This Week in Disney History (September 7-13)
1892: Actor Pinto Colvig (voice of Goofy, Pluto, Sleepy, Grumpy, and the House of Bricks Pig from Three Little Pigs) is born in Jacksonville, Oregon.
1894: Actor Billy Gilbert (voice of Sneezy) is born in Louisville, Kentucky.
1905: Layout artist Cornett Wood (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia, Bambi) is born in Indiana.
1911: Animator (specialist on Mickey Mouse), and Disney Legend, Robert Fred Moore (Pinocchio, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Fantasia, Dumbo, Peter Pan) is born in Los Angeles, California.
1931: Actor Sir Ian Holm (Skinner in Ratatouille) is born in Goodmayes, Essex, England.
1937: Actor Brian Murray (John Silver in Treasure Planet) is born in South Africa.
1957: Animator Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Ratatouille) is born in Kalispell, Montana.
1958: Actor Dan Castellaneta (Genie in The Return of Jafar and Aladdin-the animated series) is born in Chicago, Illinois.
1969: NBC airs Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color as The Wonderful World of Disney.
1973: In Disneyland, the General Electric Carousel of Progress closes and is prepared for the move to Florida.
1979: NBC changes the name of The Wonderful World of Disney to Disney’s Wonderful World.
1981: Actor Johnathan Taylor Thomas (Young Simba in The Lion King) is born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
1981: Disney’s Wonderful World airs for the last time on NBC before moving to CBS.
1984: In EPCOT’s World Showcase, the Morocco Pavilion, the showcase’s first new edition since ‘82, opens.
1984: Ron Miller resigns from being CEO of the Disney Company.
1984: Michael Eisner resigns from Paramount Pictures in hopes to become CEO of Disney.
1985: Steve Jobs announces his resignation from Apple. He will go on to start up a small computer animation company: Pixar.
1987: The pilot episode of Disney’s Ducktales airs.
1988: The Disney Sunday Movie airs for the last time on ABC before moving back to NBC.
1990: The Disney Afternoon (a syndicated two hour programming block of cartoons) first airs.
1990: NBC airs The Magical World of Disney for the last time before the series moves to ABC.
1993: Actor Charlie Stewart (The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Even Stevens, The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause) is born in Nevada.
1998: In Walt Disney World’s Fantasyland, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride closes.
1998: Disneyland’s Submarine Voyage closes.
2001 (9/11): Both the Walt Disney World Resort and the Disneyland Resort close shortly after the terrorist attacks. Cast Members in WDW form human walls in all four parks and gently move guests out of the parks.
2001 (9/12): All U.S. Disney parks re-open with the heightened security level of the country visible in the form of extra inspection of all packages coming into the parks.
2004: The Walt Disney Company’s current CEO, Michael Eisner, sends out a memo saying he will resign when his contract expires in 2006.
2005: After 6 years of planning and $1.8 billion (US) Hong Kong Disneyland has its grand opening.
2007: In Walt Disney World’s Liberty Square, the Haunted Mansion reopens after a summer-long refurbishment.
Disney World and the Hurricane Watch (TS Hanna)
Many people have heard of the Twin Storms, but it doesn’t appear Hanna will follow in Gustav’s steps. Instead, she’s projected to flow up the eastern coast of Florida, hitting WDW, and then making landfall on the Georgia Coast. It will approach WDW around Wednesday or Thursday of this week. Stay tuned to Netcot.com, or The Weather Channel, for more information on the 8th named storm of the 2008 Hurricane Season (2 months left).
[UPDATE 9/02/2008 at 2:00 p.m.]
Hanna’s been downgraded once more. It’s currently a Tropical Storm, meaning no refunds from Disney.
This Week in Disney History (August 31-September 6)
1902: Animator and Disney Legend William Norman Ferguson (created Pluto and the Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) is born in New York City, NY.
1903: Animator Hugh Harman (worked on the Alice Comedies and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit) is born in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.
1905: Animator, Disney Legend, and one of the “Nine Old Men” Eric Larson (Bambi, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Mary Poppins, The AristoCats, The Great Mouse Detective) is born in Cleveland, Utah.
1906: Comedienne Barbara Jo Allen (Fauna in Sleeping Beauty, The Sword in the Stone, early voice of Madame Leota in the Haunted Mansion) is born in New York City, NY.
1910: Imagineer, and Disney Legend, Yale Gracey (special effects in the Haunted Mansion and the Pirates of the Caribbean) is born in Shanghai, China to an American Consul. He’s also the namesake of Master Gracey.
1912: Animator, and one of the “Nine Old Men“, Frank Thomas (The Brave Little Tailor, The Fox and the Hound, Robin Hood, The Jungle Book) is born in Santa Monica, California.
1918: While working at a post office in the Chicago Federal Building, Walt Disney survives a bomb that has exploded, killing 4 people.
1919: Actor Howard Morris (voice of Gopher in the Winnie the Pooh features) is born in New York City.
1919: Imagineer Xavier Atencio, who penned the lyrics to Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life for Me) and Grim Grinning Ghosts (The Screaming Song) and wrote the scripts for Adventure Thru Inner Space and Pirates of the Caribbean, is born in Trinidad, Colorado.
1924: Actor and Disney Legend Buddy Hackett (Tennessee Steinmetz in The Love Bug, Scuttle in The Little Mermaid and The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea) is born in Brooklyn, NY.
1928: Actor James Coburn (Henry J. Waternoose in Monsters, Inc, James ‘Thunder Jack’ Johnson in Snow Dogs) is born in Laurel, Nebraska.
1937: Actress Jo Anne Worley (Kim Possible: The Secret Files, A Goofy Movie, and Beauty and the Beast) is born in Lowell, Indiana.
1938: Brothers Walt and Roy Disney place a $10,000 deposit on a 51-acre lot along Buena Vista Street in Burbank, CA, to build a new studio.
1948: The earliest form of Disneyland takes place in a memo to animators in the studio about Walt’s ideas for a “Mickey Mouse Park.”
1951: Actor Michael Keaton (Herbie: Fully Loaded, Chick Hicks in Cars) is born in Corapolis, Pennsylvania.
1958: Disneyland airs for the last time under that name. It will later be named Walt Disney Presents.
1965: The U.S. Forest Service announces that six bids have been received to build a ski resort on Mineral King in California. Disney happens to be one of the two leading candidates, but the resort was never developed.
1966: Both Tomorrowland’s Flying Saucers attraction and its Tomorrowland Jets attraction close.
1968: Actor Phill Lewis (Mr. Moseby in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody) is born in Uganda.
1979: The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad opens in Disneyland’s Frontierland.
1979: Disney’s television series, which debuted in 1954, airs for the last time as The Wonderful World of Disney. It will later be named Disney’s Wonderful World.
1985: Walt Disney World closes at 5:00 p.m. due to the advancing Hurricane Elena. This is one of only four times that WDW has closed due to a hurricane.
1985: Disneyland’s Adventure Thru Inner Space closes in Tomorrowland. It will later be replaced by Star Tours.
1988: Live with Regis and Kathie Lee debuts.
1994: Walt Disney World’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea attraction “temporarily closes” and then permanently closes a few years later. Once deemed closed forever, some of the submarines are taken from the ride and sunk off the cost of Castaway Cay.
1997: Tropical Serenade in Walt Disney World’s Adventureland closes for extensive renovations. It will later re-open as The Enchanted Tiki Room-Under New Management.
2000: Tokyo Disneyland’s newest attraction, Pooh’s Hunny Hunt, opens.
2000: The Rocket Rods attraction, in Disneyland’s Tomorrowland, closes.
2001: The Tokyo Disneyland Resort expands with its newest park, Tokyo DisneySea.
2004: “Disney’s Swim with the Stars” tour kicks off at Walt Disney World. Americans Michael Phelps, Lenny Krayzelburg and Ian Crocker meet and swim with young swimming prodigies.
2004: The Walt Disney World Resort closes again due to Hurricane Frances. This is WDW’s fourth closing since 1971.
2005: Pooh’s Playful Spot, covering the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Lagoon, opens in WDW’s Magic Kingdom.
2007: The film “O Canada” officially reopens after it was updated with new footage.
Michael Phelps Is Going To Disney World
Friday, Michael Phelps will get a hero’s welcome during a special “America’s Homecoming Parade” at the Magic Kingdom according to People Magazine. A Walt Disney World representitive called it a “a star-spangled salute amidst confetti and thousands of flag-waving fans.”
Disney to Build Children’s Hospital
The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that The Walt Disney Company will be teaming up with the Florida Hospital to create the Disney Children’s Hospital at Florida Hospital in Orlando. In the rooms are video games, in the lobby are familiar Disney characters (foremost of which is a 6-foot Baloo), various nature scenes can be shown via projector in the ER, and patients will be able to use a toy version of a CT scanner to see what to expect.
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Upgrades Coming to Fort Wilderness
Walt Disney World is in the process of improving the Fort Wilderness Campgrounds, according to the Orlando Sentinel. The broadest campground-improvement steps taken in 20 years will include extra-extra-large camper pads for RVs, more cable-TV and Internet service hookups (there are currently three WiFi hotspots on the grounds), Segway scooter tours, a mini-water park, a dog park, and an ECV rental. Workers are also taking steps to remove invasive plant species like potato vines and replacing them with other species like native plants.
This Week in Disney History (August 24-30)
1908: Actor Fred MacMurray (The Absent-Minded Professor, Son of Flubber, The Happiest Millionaire) is born in Kankakee, Illinois.
1913: Cartoonist Walt Kelly (Pinocchio, Dumbo, and Fantasia) is born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1916: Actor Hal Smith (Phillipe in Beauty and the Beast, Owl in Winnie the Pooh, the voice of Goofy) is born in Petoskey, Michigan.
1933: Actor Regis Philbin (Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Live with Regis and Kathy Lee/Kelly) is born in New York City.
1942: Disney’s 6th animated film, Saludos Amigos, holds its world premiere in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
1950: Actor Charles Fleischer (voice of Roger Rabbit, House of Mouse, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Genius). is born in Washington, D.C.
1952: Actor Paul Reubens (voice of REX-the Star Tours pilot, Fife in Beauty and the Beast) is born in Peekskill, NY.
1955: The Mickey Mouse Club Theater opens in Disneyland’s Fantasyland.
1955: The Chicken of the Sea Pirate Ship and Restaurant opens in Disneyland’s Fantasyland.
1958: Director Tim Burton (James and the Giant Peach, The Nightmare Before Christmas) is born in Burbank, California.
1961: Singer/Actor Billy Ray Cyrus (Robbie Stewart in Hannah Montana) is born in Flatwoods, Kentucky.
1963: Director Kirk Wise (Atlantis: The Lost Empire, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Beauty and the Beast) is born in San Francisco, California.
1964: Disney’s Mary Poppins has its world premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
1989: The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular debuts at the Disney-MGM Studios.
1989: Disney and Jim Henson come to a deal for sharing the rights to the Muppets (Henson died suddenly, before the deal was finalized, and the deal didn’t go through until a number of years later-See Netcot Episode #116).
1991: Actor Kyle Massey (Cory Baxter in That’s So Raven and Cory in the House) is born in Atlanta, GA.
1994: Jeffrey Katzenburg steps down from his position as Chairman of Walt Disney Studios, leaving the position to Joe Roth.
1998: The Disney Channel Original Movie Brink! debuts.
1998: The Town Square Exhibition Hall opens in the Magic Kingdom.
2006: Disney’s Invincible premiers.
2006: The Disney Channel Original Movie The Cheetah Girls 2 premiers.
Netcot Podcast #116 - Muppets
News stories from this episode of the podcast:
- Tropical Storm Fay has been a concern for WDW. The resort has been opening up parks a bit earlier to ensure guests get some extra time at the parks.
- Some cast members dressed in Disney character costumes (not all of which were real costumes) were arrested for protesting changes that would leave some cast members without health care benefits.
- Disney’s Family.com has started a new social networking website for parents.
- The Cheetah Girls are headed to India for their latest film.
- The Jonas Brothers have three hits in the Billboard top 10, making a total of 4 hits in the top 10 for Disney artists.
- “Four for a Dollar” the preshow singing group that performs at the Beauty and the Beast stage show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is reported to have their last performance on Sept. 20th.
- The Florida attorney general’s office said that Disney is exempt from being required to allow employees to carry guns in their cars.
Other Resources / Links:
- Steve Swanson’s Muppet Cast website/podcast
- Pictures from WDW during the tropical storm:
- Cindy’s Castle at the MK during the tropical storm
Main Street during the tropical storm
Photos courtesy Scotty2Hotty
Listen to this episode of the Netcot podcast: iTunes (recommended) | MP3
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Kim Possible Attraction Coming to Epcot
Market Watch is reporting that a new, interactive attraction is coming to Epcot. This new attraction, based on Disney Channel’s award winning series “Kim Possible”, will take guests on an adventure through Epcot’s World Showcase.
In this high tech adventure, guests will receive a “Kimmunicator” which will help them through the mission. This device not only connects guests to Kim Possible characters giving them clues, but it also allows them to control top-secret equipment hidden in the World Showcase pavilions. This new attraction is scheduled to open in late 2008.
Miley’s Super Sweet 16
Talk about living in the public eye. The United Press International is reporting that the Walt Disney Company, along with the Cyrus family, is planning on hosting the teen pop starlet’s Sweet 16 party. The event, called “Miley’s Sweet 16–Share the Celebration”, will be hosted by Disneyland on October 5th and will have a double purpose to promote youth volunteerism. There will be 5,000 tickets on sale, starting August 30, for $250. The Disney Company says that the party will contain “a medley of party elements…that will allow guests to join in the celebration of Miley’s magical milestone.”
And to top it off, the young Cyrus will have to work on her birthday.
Disney’s Taking Mobile to a New Level
Wired is reporting that Disney is taking their Mobile site to a whole new level. While games and websites on cellphones aren’t a new idea, the media giant is about to launch a site targeting 9-14 year olds with ringtones and wallpaper based off of hit shows/movies. Also, the new Disney Mobile site will include an opportunity to play mini-games for the Pirates of the Caribbean Online MMO (Massive-Multiplayer-Online) game. Players can log onto their account and fight battles/play minigames that would result in winning the virtual currency for the game.
Disney World and the Hurricane Watch (TS Fay)
Guests at the Walt Disney World Resort will be able to get into the parks a bit earlier tomorrow. All four parks will open at 8 am, DisneyQuest at 9am, and the AMC Theatres at Downtown Disney opening at 10 am. This move has been made in order to let guests enjoy an extra hour or two before Tropical Storm Fay hits Orlando. Disney is not waiving any fees since the storm policy at Walt Disney Travel Co. allows such fees to be waived on “Magic Your Way” vacations only if the National Hurricane Center issues a hurricane warning for the Orlando area or for a guest’s home within seven days of the scheduled arrival.
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News, trivia and fun related to the Walt Disney Company, Disney Parks (Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland).
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