1923:
The Disney Brothers Studio is founded as a partnership the day after Walt and his
older brother Roy sign a contract with M. J. Winkler (a New York cartoon distributor)
to produce a series of animated short subjects entitled Alice Comedies. At this time, the
Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio is located on Kingswell Ave in Los Angeles, California. It is a structure (in the
back of a realty office) that the brothers are renting - although in February 1924 they will move into the building
next door, taking over the whole first floor. On this day, Walt also pens a letter to the parents of actress Virginia
Davis persuading them to move to Hollywood (from Kansas City) so that she can star in his new
combination live-action and animated shorts.
1960:
The TV series Walt Disney Presents kicks off its seventh season on ABC.
1903:
Award-winning animator, director and Disney Legend Hamilton Luske
is born in Illinois. Joining the Disney Studios in 1931, he contributed to such Disney
classics as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (the first animator put on the production by
Walt Disney himself), Pinocchio, Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Peter Pan, and
Mary Poppins (for which he won an Oscar for Best Effects, Special Visual Effects).
1925:
Actress Angela Lansbury is born in Regent's Park, London, England. She supplied
the voice for Mrs. Potts (the castle's head housekeeper who is transformed into an enchanted teapot) in
Disney's 1991 Beauty and The Beast. Lansbury is heard on the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack, in which she contributed vocals to "Be Our Guest,", "Something There," and the title track, "Beauty and the Beast." In 1971 she starred in the live-action Bedknobs and Broomsticks portraying Miss Eglantine Price (a witch in training and an inexperienced broom flyer). Her Disney credits also include hosting a segment of Fantasia 2000 and playing Balloon Lady in the 2018 Mary Poppins Returns. With a career spanning over seven decades, Lansbury is best known for
her film and theater work and for her television role as writer Jessica Fletcher on the series Murder, She Wrote.
1938:
Disney's first full-length animated feature
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is released in Finland.
1959:
The TV series Walt Disney Presents airs episode 128 - "Killers of the High Country." Narrated by Winston Hibler, an age-old conflict pits mountain lion against man.
1973:
Walt Disney Productions celebrates its 50th anniversary!
1984:
Actor Trevor Blumas, who appeared in Disney's 2005 Ice Princess as Teddy Harwood, is born in London, Ontario, Canada.
1997:
The 27th annual Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Golf Classic tees off. (David Duval will go on to win.)
1998:
At the Disney Legends Ceremony and luncheon at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, two Disney "Alices" join the group. Virginia Davis, considered to be the first 'Disney Star,' hired by 21-year-old Walt Disney in Kansas City for his silent "Alice Comedies" and Kathryn Beaumont-Levine, whose voice and personality were essential parts of Disney's "Alice In Wonderland," are inducted. The new Disney Legends
Plaza is also dedicated at The Walt Disney Studios to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the The Walt Disney
Company! A large replica of the Legends Award (like the one in Disneyland Paris) is added to the plaza.
Touchstone Pictures releases the horror-drama Beloved. Starring Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover,
and Thandie Newton, it is based on Toni Morrison's 1987 novel of the same name. In 1873 Ohio, a mother of three is troubled by her horrific slavery past and her desperate actions for freedom. As a result, her home is haunted by a
furious poltergeist.
2001:
Facing a drop in theme park visitors since the terrorist attacks in September, it is
reported that Walt Disney World has postponed the opening of their new resort,
Pop Century. The first phase of the resort had been scheduled to open in March.
Edward B. "Ted" Crowell of Orlando, Florida, an engineer who became vice
president of facilities at Disney World during his 34-year career with the company,
passes away at age 71. Crowell started as an engineer at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, in 1958
and was credited with designing the "Q" lines; a compact way to snake visitors into rides and attractions. Sent to
Orlando before Walt Disney World was built to check road access, Crowell moved to Florida in 1969 to oversee
park construction. He also designed the E-ticket, used to admit visitors to the hottest rides during the early years
when Disney World visitors used coupon books to access park attractions. Retired since 1992, he was heavily
involved in volunteer work, dividing his time among Meals on Wheels, Sand Lake Hospital, Give Kids the World
and House of Hope.
Milagros, the second album by singer/dancer Myra (but her first Spanish language album), is released under Hollywood Records.
2002:
Jamie-Lynn Sigler (of HBO's The Soprano's) debuts as the
new star of Disney's Broadway show Beauty and the Beast.
2003:
The redesigned Disney exhibit at the Burbank Historical Society complex in
California is unveiled. The display gives an historical account of the evolution of animation, with a major
focus on Audio-Animatronics technology (which was introduced at Disneyland in 1963 in the Enchanted Tiki
Room and Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln attractions).
The Walt Disney Company recognizes 11 honorees as 2003
Disney Legends at a ceremony held at Disney Legends Plaza on the studio lot
in Burbank, California.
Leonard Shannon, one of Hollywood's top motion picture publicists and a 14-year
veteran of Disney's publicity department, passes away at his home in Goleta,
California. During his early days with Disney, Shannon helped to publicize the enormously popular Davy
Crockett films for the Disneyland television series.
2004:
The Game of LIFE Pirates of the Caribbean is released.
The Wonderful World of Disney airs "Growing Pains: Return of the Seavers."
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1977:
Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and guitarist John Mayer is born in Bridgeport, Connecticut. His version of the classic song "Route 66" appears on the 2006 soundtrack
for the Disney/Pixar Cars.
Also born on this day - actress Amanda Tepe in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her Disney Channel
credits include Wizards of Waverly Place, Cory in the House, and That's So Raven. (Fans of General Hospital
will recognize her as Colleen McHenry.)
High School Musical was Disney
Channel's most successful movie
at the time it aired (January 20,
2006), with 7.7 million viewers
in its first
broadcast.
2007:
High School Musical on Tour, a new stage version of the hit Disney Channel movie, begins a series of performances at Auditorium Theatre in Rochester, New York.
Walt Disney Records releases A Disney Channel Holiday. The CD features performances
by Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, The Cheetah Girls, Aly & AJ, and stars of High School Musical.
Walt Disney's very first Kingswell Ave garage/studio (part of his Uncle Robert's home used before Walt and Roy
officially began the Disney Brothers Studio in 1923) was moved to the Garden Grove Historical Society Stanley
Ranch Museum at 12174 Euclid Street ... not too far from the Disneyland Resort theme park.
See October 20 1984 to learn more!
2006:
The music video for the Aly & AJ song "Greatest Time of Year" debuts after the
broadcast of the Disney Channel Original movie Twitches. The tune, from their Acoustic
Hearts of Winter Christmas-theme album, is being used to promote the Disney feature The Santa Clause 3.
1953:
Disney's Peter Pan is released in Australia.
1931:
Disney's Silly Symphony cartoon The Spider and the Fly, directed by Wilfred
Jackson, is released. When a kitchen is filled with houseflies, a spider plays his web like a harp, attracting a pair of them. When the female is trapped, the male summons the cavalry, which arrives riding horseflies, riding dragonflies to drop pepper bombs, firing champagne bottles, and ultimately setting the web on fire and catching the spider on flypaper when he falls.
2008:
Three-thousand people attend the premiere screening of High School Musical 3
at the University of Southern California's Galen Centre, home of the Trojan basketball team. While being billed a "world premiere," the $40 million movie has premiered in London already as well as Madrid and Paris. It is scheduled for a theatrical release in the U.S. on October 24.
OCTOBER 16
THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
OCTOBER 16
Disney Brothers Studio founded
D23 Day
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1996:
Imagineer X Atencio and animator Bill Peet are among the 10 honored as Disney Legends on this day. The ceremony is held at the Disney Legends Promenade (sidewalk area in front of
the Disney Studio Theatre).
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2009:
Disney's A Christmas Carol Train Tour pulls into Miami, Florida for 3 days.
The 4th (and final season) of the ABC-TV drama-comedy series Ugly Betty kicks off with two
back-to-back episodes: "The Butterfly Effect (Part 1)" and "The Butterfly Effect (Part 2)."
D23
The
film's soundtrack was the
best-selling album in the
United States for 2006.
2011:
More than 14,000 walkers descend onto the Disneyland Resort for the 21st
annual CHOC Walk in the Park, raising $1.6 million for patient care and
research of childhood illnesses at Children’s Hospital Orange County.
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October 16
2013:
Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives, presented by D23: The Official Disney Fan Club, opens at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago on the 90th anniversary of The Walt Disney Company. An exhibition which encompasses more than 300 artifacts from nine decades of Disney history, it will run through May 4, 2014.
Toy Story of Terror!, a 21-minute computer-animated Halloween television special produced by Pixar Animation Studios & Disney Television Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures, premieres on ABC. Based on the Disney Pixar Toy Story movies, it is set after the events of Toy Story 3. The special follows the toys on a road trip, when a flat tire leads Bonnie and her mother to spend the night in a roadside motel. After Mr. Potato Head goes missing, the others begin to search for him, but they find themselves caught up in a mysterious sequence of events that leads them to a big conspiracy.
2015:
Bridge of Spies, an historical biography spy thriller directed by Steven
Spielberg, is released in North America by Disney's Touchstone Pictures. The film
is based on the 1960 U-2 Incident, in which a lawyer named James Donovan, played by Tom Hanks,
is thrust into the center of the Cold War when he is given a mission to negotiate the release of Francis
Gary Powers, a pilot whose plane was shot down in the Soviet Union. The cast includes Mark Rylance, Scott Shepherd, Amy Ryan, Sebastian Koch, and Alan Alda.
Bridge of Spies (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is released on Disney's Hollywood Records. It features 15 musical cues by composer Thomas Newman.
Also released on Hollywood Records is singer Demi Lovato's 5th album Confident.
While Lovato co-wrote most of the songs on the album, she worked with writers and producers such as Max Martin, Ryan Tedder, Steve Mac, Rami and Stargate, among others. Confident will be nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards, marking the first Grammy nomination of Lovato's career
2012:
Make Your Mark: Ultimate Playlist, a compilation album featuring musical artists
associated with or popularized by Disney Channel, is released by Walt Disney Records.
The collection includes performances by Bridgit Mendler, Debby Ryan, Ross Lynch, Zendaya, Bella Thorne,
China Anne McClain, Luke Benward, Drew Ryan Scott and Olivia Holt.
2017:
The fourth season of the animated series Star Wars Rebels airs on Disney XD
with the episode "Heroes of Mandalore".
Disney Junior airs the 3rd season of the animated Mission Force One (previously known as
Miles from Tomorrowland). The show centers on the Callisto family who live on a spaceship in the year 2501.
1975:
Actress Kellie Martin is born in Riverside, California. Probably best known for her role
as Rebecca "Becca" Thatcher in Life Goes On (1989–1993), her Disney voice credits include 4 episodes of the Aladdin series (as Sadira), A Goofy Movie (as Roxanne) and Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas (as Mona). She also appeared in a 2009 episode of the ABC medical series Grey's Anatomy.
"Jake Saves Bucky" a DVD collection of Jake and the Never Land Pirates is released.
It includes the episodes "Jake Saves Bucky" Full Length Adventure, "Peter's Musical Pipes/The Never Night Star,"
"Captain Hook's Hooks/Mr. Smee's Pet," "Race-Around Rock!/Captain Hook is Missing!," and "Captain Hook's and Lagoon/Undersea Bucky!" Jake and the Never Land Pirates is a musical and interactive children's animated
television series shown on Disney Junior.
2018:
The new ABC crime drama series The Rookie debuts on television. The series follows John Nolan, played by Nathan Fillion, a man in his forties, who becomes the oldest rookie at the Los Angeles Police Department.
ABC also debuts season 5 of the sitcom Black-ish with the episode "Gap Year".
1962:
Musician and actor Flea is born Michael Peter Balzary in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Best known as a founding member and the bassist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, he and his band mates appeared in Touchstone's 1986 feature Tough Guys. As a voice actor, Flea's credits include Inside Out (2015) as
Mind Cop Jake and Toy Story 4 (2019) as Caboom TV Announcer.
1978:
Actor Daniel Kountz is born in Portland, Oregon. He played Kal in the 2001 Disney Channel Original Movie Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge.
2020:
Clouds, a musical drama film directed and produced by Justin Baldoni, begins to stream on Disney+. Young musician Zach Sobiech (played by Fin Argus) discovers his cancer has spread, leaving him just a few months to live. With limited time, he follows his dream and makes an album, unaware that it will soon be a viral music phenomenon. The filmis based upon the memoir "Fly a Little Higher: How God Answered a Mom's Small Prayer in a Big Way" by Laura Sobiech.
Also debuting on Disney+ is the docuseries Meet the Chimps. About the residents of Chimp Haven, a 200-acre chimpanzee sanctuary in Louisiana, it is narrated by Jane Lynch.
1940:
Actor Barry Corbin is born in Lamesa, Texas. He supplied the voice of Ol' Jammer in the 2014 Planes: Fire & Rescue and appeared in 3 episodes of ABC's Modern Family as Merle Tucker. (Fans of the CBS comedy-drama Northern Exposure will remember Corbin as multi-millionaire & former astronaut Maurice Minnifield.)
2023:
Disney Legends and luminaries celebrate the 100th anniversary of The Walt Disney Company at Walt Disney's Historic Mansion on Woking Way in Los Angeles, California. In attendance are Disney Legends Tony Baxter, Bill Farmer, Bob Gurr, and Floyd Norman; Bret Iwan; Michael-Leon Wooley, John Stamos and Caitlin McHugh Stamos; and members of the Disney family.
"Once Upon a Studio," a live-action/animated fantasy comedy crossover short film written and directed by Dan Abraham and Trent Correy, debuts on Disney Channel and Disney+. In the film, Disney characters come to life from pictures hanging on the walls of the Roy E. Disney Animation Building following the end of a usual work day. First world premiering at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival during the opening day celebration on June 11, 2023, it had its first public showing on ABC on October 15 (as part of "The Wonderful World of Disney: Disney's 100th Anniversary Celebration").
