2004:
Epcot's newest gallery exhibit, Echoes of Africa, opens in the American Adventure.
Walt Disney World announces that its theme and water parks will operate on an abbreviated schedule on Friday September 3, due to the threat of Hurricane Frances. Downtown Disney will close at 6 p.m. and Pleasure Island will not open for the evening. On this day, Frances will strike the Bahamas directly, pass directly over San Salvador Island and very near to Cat Island. The storm will move west northwest and weaken through the day ... eventually dropping down to a Category 3 by 2:00 p.m.
1906:
Comedienne, writer & actress Barbara Jo Allen, the voice of Fauna
(the green good fairy) in Disney's 1959 classic Sleeping Beauty, is
born in New York City. Barbara is also the voice of Scullery Maid in Disney's 1963
The Sword in the Stone. In the 1960s, she did a recording for the character of Madame Leota
for Disneyland's Haunted Mansion ... but she was later replaced by Eleanor Audley (whose
voice can also be heard in Sleeping Beauty).
1928:
Paul Terry premieres his sound cartoon RCA Photophone system in New York
City for a short called Dinner Time. As Walt Disney is working on his own cartoon with sound,
he will later attend a showing of Dinner Time ... only to be disappointed by the quality of the audio.
1933:
Disney's Mickey Mouse cartoon Puppy Love - featuring the voices of Walt Disney
as Mickey and Marcellite Garner as Minnie - is released.
In this short directed by Wilfred Jackson, Mickey and Pluto come to call on Minnie and Fifi. But trouble starts
when Pluto exchanges the chocolates Mickey was going to give to Minnie with the bone he has for Fifi!
1950:
Children's Fairyland, USA (the first theme park created to cater to families with young children) opens on the shore of Lake Merritt in Oakland, California. The park
will be nationally recognized for its unique value and even Walt Disney will visit often to gather ideas. He will
later hire Fairyland's first director, Dorothy Manes, to work at his park! (Today known as simply Children's
Fairyland, the park continues to delight children and their parents with whimsical storybook sets, gentle rides,
friendly animals, wonder-filled puppet shows, and inspired live entertainment.)
1977:
The New Mouseketeers perform at the Magic Kingdom and appear in
a Main Street parade at Walt Disney World. (They will appear 3 times a day through the 5th.)
1979:
The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad attraction opens in Disneyland's Frontierland.
The "wildest ride in the wilderness" takes guests careening through dark caverns and abandoned mines. Imagineer
Tony Baxter modeled the attraction after the scenery of Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. The exciting Big
Thunder Mountain replaces the more sedate Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland.
(A second Big Thunder will open at Disney World in November 1980.)
Disney's long-running television series airs for the last time under the name
The Wonderful World of Disney. Seven days later it will debut as Disney's Wonderful World.
(It is the 5th title since the show's 1954 debut.)
1985:
Disneyland's Adventure Thru Inner Space attraction closes in Tomorrowland. It had first opened in August 1967.
(The attraction will later be replaced with Star Tours.)
1997:
The Disneyana Convention 1997 kicks off for 5 days at Walt Disney World.
Tropical Serenade - also called The Enchanted Tiki Birds - at Walt Disney World
closes for extensive renovations. (It will reopen in April of 1998 as The Enchanted Tiki Room-Under
New Management.)
2003:
Kim Possible: The Secret Files is released direct-to-video and The Brave Little Toaster (first released in1987) is released to DVD.
2006:
This day's broadcast of the Today show features Josh Strickland
and Jenn Gambatese, who portray Tarzan and Jane in the new
Disney musical Tarzan. They are joined by composer Phil Collins for a behind-the-scenes look at the
Broadway production.
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1980:
Legendary drummer Buddy Rich and his band perform at Disneyland for the first of a seven-day engagement.
1949:
Disney's animated short All in a Nutshell featuring Donald Duck and Chip 'n' Dale is
released. Directed by Jack Hannah and featuring the music of Oliver Wallace, Chip 'n' Dale invade Donald's
Nut Butter stand.
Disneyland's
Adventure Thru Inner Space was the first to use the OminMover system to transport guests through
an attraction.
1955:
The Disney short Beezy Bear, featuring Donald Duck and Humphrey the
Bear, is released. Directed by Jack Hannah, the cartoon features the voices of James Macdonald (as Humphrey), Clarence Nash (as Donald), and Bill Thompson (as Ranger J. Audubon Woodlore).
Donald's bee-keeping is threatened by Humphrey's honey stealing!
2002:
The Power of BLAST! gives its final performance in the Hyperion Theater at Disney's California Adventure. Running since November 2001, the show featured a 40-member cast performing five musical numbers in a single, half-hour act.
1902:
William Norman "Norm" Ferguson, an animator for the the Walt Disney Studios and
a central contributor to the studio's stylistic development in the 1930s, is born in New
York City. After starting at the studio in 1929 as a cameraman, "Fergy" will switch to the animation department
and rise rapidly - despite a lack of formal art training. He will be noted for his contribution to the creation of Pluto
and the witch in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. His credits will also include Pinocchio, Fantasia, Cinderella,
and Alice in Wonderland. Ferguson will be posthumously inducted as a Disney Legend in 1999.
2008:
"HSM3 School Spirit Contest," presented by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and MySpace, kicks off. Gearing up for the highly anticipated theatrical release of High School Musical 3: Senior Year (on October 24th), the contest encourages students to show their best school spirit. One U.S. high school whose students best showcase their inner Wildcat could win a magical Disney Grad Nite celebration at Walt Disney World or Disneyland Resort. The contest runs through November 3, 2008.
Emmy Award-winning animator Bill Melendez who transformed the two-dimensional drawings of the "Peanuts" comic strip into some of the most beloved cartoon characters on television and film, dies at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California at age 91. He began his career at the Hollywood animation studios of Disney and Warner Brothers. At Disney, Melendez worked on such classic animated features as Fantasia, Pinocchio, Bambi, and Dumbo.
"I started at Walt Disney Productions in January of 1937, where I learned the trade of animating. I spent a happy four years at Disney." -Bill Melendez
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SEPTEMBER 2
THIS DAY MADE
IN THE
USA
SEPTEMBER 2
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Adventure Thru Inner Space closes
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"Hang on to them hats and glasses cuz this here’s the wildest ride in the wilderness!" -Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
1986:
Buddy Rich
"the world's
greatest drummer"
and
his band
return to
Disneyland.
(Sadly he will pass
away exactly
7 months later.
at the age of 69.)
Video courtesy of http://www.youtube.com/user/allthatjazzsamples
1919:
Disney Legend Marge Champion is born Marjorie Celeste Belcher in Los Angeles, California. As a teen she was the live-action reference model for the heroine of Disney’s 1937 feature-length cartoon Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Champion performed dances and scenes as Snow White so the animators could caricature her actions and make their princess as human as possible. She was also the model for the Blue Fairy in Pinocchio and Hyacinth Hippo in the "Dance of the Hours" segment of Fantasia - a ballet parody that she also helped choreograph.
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