2003:
Mickey's PhilharMagic, a new computer-animated 3-D attraction, has its
official grand opening in the PhilharMagic Concert Hall at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. Pop idols Howie Dorough of The Backstreet Boys and Joey Fatone of 'N Sync are on hand for the premiere.
Over at Epcot, the Wayne Brady Show tapes at the American Gardens Stage. Guests include tennis star Serena Williams, soap opera heartthrob Cameron Matheson, astronaut Jim Lovell, and members of the original Brady Bunch Show.
In the evening, the Magic Kingdom hosts a live performance of the Brian Setzer Orchestra on the Castle Forecourt stage. Afterwards the park officially debuts a new pyrotechnic show called Wishes: A Magical Gathering of Disney Dreams. The Disney World premiere includes an introduction by actress Julie Andrews.
At Disneyland, The Golden Horseshoe Variety Show performs it's final show at 5:30 PM after more than 4,000 performances. Guests at the final performance include Wally Boag, star of the original Golden Horseshoe Revue for over 27 years.
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1907:
Animator & teacher Art Babbitt is born in Omaha, Nebraska. He joined Disney in 1932 and over the next 9 years worked on many animated projects. Babbitt animated the Wicked Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Geppetto in Pinnochio, and the Stork in Dumbo. He is best remembered for escalating Goofy to stardom by giving the character a unique mannerism and a rather clumsy walk in such shorts as Mickey's Service Station and Moving Day. Honest, straightforward, and sometimes
confrontational, Babbitt was inspired to become an animator when he saw Ub Iwerks' work on the 1930 Silly Symphony Skeleton Dance. (Babbitt was named a Disney Legend in 2007.)
1910:
Legendary Disney producer-writer-director and narrator Winston Hibler is born
in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He narrated many of Disney's live-action documentaries,
produced the Disneyland TV series, and made contributions to such classic features as Sleeping Beauty,
Cinderella, and Peter Pan. Hibler's best known written work ... Walt Disney's opening day Disneyland speech!
1945:
Felix Salten, Austrian author best known for "Bambi" and "The Hound of Florence" passes away in Zurich, Switzerland. First written in 1923, "Bambi" was translated into English in 1928 and became a Book-of-the-Month Club hit. In 1933, Salten sold the film rights to American film director Sidney Franklin for $1,000, who later transferred the rights to the Walt Disney Studios. Disney released its movie based on Bambi in 1942. Salten's stories "Perri" and "The Hound of Florence" inspired the Disney films Perri and The Shaggy Dog.
1957:
The Maxwell House Coffee House located on Disneyland's
Main Street (in operation since December 1955) closes. It will
be replaced by Hills Brothers Coffee House in June 1958.
1961:
The NBC-TV series Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color
airs part 2 of "The Horsemasters."
1997:
A full-service spa and health center opens at Disney World's
Grand Floridian Beach Resort. First opened in June 1988, it
will now be called Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa.
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1993:
The inaugural hockey game of the Disney-owned Mighty Ducks is held at the Anaheim Pond in California. In their first season they will finish 33-46-5 with 71 points and fourth in the Pacific Division. (Disney will sell the franchise in 2005 to Henry and Susan Samueli, who will change the name of the team to Anaheim Ducks.)
1999:
The documentary film The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks
Story is released in Los Angeles for one week (so that it may qualify
for an Academy Award). The film focuses on animation pioneer, technical genius,
and early Walt Disney collaborator Ub Iwerks. Filmmaker Leslie Iwerks offers viewers a look
at the work of her grandfather, one of the unsung giants of animation and film technology.
2001:
Epcot's Journey into Your Imagination ride closes for renovations. The character Figment will be added and the attraction will reopen in June 2002 as Journey into Imagination with Figment.
2002:
Walt: The Man Behind The Myth (originally broadcast on TV in September
2001) is released on DVD, as is a special edition of Beauty and the Beast.
Disney established the Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund in 1995, the year Disney's Animal Kingdom was announced. The DWCF is a global awards program to fund nonprofit conservation & wildlife organizations focused on endangered animals and
their habitats.
2004:
"Halloween," the fifteenth Phil of the Future episode, airs for the first
time on Disney Channel. It is directed by Fred Savage (best known - in his younger
days - for his role of Kevin on the hit series The Wonder Years).
"Think of the Goof as a composite of an everlasting optimist, a gullible Good Samaritan, a halfwit and a shiftless, good-natured hick. He is loose-jointed and gangly, but not rubbery."
-Art Babbitt's Character Analysis of Goofy
2008:
Disney's multi-platinum recording group The Cheetah Girls (Adrienne Bailon, Sabrina Bryan and Kiely Williams) launch their nationwide "The Cheetah Girls One World Tour" with a show in Austin, Texas. The 50-date nationwide concert tour follows the soundtrack and third Disney Channel Original Movie, "The Cheetah Girls One World."
OCTOBER 8
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THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
OCTOBER 08
Mickey's PhilharMagic debuts
Golden Horseshoe's final show
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1988:
The NBC-TV sitcom Empty Nest, produced by Disney's Touchstone Television,
debuts. The show revolves around pediatrician Dr. Harry Weston (played by veteran actor Richard Mulligan), whose life is turned upside down when his wife dies and two of his adult daughters move back into the family home in Miami, Florida. Empty Nest is a spin-off of the hit series The Golden Girls (both created by Susan Harris) as The
Golden Girls are neighbors of the Westons. The series will run for 7 years.
1975:
The Best of Walt Disney's True-Life Adventures, a Buena Vista release, debuts in
theaters. The film highlights such Disney Oscar-winning nature shorts as Seal Island, Beaver Valley, Nature's Half Acre, and Water Birds.
2010:
The first Annual Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic kicks off (for the next two days) at Walt Disney World.
The Disney feature film Secretariat, starring Diane Lane and John Malkovich, opens in U.S. theaters. Based on a remarkable true story, Secretariat chronicles the spectacular journey of the 1973 Triple Crown winner.
Disney-Pixar premieres its latest "Cars Toons" short on the Disney Channel. Directed by original Cars director (and head of Pixar) John Lasseter and co-directed by Rob Gibbs, the short is entitled Heavy Metal Mater and features a score by Mark Mothersbaugh. (Heavy Metal Mater is the seventh of nine "Cars Toons," all of which are slated for release on DVD and Blu-ray on November 2nd.)
The Disneyland Resort opens Flynn’s Arcade at Disney California Adventure the same night it debuts "ElecTRONica" (a dance party using a mix of music, video and projections). It is all part of a promotion for the new Disney movie
Tron: Legacy (scheduled for a December release).
An event is held in the lobby and courtyard of the Frank G. Wells Building on the Studio Lot to celebrate the work of Disney Legend and archivist Dave Smith.
Smith, who will retire October 15, has been a familiar face at The Walt Disney Company since 1970, collecting, organizing and sharing with colleagues and historians important historical artifacts on behalf
of the Walt Disney Archives.
1998:
Buena Vista premieres the Walt Disney Pictures animated feature film Mulan in London, England. The thirty-sixth animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics, it has been in release in the U.S. since June.
1992:
Walt Disney's Grumman Gulfstream 1 makes its last flight when it touches down on
World Drive, west of Disney-MGM Studios (today known as Disney’s Hollywood
Studios). To be added to The Backlot Tour, the airplane was used to fly Walt Disney on secret scouting
missions over Central Florida when he was looking for the perfect spot to build a second theme park.
