2004:
Disney World workers spend the morning cleaning seven miles
of Florida's Canaveral National Seashore. The beach cleanup, sponsored by
the Ocean Conservatory and Keep Brevard Beautiful, involves more than 350
Disney employees wearing "volunt-EARS" T-shirts.
1914:
Actor Jonathan Harris, the voice of Manny in A Bug's Life, and Geri the Cleaner in
Toy Story 2, is born Jonathan Charasuchin in The Bronx, New York. His Disney voice
credits also include episodes of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command and Darkwing Duck. (TV fans know him best
as Dr. Zachary Smith on the classic 60s sci-fi series Lost in Space.)
1946:
Walt Disney writes his annual birthday letter to his younger sister Ruth (who will turn
43 on December 6). The letter and its enclosed check is being sent earlier than usual because he is
leaving this day for the premiere of Song of the South in Atlanta, Georgia. Walt explains how after the premiere
he'll be flying up to New York to board the Queen Elizabeth for a trip to England and Ireland. He'll be gathering
background material in Ireland for a new picture about leprechauns.
Actress and director Sally Field is born in Pasadena, California. Making her screen debut in Disney's 1962 Moon Pilot (in a minor role as a beatnik girl), it was her start on television as the boy-crazy surfer girl in the ABC sitcom Gidget (1965–1966) that truly kick-started her long career. Field voiced Sassy, a pampered Himalayan cat, in the 1993 live-action Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey and its 1996 sequel Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco. In 2008, she provided the voice of Marina Del Rey in The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, and in 2012 portrayed Mary Todd Lincoln in the motion picture Lincoln. Field's ABC-TV credits include directing & co-writing the
1996 movie The Christmas Tree and starring in the drama series Brothers & Sisters. (The recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, her long list of credits include such popular films as Smokey and the Bandit, Heroes, Steel Magnolias, and Forrest Gump.)
1956:
Disney's musical short A Cowboy Needs a Horse is released as is the True-Life Adventure film Secrets of Life. Directed by Bill Justice, the animated A Cowboy Needs a Horse
tells the story of a young boy who dreams of being a cowboy. The live-action Secrets of Life chronicles the
lives of plants and animals using special photography techniques.
1957:
The Disneyland TV series airs the episode "Adventures in Fantasy."
Voice actor Cam Clarke is born in Burbank, California. His Disney credits
include The Lion King 1 1/2, House of Mouse, The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea, The Lion King II:
Simba's Pride, and Underdog. (You may recognize his voice as the narrator of TV's Flip That House.)
1959:
The TV series Walt Disney Presents airs the episode "Perilous Assignment."
1960:
Walt Disney Presents airs the episode "Zorro: Adios El Cuchillo."
The evil El Cuchillo and his men return to Los Angeles to loot the city, but Zorro is
prepared for them and deals with the bandits one by one!
Actor, voice actor, singer, and dancer Eddie Korbich is born in Washington, D.C. The original Scuttle in the Broadway musical The Little Mermaid, his voice credits include The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), PB&J Otter (1998-2000), Doug's 1st Movie (1999), and
Tarzan (1999).
1999:
The Annie Awards are presented at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, California. Winners
include Eric Daniels for his work on Disney's Tarzan and Walt Disney Television Animation for The Lion King II:
Simba's Pride. Among the 3 winners for the Winsor McCay Award is Ernie Con Pederson, a pioneer who worked
on many projects including Disney's Man in Space 1955 television episode. Beating out Disney in many categories
is the winning animated feature The Iron Giant by Brad Bird (who in a few years will have great success as creator
of Disney/Pixar's The Incredibles).
The thirty-first episode of Disney's Recess, "The Shiner/Lord of the Nerds"
premieres on ABC-TV.
2001:
Disney releases the animated Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House
of Mouse, the live-action comedy Santa Who? (a TV movie starring Leslie Nielsen)
and the animated Recess Christmas: Miracle on Third Street all on video and DVD.
Disney President and Chief Operating Officer Robert A. Iger announces that The
Walt Disney Company has acquired The Baby Einstein Company, the award-winning
creator of highly innovative media products, toys and books for babies and
toddlers.
 | ||||
1921:
Tired of the Kansas City winters, Walt's parents Elias and Flora, and his younger sister Ruth leave for Portland, Oregon. (His brother Herbert, a post office employee, has already
transferred there.) Walt, upset over the idea of losing his family, sees them off at the train station.
The 2009 A Christmas Carol is
Disney's third retelling of Charles
Dickens' classic tale in 26 years.
Disney released Mickey's
Christmas Carol in 1983 and later
distributed The
Muppet Christmas
Carol for Jim
Henson Productions
in 1992
(which Disney
later acquired the
rights to).
2007:
Bruce Gordon, Disney Imagineer (who spent 25 years working in a variety of top
creative capacities for the Disney theme parks) and author, passes away
suddenly at his home in Glendale, California. The 56-year-old's career included the production of
Disneyland's Splash Mountain, the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Tarzan's Treehouse and most recently,
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. Gordon also wrote and created such books as Disneyland: The Nickel Tour,
The Art of Disneyland, Disneyland: Then, Now and Forever, Walt Disney World: Then, Now and Forever, and
The Art of Walt Disney World.
Disney releases Ratatouille and Cars to Blu-ray.
2006:
Actress Lisa O'Hare returns to the London production of Mary Poppins assuming the
role of Mary. She replaces Scarlett Strallen, making her the third actress to hold the
West End title role.
Disney files plans for a project on the site of the Contemporary Resort's North Garden
Wing at Walt Disney World. (The project will be unveiled in September 2008 as Bay Lake Tower at
Disney's Contemporary Resort.)
2008:
Disney's stage production of High School Musical 2 premieres in Atlanta's Theater of
the Stars. Running through November 16, High School Musical 2 features Anderson Davis as Troy Bolton opposite Arielle Jacobs, who reprises her role as Gabriella Montez, a part she originated in the 2007 Atlanta stage premiere of
High School Musical.
NOVEMBER 6
THIS DAY MADE
IN THE
USA
NOVEMBER 6
N
O
V
| ||||
| ||||
1987:
Disney's Touchstone Pictures releases the comedy film Hello Again staring
Shelley Long, Judith Ivey, Gabriel Byrne, and Corbin Bernsen. A plastic surgeon's (Bernsen)
wife (Long) chokes to death; a year later her occultist sister (Ivey) brings her back!
1978:
Actress-turned-television writer Nicole Dubuc is born. Known in her early teen years as Robin
on the sitcom Major Dad, Dubuc later became a writer for television. Her Disney writing credits include Tigger &
Pooh and a Musical Too, My Friends Tigger and Pooh: The Hundred Acre Wood Haunt, Mickey Mouse
Clubhouse, and Kim Possible.
| ||||
"It's difficult to believe that only two weeks ago I was sitting across from Bruce (Gordon) as he pitched his concept
of the Walt Disney Family Museum. This bold idea is coming to life at the Presidio in San Francisco, and will
celebrate the life and work of the Old Maestro, Walt Disney. It was fitting that Bruce Gordon should be a part of this
ambitious project. Diane Disney Miller, the eldest daughter of the Old Maestro, wanted Bruce on board once she
heard him comment on her dad during the filming of the Disney biography. Bruce really understood why Walt
Disney created Disneyland. Like Walt, Bruce was dedicated to doing things just a little bit better. A philosophy
long since forgotten in today's corporate climate." -Disney Legend Floyd Norman
In Memory of Imagineer Bruce Gordon
Disney's A Christmas Carol released
1937:
An illustration of Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, and Goofy around an automobile appears on the cover of the publication Collier's. It is part of a featured article titled
"Why Your Car Is Safe" by Captain Eddie V. Rickenbacker.
2009:
Disney's A Christmas Carol opens in U.S. theaters. Written and directed by Robert Zemeckis, the
film stars Jim Carrey (his first part in a Disney film) in a multitude of roles, including Ebenezer Scrooge. Adapted from Charles Dickens' 1843 story of the same name, A Christmas Carol is a 3-D film produced through the process of performance capture - a technique Zemeckis had previously used in his films The Polar Express and Beowulf. The
cast includes Cary Elwes, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, and Bob Hoskins.
1998:
Touchstone Pictures releases the sports comedy feature The Waterboy starring Adam Sandler, Henry Winkler, Kathy Bates, Jerry Reed, and Fairuza Balk. Raised by his overprotective mother, 31-year-old Bobby Boucher, Jr. is a socially awkward water boy for a college football team whose members tease him. When it is discovered he has a unique tackling ability, he becomes a playing member of a rival team. The cast also includes Larry Gilliard, Jr., Blake Clark, Peter Dante and Jonathan Loughran. Directed by Frank Coraci, The Waterboy is distributed by Buena Vista Pictures. Despite taking place in Louisiana, The Waterboy was mostly filmed in the Central Florida and Orlando area. The idea for the film came from one of Sandler's Saturday Night Live characters. (The soundtrack for The Waterboy was released on November 3, 1998 by Disney's Hollywood Records.)
1992:
The Warners Bros. action feature Passenger 57, starring Wesley Snipes, is released.
Scenes were shot at Orlando Sanford International Airport near Orlando, Florida and Disney-MGM Studios.
1942:
The Donald Duck cartoon Sky Trooper, directed by Jack King, is released. Donald's
dream of flying finally comes true, but what he doesn't realize is that flying also includes jumping out of the plane
as a paratrooper!
Today is the first day of Pursuit of Happiness Week
2012:
It is announced that the Disney/ABC Television Group has raised more than
$16.8 million to benefit the American Red Cross' Hurricane Sandy relief efforts.
Disney orchestrated a "National Day of Giving" on Monday November 5, integrating its message across multiple
platforms including news, primetime and cable programming.
Saving Mr. Banks, the drama about Walt Disney centered on the filming of
Mary Poppins, starts filming at Disneyland Park.
November 6
2016:
Jason Simpson wins the Disney Wine & Dine Half Marathon at Walt Disney World.
He shatters the race record, posting a time of 1:10:24—more than a minute quicker than the previous mark of
1:11:47. His wife Jenny comes in second in the women's division with a time of 1:21:33. A 2016 Olympic bronze medalist, Jenny was merely using the 13.1-mile race as a "training run’" during her early preparation for the IAAF
World Championships next summer.
The series finale of Jake and the Never Land Pirates airs on Disney Junior. The Annie
Award-winning musical and interactive children's animated television series first aired in February 2011. The series focused on a band of young pirates consisting of Jake, Izzy, Cubby, and their parrot Skully, who continuously spent
their days competing against Captain Hook and Mr. Smee for treasure.
2018:
The Pixar animated feature Incredibles 2 is released on Blu-ray and DVD.
Included is the short Auntie Edna, starring characters from Incredibles 2. Edna (voiced by Brad Bird)
babysits the Parr's youngest, Jack-Jack.
1893:
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, a Russian composer of the Romantic period, passes away at age 53 in St. Petersburg, Russian Empire. He is most celebrated for his ballets, specifically Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker. For example - "Once Upon a Dream" is a song written for the 1959 animated musical fantasy film Sleeping Beauty. Its lyrics were written by Jack Lawrence and Sammy Fain but the music was adapted by George Bruns from the "Grande valse villageoise" (nicknamed "The Garland Waltz"), from the 1890 ballet "The Sleeping Beauty" by Tchaikovsky. "The Peter Tchaikovsky Story," an episode of "Walt Disney Presents" aired on January 30, 1959. It told the story of young Tchaikovsky through the premiere of his "Sleeping Beauty" ballet. Tchaikovsky was known both in and outside Russia as its greatest musical talent, with pieces like "1812 Overture," his First Piano Concerto, Violin Concerto, and the "Romeo and Juliet" Overture-Fantasy, Born in May 1840, he was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally.
2014:
The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow, an immersive walk-through special effects attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park at Walt Disney World Resort, closes. First opening on December 6, 2012, guests followed the story of Captain Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean film series and experienced several interactive sequences.
1970:
Actor, writer, and director Ethan Hawke is born in Austin, Texas. His Touchstone/Disney credits include Dead Poets Society (1989), White Fang (1991), Alive (1993), Quiz Show (1994), and
White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf (1994).
1995:
Made in Heaven, the fifteenth and final studio album by the British rock band Queen, is released in the U.S. on Disney's Hollywood Records. It is the band's first release after the 1991 death of lead singer Freddie Mercury. The band (Brian May, Roger Taylor & John Deacon) worked with vocal and piano parts that Mercury recorded before his death.
1911:
Film producer, illustrator, writer and animator Stephen Bosustow is born in Victoria, British Columbia. Bosustow began his animation career in the early 1930s working for the Ub Iwerks and Walter Lantz studios before joining Walt Disney Productions in 1934 as an animator and writer. Bosustow worked on Mickey Mouse cartoons and feature films such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, (1937) and Bambi (1942.).He left Disney during the 1941 Disney animators' strike and joined Hughes Aircraft as an illustrator. He later co-founded the Industrial Film and Poster Service in 1943 which evolved into UPA. Today he is chiefly remembered for producing a string of Mr. Magoo and Gerald McBoing-Boing cartoons in the 1950s, three of which earned Academy Awards.
1910:
Water color painter Elmer Plummer is born in Redlands, California. Starting at the Disney Studios in the mid-1930s, he produced art and developed many of the gag and comic ideas for cartoon shorts featuring Goofy. Later he contributed to Fantasia, Dumbo and The Three Caballeros. After World War II, Plummer continued to work on special projects for Walt Disney and taught art at the Chouinard Art Institute. Plummer is considered one of the leading artists of the 1930s California Water Color Movement.
1985:
Disney's 1941 animated Dumbo is released on VHS.
1988:
Actress Emma Stone is born in Arizona. She portrayed Cruella De Vil in Craig Gillespie's live-action 2021 Disney film Cruella (and served as the executive producer of the film alongside Glenn Close). In 2011, Stone played Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan in the DreamWorks/Touchstone Pictures period drama The Help.
