2007:
Tonight is the official opening night for Disney's newest touring production
of "High School Musical" at Chicago's LaSalle Bank Theatre. The show
features an entirely new cast of 35 adult performers and a live orchestra. "High School Musical" will remain at the LaSalle Bank Theatre through September 2 before touring some 60 U.S. cities.
Disney officially acquires the online virtual world known as Club Penguin.
Originally launched in October 2005, it has grown to 700,000 paid subscribers and 12 million users.
2006:
Disney releases Winnie the Pooh Wonderful Word Adventure and The Shaggy Dog each on DVD.
It is announced in Playbill that Stagedoor Manor (the New York summer theatre camp made famous by the movie Camp) will be home to the first stage production of Disney Channel's original movie High School Musical.
The three teachers from Dutchtown Middle School in Geismar, Louisiana, who swept the 2006 Disney Teacher Awards, are celebrated at a Disneyland ceremony in Anaheim. Kathryn Pilcher and LSU alumnae Amanda Mayeaux and Monique Wild are awarded three times for: the 2006 Youth Service America Award, the 2006 Disney Outstanding Middle School Teacher Award and the prestigious 2006 Disney Teacher of the Year Award.
1997:
Bob Penfield, the last of the original Disneyland opening day Cast Members, is
honored for more than 42 years of service. To commemorate his retirement, Bob is honored
with a window on Main Street displaying the legend "Club 55 School of Golf, Bob Penfield, Instructor."
Walt Disney World's Coronado Springs Resort, featuring a Southwestern
U.S.-Mexican theme, opens at 1000 W. Buena Vista Blvd., with 1,967
rooms and suites. Categorized as a 'moderate' resort, it is considered the main convention
hotel at Disney World - offering almost 100,000 square feet of meeting and convention space.
The entire resort circles Lago Dorado, a large lake which features an island that includes the
Dig Site swimming pool.
The Golden Age of Walt Disney Records 1933-1988 by
R. Michael Murray hits bookstore shelves.
The feature Air Bud, about a Golden Retriever who can play basketball, is
released. (The film will gross $4 million in its opening weekend!)
2004:
Classic "Disneylander" Chuck Boyajian, the first Manager of Custodial
operations at the Anaheim park starting in 1955, passes away. He began his career at
Disneyland when Walt Disney himself put Boyajian in charge of the janitorial team - assigning him
the somewhat daunting task of keeping the Magic Kingdom clean. He later assisted with the opening of Walt
Disney World in 1971 and with Tokyo Disneyland in 1983. Boyajian trained a "Disney Dynasty" of Custodial
Hosts and Hostesses, who 50 years later are proud to say that they are members of "The Team that Chuck
Built." A year later, Boyajian will be named a Disney Legend.
1922:
The second Laugh-O-Gram black & white silent cartoon The Four Musicians of
Bremen (adapted from a fairy tale first recorded by the Brothers Grimm) is released.
Walt Disney has written, directed, produced, and co-animated (along with Rudolph Ising) the short.
1936:
Disney's Mickey Mouse cartoon Mickey's Circus is released. Directed by Ben Sharpsteen, the short features the voices of Walt Disney (as Mickey), Marcellite Garner (as Minnie Mouse), and Clarence Nash (as Donald Duck).
1953:
Disney releases the Donald Duck short The New Neighbor. Donald
(voiced by Clarence Nash) moves into a new home, only to discovers his
neighbor is a slob, a mooch, and has an out-of-control dog!
1958:
Disney's 17-minute animated short Paul Bunyan, directed by Les Clark and featuring the voice of Thurl Ravenscroft as Bunyan, is released.
Disneyland sponsors Disney Night at the Hollywood Bowl (in California). The show's highlight is a 1000-foot glide over the audience by Helen "Tiny Kline" Klein dressed as Tinker Bell (for the very first time)! Three years later she will appear nightly at Disneyland to do her part in Tinker Bell’s magical flight.
1995:
The CD Walt Disney's Greatest Hits by the Mike Curb Congregation is released.
Curb is a musician, record company executive, race car owner (in both NASCAR and IRL), and politician who served as Lieutenant Governor of California from 1979-1983. His group's recording of It's a Small World was chosen by Disneyland as the ride's official theme song!
1998:
Disney A to Z: The Updated Official Encyclopedia written by Disney Archivist Dave Smith, is published by Disney's Hyperion Books.
2002:
Once Upon A Toy, a 16,000-square-foot toy store, officially opens its doors at Walt Disney World's Downtown Disney Marketplace.
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1961:
Actor Val Bettin is born in London, England. His Disney voice credits include Tarzan as Professor Porter, The Return of Jafar as The Sultan of Agrabah, and The Great Mouse Detective as Dr. David Q. Dawson.
In August 1965 Walt Disney met
with Brian Epstein - manager of
The Beatles - to discuss the
possibility of the popular Fab
Four performing songs for the
upcoming film The Jungle Book.
Later band member John Lennon
nixed the idea so Walt ended up
using semi-soundalikes to voice
the vultures in the film.
1955:
The publication Popular Science runs the article "Kids' Dream World Comes True." It describes the new Disneyland park (which opened last month) and all of its "fantastic" attractions.
1956:
The trade publication Radio & TV News runs an article titled "Sound Effects Add
Realism To Disneyland." Readers are told that - "A full-time service crew consisting of six technicians is
required to maintain 290 loudspeakers, more than 40 miles of wiring, 13 long-playing magnetic tape playback units,
and some 150 cartridge-type tape program repeaters. In addition, associated timers, amplifiers, and other
equipment is spread over the lot. All in all, there are seven control centers on the grounds at Disneyland."
1957:
The article "If You Plan To Visit Disneyland" appears in the publication Sunset. The article gives advice on how to prepare for a trip to
"the wonderful world of make-believe called Disneyland."
1933:
Comedic actor, chef & author Dom DeLuise is born in Brooklyn,
New York. His Disney credits include the animated TV series Hercules (as the voice of
Bacchus) and the animated feature Oliver & Company (as the voice of Fagin). He also
hosted a 1972 episode of The Mouse Factory. DeLuise is probably best known as a regular in such Mel Brooks films as Blazing Saddles, Silent Movie, History of the World, Part I, Spaceballs and Robin Hood: Men in Tights. His youngest son David DeLuise stars as Jerry Russo on the Disney Channel series Wizards of Waverly Place.
1974:
Disney's live-action The Castaway Cowboy starring James Garner as a Texas rancher who finds himself shanghaied in Hawaii, is released.
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Coronado Springs Resort opens
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2008:
Disney's Touchstone Pictures releases Swing Vote starring Kevin Costner, Paula Patton, Kelsey Grammer, Dennis Hopper, and Nathan Lane.
"I'm actually a thin, serious person, but I play fat and funny, but only for the movies." -Dom DeLuise
1924:
Disney's Alice Comedy Alice the Peacemaker is released. Alice (played by Virginia Davis) breaks up a fight between 2 boys by telling them a story about a feuding cat named Mike and a mouse named Ike.
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1976:
"The Old Disney Magic," an article by John Culhane appears in this day's
issue of The New York Times Magazine. Culhane asks "Can a new generation of artists
make audiences cry the way they did for Snow White?"
1914:
Chuck Keehne, a costumer and an expert on historical dress and costuming, is born in St. Louis, Missouri. First hired by Walt Disney in 1947, Keehne was made Chief of the Wardrobe Department in 1955. His long list of 70 plus Disney credits include The Shaggy Dog, Pollyana, The Love Bug, and The Black Hole. He also created costumes for Disney's TV shows Mickey Mouse Club and Zorro. Keehe stayed as head of Disney's Wardrobe Department until his retirement in 1979.
Paul Bunyan released
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