2003:
Disney's 10K Classic, a race throughout the World Showcase at
Epcot, takes place. The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society is the official race beneficiary.
Florida native Matthew Dobson finishes first, beating out nearly 2,000 runners!
The ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter (often abbreviated Alien Encounter), a "theater-in-the-round" attraction located in the Tomorrowland section of the Magic Kingdom, closes at Disney World. First opening in June 1995, it was a co-production between Walt Disney Imagineering and Lucasfilm. The attraction was a darkly humorous science-fiction experience that used binaural sound to achieve many of its effects. It will be replaced with Stitch's Great Escape!
1911:
Disney Legend and producer Bill Anderson is born in Smithfield, Utah. Credits
during his 44 years with Disney include the Disneyland and Zorro TV series, and such live-action features as
The Barefoot Executive, The Apple Dumpling Gang, and The Shaggy D.A. Also dedicating 24-years of
service to Disney's board of directors from 1960 to 1984, Anderson started out wanting to be an actor!
1955:
The Mickey Mouse Club airs on ABC-TV.
Today is Anything Can Happen Day.
"The Adventures of Mickey Mouse" the 26th overall episode
of Disneyland airs on ABC. Walt Disney discusses the career
of Mickey Mouse and presents several cartoons.
1986:
The Golden Horseshoe Revue in Disneyland's Frontierland officially closes. The show,
written by Wally Boag and Donald Novis, has been running since July 1955! On this night the show (which holds
the Guinness world record for "greatest number of performances of any theatrical production") features Betty
Taylor, who played Sluefoot Sue for 30 years, the longest-running cast member.
1995:
Walt Disney World welcomes its 500-millionth guest ... Michelle Davis!
1997:
one of the most frequented visited Disney World information sites on the web.
The Wonderful World of Disney airs "Honey We Shrunk Ourselves"
featuring Rick Moranis as Wayne Szalinski.
Disney Channel debuts a new episode of Muppets Tonight with
guest star Pierce Brosnan.
2001:
Disney World's Fantasyland closes early to the general public for a
special charity fundraising event. From 4PM to 11PM, a "Fantasyland Fun-A-Thon" to
raise money for the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children & Women takes place.
The Lizzie McGuire episode "Facts of Life" debuts on Disney Channel.
Drummer Rick Marotta appears as a special guest star.
The Disney Channel Original Movie Halloweentown II: Kalabar's
Revenge, the first sequel to the Halloweentown series, debuts.
Touchstone Pictures releases the comedy feature Corky Romano, starring
former Saturday Night Live cast member Chris Kattan. A good-natured veterinarian and son
of a Mafia honcho must go undercover for the FBI. The cast includes Vinessa Shaw, Peter Falk, Peter Berg,
and Chris Penn.
Actor Raymond Ochoa is born in San Diego, California. He supplied the voice
of Arlo (the youngest of the Apatosaurus family) for Pixar's 2015 animated The Good Dinosaur.
2006:
Disney CEO Robert Iger addresses the campus of Ithaca College (in Ithaca,
New York). A 1973 graduate of Ithaca, Iger calls his years at the college formative and says his television-radio
education and classes with Rod Serling, creator of “The Twilight Zone” and a former professor at the college,
allowed him to appreciate the importance of creative freedom and independence.
2007:
A ceremony announcing the 2008 Walt Disney World Ambassadors is held at Animal Kingdom. T.C. Newman (from College & CareerStart Recruiting who began her Disney career in Disneyland Entertainment and has been at the Walt Disney World Resort since 2001) and Kerri MacPherson (from Walt Disney Parks & Resorts Sales who joined the Disney team 13 years ago through the College program at the Magic Kingdom's Outdoor Foods) are chosen.
Disney Channel premieres a new series called Wizards of Waverly Place with the episode "The Crazy Ten Minute Sale." The series focuses on the three Russo
children who, on the surface, seem to be normal teens ... but are actually wizards in training.
Alex (played by Selena Gomez) and her brothers Justin and Max are competing within their
family to be the best wizard, as he or she will get to keep their powers as an adult. The
debut episode, directed by Fred Savage, is watched by 5.9 million viewers.
1998:
Disney's 75th anniversary Online Special Events presents an online
chat with Virginia Davis - the original Alice in Disney's Alice Comedies!
2008:
Today is the final day of operation for the Sun Wheel, an attraction at Disney California Adventure. Although inspired by Coney Island's 1927 Wonder Wheel, this opening-day
attraction differed from conventional Ferris wheels. The Sun Wheel's 16 orange and purple gondolas ride on
interior rails so that they slide inward & outward as the wheel rotates. It will reopen with new theming in 2009 as
Mickey's Fun Wheel.
Animal Kingdom's
Tree of Life has
hundreds of intricately
carved animal images.
Ten artists and three
Imagineers worked full-time
for 18 months to create the
animal carvings on it!
OCTOBER 12
THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
OCTOBER 12
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2000:
The late Cliff Edwards (the voice of Jiminy Cricket) is among the 10
inducted as Disney Legends. The ceremony is held in Burbank at the Disney
Legends Plaza at the Disney Studio Lot.
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"Gini was a very special lady who always took great pride in the historic role she played in our studio's
history. In fact, she liked to remind everyone that it all started with Alice, not Mickey Mouse."
-Roy E. Disney on Disney Legend Virginia Davis
2000 Disney Legends
2008 WDW Ambassadors announced
2009:
George Kalogridis, who previously oversaw Anaheim theme parks’ operations, takes
over on this day as the new president of the Disneyland Resort. Kalogridis, age 55,
replaces Ed Grier, who announced his retirement last week and had his last day Friday October 9. For 38 years,
Kalogridis has worked at the company, starting as a busboy at the opening of the Contemporary Resort at Walt
Disney World in Florida, serving as a general manager of the Grand Floridian Beach Resort, and rising up to
EPCOT's vice president.
Walt Disney World Resort welcomes another male calf to the giraffe herd at
Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Weighing 153 pounds, Bolo is born to second-time mother Big Girl, who first
birthed a female calf in November 2005. Bolo is the second baby giraffe to be born in the last 7 days at Disney's
Animal Kingdom.
Laura Michelle Kelly reprises her role of Mary Poppins at the New Amsterdam
Theatre on Broadway. An Olivier Award-winning English actress and singer who originally achieved
critical acclaim in 2004 for the role of Mary in London, Kelly takes over the role on this day from Scarlett Strallen.
SEASON 2 EPISODE 5
1990:
Touchstone Pictures releases the comedy Mr. Destiny, starring Jim Belushi. Unhappy
Larry Burrows (Belushi) sees what his life could've been like, had he made that winning home run as a teenager.
2010:
Disney's touring version of the smash hit Broadway musical
Beauty and the Beast begins performances at the Majestic Theater in
San Antonio, Texas (through the 17th).
Over in Anaheim, two Orange County residents are named Disneyland Resort
ambassadors during a ceremony in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle. For two years
(starting January 1) René Torrico, 29, and Jolie Hales, 28, will serve as representatives of Disneyland at
community and company events, including visiting children at hospitals.
Mullholand Madness, an opening-day attraction at Disney California Adventure, closes.
It will be refurbished into Goofy's Sky School.
Disney Cruise Line is named the top cruise line by the readers of Condé Nast
Traveler magazine at the 2010 Readers' Choice Awards ceremony in New York
City. Samantha Brown, renowned travel expert and television host on The Travel Channel, presents the
award to Disney Cruise Line President Karl Holz at the gala.
Disney World’s Animal Kingdom welcomes Willow, a one-year-old giraffe calf.
Willow was transferred from the Virginia Zoo to DAK based on the recommendation of the
Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
2005:
Disney Chief Executive Officer Robert Iger announces the availability of Disney- and
ABC-owned TV show episodes through Apple Computer's online iTunes store. This makes
Disney the very first to license TV episodes for download on Apples iTunes Store. Desperate Housewives, Lost, Night
Stalker, That’s So Raven, and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody are the first shows available.
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2012:
Some 4.9 million viewers tune in to watch the debut of the Halloween-
themed Disney Channel Original Movie Girl Vs. Monster. The film stars
Olivia Holt as Skylar Lewis, a teenage girl who discovers on the eve of Halloween that she is
a fifth-generation monster hunter. Before she can practice the family tradition, the monsters
will try to stop her! The fantasy teen comedy also features Brendan Meyer as Henry (Skylar's
best friend), Kerris Dorsey as Sadie (Skylar's nervous best friend), Luke Benward as Ryan
Dean (a musician who has a crush on Skylar), and Katherine McNamara as Myra Santelli
(Ryan's ex-girlfriend who at first resents Skylar).
Girl Vs. Monster is followed by the premiere of the family sitcom Dog
With a Blog. A comedy that is told from the pup's perspective, the cast includes
Genevieve Knight Hannelius, Blake Michael, Francesca Capaldi, and Stephen Full as the
voice of Stan the talking dog.
Cast members Tye Arnold and Richard Tamayo are announced as the new Walt Disney World ambassadors in a morning ceremony at Epcot.
Til the Casket Drops, the debut studio album by singer-songwriter ZZ Ward, is released on Disney's Hollywood Records.
October 12
2013:
More than 23,000 Disney fans from all across Japan gather for three days of
dazzling presentations, special screenings, eye-popping exhibits, and concerts,
at the very first D23 Expo Japan held at the Tokyo Disney Resort.
2019:
Both parks at Tokyo Disney Resort as well as Ikspiari (the shopping area) close on this day due to the threat of Typhoon Hagibis. It is the first closure of the parks since the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. The resort is expecting to reopen at noon on Sunday, October 13th.
2018:
Coop & Cami Ask the World, a comedy television series created by Boyce Bugliari and Jamie McLaughlin premieres on Disney Channel. The series stars Dakota Lotus and Ruby Rose Turner, as Coop and Cami, two middle school-aged siblings who crowdsource their decision-making online. Starring alongside them are Olivia Sanabia, Albert Tsai, Paxton Booth, and Rebecca Metz.
Quiero Volver, the second solo album by Argentine singer/actress Martina 'Tini' Stoessel, is released by Disney's Hollywood Records.
2014:
Season 2 of the animated Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. debuts on Disney XD with part 1 of the episode "Planet Hulk".
1993:
Not Richard, But Dick, the seventh studio album by punk rockers The Dead Milkmen,
is released by Disney's Hollywood Records.
Actor Leon Ames passes away at age 91 in California. His Disney credits included the features The Monkey's Uncle, The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, Son of Flubber, and The Absent Minded Professor. (Ames is best remembered for playing fatherly figures in such films as Meet Me in St. Louis and Little Women. He was also one of the founders of the Screen Actors Guild in 1933.)
2020:
Actress Conchara Ferrell passes away at age 77 in California. Best known for playing Berta the housekeeper for twelve seasons of the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men, her Disney/ABC voice credits included Dinosaurs, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, and the animated feature Frankenweenie.
