2001:
Disney's "Walt Disney Treasures" series releases The Complete Davy
Crockett Televised Series, Disneyland USA, Mickey Mouse In Living Color,
and Silly Symphonies. Each title is released as a special 2-disc DVD.
Cast members of "The Lion King" and "Aida" perform at the Tree of
Life & Festival of Lights at California Plaza Watercourt, in downtown
Los Angeles.
The Travel Channel airs Great Hotels - Disney's Grand Floridian, Walt Disney World Resort hosted by Samantha Brown, for the first time.
The television special Mickey Mouse in Living Color airs. Host
Leonard Maltin talks about Mickey Mouse's career and shows cuts
from early movies.
Disney's Touchstone Pictures releases The Royal Tenenbaums. A comedy-
drama about three gifted siblings who experience great success in youth, and even greater
disappointment and failure after their eccentric father leaves them in their adolescent years, the
film stars Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Bill Murray.
2005:
Film producer Gregg Hoffman passes away at the age of 42 in Los Angeles,
California. In 1995, he was hired at Disney, where he helped develop such live-action films as
Inspector Gadget, 101 Dalmatians and The Parent Trap. Hoffman later became a senior vice president of production and earned a producer credit on Disney's George of the Jungle.
1949:
Actor Jeff Bridges, the star of Disney's 1982 Tron and its 2010 sequel, is born to
Dorothy Dean and actor Lloyd Bridges in Los Angeles, California. He also starred in
Touchstone Pictures' 2006 release Stick It.
1952:
Walt Disney writes his annual birthday letter to his sister Ruth (who will celebrate on December 6). His opening words include: "It's time to wish you Happy Birthday
again, in which I am joined by Lilly and the girls." He writes of family, his hobbies and the retirement of their
brother Herb from the Post Office. As usual, Walt sends along a check as a birthday gift.
1957:
The television series Disneyland airs the episode "Mars and Beyond." The
program is hosted by Walt and a mechanical man named Garco. Popular Disney voice artist Paul Frees
narrates as well as provides all the voices. ("Mars and Beyond" is the third installment of what will be a
highly acclaimed and influential series about space exploration.)
Walt's annual birthday letter to his sister Ruth begins with: "It is time for a
Happy Birthday greeting again and I must say it seems only a short time ago
that I sent your last birthday letter ... the years really do tick by, don't they?" He goes on to describe he and Lily's recent trip to Europe. A check is included with the letter as a gift for Ruth.
1960:
Walt Disney Presents debuts the first Daniel Boone episode titled "The Warrior's
Path." A four-part miniseries based on the life of frontiersman Daniel Boone, a fast-talking salesman
convinces Boone (played by Dewey Martin) to pull up stakes and move from North Carolina to the "promised
land" of Kentucky. Boone, his wife Rebecca, and their friends are assured that if they travel along "The Warrior's
Path," a secret Indian trail, their journey will be a safe one. Unfortunately, the Indians they encounter along the
way are dangerous.
1987:
Actor and musician Orlando Brown is born in Los Angeles, California. His Disney credits
include That's So Raven, Fillmore!, Max Keeble's Big Move, The Proud Family, Eddie's Million Dollar Cook-Off
and episodes of Lizzie McGuire and Phil Of The Future.
1998:
A 1931 Mickey Mouse doll sells for 4,370 pounds (about $7,250) at a Christie's Teddy Bear auction in London, England.
1999:
A Disneyland Holiday Celebration airs on KCOP in Los Angeles. This one hour TV special,
featuring future American Idol host Ryan Seacrest, takes viewers on a tour of Disneyland's entertainment and
attractions for the holiday season. Among the Disney performers are The Dapper Dans, the Main Street
Townsfolk Carolers, and ragtime piano player Rod Miller.
Animator/Imagineer Marc Davis (one of Walt's "Nine Old Men") and his wife Alice
(also an Imagineer) are interviewed and filmed for a television special about Walt
Disney. (Sadly Marc will pass away a little over 5 weeks later.)
"Daisy's Road Trip" airs on ABC-TV as part of Disney's Mickey Mouse Works series.
2003:
Michael Eisner (Disney chairman-CEO) is honored at the 65th annual Will
Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation's Pioneer of the Year dinner.
Singer Phil Collins (known for his work on Disney's Tarzan) performs at the event at the Century
Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.
The Travel Channel airs Inside Walt Disney Studios: Paris for the first time.
Walt Disney World's new Pop Century Resort hosts an "Open Mouse" for
Cast Members only. Phase I, the Classic Years, will open December 14.
2006:
Nominations for the Annies, the International Animated Film Society equivalent of the Oscars, are announced. The Disney-Pixar film Cars is nominated for nine awards including best animated feature and best director for John Lasseter. Composer Randy Newman also receives a nomination for the film's soundtrack. (Winners will be announced at the 34th annual event for achievement in animation February 11, 2007.)
1996:
Rocker Bryan Adams performs at Pleasure Island in Florida.
Walt Disney had an apartment built
above the fire station on Main Street USA
in Disneyland. Employees would know
when he was in the apartment when the
light was on
in the
window
at night. To
this day a
light is left
on in his
memory.
2007:
Walt Disney Records releases Pirates Of The Caribbean: Soundtrack
Treasures Collection a 5-disc box set featuring music from all 3 films.
1958:
Actor Steve Blanchard, the longest running Beast in Beauty and the Beast on Broadway, is born in York, Pennsylvania. He played the Beast for the last eight years of the show's Broadway run.
1982:
The Wonderful World of Disney airs "A Disney Christmas Gift" (the 11th episode of the twenty-ninth season) on CBS-TV. It features Christmas-themed animated shorts with Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck combined with excerpts from Disney feature films as well as the 1933 classic short
"The Night Before Christmas."
DECEMBER 4
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Today is Santas' List Day
THIS DAY MADE
IN THE
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DECEMBER 4
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1971:
Walt Disney Productions releases The Aristocats (the twentieth
animated feature in the Disney animated features canon) in Sweden.
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"It all begins with dreams. As a kid, I was a dreamer. I’d sit in class and I’d be way off. What I was dreaming about I don’t know. I was always getting lectured: ‘Now, Walter, I know you’re intelligent’. I was always a creative kid. I built things in the backyard. I organized the kids of the neighborhood to build a tree house." -Walt Disney
1942:
Disney's Goofy short How to Fish, directed by Jack Kinney, is released.
Goofy demonstrates how to fish ... although he's really showing us how not to fish!
DEC
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SEASON 4 EPISODE 12
2009:
Singer Celine Dion is taped performing "O’ Come All Ye Faithful" in the lobby of Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa in Disney World for the
"Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade" ABC-TV special.
Actress Valerie Boyle joins the Broadway cast of Mary Poppins as household cook Mrs. Brill. The musical marks Boyle's Broadway debut, though she originated the role of Mrs. Brill with the Mary Poppins North American touring company.
Disney's Miramax Films releases Everybody's Fine, starring Robert DeNiro, Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale and Sam Rockwell. Widower Frank Goode (DeNiro), who realizes his only connection to his family was through his wife, sets off on an impromptu road trip to reunite with each of his grown children.
1959:
The TV series Walt Disney Presents airs "Texas John Slaughter: The Robber Stallion." Filmed in Frio Town, Texas, it is the seventh in a series of 17 episodes based on John Horton Slaughter, an actual historical figure who helped clear the Texas territory of outlaws and bandits.
1966:
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color airs part three of "The Moon-Spinners" on NBC-TV. A feature film originally released in 1964, it stars Hayley Mills, Joan Greenwood,
Peter McEnery, and Eli Wallach.
1992:
Disney's Hollywood Pictures releases the comedy The Distinguished Gentleman
starring Eddie Murphy. A con man named Thomas Jefferson Johnson (Murphy) uses the passing of the
long time Congressman from his district, Jeff Johnson, to get elected to Congress.
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2011:
A new television series Austin & Ally premieres on Disney Channel. Created by Kevin
Kopelow and Heath Seifert (the writers and producers of Disney Channel sitcoms Sonny with a Chance and
Jonas) the comedy centers on the unique relationship between a young songwriter, Ally Dawson, and
Austin Ray, the overnight internet sensation who gains sudden notoriety after performing one of Ally's songs.
