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As Spring Break approaches, The Disneyland Resort bursts into a colorful floral wonderland rivaling any botanical garden. In between stopping to smell the roses, many guests will enjoy the classic attractions and experiences to be found in Walt Disney’s Original Magic Kingdom, Disneyland. We at the Walt Disney Family Museum would like to highlight some of the must see Disneyland attractions that guests can still experience today that tie directly back to Walt Disney himself.

Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, and Donald are known the world over... but how much can you say about all the other supporting characters seen in the background of their shorts? Each month in our new Unusual Suspects series, we will examine one character from a classic film or series, which may not shine as brightly as the main characters, but still plays a distinct role in the story as a whole. As we celebrate Mickey Mouse throughout March with our Mickey Mouse-a-thon screenings, we take a look at a character whose reputation—and name—precedes him: Mortimer Mouse!

If Mickey Mouse is the world’s most famous mouse, Minnie is surely the world's second-most famous. Premiering with Mickey in late 1928's Steamboat Willie, this February 14 marks their 85th Valentine's Day together. People have often speculated as to just what kind of relationship Mickey and Minnie share. Click through for the details...

“He popped out of my mind onto a drawing pad 20 years ago on a train ride from Manhattan to Hollywood at a time when the business fortunes of my brother Roy and myself were at lowest ebb, and disaster seemed right around the corner,” Walt penned in a 1948 essay titled “What Mickey Means to Me.” The disaster Walt mentioned was the brazen theft of both his successful cartoon character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, as well as most of the Disney artists, at the hands of Universal distributor Charles Mintz. As for who popped out of Walt’s mind? Why, that was Mickey Mouse!

On Saturday June 23, author (The Disney Treasures, The Mickey Mouse Treasures) and past manager of the Walt Disney Archives Robert Tieman will be delving into the little-known, almost-forgotten world of the Advance Promotion Campaign. Illustrated with rare ad materials and photos; Selling Walt: The Business (and Fun) of Movie Promotion offers a behind-the-screen look at the creation of Walt's public image-and his Studio's standing in popular culture. In anticipation of our upcoming program, WDFM volunteer Keith Gluck gives us deeper glance at the history of the merchandising behind the world's favorite rodent: Mickey Mouse!

“And now comes Christmas, when merchandise as Christmas gifts can be sold in large quantities. What would be more acceptable than a ‘Mickey Mouse’ gift?”

In the fall of 1929, when Walt was in New York City meeting with his then-distributor, Pat Powers, he was repeatedly approached by a man with an unusual request. As Walt told the story, “… a fellow kept hanging around my hotel waving $300 at me and saying that he wanted to put the Mouse on the paper tablets children use in school.

Animator Les Clark said that “Walt was Mickey and Mickey was Walt,” an opinion shared by everyone who knew both of them. Legendary animator Ollie Johnston recalled, “All the time I was there, before we got into things like Snow White, I always thought of Walt being part of Mickey and vice versa. The ideas that he put into Mickey were so important and made the personality..."

A new audience-participation craze hit America in 2000 when the Academy Award®-winning film The Sound of Music packed theaters and concert halls with a version that had attendees wearing costumes and singing along with their favorite songs. Since then, many musical films have been given the sing-along treatment, including Walt Disney’s masterpiece, Mary Poppins...

When Disney historian J. B. Kaufman visited the Museum recently, the Interpreter team had the pleasure of engaging him in conversation about the Disney Studio during the early 1930s. “There was a tremendous explosion of creative energy going on...