1963:
Actor Tate Donovan, the voice of Disney's 1997 Hercules, is born in Tenafly, New Jersey. His voice can also be heard in the animated television movie Hercules: Zero to Hero, Hercules: The Animated Series, and Disney's video game Kingdom Hearts II. (TV fans
will remember him as Jimmy Cooper from The O.C. and Tom Shayes from Damages.)
2004:
In preparation for the arrival of Hurricane Jeanne - which is expected to come
ashore late in the evening or early the following day - Walt Disney World closes
its theme parks at 7 pm. Preparations in Central Florida are rushed and sudden, as it was first
thought the storm would pass safely offshore.
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1902:
Songwriter Hall of Famer Al Hoffman is born in Minsk, Russia. At age 6, he and his family moved to Seattle, Washington. Starting out as a drummer, he moved to New York City and began writing songs. Along with Mack David and Jerry Livingston, Hoffman wrote such classic Disney tunes as "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes," "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo," and "So This Is Love" (for the 1950 Cinderella). Among Hoffman's non-Disney hit songs: "Hot Diggity" (a #1 hit for Perry Como), "Papa Loves Mambo" (also recorded by Como) and the novelty tune "Mairzy Doats."
1931:
Disney's Mickey Mouse cartoon Fishin' Around is released. In this short (directed
by Bert Gillett) Mickey and Pluto fish in a "No Fishing" area ... until they have to escape from a
pursuing game warden!
1956:
Inventor, scientist, author and engineer William Daniel Hillis is born in Baltimore, Maryland. He worked for a short time as vice president of Walt Disney Imagineering before starting his own company Apple Minds, Inc. with Bran Ferren (also an Imagineer). At Disney, Hillis developed new technologies and business strategies for Disney's theme parks, television, motion pictures, Internet and consumer products businesses. He also designed new theme park rides, a full sized walking robot dinosaur and various micro mechanical devices.
1957:
The Disneyland television series airs the episode "Adventure in Wildwood Heart."
Walt takes viewers to the Studio Morgue where great ideas are stored and later used for future projects.
He also talks with Winston Hibler about the making of another True-Life Fantasy feature called Perri.
1959:
ABC-TV airs the last episode of the Mickey Mouse Club.
Later that evening, Walt Disney Presents airs the episode "Tomorrow the Moon."
1960:
The Walt Disney Presents TV series airs for the first time on a Sunday evening with
the episode "Davy Crockett's Keelboat Race." (The Disney series had previously
aired on Fridays and as the former Disneyland on Wednesdays.)
1966:
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color airs the episode
"The Legend of El Blanco" on NBC.
1977:
The Wonderful World of Disney airs the 2-hour episode
"King of the Grizzlies" on NBC.
1982:
The CBS television series Walt Disney airs part 1 of the 1979 film
"The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again."
2001:
Disney's touring production of Aida opens in Dallas, Texas.
(The show will run through October 20th.)
Disney Interactive releases Ultimate Ride for Windows in the US.
Players can build and ride their own virtual roller coasters.
In 1961, the monorail track
was expanded to connect
the park with the
Disneyland Hotel.
1944:
Actor Michael Douglas, who portrayed Danny in Disney's 1972 live-action Napoleon and Samantha, is born to actor Kirk Douglas and actress Diana Dill in New Brunswick, New Jersey. (Co-starring in the TV series The Streets of San Francisco from 1972 to 1976, film fans will know Douglas from such features as The China Syndrome, Romancing the Stone, Wall Street, and Fatal Attraction.) He played Hank Pym in the films Ant-Man (2015), Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019).
2007:
High School Musical on Tour, a new stage version of the hit
Disney Channel movie, begins a series of performances at Shea's Performing
Arts Center in Buffalo, New York.
The Haunted Halloween at Hong Kong Disneyland kicks off with over
ten mysterious attractions and entertainment offerings filled with ghostly
encounters! (The special event will run through the end of October.)
The Disney-owned Lyric Street releases Still Feels Good, the fifth studio album
by the American country music group Rascal Flatts.
TCG (short for "The Cheetah Girls"), the second and final studio album by The Cheetah Girls, is released on Hollywood Records.
T
O
U
R
2005:
Disney Channel debuts "The Fall," the second episode of the new series
Life With Derek.
Disney's premiere of the live-action feature film The Greatest Game Ever
Played takes place at the El Capitan theater in Hollywood. Starring Shia LaBeouf as
golf champion Francis Ouimet, the film will open September 30.
Season 2 of ABC-TV's Desperate Housewives kicks off with the episode "Next."
Season two of ABC's medical drama Grey's Anatomy premieres with the episode "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head."
1946:
According to The Hollywood Reporter, many recording artists (such as Dinah Shore,
the Merry Macs, Woody Herman, and the Modernaires) have already released their
versions of Song of the South's music even before the film's premiere (which is
scheduled for November).
1953:
Marvin Davis (future Disney Legend) completes his second-generation "hub" layout
of the proposed Disneyland. Davis (not to be confused with animator/Imagineert Marc Davis)
will continue to work closely with Walt Disney in designing and laying-out virtually every aspect of the
park's conceptualization and architecture.
2008:
Lester Robert "Bob" Jackson, former personal assistant to Walt Disney, passes
away from leukemia at age 77. Jackson worked closely with Disney on projects such as the
1964 New York World's Fair and the press conference that announced Disney World's groundbreaking. He
also handled dignitary relations such as meetings with presidents and their families, foreign leaders and
celebrities. He worked for Disney until 1971 and went on to work with the U.S. Department of Commerce as
director of Information Services, director of public relations for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing
Arts in Washington, and later director of Tourism for the City of Miami Beach, Florida.
Season 3 of the ABC-TV drama-comedy series Ugly Betty kicks off with the episode "The Manhattan Project."
ABC-TV premieres season 5 of the medical drama series Grey's Anatomy with the episode "Dream a Little Dream of Me." The fifth season has thirteen roles receiving star billing, with twelve of them returning from the previous season, out of which eight are part of the original cast from the first season. All of the thirteen regulars portray surgeons who work in the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital.
SEPTEMBER 25
THIS DAY MADE
IN THE
USA
SEPTEMBER 25
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2009:
The "most delicious time of the year" begins at Disney World with the 14th annual
Epcot International Food & Wine Festival. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy kicks off the annual Eat to the Beat
Consert Series. (The festival will run for the next 6 weeks.)
The final performance at the Adventurers Club at Pleasure Island, Florida takes place
as part of Congaloosh 2009 (a weekend-long convention to celebrate the popular
Adventurers Club). Although the final public performance had taken place September 27, 2008 (the final night
for all clubs in Pleasure Island), the Adventurers Club was being used for private parties over the last year.
Over on the west coast, Disney's Halloween Time returns to the Disneyland Resort.
Debuting for the first time ever is the "Halloween Screams - A Villainous Surprise in the Skies Fireworks" show.
Debuting is Space Mountain: Ghost Galaxy, the first time the popular Tomorrowland attraction has received a creepy Halloween overlay.
The science fiction film Surrogates, starring Bruce Willis, is released through
Touchstone Pictures. Two FBI agents investigate the mysterious murder of a college student linked to the man
who helped create a high-tech surrogate phenomenon which allows people to purchase unflawed robotic versions of themselves. The cast includes Radha Mitchell, Rosamund Pike, and James Francis Ginty.
"I've wanted to work at Disney ever since I was a child... I remember listening to Walt Disney on television
describing the 'Imagineers' who designed Disneyland. I decided then that someday I would be an Imagineer. Later,
I became interested in a different kind of magic - the magic of computers. Now I finally have the perfect job -
bringing computer magic into Disney." -William Daniel Hillis
1925:
Disney's Alice comedy short Alice Chops the Suey, featuring Margie Gay,
previews at Bard's Hollywood Theater in Los Angeles.
Today's Preview
The original Disneyland Monorail
was a round trip sightseeing
ride with no stops.
1942:
The Donald Duck cartoon The Vanishing Private, directed by Jack King
and written by Carl Barks, is released. When soldier Donald (voiced by Clarence
Nash) is put on camouflage duty to paint a large cannon, he comes across an experimental
invisible paint. He finds that it works especially well on himself when he is trying to hide from
villainous commander Pete (voiced by Billy Bletcher). With music by Oliver Wallace,
The Vanishing Private has been animated by a staff that includes Charles A. Nichols, Wolfgang
Reitherman and Bill Tytla.
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14th Food & Wine Festival begins
Dixieland at Disneyland
"Marvin was very conscientious about developing the Park. He worked extremely hard to help bring
Walt's dream to life, exactly as Walt envisioned it." -Disney Legend John Hench
1964:
The 5th Annual Dixieland at Disneyland takes place for the first of two evenings.
Musicals guests include Louis Armstrong, Elliott Brothers’ Big Band Dixie, The Ward Singers, Kid Ory with the
Young Men from New Orleans, Burch Mann Dancers, Sharkey Bonano and his Kings of Dixieland, Sweet
Emma Barrett and her New Orleans Jazz Band, and Ben Pollack and his Pick-A-Rib Boys, and
The Firehouse Five Plus 2.
2011:
Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World is featured on the season premiere of
ABC-TV's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. The two-hour episode focuses on the Marshalls,
a military family residing in Fayetteville, North Carolina, who are committed to helping homeless female
veterans. While the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition team work their magic at the Steps-N-Stages Jubilee
House in Fayetteville, the family vacations at Disney World, where they serve as the guests of honor at a
military-family themed parade.
The eighth and final season of ABC-TV's Desperate Housewives debuts with the episode "Secrets That I Never Want to Know."
1999:
The twenty-ninth episode of Disney's Recess, "Kindergarten Derby/The Bet"
premieres on ABC-TV.
2012:
Entertainer Andy Williams passes away at the age of 84 at his home in Branson,
Missouri. With a string of gold albums, a hit TV series and the signature song "Moon River," Ronald
Reagan once praised Williams as a "national treasure." Williams appeared in the 1993 TV special
A Musical Christmas at Walt Disney World, and his renditions of "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year"
and "White Christmas" were used in the feature film The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause.
September 25
"No matter how your heart is grieving - If you keep on believing
the dream that you wish will come true"
2015:
The 20th Epcot International Food & Wine Festival begins at Walt Disney World.
The 53-day festival at Disney’s Epcot theme park expands with new Future World marketplaces. First held in
1996 (for just 30 days), this year's version features 32 new marketplace dishes and 75 new cocktails, beers,
wines and ciders.
1951:
Stage, screen, and voice actor Mark Hamill is born in Oakland, California. He is best known for his role of Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars film series. Since Disney's acquisition of Star Wars, his credits have included Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019). His long list of voice credits include Disney Channel’s Miles from Tomorrowland, My Friends Tigger and Pooh, and Jake and the Never Land Pirates, as well as the Disney-released English-language versions of two films by Japanese master animator Hayao Miyazaki. Hamill was named a Disney Legend in 2017.
2016:
"Evil Reigns Once More," a season 6 special for ABC-TV's
Once Upon a Time, premieres on television.
This is followed by the debut of the sixth season of the fantasy-drama
Once Upon a Time with the episode "The Savior."
1968:
Actor Will Smith is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
He is the Genie in Disney's 2019 live-action Aladdin and portrayed Robert Clayton Dean in the 1998
spy-thriller film Enemy of the State (a Touchstone Pictures production).
1983:
Actor, comedian, & singer-songwriter Donald Glover is born in California. He played the Junior CDE Executive in the 2011 film The Muppets, Lando Calrissian in the 2018 Solo: A Star Wars Story, and Greg in the 2014 Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Glover is also the voice of Simba for the 2019 version of The Lion King.
2013:
Season 5 of the ABC-TV sitcom Modern Family kicks off with the episode "Suddenly,
Last Summer."
Season 2 of ABC's musical drama Nashville debuts with the episode "I Fall to Pieces."
2019:
The 11th season of ABC-TV's Modern
Family debuts. (This will be the final season of
the hit mockumentary series which first aired in
September 2009.)
ABC debuts season 7 of The Goldbergs
with the episode "Vacation." Beverly insists
the family take a road trip to go on vacation to
Disneyland before Erica and Barry go off to college.
Paying homage to the classic 1983 film National
Lampoon's Vacation, this episode was shot at the
Anaheim park. Christine Brinkley and Anthony
Michael Hall (from the 1983 film) make cameo
appearances.
2017:
The Good Doctor, an American medical drama television series based on the 2013 award-winning South Korean series of the same name, debuts on ABC. Produced by Sony Pictures Television and ABC Studios, the series stars Freddie Highmore as Shaun Murphy, a young autistic savant surgical resident at San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital.
2014:
The legal drama series How to Get Away with Murder premieres on ABC-TV.
Viola Davis stars as Annalise Keating, a law professor at a prestigious Philadelphia university who, with five of her students, becomes entwined in a murder plot. The series features an ensemble cast with Alfred Enoch, Jack Falahee, Aja Naomi King, Matt McGorry, and Karla Souza as Keating's students, Charlie Weber and Liza Weil as her employees, and Billy Brown as a detective, who is Annalise's lover.
ABC also premieres season 11 of the medical drama Grey's Anatomy and season 4
of the political thriller Scandal.
2000:
The Disneyland high-speed thrill ride Rocket Rods closes (once again) for a refurbishment that is to last until Spring 2001. (No work will ever be done to the Tomorrowland attraction, instead its closing will be announced in 2001.) Rocket Rods, meant to evoke a futuristic rapid transit system, opened in 1998 on the existing PeopleMover infrastructure as part of the New Tomorrowland project.
1980:
Clifford Joseph Harris Jr., known professionally as T.I., a rapper, actor, songwriter, producer, entrepreneur, record executive, and author, is born in Atlanta, Georgia.
He co-starred in Marvel's film Ant-Man and its sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp, playing the role of Dave.
2020:
Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom debuts on Disney+. From National Geographic, the series provides an all-access pass to explore the magic of nature within Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge and The Seas with Nemo & Friends at EPCOT. Narrated by Josh Gad, the eight-part docu-series introduces viewers to some of the most intriguing animals and incorporates cutting-edge technology.
Secret Society of Second-Born Royals begins streaming on Disney+. The science fantasy action superhero film follows Sam (played by Peyton Elizabeth Lee), a teenage royal rebel second in line to the throne of the kingdom of Illyria. Just as Sam's disinterest in the royal way of life is at an all-time high, she discovers she has super-human abilities and is invited to join a secret society of similar extraordinary second-born royals charged with keeping the world safe.
Walt Disney Records releases Secret Society of Second-Born Royals: Original Soundtrack.
Hong Kong Disneyland reopens once again after being closed due to the worldwide pandemic.
1926:
Actor John Ericson is born in Germany. He played the role of Col. Heller in Disney's 1971 Bedknobs and Broomsticks.
1981:
Actor Lee Norris is born Lee Michael Norris in Greenville, North Carolina. He is best known for his role of Stuart Minkus on ABC's Boy Meets World and its Disney Channel spin-off Girl Meets World.
1949:
Actor, director, poducer & singer Anson Williams is born Anson William Heimlich in Los Angeles, California. Best known for his role as gullible, well-intentioned singer Warren "Potsie" Weber on the television series "Happy Days" (1974–1984), Williams began a much more prolific career as a television director after the series ended. He has directed episodes of "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" and "Lizzie McGuire," as well as "Melrose Place," "Beverly Hills, 90210," and "Star Trek: Voyager." Despite his success as a director and producer, Williams has occasionally returned to his work on "Happy Days" in retrospective ways. He played himself in a 1996 "Happy Days"-themed "Boy
Meets World" episode (which also featured former castmates Tom Bosley and Pat Morita). In 2003, he returned to the role of Potsie for an episode of "Sabrina the Teenage Witch."
