2005:
Disney Legend Fred Joerger, a master model maker who helped create Disneyland's look by molding three-dimensional models of the Sleeping Beauty Castle, the Haunted Mansion, and other attractions, passes away at age 91. Walt Disney handpicked Joerger back in 1953 to become one of his first three model makers. Joerger also built miniature sets and props for Disney motion pictures, including Mary Poppins, Darby O'Gill and the Little People, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
1918:
A young Walt Disney forges his parents' signatures to enlist in the American Ambulance Corps (part of the Red Cross). He changes his birth from 1901 to 1900.
1951:
Walt Disney tells journalist & animation historian John Culhane: "The most important aim of any of the fine arts, is to get a purely emotional response from the beholder."
1979:
The Wonderful World of Disney airs part 1 of "The Sky's the Limit" on NBC.
2003:
Buena Vista Records/Hollywood Records releases Hilary Duff's second album Metamorphosis - which features the single "So Yesterday."
2006:
Thousands of fans, along actor with Kyle Massey of That's So Raven, gather at
Toonfest 2006 held at Disney Studios in Burbank, California. The first official fan fest
dedicated to the family-friendly game - Disney's Toontown Online - features contests, games and a parade.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs cost Disney over $1.5 million and nearly bankrupt
the company!
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1990:
Retta Scott, the first woman to receive screen credit as an animator at Walt Disney Studios, passes away in Foster City, California. First hired in 1938, her Bambi work includes the vicious hunting dogs in the sequence where the dogs pursue Faline and fight with Bambi. Scott also worked on Fantasia, Dumbo, and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. She will be named a Disney Legend in 2000.
"Retta had an astounding ability to draw powerful animals. She seemed to have a keen understanding of their moods and attitudes." -animator Frank Thomas
2007:
Hollywood Records recording artist & actress Hilary Duff co-hosts the
seventh annual Teen Choice Awards, broadcast on FOX-TV.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End wins for Choice Movie: Action Adventure, and High School Musical 2 scores for Choice TV: Movie.
Disney Channel debuts "First Day of High School," the 75th episode of
The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Also premiering - two episodes of As the Bell Rings (based on Quelli dell'Intervallo, a series that airs in Italy) about the lives of six friends and their tween issues.
1952:
Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor Michael Jeter is born in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. Fans of Disney's 1997 Air Bud will recognize him as Norman F. 'Norm' Snively/Clown the Hound.
2008:
The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning is released on DVD, as is Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas: 2-Disc Collector's Edition DVD.
Disney opens its newest exhibit - a hurricane simulator at Epcot which aims to teach visitors how to better protect their homes ahead of dangerous storms. Meteorologists and emergency management experts are among the first to experience the exhibit in the morning before it is opened to the public later in the afternoon.
1940:
Voice actor Don LaFontaine is born in Duluth, Minnesota. During his career, La Fontaine will
recording over 5,000 movie trailers and over 350,000 television commercials, network promotions, and video
game trailers. His Disney credits will include the animated series Fillmore! and the feature Meet the Robinsons.
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AUGUST 26
THIS DAY
MADE IN
THE USA
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AUGUST 26
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"Guys like Fred (Joerger) were kind of the heroes of the next generation of Imagineers."
-Kevin Rafferty (senior show writer and director at Walt Disney Imagineering)
Yet, the film grossed over eight million dollars internationally
when originally released!
1948:
Walt Disney and animator Ward Kimball (both railroad enthusiasts) return to the
Studio after a 10-day trip visiting the Chicago Railroad Fair and Henry Ford's
Greenfield Village. The Railroad Fair in Illinois, an event celebrating 100 years of railroad history west of
Chicago, features locomotives, and various lands including - Vacationland, an Indian Village, a New Orleans section,
a Gold Gulch (frontier section) with a haunted house and opera house, as well as shows and a nightly fireworks
display. Henry Ford's Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan, features four centuries of historic buildings (moved
from their original locations) and laid out in an old fashioned Main Street design. The Wright Brothers' bicycle shop
and Thomas Edison's laboratory are part of the impressive collection of buildings that Ford has assembled. Walt will
be greatly influenced by what he has experienced on this trip. (The Chicago Railroad Fair was a one-time event, but
Greenfield Village continues to offer visitors a trip back to the sights, sounds and sensations of America’s past.)
2009:
A keel laying ceremony is held for the Disney Dream in Papenburg, Germany,
where the new ship is starting to come to life after a lengthy design phase. The keel
laying ceremony - attended by Donald Duck - is a maritime tradition in which the first block of the ship is lowered
into the building dock. Builders then place a coin under the keel for good luck. The Disney Dream is expected to
set sail in 2011.
