2001:
musical Aida. She has played the role of Amneris since February 2001.
Idina Menzel will step into the role 5 days later.
2005:
It is reported that an 11-year-old boy from Chicago (who battles cerebal
palsy) has convinced his family to donate the $2500 they had saved up
for a Walt Disney World vaction to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
1904:
Director R. G. Springsteen is born Robert G. Springsteen in Tacoma, Washington.
He directed segments of Disney's TV series Mickey Mouse Club (as well as episodes of Bonanaza, Wanted:
Dead or Alive, and Gentle Ben).
1905:
Animator/cartoonist Lynn Karp is born. Between 1935 and 1941, he will work as an animator at
Disney on such films as Pinocchio and Fantasia. In the late 1940s, he will draw comics for Hi-Jinx (B&I
Publishing Co.), Barnyard Comics, and produce some premium giveaway comics for Disney.
1955:
Four-year-old Elsa Marquez is welcomed as the one-millionth guest
entering Disneyland (just 7 weeks after the park's grand opening)!
1974:
Kevin Osgood, a member of Disney Channel's Mickey Mouse Club series (for
seasons 2-5), is born in San Diego, California.
1981:
Actor Jonathan Taylor Thomas, the voice of Young Simba in Disney's 1994 animated feature The Lion King, is born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. His Disney/Touchstone live-action credits include the comedy Man of the House (1995) as Ben, the adventure comedy-drama Tom and Huck (1995) as Tom Sawyer, and the teen-comedy I'll Be Home for Christmas (1998) as Jake. Fans of the ABC/Touchstone sitcom Home Improvement will remember him as the wise-cracking middle son Randy for 179 episodes starting in 1991.
1994:
The Disneyana Convention 1994 kicks off for 4 days at Walt Disney World.
1995:
Night of Joy 1995 begins at Disney World's Magic Kingdom featuring Carman, Steven Curtis Chapman, Audio Adrenaline, Shirley Caesar, and Point of Grace. An annual event, it
will also be held September 9 and 16. Night of Joy 1995 will be filmed and broadcast live on both the Trinity Broadcasting Network and on the Family Channel.
The Tie That Binds, a thriller film directed by screenwriter Wesley Strick and starring
Daryl Hannah, Keith Carradine, Vincent Spano, Moira Kelly and Julia Devin, is released
by Hollywood Pictures. A young couple adopt a girl, unaware that her natural parents are homicidal fugitives.
Disney's Sing Me A Story with Belle, a live-action series created by Patrick Davidson and Melissa Gould, premieres on Disney Channel. The series features Belle (played by Lynsey McLeod) from the 1991 film Beauty and the Beast, who owns and manages a bookshop in a French village. She interacts with children and narrates classic Disney animated shorts while doing activities around the bookstore. Helping her are Lewis and Carroll, two magical bookworms, Harmony the Cat, and Big Book, a large talking book on a stand.
1996:
Disney's musical "Beauty and the Beast" plays its 1000th performance on Broadway! (The show had opened at the Palace Theatre in April 1994.)
1998:
Disneyland's Submarine Voyage attraction closes with a 7 a.m. ceremony officiated
by U.S. Navy Commander Robert Thomas. Starting in June 1959, the Nautilus and seven sister
submarines - the Triton, Sea Wolf, Skate, Skipjack, George Washington, Patrick Henry, and Ethan Allen - had
allowed 38 Disneyland guests at a time to take their own voyage to the "North Pole." (20,000 Leagues Under
the Sea was the Florida counterpart of the Submarine Voyage.)
It's official ... the Walt Disney World attraction Mr. Toad's Wild Ride is permanently
closed. On this day work begins on Mr. Toad's home as it will become The Many Adventures of Winnie the
Pooh. One of the park's opening day attractions, it was modeled after the Disneyland attraction. Despite the
ride's popularity and many protests, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride entertained guests for the very last time yesterday.
2000:
A lineup headed by Christian music female vocalist of the year Jaci Velasquez,
former female vocalist of the year CeCe Winans and Gospel rockers the
Newsboys perform during the 18th annual Walt Disney World Night of Joy.
The Disney Channel Original Movie The Other Me, starring Andrew Lawrence as
Will Browning and his clone Twoie, debuts.
2002:
Disney World's 2,112-room Caribbean Beach Resort closes for renovation. In a
first for Disney World, the entire hotel is shut down while the resort's restaurant is updated. (It is expected
to be completed for the December holidays.)
As part of the One Hundred Mickeys exhibit, the Disneyland Resort hosts the
"Where's Mickey?" pin event.
2003:
Disney's Teacher of the Year is announced on TV's The Wayne Brady Show.
John Passarini, a physical education teacher from Wayland, Massachusetts is the lucky winner. He was
selected from more than 185,000 nominees!
Reruns of Disney's successful animated series Recess begin airing on Disney
Channel. The fan-favorite "The Experiment/The Great Jungle Gym Standoff" is shown on this day. (With
roughly twenty-six airings a week, at the time, Recess was the most-played show on the channel, having
more airings than shows still running!).
2004:
away at age 92 in California. His Disney credits during his 43-year career include
animating Thumper and Bambi on the ice in Bambi, Lady and Tramp eating a romantic spaghetti
dinner in Lady and the Tramp, and Mad Madam Mim in the Sword in the Stone. A native Californian,
Thomas played piano for the Disney Dixieland jazz group, The Firehouse Five plus Two.
2006:
The 24th Night of Joy (an annual 2-day Christian music event)
begins at Walt Disney World. This evening's entertainment lineup features
Barlow Girl, Casting Crowns, MercyMe, Rebecca St. James, David Crowder Band,
Vicky Beeching, Matthew West, Todd Agnew, and Building 429.
Disney Channel debuts the new animated series The Replacements, the
15th Hannah Montana episode - "More Than A Zombie To Me," and the
50th episode of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody - "Volley Dad."
"Frank was a giant in our field and he meant everything to me and to all of us who love the art of animation.
Besides being one of the key guys to help elevate animation from a novelty to an incredible art form, he was so
generous in passing along his knowledge and experiences to the generations that followed. The books that he
wrote with Ollie had a big impact on so many of us working in animation today. Frank was one of my main
mentors and a tremendous influence on me. I feel very privileged to have known him."
-Academy Award-winning filmmaker John Lasseter on Disney Legend Frank Thomas
2007:
The Emmy Awards are broadcast from the Shrine Auditorium in Los
Angeles, California. "Nick News with Linda Ellerbee" is awarded Outstanding Children's Program
beating out nominees "Hannah Montana," "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody," and "That's So Raven."
1986:
Actor Jake Sandvig - Lash in Disney's 2005 Sky High - is born in Clovis, California.
SEPTEMBER 8
THIS DAY MADE
IN THE
USA
SEPTEMBER 8
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| ||||
1993:
Disney's Hollywood Pictures releases The Joy Luck Club, a film about the
relationships between Chinese-American women and their Chinese mothers.
Based on the 1989 novel of the same name by Amy Tan, the film is produced by Oliver Stone.
| ||||
In Memory of Frank Thomas (1912-2004)
Submarine Voyage closes
Disney's Tron was the first
film in motion picture
history to make
extensive use of
computer
imagery.
On July 24, 2008 Disney
surprised San Diego Comic Con
attendees with test footage
from a sequel to Tron.
1943:
Engineer and noted pioneer in computer graphics Alvy Ray Smith is born. Receiving his
bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from New Mexico State University in 1965, ten years later he was
recruited to join the new Computer Graphics Laboratory at New York Institute of Technology, one of the leading
computer graphics research groups of the 1970s. There he worked alongside a young computer scientist named
Ed Catmull (who later became president of Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios). When
their work was brought to the attention of George Lucas, they were hired away to start the the Lucasfilm Computer
Division ... which eventually became Pixar.
1962:
Meet Me at Disneyland (a limited TV series broadcast live on KTTV directly from the
Anaheim park) airs episode 13 "Talent on Parade." The action starts on Main Street as the
Seven Dwarfs march toward the camera to the sound of "Heigh Ho." Variations of the song are used throughout
this final episode of the series to introduce each of the acts including Kay Bell and the Spacemen, The Clara
Ward Singers, The Firehouse Five, and Inglewood Toppers Band. Running since June, Meet Me at Disneyland
was designed to boost park attendance during the 1962 summer weeknights.
1989:
Magic Kingdom hosts Night of Joy 1989 for the first of two evenings at Walt
Disney World. Musical acts include Margaret Becker & the Reckoning, Shirley Caesar, Phil Keaggy,
Petra, Rez Band, Michael W Smith, and Take 6.
2012:
Amusement Today announces the winners of its prestigious 2012 Golden Ticket
Awards (presented to the "Best of the Best" in the amusement industry) at an
awards show hosted by Dollywood in Tennessee. IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth at Walt
Disney World’s Epcot wins Best Outdoor Night Show Production. This year’s Publisher’s Pick Awards include
Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, Calif., for its imagination and creativity in introducing a new $1.1 billion
makeover, headlined by Cars Land.
Amusement Today also announces that Disneyland is donating two vehicles from
the iconic Matterhorn Bobsled ride at Disneyland to the National Roller Coaster
The second (and final) Night of Joy 2012 takes place at Disney World in the Magic
Kingdom. This evening's entertainment includes MercyMe, Third Day, Kutless, Chris August, LeCrae,
Yolanda Adams, Thousand Foot Krutch and Dara Maclean.
September 08
"You had to always watch out that he (Pinocchio) moved and acted in a very innocent, unskilled
way. Every movement had to be as if he was born today and had no history." -Frank Thomas
2013:
The night before the official debut of the re-imagined California Grill, Disney hosts the first resort-based Disney Parks Blog meet-up; offering readers an early opportunity
to experience the Disney World restaurant, taste the new dishes and meet the
chefs behind the amazing menu.
2017:
Guests to Disney's Hollywood Studios get an insider's look at the new Toy Story Land
that will open next summer. The sneak peek is part of the new Walt Disney Presents gallery that opens on
this day. The gallery is home to a never-before-seen model of the new land, concept renderings and maquettes of
attraction vehicles and icons. Walt Disney Presents (renamed and reimagined from the former One Man’s Dream attraction) offers a self-guided stroll through Disney history.
The Mickey Mouse Club is rebooted under the name Club Mickey Mouse with a new
set of Mouseketeers. For the first time, the series is made available on Facebook and Instagram, rather than
its original half hour to full hour format on television. More like a reality show than a variety show, it features eight Mouseketeers: Regan Aliyah, Jenna Alvarez, Ky Baldwin, Gabe De Guzman, Leanne Tessa Langston, Brianna Mazzola, Sean Oliu, and Will Simmons.
2018:
The final episode of Disney's animated series Sofia the First - "Sofia the First: Forever
Royal," airs. First premiering in 2012, the show followed the adventures of a princess named Sofia, voiced
by Ariel Winter (best known from the ABC sitcom Modern Family).
2019:
Mickey Mouse and a group of Walt Disney World cast members surprise young
Jermaine Bell of Jacksonville, Florida, on his 7th birthday. He is given a dream Walt Disney World Vacation after he used his vacation savings to feed hurricane Dorian evacuees! Jermaine spent over a year saving money to go to Walt Disney World for his birthday. Hurricane Dorian may have gotten in the way of his big plans, but his selfless act of compassion quickly spread. As Dorian moved in closer towards South Carolina, Jermaine purchased hundreds of hot dogs, bags of chips, and bottles of water with the money he had saved to go to WDW. He served
the food and drink free of charge to hurricane evacuees in South Carolina, where he was visiting his grandma.
1979:
Alecia Beth Moore, better known as singer-songwriter Pink, is born in Pennsylvania.
Her song "Trouble" (co-written with Tim Armstrong) appears on The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement soundtrack (2004). She also recorded "Just Like Fire" (co-written with Max Martin, Shellback, and Oscar Holter) for the soundtrack to the 2016 film Alice Through the Looking Glass. In December 2020 she performed on ABC's Disney Holiday Singalong along with her 9-year-old daughter Willow.
1968:
Character actor, comedian, and writer Brian Huskey is born in Charlotte, North Carolina. Best known for his roles in comedy programs such as "People of Earth," "Childrens Hospital," "Veep," and "Another Period," he also provides the voice of Regular Sized Rudy on the animated series "Bob's Burgers." For Disney, he played Elementary School Teacher in "Ant-Man and the Wasp," Mr. Larkins in "American Born Chinese" (for Disney+) and Rick Lee in Touchstone's "Fright Night." Huskey also appeared in an episode of ABC's "The Goldbergs."
