1998:
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, housed in the space
formerly occupied by Take Flight, has a soft opening at Walt Disney World.
Presented by Mattel, it is the first interactive dark ride at the Magic Kingdom.
Disney's Elaborate Lives: The Legend of Aida opens at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta, Georgia. (In 1999 the title of the musical will be shortened to Aida.)
1905:
Character actor & comic cowboy sidekick Andy Devine, the voice of Friar Tuck in Disney's 1973 release Robin Hood, is born in Flagstaff, Arizona.
1918:
Disney Legend Norman "Stormy" Palmer, one of Walt Disney Studio's most
celebrated film editors, is born in Santa Ana, California. He will join Disney as a
projectionist in 1938, but soon transfer to the Editorial department where he will work on Pinocchio and
Fantasia. Palmer will best be known for his contributions to Disney nature and animal films such as The Living
Desert, Grand Canyon, and Water Birds.
1955:
Mickey Mouse Club airs on ABC-TV. Today is Talent Round-Up Day with Mouseketeer Cubby bringing his father Hack and brother Warren onstage for a drum set trio! Also shown is the cartoon Two Gun Mickey.
1962:
The NBC-TV series Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color airs part 2 of "Escapade in Florence."
1971:
The Disney animated and live-action feature film Bedknobs and Broomsticks
premieres at the Odeon Theater in Leicester Square in London, England.
(It will be released in the U.S. two months later.)
1981:
An edited version of the live-action Disney horror film The Watcher in the Woods,
starring Bette Davis, Carroll Baker, David McCallum, and Lynn-Holly Johnson, is
released. Based on the 1976 novel by Florence Engel Randall, the story focuses on a teenage girl and her little
sister who become encompassed in a supernatural mystery regarding a missing girl in the woods surrounding their
new home. Originally released in April 1980, the film is known for its notorious rewrites, reshoots, and recuts
(including the film's original opening credits and conclusion) after originally being pulled from theatres.
1990:
Legendary animator Myron "Grim" Natwick passes in Los Angeles, California, at age 100. Best known as the creator of the animated character Betty Boop, he also worked on Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Trained in art schools in Chicago, New York and Vienna before becoming an animator in 1921, Natwick was awarded the Winsor McCay Award in 1975.
2000:
Former Disney Imagineer Rolly Crump appears at a special Ryman-Carroll Foundation tribute event at the Disneyland Resort. (Crump began his career in the late 1950s at the Disney Studios in animation, where he worked on Sleeping Beauty and 101 Dalmatians, before moving to Walt Disney Imagineering. During his Imagineering career, Rolly worked on early concepts for the Haunted Mansion, as well as the development of various tiki gods and goddesses for The Enchanted Tiki Room.)
2002:
A Bug's Land opens inside Disney's California Adventure (although part of the
land has been in operation since 2001). Designed especially for younger kids, the area (inspired by
the Disney/Pixar movie) features such attraction as Flik's Flyers and Tuck and Roll's Drive'Em Buggies.
The Travel Channel airs Great Hotels - Disney's Wilderness Lodge for the first time.
2003:
Disney's The Lion King is released on a 2-disc DVD set. It includes a new animated song (written by Elton John & Tim Rice) and sequence. This is the first time Disney has added a newly animated scene specifically for a DVD.
2004:
It is announced that Andrae Rivas and Rebecca Phelps
have been chosen to be the 2005 Disneyland Resort Ambassadors.
2005:
One week after leaving The Walt Disney Company, Michael Eisner hosts The Charlie Rose Show. His guests are actor John Travolta and his ex-boss-turned-rival, television executive Barry Diller.
2006:
A female giraffe is born at Disney's Animal Kingdom. The calf is the first offspring for her mother, a 9-year-old giraffe named Aibuin.
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About 300 Walt Disney World buses transport guests around the Florida resort, making the Walt Disney World fleet the third largest in Florida behind
Miami and
Jacksonville!
2001:
Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Walk-Through attraction (opened since April 1957) closes for refurbishment. (Over time, Sleeping Beauty Walk-Through will drop off the refurbishment list.)
1967:
Singer/songwriter and actress Toni Braxton - who has appeared in the Disney
Broadway shows Beauty and the Beast (as Belle) in 1998 and Aida (as Aida) in
2003 - is born in Severn, Maryland. Her role in Beauty and the Beast marked the first (and
only) time an African American has played the leading role of Belle on Broadway.
2008:
The world premiere of Walt Disney Pictures' Morning Light takes place at the El
Captian Theatre in Hollywood. The true-life documentary (conceived and co-produced by Roy E.
Disney) opens in theaters October 17, 2008.
A 50th Anniverary Platinum Edtion of Disney's Sleeping Beauty (originally
released in theaters in January 1959) is released as a 2-disc DVD & Blu-ray Disc. This
release makes Sleeping Beauty the first entry in the Platinum Edition line to be released in high definition video.
OCTOBER 7
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THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
OCTOBER 07
Toni Braxton born
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"I can't record in the morning because I sound like Barry White." -Toni Braxton
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