1985:
At 5:00 PM, the Walt Disney World Resort closes, due to advancing Hurricane Elena.
The eye of Elena will remain essentially stationary this day off the Florida coast (near the town of Cedar
Key) but will continue to intensify. The fifth tropical storm, fourth hurricane, and first major hurricane of the season,
Elena first developed near Cuba from a tropical wave.
1938:
Walt and Roy Disney place a $10,000 deposit on a 51-acre tract on
Buena Vista Street in Burbank, California. They will use this land to build a
new modern studio. The success of Snow White has enabled the Disney brothers to purchase the
$100,000 property from the Burbank Dept. of Water and Power. (Construction will begin in 1939.)
2005:
The Walt Disney Company announces it will pledge $2.5 million
to aid relief and rebuilding in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
1834:
Italian composer Amilcare Ponchielli is born Paderno Fasolaro, Italy. His ballet Dance of the
Hours - from his opera La Gioconda - is featured in Disney's 1940 Fantasia. The Dance of the Hours includes
animated ostriches, hippos, elephants, & alligators all attempting to perform the actual ballet! (The segment is
animated with an energy and franticness rarely seen in Disney films.) Although in his lifetime Ponchielli was very
popular and influential in introducing an enlarged orchestra and more complex orchestration, the only one of his
operas regularly performed today is La Gioconda.
1903:
One of the great pioneers of animation, Hugh Harman is born in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. He started at Walt Disney's studio (in Kansas City) in 1922, working on the Alice Comedies and
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit films. Harman, a self-taught animator, went on to start the Warner
Brothers and in 1939 the MGM animation studios with early Disney animator Rudolf Ising.
1924:
is born Leonard Hacker in Brooklyn, New York. He portrayed Tennessee Steinmetz in
the 1969 live-action feature The Love Bug and supplied the voice for Scuttle the seagull in both the 1989 The Little Mermaid and the 2000 direct-to-video sequel The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea. (Fans know Hackett from such
films as The Music Man, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, and Scrooged and from countless television appearances
on variety shows and prime time sitcoms.)
1928:
Academy Award-winning actor James Coburn, the voice of Henry J. Waternoose in
the 2001 Monsters, Inc. is born in Laurel, Nebraska. He also appeared in the 2002
live-action feature Snow Dogs as James 'Thunder Jack' Johnson.
(Film fans will know him from such action classics as The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape.)
1935:
The Disney cartoon Pluto's Judgement Day, directed by David Hand, is released.
When Mickey catches Pluto chasing a kitten, he punishes his dog, who falls asleep by the fire and dreams
that he is put on trial in Hell by a judge and jury of vindictive cats.
1948:
Walt Disney shares a memo with Disney Studio artist Dick Kelsey describing ideas for
an amusement park, which he calls "Mickey Mouse Park." Walt and Ward Kimball have
recently returned from a trip to the Chicago Railroad Fair and Henry Ford's Greenfield Village ... and Walt has many
ideas including a "Main Village with a Railroad Station built around a village green." It is one of the earliest detailed
descriptions of an amusement park concept ... that will ultimately become Disneyland.
1964:
The Dapper Dans - Disneyland's barbershop harmony group - sing at the
ground-breaking ceremony for the 24-million dollar Anaheim Stadium (the new
home for baseball's California Angels). In front of 4,000 guests and dignitaries, the
Dapper Dans sing "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" with Mrs. Jack Norworth, the widow (Jack's 5th wife)
of the composer. The stadium will be ready for the 1966 season.
1973:
1998:
The syndicated TV series Disney's Hercules premieres with the episode "Hercules and the Apollo Mission." The series, based on the 1997 film Hercules, tells the story of teenage Hercules attending school.
2001:
The Lizzie McGuire episode "Lizzie Strikes Out" debuts on Disney Channel.
2004:
Disney's The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride Special Edition DVD is released.
A direct-to-video sequel to the 1994 Disney animated film The Lion King, it was first released in October 1998.
Included as an extra feature on the DVD is the animated short One by One. A traditionally animated short film
directed by Pixote Hunt, It tells the story of children from a South African town flying kites down a hill after one boy is inspired by a colorful feather floating from the sky. The short film takes its title and inspiration from One by One, a "freedom song" written and performed by Lebo M for The Lion King. Although the song was cut from the final film, it
did make it into the Disney Theatrical adaptation, before being used for this short.
"Disney's Swim with the Stars" tour kicks off at Walt Disney World. America's
first-ever eight-time medalist Michael Phelps and his gold medalist teammates Lenny Krayzelburg and Ian
Crocker meet and swim with young American swimming stars of tomorrow. (After a 12-city run, the tour will
finish up at the Disneyland Resort in California.)
Buena Vista means
"pleasant view" in Spanish.
It has been frequently used
as a name for divisions of
The Walt Disney Company.
Walt Disney Studios and offices
are located on Buena Vista Street
in Burbank, California.
1970:
Singer/songwriter & actress Deborah Gibson, who in 1997-1998 played Belle in the Broadway musical Beauty and the Beast for nine months, is born in Brooklyn,
New York (though she grew up on Long Island). As a teen pop icon in the 1980s, Gibson was
the youngest person to write, produce, and perform a Billboard Hot 100 #1 hit single (in the U.S.) with her song "Foolish Beat."
1990:
Disney's Hollywood Records releases the debut album from a new pop group
called The Party. The group consists of Albert Fields, Tiffini Hale, Chase Hampton, Deedee Magno, and
Damon Pampolina ... all cast members of Disney Channel's The All New Mickey Mouse Club. The name "The
Party" is an acronym for "Positive Attitude Reflecting Today's Youth."
2007:
L’Originale Alfredo di Roma Ristorante, located in the Italy Pavilion in
Epcot's World Showcase, closes. (The restaurant will later re-open as Tutto Italia.)
In business since Epcot's debut, L' Originale Alfredo di Roma Ristorante was created by
the direct descendants of Alfredo di Lelio, the inventor of Fettuccini Alfredo!
Epcot's new "O Canada" film has a soft-preview.
Disney's High School Musical: The Ice Tour opens in Lakeland, Florida.
Based on the plot of both High School Musical and its sequel High School Musical 2,
it is co-produced by Kenny Ortega.
1965:
The U.S. Forest Service announces it has received six bids to develop a ski resort on Mineral King in California. A $35 million proposal from Disney is one of two leading candidates. Disney's
proposal includes up to 27 chair lifts (with capacity for 11,400 seats per hour), hotels for up
to 3,000 guests, and ten-story underground parking for 3,600 cars. (The resort will never be built.)
2008:
John Lucas of Eugene, Oregon, wins the Third Annual Disneyland Half
Marathon. Lucas, a marketing specialist for a sports apparel company, crosses the finish line
first with a Disneyland Half Marathon record time of 1:08:05 (exactly two minutes faster
than the 2007 winning time), leading the field of an estimated 13,500 participants.
AUGUST 31
THIS DAY
MADE IN
THE USA
AUGUST 31
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"My mother's menu consisted of two choices: Take it or leave it." -Buddy Hackett
Buddy Hackett born
Deborah Gibson born
2009:
The Walt Disney Company announces that it is buying
Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion. Marvel Entertainment, Inc. is one of the world’s most
prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a library of over 5,000 characters
featured in a variety of media over seventy years. Publisher Martin Goodman founded the company
later known as "Marvel Comics" under the name "Timely Publications" back in 1939.
"This transaction combines Marvel's strong global brand and world-renowned library of characters including Iron Man, Spider-Man,
X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Thor with Disney's creative skills, unparalleled global portfolio of entertainment
properties, and a business structure that maximizes the value of creative properties across multiple platforms and territories."
-Robert A. Iger, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company
1951:
The Goofy cartoon Get Rich Quick is released. Directed by Jack Kinney, Goofy tries his
hand at gambling ... a habit his wife has a problem with until he starts to win!
1962:
Artist Josh Agle, better known by the nickname Shag, is born. (Agle's nickname is derived
from the last two letters of his first name, and the first two letters of his last name.) To help celebrate the 40th anniversary of Walt Disney World, Shag designed artwork, merchandise and apparel and even
appeared at the Magic Kingdom and Downtown Disney to sign his work in June 2011.
Voice actor Dee Bradley Baker is born in Indiana. He is the voice of Perry the
Platypus for Disney Channel's Phineas and Ferb. Baker's long list of Disney credits include The
Replacements, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Lilo & Stitch: The Series, Higglytown Heroes, The
Emperor's New School, Frankenweenie, Jake and the Never Land Pirates, Rapunzel's Tangled
Adventure, Tangled: Before Ever After, Doc McStuffins, Miles from Tomorrowland, The Lion
Guard, and Amphibia. (He is noted for his long-running role as Squilliam Fancyson and other
various characters on the hit animated series SpongeBob SquarePants.)
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1994:
Disney executive Ron Dominguez, who started as a Disneyland Cast Member on
opening day in July 1955, retires after 39 years. Vice President of Walt Disney Attractions, his family originally owned and lived on 10 acres of the orange grove-covered property which was purchased by Walt Disney for
his Anaheim theme park in 1954. Dominguez will be inducted a Disney Legend in 2000.
Disney also announces that Castaway Cay, its private island paradise in the
tropical waters of the Bahamas, will be receiving some enhancements. Plans
include extending the Castaway Family Beach by more than 700 feet, new food and merchandise facilities,
new beach cabanas, and the addition of a new water feature called Pelican Plunge. These amenities are
scheduled to be complete by summer 2010.
1997:
Disney's newest animated series Recess first premiers on ABC-TV as a "sneak
preview." It will officially debut on September 13 as part of ABC's One Saturday Morning programming block.
1937:
Character actor Warren Berlinger, the star of "Kilroy," a 4-part comedy that aired on "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color" in 1965, is born in Brooklyn, New York. He also appeared in Disney's 1976 sequel "The Shaggy D.A." and an episode of the 1982 short-lived series "Herbie, the Love Bug." Performing in the original 1946 Broadway production of "Annie Get Your Gun," with Ethel Merman and Ray Middleton, Berlinger went on to have a long career on both television and film through 2006. Among his movie credits; the 1967 stock car racing drama "Thunder Alley" with Annette Funicello. Sadly Berlinger passed in December 2020 from cancer at age 83.
August 31
This Day in Disney History - THE FIRST - THE ORIGINAL
Traveling in time since 1999!
2014:
Nick Arciniaga, originally from Fountain Valley, Calif., wins the Disneyland Half
Marathon in record fashion, finishing in 1:07:48. Jennifer Berry, 33, of Denver, Colo., captures the
women’s title at Disneyland, finishing with a time of 1:23:33, after winning the Disneyland 10K the day before.
2017:
The Epcot International Food & Wine Festival kicks off for the next 75 days.
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters closes in Hong Kong Disneyland. Designed by Walt Disney Imagineering and inspired by Disney·Pixar's Toy Story franchise, it was an interactive carnival game. First debuting with the park back in September 2005, Astro Blasters will be replaced with a new attraction called Ant-Man and The Wasp: Nano Battle!
1975:
Actress-singer-songwriter Sara Ramirez is born in Mexico. Widely recognized for her role as
Dr. Callie Torres on the ABC-TV series Grey's Anatomy, her voice credits include the film Elena and the Secret of
Avalor and the series Sofia the First.
2012:
The animated film Secret of the Wings is released in an exclusive engagement at the
El Capitan Theater in Hollywood. Tinker Bell and her fairy friends journey into the forbidden world of the mysterious Winter Woods, where curiosity and adventure lead Tink to an amazing discovery and reveal a magical secret that could change her world forever. Produced by DisneyToon Studios, voices include Mae Whitman, Lucy Hale, Lucy Liu, Megan Hilty, Angelica Huston, Jesse McCartney, Raven-Simoné, and Timothy Dalton.
