2004:
Florida's major central Florida resorts and theme parks, including Walt Disney World, close due to Hurricane Frances. This is on;y Disney World's second closing ever since its 1971 grand opening. The Disney Magic pulls into Galveston’s harbor (in Texas) as Hurricane Frances forces the liner from its course home to Port Canaveral, Florida.
Some areas of Florida will receive over 13 inches of rain during the slow onslaught. Similar to Hurricane Charley earlier in the month, the Florida citrus crops will be heavily damaged by Frances.
1913:
Disney Legend Masatomo Takahashi, whose vision and desire
brought a Disney park to Japan, is born in Fukushima, Japan.
1919:
Actor and director Howard Morris is born in New York City. He was the original
voice of Gopher for Disney's Winnie the Pooh features. (TV fans will know Morris for his comedic role
of Ernest T. Bass on The Andy Griffith Show and as the voice of Jughead for the animated Archie Show.)
1922:
The Laugh-O-Gram black & white silent cartoon Jack and the Beanstalk is released. It is directed and co-animated by Walt Disney.
1942:
Disney's Goofy cartoon How To Play Baseball is released.
1997:
"The Spirit of Pocahontas," performed at the Fantasyland Theater in Disneyland, gives its final performance after nearly a 2 1/2 year run.
Buena Vista Home Entertainment announces that it is entering the DVD market in the U.S. and abroad, with product to
be available in the U.S. as early as Christmas.
1998:
Fifty-one Miss America contestants, led by reigning Miss America Kate Shindle, greet fans and sign autographs at Disney World's BoardWalk. This is the only opportunity fans have to meet all 51 contestants before they take the stage in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
1999:
The Disney Channel Original Movie P.U.N.K.S., about a group of misfit teens who evade a corrupt scientist when they steal and attempt to return a suit that delivers supernatural strength to its wearer, premieres.
2000:
Hundreds of Mary Poppins' fans gathered at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood where moviegoers are invited to sing-along with the film as lyrics appear along the bottom. Before the film starts, the Sherman Brothers and others involved with Mary Poppins speak about creating the film.
2001:
Disney's new theme park Tokyo DisneySea has its grand opening at
the Tokyo Disney Resort. Featuring over 20 attractions, it is Disney's second theme park in Japan and ninth in the world. The park has a nautical theme and is broken up into 7 distinct areas. The park's two iconic symbols are the DisneySea AquaSphere - a water fountain (located in the entrance plaza) and a gigantic volcano - Mount Prometheus (located in the center of the park). Also on this day, Tokyo Disney Resort celebrates the grand opening of the first hotel to be built inside a Disney Park in Japan, Tokyo DisneySea Hotel MiraCosta.
2003:
Disney On Ice Presents Disney/Pixar's Monsters, Inc pulls into Orlando's TD Waterhouse Centre for a 4-day engagement.
2006:
Another Tower of Terror opens ... this time at Tokyo DisneySea Park!
The attraction opens in American Waterfront, a "port of call" representing the northeastern seaboard of the
United States in the early 20th century. The Tower of Terror at Tokyo DisneySea has no connection or tie-ins
with The Twilight Zone, but is instead themed as the Hotel Hightower, an 1890s' New York City hotel owned by
eccentric billionaire Harrison Hightower III. He disappeared on December 31, 1899 while taking the elevator up
to his private quarters shortly after taking a mysterious idol of a trickster spirit called Shiriki Utundu from an
ancient civilization in Africa!
"Welcome one and all to a world where Imagination and Adventure set sail. Tokyo DisneySea is dedicated to the spirit of exploration that lives in each of us. Here we charter a course for Adventure, Romance, Discovery and Fun and journey to exotic and fanciful Ports of Call. May Tokyo DisneySea inspire the hearts and mind of all of us who share the water planet, Earth."
-Michael Eisner's DisneySea dedication This Day in Disney History 2001
1937:
The first formal story conference for Disney's next scheduled feature Bambi takes place. Director David Hand announces that animation will begin on December 1. (Months later Walt will postpone work on Bambi and instead begin production on Pinocchio.)
In 1976, Disney aired a
patriotic TV special entitled America on Parade, hosted by legendary comedian
Red Skelton.
2007:
It is reported that the Boca Raton-based Florida Atlantic University recently received a Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund award. (The Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund distributed $1.5 million in 2007 - and has given out more than $11 million since Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park opened.) Atlantic University will use the fund to help with sea turtle recovery efforts and to increase understanding of these animals through public education.
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1968:
Film and television actor Phill Lewis is born in Uganda, East Africa. Fans of The Suite
Life of Zack and Cody and its sequel The Suite Life on Deck know Lewis for his comedic role of Mr. Moseby,
the hotel/ship manager. He has also appeared as a guest on Disney Channel's That's So Raven.
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SEPTEMBER 4
THIS DAY MADE
IN THE
USA
SEPTEMBER 4
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America on Parade was also an
actual parade that ran in the
parks to commemorate the
United States Bicentennial.
Tokyo DisneySea opens
1918:
Postal employee Walt Disney (who is a substitute mail carrier) is walking through the West Adams Street lobby of the Federal Building in Chicago when he hears a deafening blast that shakes the ground. Someone has planted a bomb. More than 75 are injured and four are killed - including a co-worker of Walt's named William Wheeler. The force of the blast also kills a horse on the street, damages a streetcar and shatters windows on nearby buildings.
"I was in the post office. I just got though sorting my mail, or finishing my route. I was walking out ... going out a certain
entrance ... when it was bombed. I was right in the lobby when, FOOOOOM, this thing went off. Here comes the dust shooting out
and everything. That was the way I went out every night. I missed that darn thing by about three minutes." -Walt Disney
2009:
Disney World hosts the very first Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party of the 2009 season at the Magic Kingdom.
Disney's Miramax Films release the comedy Extract,
starring Jason Bateman and Ben Affleck.
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Xavier Atencio born
1920:
Imagineer Xavier Atencio, a layout artist, character stylist, and lyricist oftened
credited as simply X Atencio, is born in Walsenburg, Colorado. First joining Disney Studios
in 1938, he worked on such productions as Pinocchio, Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom, and Mary Poppins. In
1965 Atencio joined WED Enterprises where he helped design the Disneyland Railroad's Primeval World diorama
segment and wrote the script for both Adventure Thru Inner Space and Pirates of the Caribbean - for which he
also penned the lyrics to the theme song, "Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)." Atencio also wrote the script for the
Haunted Mansion attraction, including the lyrics to its theme song, "Grim Grinning Ghosts (The Screaming Song)."
He also contributed to such Epcot attractions as Spaceship Earth and World of Motion. Retired since 1984,
Atencio was named a Disney Legened in 1996.
"I was waiting in the hall for the elevator, and Walt came by and waited for the elvator too. So I said "Hi Walt," and he said "Hi X, how are you doing?" I thought, He knows me, he knows who I am!" -X Atencio on first meeting Walt Disney
The 2001 Official Disneyana Convention takes place at the Disneyland Resort. The 5-day event is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to acquire unusual Disney collectibles and meet legendary Disney personalities.
Disney's touring production of Aida opens at the Arizona State University's Gammage Auditorium in Tempe, Arizona. (The show will run through the 15th.)
"In 1983, Tokyo Disneyland became our first Disney theme park outside the United States. It went on to become our most successful of
all. Of course, it was very closely modelled after our first park, Disneyland. Today we return to Tokyo to dedicate a very different park, a completely new and completely different one but it shares with all our parks that it takes us to worlds of imagination that might otherwise only be encountered in dreams. This ability to make dreams real is the legacy of our founders, my uncle Walt and father Roy Disney, so I
am very excited to see this legacy live on at Tokyo DisneySea." -Roy Disney
Opening day attractions include:
Mediterranean Harbor - the entrance "port-of-call" and themed as an Italian port city, featuring The Fortress Explorations; a meticulously themed, large-scale interactive play area
Mysterious Island - a "port-of-call" within Mount Prometheus, the giant volcano that is the park's centerpiece, featuring The 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea & The Journey to the Center of the Earth attractions
Mermaid Lagoon - home to the characters of The Little Mermaid, featuring The Flounder's Flying Fish Coaster roller coaster
Arabian Coast - themed after Aladdin, featuring The Sinbad's Seven Voyages storybook boat ride, The Magic Lamp Theater & The Caravan Carousel attraction (the first two-story carousel for a Disney park)
Lost River Delta - located in the rear of the park, featuring The Indiana Jones Adventure: Temple of the Crystal Skull
Port Discovery - sometimes called the "Tomorrowland" of Tokyo DisneySea, featuring The Storm Rider simulator ride
American Waterfront - representing the northeastern seaboard of the U.S. in the early 20th century, featuring The S.S. Columbia ocean liner & The Dockside Stage
2011:
The Disneyland Half Marathon takes place in Anaheim. Humberto Rojas, a 27-year-old from Fountain Valley, California, leads the record field of nearly 15,000 registered runners crossing the finish line
first with a time of 1:08:14. Finishing just behind Rojas is Jesse Kleinjan, 27, of Chicago, Illinois, with a time of
1:12:13 and Juan Arjona, 19, of Moreno Valley, California, finishing third with a time of 1:12:54.
Rachel Booth, 30, Mandeville, Louisiana, repeats as the women’s champion with a time of 1:18:01.
Comedian/actor Drew Carey, host of the popular game show The Price is Right, runs in the event, setting a
personal record of 1:50:46. He did it while recovering from a separated clavicle that occurred while training
several weeks ago.
6th Annual Disneyland Half Marathon
