2005:
The Walt Disney Company donates several Disneyland objects to the
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. Among the
donated items are vehicles from two of Disneyland's opening year attractions: "Dumbo the Flying Elephant" and
the "Mad Tea Party."
1902:
In Chicago, Elias and Flora Disney baptize their 6-month old son Walter at St. Paul's. The Disneys are loyal members of the congregation - Flora plays the organ and Elias, a carpenter
by trade, has helped build the church. St. Paul's Congregational Church (first organized in 1900) is at this time located at 2255 North Keeler Avenue, one block east and one block north of Walt Disney’s birthplace.
1917:
Walt Disney graduates from Benton Grammar School in Kansas City, Missouri. (The Disneys moved to Kansas City after their Marceline farm failed.) Walt graduates this day from seventh grade, and surprises his parents by delivering a patriotic speech to his fellow graduates. (Walt will enroll in Chicago's McKinley High School in the fall of 1917. But he will attend high school for only a year before volunteering as a Red Cross ambulance driver and ultimately being sent to France.)
1925:
Actor Charles Tyner, who portrayed Merle in Disney's 1977 Pete's Dragon, is born in
Danville, Virginia. He also appeared in a 2-part Disney television show "Shadow of Fear" in 1979. A character actor best known for his performances in the films "Harold and Maude" (1971), "Emperor of the North Pole" (1973), "The Longest Yard" (1974), "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" (1987) and "Pulse (1988)," Tyner first appeared on Broadway in 1959 with film star Paul Newman in "Sweet Bird of Youth." Tyner passed at age 92 in November 2017.
1927:
Legendary funny man - and half the comedy team of Stiller & Meara - Jerry Stiller is
born in New York City. His Disney voice credits include The Lion King 1 1/2 as Uncle Max, Teacher's Pet
as Pretty Boy and Disney Channel's Fish Hooks as Principal Stickler. (TV fans know Stiller best for his roles
on Seinfeld and The King of Queens.)
1944:
Mouseketeer Don Grady is born Don Agrati in San Francisco,
California. Besides being a member of TV's Mickey Mouse Club in 1957 at age 13,
as an adult he wrote music for game animation for Disney's Lilo and Stitch, Return to Neverland, and The Santa Clause. The actor-turned-award-winning-composer also wrote 56 minutes of original music for the games featured on the limited edition release of Beauty and the Beast DVD-set. Fans of classic TV will recognize him as Robbie Douglas on the sitcom My Three Sons - for which he appeared on for 11 years along with Fred MacMurray. Sadly, Grady passed at age 68 in June 2012.
1984:
Donald Duck and Clarence Nash (the voice of Donald) host the opening of a Donald Duck film festival in New York. The festival
is in celebration of 50 years since Donald's film debut.
2007:
A pre-release screening of Ratatouille takes place at Pixar Animation
Studios. At $250 per ticket, the proceeds go to the Emery Ed Fund.
Disney Channel debuts a weekly program called Road To High School Musical 2.
The series, which will lead up to the premiere of High School Musical 2, offers viewers a behind-the-
scenes look into the production of the sequel.
Disney-MGM Studios celebrates the 30th anniversary of Star Wars with the
second of four Star Wars Weekends. Celebrity guests for the next 3 days include Ray Park and
Daniel Logan.
1989:
Today is Party Day on Disney Channel's MMC.
1996:
The MTV Movie Awards are held at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California.
Disney Channel launches in Australia. The first program scheduled is the television premiere of Aladdin.
2001:
Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire opens in Los Angeles and
New York theaters. It will be generally released June 15.
The Disney Channel Original Movie Jett Jackson: The Movie premieres as
does the Lizzie McGuire episode "Random Acts of Miranda."
2003:
Disney-MGM Studios' Great Movie Ride reopens after a
lengthy refurbishment.
Arlo Guthrie closes out the 2003 Flower Power Concert series with a final show at Epcot on this last day of the Flower & Garden Festival.
2004:
Walt Disney Records releases the soundtrack to the
Disney Channel Original Movie Zenon: Z3.
2006:
Herman's Hermits starring Peter Noone kick off 4 days
of performances at Epcot. (On keyboards is the webmaster of This Day in Disney History.)
Disney's El Capitan Theatre (in Hollywood, California) holds a special
midnight screening of the new Disney/Pixar animated feature Cars.
1997:
Walt Disney Records releases the soundtrack to Mary Poppins.
This CD is part of Walt Disney Records' Classic Soundtrack series.
The Walt Disney Studios
in Burbank, California,
is the only major film/animation studio not
to run backlot tours.
1951:
Disney's Donald Duck short Test Pilot Donald (also featuring Chip 'n Dale) is released. Dale dreams of flying and finds a perfect opportunity when Donald's remote control airplane gets stuck
in a tree. Directed by Jack Hannah, this is the 100th Donald Duck cartoon short. The voice cast includes Dessie
Flynn (Dale), James Macdonald (Chip) and Clarence Nash (Donald).
1962:
Douglas Aircraft begins sponsorship of Disneyland's Rocket to the Moon attraction.
The rocket's familiar TWA logo (in place since 1955) has been replaced with blue vertical stripes and large red
upper-case letters spelling "DOUGLAS." The sponsorship will last until 1966. An American aerospace
manufacturer, based in Long Beach, California, Douglas will later merge with McDonnell Aircraft - who will
continue sponsoring the updated Flight to the Moon in 1967.
1956:
Disney's The Great Locomotive Chase is released. Based on a true event from the American
Civil War, the movie stars Fess Parker, Jeffrey Hunter, Jeff York, and John Lupton. Parker plays James J.
Andrews, a spy who leads a band of Union soldiers (in April 1862) into the South in an attempt to destroy the railway system. Intrepid Confederates, led by the train’s conductor, William A. Fuller, commandeers rolling stock for the chase, and perseveres long enough to recapture the train. Union leader Andrews and many of his men are later hanged in the South, but those who survived and made their way home are given Congressional Medals of Honor by the secretary of war. Directed by Francis D. Lyon, the cast also includes Kenneth Tobey.
JUNE
1969:
Actor J.P. Manoux - best known to Disney Channel fans as both Curits the caveman &
Vice Principal Neil Hackett on the series Phil of the Future - is born in California.
He also appeared in the 2008 adventure-comedy-sci-fi Disney Channel Original Movie Minutemen. Manoux's TV
voice credits include The Emperor's New School and The Replacements.
Actor Robert Taylor passes away at age 57 in California. One of the most popular leading men of his time, he starred in Disney's 1963 Miracle of the White Stallions, playing Colonel Podhajsky. Back in June 1938, Taylor (who was just starting his long career) and Walt Disney were both passengers on a train bound for New York City. They didn't meet until they both got off the train and were mobbed by the New York press.
JUNE 8
JUNE 8
THIS SITE MADE
IN THE
USA
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Designed primarily by Kem Weber under the supervision of Walt & Roy Disney, the Burbank Disney Studio buildings are the only studios to survive from the Golden Age of film.
Today is World Oceans Day
"Never go for the punch line. There might be something funnier on the way." -Jerry Stiller
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2010:
The Disney animated short Tick Tock Tale premieres at the Annecy Animation Film
Festival. Directed and written by Dean Wellins - amidst an old London clock shop, a small, quirky mantle clock
comes to the aide of the store's more expensive clocks when a thief breaks in and threatens to steal them away.
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, the eponymous third studio album by American rock band Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, is released on Hollywood Records.
The album is the band's first release since the inclusion of two new members, rhythm guitarist Benny Yurco and
bassist Catherine Popper.
2011:
It is announced that Victoria & Albert's at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa has been awarded the AAA Five-Diamond Award, the highest AAA honor for a restaurant.
1988:
First Lady Nancy Reagan visits Disney World for Foster Grandparents Jamboree at Epcot Center and tours Mickey’s Birthdayland.
June 8
This Day in Disney History - THE FIRST - THE ORIGINAL
Traveling in time since 1999!
2013:
"Hungry Hobos," a 1928 Walt Disney animated short film that was considered lost
for decades, is screened at UCLA as part of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra's
24th annual Silent Film Event. The short, which predates Mickey Mouse and stars the
character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, is one of the earliest Disney cartoons.
1993:
The soundtrack to the 1937 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is released
on CD for the first time.
Disney's animated Aladdin is awarded 3 times at the 19th Saturn Awards, honoring the best in science fiction, fantasy and horror. The film wins Best Fantasy Film (beating out 6 others including Beauty and the Beast). Best Performance by a Younger Actor goes to Scott Weinger, the voice of Aladdin. Best Supporting Actor is given to Robin Williams, the voice of Genie.
2016:
Finding Dory premieres at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. Produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures, the animated film is a spinof to the 2003 Finding Nemo and features
the returning voices of Ellen DeGeneres and Albert Brooks. DeGeneres is joined by fellow cast members Brooks, Ed O’Neill, Kaitlin Olson, Hayden Rolence, Ty Burrell and Eugene Levy, along with director Andrew Stanton, co-director Angus McLane, and producer Lindsey Collins. Finding Dory will be generally released June 17.
2019:
Filmmakers, voice talent and walk-around characters from Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 4
descend upon Toy Story Land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando, Florida, to
celebrate the upcoming release of the movie. Activities culminate in a special surprise following a
screening of the film when filmmakers Josh Cooley, Mark Nielsen and Jonas Rivera, and voice cast members Tom Hanks (voice of Woody), Tim Allen (voice of Buzz Lightyear), Annie Potts (voice of Bo Peep), Tony Hale (voice of
Forky), Keegan-Michael Key (voice of Ducky) and Keanu Reeves (voice of Duke Caboom) appear at the theater
to greet guests. (Toy Story 4 opens in U.S. theaters on June 21, 2019.)
1976:
Actor Eion Bailey is born in Santa Monica, California. He played the recurring
role of August Wayne Booth / Pinocchio on the ABC series Once Upon a Time.
1960:
Film director, screenwriter, animator and storyboard artist Gary Trousdale is born in La Crescenta-Montrose, California. Best known for directing such films as Beauty and the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Atlantis: The Lost Empire, he frequently has worked with Kirk Wise and Don Hahn. Trousdale was hired by Walt Disney Feature Animation in 1985 as an effects animator on The Black Cauldron. He went on to work on Oliver & Company, The Little Mermaid, the opening sequence of Cranium Command, The Rescuers Down Under, and as a creative consultant on the 2017 Beauty and the Beast.
1965:
Actor Frank Grillo is born in New York City. He played the Marvel supervillain Brock Rumlow / Crossbones in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Captain America: Civil War (2016), and Avengers: Endgame (2019).
2018:
Walt Disney Records releases Disney Junior Music: Fancy Nancy.
1998:
The second season of Bear in the Big Blue House kicks off on Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney.
