2005:
Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, presents "Behind the Magic:
50 Years of Disneyland." The exhibit (in partnership with Walt Disney Imagineering)
features 250 items, including artwork, hand-crafted models and marketing materials.
Ghost Whisperer, a new supernatural drama co-produced by Touchstone
Television/ABC Studios, debuts on CBS. Starring Jennifer Love Hewitt as a woman
who has the ability to see and communicate with ghosts, the series will run for 5 seasons.
Flightplan, a psychological thriller mystery film directed by Robert Schwentke,
and starring Jodie Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, Erika Christensen, Kate Beahan,
Greta Scacchi, Sean Bean, and Matt Bomer, is released by Touchstone Pictures.
Airplane engineer Kyle Pratt (Foster) is heading home from Germany to New York on a double-decker Elgin
474 to bury her husband. But three hours into the flight, she awakens to find her young daughter missing --
and the entire flight crew, including the captain and air marshal, claims that the child was never on board!
"Mickey actually reminds me of a simpler time to be a kid. Before MTV, double entendres, and a
wink at the audience, there was this little mouse that seemed to make children pretty darn
happy. So, I confess, I still feel a soft spot for the ole guy."
-Actor Jason Alexander (born This Day in Disney History)
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1920:
Actor Mickey Rooney, the voices of Sparky in the 2001 animated release Lady and
the Tramp II: Scamps' Adventure, and Adult Tod in the 1981 The Fox and the Hound,
is born Joe Yule, Jr. in Brooklyn, New York. He also portrayed Lampie in the 1977 live
action/animated musical Pete's Dragon and was even caricatured in the 1939 Donald Duck short The Autograph
Hound. Rooney had a small role in the 2000 Disney Channel film Phantom of the Megaplex and attended the grand opening of Disney California Adventure Park in February 2001. (During his career, Rooney won multiple awards, including an Oscar, a Golden Globe and an Emmy. Best known for his work as the Andy Hardy character, Rooney had one of the longest movie careers of any actor - entering the Guinness Book of Records as the actor with longest career on both stage and screen!)
1938:
Disney's Mickey Mouse cartoon The Brave Little Tailor is released. Mickey, the
tailor, kills "seven flies with one blow." The king, thinking that Mickey is talking about giants, sends him
out to kill one, and offers him the hand of the Princess Minnie in return. The most elaborate and expensive Mickey
Mouse cartoon ever produced to date, it will be nominated for an Academy Award.
1945:
Original Mouseketeer Paul Petersen is born in Glendale, California.
Besides appearing on Mickey Mouse Club, he portrayed Jeff Stone on The Donna Reed Show.
Today he is an author (in 1977 his autobiography, Walt, Mickey and Me: Confessions of the First
Ex-Mouseketeer was published) spokesman, and child rights activist.
1949:
Disney's Goofy cartoon Goofy Gymnastics, directed by Jack Kinney, is released.
Goofy tries a gymnastics course in order to beat fatigue at the end of the work day. (A short clip of this will
later be used in the 1988 Who Framed Roger Rabbit, during the scene where Roger and Eddie hide in a cinema.)
1955:
The LP record Firehouse Five Plus Two Plays for Lovers is released on the Good
Time Jazz label. The group (made up of Disney Studio employees) is led by animator and trombonist
Ward Kimball. The 12 tracks include such love songs as "What Is This Thing Called Love?," I Can't Give You
Anything But Love," and "I Love You Truly."
1959:
Actor & director Jason Alexander, the voice of Hugo in Disney's 1996 release The Hunchback of Notre Dame and its sequel The Hunchback of Notre Dame II, is born Jay Scott Greenspan in Newark, New Jersey. Known for his work on Broadway, film, and television, Alexander is the voice of Abis Mal, a clumsy thief who accidentally frees Jafar from his lamp, in the 1994 direct-to-video sequel "The Return of Jafar," and the 1994 animated series "Aladdin." His Disney voice credits also include "101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure" as Lil' Lightning, the "Hercules" TV series as Poseidon, "The Legend of Tarzan" as Zutho, and various voices for the 1991 "Dinosaurs." In 1996 he appeared in an episode of "Muppets Tonight." and in 1997 "Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella," a live-action musical produced by Walt Disney Television. He can also be heard in 3 episodes of Disney Channel's animated "Fish Hooks" as Mr. Nibbles, and a 2015 episode of Disney XD's "Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero." Fans of the 1990 Touchstone hit film "Pretty Woman" may remember Alexander as Philip Stuckey. Theme park enthusiasts will know him as Weevil Kneevil in the 3D film "It's Tough to Be a Bug!" (which once played at Disney's Animal Kingdom). "Seinfeld" fans known Alexander as George Costanza from 1989 to 1998, a role for which he was nominated for seven consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards.
Actress Elizabeth Peña, the voice of Mirage (Syndrome's seductive
right-hand woman and accomplice) in the 2004 Disney-Pixar animated
feature The Incredibles, is born in Elizabeth, New Jersey. She also
appeared in the 1986 film Down and Out in Beverly Hills
and two episodes of ABC's Modern Family.
1961:
Actor Chi McBride is born Kenneth McBride in Chicago, Illinois. Appearing in the 2000 film Disney's The Kid, his ABC-TV credits include Boston Legal and Pushing Daisies. McBride is the voice of Nick Fury for
such animated shows as Ultimate Spider-Man, Avengers Assemble, Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel, and Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.
1962:
The NBC-TV series Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color airs "The Golden
Horseshoe Revue" (it is the first episode of Disney's ninth season on television).
The program features the 10,000th show of Disneyland's famous stage show!
1971:
The Dapper Dans (a barbershop quartet soon to be a staple at Disney World) perform their first set at the GAF Photo Shop on Main Street. Jerry Siggins, Bob Mathis, Dick Kneeland, and Bub Thomas sing for Cast Members and their families a week before the grand opening of Walt Disney World in Florida.
Billy Gilbert, the voice of Sneezy in Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," passes away in California at age 77. First performing in vaudeville at age 12, he developed a drawn-out, explosive sneezing routine that became his trademark! Gilbert also lent his voice
to such Disney shorts as "Fun and Fancy Free" and "Mickey and the Beanstalk." (During his career he
appeared in over 200 feature films and worked with Charlie Chaplin, Laurel & Hardy, The Three
Stooges, and Red Skelton!)
1980:
The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad attraction debuts at Walt
Disney World with a soft opening. Designed by Imagineer Tony
Baxter and ride design engineer Bill Watkins, it has been manufactured by Arrow Dynamics (a roller coaster
design company based in Clearfield, Utah). Nearly a mirror image of the Disneyland version, Florida's Big
Thunder Mountain Railroad will have its official opening in November.
1983:
All That Jazz (a 3-day event featuring a variety of jazz artists) takes
place on the Castle Forecourt Stage at Tokyo Disneyland.
1984:
Michael Eisner and Frank Wells officially become Chairman and President of
Walt Disney Productions when they take a tour of the Disney studio in
Burbank, with Roy Disney.
Actress Anneliese van der Pol, who played Chelsea Daniels on Disney Channel's
That's So Raven and was the last actress to play Belle in Disney's Broadway
musical Beauty and the Beast, is born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
1990:
The Magical World of Disney presents "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids"
on Disney Channel.
The Disney-produced series Hull High debuts on NBC-TV. A teen drama centering
on Cordell Hull High School, a hip, racially integrated school in an urban area, the series features Will
Lyman and Nancy Valen. Nominated for an Emmy, Golden Reel Award and a Young Artist Award, Hull
High will be canceled after just 8 episodes.
1999:
The large and small Horizons signs are removed from the closed
Epcot attraction at Walt Disney World. Horizons had been the only attraction in
"Future World" to showcase all of Epcot's "Future World" elements: communication,
community interaction, energy, transportation, anatomy, physiology, along with man's relationship to the sea, land, air, and space. Officially opening on October 1, 1983, as part of Phase II of Epcot,
Horizons permanently closed on January 9, 1999.
The Disney Stores begin to sell a series of pins counting
down the last 101 days until the millenium.
2001:
President George W. Bush orders American Flags to be raised full staff on this
day around the country for the first time since the tragedy of September 11th. A
ceremony is held at noon at Disneyland's Time Square to raise the flag. Disneyland Resort President Cynthia
Harriss and the CEO of the Walt Disney Company Michael Eisner are in attendance. Fifty white doves are
released while the flag is raised.
Robert Abel, the computer animation and graphics guru who used multimedia to
create award-winning commercials, films and classroom educational materials,
dies at age 64 in Los Angeles. Abel used his techniques to create special effects for many motion
pictures, including Disney's Tron.
A new attraction "Walt Disney: One Man's Dream," showing memorabilia about
Walt Disney's career and heritage to the public for the first time, officially opens
at Disney-MGM in Florida. The attraction has been in soft-openings for the last few days and will
officially be dedicated October 1 for the start of Walt Disney World's 100 Years of Magic celebration.
2004:
Hong Kong Disneyland holds a ceremony to celebrate the "topping off"
of Sleeping Beauty Castle. A 'Topping Off' ceremony is traditionally
celebrated when the last structural element is placed on a building.
(The park is scheduled to open in late 2005 or early 2006.)
Actor Anthony Gonzalez, the voice of Miguel in the 2017 animated Coco,
is born in Los Angeles, California.
| ||||
Actress Jennifer Love Hewitt,
the star of Ghost
Whisperer
(co-produced by
Touchstone/ABC),
also voiced
Madellaine in the
2002 Disney animated film, The
Hunchback of Notre Dame II.
2007:
The world premiere of Walt Disney Pictures' The Game Plan takes place at
the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California. A sports comedy film directed
by Andy Fickman, it stars Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as a carefree football star who suddenly discovers
he has a young daughter (played by Madison Pettis).
2008:
Don't Forget, the debut album from Demi Lovato, is released on Disney's
Hollywood Records label. An actor, singer and songwriter, Lovato is - at this time - best
known for her role as Mitchie Torres in the Disney Channel Original Movie Camp Rock.
Also released on Hollywood Records is Big Bad World, Plain White T's
fifth album (but their second for Disney's label).
Miracle At St. Anna Original Soundtrack by Terence Blanchard is also released on Hollywood Records.
SEPTEMBER 23
THIS DAY MADE
IN THE
USA
SEPTEMBER 23
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Anneliese van der Pol born
Jason Alexander born
1994:
King of the Beach Volleyball Invitational is taped at Disney's Grand
Floridian Beach Resort in Florida.
Buena Vista Pictures releases the Hollywood Pictures live-action feature
film Terminal Velocity to theaters. Starring Charlie Sheen as a daredevil skydiver who
becomes mixed up with Russian spies, it features the music of Joel McNeely (whose Disney credits
will later include Mulan II, Peter Pan: Return to Neverland, and Pooh's Heffalump Movie.)
ABC-TV debuts season 2 of Boy Meets World with the episode "Back 2 School."
1989:
The Disney Channel airs the Disney Channel Premiere Film Not Quite Human II.
Featuring Alan Thicke as a doctor who has created an android who looks like a human 17-year-old boy, it is the
second of what will be a series of three films (Not Quite Human first aired in 1987 and Still Not Quite Human
will debut in 1992).
2010:
At a press conference in New York City, Disney announces next year's marketing
campaign that will focus on vacation memories and images of family scenes at the
theme parks. Starting in January 2011 "Let the Memories Begin" will feature projected images nightly of
Disney guests on the facade of the It's a Small World ride at Disneyland and on Cinderella's Castle at Walt
Disney World in Florida. Images shot by Disney photographers at the park will be displayed each night on the
building facades, accompanied by a new song written for the campaign.
Disney also launches a new website with the sole purpose of showcasing photos, videos and other user-
generated content from park visitors and fans. The site goes live on this day at noon.
Season 7 of the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy kicks off with the episode
"With You I'm Born Again."
- LET THE MEMORIES BEGIN -
2003:
The Touchstone/ABC sitcom 8 Simple Rules kicks off its second season on the air
with the episode "Premiere". Although the show's star John Ritter passed away suddenly on September
11, 2003, the first 3 episodes of the new season had already been filmed. Following his untimely death, ABC
announced that the show will continue (in November) after a short hiatus.
2011:
Blue Sky Cellar at Disney California Adventure re-opens on this morning with a
behind-the-scenes look at the construction of Buena Vista Street and other parts
of the theme park’s $1-billion expansion. Blue Sky Cellar, a mock architect’s studio, offers
previews of upcoming attractions at California Adventure.
ABC-TV airs the final episode of its long-running soap opera All My Children.
"I think we're making a valuable contribution to the subject.
If Romeo and Juliet had heard this album I feel sure their story would have had a different ending."
-record producer Lester Koenig
The Disney short Up a Tree, featuring Donald Duck and Chip 'n' Dale,
is released. It is the 3rd and final short release of 1955.
2000:
The sixtieth episode of Disney's Recess, "The Army-Navy Game/Big Ol' Mikey"
premieres on ABC-TV.
2012:
At the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards, Disney/ABC Television Group wins total of 19
awards. ABC Network's comedy series, Modern Family, sweeps more categories than any other series with
three wins, including Best Comedy Series. Producers from Disney Channel's Wizards of Waverly Place The
Movieis are awarded the Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Series at the Creative Arts Emmys (which had been announced last August).
September 23
"When I think back on Walt Disney, I think of the wonderful times I had making pictures at the
Disney Studio, such as Pete's Dragon." -actor Mickey Rooney
2013:
Imagineers and Design & Engineering mark a milestone in the construction of Seven
Dwarfs Mine Train in New Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom Park, Florida. Today
marks the first time the train runs under its own gravity and completes its first drop out of the station.
2016:
The biographical sports drama Queen of Katwe, produced by Walt Disney Pictures and ESPN Films, has a limited released on this day. The film tells the story of a Ugandan girl
who sees her world rapidly change after being introduced to the game of chess. Filmed in Uganda and South Africa, Queen of Katwe will have an expanded release on September 30.
The 4th and final season of Disney Channel's Liv and Maddie, now titled Liv and
Maddie: Cali Style, debuts with the episode "Sorta Sisters-a-Rooney."
2014:
The second season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., a television series created for ABC by
Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen, kicks off with the episode
"Shadow." Based on the Marvel Comics organization S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement,
and Logistics Division), a peacekeeping and spy agency in a world of superheroes, the series is produced by ABC
Studios, Marvel Television, and Mutant Enemy Productions, and distributed by Walt Disney Television. Alongside Clark
Gregg, who reprises his role as Agent Coulson from the film series, principal cast members Ming-Na Wen, Brett Dalton,
Chloe Bennet, Iain De Caestecker, and Elizabeth Henstridge return from the first season, and are joined by Nick Blood
and Adrianne Palicki.
2009:
The sitcom Modern Family, created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan for
Disney's ABC, premieres. The show follows the lives of Jay Pritchett and his family, all of whom live in suburban Los Angeles. Pritchett's family includes his second wife, their son and his stepson, as well as his two adult children and their husbands and children. Modern Family employs an ensemble cast featuring Ed O'Neill, Sofía Vergara, Julie Bowen, Ty Burrell, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet, Sarah Hyland, Ariel Winter, Nolan Gould, and Rico Rodriguez.
(The show will win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in each of its first five years.)
2015:
Season 7 of the ABC hit sitcom Modern Family premieres with the episode
"Summer Lovin'."
"A Kick-Ass Risky Business Party," the season 3 debut episode of the sitcom
The Goldbergs, airs on ABC.
Season 2 of Black-ish kicks off on ABC with the episode "The Word."
ABC premieres season 4 of Nashville with the episode "Can't Let Go." (In May 2016, ABC will cancel the musical drama. In June 2016, it will be picked up by CMT, Country Music Television, for a fifth season.)
1978:
Actor Anthony Mackie is born in New Orelans, Louisiana. He achieved global recognition with
his portrayal of Sam Wilson / Falcon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, making his first appearance in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and later in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Ant-Man (2015), Captain
America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019),
1997:
Season 7 of the ABC-TV sitcom Home Improvement kicks off with the episode "Quest for Fire." Based on the stand-up comedy of Tim Allen, Home Improvement centers on Tim "The Toolman" Taylor
(host of the home-improvement show "Tool Time"') and his wife Jill and their 3 sons.
2019:
Disneyland guests catch a special sneak peek of the season premiere of ABC-TV's
The Goldbergs (before its official air date this coming Wednesday, September 25). Murray, Beverly and the kids take a road trip to the "Happiest Place on Earth" in the upcoming seventh season premiere episode titled "Vacation."
Season 3 of ABC-TV's The Good Doctor premieres with the episode "Disaster."
2018:
The 5th and final season of the animated series Avengers Assemble, now titled Avengers: Black Panther's Quest, kicks off with the 2-part episode
"Shadow of Atlantis."
2020:
ABC's The Wonderful World of Disney returns to television. The beloved series makes its way back onto TV screens (and streaming devices) with the network broadcast premiere of Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy.
1981:
Chief Dan George (born Geswanouth Slahoot) passes away at age 82 in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. A chief of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, he was also an actor, musician, poet, and author. He portrayed Chief Peter A-Tas-Ka-Nay in Disney's 1974 live-action drama The Bears and I. (As an actor, he is best remembered for portraying Old Lodge Skins opposite Dustin Hoffman in the 1970 Little Big Man, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.)
