- July
- Roy Disney contacts Michael Eisner, about becoming head of Walt Disney Productions. Eisner is interested. [1] [108.203]
- Disney re-releases the film Never Cry Wolf to theaters in the US for the third time in under a year. [108.142]
- July 16
- A meeting of Disney's board of directors votes 9-to-4 in favor of the modified Gibson Greetings deal. [108.166]
- July 18
- Irwin Jacobs reports that he and four associates now own 5.9 percent of Disney stock, making them the largest shareholders. [14] [108.167] (5.8% [156.D4])
- July 20
- Stanley Gold meets with Ron Miller to discuss Roy Disney returning to work for the studio. Miller says he can see no place for him in the company at the time. [108.184]
- July 23
- Irwin Jacobs calls Ray Watson, recommending that Disney kill the Gibson Greetings deal. Watson refuses. [108.169]
- July 25
- Irwin Jacobs and Sid Bass meet to discuss a Disney shareholder proxy vote over the Gibson Greetings deal. Bass says he will support Jacobs in any way. [108.171]
- July 27
- Irwin Jacobs delivers a letter to each of the directors of Disney, requesting that the Gibson Greetings deal be killed. He requests special meeting of stockholders to vote on it. [108.178]
- July 30
- Irwin Jacobs files a lawsuit against Disney, in an attempt to block the Gibson Greetings deal. [108.179] [157.D3] [161.33]
- August 3
- Irwin Jacobs informs the Securities and Exchange Commission that he intends to hold a proxy meeting with shareholders in an attempt to vote out Disney's management. [158.31] (August 4 [161.33])
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- August 10
- Ray Watson calls a meeting with Stanley Gold, representatives of Bass Brothers Enterprises, and representatives of Roy Disney, to announce that he had decided to cancel the Gibson Greetings deal. [108.189]
- August 14
- Ray Watson meets with Stanley Gold and Al Checchi to work out an agreement to cancel the Gibson Greetings deal on equitable terms. As part of the agreement, Stanley Gold insists that Ron Miller resign. [108.191]
- August
- Disney releases the educational film Ethics in the Computer Age. [23] [228.169]
- Disney releases the animated and live-action film Lights! Camera! Fractions!. [23] [228.288]
- Disney releases the live-action 16-mm film Now I Can Tell You My Secret. [23] [228.362]
- Disney releases the animated film Harold and His Amazing Green Plants for educational use. [23] [228.228]
- Disney releases an updated version of the 16-mm film Donald's Fire Survival Plan for educational use. [23] [228.147]
- Disney releases the educational film EPCOT Advanced Information System. [23] [228.166]
- Disney releases the educational film Energy In Physics. [23] [228.165]
- Disney releases the film Child Molestation: Breaking the Silence for educational use. [23] [1378.132]
- Disney releases the film The Challenge of Survival: Chemicals for educational use. [23] [1378.127]
- Disney releases the film The Challenge of Survival: The Land for educational use. [23] [1378.127]
- Disney releases the film The Challenge of Survival: The Water for educational use. [23] [1378.127]
- August 17
- Irwin Jacobs announces that he now owns 6.9 percent of Disney stock. [159.D4]
- Disney's board of directors meets for the fourth time to vote on the Gibson Greetings deal. The board votes 13-to-1 to pay US$7.5 million to Gibson to cancel the deal. [23] [108.197] [160.29] [161.33] [1074.158]
- The Disney board of directors names a committee of outside directors to review the company's current management. [745.49]
- Ron Miller learns that the board of directors would likely ask for his resignation. [14] [108.198]
- August 19
- Michael Eisner meets with Frank Wells and Stanley Gold. Gold explains that they want the Disney board of directors to consider Wells and Eisner for the top jobs. [238.121] [1074.158] (August 17 [14])
- September 1
- Ray Watson meets with Michael Eisner for the first time, to interview him for a top executive position at Disney. Watson is impressed. [238.122] [108.206]
- September 2
- Ray Watson meets with Frank Wells, to discuss Wells becoming part of Disney's management. At the end of the meeting, they both agree Michael Eisner should be chosen as new CEO. [14] [108.207] [238.123]
- September 5
- Ray Watson tells Michael Eisner he would recommend him as new CEO of Disney, to the board of directors. [14] [108.209] [1074.159]
- September 6
- The nine "outside" directors of Disney meet, to decide the fate of Ron Miller as CEO. Despite Miller's personal plea to each member, they decide unanimously that the full board should ask for Miller's resignation. [108.209] [238.125] [1074.159]
- September 7
- Disney's board of directors unanimously calls for the resignation of Ron Miller. Miller complies, resigning as president and CEO. A committee is established to find a replacement. [108.211] [161.31] [168.D1] [238.126]
- The Morocco pavilion opens in World Showcase in EPCOT Center at Walt Disney World. [6] [228.341] [395.39]
- The Brass Bazaar shop opens in the Morocco pavilion in World Showcase in EPCOT Center at Walt Disney World. [1378.95]
- The Casablanca Carpets shop opens in the Morocco pavilion in World Showcase in EPCOT Center at Walt Disney World. [1378.122]
- September 8
- Barry Diller decides to leave Paramount Pictures to join Twentieth Century Fox. He wants Michael Eisner to join him. [1] [14] [56.104]
- September 9
- The Circle-Vision 360 film America the Beautiful closes at Walt Disney World. [1378.27]
- September 10
- Ray Watson and Phil Hawley meet with Dennis Stanfill, to interview him for the position of Disney's new CEO. [108.215]
- September 11
- Ray Watson and Phil Hawley interview Michael Eisner for the job of CEO at Disney. [108.217]
- Michael Eisner and Paramount Pictures production chief Jeffrey Katzenberg fly to New York to discuss with Marvin Davis who would take over running Paramount Pictures. [1] [14] [108.217]
- September 12
- (8:00 AM) Michael Eisner meets with Ray Watson and board member Philip Hawley, to try to convince Hawley that Eisner is the right choice for Disney's CEO. [238.128]
- Michael Eisner resigns from Paramount Pictures. Barry Diller asks him to join him at Twentieth Century Fox. ABC asks him to join them and create a film division. Eisner turns down all offers, waiting for developments at Disney. [1] [108.218] [168.D1] (September 11 [56.104]) (September 13 [238.130])
- September 13
- Frank Wells meets with Ray Watson at Disney. Watson offers Wells a job heading business affairs in the film division. Wells considers the offer an insult, and turns it down. (Watson later claims he asked Wells if he would be interested in heading the entire film division.) [108.219]
- September 14
- The Disney committee responsible for screening potential new CEOs meets. After two hours, they have not settled on one candidate. Some favor Dennis Stanfill, some favor Frank Wells or Michael Eisner. [108.220]
- Irwin Jacobs announces that he now owns 7.7 percent of Disney stock. [14] [162]
- Irwin Jacobs announces that he will attempt a takeover of Disney. [14]
- September 15
- The Circle-Vision film American Journeys opens in Tomorrowland in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. [9] [23] [1378.28]
- September
- Disney releases the Destination: Careers film. [23] [1378.182]
- Disney releases the Destination: Communications film. [23] [1378.182]
- Disney releases the Destination: Excellence film. [23] [1378.182]
- Disney releases the Destination: Science film. [23] [1378.182]
- September 16
- The Restaurant el Marrakesh restaurant opens in the Morocco pavilion in World Showcase in EPCOT Center at Walt Disney World. [501.466]
- The 3-D film attraction The Eternal Sea in Tomorrowland at Tokyo Disneyland closes. [228.169]
- Dennis Stanfill meets with Ray Watson, trying to convince him that he is the best choice for CEO. [108.222]
- Michael Eisner and Frank Wells meet with Stanley Gold. They decide to propose Eisner as CEO and chairman, and Wells as president and chief operating officer. They then begin a week of intense lobbying of the company directors, to ensure a vote in their favor on September 22. [108.224] [238.133]
- September 17
- Five unions representing 1844 Disneyland workers vote on the company's offer of a three-year wage freeze. The vote is 97 percent rejecting the offer, and authorizing a strike if needed. [450.69]
- September 19
- Michael Eisner convinces Sid Bass that he should be chairman, not president of Disney. [238.136]
- September 20
- Bass Brothers Enterprises buys more Disney stock, giving them 8.6 percent of the company's shares. [167.40]
- September 21
- Bass Brothers Enterprises publicly notifies the Securities and Exchange Commission and Disney that they now own 8.6 percent of Disney's outstanding shares. [108.229] [167.40]
- Frank Wells flies to Arizona to meet with Card Walker on a fishing trip. Walker had been leaning toward Dennis Stanfill, but Wells convinces him to go with the Eisner/Wells team. (Wells knows Donn Tatum and Dick Nunis wwill follow Walker's vote, assuring him of a majority of directors in the vote.) [108.232] [1074.162]
- Togo issues eleven postage stamps depicting various Disney characters, for the 50th anniversary of Donald Duck. [617.462]
- September 22
- Disney's board of directors meets to vote on filling executive positions. They vote unanimously to hire Michael Eisner as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, replacing Ray Watson, and Frank Wells as President and Chief Operating Officer. Eisner's contract gives him US$750,000 per year, US$750,000 signing bonus, annual bonus two percent above company net growth of nine percent, and over two million share options at US$14.359 each. Wells' contract gives him US$400,000 per year, US$250,000 signing bonus, annual bonus equal to fifty percent of Eisner's, and options on 460,000 shares. [1] [14] [23] [34.277] [56.239] [108.234] [166.29] [225.40] [235.92] [238.140] [745.19] [914.1] [1074.169] (September 23 [22]) (September 24 [229.114])
- Roy Disney hosts a luncheon for the Disney board of directors, and Michael Eisner and Frank Wells. Roy asks to lead the animation department, which Eisner approves. [228.126] [745.55]
- September 23
- Michael Eisner and Frank Wells take a tour of the Disney studio in Burbank, with Roy Disney. [238.141]
- September 24
- Michael Eisner and Frank Wells begin their first official day of work at Disney. [238.141] [745.19]
- The Frontierland Shootin' Arcade attraction opens in Frontierland in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. [228.198]
- Disney formally announces the election of Michael Eisner as chairman and CEO, and of Frank Wells as president and chief operating officer. [165.D1]
- Unions representing one-third of Disneyland's employees vote 69 percent to reject the company's latest contract offer, and authorize a strike. [14] [164.B5]
- Michael Eisner and Frank Wells try to reassure nervous Disneyland employees, speaking from a bandstand built for the film Something Wicked This Way Comes. (Within the first year, over 1000 Disney employees lose their jobs.) [745.21,76] [1074.166]
- September
- Michael Eisner and Frank Wells meet with Sid Bass, Richard Rainwater, and Irwin Jacobs, to personally thank them, as major stockholders, for their support. Eisner and Wells outline their plans for the next five years. Bass and Rainwater decide to invest for the long term, while Jacobs considers attempting to buy the company. [108.237]
- September 25
- Nearly 1800 disgruntled Disneyland workers stage a strike. [14] [171.A17] [450.69] (September 26 [1])
- September
- Gary Wilson joins the Disney Company as chief financial officer, replacing Mike Bagnall. [745.66] (1985 [501.614])
- September 27
- The Show Biz Is show in the Magic Kingdom of Walt Disney World gives its last performance. [501.498]
- September 28
- The Touchstone Pictures live-action feature film Country premieres at the New York Film Festival. This is Touchstone Pictures' second film. [168.D14] [1378.156]
- September 29
- Disney releases the Touchstone Pictures live-action feature film Country to theaters in the US. [23] [54.21] [1378.156] (October [112.452])
- September 30
- Disney announces that Jeffrey Katzenberg will join Walt Disney Productions next February 1, as president of motion pictures and television. [1] [168.D1]
- Michael Eisner decides to reject the drawing plans for two hotels proposed by the Tishman Company for Walt Disney World. (This decision marks the beginning of a new course for Disney architecture.) [222.63]
- Operating income from Disney filmed entertainment for the year is US$2.2 billion. Revenue is US$1.7 billion. Net income is US$98 million. [14]
- October 3
- Sid Bass buys Ivan Boesky's 1.52 million Disney shares for US$60 each, bringing Bass Brothers Enterprises' share of the company up to 16 percent. [14] [108.237] (October 2 [169.D1])
- The Walt Disney Employees Association is formed. [14]
- October 4
- Sid Bass buys Irwin Jacobs' Disney stock for US$61 per share, giving Bass Brothers Enterprises nearly 25 percent of the company. [14] [108.239] [170.D1]
- October 6
- Disneyland striking workers are told they will be fired if they don't go back to work by the 10th. [14]
- October 7
- The Disney Channel airs the Disney Channel Premiere Film Love Leads the Way. [190.49] [228.129,297] (October 15 [380.76])
- October 8
- Turks and Caicos Islands issues six postage stamps with scenes from Disney's film The Toy Tinkers. [617.643]
- October
- George Lucas tours the Imagineers headquarters. Lucas' attention focuses on a flight simulator, and the idea for Star Tours is born. [1] [14]
- October 16
- Striking Disneyland workers vote 70 percent in favor of accepting a new contract, ending the park's longest strike, 22 days. [14] [171.A17] [450.75] (October 15 [1074.167])
- November 12
- Anguilla issues ten postage stamps depicting various Disney characters. [629.356]
- November 13
- The CBS TV network airs the one-hour live-action show Donald Duck's 50th Birthday. [228.146] [380.83] [386.132]
- November 14
- The Disney Channel begins airing the series Still the Beaver. The first episode is entitled Growing Pains. [380.89] (November 7 [501.524])
- November
- The Walt Disney Television Animation department is formed, with Gary Krisel as president. [501.594]
- Antigua & Barbuda issues eleven postage stamps depicting Donald Duck. [629.371]
- Dominica issues six postage stamps marking the 50th anniversary of Donald Duck, depicting scenes from Donald Duck films. [648.751]
- Grenada issues six postage stamps to mark the 50th anniversary of Donald Duck. [97.61] [653.418]
- Maldives issues eleven postage stamps marking the 50th anniversary of Donald Duck. [97.61] [655.582]
- Sierra Leone issues ten postage stamps marking the 50th anniversary of Donald Duck. [656.976]
- The Country Bear Christmas Special show opens in the Country Bear Jamboree attraction in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. [9] [26.27] [939.128] [1378.157]
- The Disney Channel airs the film The Happiest Millionaire, including an extra musical number. [228.227]
- November 17
- Disney authorizes the buyback of 10.4 percent of its stock. [172.D4]
- November 21
- The Disney Channel airs the second episode of the series Still the Beaver, entitled Thanksgiving Day. [380.89]
- November 26
- Caicos Islands issues six postage stamps with various Disney characters in Christmas scenes. [617.652]
- Grenada Grenadines issues six postage stamps depicting scenes from various Donald Duck films. [653.454]
- (month unknown)
- Dick Nunis and Jim Cora give a presentation to Michael Eisner and Frank Wells on building a European Disney theme park. Wells tells them to begin negotiations with France and Spain. [238.264]
- December 2
- 20-year old Margarita Granados gives birth to a baby girl in Disneyland. [173.B5]
- December 10
- Bhutan issues eleven postage stamps marking the 50th anniversary of Donald Duck. [97.61] [629.793]
- The NBC TV network airs the Disney film Mickey's Christmas Carol. [380.78]
- December 14
- Disney releases the short film Frankenweenie to theaters in Los Angeles. [23] [228.195]
- December
- Disney re-releases the film Pinocchio to theaters for the sixth time. [1] [14] [25] [42.1665] [228.388] (1985 [23] [40.183])
- December 25
- The ABC TV network airs the two hour show Walt Disney World's Very Merry Christmas Parade. [380.85]
- Year
- Total attendance at Disneyland during the year: less than 9.5 million. [1074.166]
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