2002:
Disney's Buena Vista Entertainment invites hockey players ages 18-24 to audition for their upcoming film Miracle (about the 1980 U.S. Hockey team) at the Disney Studios in Burbank, California.
A model of the General Electric Progressland Pavilion (a New York World's Fair Disney attraction) sells on eBay for $5100. In its original packing crate and protective plexiglass cover, the model is numbered #7 of 14 which were created by the industrial display firm of Richard Rush Studios in Chicago to promote General Electric's Pavilion (later named Disney's Carousel of Progress).
The 7th Annual Epcot International Food and Wine Festival begins.
Returning by popular demand around the park’s World Showcase are more than 20 international
food-and-wine-tasting marketplaces, culinary demonstrations at The Terrace and "History of
Beer in America" tastings and seminars by the Boston Beer Company, makers of Samuel
Adams beer. Dozens of performers ranging from acrobats to musicians add street-festival
energy to the daily fun of this seasonal culinary celebration, which runs through November 17.
1880:
Scotty Mattraw, the voice of Bashful in Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, is born Evans Mills, New York. (Mattraw was the Town Crier in Laurel & Hardy's
classic 1934 Babes in Toyland.)
1955:
Mickey Mouse Club airs on ABC-TV. Today is Anything Can Happen Day.
The Disneyland television series presents "The Story
of the Silly Symphony." Walt looks back on his early Silly Symphony cartoons from the 1930s.
1989:
At EPCOT, Body Wars (the park's first thrill ride) begins sending guests through the human blood stream at the brand new Wonders of Life pavilion. A motion simulator ride featuring a film directed by Leonard Nimoy (best known to Star Trek fans as Mr. Spock), Body Wars can carry 40 passengers in each of four, 26-ton simulators. The cast of the Body Wars film features Tim Matheson as Captain Braddock, Dakin Matthews as Mission Commander and Elisabeth Shue as Dr. Cynthia Lair, who is investigating white cell response time to a splinter penetration.
Also debuting on this day at the MetLife-sponsored pavilion is the theater show Cranium Command (a humorous presentation on the importance of the human brain) and the short films Goofy Over Health (a multimedia show about healthy living hosted by Goofy, using clips from his cartoons) and The Making of Me (about birth and life starring Martin Short).
1995:
A revised edtion of The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation by veteran animators
Frank Thomas and Ollie A. Johnston (two of Walt's "Nine Old Men") is published by
Disney Editions. Widely considered to be one of the best books ever published on the topic of character
animation, it was first released in 1981.
1996:
The Walt Disney World Resort and ABC present "ABC Super Soap Weekend."
A stellar line-up of 25 ABC soap opera celebrities, including daytime star Susan Lucci from All My Children, team up for the 2-day event at Disney-MGM Studios.
1999:
The stage version of the Disney classic The Lion King
opens at the Lyceum Theatre in London, England. In attendance are composers
Elton John and Tim Rice, Roy E. Disney & his wife Patty, and Disney CEO Michael Eisner.
The Disney CD "For Our Children" (a charity album to benefit the
Pediatric AIDS Foundation) is released. It features various artists including Elton John.
2000:
The new FASTPASS booths open at The Haunted Mansion
in Walt Disney World.
Disney's musical production The Lion King opens at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angles, California. (Initially scheduled for a nine month run, it will be extended three times and play for an amazing 27 months!)
2006:
The El Capitan Theatre celebrates the debut of Tim Burton's
The Nightmare Before Christmas in Disney Digital 3D. The make-over of the
1993 musical-fantasy was led by the film's original filmmaking team of writer/producer
Tim Burton and director Henry Selick as well as the talented technical wizards at Industrial Light
& Magic in collaboration with In-Three, Inc. It will be generally released the following day.
Florida's Downtown
Disney Westside is
currently the home to
the only DisneyQuest
in the world.
(DisneyQuest Chicago
closed in
September 2001.)
Mayor: "Jack, please, I'm only an elected official here, I can't make decisions by myself!"
2003:
The Disney musical The Lion King begins performances at the
Capitol Theatre in Sydney, Australia. (It will play through June 2005.)
2007:
Disney Channel debuts "First Kiss," the second episode of the new live-action series Wizards of Waverly Place.
1997:
Disney Channel debuts a new episode of Muppets Tonight with guest stars
comedian Don Rickles and hip-hop artist Coolio. Ed McMahon, Bernard Shaw, and Fred Willard make cameo appearances as well.
2001:
Starting on this day the Disney-owned El Capitan Theater in Hollywood
presents the Nightmare Before Christmas as well as two Tim Burton
shorts. Props and sets are also on display in the theater's lobby. The event will run
through October 31st.
Roy E. Disney checks on the progress of the new Walt Disney Studios Park while visiting Disneyland Paris.
2008:
Disney Theatrical Productions premieres the musical Tarzan in Hamburg, Germany at the Theater Neue Flora. Produced by Stage Entertainment, the production co-stars Anton Zetterholm as Tarzan and Elisabeth Hübert as Jane.
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OCTOBER 19
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THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
OCTOBER 19
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EPCOT'S Wonder of Life debuts
ABC Super Soap Weekend 1996
SEASON 2 EPISODE 6
2010:
Walt Disney Records' The Hannah Montana Forever soundtrack is released in stores and at online retailers. The soundtrack is from the fourth and final season of the Disney Channel series.
Actor Tom Bosley, best known for portraying Howard Cunningham on the long-running ABC sitcom Happy Days, passes away at age 83 in Palm Springs, California. In 1994, he originated the role of Maurice in the Broadway version of Disney's Beauty and the Beast and in 1976 appeared in the Disney live-action comedy Gus. Bosley was also the voice of Santa Paws for the 2009 Santa Buddies. (Television fans will also remember him from the series Father Dowling Mysteries.)
The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos, a 2008 Disneynature documentary, is released to DVD in the U.S. The film documents the lives of lesser flamingos on the isolated shores of Lake Natron in northern Tanzania, revealing the breeding and parenting habits of the species. World premiering in France in October 2008 followed by a limited U.S. release in 2009, The Crimson Wing is considered the second film to be released by Disneynature (after the 2009 Earth).
2011:
Disney Theatrical Productions announces it has commissioned its first original Broadway show, a prequel to Peter Pan called Peter and the Starcatcher. Based on Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson's novel of the same name, it is expected to open in spring 2012 at a Broadway theater.
