2005:
After six years of planning and building costs of $1.8 billion, Hong Kong Disneyland
has its grand opening. It is Disney's 5th vacation resort and 11th theme park in the world. It consists of the
Hong Kong Disneyland theme park, two hotels (Disneyland Hotel and Disney's Hollywood Hotel), and retail, dining
and entertainment facilities stretching over 310 acres on Lantau Island. Hong Kong Disneyland's Adventureland is
the largest Adventureland of all the Magic Kingdom parks around the world!
1894:
Billy Gilbert, the voice of Sneezy in Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, is born in Louisville, Kentucky. The son of singers in the Metropolitan Opera, Billy will begin performing in vaudeville at age 12. He will develop a drawn-out, explosive sneezing routine that'll become his trademark! (During his career he will appear in over 200 feature films.)
1941:
The Disney animation strike is ended by federal mediators.
1943:
Mouseketeer Jay-Jay Solari (who will appear on The Mickey Mouse Club during the 1956-1957 season) is born John Joseph Solari in Boston, Massachusetts.
1956:
The Disneyland television series kicks off season three with episode 48:
"Antarctica - Past and Present." Walt Disney hosts a look at his
plans for a brand new documentary on Antarctica.
1984:
Michael Eisner resigns from Paramount Pictures. He hopes to become CEO of Disney.
1985:
Steve Jobs announces he is leaving Apple, a computer company he co-founded
with Steve Wozniak. (Jobs will go on to create Pixar Animation Studios.)
2001:
The day after the U.S. is attacked by terrorists, all Disney parks in the U.S. re-open for business. To help insure the safety of all Disney guests, a decision is made to increase the security measures within the parks, effective immediately. The most obvious of these increased measures include the inspection of all packages, parcels, backpacks, etc., being carried by guests prior to entering the parks. The New Year's Eve nightly celebration in Pleasure Island is cancelled.
The Aida touring company and the Lion King company in Los Angeles raise $10,000 for the Red Cross by asking audiences for donations following the performances.
2003:
The That's So Raven episode "If I Only Had a Job" debuts on Disney Channel.
2004:
Christy Carlson Romano (who on this day finishes a 32-week run as Belle
in Disney's Broadway hit Beauty and the Beast) and Broadway newcomer Wayne Brady (who will appear in Chicago) co-host the 13th annual "Broadway on Broadway" concert in New York's Times Square.
Higglytown Heroes, a new children's television series, debuts on Disney Channel. Higglytown heroes range from firefighters to dentists to snow plow operators, and are voiced by guest celebrities. The theme song Here in Higglytown is performed by They Might Be Giants.
2006:
Disney's The Wild is released on DVD.
It is announced that Orlando's Walt Disney World has replaced Illinois Avenue on the new Monopoly: Here & Now edition. At $2.4 million for the Disney property, Orlando beat out other large American cities such as Phoenix & Honolulu, whose landmarks will cost $2.2 million each! Hasbro, maker of Monopoly, let people vote online in the Spring for the top landmark to represent each city.
1905:
Layout artist Cornett Wood is born in Indiana. Wood will start his career with Disney and work on the features Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia, and Bambi. He will spend the rest of his career at Warner Bros.
1931:
Actor Sir Ian Holm - the voice of Skinner in the Disney/Pixar Ratatouille -
is born in Goodmayes, Essex, England.
Captain EO (a 3-D Sci-fi musical
film starring Michael Jackson)
ran at EPCOT for nearly 8 years
in the Imagination pavilion. It
featured 2 new songs written by
Jackson - "Another Part of Me"
(which later appeared on his
Bad album) and "We Are Here to
Change the World" (which was
not officially released until 2004
as part of Michael Jackson:
The Ultimate Collection).
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1992:
Disney's Beauty and the Beast is widely released in theaters in Japan.
1888:
French actor, singer, and popular entertainer Maurice Chevalier is born in Paris. He appears in Disney's 1962 live-action In Search of the Castaways (as Jacques Paganel) and sings the theme for the 1970 animated The Aristocats. Chevalier even makes a cameo appearance in the 1931 Mickey's Gala Premiere. (The character Lumiere, voiced by Jerry Orbach, in Disney's Beauty and the Beast ... is a Chevalier impression!)
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SEPTEMBER 12
THIS DAY MADE
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SEPTEMBER 12
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1951:
Songwriter Mark Mueller, whose career spans pop music, television, film and
stage, is born in Los Angeles, California. His Disney music credits include Chip 'n Dale Rescue
Rangers, Duck Tales, and Honey I Blew Up the Kid.
(His non-Disney hits include Heart's "Nothin' at All" and Amy Grant's "That's What Love Is For.")
1986:
Captain EO, a 3-D, 70mm, Sci-fi, fantasy, musical movie attraction starring Michael Jackson, opens at EPCOT. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola and executive-produced by George Lucas, the movie tells the story of Captain EO (Jackson) and his ragtag crew of space travelers. The seventeen-minute film has cost an estimated $30 million dollars to produce - at this time the most expensive film ever produced on a per-minute basis. EPCOT is the first Disney park to present the film (as six days later Captain EO will debut in Disneyland).
Captain EO opens at EPCOT
2009:
The first annual D23 Expo continues for the third day at the
Anaheim Convention Center in California. This day's schedule of more than
15 events include "So You Want to Be an Imagineer" with Marty Sklar, a behind the
scenes look at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts with Chairman Jay Rasulo, a Snow White
and the Seven Dwarfs panel discussion with Don Hahn, and a D23 Expo live auction.
"When you look at the other Web sites and clubs that exist, we certainly aren’t pretending to be a replacement for them. When you look at the Disney fan environment … there’s such a deep, voracious appetite for all things Disney. I think it would be foolish to think there’s a sole voice of Disney fandom. It’s a great option and great offering for fans." -Steven Clark, the head of D23
