1925:
Jack Wagner, Disney Legend and for many years the official voice of
Disneyland and Walt Disney World, is born in California. He worked for the 2 theme parks
doing general park announcements as well as voice work for the attractions themselves until his death in 1995.
Wagner's voice can still be heard today. He is also the voice of the Orlando International Airport's Automated
Guideway Transit System that shuttles passengers between gates 1-29, 30-59 and 60-99. The voice on the
shuttle for 100-129 is done by his son Mike! (Jack Wagner also enjoyed a lengthy career as a radio announcer
at KNX in Los Angeles, and as a television actor, his best-known role being that of the malt-shop proprietor in
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.)
2004:
Walt Disney is honored posthumously with the Innovator Award at the 10th annual
American Choreography Awards (held in Los Angeles). Outstanding Achievment in
Choreography - Fight goes to George Marshall Ruge for his contributions to Pirates
of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.
1921:
Veteran comic actor Tom Poston, who portrays Lord Palimore in Disney's 2004 Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, is born in Columbus, Ohio.
TV fans will recognize him from countless appearances on such sitcoms as 8 Simple Rules ... for Dating My Teenage Daughter, That 70s Show, Home Improvement, and Newhart.
1927:
Disney's Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoon Great Guns is released. Directed by Walt Disney, Oswald goes to war, fights in the trenches and is blown apart ... but luckily put back together by his nurse girlfriend.
1937:
Donald Duck's identical triplet nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie, debut in Disney's
Sunday comic strip. They have been created by cartoonist Al Taliaferro (and will later appear in the April
1938 animated short Donald's Nephews).
1955:
The Mickey Mouse Club airs on ABC-TV. Today is Fun With Music Day.
1956:
The Disneyland television series airs the episode "Goofy's Cavalcade of Sports."
1957:
The second Zorro episode "Zorro's Secret Passage" airs on ABC-TV.
1958:
The TV series Walt Disney Presents airs the second episode of Elfego
Baca, "Four Down and Five Lives to Go," starring Robert Loggia.
1965:
The World's Fair in Flushing, New York, officially ends. The fair included 4 attractions developed by Walt Disney: General Electric's Carousel of Progress, Ford's Magic
Skyway, Pepsi-Cola's It's A Small World, and the State of Illinois' Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln.
1996:
The Walt Disney World/Oldsmobile Golf Classic kicks off with
Brad Bryant returning to defend his championship. Bryant, a 19-year golf veteran,
competes with 132 other professional golfers, including Payne Stewart, Peter Jacobsen and Tiger Woods to take
home a winners' share of $216,000 in the final full-field event of the 1996 PGA Tour. (Woods will go on to win.)
1998:
The Disney Channel Original Movie Halloweentown, starring Debbie Reynolds, Judith Hoag, Kimberly J. Brown, Joey Zimmerman, and Emily Roeske, first airs.
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2005:
Disneyland's traditional real live Christmas tree arrives at the park. The 60 foot tall tree will be decorated with 5,000 holiday lights and 5,000 golden ornaments (in honor of Disneyland’s 50th Anniversary).
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1916:
Virgil Franklin Partch, one of the most prominent and prolific American magazine
gag cartoonists of the 1940s and 1950s, is born in Alaska. Partch studied under Rico LeBrun at Choiuinard Art Institute before joining the Disney Studios in 1938 as a story man for 4 years. (His unusual style and
surreal humor made his cartoons distinctive and eye-catching.)
"Your attention please. The Disneyland Limited now arriving from a trip around Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom. Passengers will stand by to board." -Jack Wagner
2007:
Disney announces future plans for the overhaul of Disneyland's sister park, California Adventure. Over the next several years new theming, attractions, restaurants, and shops will be added. The plans also include a new 12-acre area called Cars Land.
1947:
Disney's feature film Fun and Fancy Free is released in Brazil.
2008:
During a ceremony at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Vanessa Rosas and
Clay Shoemaker are named as the 38th Walt Disney World Ambassador
Team (who will serve from January 1 – December 31, 2009).
The documentary adventure film Morning Light, co-produced by Roy Disney (a
sailing enthusiast), is released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film chronicles a real-life crew
training and competing in the 44th Transpacific Yacht Race aboard a TP52 class yacht named Morning Light.
In the early 1970s, Disney World had plans to build a Thai style hotel called the Asian Resort. It was to be built about midway between the Magic Kingdom and the Polynesian Resort on the monorail line ... in a spot now occupied by the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa!
OCTOBER 17
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THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
OCTOBER 17
NY World's Fair ends
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1986:
The Color of Money, the 9th feature film released through Disney's Touchstone
Pictures, is released. Starring Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, it tells the
continuing story of Edward "Fast Eddie" Felson from the 1961 film The Hustler (also starring Newman).
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Disney Legend Jack Wagner born
2000:
Buena Vista Home Entertainment releases the Toy Story 2 Pack set,
which includes Toy Story and Toy Story 2, plus the Pixar films Tin Toy
and Luxo Jr. Coincidentally on the same day legendary comedian Don Rickles - the voice of Toy Story's Mr. Potato Head - receives a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame!
2009:
Disney Vacation Club celebrates the grand opening of its Doorway to Dreams sales
center at the Roosevelt Field Mall on Long Island, New York. Disney Doorway to Dreams offers
Roosevelt Field shoppers and New York-area residents a convenient and interactive way to discover the benefits of
Disney Vacation Club.
SEASON 3 EPISODE 6
1946:
Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh, a British theatrical producer notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals including Disney's Mary Poppins, is born in Enfield, London, England.
1960:
Theater director, film director and choreographer Rob Marshall is born in Madison, Wisconsin. He directed Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the fourth chapter of Disney's
Pirates of the Caribbean film series.
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