2005:
The Walt Disney Treasures series releases 4 new, separate
limited-series DVD sets. They include The Chronological Donald, Volume 2 (a compilation of Donald Duck shorts from 1942 to 1946), The Adventures of Spin and Marty (the entire first season of the series that ran on the 1955-56 "Mickey Mouse Club"), Disney Rarities, Celebrated Shorts 1920s-1960s (featuring Walt's "Alice" comedies and “Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom”), and Elfego Baca and The Swamp Fox, Legendary Heroes (two of Walt's adventure TV series).
1903:
Ruth F. Disney - Walt Disney's only sister and the youngest child in the family -
is born in Chicago, Illinois. (As an adult she will later move to Portland, Oregon
and marry Theodore Beecher.)
1920:
Legendary jazz pianist-composer Dave Brubeck (known for his 1959
million-selling hit "Take Five") is born in Concord, California. In 1957
he will release the theme album Dave Digs Disney, a collection of well-known Disney songs.
1922:
The Laugh-O-Gram silent black & white cartoon Cinderella is released. The short, based on Charles Perrault's classic, is directed, produced, written and co-animated by Walt Disney. (It is one of 6 fairy tales in Walt's Laugh-O-Gram series.)
Also released is the Laugh-O-Gram combination live-action and animated short Tommy Tuckers Tooth, written and co-animated by Walt Disney. It is made for a local Kansas City dentist, Dr. Thomas B. McCrum. The $500 Walt will earn from this short will enable him to begin work on his Alice Comedies.
1924:
Charcter actor Wally Cox is born in Detroit, Michigan. His Disney credits include the
live-action films The Barefoot Executive and The Boatniks. (Cartoon fans may remember him
as the voice of Underdog.)
1953:
Actor Tom Hulce, the voice of Quasimodo in Disney's 1996 animated release The Hunchback of Notre Dame, is born in Whitewater, Wisconsin.
1955:
The Mickey Mouse Club airs on ABC-TV. Today is Guest Star Day.
1958:
Walt Disney pens his annual birthday letter to his sister Ruth. Walt writes of his new Palm Springs place, his grandchildren, and his "Art of Animation" exhibit that the studio has prepared for the San Francisco Museum. Along with his wishes for a Happy Birthday is a check for Ruth.
1960:
The new Los Angeles American League baseball franchise is awarded to cowboy
movie star (and good friend of Walt Disney's) Gene Autry and former football
player Bob Reynolds. The team will be known as the Anaheim Angels and years later be owned for a
short time by Disney.
1961:
Walt Disney writes his annual birthday letter to his sister Ruth in which he states:
"We are working like Trojans on the new revamping for Disneyland. Right after New Years we will start construction in the Frontierland area on projects involving a Swiss family tree house, New Orleans Square with a pirate museum, and, also, a haunted house with a thousand and one ghosts. We plan to reopen the area next June ... Of course everything won't be completed by that time (there's too much involved and not enough time to get it all done before the 1962 summer season starts.) But we will have a lot accomplished."
1976:
The TV special Christmas in Disneyland featuring Art Carney, Sandy Duncan, and Glen Campbell airs.
1977:
Lindsey Alley, a member of Disney's Channel's The All New Mickey Mouse Club, is born in Lakeland, Florida.
1997:
The Miami Herald runs an article titled "Disney ride's fan not ready to kiss Mr. Toad goodbye." The article tells the story of Jeff Moskot, a 26-year-old from Miami, and his fight to keep Mr. Toad from being replaced by a new Winnie the Pooh attraction. Moskot will hold his first official "Toad-In" the following day.
2002:
The Lizzie McGuire episode "Xtreme Xmas" debuts on Disney Channel.
Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler appears as Santa Claus performing "Santa
Claus Is Coming To Town." His daughters Chelsea and Taj Tallarico make cameo appearances as well.
2003:
The Disney/Pixar feature Finding Nemo premieres in Japan.
2004:
ASIFA-Hollywood announces the nominations for the
32nd Annual Annie Awards (which recognize the year’s finest achievement in
animation across film, television, commercials and short subjects). Disney
nominated works include The Incredibles, The Lion King 1 1/2, Mickey, Donald & Goofy "The Three
Musketeers", Home on the Range, Brandy and Mr. Whiskers, Dave the Barbarian, and Winnie the Pooh,
Springtime with Roo. Winners will be announced January 30.
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1915:
Delmer J. Yoakum - an artist, oil & watercolor painter, designer, serigrapher, and motion picture studio scenic artist - is born in St. Joseph, Missouri. He will go on to paint the Grand Canyon and Primeval World Diorama scenery (viewable from the train of Disneyland Railroad), portions of Pirates of the Caribbean, It's a Small World and the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland in California.
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1992:
The Disney World shop Tinker Bell's Treasures opens for business in the Fantasyland area of the Magic Kingdom.
Elias Disney (Walt's dad) once worked as a mailman in
Kissimmee
(near Orlando),
Florida.
As a young man, Walt
too worked for the Post
Office ... but in Chicago.
DEC
2007:
The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards are presented at the Atlantic
Dance Hall at Walt Disney World. U.S. Naval Academy slot back Zerbin Singleton (who has displayed
an unwavering determination, overcoming a serious car wreck and a series of family tragedies to follow his dream
of one day becoming a part of the U.S. space program) is given Disney's Wide World of Sports Spirit Award.
Due to the Local One Stagehands strike, Disney's newest Broadway
production The Little Mermaid doesn't make its premiere as scheduled.
(The musical will open January 10, 2008.)
1937:
A sneak preview for Disney's first full-length animated feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs takes place in a theater in Pomona, California.
(The film's grand premiere is scheduled for December 21 in Hollywood.)
"The preview was unsettling. The audience seemed to be enjoying the film, laughing, applauding. But about three quarters of the way through, one-third of them got up and walked out. Everybody else kept responding enthusiastically to 'Snow White' right to the end, but we were concerned about that third. Later we found out they were local college students who had to get back for their 10 p.m. dormitory curfew." -Wilfred Jackson, one of the sequence directors
1984:
The first video under the "Walt Disney Classics" brand name arrives in stores. Walt Disney Classics is used by Walt Disney Home Video on their American, Japanese, European and Australian home video releases of Disney animated features.
The first of the Classics on video is Robin Hood.
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2008:
Taping continues at the Magic Kingdom for Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade, which will air nationwide December 25 on ABC-TV.
DECEMBER 6
advertisement
Today is St. Nicholas Day
THIS DAY MADE
IN THE
USA
DECEMBER 6
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"Some activists protest nuclear generators in space. Others, the mistreatment of Haitian refugees. On Sunday, a Miami man and his friends will invade Walt Disney World in a battle to spare the life of
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride." -The Miami Herald December 6, 1997
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1971:
The first Auto-Train leaves Lorton, Virginia on its inaugural run down south to Sanford, Florida (located about 43 miles from Disney World). First setup in 1970, the Auto-Train Corporation realized there was a market for trains that could carry both passengers and their autos - specifically down to sunny Florida. Soon known as the "official family railroad of Walt Disney World," the Auto-Train will even sponsor the Magic Kingdom's steam train (for a short time in the mid 1970s). Unfortunately the company will later go bankrupt - but Amtrak will recognize the market demand for such a route and purchase the Auto-Train depots and much of their equipment. (The revived Auto Train service is still in operation today, where it continues to be Amtrak’s highest grossing and most profitable train.)
