2005:
Disney Magic returns home to Port Canaveral, Florida from
its first-ever journey to the West Coast, completing a
summer-long schedule of voyages to the Mexican Riviera in
honor of the 50th anniversary of Disneyland.
"I started working with Yale Gracey in 1959 on all the illusions. Yale was a genius and all I did basically
was just sort of build the boxes for him and help him build the illusions." -Imagineer Rolly Crump
1905:
is born in Cleveland, Utah. In 1915, his family moved to Salt Lake City where he
began studying journalism and drawing, and later graduated from the University of Utah. Larson then moved to Los
Angeles to work as a writer but instead was employed in 1933 by Disney. Larson's long list of contributions include
Bambi, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Mary Poppins, The Aristocats, and The Great Mouse Detective. In 1983
Larson was awarded the Winsor McCay Award and 3 years later became the last of the "Nine Old Men" to retire.
1910:
Imagineer Yale Gracey, best known for his brilliant
special effects in the Haunted Mansion and the Pirates of the Caribbean park attractions, is born in Shanghai, China (his father was an American Consul). Master Gracey, whose name can be
found on tombstones outside the Disneyland and Disney World mansions, gets his
name from Yale! Gracey first worked as a layout artist on such features as Pinocchio
and Fantasia before becoming a special effects and lighting artist at Walt Disney Imagineering (then called WED). With no special effects training other than his own
hands-on experimentation, Yale worked as a research and development designer creating many illusions for theme park attractions. He will be named a Disney Legend in 1999.
1939:
Britain and France declare war on Germany, two days after the Nazi invasion of Poland. British Prime Minister Chamberlain's War announcement interrupts a Disney Cartoon "Mickey's Gala Premiere" showing on the BBC television service.
Mouseketeer Larry Larsen, who joined Mickey Mouse Club
for the 1956-1957 season (and was the oldest of all the
Mouseketeers) is born in Houston, Texas. (He grew up in Houston; Winnetka, Illinois; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Pasadena, California.) His Mouseketter time was followed with several TV and movie appearances while beginning his education as a mechanical engineer.
1958:
The Disneyland television series airs on ABC for the last time as Disneyland.
Starting September 12 the series will be called Walt Disney Presents.
1996:
The Disneyana Convention 1996 kicks off for 5 days at Walt Disney World.
The animated series Quack Pack, part of the Disney Afternoon weekday
program, debuts on Toon Disney. Featuring Donald Duck (voiced by Tony Anselmo)
and his nephews who are now rebellious teens, Quack Pack will run for 39 episodes.
2001:
"Walt Disney - The Man and His Magic," an exhibit using extraordinary
items from the Walt Disney Family Foundation, ends it near 4-month
run at the Ronald Reagan Library & Museum in California.
Disney's The Legend of Tarzan (a half-hour television series) premieres
on UPN and in syndication.
2004:
The Tom Joyner Family Reunion, scheduled to play at Disney World this
weekend, is canceled due to the threat of Hurricane Frances.
Frances has weakened slightly as it passed into the vicinity of Abaco Island and directly over Grand
Bahama. The storm is downgraded from a Category 3 to 2 prior to passing over Grand Bahama and also
lessened in forward speed. But parts of South Florida will begin to be affected by squalls and the outer
rain bands of the hurricane - and gusts from 40 mph to as high as 87 mph!
1989:
Legendary drummer Louie Bellson and The Big Band Explosion perform at
Disneyland for the first of an eight-day engagement. A composer, arranger,
bandleader, and jazz educator, Bellson is credited with pioneering the use of two kick drums.
1919:
Red Cross volunteer Walt Disney leaves Paris, France for Marseilles and the
voyage back to the United States. Unfortunately a dock strike will prevent him
from sailing as scheduled and he will spend 23 days waiting out the strike.
Imagineer Yale Gracey's
Haunted Mansion
tombstone reads:
Master Gracey laid to rest,
no mourning please at his request, Farewell
1962:
Syndicated reruns of Mickey Mouse Club first air on New York's WNEW-TV.
2007:
Disneyland's 2nd Annual Half Marathon ("The Happiest Race on Earth")
takes place with more than 13,000 runners. The winner is Carlos Carballo,
24, of Cathedral City, California, with a posted time of 1:10:07!
1969:
The comedy motion picture The Trouble with Girls, starring Elvis Presley,
is released. Appearing in the film is the quartet vocal group The Mellowmen (best known to
Disney fans for their contributions to many features and park attractions). The quartet, which
includes Thurl Ravenscroft, plays the part of a gospel group called The Bible Singers.
2008:
The 11th annual Amusement Today Golden Ticket Awards (given to the "Best of the
Best" in the amusement industry) are handed out during a ceremony at Give Kids
The World Village in Kissimmee, Florida. Disney is awarded Best Outdoor Night Show Production
for Epcot's IllumiNations: Reflections of the Earth.
SEPTEMBER 3
THIS DAY MADE
IN THE
USA
SEPTEMBER 3
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2009:
At about 12:45 AM Disney Wonder rescues a 34-year-old man at sea who had fallen
off a Carnival Cruise Lines ship during the night. While on its way into Port Canaveral, Disney's
crew heard a call for help and plucked the man from the ocean off the Florida coast even before the Coast Guard
arrived. The man was aboard The Sensation, a Carnival Cruise Lines ship returning from the Bahamas.
2002:
Disney's Where The Toys Come From is released on DVD. This 1984 live-action film is directed
& written by Ted Thomas (son of veteran animator Frank Thomas - one of Walt's Nine Old Men). Two comical toys,
Peepers and Zoom (voiced by John Harvey & Larry Wright), curious about where they came from, embark on a
journey - along with their owner Robin (Erin Young) - to discover their origins. Thomas earned a Golden Gate Award
for Best Children's Program.
Mickey's House of Villains, a direct-to-video animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Television Animation, is released on VHS and DVD. Based on the animated television series, Disney's House of Mouse, it serves as a stand-alone sequel to the direct-to-video animated film Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse. When villains come to Mickey's House of Mouse, he and his friends attempt to keep the show running.
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Yale Gracey born
Eric Larson born
1984:
Actor/singer Garrett John Hedlund, who played Sam Flynn in Disney's 2010 Tron: Legacy, is born in Roseau, Minnesota.
September 03
"Trying to come across the screen with a character that people can relate to is
the first challenge." -animator Eric Larson
1924:
Character actress Mary Grace Canfield is born in Rochester, New York.
Best know for her role of Ralph Monroe the inept carpenter on the sitcom Green Acres, Canfield appeared in the Disney feature films Pollyanna (as Angelica) and Something Wicked This Way Comes (as Miss Foley).
2014:
Disney Cast Members, guests and animal lovers celebrate the birth of the second
gorilla in one month for the family of critically endangered western lowland gorillas
at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Florida. Born on this day to mother Kashata and father Gino, the
healthy infant joins another male gorilla who was born August 7 to Azizi and Gino. This second baby is a welcome
addition to the growing gorilla family that inhabits the wooded sanctuary of the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail at
Disney's Animal Kingdom.
2010:
Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, a Disney Channel Original
Movie and the sequel to the 2008 film Camp Rock,
premieres on Disney Channel. Mitchie (played by Demi Lovato)
and her friends, including top rock group Connect 3 (Jonas Brothers)
return to Camp Rock for another great summer of music, dancing and
fun. But when big-money, state-of-the-art Camp Star opens across the lake,
it lures away many instructors and campers - putting the future of Camp Rock in jeopardy. The cast includes Alyson Stoner, Anna Maria Perez de Tagle, Jasmine Richards, and Roshon Fegan.
Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue begins an exclusive engagement at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. The computer-animated comedy adventure film is the third installment of the Disney Fairies franchise produced by DisneyToon Studios. Tinker Bell must team up with a rival fairy to keep
their existence a secret from humans. The voice cast features Mae Whitman, Lauren Mote, Michael Sheen, Pamela Adlon, Lucy Liu, and Raven-Symoné.
Fish Hooks, an animated television series created by Noah Z. Jones, premieres on
Disney Channel with the episode "Bea Stays in the Picture." The series revolves around adolescent fish Milo (voiced by Kyle Massey), his shy brother Oscar (Justin Roiland), and their "overly dramatic" best friend Bea Goldfishberg (Chelsea Staub).
2018:
Pixar Fest at Disneyland ends its run. Entertaining guests since April 2018, Pixar Fest presented
some of the beloved stories from Pixar Animation Studios in new ways at both Disneyland and Disney California
Adventure Parks.
2019:
Walt Disney World closes its theme parks early on this Tuesday in response
to Hurricane Dorian. All hotels remain open for guests.
1965:
Actor Charlie Sheen is born Carlos Irwin Estévez to actor Martin
Sheen (whose real name is Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez)
and artist Janet Templeton in New York City. His Disney/Hollywood
Pictures credits include The Three Musketeers (1993) as Aramis, Terminal Velocity
(1994) as Ditch Brodie, and Shadow Conspiracy (1997) as Bobby Bishop. (TV fans
will recognize him from the sitcoms Spin City and Two and a Half Men.)
The Tex Beneke Orchestra begin an 8-day engagement at Disneyland as part of the Disneyland After Dark entertainment schedule. A saxophonist, singer, and bandleader, Beneke has a history of associations with bandleader Glenn Miller and former musicians and singers who worked with Miller.
1914:
Animator Willis Pyle, known for his work with Walt Disney Animation Studios, is born in Kansas. He enrolled as an art student at the University of Colorado Boulder, while working as a commercial illustrator for Gano-Downs department store in Denver, when he found an employment poster for animators at Walt Disney Studios. Pyle left Colorado in 1937 and relocated to Los Angeles where he was hired by Disney. His first feature film was Pinocchio (1940), in which he worked as an assistant animator under Milt Kahl, one of Disney's Nine Old Men. Pyle went on to work on Fantasia (1940), and Bambi (1942). Shortly after completing work on Bambi, Pyle left Disney to briefly take a position as an animator at Walter Lantz Productions, where he worked on Woody Woodpecker short films. He later joined United Productions of America (UPA), where he helped create one of their best known characters, Mr. Magoo, and contributed to the short Gerald McBoing-Boing, which won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1951.
2000:
Animator, writer, and teacher Walt Stanchfield passes away at age 81 in Santa Barbara, California. His Disney career began with the 1949 animated feature The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. Stanchfield worked on every subsequent Disney animated feature, including character animation on The Jungle Book in 1967 and The Aristocats in 1970. His final film for Disney was The Great Mouse Detective in 1986. In 1987, Stanchfield served as an animation consultant on Who Framed Roger Rabbit. In the 1970s, Stanchfield and Eric Larson (one of Walt's Nine Old Men) created a training program for new animators at Disney. The program included weekly drawing classes and lectures. Stanchfield's students included numerous prominent animators, such as Brad Bird, John Lasseter, Don Bluth, Joe Ranft, John Musker, Ron Clements, Glen Keane, Andreas Deja, and Mark Henn. (In 2009, Stanchfield's lecture notes will be compiled into a two-volume set titled "Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes.")
2012:
Actor Michael Clarke Duncan, best known for his breakout role as John Coffey in The
Green Mile (1999), passes away at age 54 after suffering a heart attack. His Disney voice
credits included Brother Bear (2003), Kim Possible: A Sitch in Time (2003), Brother Bear 2 (2006), and the live-action
Air Buddies (2006). He also appeared in Touchstone's 1998 live-action science fiction film Armageddon and Disney's
2003 direct-to-video sequel George of the Jungle 2.
