Alice’s Wonderland—the last film Walt Disney made in Kansas City, Missouri—depicts the animated adventures of a true-to-life young girl in a make-believe world. In the original 1923 short film, Alice arrives by train in “Cartoonland.” A large welcoming committee of animated animal characters greets her with excitement and adoration. Walt’s subsequent arrival in Hollywood, also by train, was a bit humbler.
Former Disney artist Willie Ito recalls his first visit to the Studios 65 years ago, including a chance encounter with Walt Disney on an elevator, and his time working on Lady and the Tramp (1955).
Former Disney artist Willie Ito was 5 years old when he was taken to a neighborhood theater to see Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Two years later, returning to San Francisco from a weekend family outing to Santa Cruz, “There were armed soldiers stopping some of the cars,” as Ito remembers. The United States had been attacked at Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan that morning.
In late 1919, Walt Disney returned from his voluntary Red Cross service in post-World War I France. An independent eighteen-year-old, he’d resettled in Kansas City, Missouri and attempted to establish a career in illustration, graphic design, and cartooning. However, within a year’s time, a different art form caught his attention.
In celebration of The Walt Disney Family Museum's 10th Anniversary, we're listing our 10 favorite highlights from our permanent collection.
Tennessee Loveless is an artist currently based in Chicago, Illinois. Being colorblind, Loveless understands hues in a conceptual way, often making choices based on the fundamentals of color theory, word association, and color psychology, instead of considering the color itself.
On November 30, 1955, Walt Disney’s Disneyland television program aired “The Story of the Animated Drawing,” an hour-length exploration of the medium that had made Walt famous. The show presented a documentary of the history of animation—from its ancient origins to its more modern innovations. During the 1910s and 20s, one of the medium’s dominant artists was renowned cartoonist Winsor McCay.
The roots of the Disney family tree begin in earnest in Normandy, France, and make stops in Ireland and Canada before Walt's father, Elias, is born.
Nothing goes together better than Laugh-O-grams and candy-grams, right? Well, if that doesn’t do it for you, this list, which highlights the love in Walt’s life—particularly the love he shared with his wife, Lillian—might just help you and your special someone gain a new perspective on some of the stories that are mentioned only briefly in our galleries.
With a heavy heart and deep sadness, we share that Ron Miller, husband of Diane Disney Miller, son-in-law of Walt Disney, President of the Board of Directors at The Walt Disney Family Museum, and owner of Silverado Vineyards, has passed in Napa, California at the age of 85.