Arguably, the highlight in The Walt Disney Family Museum Awards Lobby is Walt’s collection of 26 Academy Awards®, the largest collections of Oscars® outside of Hollywood. Of all of Walt’s Oscars®, one outweighs the rest, literally. This special honorary Academy Award consists of one standard Oscar® statuette standing above seven other miniature ones representing each of the Dwarfs.
In the latest issue of The Walt Disney Family Museum’s member magazine, filmmaker and former Disney voice artist Bruce Reitherman shared memories and insights about working on Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book (1967). Bruce was not only the voice of the lead character Mowgli, but also the son of the film’s director, Wolfgang “Woolie” Reitherman. The conversation between the younger Reitherman and historian Lucas O.
As the 1960s came into view, Walt Disney continued to double down on the Disney Studios’ foray into live-action, which began a decade earlier with 1950’s Treasure Island. In particular, he made Fred MacMurray a central figure in Disney’s live-action comedies.
It is with great sadness that we share the news that Disney Legend Alice Davis has passed away. To the world, Alice Estes Davis was best known for her work with Walt Disney as a costume designer. To the Board and staff at The Walt Disney Family Museum, Alice was an inspiring collaborator, kind-hearted benefactor, and cherished friend.
The Walt Disney Family Museum is pleased to present its newest special exhibition, Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book: Making a Masterpiece, in celebration of the beloved animated classic’s 55th anniversary. Premiering in 1967, The Jungle Book was a huge success, largely due to its music and compelling hand-drawn animation.
When Walt Disney and his eponymous company entered the new decade of the 1960s, there was no doubt that The Walt Disney Company was on the move.
Upon its release in late 1942, the Disney cartoon Der Fuehrer’s Face became a smash hit in the United States, winning the Academy Award® for Best Short Subject in 1943. But the home front was not its only theater of action. Der Fuehrer’s Face went overseas, and served the war effort in more ways than one. “It was the most popular propaganda film we had,” Walt Disney told journalist Pete Martin in the 1950s.