2003:
A preview of the new Disney/Pixar feature The Incredibles airs during "The Wonderful
World of Disney" on ABC-TV.
The ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter at Walt Disney World
closes forever at the end of this day. A "theater-in-the-round" attraction in Tomorrowland, it was a darkly humorous science-fiction experience that used binaural sound to achieve many of its effects. Although only opened
since 1995, it had developed a cult following among Disney fans. (It will be replaced with Stitch's Great Escape.)
1955:
Ticket books (at a cost of $2.50 per adult, $2.00 per junior, & $1.50 per child) are
available for the very first time at the new Disneyland theme park. "A Day at Disneyland" contains three A, two B, and three C tickets (D tickets won't be added until the following year and E tickets in 1959).
Mickey Mouse Club airs on ABC-TV. Today is Guest Star Day with the Western singing group
Sons of the Pioneers.
1956:
The Muppets make their first network television appearance on "The Steve Allen Show." (Decades later, the Muppets will become part of the Disney family.)
1959:
The Rainbow Caverns Mine Train attraction closes in Disneyland's Frontierland.
1962:
Actress Joan Cusack, the voice of Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl in both Toy
Story 2 and Toy Story 3, is born in New York City. She won an Annie Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Female Performer in an Animated Feature Production for her role in the 1999 Toy Story 2. Cusack's Disney credits also include the 2005 live-action Ice Princess as Joan Carlyle, the 2005 animated feature Chicken Little as the voice of Abby Mallard and the 2011 Mars Needs Moms as Milo's mom. (Sister of actor John Cusack, Joan has appeared in such features as Working Girl, In & Out, and School of Rock.)
1985:
Actress Michelle Trachtenberg, the star of Disney's 2005 Ice Princess, is born in
New York City. She also appeared in the 1999 Inspector Gadget as Penny, for which she was nominated
for a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film - Supporting Young Actress. (Fans of Gossip
Girl know Trachtenberg for her role of Georgina Sparks.)
1986:
Animator David Hand passes away in San Luis Obispo, California. He joined The Walt Disney Studios as its 21st animator in 1930 and later became production supervisor of the studio and director of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Hand will be named a Disney Legend in 1994.
1987:
Part 2 of "The Journey of Natty Gann" airs on
The Wonderful World of Disney.
1998:
A benefit performance of the Disney stage musical Elaborate Lives: The Legend Of Aida (for the Elton John Aids Foundation) takes place at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. For holders of tickets at $1,000 a piece, John (who wrote the show's music) is on hand for a greet and meet at a pre-show VIP cocktail party/buffet at the Woodruff Arts Center.
2006:
Disney Vacation Club announces that it is building a new timeshare resort on Walt Disney World property to meet ongoing demand for its unique vacation-ownership. Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas (part of Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge and the 5th timeshare at WDW) will feature intricate African-inspired details and home-like amenities. The first phase will open in summer 2007.
1995:
Delos Records releases the theme park album Beauty and the Beat!
- featuring Disney tunes performed in a steelband style.
Walt Disney World has the largest working wardrobe on Earth with more than 1.5 million operational garments in use and over 7,000 different garment types. In addition there are over 2 million pieces of entertainment costumes. (That's a lot of dry cleaning!)
1968:
Apollo 7 (the first manned mission in the Apollo program) is launched
from Cape Canaveral, Florida for an 11-day earth-orbital mission. The
crew consists of Commander Wally Schirra, Command Module Pilot Donn Eisele, and Lunar
Module Pilot Walter Cunningham. Around the wrist of Schirra ... is a Mickey Mouse watch!
2005:
Walt Disney Records releases Cheetah-Licious Christmas, a holiday album by The Cheetah Girls. The collection includes such holiday songs as "Santa Claus is Coming To Town," "Last Christmas," and "Feliz Navidad."
Also released is Disney's Princess Christmas Album.
2008:
A Russian-language version of the live Disney musical Beauty and the Beast opens at Moscow's MDM Theatre. Heading Disney's first theatrical production in Russia, are Igor Ivanov as The Prince and Natalia Bystrova and Ekaterina Guseva, who share the role of Belle. Ivanov landed his role via a reality TV competition entitled "Find Your Prince."
OCTOBER 11
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Today is Take Your Teddy Bear to Work Day
THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
OCTOBER 11
WDW's Alien Encounter closes
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1991:
Touchstone Pictures releases the comedy Ernest Scared Stupid starring Jim Varney. It is the fifth film to feature Varney as Ernest P. Worrell.
1953:
Stage, television, and film actor David Morse, the voice of President George Washington in Disney World's updated The Hall of Presidents, is born in Hamilton, Massachusetts. He portrayed Washington in the HBO min-series John Adams - for which he received an Emmy nomination. (Morse first came to national attention as Dr. Jack Morrison in the medical drama St. Elsewhere from 1982 to 1988.)
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1989:
"A Frick Called Wanda," the third episode of the new sitcom The Nutt House
(co-created by Mel Brooks for Touchstone/Disney) debuts.
The series stars Cloris Leachman and Harvey Korman.
1964:
Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color airs the episode "A Rag, a Bone, a Box
of Junk," in which Ludwig Von Drake gives a lesson on how to create stop-motion animation.
1982:
At the newly opened EPCOT Center, The American Adventure has an official opening ceremony. The pavilion, a single large building designed in the Colonial style, contains the American Adventure show and the Hall of Flags exhibit.
