1971:
Animator and technical genius Ubbe Ert Iwwerks (also known as Ub
Iwerks), passes away at age 70 in Burbank, California. First meeting Walt
Disney in 1919, Iwerks contributed to many of the early Mickey Mouse classics like Plane
Crazy, Steamboat Willie, and Gallopin' Gaucho. He also invented the first multiplane
camera in 1933, a device that used four layers of flat artwork before a horizontal camera to
give animation depth. Iwerks built the device out of parts from an old Chevrolet automobile!
2004:
Radio Disney debuts on the Music Choice network, which allows digital cable
and satellite TV homes and cable-modem subscribers to hear the popular
family station in digital quality.
"Iwerks is Screwy spelled backwards"
-animator Chuck Jones
(who as a youth worked for Ub Iwerks' studio)
1898:
Paul Winkler, the first to establish Disney's presence in
France through publishing, is born in Budapest, Hungary.
1931:
Disney's Mickey Mouse cartoon Mickey Steps Out is released. Directed by Burt Gillett, Mickey and his pal Pluto are all dressed up to call on Minnie ... but an alley cat disrupts their afternoon of music.
1940:
Drummer, singer & actor Ringo Starr is born Richard Starkey in Liverpool, England. First gaining worldwide fame in the 1960s as the drummer for The Beatles, his recording of "When You Wish Upon
A Star" can be heard on the 1988 release STAY AWAKE Various Interpretations of Music from Vintage Disney Films. Starr's 1974 hit "You're Sixteen" was originally written by Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman
(of Disney songwriting fame). Ringo visited Disneyland with his family back in 1970.
1980:
Olympic ice skating champion Michelle Kwan is born in Torrance, California. Her Disney credits include the television specials Reflections on Ice: Michelle Kwan Skates to the Music of Disney's Mulan, Disney's Greatest Hits on Ice, and Michelle Kwan: Princess on Ice. She also supplies the voice of the Shopkeeper in Disney's animated Mulan II and appears as herself in the 2005 live-action film Ice Princess.
1997:
Disneyland's monorail begins operating in one direction only - due to the construction of Disney's California Adventure.
1998:
Disney's Beauty and the Beast plays its 1,762 performance on Broadway.
This breaks the previous record, making it the longest running show ever at the Palace Theater in
New York City!
2000:
Voice actresses June Foray, the voice of Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Tweety Bird's Granny, and many Disney animated characters - such as Lucifer in Cinderella - receives her star on Hollywood Boulevard's Walk of Fame.
The Disney Ambassador Hotel (located at The Tokyo Disney Resort) opens.
Disney's The Kid starring Bruce Willis, Spencer Breslin, and Lily Tomlin is released.
2003:
Disneyland foreman and attractions host Chuck Abbott passes away in Utah. A 36-year veteran of the park (and a member of Club 55 - a group of original Disneyland Cast Members), he worked directly with Walt Disney during the planning and construction of Pirates of the Caribbean. In 1969, Abbott was named "Foreman of the Year" at the Matterhorn. In 1977, he was foreman for the opening of Space Mountain, and returned to the Matterhorn for the big rehab and reopening of the attraction in 1978. During the course of his career, he also served as foreman of the Submarine Voyage, Jungle Cruise, Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland, and many other attractions. In 1987, Abbott conceived and initiated the Cast Member seeing-eye dog fund, which became a highly successful volunteer group. Abbott will be named a Disney Legend in 2005
(a first for an hourly theme park Cast Member).
2006:
Disney's newest feature film Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest opens in theaters the same day the attraction Pirates of the Caribbean re-opens at Disney World's Magic Kingdom. Captain Jack Sparrow and Barbosa (characters from the Pirates of the Caribbean feature films) have been added to the popular attraction. Disney Imagineers have also enhanced the attraction experience with an all-new dynamic digital sound design.
1953:
Disney's animated feature Peter Pan is released in Argentina.
Disneyland's
was modeled after the
first vessel to successfully circumnavigate the globe.
1976:
Disney's live-action comedy feature Gus, about a football-kicking mule and his trainer, is released. The California Atoms are in last place with no hope of moving up, but when the team's mascot becomes the team's kicker, they start winning! The film features Edward Asner, Don Knotts, Gary Grimes, Tim Conway, Dick Van Patten, Bob Crane, Tom Bosley, and football great Johnny Unitas.
1963:
Summer Magic, a live-action Disney feature starring Hayley Mills, Burl Ives,
and Dorothy McGuire, is released. Set in the early 20th century, the film centers around middle-aged widow Margaret Carey (played by McGuire) and her three children, who must bid farewell to their life of luxury in the big city and move to a small country town. (Mills will receive a Golden Globe nomination for her role of Nancy.)
1937:
Disney sound engineer William Garity films activities in the Disney Studio as
publicity for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (to be used by RKO).
1951:
Actress-singer Roz Ryan, the voice of Thalia, Muse of Comedy in both Disney's
animated feature Hercules and TV series Hercules, is born in Detroit, Michigan.
Her Disney credits also include episodes of Kim Possible and Buzz Lightyear of Star Command.
1984:
The Promenade Gifts shop and Restaurant Hokusai both open in Tokyo Disneyland.
1989:
The Disney Channel airs the comedy Ernest Goes to Splash Mountain starring
Jim Varney. Ernest Goes To Splash Mountain chronicles the adventures of Ernest P. Worrell who trains as America's first "Splashtranaut" destined to become the very first person to conquer the Disneyland mountain.
JULY
advertisement
JULY 7
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JULY 7
THIS SITE MADE
IN THE
USA
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When constructed in 1958,
it was the first three-masted
windjammer to have been
built in the United States in
more than 100 years.
In Memory of Ub Iwerks (1901-1971)
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1962:
Meet Me at Disneyland (a limited TV series broadcast live on KTTV directly from the
Anaheim park) airs episode 5 "There’s Something about a Band." The show opens with
scenes of Disneyland to tunes performed by the Disneyland Band. Several musical and comedy segments follow
as host Johnny Jacobs mingles with the crowd and talks to park guests about their home towns. Special celebrity
guests include The Osmond Brothers, Owen Pope, "Big Fred", and The Vonnair Sisters. Meet Me at Disneyland is designed to boost park attendance during the summer weeknights.
2011:
Disney's Aladdin The New Stage Musical has its world-premiere in Seattle at the
5th Avenue Theatre. Running through July 31, the new stage adaptation incorporates the Oscar-winning songs from the 1992 animated film, penned by composer Alan Menken and lyricists Howard Ashman
and Tim Rice. The pilot production is being used to launch the new two-act version as a licensable property
for professional and amateur organizations through Music Theatre International, which handles rights for
Disney Theatrical titles.
