1921:
Animator Retta Davidson - one of the few women animators who worked for Walt Disney Studios during the Golden Age of American animation - is born in Arcadia, California. After graduating from high school in 1939, she will join Disney as an inker and painter (first at the old Hyperion Studio location), where she will work on Pinocchio, Bambi, and Fantasia. In 1941, women who worked in the Ink and Paint Department will be invited to submit drawings in order to be considered for jobs in the Animation Department (as Word War II has taken many male animators into the service). Retta will be among the 10 chosen. Often credited as "Redda Davidson," she will work for Disney on and off until her retirement in 1985.
1936:
Harper's Bazaar prints an article by Janet Flanner
titled "Boom Shot of Hollywood." Her observations include, "Certainly
the sanest spot in Hollywood is that studio exclusively devoted to the creation of delicate deliriums and lovely lunacies - the fun factory of Mickey Mouse, Miss Minnie and Mr. Walt Disney, Incorporated."
2005:
Disney Princess: A Christmas of Enchantment, Disney Channel Holiday, A Very
Playhouse Disney Holiday, and Aliens of the Deep are all released to DVD.
The soundtrack to Chicken Little is released. The CD features
performances by Patti LaBelle & Joss Stone, Barenaked Ladies, and The Cheetah Girls.
1924:
Disney's Alice Comedy Alice Gets in Dutch, starring Virginia Davis, is released.
After Alice is caught pulling a prank in class, she's sent to the corner with a dunce's cap, where she quickly grows tired and begins daydreaming.
1940:
Disney's short Mr. Mouse Takes a Trip, directed by Clyde Geronimi, is released.
Mickey Mouse (voiced by Walt Disney) heads out on vacation via train from Burbank to Pomona with his buddy Pluto (voiced by Lee Millar).
Tony Award-winning actress/singer Beth Fowler, the original Mrs. Potts in Disney's stage musical Beauty and the Beast, is born in Jersey City, New Jersey. She also supplied additonal voices for the 1998 feature Mulan and sang on the film's soundtrack.
1946:
Disney's Donald Duck & Goofy cartoon Frank Duck Brings 'Em Back is
released. Directed by Jack Hannah, Goofy is a "wild man of the jungle" and Donald a great white hunter!
In preparation for the Georgia premiere of Song of the South, artists Fred
Moore and Dick Mitchell, along with production expert Frank Bresson and
voice artist Clarence Nash open a "miniature studio" at the Belle Isle Building
Arcade in Atlanta. The exhibit includes Moore and Mitchell drawing sketches for visitors,
demonstrations of the animation process, and showings of a preview of the picture and scenes from Disney's 1941 The Reluctant Dragon. (Song of the South will premiere on November 12 at Atlanta's Fox Theater.)
1955:
The Mickey Mouse Club airs on ABC-TV. Today is Guest Star Day
with comedian, singer-songwriter & Disney voice actor Jerry Colonna.
1970:
The Wonderful World of Disney airs part 1 of "Snow Bear."
1986:
At Disneyland, the Golden Horseshoe Revue (running since 1955) is renamed the Golden Horseshoe Jamboree. A fresh show but in the same vein as the Revue, the Golden Horseshoe Jamboree features Judi Wallace as Miss Lilly and Gil Christner as Sam, the saloon owner.
1987:
"Return of the Shaggy Dog" airs on The Wonderful World of Disney.
1990:
The first international Disney Store opens on London's Regent Street.
1998:
Disney Magic Productions releases the theme park album Fantasmic!: Good Clashes With Evil.
1999:
The Disney Wilderness Preserve opens to the public. It is home to hundreds of
wildlife species and is bordered by one of the last remaining undeveloped lakes in Central Florida. Located south
of Orlando at the headwaters of the Everglades ecosystem, the 12,000-acre preserve features a 3-mile hiking trail.
2001:
The Disney on Ice show Disney on Ice - Jungle Adventures featuring the music and characters from "The Jungle Book", "Tarzan", and "The Lion King," pull into the Tacoma Dome in Tacoma, Washington, for 4 days.
Disney Theatricals and the coffee company Chock Full o'Nuts had planned to use today's performance of Broadway's Beauty and the Beast to announce their new marketing partnership. But, as with many things in New York, the events of September 11 has changed that. Instead, the companies contribute 200 tickets to the November 1 show to Ground Zero rescue workers and their families.
TechTV's special, Tech of Disney/Pixar's Monsters, Inc., premieres on television. (TechTV is a cable television channel covering technology information, news and entertainment 24 hours a day.)
2002:
Disney's The Santa Clause 2 (the sequel to the 1994 film The Santa Clause)
opens in theaters. Scott Calvin has been a humble Santa Claus for nearly ten years, but it might come to an
end if he doesn't find a Mrs. Claus! All the principal actors from the first film, including Tim Allen, David Krumholtz,
Eric Lloyd, and Judge Reinhold reprise their roles.
2003:
Disney's 43rd animated feature Brother Bear (featuring the voices of Joaquin Phoenix, Jeremy Suarez, Rick Moranis, and Dave Thomas) opens in theaters nationwide. Originally titled Bears, it is the third and final Disney animated feature produced primarily by the Feature Animation studio at Disney-MGM Studios in Florida.
The Wonderful World of Disney airs "Phenomenon II" on ABC-TV.
1997:
Disney Magic Productions releases the theme park album Candlelight Processional And Massed Choir Program As Presented At Epcot.
The demon in Fantasia's
"Night on Bald Mountain"
is named Chernobog,
after the god of evil in
Slavonic mythology.
1957:
An article titled "Walt Disney's Mechanical Wonderland" by Tom McHugh appears in
Popular Mechanics. It tells of Disneyland's "genius" attractions.
1991:
Disney releases Fantasia to video and laserdisc.
1960:
Disney's film Ten Who Dared is released. It tells the story of United States Army officer John Wesley Powell, who was the first to travel up the Colorado River, with other nine men, to make a map of the region, and the dangers they had to face in their trip.
"If I could use one word to described Retta Davidson, I think it would be "chipper." She was an upbeat and very funny lady. Retta always had a joke or funny story to tell, and could keep us kids entertained for hours." -animator Floyd Norman
Kenai: "Enough with the stories. I don't care about the time you and Binky found the world's
biggest pine cone ever."
Koda: "First of all, his name's Bucky, not Binky. And second, it wasn't a pine cone, it was a pine nut, and it was huge, even bigger than your fat head."
-Brother Bear
2009:
The Magic Kingdom at Disney World hosts the last Mickey's
Not So Scary Halloween Party of the 2009 season.
Take one creative genius with ideas, engineers with mechanical know-how, a 160-acres orange grove in Anaheim, Calif., and mix thoroughly with $19,000,000. The result? Disneyland, U. S.A.
Orlando’s Smile Ambassadors, Kyle Post and Stacey Doornbos complete their Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau’s 67 Days of Smiles journey
with a parade at the Magic Kingdom. The New York City duo
serve as Grand Marshalls to commemorate their 67-day journey that
"We knew that Orlando has amazing theme parks and great resorts, but what really surprised us
was the diversity of things to do." -Stacey Doornbos
More than 100 Santas, Mrs. Clauses and Santa’s helpers show up at Minneapolis’ Mall of America for a special screening of Disney’s A Christmas Carol.