1998:
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, housed in the space formerly
occupied by Take Flight, opens at Walt Disney World. Presented by Mattel,
the first interactive dark ride at the Magic Kingdom will have an official opening November 3.
Disney's Elaborate Lives: The Legend of Aida opens at the Alliance Theater in
Atlanta, Georgia. (In 1999 the title of the musical will be shortened to Aida before coming to Broadway.)
1905:
Character actor and comic cowboy sidekick Andy Devine, the voice of Friar Tuck in Disney's 1973 release Robin Hood, is born in Flagstaff, Arizona. His credits also include episodes of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color TV series. Devine was one of many celebrities who took part
in Walt Disney World's three-day opening festivities in October 1971. Known for his distinctive raspy voice, Devine worked in radio, appeared on television (including an episode of The Twilight Zone) and in over 400 films.
1918:
Disney Legend Norman "Stormy" Palmer, one of Walt
Disney Studio's most celebrated film editors, is born in
Santa Ana, California. He joined Disney as a projectionist in 1938,
but soon transferred to the Editorial department where he worked on
Pinocchio and Fantasia. Palmer is best remembered for his contributions
to Disney nature and animal feature films such as The Living Desert, Grand Canyon, and Water Birds. A mentor
to a young Roy E. Disney, Palmer retired in 1983 after 45 years with the Studio.
1955:
Mickey Mouse Club airs on ABC-TV. Today is Talent Round-Up Day
with Mouseketeer Cubby bringing his father Hack and brother
Warren onstage for a drum set trio! Also shown is the cartoon Two Gun Mickey.
1962:
The NBC-TV series Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color airs part 2 of "Escapade in Florence."
1971:
The Disney animated and live-action musical Bedknobs and Broomsticks
premieres at the Odeon Theater in Leicester Square in London, England. Based upon the books "The Magic Bed Knob; or, How to Become a Witch in Ten Easy Lessons" and "Bonfires and Broomsticks" by Mary Norton, the film stars Angela Lansbury and David Tomlinson. An apprentice witch, 3 children and a cynical conman search for the missing component to a magic spell useful to the defense of Britain during World War II.
(Bedknobs and Broomsticks will be released in the U.S. two months later.)
1981:
An edited version of the live-action Disney horror film The Watcher in the Woods,
starring Bette Davis, Carroll Baker, David McCallum, and Lynn-Holly Johnson, is
released. Based on the 1976 novel by Florence Engel Randall, the story focuses on a teenage girl and her little
sister who become encompassed in a supernatural mystery regarding a missing girl in the woods surrounding their
new home. Originally released in April 1980, the film is known for its notorious rewrites, reshoots, and recuts
(including the film's original opening credits and conclusion) after originally being pulled from theatres.
1990:
The first American Teacher Awards show (created by Disney) is held at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood.
Legendary animator Myron "Grim" Natwick passes in Los Angeles, California, at age 100. Best known as the creator of the animated character Betty Boop, he also worked on Disney's Snow White and
the Seven Dwarfs and Ferdinand the Bull. Trained in art schools in Chicago, New York and Vienna before becoming
an animator in 1921, Natwick was awarded the Winsor McCay Award in 1975.
2000:
Former Disney Imagineer Rolly Crump appears at a special Ryman-Carroll
Foundation tribute event at the Disneyland Resort. (Crump began his career in the late 1950s
at the Disney Studios in animation, where he worked on Sleeping Beauty and 101 Dalmatians, before moving to
Walt Disney Imagineering. During his Imagineering career, Rolly worked on early concepts for the Haunted
Mansion, as well as the development of various tiki gods and goddesses for The Enchanted Tiki Room.)
2002:
The Travel Channel airs Great Hotels - Disney's Wilderness Lodge for the first time.
The second episode of the show's second season, Great Hotels is hosted by Samantha Brown.
A Bug's Land opens at Disney California Adventure. Based on the 1998 Disney Pixar film
A Bug's Life, it's been built adjacent to the Bountiful Valley Farm in the Golden State area.
2003:
Disney's The Lion King is released on a 2-disc DVD set. It includes a
new animated song (written by Elton John & Tim Rice) and sequence. This is the first time
Disney has added a newly animated scene specifically for a DVD.
2004:
It is announced that Andrae Rivas and Rebecca Phelps
have been chosen to be the 2005 Disneyland Resort Ambassadors.
2005:
One week after leaving The Walt Disney Company, Michael Eisner hosts The Charlie Rose Show. His guests are actor John Travolta and his ex-boss-turned-rival, television executive Barry Diller.
2006:
A female giraffe is born at Disney's Animal Kingdom. The calf is the first offspring for her mother, a 9-year-old giraffe named Aibuin.
About 300 Walt Disney World buses transport guests around the Florida resort, making the Walt Disney World fleet the third largest in Florida behind
Miami and
Jacksonville!
2001:
Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Walk-Through attraction (opened since April 1957) closes for refurbishment. (Over time, Sleeping Beauty Walk-Through will drop off the refurbishment list ... until 2008 when it suddenly re-opens.)
1967:
Singer/songwriter and actress Toni Braxton, who appeared in both Disney
Broadway shows Beauty and the Beast (as Belle) in 1998 and Aida (as Aida) in 2003,
is born in Severn, Maryland. Her 5-month role in Beauty and the Beast marked the first (and only) time
an African American has played the leading role of Belle on Broadway. During her run in the show Alan Menken
wrote a new song for the musical called "A Change in Me," which was especially written for Braxton and has been
used in the musical ever since. Braxton played the role of Aida on Broadway from June to November 2003. (During
the course of her career, she has won six Grammy Awards and has sold 40 million records worldwide.)
2008:
The world premiere of Walt Disney Pictures' Morning Light takes place at the El
Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. The true-life documentary (conceived and co-produced by Roy E.
Disney) opens in theaters October 17, 2008.
A 50th Anniversary Platinum Edtion of Disney's Sleeping Beauty (originally
released in theaters in January 1959) is released as a 2-disc DVD & Blu-ray Disc. This
release makes Sleeping Beauty the first entry in the Platinum Edition line to be released in high definition video.
OCTOBER 7
THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
OCTOBER 07
Toni Braxton born
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"I can't record in the morning because I sound like Barry White." -Toni Braxton
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"I worked with Grim as his assistant on Snow White. He was a wonderful guy and a very generous man and a very unique talent." -Marc Davis
1963:
A piano guide track is recorded for the Sherman Brothers song "It's A Small World,"
which is to be used in the upcoming World's Fair in New York. This piano track, played in
strict tempo to a metronome click, along with the written melody line and lyrics, will be copied and sent to Italy, Japan,
and Mexico, where the lyrics will be translated, and children will be recorded singing "It's A Small World" in their
native language.
Bedknobs and Broomsticks premieres
2010:
Winnie the Pooh makes his digital debut in his first ever puzzle book-based app with the release of the "Winnie the Pooh: What's a Bear to Do?" app, launched
this day on the iTunes App Store.
1919:
Disney Legend Betty Taylor is born in Seattle, Washington. Hired by Walt Disney in 1956 (one
year after Wally Boag started), Taylor spent the next three decades portraying a singing saloon hostess named
Slue-Foot Sue at Disneyland's Golden Horseshoe Revue. Originally a big band singer, she auditioned for the part
of Sue at the suggestion of an uncle!
1991:
Today officially starts sales for Disney Vacation Club. A Preview Center, located at Walt
Disney World, gives details to guests who wish to "discover a better way to vacation." (The center will later be known as Disney’s Old Key West Resort and the Disney Vacation Club Preview Center will be moved to
Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa.)
1985:
Danger Bay, a Canadian television series produced in Vancouver, first airs on the Disney Channel. The series centers on the exploits of the Roberts family, led by marine veterinarian Grant "Doc" Roberts, and his two children, Nicole and Jonah.
2011:
Real Steel, a science fiction action film distributed by Touchstone Pictures, is
released in U.S. theaters. Based in part on the 1956 short story "Steel" by Richard Matheson, the
film stars Hugh Jackman as a struggling promoter of robot boxing.
Season 2 of the animated series Fish Hooks debuts on Disney Channel with the episode "Halloween Haul." The series revolves around a fun-personified fish named Milo (voiced by Kyle Massey), his nervous brother Oscar (Justin Roiland), and their "overly dramatic" best friend Bea Goldfishberg (Chelsea Kane), with whom Oscar is infatuated.
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October 07
2016:
Walt Disney World remains closed as powerful Hurricane Matthew lashes Florida
with 100 MPH winds. All theme parks had closed the day before at 5:00 p.m. Two of the Walt Disney World monorail fleet (Green and Red) ride out the storm from inside the Contemporary. Crews board up the opening that allows the monorails to travel through the hotel. Two days earlier Port Canaveral (home to Disney's cruise ships) was closed by the U.S. Coast Guard. As Matthew tracks parallel to the Florida coast, it will leavet over one million people without power across the state of Florida.
Disney Channel airs the television film The Swap for the first time. The film, based on the
young adult novel of the same name written by Megan Shull, centers around two teenage girls who swap bodies.
Luke Cage (Original Soundtrack Album), the soundtrack album to the 2016 first season of the web television series Luke Cage, featuring music composed by Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad, is released digitally by Hollywood Records. Luke Cage,
based on on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, has been created for Netflix.
2014:
The Legacy Collection: Sleeping Beauty, featuring music from the 1959 animated
Sleeping Beauty, is released on Walt Disney Records. In honor of the 55th anniversary of the
animated classic, the two disc set features the original songs and score from the film as well as album versions of
tracks, demos and ‘lost chords’ — songs that were written for the film but were ultimately cut in various stages of
production before the film made it to the big screen.
1994:
Ed Wood, a biographical comedy-
drama film directed and produced by
Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp
as the eponymous cult filmmaker, is
released by Touchstone Pictures. The
film concentrates on the period in Wood's life when
he made his best-known films as well as his
relationship with actor Bela Lugosi, played by Martin
Landau. The cast includes Sarah Jessica Parker,
Patricia Arquette, Jeffrey Jones, Lisa Marie, and Bill
Murray. (The film has already been in limited release
in Los Angeles and New York since September 28.)
1945:
Journalist, popular historian, author, speaker and voice actor Michael Wallis is born in St. Louis, Missouri. He provided the voice of Sheriff in the Disney·Pixar Cars franchise as well as in the Cars Toons: Mater's Tall Tales episode "Tokyo Mater." Wallis has written seventeen books, including "Route 66: The Mother Road,"
about the historic highway U.S. Route 66.
2012:
The second season of Disney Channel's Austin & Ally kicks off with the episode "Costumes & Courage." Set in Miami, the series centers on the relationship between two very different musicians: extroverted and fun-loving singer and instrumentalist Austin Moon, and introverted and awkward songwriter Ally Dawson, who is also a singer, but has a bad case of stage fright. The cast includes Ross Lynch as Austin, Laura Marano as Ally, Raini Rodriguez as Trish (Ally's best friend and Austin's manager), and Calum Worthy as Dez (an aspiring director who films Austin's music videos).
2019:
The third season of the animated Elena of Avalor airs with the episode
"Sister of Invention" on Disney Junior. The series features Aimee Carrero as the voice of Elena,
a young Latina princess.
Season 3 of Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (originally known as Tangled: The Series) kicks off on Disney Channel with the episode "Rapunzel's Return."
2013:
Mighty Med, a Disney XD original series created by Jim Bernstein and Andy Schwartz and produced by It's a Laugh Productions, premieres with the episode "Saving the People Who Save People". (It will air on Disney Channel 5 days later.) Teenage best friends Kaz and Oliver (played by Bradley Steven Perry & Jake Short) get the thrill of a lifetime when they land after-school jobs at Mighty Med, a secret hospital for superheroes and sci-fi / fantasy characters.
Actress Terry Burnham passes away at age 64 in California. Acting since the age of 4, she portrayed Willadean Wills in Disney's 1964 television movie For the Love of Willadean.
1957:
Television writer & actor Wayne Kaatz is born in St. Joseph, Michigan. He is best known for his work on Disney's The Brave Little Toaster and such animated series as Tiny Toon Adventures and Pinky and the Brain.
