October 28th - Daily Disney History

1898 - Animator Rollin "Ham" Hamilton is born in South Dakota. Starting in 1924, he will work on many of Disney's early shorts such as Harem Scarem, Neck 'n' Neck, and nearly all of the Alice Comedies. (Hamilton will go on to help originate the Warner Bros. cartoon studio with Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising - also former Disney animators!)

1902 - Actress Elsa Lanchester is born in London, England. Her Disney credits include the live-action features Rascal, Blackbeard's Ghost, That Darn Cat!, and Mary Poppins. (Horror film fans will know her best as the Monster's mate in The Bride of Frankenstein.)

1923 - Mrs. Davis (mother of actress Virginia Davis) wires her acceptance of Walt Disney's offer of a $100 a month for her daughter to star in his new Alice films. Although the Davis family must move from Kansas City to California - Virginia's mother, a stage struck housewife, is excited at the idea of her young daughter being in show business.

1933 - Disney's Mickey Mouse cartoon The Pet Store is released.

1952 - Actress Annie Potts - the voice of Bo Peep in both of Disney's Toy Story films and the voice of Syrinx in Disney's TV series Hercules - is born in Franklin, Kentucky. (TV fans may remember her as Mary Jo on the series Designing Women.)

1955 - The Mickey Mouse Club airs on ABC-TV. Today is Talent Round-Up Day.

1962 - The NBC-TV series Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color airs part 1 of "Sammy, the Way-Out Seal."

1971 - The Dapper Dans of Disney World (a barbershop quartet) perform their first show (an evening performance at a convention in Cocoa Beach) since relocating to Florida from Disneyland, California.

1974 - Actor Joaquin Phoenix - the voice of Kenai in Disney's 2003 animated Brother Bear - is born in Puerto Rico.

1980 - Annette Funicello, Cubby O'Brien, Tommy Cole, Sherry Alberoni and Dickie Dodd join other Mouseketeers wearing black ears and white shirts on a sound stage in Burbank, California, to celebrating the 25th anniversary of the original Mickey Mouse Club.

1990 - The Magical World of Disney airs "Disney's Halloween Treat" on Disney Channel.

1999 - Disney World's Polynesian Resort officially changes the names of its longhouses:

2001 - The Disneyana Fun Fairs Show & Sale takes place at the WestCoast Anaheim Hotel. The free event runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

2001 - Disney Collectibles Artist Robert Olszewski appears at the Limited Edition in Merrick, New York, to meet collectors and sign his sculptures.

2001 - Disney/Pixar's newest animated feature film, Monsters, Inc. premieres at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood. Stars Billy Crystal, John Goodman, and Mary Gibbs are on hand for the event. (It will open in U.S. theaters November 2nd.)

2004 - Pitcher Curt Schilling of the World Champion Boston Red Sox gets a hero's welcome at Disney World's Magic Kingdom.

2004 - Cary "Jay" Sharp, 37, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, attends his own midnight "burial" at Disneyland to become an honorary resident of the park's famous Haunted Mansion attraction. A doctor and health care attorney, Sharp paid $37,400 on eBay to become immortalized on a Haunted Mansion tombstone (the first member of the public to ever do so). His tombstone reads:
(All proceeds from the auction will go to both the Anaheim and Baton Rouge chapters of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.)

2005 - Disney Channel airs the Phil of the Future episode "Team Diffy" for the first time.

2008 - Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, is inducted into the Travel Industry Hall of Leaders at a ceremony in Portland, Oregon. An annual industry conference run by the Travel Industry Association, distinguished individuals are named to the Hall of Leaders for "sustained, noteworthy contributions that have positively impacted the travel industry, stimulated greater achievement, and raised industry-wide standards."

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