1949:
Disney's 15th feature film The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad
is released. The animated film features the voices of Bing Crosby, who narrates Washington
Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", and Basil Rathbone, who narrates Kenneth Grahame's tale "The
Wind in the Willows." "The Wind in the Willows" will inspire the Mr. Toad's Wild Ride theme park attraction,
first at Disneyland and then at Walt Disney World. (Although WDW's version will later close.)
2004:
Disney's Aladdin Special Edition DVD is released.
The New York City Disney Store (located at 711 5th Ave) is
rechristened The World of Disney with a special grand opening
celebration. Actress Christy Carlson Romano (from Disney's Kim
Possible, Even Stevens, and formerly Belle of Broadway's Beauty
and the Beast) is on hand to meet customers and sign autographs.
1922:
The Laugh-O-Gram animated short Goldie Locks and the Three Bears, directed & co-animated by Walt Disney, is released.
1923:
Actress Glynis Johns is born in Pretoria, South Africa. She is best known to Disney fans as
Winifred Banks in the 1964 film Mary Poppins and Princess Mary Tudor in the 1953 The Sword and the Rose.
(Known for her light comedy roles and often playful flirtation, Johns appeared in such feature films as While You
Were Sleeping and Around the World in Eighty Days, and on such TV series as Batman and The Love Boat.)
1935:
Disney's Silly Symphony cartoon Music Land is released.
1950:
Actor Jeff Conaway, who appeared in Disney's 1977 Pete's Dragon as Willie, is born in New York City. (Fans will remember him for his roles of Bobby Wheeler on TV's Taxi and Kenickie in the hit feature film Grease.)
1955:
In Anaheim, California, the Disneyland Hotel opens (opposite the main exit of
Disneyland). Although a 104-room hotel, just seven rooms are ready for the public; an eighth serves as the
hotel’s office and lobby. The first hotel guests are Mr. and Mrs. Robert Arnone of Inglewood. Owned by the
Wrather Corporation, the Disneyland Hotel will be fully functioning by August 1956.
The third episode of Mickey Mouse Club airs on ABC-TV. Today is
Anything Can Happen Day. Jimmie Dodd leads the Mouseketeers in forming a
gadget band, using bottles, combs, wash tubs and other discarded junk for playing music.
The cartoon Mickey's Service Station is also shown.
The television series Disneyland airs a compilation of many of the
"People and Places" movie shorts that had previously been shown in theaters.
1975:
Actress Parminder Nagra, who appears as the flight director in Epcot's Mission:SPACE, is born in Leicester, England. (You may recognize her from the feature film Bend It Like Beckham and the TV series ER.)
1982:
EPCOT Center's World of Motion, a whimsical look at the development of
transportation from the human foot to a bustling futuristic city, is officially
dedicated (although it has been up and running since the park's grand debut on
October 1). It is sponsored by General Motors - the very first company to sign with Disney to sponsor an EPCOT
pavilion. Visitors board moving Omnimover vehicles and are taken through scenes filled with Audio-Animatronic
figures and projection effects. Upon completion of the ride, guests enter the TransCenter featuring educational
attractions which include prototype cars such as the Lean Machine in the Dreamer's Workshop and a
film called The Water Engine. (Closing in 1996, World of Motion will be replaced with Test Track.)
1992:
The Walt Disney Story (an attraction on Walt Disney World's Main Street USA) is shown for the last time when the Main Street Cinema closes. (The cinema will be refurbished and reopened as a merchandise location in 1998.)
Animation storyboard artist and voice actor Joe Ranft is hired at Pixar.
After graduating from high school in 1978, Ranft began studying in the character animation
program at the California Institute of the Arts. After two years, Ranft's student film Good Humor
caught the attention of Disney animation executives, who offered him a job. During his years at
Disney (which included training from Eric Larson - one of Walt's "Nine Old Men") Ranft did story
work on animated features including The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast.
1996:
A star-studded group of television veterans are inducted into the Academy of
Television Arts & Sciences' Television Academy Hall of Fame in ceremonies at
Disney-MGM Studios. Edward Asner, Steven Bochco, Charles Kuralt, Angela Lansbury, Aaron
Spelling, Lew R. Wasserman and the producing team of Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner become the 78th
through 85th inductees.
Mary Gibbs, the voice of Boo in the Disney/Pixar 2001 release Monsters, Inc., is
born in Pasadena, California. Her father Rob Gibbs worked as a story artist on Toy Story 2 and
a story supervisor on Pocahontas.
1999:
Disney CEO Michael Eisner is interviewed for posterity at the Library of Congress by Walter Anderson, editor of Parade magazine.
2001:
Walt Disney Pictures releases the comedy Max Keeble's Big Move. After a depressing first
day of school, much-bullied seventh grader Max Keeble finds out that he's moving to a new city in a week. Rather
than put up with the normal routine of school, he starts getting revenge on all the people who have picked on him.
The film stars Alex D. Linz, Larry Miller, Jamie Kennedy, Nora Dunn, Robert Carradine, and Josh Peck.
Actress Melissa Joan Hart accompanied by children from Sharon Stone's
Planet Hope visit Disneyland for the Haunted Mansion Holiday opening.
Disney Channel debuts the Lizzie McGuire episode "Night of the Day of the Dead".
2003:
The 13th Annual CHOC/Disneyland Resort "Walk in the Park" takes place in
Anaheim, California. Approximately 14,000 participants venture through Disneyland and Disney's
California Adventure while raising over $740,000 for the Children's Hospital of Orange County.
1977:
Kikkoman's sponsorship of the Adventureland Veranda restaurant at
Disney World's Magic Kingdom begins. The restaurant, the first location that visitors to
Adventureland via the bridge from Main Street encounter, serves fried chicken, hot sandwiches and soft drinks
in a Polynesian setting.
The Wonderful World of Water ski show
took place on the Seven Seas Lagoon at
WDW between 1972-1973. Viewed from
a "special" vantage point (the grassy
hillside between the Magic Kingdom
monorail station
and the lagoon)
shows were
offered to
guests five
times daily.
1974:
Actress and singer Heather Headley is born in Trinidad, West Indies. In 1997 she played Nala in The Lion King, Disney's second hit Broadway musical. Headley later originated the title role in
the Broadway adaptation of Disney's Aida, earning a Tony Award for Best Actress in 2000!
1941:
The Fight For Freedom Committee's stage play, It's Fun To Be Free, debuts in New
York City at Madison Square Garden. The cover art for the show's program - which features a patriotic illustration of Mickey, Goofy, and Donald - has been designed by Disney artist Hank Porter. (The national Fight for Freedom Committee, formed in New York City in April, 1941, favors the immediate entry of the United States into
World War II to aid in the defeat of Nazi Germany.)
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1902:
Entrepreneur Ray Kroc, famous for significantly expanding the McDonald's Corporation, is born in Oak Park, Illinois (just about 10 miles from the birthplace of Walt Disney). In 1996, McDonalds signed a ten year global marketing agreement with the Walt Disney
Company to promote and help each other. Coincidentally, Ray Kroc and Walt Disney first met in an Army
camp in Connecticut in 1918!
1829:
Chester A. Arthur, the twenty-first United States President, is born in
Fairfield, Vermont. The first president to take the Oath of Office in his own home, Arthur
did not deliver an Inaugural Address! Visit him and all the U.S. Chief Executives at Disney
World's The Hall of Presidents.
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"Don't try to figure out a plan. You can't reason with a headless man."
2005:
The Tomorrowland game area of Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom is made
available to players for the first time. The rest of Tomorrowland will "open"
in April 2006. (VMK is a multiplayer online game run by Disney.)
1997:
The Wonderful World of Disney airs "Toothless" starring Kirstie Alley.
Disney's Hollywood Pictures releases the drama Washington Square in New York
City. The film stars Albert Finney as a New York City doctor and resident of a large house on Washington
Square whose wife dies in childbirth, leaving a daughter Catherine (played by Jennifer Jason Leigh).
The film will be generally released October 17.
2008:
Although her birthday isn't until November 23, Miley Cyrus celebrates her Sweet 16 at
Disneyland with several celebrities, friends and about 5,000 fans (who paid $250 a
ticket to attend). Celebs in attendance include Jennifer Love Hewitt, Cameron Mathison, Tyra Banks, Christián
de la Fuente, Julianne & Derek Hough, David Archuleta, Demi Lovato, Miley's rumored new beau, Justin Gaston,
and her dad, Billy Ray.
Ashley Brown and Gavin Lee, who created the roles of Mary Poppins and chimney
sweep Bert in the Disney-Cameron Mackintosh Broadway production of Mary
Poppins, play their final performances at the New Amsterdam Theatre.
They are scheduled to reprise their roles for the upcoming North American tour of Poppins, which is expected to
begin performances at Chicago's Cadillac Palace Theatre March 11, 2009.
A second "Studio DC: Almost Live!" airs on the Disney Channel. Similar to the first special
that aired back in August, the half-hour variety show features both the Muppets and Disney Channel stars
performing comedy sketches and musical numbers together.
OCTOBER 5
THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
OCTOBER 05
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"Steve Jobs was an extraordinary visionary, our very dear friend and the guiding light of the Pixar family.
He saw the potential of what Pixar could be before the rest of us, and beyond what anyone ever imagined.
Steve took a chance on us and believed in our crazy dream of making computer animated films; the one thing
he always said was to simply 'make it great.' He is why Pixar turned out the way we did and his strength,
integrity and love of life has made us all better people. He will forever be a part of Pixar’s DNA. Our hearts go
out to his wife Laurene and their children during this incredibly difficult time."
-John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer & Ed Catmull, President, Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios
2009:
The Walt Disney Company names Rich Ross (president of Disney Channels
Worldwide) as the new chairman of The Walt Disney Studios. He replaces Dick Cook,
who resigned last month.
Walt Disney World Resort welcomes a male calf to the giraffe herd at Disney’s
Animal Kingdom. The Disney Animal Programs team helps to deliver 166-pound baby giraffe Bruehler
from third-time mother Aibuni.
2010:
Beauty and the Beast: Diamond Edition hits store shelves. This Disney animated classic
has been unavailable since 2003 and this Diamond Edition, as standard with Disney vault releases, will only be available for a limited time.
Official Hotel of the Magic Kingdom
2011:
Steven Paul "Steve" Jobs, a computer entrepreneur and inventor and member of the
Walt Disney Co. Board of Directors, passes away at age 56 in California. Co-founder,
chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc., in 1986, Jobs bought the computer graphics division of
Lucasfilm Ltd. (for $10 million) which spun off as Pixar Animation Studios. Jobs joined Disney’s board in 2006, after
Disney bought Pixar for $7.4 billion in stock, which also made Jobs the largest individual shareholder of Disney
stock. (Born in 1955 in San Francisco, Jobs pioneered the concept of the personal computer and of navigating
them by clicking onscreen images with a mouse. In more recent years, he introduced the iPod portable music
player, the iPhone and the iPad tablet -- all of which changed how we consume content in the digital age.)
"Steve was such an original, with a thoroughly creative, imaginative mind that defined an era. Despite
all he accomplished, it feels like he was just getting started. With his passing, the world has lost a rare
original, Disney has lost a member of our family and I have lost a great friend." -Disney CEO Bob Iger
In Memory of Steve Jobs (1955-2011)
1990:
Actor Myles Jeffrey is born in California. He supplied the voice for T.J. Detweiler in both Recess:
Taking the Fifth Grade and Recess: All Growed Down. His Disney credits also include the 2002 feature
The Santa Clause 2 and the 2000 TV movie Geppetto.
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October 05
2014:
Maelstrom closes at Epcot to make way for a new attraction themed to the 2013
animated hit feature Frozen (coming in 2016).
2012:
Frankenweenie, a 3D stop-motion-animated black & white fantasy horror comedy directed by Tim Burton and produced by Walt Disney Pictures, is released to U.S. theaters. A remake of Burton's 1984 short film of the same name and a parody of and a homage to the 1931 film Frankenstein, the voice cast includes Charlie Tahan, Frank Welker, Winona Ryder, Martin Short, Catherine O'Hara, Martin Landau, and Tom Kenny. A boy named Victor loses his dog, a Bull Terrier named Sparky, and uses the power of electricity to resurrect him — but is then blackmailed by his peers into revealing how they too can reanimate their deceased past pets and other creatures, resulting in mayhem. Frankenweenie is the first black-and-white feature film and the first stop-motion film to be released in IMAX 3D. The film will win the Saturn Award for Best Animated Film and be nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe.
The final episode of the Canadian television series My Babysitter's a Vampire airs on Disney Channel.
1957:
Actor, voice actor and comedian Bernie Mac is born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough in Chicago, Illinois. He starred as a retired baseball player in Touchstone's Mr. 3000 (2004) and appeared as Jimmy Lunchbox in Disney's Old Dogs (2009).
2019:
The second season of Disney Channel's Coop & Cami Ask the World debuts with
the episode "Would You Wrather Catch an Evil Bunny?"
1967:
Actor, musician, singer and songwriter Guy Pearce is born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. His Disney/Touchstone film credits include The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) as Fernand Mondego, Bedtime Stories (2008) as Kendall, and Iron Man 3 (2013) as Aldrich Killian.
1912:
Animator and comic artist Riley Thomson is born in Alhambra, California. Starting at Disney in 1936, he first worked on Mickey Mouse, Silly Symphonies, and Donald Duck short films. This was followed by Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" segment of Fantasia (1940). Thomson then moved to the story department where he became a writer and director. He directed the short films Put-Put Troubles (1940), The Little Whirlwind (1941), The Nifty Nineties (1941), the 1941 remake of Orphans' Benefit, Mickey's Birthday Party (1942), and Symphony Hour (1942). In 1950, Thomson moved into the field of comics, working for Western Publishing drawing Disney comics.
2020:
For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration, a musical show based on Disney's 2013 animated film Frozen, reopens in Disney's Hollywood Studios. The show originally debuted at the Premiere Theater in the Streets of America section of the park during the 2014
Frozen Summer Fun event. The show moved into its current location at the Hyperion Theater in Echo Lake in June 2015. Although Walt Disney World reopened on July 25, 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic, all stage shows had not.
Season 3 of Vampirina, an Irish-American computer-animated children's television series created by Chris Nee, debuts on Disney Channel. Based on the Vampirina Ballerina series
of books written by Anne Marie Pace and published by Disney-Hyperion, the show first premiered in October 2017.
2017:
ABC-TV kicks off season 7 of the political thriller series Scandal.
