1994:
CEO Michael Eisner cancels the Disney's America project. A theme park dedicated to
the history of the United States, it was to have been built by The Walt Disney Company in Haymarket,
Virginia. Amid opposition from citizen's groups, the project has been canceled.
1982:
At EPCOT Center, Canada, China, and France open around the World Showcase
between 4 p.m. and midnight for a soft opening in preparation for its grand debut.
Annual passports (special year-long admission passes)
are introduced at Walt Disney World.
2004:
Disney's Aladdin Special Edition Soundtrack is released. The collection features all
21 original tracks plus recordings of two deleted songs ("Proud of Your Boy" and "High Adventure"
written by the movie's Academy Award winning songwriting team of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman).
AOL Music First View debuts Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey's
"A Whole New World" music video. The new version is from Disney's 2-disc
special edition DVD of Aladdin (to be released October 5).
Disney's Hollywood Records releases Hilary Duff's new album, the self-titled Hilary Duff, on her 17th birthday. The album will sell over 3 million copies worldwide.
The stage musical Mary Poppins begins regular performances at the Bristol Hippodrome in England. The show (produced by Disney and Cameron Macintosh) will later move
to the Prince Edward Theatre in London.
Disney's Lyric Street releases Feels Like Today, the third album
from the American country music group Rascal Flatts.
It will sell over 5,100,000 copies in the U.S. alone.
Beautiful Soul, the debut studio album by singer/actor Jesse McCartney, is released through Universal Records. The first Top 20 single from the album, also titled "Beautiful Soul," will air on Radio Disney. The third single "Get Your Shine On" will be featured in Kim Possible: So The Drama.
"Music has to fit like the proverbial glove, as it has to complement so many factors: story,
atmosphere and the action." -Disney Legend Buddy Baker
1934:
Actress Janet Munro is born in Blackpool, Lanacashire, England. She
starred in the live-action Disney films Swiss Family Robinson (portraying the "cabin boy"
Bertie), Third Man on the Mountain (as Lizbeth Hempel), and Darby O'Gill and the Little
People (as Katie O'Gill). Walt Disney himself selected Munro out of 300 candidates for
the female lead in Darby O'Gill.
1947:
Actor Jeffrey Jones, the voice of Chairman L.C. Clench of XS Technology
in Disney World's now extinct Alien Encounter, is born in Buffalo, New
York. (Movie fans may recognize him from such films as Beetle Juice, Stuart Little, Ed Wood, and
Ferris Bueller's Day Off.)
1953:
Artist Herb Ryman and Walt Disney continue to sketch out plans for an
amusement park to be built in California.
Meanwhile in New York, Walt's brother Roy meets with the 3 major TV networks,
seeking financing for Disneyland. Unfortunately CBS TV executives are not interested. NBC's
parent company RCA, stalls in making a commitment. But ABC's Leonard Goldenson eagerly agrees to
participate! (The final agreement - which won't be signed until April 1954 - will include a $500,000
investment from ABC-Paramount, guarantee for $4.5 million line of credit, in return for 35% interest in
Disneyland and a weekly one-hour TV program with Disney films and production for TV.)
1955:
The ABC television series Disneyland airs "Jiminy Cricket Present Bongo" -
the first half of the animated 1947 film Fun and Fancy Free.
1961:
The live-action Disney film Greyfriars Bobby - based on a true story about a
unique Skye terrier who affected a small town in Scotland - is released.
1963:
English teacher-turned-comic book & animation writer & producer Greg Weisman is
born in Woodland Hills, California. Famous for creating the acclaimed animated television series,
Gargoyles (a Walt Disney Television production), Weisman has also written episodes of Buzz Lightyear of Star
Command and Kim Possible.
1987:
Actress & recording artist Hilary Ann Duff, the star of Disney's Channel's
Lizzie McGuire (between 2001-2004), is born in Houston, Texas. Her Disney
credits include the 2002 Cadet Kelly (one of the highest rated Disney Channel movies) and the
2003 feature The Lizzie McGuire Movie. Duff's pop music albums are released through Disney's
Hollywood Records. She also sang "The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room" on Disneymania, a compilation CD.
1996:
Walt Disney World's Grand Prix Raceway changes its name to Tomorrowland
Speedway. One of the original Walt Disney World attractions, dating back to the opening of the Magic
Kingdom theme park on October 1, 1971, riders travel along the 4/10 mile track, with banks and turns, while
hearing the calls of world famous announcer Tom Carnegie from sound speakers positioned around the track.
The very 1st Epcot International Food and Wine Festival begins.
1997:
Disney's long-running series (which first aired in 1954 as Disneyland) returns
to ABC-TV after nearly a 7-year absence on television as The Wonderful World
of Disney. The series will be hosted by CEO Michael Eisner. This first episode features the 1997
classic animated Pixar feature Toy Story.
2001:
Disney Channel debuts the Lizzie McGuire episode "Last Year's Model."
"The River," the 65th and final episode of So Weird, airs on Disney Channel. A television series about a teenage girl and her rock star mom, it has been running for 3 seasons.
2003:
Over one hundred people attend a musical tribute at the University of
California to honor Grammy and Oscar-nominated musician-composer
Buddy Baker, a 28-year veteran at Disney (who passed in July 2002). From
1954 to 1983 he wrote or scored virtually every Disney TV program, numerous feature films, and
beloved theme park attractions (including the Haunted Mansion and It's a Small World).
The third season of the drama/adventure television series Alias premieres on
ABC with the episode "The Two." Created by J. J. Abrams, the series stars Jennifer Garner as Sydney Bristow, a double agent for the Central Intelligence Agency posing as an operative for SD-6, a worldwide criminal and espionage organization.
1964:
Comedian, actress, and writer Janeane Garofalo - the voices of
Collette in Ratatouille (2007) and Bridget in The Wild (2006) - is born in Newton, New Jersey. Her Touchstone film credits include Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997). (An alumni of Saturday Night Live, she's also appeared in episodes of such TV series as The West Wing, Seinfeld, and King of Queens.)
Disney Legend Norman "Buddy"
Baker was originally the
Musical Director on Bob Hope's
radio show, before becoming
a big band arranger for the
Stan Kenton Orchestra. He
later was a professor at L.A.
City College in the early 1950s.
Among Buddy's early students
was famed film composer
Jerry Goldsmith (who went
on to score Disney's
Soarin' attraction)!
2007:
The 12th Annual Epcot International Food &
Wine Festival kicks off in Florida.
Also, the America pavilion debuts National Treasures, an exhibit of significant artifacts from US history.
Disney's live-action comedy The Game Plan, starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Kyra Sedgwick, and Madison Pettis, is released to theaters. A famous Boston football quarterback, Joe Kingman, is shocked one day to find an 8-year-old girl, Peyton, at the door of his elegant bachelor pad, claiming she is his daughter and left there by her mother who is in Africa for a month. Now, just as his career is soaring, Joe must learn to juggle his old lifestyle of parties, practices, and dates with supermodels while tackling the new challenges of ballet, bedtime stories, and baby dolls!
A second sneak preview of Phineas and Ferb (a new cartoon series) airs on Disney Channel with the episode "Lawn Gnome Beach Party of Terror!" - following the
network debut of Disney's 2005 feature Sky High.
1935:
The Mickey Mouse short On Ice, directed by Ben Sharpsteen, is released.
Mickey shows off his skating talents for Minnie, but winds up rescuing Donald when he's nearly blown
over a frozen waterfall. Meanwhile, Goofy tries a new form of ice fishing.
1938:
The Fantasound surround sound system to be used in theaters for Fantasia is first
tested. It is an early stereophonic sound process developed by sound engineer William E. Garity and sound
mixer John N.A. Hawkins. Garity has taken separate recordings of each orchestra section and mixed them to
produce four distinct audio tracks, which are then recorded as optical tracks on a separate reel of film. The four tracks will drive some 54 different speakers positioned around a theater showing Fantasia.
(Fantasound will lead to the development of the 5.1 surround format of today.)
1962:
The Third Annual Dixieland at Disneyland event is held for the next two evenings
from 8pm to 2am. Musical guests include the great Louis Armstrong, The Dukes of Dixieland,
Teddy Buckner, The Firehouse Five Plus 2, Young Men From New Orleans, New Orleans All-Stars,
Clara Ward Singers, and The Albert McNeil Choir.
1966:
Actress Maria Canals-Barrera is born in Miami, Florida. Fans of Disney Channel know her as
Theresa Russo in Wizards of Waverly Place and Mitchie's mom Connie Torres in both Camp Rock films. (She is
also the voice of Shayera Hol/Hawkgirl in the animated Justice League and Justice League Unlimited.)
2008:
In the early morning hours of this day, a baby giraffe is born at Disney's Animal
Kingdom. Bonsu (a name inspired from the Akan language in Ghana and meaning biggest and strongest fish
in the sea) enters the world at 6-feet tall and 155 pounds. He is the fourth male, and 11th giraffe overall to be born
at Disney’s Animal Kingdom since the park opened in 1998. Amazingly, Bonsu is also the fourth giraffe to be born
at the theme park in 2008.
Disney Channel presents a 3D experience for the first time on Indian television with
the debut of Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds concert 3D movie.
At the National Movie Awards, Wall-E wins for Best Family Film. (It is a British movie award
voted for by the public.)
Season 5 of the ABC series Desperate Housewives debuts with the episode "You're Gonna Love Tomorrow."
1989:
Bambi becomes the ninth "Walt Disney Classic" to be released on video. First released to theaters in 1942, it is based on the 1923 book "Bambi, a Life in the Woods" by Austrian author Felix Salten.
1933:
The Writers Club honor Walt Disney with a Hollywood party given to celebrate
the creator of Mickey Mouse and the Silly Symphonies. Such notable guests attending
include Will Rogers, Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard.
SEPTEMBER 28
THIS DAY MADE
IN THE
USA
SEPTEMBER 28
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Janeane Garofalo born
Hilary Duff born
1931:
Disney's Silly Symphony cartoon The Clock Store is released. Directed by Wilfred
Jackson, various clocks and watches in a clock store dance, ring alarms musically, and "fight" in an after
hours presentation. Among the animators who worked on The Clock Store is Hardie Gramatky, whose initials
appear on a pocket watch during one of the scenes.
2009:
Disney launches Disney Parks Blog - their first official leap into the blogosphere.
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SEASON 2 EPISODE 3
"I have no intention of giving up on a historical park permanently." -M. Eisner
2010:
Disney opens an all new store in Chicago, Illinois. The Disney Store, located at 1 W. Randolph,
Space 150, underwent a total floor-to-ceiling transformation.
Disney Online, part of the Disney Interactive Media Group, debuts a second season
of "The Possibility Shop," an original web series produced by The Jim Henson
Company. The site will be updated every two to three weeks with content designed to inspire the imagination
of the entire family through creative projects, activities and games.
ABC Studios premieres its newest series No Ordinary Family on ABC-TV. The sci-fi
drama stars Michael Chiklis as Jim Powell whose family has gained special super abilities after their plane crash
landed in the Amazon River.
1965:
Gunther R. Lessing, a lawyer who became vice president and general counsel of
Walt Disney Productions, passes away only a year after his retirement. Originally born in
Germany in 1885, Walt Disney first hired Lessing to represent his company in 1929. This was during the early
Mickey Mouse years, when Disney was batting with his states-rights distributor Patrick A. Powers.
Lessing stayed with the studio for 35 years.
2006:
ABC-TV debuts the new comedy-drama Ugly Betty starring America Ferrera.
The series revolves around Betty Suarez, an ordinary girl from Queens who tries to fit into the anything-
but-ordinary world of high fashion, and is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian telenovela soap opera
Yo soy Betty, la fea. The series will run for 4 seasons.
1979:
Actress and singer Anndi McAfee is born in Los Angeles, California. Her Disney voice credits include Lloyd in Space, Recess and Gargoyles. McAfee also appeared in 3 episodes of the ABC
sitcom Home Improvement.
2012:
The 17th annual Epcot International Food and Wine Festival kicks off for the
next 46 days at Epcot. The culinary event, named one of the Best Food and Wine Festivals by the
Travel Channel, runs through November 12 and includes daily Eat to the Beat pop concerts.
"Frankenweenie Weekend" kicks off for the next 3-days at Downtown Disney
West Side (in Florida) to promote the upcoming stop-motion animated movie Frakenweenie. The celebration of Tim Burton's work with Disney offers guests movie screenings, a
"Frankenweenie" picture spot and character meet-and-greets with Jack and Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas. Frankenweenie opens in U.S. theaters October 5.
September 28
"Herb was a place master. He understood production design and used historical context to bring
real meaning to the places he created at Disneyland." -Imagineer Eddie Sotto on Herb Ryman
1981:
The Miami Herald reports that:
"With the opening of EPCOT Center next fall, Disney officials hope to launch an entirely new generation of lovable, laughable characters. To that end, they have banned Mickey Mouse from the elaborate new theme park and declared it the domain of new characters. Dozens of characters will be born on the stages of EPCOT Center, and artists are now striving to develop individual personalities and voices for every one of them. A single character, if he captures the public imagination, could be worth millions to the company."
2017:
Disney holds a special ceremony to celebrate the completion of a $140 million redesign of the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort. The three-year project includes a redesign of all guest rooms, complete transformation of the Dolphin Resort lobby and renovation of all meeting space.
ABC-TV debuts the 4th season of the legal drama series How to Get Away with Murder
with the episode "I'm Going Away."
2014:
The ABC-TV special Storybrooke Has Frozen Over airs. The first Season Four
special for ABC's Once Upon a Time, it brings viewers up to date.
This is followed by the fourth season premiere of the ABC fantasy-drama
Once Upon a Time with the episode "A Tale of Two Sisters."
The fourth and final season of ABC's drama Revenge kicks off with the episode "Renaissance."
The second season of the animated series Avengers Assemble
premieres on Disney XD with the episode "The Arsenal."
1980:
Actress, singer and dancer Patti Murin is born in Hopewell Junction, New York. On Broadway she originated the role of Princess Anna in the musical Frozen (which opened at the St. James Theatre in March 2018).
1937:
Radio and television announcer Rod Roddy is born Robert Ray Roddy in Fort Worth, Texas. Primarily known for his role as an offstage announcer on game shows, he was the voice of Mike the microphone on Disney's House of Mouse from 2001 to 2003.
1993:
The Joy Luck Club (Original Soundtrack) is released on Hollywood Records. Composed and produced by Rachel Portman, the film has been in release since September 8.
2019:
Disney's Disney Parks Blog celebrates 10 years!
2020:
On Dancing with the Stars, 14 celebrity and pro-dancer couples compete for the third week as the magic of Disney returns to the ballroom live on ABC. The show begins with host Tyra Banks and celebrities taking viewers into some of their favorite classic Disney films.
Bonni Lou Kern, one of the original Mouseketeers on television’s pioneering The Mickey Mouse Club of the 1950s, passes at age 79 of natural causes at an assisted living facility in Wooster, Ohio. Kern, a California native whose married name was Bonni Carr, appeared as a Mouseketeer in 1955-56.
1952:
Artist, animator, and director George Scribner is born in Panama City, Panama.
Best known for having directed the 1988 animated Walt Disney Animation Studios film Oliver & Company, his Disney credits also include The Black Cauldron, The Prince and the Pauper, The Lion King, and Mickey's PhilharMagic.
2021:
Disney's Broadway musical Aladdin resumes performances at the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York City. All Broadway shows were ordered shutdown last March 2020 due to the COVID pandemic.
Disney Legend actor Tommy Kirk passes away at age 79 in Las Vegas, Nevada. First working steadily in television in 1956, Kirk auditioned for the part of Joe Hardy for The Mickey Mouse Club serial "The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure." He was successful and was selected to co-star with Tim Considine. This led to performances in a number of highly popular Disney films such as Old Yeller, The Shaggy Dog, Swiss Family Robinson, and The Misadventures of Merlin Jones. Giving up acting in the mid-1970s, he worked as a waiter and a chauffeur before going into the carpet cleaning business in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, an operation which he ran for twenty years.
2022:
Disney World Resort's theme parks and water parks close on this day as Hurricane Ian threatens Florida. All resort hotel guests are asked to remain at the properties to shelter in place for the duration of the impact.
1959:
Actor/comedian Steve Hytner is born on Long Island, New York. His Disney Channel credits include "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" as Herman Spatz, "Good Luck Charlie" as Marvin the bellman, "That's So Raven" as Principal Stuckerman. and "Sonny with a Chance" as Murphy the troublesome security guard. Hytner also had a small role in Touchstone's 1997 action thriller "Face/Off," voiced Ty Parsec in 2 episodes of the animated "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command," and played Mr. Silverman in Disney's 2003 horror comedy "The Haunted Mansion." Best known to "Seinfeld" fans as Kenny Bania, Hytner appeared as a regular in "The 100 Lives of Black Jack Savage," "Hardball," and "Working."
