2003:
Disney World's newest attraction, Mission:
SPACE liftts off with a soft opening. Located in
Epcot's Future World, Mission: SPACE will have
its official opening in October.
The Lizzie McGuire episode "My Dinner with Dig"
debuts on Disney Channel as does the Disney Channel Original Movie The Cheetah Girls. (Despite a widespread blackout in the Northeast, The Cheetah Girls is watched by about 6.5 million viewers!)
1843:
Tivoli Gardens, an amusement park in Copenhagen, Denmark, opens.
It includes a variety of attractions such as mechanical amusement rides, a theatre, restaurants and flower gardens. On certain evenings, specially designed fireworks will fill the sky over Tivoli's lake. (One of the oldest amusement parks in the world, Tivoli Gardens will greatly inspire and influence Walt Disney.)
1901:
Songwriter Hall of Famer and Disney Legend Ned Washington is born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. A 12-time Oscar nominated lyricist, Washington helped write (along with Leigh Harline) the popular Disney tune When You Wish Upon A Star - which won an Oscar in 1940. Washington also co-wrote "Baby Mine" for Dumbo and the title song of Saludos Amigos. His non-Disney work includes such songs as "Rawhide," "My Foolish Heart," "Green Dolphin Street," and "Stella by Starlight."
1917:
Disney Legend Chuck Boyajian - who in 1955 became Disneyland's first Manager of Custodial operations - is born in Ohio. He will later be honored with a window on Disneyland's Main Street that reads: Royal Care Co. - We Keep Your Castle Shining - Chuck Boyajian - Prop.
1929:
Wild Waves, a Mickey Mouse short, is released. Mickey (voiced by Walt Disney)
saves Minnie (voiced by Marcellite Garner) whose been swept out to sea!
1935:
Actor Jim Dale, whose Disney credits include the 1978 Hot Lead and Cold Feet and the 1977 Pete's Dragon, is born in England. Dale is the narrator of the Harry Potter audiobooks.
1936:
Disney animator Ward Kimball marries Betty Lawyer - who has been working in Disney's Ink and Paint Department for a year.
1946:
Disney's animated Make Mine Music, ten musical shorts combined into a compilation,
is generally released. Narrated by Nelson Eddy, the film features the voices and sounds of vocalist
Dinah Shore, bandleader-clarinetist Benny Goodman, actor Sterling Holloway (future voice of Winnie the
Pooh), and singing trio The Andrews Sisters.
1994:
As part of the re-Imagineering of Future World's pavilions, the Spaceship Earth attraction at Disney's Epcot park closes. (The revamped attraction will open November 23, 1994 with 12 new scenes and a new musical score.)
Family PC magazine is first published. The monthly mag is a collaboration between Walt Disney Publishing and Ziff-Davis (an American publisher and Internet company).
1999:
Disney's newest ship the Disney Wonder embarks on its maiden voyage.
2006:
After nearly 13 years of entertaining Walt Disney World guests, Merlin performs his last Sword in the Stone show in front of Cinderella's Golden Carousal. Merlin has been challenging young guests to pull the sword from the stone several times a day in Fantasyland (at the Magic Kingdom) since 1994.
Walt Disney Records releases The Cheetah Girls 2, the soundtrack to the Disney Channel original movie The Cheetah Girls 2.
1958:
Actor, director, comedian & photographer Rondell Sheridan - Victor Baxter on both Disney Channel series That's So Raven and Cory in the House - is born in Chicago, Illinois. As a director, his credits include episodes of Disney Channel's Hanna Montana. Sheridan has also made guest appearances on Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas and Disney Cruise Line as a stand-up comedian!
The Horizons logo, in homage
to the Epcot attraction
replaced by Mission: SPACE,
is on display at the center of
the rotating "gravity wheel"
in the queue.
1955:
LIFE magazine runs an article on Disneyland's grand opening day (which happened 3 weeks ago).
"Welcome to the International Space Training Center. You're here today to train for the greatest adventure of the history of mankind."
2007:
Florida Governor Charlie Crist visits the Walt Disney World Resort to promote
two of his pet issues - energy conservation and physical fitness.
1989:
Joseph Adam "Joe" Jonas, a member of Jonas Brothers, is born in Casa
Grande, Arizona. The "middle Jonas," he will actually start out wanting to be a comedian, not a singer.
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AUGUST 15
THIS DAY
MADE IN
THE USA
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AUGUST 15
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Songwriter Ned Washington born
"I'd rather get a good clean laugh with good material, than an easy laugh by swearing or shocking. That's not clever or comedic, anybody can get a laugh that way, it's too easy." -Jim Dale
Stories in Make Mine Music include:
Blue Bayou - using Debussy's "Clair de Lune" & featuring animation originally intended for Fantasia
All the Cats Join In - a jazz interlude featuring the sounds of Benny Goodman and his orchestra
Without You - a ballad sung by Andy Russell
Casey at the Bat - featuring Jerry Colonna reciting the famous baseball poem
Two Silhouettes - 2 live-action ballet dancers, David Lichine and Tania Riabouchinskaya, moving in silhouette with animated backgrounds and characters & featuring the vocals of Dinah Shore
Peter and the Wolf - Sterling Holloway narrates an adaptation of Prokofiev's composition about a little boy who goes hunting for a wolf
After You've Gone - once again features Benny Goodman and his orchestra
Johnnie Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet - the romantic story of 2 hats who fall in love in a department store window
The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met - about a Sperm Whale with incredible musical talent who dreams of singing Grand Opera
2009:
Disney Legend Virginia Davis, Walt Disney's first human star and the original Alice
of his Alice Comedies, dies at age 90. As a child, Davis appeared in the first 13 titles of Disney's
Alice Comedies series - an innovative blend of live action and animation. Born Virginia Margaret Davis in Kansas
City, Missouri on New Year's Eve 1918, she later earned a degree from the New York School of Interior Design
and became a decorating editor for the popular 1950s magazine Living for Young Homemakers. In 1963, she
began a successful career in the real estate industry in Connecticut and later, Southern California. Over the
years, Davis remained in contact with the Walt Disney Company, and was often a special guest at such events as
the annual Disneyana Conventions held at either Disneyland or Walt Disney World.
"To be part of all that majesty and animation history is just heartwarming for me and I really feel privileged to have been part of
it. It makes me think that perhaps I did accomplish something that is indeed a part of Walt Disney's history." -Virginia Davis
2008:
The town of White River, Ontario hold their annual 3-day Winnie's Hometown Festival
in honor of the real-life bear who A. A. Milne made famous.
