1969:
For the second night in a row, the new Haunted Mansion in Disneyland opens
to Cast Members only. Located in New Orleans Square, it is built to resemble a mansion in the southern
states of America before the Civil War. The much anticipated attraction will open to the public the next day.
2003:
The That's So Raven episode "A Fight at the Opera"
airs for the first time on Disney Channel.
1967:
Filmmaker Lee Unkrich, supervising editor for Disney/Pixar's Finding Nemo & A Bug's Life, and co-director of Monsters, Inc., is born in Cleveland, Ohio. A longtime member of the creative team at Pixar (starting in 1994 as a film editor) he co-directed Toy Story 2 and directed Toy Story 3 (for which he won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature in 2011). After working at Pixar for 25 years, Unkrich retired from the company in January 2019.
1976:
Joshua Scott Chasez, a member of Disney Channel's The All New Mickey
Mouse Club, and part of the singing group 'N Sync, is born in Washington, D.C.
Legendary Disney producer-writer-director and narrator Winston Hibler passes away at age 65 in California. Starting out as a camera operator at Disney in 1942, he later narrated many of Disney's live-action documentaries, and made contributions to such features as Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Peter Pan, and The Black Hole. Hibler's best known written work ... Walt Disney's opening day Disneyland speech! He will be named a Disney Legend in 1992.
2000:
Disney's direct-to-video
Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins is released.
The voice cast includes Tim Allen (as Buzz), Nicole Sullivan (as Mira Nova),
Larry Miller (as XR), Stephen Furst (as Booster), Wayne Knight (as Evil Emperor Zurg), and Patrick Warburton (as Little Green Men).
Walt Disney World begins offering new sounds around the Magic Kingdom.
The four new musical acts officially debuting on this day include The Main Street Philharmonic (a 12-piece brass and percussion enesemble replacing the Main Street Marching Band), The Tomorrowland Blast (a 12-piece band specializing in rock 'n' roll), The Fantasyland Woodwinds Society (a quartet playing Disney favorites) and The Notorious Banjo Brothers and Bob (a comical traveling trio in Frontierland).
1907:
Publisher and Disney Legend Alkaios Angelopoulos is born in Patra, Greece. He will start Educational Materials Enterprises S.A., a company to represent foreign publication and film companies in Greece. In 1953, Walt Disney Productions will join his roster of prestigious clients.
1952:
Disney's The Little House, narrated by Sterling Holloway and directed by Wilfred
Jackson, is released. The cartoon is an adaptation of Virginia Lee Burton's Caldecott Medal winner "The
Little House" (first published in 1942). Noted for its insights on urban sprawl, the story centers on a little house
built at the top of a small hill, far out in the country and away from the big city. But as the seasons pass, the house wonders about the lights of the city ... which grow ever closer.
originally used Bambi, with limited permission from Disney, as their charismatic
anti-fire mascot ...
before the now-
famous Smokey the
Bear was created.
1953:
Animator Jim Jinkins, the creator of Doug, is born in Richmond, Virginia. Jinkins and his team at Jumbo Pictures have produced, created and or worked on PB&J Otter, 101 Dalmatians animated series, JoJo's Circus, Stanley, and the animated feature film Doug's 1st Movie and its series for Disney.
Walt Disney reviews the site map that Imagineer/art director Marvin Davis has been
working on for the new California theme park. Walt picks up a pencil and draws a triangle
around the plot of land to indicate where he wants his railroad to run. For the next two years, Davis (not to be
confused with Marc Davis - also an Imagineer/animator) will work on more than 100 different versions of the
master plan for Disneyland.
2006:
A deluxe edition of Aly & AJ's 2005 debut album Into the Rush is released on
Hollywood Records (a Disney owned label). It features three all new songs and two new mixes of previous songs.
Also released on Hollywood Records is Phobia, the third studio album by American rock band Breaking Benjamin.
1995:
The Toronto production of Beauty and the Beast opens at the Princess of
Wales Theatre. The live musical stars Kerry Butler as Belle and Chuck
Wagner as the Beast.
AUGUST 8
THIS DAY
MADE IN
THE USA
AUGUST 8
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Disney Legend Ginny Tyler born
"Eating greens is a special treat, It makes long ears and great big feet. But it sure
is awful stuff to eat." -Thumper (voiced by Peter Behn from Disney's Bambi)
1939:
A story meeting for "Fantasia - Beethoven's Symphony No. 6" (also known as the Pastoral Symphony) takes place at Disney's sound stage. Leopold Stokowski runs music tracks for Walt, Ham Luske, Otto Englander, Ben Sharpsteen, Webb Smith, and Ed Penner.
"On this Pastoral, I think we have a marvelous idea to fit the music, but of course it is just a rough idea, now.
The pastoral idea is there, except we are doing it with mythological characters. We are doing it with a fantastic
setting--Mount Olympus." -Walt Disney
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The Little House released
1902:
Architect Welton Becket is born in Seattle,
Washington. Settling in Los Angeles in 1933, he formed a
partnership with his college classmate Walter Wurdeman and
architect Charles F. Plummer. Their first major commission was
the Pan-Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles in 1935, which would
later greatly influence the design of the entrance to Disney-MGM
Studios/Disney's Hollywood Studios. After the untimely deaths of
both his partners, Becket formed Welton Becket Associates in 1949.
Becket’s company went on to co-design pavilions for Disney at the
1964-1965 New York World’s Fair, and the Contemporary and
Polynesian resorts at Walt Disney World. He visited the Florida site
along with Marty Sklar and Dick Irvine in the late 1960s. Becket's company also designed three hotels for Disney World that were never built; a Thai-inspired Asian, an exotic Persian-style and a Venetian resort. A good friend of Walt's, Becket was asked to design Disneyland, but told Mr. Disney: "No one can design Disneyland for you, you have to do it yourself." Like his good friend Walt, Welton Becket died (in January 1969) years before Walt Disney World opened and so never got to see the fruits of his company's labors. (Becket's firm also designed the 13-story Capitol Records Building in Los Angeles, California, and the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, Long Island, New York.)
1925:
Disney Legend Ginny Tyler is born Merrie Virginia Erlandson in
Washington. A graduate of the University of Washington drama school, Tyler started out on radio before hosting a children's television show in Seattle. By the late 1950s, she had moved to Los Angeles and was soon narrating albums for Disneyland Records. In Disney films, she played the two amorous female squirrels in The Sword in the Stone
(1963) and sang the parts of several barnyard animals in the "Jolly Holiday" sequence of Mary Poppins (1964). At Disneyland, she hosted daily 15-minute segments for the re-edited version of "The Mickey Mouse Club." Named a Disney Legend in 2006, Tyler passed away at age 86 in 2012.
August 08
This Day in Disney History - THE FIRST - THE ORIGINAL
Traveling in time since 1999!
Architect Welton Becket (center) along with future Disney
Legends Marty Sklar (left) and Dick Irvine in the 1960s as
they walk on the spot where Cinderella Castle would be
built in Walt Disney World.
2017:
Glen Campbell, the indelible voice behind 21 Top 40 hits including "Rhinestone
Cowboy," "Wichita Lineman" and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," passes away at
age 81. He was a rare breed in the music business, with various careers as a top-level studio guitarist,
chart-topping singer and hit television host. In 1971 Campbell took part in the grand opening of Walt Disney World
performing the song "Wherefore and Why" (written by Gordon Lightfoot). Campbell later appeared (along with Art
Carney and Sandy Duncan) on Disney's 1976 holiday television special "Christmas in Disneyland." His song
"Southern Nights" was featured in the 2017 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, produced by Marvel Studios and
distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
2016:
Pete's Dragon premieres at at the El Capitan Theatre. It will be theatrically released by
Walt Disney Pictures in the United States in 2D, Disney Digital 3-D, and RealD 3D formats on August 12, 2016.
1963:
Film director and producer Jon Turteltaub is born in New York City. His Disney/Touchstone/Hollywood credits include Cool Runnings, While You Were Sleeping, Disney's The Kid, National Treasure, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, and The Sorcerer's Apprentice.
2014:
The comedy-drama The Hundred-Foot Journey is released in U.S. theaters. Produced by
Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey for DreamWorks Pictures (through their respective production companies, Amblin
Entertainment and Harpo Films, in association with Participant Media and Image Nation) it is released by Walt Disney
Studios Motion Pictures. Starring Helen Mirren, Om Puri, Manish Dayal and Charlotte Le Bon, the film is about a battle
of two restaurants in a village: one by an Indian family and the other, a lofty Michelin-starred restaurant.
1980:
Michael Urie, an actor, director and producer, is born Michael Lorenzo Urie in Houston, Texas. He is known for his portrayal of Marc St. James on the ABC comedy-drama series Ugly Betty. He also voiced Sebastian in the 2008 Beverly Hills Chihuahua.
1956:
Music composer and director Nathan Wang is born in Los Angeles, California. Among his Disney Channel credits: Hatching Pete, Minutemen, and Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior. His feature film credits include The Game Plan and Muppets Treasure Island.
2004:
The 2004 Teen Choice Awards ceremony is held in California. Among the winners:
-Choice Movie: Female Breakout Star: Lindsay Lohan – Freaky Friday
-Choice Movie Chemistry: Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley – Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
-Choice Movie: Liplock: Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley – Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
-Choice Movie Hissy Fit: Lindsay Lohan – Freaky Friday
-Choice Movie Fight/Action Sequence: Johnny Depp vs. Geoffrey Rush – Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
-Choice Movie: Liar: Johnny Depp – Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
-Choice TV Actress Action/Drama: Jennifer Garner – Alias
2010:
The 2010 Teen Choice Awards are held in California. Among the winners:
-Movie Dance: Sandra Bullock & Betty White - The Proposal
-Breakout Male: Liam Hemsworth - The Last Song
-Actress Romantic Comedy: Sandra Bullock - The Proposal
-Animated: Toy Story 3
-Fight: Mia Wasikowska vs. The Jabberwocky - Alice in Wonderland
-Hissy Fit: Miley Cyrus - The Last Song
-Actor Comedy: Jonas Brothers - Jonas
-Actress Comedy: Selena Gomez - Wizards Of Waverly Place
-Love Song: "When I Look At You" - Miley Cyrus
2019:
Nick Jonas, Joe Jonas and Kevin Jonas of the Jonas Brothers visits Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Walt Disney World.
1899:
Actor & musician Cactus Mack is born Taylor McPeters in Weed, New Mexico. Known for his roles in Western films and television shows, he appeared in the "Texas John Slaughter" and "Elfego Baca, Attorney at Law" episodes of Disney's weekly series.
1949:
Actress Terry Burnham is born Elizabeth Teresa Burnham in Los Angeles, California.
Acting since the age of 4, she portrayed Willadean Wills in Disney's 1964 television movie For the Love of Willadean.
1984:
Actor Richard Deacon, best known for playing supporting roles in television shows such as The Dick Van Dyke Show, Leave It To Beaver, and The Jack Benny Program, passes away at age 63 in California. His Disney credits included the feature films Blackbeard's Ghost, The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band, The Gnome-Mobile, Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N., and That Darn Cat!. Deacon also portrayed Uncle Archie in 5 episodes of the 1958 mini-series Walt Disney Presents: Annette and played the role of Father Ignacio in a 1959 episode of Disney's Zorro series.
