2005:
After six years of planning and building costs of $1.8 billion, Hong Kong Disneyland
has its grand opening. It is Disney's 5th vacation resort and 11th theme park in the world. It consists of the
Hong Kong Disneyland theme park, two hotels (Disneyland Hotel and Disney's Hollywood Hotel), and retail, dining
and entertainment facilities stretching over 310 acres on Lantau Island. Hong Kong Disneyland's Adventureland is
the largest Adventureland of all the Magic Kingdom parks around the world!
1894:
Billy Gilbert, the voice of Sneezy in Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, is born in Louisville, Kentucky. The son of singers in the Metropolitan Opera, Billy began performing in vaudeville at age 12. He developed a drawn-out, explosive sneezing routine that became his trademark! (During his career Gilbert appeared in over 200 feature films and worked with Laurel & Hardy and The Three Stooges!)
1941:
The Disney animation strike (which started in May) is ended by federal mediators.
From this day forward the studio will be a union shop.
Disney releases the Donald Duck cartoon Old MacDonald Duck. Directed by Jack King, farmer Donald goes through his farmer day until a fly causes him to lose control while milking a cow!
1943:
Mouseketeer Jay-Jay Solari (who appeared on Mickey Mouse Club during the 1956-1957 season) is born John Joseph Solari in Boston, Massachusetts.
1956:
The Disneyland television series kicks off season three with the episode
"Antarctica - Past and Present." Walt Disney hosts a look at his
plans for a brand new documentary on Antarctica.
1984:
Michael Eisner resigns from Paramount Pictures. He hopes to become CEO of Disney.
1985:
Steve Jobs announces he is leaving Apple, a computer company he
co-founded with Steve Wozniak. (Jobs will go on to help create Pixar Animation Studios.)
2001:
The day after the U.S. is attacked by terrorists, all Disney parks in the U.S. re-open for business. To help insure the safety of all Disney guests, a decision is made to increase the security measures within the parks, effective immediately. The most obvious of these increased measures include the inspection of all packages, parcels, backpacks, etc., being carried by guests prior to entering the parks. The New Year's Eve nightly celebration in Pleasure Island is canceled.
The Aida touring company and the Lion King company in Los Angeles raise $10,000 for the Red Cross by asking audiences for donations following the performances.
2003:
The That's So Raven episode "If I Only Had a Job" debuts on Disney Channel.
2004:
Christy Carlson Romano (who on this day finishes a 32-week run as Belle
in Disney's Broadway hit Beauty and the Beast) and Broadway newcomer Wayne Brady (who will appear in Chicago) co-host the 13th annual "Broadway on Broadway" concert in New York's Times Square.
Higglytown Heroes, a new children's television series, debuts on Disney Channel. Higglytown heroes range from firefighters to dentists to snow plow operators, and are voiced by guest celebrities. The theme song Here in Higglytown is performed by They Might Be Giants.
2006:
Disney's The Wild (a computer-animated film) is released on DVD.
It is announced that Orlando's Walt Disney World has replaced Illinois Avenue on the new Monopoly: Here & Now edition. At $2.4 million for the Disney property, Orlando beat out other large American cities such as Phoenix & Honolulu, whose landmarks will cost $2.2 million each! Hasbro, maker of Monopoly, let people vote online in the Spring for the top landmark to represent each city.
Every Second Counts, the fourth studio album by the Plain White T's, is released on Disney's Hollywood Records. The album (their first for Hollywood) will peak at #10 on Billboard 200 on July 29, 2007 and later be certified Gold by the RIAA in October 2007!
1905:
Layout artist and animator Cornett Wood is born in Indiana. Wood started his career with
Disney and worked on the features Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia, and Bambi, as well as a handful
of shorts. He then spent the rest of his career at Warner Bros. Animation.
1931:
Tony Award-winning actor Sir Ian Holm, the voice of Skinner in the Disney/Pixar Ratatouille, is born in Goodmayes, Essex, England. (Film fans know him as the hobbit Bilbo Baggins in the first and third films of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy.)
Captain EO (a 3-D Sci-fi musical
film starring Michael Jackson)
originally ran at EPCOT for
nearly 8 years in the Imagination pavilion. It featured 2 new songs
written by Jackson - "Another
Part of Me" (which later
appeared on his Bad album) and
"We Are Here to Change the
World" (which was not officially
released until 2004
as part of Michael Jackson:
The Ultimate Collection).
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1992:
Disney's Beauty and the Beast is widely released in theaters in Japan.
1888:
French actor, singer, and popular entertainer Maurice Chevalier is born in Paris. He appeared in Disney's 1962 live-action In Search of the Castaways (as Jacques Paganel) and sang the theme for the 1970 animated The Aristocats. Chevalier even made an animated cameo appearance in the 1931 short Mickey's Gala Premiere. (His heavy French accent, melodic voice and Gallic charm made Chevalier the prototype of the gallant French monsieur in the American cinema of the 1930s. The character Lumiere, voiced by Jerry Orbach, in Disney's Beauty and the Beast ... is a Chevalier impression!)
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SEPTEMBER 12
THIS DAY MADE
IN THE
USA
SEPTEMBER 12
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1951:
Songwriter Mark Mueller, whose career spans pop music, television, film and
stage, is born in Los Angeles, California. His Disney music credits include Chip 'n Dale Rescue
Rangers, Duck Tales, and Honey I Blew Up the Kid.
(His non-Disney hits include Heart's "Nothin' at All" and Amy Grant's "That's What Love Is For.")
1986:
Captain EO, a 3-D, 70mm, Sci-fi, fantasy, musical movie attraction
starring Michael Jackson, opens at EPCOT. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
and executive-produced by George Lucas, the movie tells the story of Captain EO (Jackson)
and his ragtag crew of space travelers. The seventeen-minute film has cost an estimated $30
million dollars to produce - at this time the most expensive film ever produced on a per-minute basis. EPCOT is the first Disney park to present the film (as six days later Captain EO will debut in Disneyland).
Captain EO opens at EPCOT
2009:
The first annual D23 Expo continues for the third day at the
Anaheim Convention Center in California. This day's schedule of more than
15 events include "So You Want to Be an Imagineer" with Marty Sklar, a behind the
scenes look at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts with Chairman Jay Rasulo, a Snow White
and the Seven Dwarfs panel discussion with Don Hahn, and a D23 Expo live auction.
"When you look at the other Web sites and clubs that exist, we certainly aren’t pretending to be a replacement for them. When you look at the Disney fan environment … there’s such a deep, voracious appetite for all things Disney. I think it would be foolish to think there’s a sole voice of Disney fandom. It’s a great option and great offering for fans." -Steven Clark, head of D23
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Hong Kong Disneyland debuts
1904:
The residents of Kansas City, Missouri, celebrate the opening of the Benton Grammar School, named in honor of Senator Thomas Benton. This is the same school a young Walt Disney will attend between September 1911 and June 1917.
SEASON 3 EPISODE 1
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Among the 22 opening day attractions:
-Main Street U.S.A.: designed after quintessential small town America
-Fantasyland: featuring Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Mad Hatter Tea Cups, Cinderella Carousel, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Mickey's PhilharMagic & Fantasy Gardens
-Adventureland: featuring Jungle River Cruise, an entire island dedicated to Tarzan and his tree house & the 2,200 seat Theater-in-the-Wild
-Tomorowland: featuring Space Mountain, Orbitron, & Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
1936:
The Disney animated short Donald and Pluto, directed by Ben Sharpsteen, is released. Donald is a plumber dealing with Pluto and an unusual leak. The real fun comes when Pluto accidentally swallows one of Donald's tools ... a magnet!
1947:
Wide Open Spaces, a Donald Duck short directed by Jack King, is released.
Donald, not wanting to pay for a hotel room, decides to sleep outdoors. But he winds up tangling with an
air mattress, a boulder, and other elements of the "great outdoors."
1958:
"Davy Crockett - Indian Fighter" airs on the ABC-TV series Walt Disney Presents.
Previously known as Disneyland (since 1954), this is the first episode of the series under its new title.
2008:
The second season of the Disney Channel series Wizards of
Waverly Place kicks off with the episode "Smarty Pants."
1957:
Film score composer and music producer Hans Zimmer is born in Frankfurt, Germany. He has composed music for over 100 films including The Lion King and Pirates of the Caribbean. (As a teen he moved to London and eventually worked with The Buggles, a New Wave band formed in 1977 best known for their hit "Video Killed the Radio Star.")
1997:
Night of Joy 1997 kicks off for two evenings at the Magic Kingdom in Disney
World. Performers include Steven Curtis Chapman, Jars of Clay, Jaci Velasqeuz, New Song, Anointed,
Angelo Ballestro & The Metro Band, and Sarah Masen.
