1906:
Composer Paul J. Smith is born in Calumet, Michigan. Starting with
Disney in 1934, he went on to write scores for nearly 70 Disney animated shorts and
countless features (both animated & live-action). Smith won an Oscar for the music in
Pinocchio (along with Leigh Harline and Ned Washington) and appeared in Fantasia
as a member of the orchestra. Along with Hazel George, Smith wrote a number of songs for
Fun With Music Day for television's Mickey Mouse Club. Later he and Buddy Baker scored
music for theme park attractions such as Disneyland's Adventure Thru Inner Space. Smith
(who retired in 1962) was named a Disney Legend in 1994, nine years after his death.
(Smith's non-Disney credits include the 1950s TV sitcom Leave It to Beaver.)
2005:
The world premiere of Chicken Little takes place at the El Capitan Theater in
Hollywood, California. A computer-animated comedy, it is loosely based on the fable The Sky Is Falling.
1939:
Actor Sammy Ogg, who portrayed Joe Simpson on Disney's 1955-1957
serial The Adventures of Spin and Marty, is born in Lexington, Virginia.
1957:
Stand-up comedian & actor Kevin Pollak, who played Spinlok in Disney World's now
extinct ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter, is born in San Francisco, California. His Disney credits also include the live-action films The Santa Clause 2 and The Santa Clause 3 (as Cupid),Touchstone's 1993 comedy-drama Indian Summer, and Hollywood Pictures' 1995 romantic comedy Miami Rhapsody. (You may recognize Pollak from such features as Avalon, Grumpy Old Men,The Wedding Planner, and Dr. Dolittle 2, and from the CBS sitcom Mom.)
1959:
The TV series Walt Disney Presents airs "Swamp Fox: Brother Against
Brother." It is the second episode of an 8-part mini-series starring Leslie Nielsen as a real-life
American Revolutionary War hero named Francis Marion. Due to his irregular methods of warfare,
Marion is considered one of the fathers of modern guerrilla warfare.
1960:
The Walt Disney Presents series airs the first episode of a two-
part Zorro adventure titled "El Bandido." It is a one-hour spin-off of Disney's popular
weekly series Zorro, which ran from 1957 to 1959.
1966:
The television series The Wonderful World of Disney airs the first episode of the
new serial Gallagher Goes West: Crusading Reporter. Tonight's episode "Showdown
with the Sundown Kid" finds young Gallagher heading west to become a newspaper reporter.
Gallagher Goes West, made up of 4 episodes in all, will air over the next 4 months.
1977:
The Wonderful World of Disney airs "Halloween Hall O' Fame," featuring Jonathan Winters on NBC. Winters plays a bumbling night watchman for Walt Disney Productions who uncovers his pumpkin head alter ego (named Jack) hiding from Halloween in a crystal ball. Together they show some classic Disney cartoons, including Trick or Treat, Lonesome Ghosts, and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
2000:
At the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood the 1993 The Nightmare Before
Christmas is shown along with the brand new Disney short John Henry.
Disney's animated retelling of the legend of John Henry, the steel-driving man, features the voices of
Geoffrey Jones, Alfre Woodard, Tim Hodge and Dave Murray.
2002:
The Disneyland Resort hosts a costume party and screening of the
Tim Burton classic The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Beauty and the Beast becomes the seventh longest-running
show on Broadway with performance number 3,487.
2003:
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas Film Screening takes place at Disneyland.
2006:
The Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is presented a $5 million gift from the Walt
Disney Company Foundation (the largest donation ever made to Childrens Hospital
Los Angeles by a corporate foundation). It will be used toward the construction of a new hospital
building slated to open in 2009.
James McCown of St. Petersburg, Florida, rides Expedition Everest for the 1000th
time at Disney's Animal Kingdom! Riding with McCown (who calls himself "Yeti
Man" and wears furry gloves and a ski hat) is park guest Steven Nichols age 12,
from London, England.
The pavement at Epcot
was engineered by Disney and
Kodak photography to be
painted a specific custom
color of pink that makes the
grass look greener and
pictures look brighter!
1735:
John Adams, the second United States President, is born in
Braintree, Massachusetts. Regarded as one of the most influential Founding Fathers
of the United States, Adams was the father of John Quincy Adams, the 6th U.S. President. Visit
Adams and all our Chief Executives at Disney World's The Hall of Presidents.
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1992:
Disney's 1991 animated hit Beauty and the Beast is released to VHS and Laserdisc.
2008:
Starting on this day, Downtown Disney Florida hosts trick-or-treaters for a
free Happy Haunting event from 5 to 9 p.m. Today and tomorrow (Halloween),
children can dress up and collect candy at such stores as World of Disney, Team Mickey, Once
Upon a Toy, Pooh Corner, Disney’s Days of Christmas, World of Memories, Disney’s Pin Traders,
Mickey’s Pantry, Mickey’s Groover, DisneyQuest Emporium and Pin Cart West Side.
OCTOBER 30
THIS DAY MADE IN THE USA
OCTOBER 30
Rest in peace,
brother Huet.
We all know you didn't do it.
World Premiere of Chicken Little
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1997:
Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party takes place at the Magic
Kingdom in Disney World for the first of two nights. It is the first time
ever the ticketed event is held on the night before Halloween.
Disney Legend Paul J. Smith born
2009:
Disney's A Christmas Carol Train Tour pulls into New York City's Grand Central
Terminal for its 40th and final stop. Over the last 24 weeks, the special Amtrak train has visited 36
states to promote Disney's A Christmas Carol (which will open in theaters November 6).
Travel Channel Personality Andrew Zimmern attends the EPCOT International
Food and Wine Festival. The host of Travel Channel’s "Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern," he is in
the middle of his third trip to WDW.
"Fear is the foundation of most governments." -John Adams
Haunted Mansion tribute to Cliff Huet - involved in the attraction's architecture & one of the primary interior designers
1963:
Disney's The Incredible Journey, narrated by Rex Allen, is released to theaters.
The live-action film, based on Sheila Burnford's book of the same name, tells the story of a cat named Tao
and two dogs named Bodger and Luath - who lose their owners when they are all on vacation. (In 1993
Disney will release a remake titled Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey.)
"I was secure with my head. I knew I was a pumpkin mentally. There's a lot of seeds up there -
some gone." -Jonathan Winters on his role as Jack
Learn more at My Monster Memories
"There’s nothing I don’t love about Walt Disney World." -Andrew Zimmern
2010:
The new 4,000-passenger Disney Dream floats away from its sheltered dock for the very first time at the German shipyard where it is being built. Upon leaving the dock, the Dream remains in the shipyard harbor to undergo a series of trials, testing technical systems such as its stabilizers and rudders. The ship will stay berthed along the yard pier for at least another two weeks, as interior construction continues. (The Dream is expected to depart the shipyard on the second weekend in November.)
1929:
Disney's fourth Silly Symphony cartoon, Hell's Bells is released. Directed by animator Ub Iwerks (his first directorial outing at Disney), this short features the devils of hell gathering together for a mad frolic. With music by Carl Stalling, Hell's Bells is superbly animated with "disturbing" but amazing imageries not typically found in Disney family-oriented shorts of this era.
1930:
Winter, Disney's 4th and final "4 seasons" Silly Symphony, is released. Directed
by Burt Gillett, animals frolic in the new fallen snow, skating on an icy lake to such tunes as "Jingle Bells"
and "The Skater's Waltz."
R.I.P.
C.U.
Later
R.I.P.
I. Emma Spook
Career highlights:
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Saludos Amigos
Melody Time
So Dear to My Heart
The Vanishing Prairie
The Shaggy Dog
The Parent Trap
Bon Voyage!
Halloween Treat
Donald Duck's 50th Birthday
2011:
Episode 2 of ABC-TV's Once Upon a Time, "The Thing You Love Most," premieres.
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1982:
"Disney's Halloween Treat," a 47-minute Halloween-themed clip show, first airs on
The Wonderful World of Disney. Featuring a compilation of Disney animated shorts involving spooky
or supernatural themes as well as excerpted segments from Disney feature films, it is narrated by a
jack-o'-lantern puppet.
2012:
The soundtrack for Disney's animated Wreck-It Ralph is released. With a score by Henry Jackman, the soundtrack also features original songs by Owl City, AKB48, Skrillex, and Kool & The Gang.
The Walt Disney Company announces an outlay of $4.05 billion for the purchase
of the Lucasfilm company, founded by director George Lucas and the creator of
franchises like "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones." Disney also reveals that it plans to create a
new chapter in the famous galactic saga - "Star Wars: Episode 7" - to premiere in 2015.
"For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the
next. It's now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers." - George Lucas
October 30
2015:
We Love Disney, a compilation album (and third entry in the eponymous series)
featuring cover versions of Disney songs by English-speaking musicians from various
genres, is released by Verve Records and Walt Disney Records in the United States.
The collection includes performances by such artists as Gwen Stefani, Fall Out Boy, and Tori Kelly.
Actor Al Molinaro passes away at age 96 in California. Best known for his television roles of Al Delvecchio on Happy Days and Officer Murray Greshler on The Odd Couple, he had a small role in Disney's 1976
fantasy-comedy film Freaky Friday.
1970:
Actor Billy Brown is born in Inglewood, California. He played Mr. Carson in the
2009 Race to Witch Mountain.
1953:
Actor, writer and director Charles Martin Smith is born in Van Nuys, California. His Disney acting credits include the comedies No Deposit, No Return (1976) as Longnecker and Herbie Goes Bananas (1980) as Davy "D.J." Johns. In 1983 he starred in the Disney drama Never Cry Wolf, a project he devoted almost three years to filming. Smith also wrote much of the narration for the film. During the filming, he became so enamored of the Northwest that he decided to relocate to Vancouver, British Columbia, where he has resided since the mid-1980s.
Smith also directed the 1997 Disney family film Air Bud. (You may recognize Smith from his film appearances in American Graffiti, The Buddy Holly Story, Starman, and The Untouchables.)
2018:
Welcome to the Club Pt. 2, an EP from the British pop trio New Hope Club, is released as a digital download by Steady/Hollywood Records.
1934:
Singer-songwriter & actor Hamilton Camp is born in London, England. His long list of Disney voice credits include such roles as Merlin in House of Mouse and Disney Sing Along Songs: Happy Haunting: Party
in Disneyland, Ayam Aghoul in Aladdin, Whistlestop Jackson in TaleSpin, Pitts in Bonkers, Fenton Crackshell in DuckTales and Darkwing Duck, and Seadog in The Little Mermaid. (Camp's debut as a folk singer was at the Newport Folk Festival in 1960. Over the next four decades he maintained a dual career as a musician/songwriter and as an actor. He appeared in nearly one hundred films and television programs.)
1989:
The Making of Me, a film directed by Glenn Gordon Caron and starring Martin Short, opens at the Wonders of Life pavilion at Walt Disney World Resort's Epcot. Short tells the story about how we are born, by explaining how his parents met during the course of their lives - at a high school dance, getting married, on their honeymoon, and having their first child. (The attraction will close along with the rest of the pavilion on January 1, 2007.)
2020:
The second season of The Mandalorian begins to stream on Disney+ with
"Chapter 9: The Marshal."
1988:
Animator, director and teacher Thornton Hee, often credited as T. Hee, passes away at age 77 in Montana. Joining Walt Disney Animation Studios around 1937, he is most recognized for directing the "Dance of the Hours" segment of Fantasia. Leaving after the strike, he returned to Disney twice, from 1940 to 1946, and again from 1958 to 1961. Over the years his credits included The Reluctant Dragon, Victory Through Air Power, Make Mine Music, Mickey and the Beanstalk, and Fun and Fancy Free. Hee also worked for United Productions of America (1951 to 1958) and Terrytoons (1961 to 1963).
1945:
Actor, executive producer, director, and author Henry Winkler is born in New York City. First rising to fame for his role of Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli on the sitcom Happy Days, Winkler went on to have a long career in films and on television. His Disney credits include the motion picture Holes (as Stanley Yelnats III), the Touchstone Pictures film The Waterboy (as Coach Klein), and the Searchlight Pictures comedy-drama The French Dispatch (as Uncle Joe). His Disney/ABC television credits include Donald Duck's 50th Birthday,The Drew Carey Show, The Simpsons, Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero, Handy Manny, Puppy Dog Pals, Guardians of the Galaxy,
Monsters at Work, and DuckTales. (You may recognize him from the films The Lords of Flatbush, Night Shift, and Scream, and for his television appearances on Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy, and Parks and Recreation.)
