WaltDisney.org Search

When Ron Clements and John Musker arrived at The Walt Disney Studios in the late 1970s, they found themselves fortunate enough to have several of Walt Disney’s famed Nine Old Men still working at the Studios beside them. Under the mentorship of Frank Thomas and Eric Larson, the duo would go on to become two of the most successful directors to come out of The Walt Disney Studios in the last thirty years, directing hits like The Little Mermaid (1989), Aladdin (1993), and most recently Moana (2017). Join Clements and Musker as they relive their early days at the Studios working with some of the Nine and discuss how their teachings influenced their own work and successes in animation.

The Artist Studio is geared toward adults and children ages 7 and up. Exploring the world of animation, guests can step into our Learning Center to discover aspects of stop-motion and specific techniques. Our studio staff will be present to support, encourage, and inspire students to grab some paper...

The Art Playground is for families with children ages 3 to 6. In our Learning Center, children will learn about Walt Disney’s Mary Poppins and the simple techniques of character design. Using their imagination, they will apply their new skills to create their own felted penguin. Our studio staff...

Walt Disney’s career began in the world of cartooning. From a young age, he envisioned himself as a cartoon artist and, in fact, drew many of the comics in his high school newspaper The Voice. With this passion, he created one of the most recognizable cartoon characters of all time. Join us for this...

In this six-week class, take the traditional animation techniques that Walt and his team used daily with pencil and paper, and move them into the digital world. Learn skills and software using Toon Boom to create hand-drawn animation on the computer. This class will focus on introductory-level...

Join us at The Walt Disney Family Museum with partner The Presidio Trust to celebrate the Big Draw, the world’s largest drawing festival! This annual family event will take place this year on October 13, 2018 and will celebrate Walt Disney’s contributions to the world of art and drawing with activities throughout the museum and the Presidio’s Main Post (directly in front of the museum). We encourage people of all ages to participate, observe, and enjoy drawing and storytelling in different ways.

Make Mine Music has the familiar spirit of Fantasia (1940) with the film’s narrative driven by popular music. Enjoy ten compiled Disney shorts that share stories of American folklore, timeless tales from around the globe, and by pure imagination.

Enjoy this silly package feature with the familiar faces of Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and Donald, as well as the debut of Bongo the Bear.

In celebration of the film's 25th anniversary and our special programs with pop-up artist Matthew Reinhart and his new book Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas: A Petrifying Pop-Up for the Holidays, join us for a special screening of the film that inspired the book.

Join two hapless and unwitting characters, Ichabod Crane and Mr. Toad, on their hilarious escapades in this 1949 package feature inspired by the classic stories of Kenneth Grahame and Washington Irving.

Just in time for the holiday season, learn how to create your own 3-D pop-up greeting card with Disney Editions pop-up artist Matthew Reinhart. Follow along with Reinhart as he teaches the craft of paper engineering. Participants will have the opportunity to leave with their own unique greeting card, plus the skills to make more at home.

Walt Disney fell in love with the timeless classic Mary Poppins when he witnessed how entranced his young daughter Diane was with the story, so much so that he would go on to make a hugely successful film in 1964 adapted from P.L. Travers’ series of novels.

Follow Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, as he hatches an elaborate plot to steal Christmas from Santa Claus and bring holiday joy to the children of the world—with a spooky twist.

Brad Bird knew he wanted to be an animator when he first toured The Walt Disney Studios at just eleven years old. In his teens, he developed an animated version of “The Tortoise and the Hare” and sent it to Disney, where it caught the attention of several of Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men. He was offered the rare opportunity to be educated in the art of animation by a key few of the Nine Old Men—an opportunity which would change the course of his life and help rocket his career into animation superstardom. Hear from Bird as he relives stories of working with the Nine Old Men as a young protégé, how their tutelage influenced his successful career in animation, writing, and directing, and their lessons he still heeds to this day.

Walt Disney sent lights, cameras, and actors—both human and animal—to a faraway tropic island in 1959 to film one of the most beloved live-action adventure movies ever made. Swiss Family Robinson (1960) was shot entirely on the island of Tobago in the West Indies. With its palm-fringed beaches, dense jungles, and dark swamps, Tobago provided the ideal backdrop for the tale of a shipwrecked family facing an unfamiliar and perilous new life. But, as we all know, the true star of the picture was a spectacular tree house built high in the branches of a giant, real-life tree. 

Les Clark, one of Walt Disney’s legendary Nine Old Men, served as an animator for countless Disney classics and was well known for his iconic work animating Mickey Mouse in the Fantasia (1940) segment “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” In fact, Clark extensively studied the movement of cloth and drapery in order to create a believably natural sorcerer robe for Mickey. Join us for this workshop about the foundations of drawing drapery—using charcoal and newsprint, learn about shape, form, and weight while drawing from still-life.

Frank Thomas, one of Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men, was a brilliant animator when it came to conveying the inner emotions of a character. He masterfully harnessed the snobbish personalities and complex mood swings of various Disney villains like Lady Tremaine from Cinderella (1950), the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Captain Hook from Peter Pan (1953). Thomas dramatized each character’s personality by combining a variety of small gestures and grandeur movements. Join us in this workshop, in which you will create your own villain and incorporate design fundamentals like shape language, posture, and silhouette.

Frank Thomas, one of Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men, was a brilliant animator when it came to conveying the inner emotions of a character. He masterfully harnessed the snobbish personalities and complex mood swings of various Disney villains like Lady Tremaine from Cinderella (1950), the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland (1951) and Captain Hook from Peter Pan (1953). Thomas dramatized each character’s personality by combining a variety of small gestures and grandeur movements. Join us in this workshop, in which you will create your own villain and incorporate design fundamentals like shape language, posture, and silhouette.

Ollie Johnston, one of Walt Disney’s legendary Nine Old Men, animated and helped shape many iconic supporting characters, including Mr. Smee from Peter Pan (1953), the King of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland (1951), and the Stepsisters from Cinderella (1950). In the early stages of a production, Johnston treated “sidekicks” with the upmost respect and identified with the character he was working on. He felt these characters’ emotions would influence how the character would look and move, and by knowing them, he could carefully incorporate these traits into their design. Join us for this hands-on workshop, in which you will learn about proportions, shape, gesture and attitude to create an original sidekick character of your own.

Ollie Johnston, one of Walt Disney’s legendary Nine Old Men, animated and helped shape many iconic supporting characters, including Mr. Smee from Peter Pan (1953), the King of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland(1951), and the Stepsisters from Cinderella (1950). In the early stages of a production, Johnston treated “sidekicks” with the upmost respect and identified with the character he was working on. He felt these characters’ emotions would influence how the character would look and move, and by knowing them, he could carefully incorporate these traits into their design. Join us for this hands-on workshop, in which you will learn about proportions, shape, gesture and attitude to create an original sidekick character of your own.