show in 2001 called The Wayne
Brady Show, and a daytime talk show of the same name in 2002. Brady wrote and sang the theme song for Disney's popular animated series The Weekenders and in 2004 appeared in the Disney Channel movie Going to the
Mat. A year later he sang and recorded Jim Brickman's original Disney song "Beautiful." Radio Wayne, his Walt Disney Records' debut children's album, was released in May 2011. His voice credits include Clover in Sofia the First,
Don in an episode of Phineas and Ferb, and Eugene in an episode of Milo Murphy's Law.
2006:
Disney-MGM hosts the third (of 4) Star Wars Weekends.
Celebrity guests include Jay Laga'aia and Orli Shoshan.
2011:
Disneyland Resort celebrates the opening of The Little Mermaid ~ Ariel’s
Undersea Adventure with a special ceremony at Disney California Adventure
park. Jodi Benson, the original voice of Ariel, performs "Part of Your World," one of the memorable songs
from the film’s Academy Award-winning score. (She and actress Pat Carroll - the voice of Ursula - had taken
their first ride the day before.) The attraction opens to the general public June 3.
June 2
This Day in Disney History - THE FIRST - THE ORIGINAL
Traveling in time since 1999!
2016:
Famed Disney animator Willis Pyle passes away in New York City at the age of 101.
First starting at Disney in November 1937, Pyle worked on such classics as Fantasia, Pinocchio, and Bambi. He
also had a successful freelance career, working on such TV shows as Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure, Halloween Is Grinch Night, Mr. Magoo and various Charlie Brown specials.
1968:
Actor Navid Negahban is born in Mashhad, Iran. He played the role of The Sultan
in Disney's 2019 live-action Aladdin.
Comics artist Flemming Andersen is born in Copenhagen, Denmark. Best known for Disney comics starring Donald Duck and related characters in the Duck Universe, he developed a flashy and action-packed style. Andersen's works are frequently published in various European Disney comic books, especially in Scandinavian countries and Germany.
Senator Bobby Kennedy and astronaut John Glenn visit Disneyland with family and friends. At this time Kennedy is a leading candidate for the Democratic nomination for the presidency. (Just
three days later - on June 5 - Kennedy will be assassinated while leaving The Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.)
1924:
Voice actor and director Wally Burr is born Walter S. Burr in Chicago, Illinois.
Best known as the voice director for The Transformers and The Transformers: The Movie, he supplied the
newsreel voice for Touchstone Pictures' 2001 Pearl Harbor.
2015:
The physical (as opposed to the digital) version of the soundtrack to the Disney film Tomorrowland is released. It features music by composer Michael Giacchino.
Kicker, the second studio album and major label debut by American singer and songwriter Zella Day, is released on Hollywood Records.
1954:
Actor Dennis Haysbert is born in San Mateo, California. He supplied the voice for General Hologram in the 2012 Wreck-It Ralph and in 2019 played the role of Dr. Garrett in the feature film Breakthrough (distributed by Disney's 20th Century Fox). In December 2013, Haysbert took part in Epcot's Candlelight Processional. (You may recognize Haysbert for his appearances in television commercials for Allstate Insurance and for his roles in the Major League film trilogy and the first five seasons of 24.)
1946:
Film director Lasse Hallström is born Lars Sven Hallström in Sweden. First becoming known for directing almost all of the music videos by the pop group ABBA, his film credits include the 2018 The Nutcracker and the Four Realms.
1996:
Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival 1996 comes to an end.
1994:
Actress Jemma McKenzie-Brown is born in England. She is best known for her role as
Tiara Gold in the 2008 film High School Musical 3: Senior Year.
2020:
Actress Mary Pat Gleason passes away at age 70. A prolific character actress with more than 100 TV and film credits, her Disney/ABC credits included You Lucky Dog, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, Desperate Housewives, Good Luck Charlie, The Middle, Grey's Anatomy, Dog with a Blog, and How to Get Away with Murder.
Singer/actor Chris Trousdale passes away at age 34 in Burbank, California, due to
complications from an undisclosed illness during the COVID-19 pandemic. A member of the boyband Dream Street, his Disney Channel credits included episodes of Shake It Up and Austin & Ally.
1978:
Actor Dominic Cooper is born in London, England. He played the young Howard Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), a cameo in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), and the TV series Agent Carter (2015–16).
1889:
Actress Martha Wentworth is born in New York City. Called the "actress
of 100 voices," she voiced Jenny Wren (a parody of comedienne Mae West) for the Silly
Symphonies "Who Killed Cock Robin?" (1935) and "Toby Tortoise Returns" (1936).
Wentworth also performed the voices of Nanny, Queenie the Cow, and Lucy the Goose in
"One Hundred and One Dalmatians" (1961), Madam Mim, Granny Squirrel and Scullery Maid in "The Sword in the Stone" (1963), and the Cockney Cow in "Mary Poppins" (1964), her final film appearance. Starting out on radio in the 1920s, she became a film actress in the 1940s. Verna Martha Wentworth passed at age 84 in 1974.
1900:
Composer & orchestrator Joseph Dubin is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Scoring and orchestrating more than 200 motion pictures during his career, Dubin's Disney credits include such films and shorts as Alice in Wonderland, Donald Applecore, Pluto's Christmas Tree, Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and the 1950s television series The Mickey Mouse Club.
1917:
Background painter, illustrator, writer and director Brice Mack is born in Manila, Philippines. Known for his extensive work at Disney in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, one of his first credits was as the background artist for the "Rite of Spring" sequence in Fantasia. This was followed by Song of the South, Fun and Fancy Free, Melody Time, So Dear to My Heart, Alice in Wonderland, Sleeping Beauty, and Lady and the Tramp. He went to work on Walt Disney's anthology television series as both a background painter and writer in the late 1950s. After Disney, he went on to direct and produce films and TV commercials.
1928:
Actor Bob Amsberry is born in Boring, Oregon. One of the original cast members on the first two seasons of Walt Disney's The Mickey Mouse Club, he worked both as a writer and actor (playing the part of Bob-O the clown). Amsberry can also be heard as the voice of Maleficent's Goon in the 1959 animated Sleeping Beauty.
1943:
Actor and director Charles Haid is born in San Francisco, California. Best known for his portrayal of Officer Andy Renko in the NBC series Hill Street Blues (1981-1987), Haid voiced Lucky Jack (a careless jackrabbit) in the 2004 Disney animated feature film Home on the Range. He also directed the Walt Disney Pictures 1994 family adventure Iron Will and the 2005 Disney Channel Original Movie Life is Ruff.
