Storyboard

As another Presidents Day rolled by this February, so do the appropriately themed discounts on new cars and ideas on how to spend the three-day weekend. While those things are certainly nice, they can crowd out the true meaning of the holiday – to commemorate the achievements and sacrifices made by America’s chief executives, particularly George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Although Presidents Day was established after Walt’s time, he appreciated this sentiment and he incorporated it into a new attraction titled Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. Here’s a closer look at how the idea for this show came about, what the process to create it was like, and how it became successful.

Of the hundreds of awards received by Walt Disney throughout his career, the most impressive and celebrated are arguably his collection of Academy Awards. Commonly known as Oscars, several examples stand out as testaments to some of the key moments of Walt’s filmmaking career. Three of the Oscars are what are known as Honorary Oscars, awarded for special achievements in filmmaking. Another is the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award, which is bestowed upon film producers of great accomplishment at the Academy Awards... click through for a closer look at them!

In August, the Look Closer series focused on the unique notebook in Gallery 5, found amidst images, artwork, and footage from the 1940 classic Fantasia. The notebook was created by studio employee Herman Schultheis, who worked for the studio’s Process Lab Department from 1938 to 1940.

The pageantry. The spectacle. The national pride. The sheer athletic power and precision. It is impossible not to be inspired by the fanfare and excitement surrounding the Olympics. While the world turns its attention towards the thrilling events taking place in London, we at The Walt Disney Family Museum cannot help but to look back in time fifty years to the 1960 Squaw Valley Winter Olympics for which Walt Disney served as the Chairman of the Pageantry Committee. Click through for a closer look at our Olympic torch!

The Disney attractions were some of the most popular at the 1964 World’s Fair, and from their successes, Walt gained confidence to move forward on his Florida project. Though he would never see the completion of the new project, the Fair helped lay the groundwork for the ever-expanding vistas of production undertaken by the Disney studio. 

Heinrich Kley’s influence on Walt Disney is undeniable. In 1935, Walt travelled extensively through Europe and returned with a handful of pieces by the German artist. Walt was drawn to the drama and emotion of Kley’s work, and wished to achieve a similar powerful visual narrative and sense of storytelling on screen...

For many of us, this is the one time of year when we don’t mind the daily visit to the mailbox. Amidst the junk mail and bills that still find their way to our homes are true postal gems...

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.

It’s not often that one sees Michael Labrie, Director of Collections for The Walt Disney Family Museum, visibly distressed, and I must admit, I never have. But while researching one of the Museum’s most treasured artifacts, the Carolwood-Pacific Railroad and the Lilly Belle, I learned that there was, in fact, a time when Michael was not his usual calm, cheery self...

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...