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Ron and Diane

Ron Miller, husband of Diane Disney Miller, son-in-law of Walt Disney, former CEO of The Walt Disney Company, and owner of Silverado Vineyards, has passed in Napa, was the second President of the Board of Directors at The Walt Disney Family Museum. 

Ron worked at The Walt Disney Company for thirty years, including as President and Chief Operating Officer of Walt Disney Productions, Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company, and member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of The Walt Disney Company.

At age 21, Ron, a member of the football team at the University of Southern California, was introduced to 20-year-old Diane Disney on a blind date. They were married in Santa Barbara on May 9, 1954. Ron served in the Army and then played professional football for the Los Angeles Rams before his father-in-law recruited him to work at The Walt Disney Studios. There, he ascended from motion picture and television production roles to CEO of what is now The Walt Disney Company.

Ron first started working for Walt as part of the original Disneyland team, where he was employee number six. After officially joining the Company, Walt sponsored Ron’s membership in the Screen Director’s Guild. Ron’s first job in this capacity was serving as second assistant on Old Yeller (1957). Ron holds numerous producer credits, including for Son of Flubber (1963), Summer Magic (1963), That Darn Cat! (1965), Never a Dull Moment (1968), Escape to Witch Mountain (1975), Pete’s Dragon (1977), and Tron (1982). Ron also directed various lead-ins for Walt on The Magical World of Disney television series.

After Walt’s death in 1966, Ron pushed the Company to expand and explore, creating Walt Disney Home Video, Touchstone Pictures, and The Disney Channel. He supported and encouraged ongoing innovation, including early computer animation, with experimental work and films such as Tron and Tim Burton’s early stop-motion animation shorts, Vincent (1982) and Frankenweenie (1984). In 1983, Ron approved the funding for Disney’s foray into New York theatre, backing the first workshop for a show that eventually would open on Broadway. Additionally, Ron was responsible for Touchstone’s first film, Splash (1984), and was also responsible for laying the groundwork for Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). Ron was an integral part of the executive team that completed both Walt Disney World and EPCOT, and he was key in negotiating the Tokyo Disneyland transaction, which was the first park outside of the U.S. Ron also was instrumental in establishing the licensing arrangement with Feld Entertainment for what is now Disney on Ice.

After Ron left The Walt Disney Company in 1984, he and Diane settled in Napa Valley, which became their permanent home. Ron, Diane, and Diane’s mother, Lillian, established Silverado Vineyards in 1981, four years after they purchased the property near the small town of Yountville, California. Throughout its thirty-plus years of operation, the couple championed environmental efforts in wine making, including helping to restore local creek beds and riverbanks and adopting solar power and hybrid-engine technology in the wine industry.

Ron supported Diane’s pursuit of active advocacy in documenting the life and accomplishments of her father. In 2001, the Walt Disney Family Foundation released Walt: The Man Behind the Myth, a documentary film about Walt Disney’s life, featuring interviews with his colleagues, peers, and family—including Ron.

This led to a more ambitious project, which was the founding of The Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio in San Francisco. After Diane participated in the establishment of The Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, everyone realized that she, like her father, was capable of tackling monumental and visionary projects. With Ron’s support, she embarked on a project to create a state-of-the-art museum in San Francisco’s historic Presidio to preserve the legacy of her father and inspire people with Walt’s story. The museum opened in 2009.

After Diane’s passing in 2013, Ron became President of the Board of Directors of The Walt Disney Family Museum and ushered in a new era for the organization as an independent, nonprofit organization committed to carrying on the mission of the museum while promoting the inclusion of new supporters, partners, and friends.

Ron was a passionate outdoorsman. Alpine skiing, hunting, fly-fishing, and golf were lifelong pursuits. He was an experienced horseman with a cattle ranch near Montrose, Colorado. Ron and Diane were generous philanthropists, supporting many causes, including classical music and ballet.

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Our Imagination. Walt’s Legacy. Your Museum.

There are many ways to get involved at The Walt Disney Family Museum. You can support our mission by joining our membership program, making a donation, becoming a corporate partner, or by sharing your knowledge and passion as a volunteer. Join us today. 

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The Walt Disney Family Museum presents Mickey Mouse: From Walt to the World, a celebration of animation’s most beloved and recognizable character. This exclusive, original exhibition opens Spring 2019. This special exhibition chronicles Mickey’s impact and influence on art and entertainment over the

Posted on Mon, 02/04/2019 - 14:54

As we celebrate The Walt Disney Family Museum’s 10th Anniversary, we are continually looking for ways to share Walt Disney’s legacy with others. With this in mind, all proceeds from the sales of this limited edition, round 10th Anniversary pin will be applied toward the museum’s scholarship fund.

Sep 26, 2018–Jan 7, 2019

Features the artistic self-expression of young men in Bay Area juvenile detention centers, this is the third in a series of Community Access Exhibitions inspired by the vision of Diane Disney Miller.

May 17, 2018–Jan 7, 2019

Explore never-before-seen, original artwork from all Walt Disney Studios' animated features beginning with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) to The Fox and the Hound (1981).

Eric Larson at animation desk, 1951; courtesy of Walt Disney Archives Photo Library, © Disney
Posted on Wed, 12/19/2018 - 14:59

The year was 1905. Theodore Roosevelt was president, a quart of fresh milk cost about 7 cents, and Eric Cleon Larson was born on September 3 in Cleveland, Utah. While Disney fans know Larson as one of Walt’s famous “Nine Old Men” of animation, his path to get there was hardly a straight line. In fact, during an interview not long before his retirement, he was asked how he ended up with Disney. His reply: “This is the last place I expected to be.”

The mission of The Walt Disney Family Museum (WDFM) is to document, preserve, and present knowledge of and appreciation for the life of Walt Disney, his work, his legacy, and collections related to him. WDFM wishes to make available to all people the ideas, the creativity, and the artistry of Walt Disney. Along with its physical museum in San Francisco, California, WDFM has created and maintains this website in support of its mission.

Access to and use of this website and its contents are subject to the following terms and conditions and all applicable laws. Please read this visitor Agreement carefully; it is a binding legal contract between you and WDFM and by accessing and using this service, you fully acknowledge and accept its terms and conditions. The Internet is an evolving medium, and we may change the terms of this Agreement from time to time. By continuing to use the service after we post any changes, you accept this Agreement, as modified. You are solely responsible for being in compliance with the then-current terms and conditions.

We reserve the right to deny access to this website, or any service provided via this website, to anyone who violates this visitor Agreement, or who, in our sole judgment, interferes with the ability of others to enjoy this website, or who infringes the rights of others.

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Nov 15, 2018–Jan 7, 2019

The Walt Disney Family Museum is excited to announce the return of Home for the Holidays at Carolwood, an immersive seasonal installation celebrating Walt’s family as well as his love of trains.

The Walt Disney Family Museum is excited to announce the return of Home for the Holidays at Carolwood, an immersive seasonal installation that celebrates Walt’s family and his love of trains. The exhibition will be on view in the museum’s Theater Gallery from November 15, 2018 to January 7, 2019.

You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world, but it requires people to make the dream a reality.

Walt Disney
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John Musker on the Art of Animation
Posted on Fri, 07/29/2011 - 06:00
Spend a full day at the Museum with Disney animator/director John Musker--responsible for such films as Aladdin, Hercules, The Little Mermaid and The Princess and the Frog--as he takes us behind the scenes of hand-drawn animation with a youth workshop, a master class and a screening of The Great Mouse Detective! Tickets and more information can be found at www.waltdisney.org or www.SFFS.org.
Posted on Sat, 01/21/2012 - 06:00

On Saturday, January 28th 2012 at The Walt Disney Family Museum, the San Francisco chapter of the CalArts Alumni Association—in conjunction with The Walt Disney Family Museum—is presenting a special day of FREE film screenings, educational animation activities, a daytime performance event, and an evening concert.

Walt's Oscars: The Irving G. Thalberg Award
Posted on Fri, 02/10/2012 - 06:00

The Irving G. Thalberg Award is presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to those “whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion picture production.” The honor is only presented periodically, and has only been awarded 38 times since the first was given to Darryl Zanuck in 1937.

Posted on Wed, 08/22/2012 - 11:00

August at The Walt Disney Family Museum features Walt Disney’s classic Fantasia (1940), a musical masterpiece that features the talent of renowned conductor Leopold Stokowski, and led to the development of stereophonic surround sound. Today, we are thrilled to have the San Francisco Zoo give us a closer look at the graceful, real-life animals featured in "Dance of the Hours"!

Posted on Wed, 08/15/2012 - 12:00
As the world’s best athletes prepared their minds and bodies to compete for gold in London two weeks ago, a group of Bay Area museum staffers were preparing for a different kind of challenge: how to leverage the Olympic torch’s fiery brightness to shine a little light on art and culture. Thus began the story of the #MuseumOlympics.
Spotlight Talk Recap: The Illinois Pavilion
Posted on Wed, 08/20/2014 - 10:00
This past month, the museum commemorated the fiftieth anniversary of the 1964 New York World’s Fair. Our Spotlight Talks—short discussions in our galleries—in July focused on one of Disney exhibits for New York: the Illinois Pavilion... also known as 'Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln', it featured a lifelike figure of America’s sixteenth president!