Wish upon a star with WD-FM as Chris and Bri take a deep dive into Walt Disney's second animated feature film, Pinocchio (1940). An epic of animated cinema, Pinocchio is full of moments of artistic beauty and fun entertainment. Learn how this film was developed and some fun facts about the technology used to bring the film to life.
Once a story man, always a story man.
The Sherman brothers (or “the boys” as Walt Disney called them) were staff writers for The Walt Disney Studio, and are responsible for some of the best-loved songs in entertainment history. In an early meeting with Walt, the Sherman brothers explained their reasoning behind the song “For Now, For Always” from the 1961 film,The Parent Trap...
On Saturday, May 21, 2016, John Canemaker, guest curator of Wish Upon a Star: The Art of Pinocchio, took guests on an in-depth exploration into the works of two great animation legends: Vladimir Tytla and Milt Kahl. Canemaker discussed Disney’s extraordinary film, Pinocchio.
Our hearts go out to the family, friends, and fans of Blaine Gibson—artist, Imagineer, and Disney Legend—who passed away today on July 5, 2015.
On Saturday February 25 at 10am, select Members were able to meet and spend time with Academy Award®-nominated producer and author Don Hahn, in the Diane Disney Miller Exhibition Hall at The Walt Disney Family Museum...
With flowers in bloom and birds alight this May, we take a look at one of Walt's springtime Silly Symphonies short: 1934’s The Goddess of Spring is based on the Greek myth of Persephone (or the Roman Proserpina), and her capture by the insidious god of the underworld. The project presented the unique opportunity for Disney artists and animators to bring human characters to life.
In celebration of Disneyland’s birth month this past July, we focused our Spotlight Talks on one of The Walt Disney Family Museum’s most popular attractions, a model of “the Disneyland of Walt’s Imagination.”
"Last Sunday we honored Wally Boag, the unforgettable comic genius of The Golden Horseshoe Revue,” Diane Disney Miller reports. “Jeff Kurtti put the program together and presented it, and we were honored by the presence of Wally's son, Laurence, and his family. It was, of course, a very entertaining program...
Miniatures and models held a special fascination for Walt Disney, and he used three-dimensional sculpture to help visualize his concepts and ideas as part of the creative process, from the Studio’s animated films, through the design of Disneyland, and beyond. Even today in the digital realm of three-dimensional animation and in theme park design, the tradition of using sculpted (or digital) models continues...
Throughout his life, Walt Disney was dedicated to giving back to his community and generously supported many charities, especially those that benefitted children. From Toys for Tots to the Jules Stein Eye Institute at UCLA, Walt’s charitable giving often extended beyond monetary support. The John Tracy Clinic—now known as the John Tracy Center—was an organization close to Walt’s heart and, from its inception, he was an active supporter of its efforts.
"We won't turn into a live-action studio, but we'll get into the live-action business." —Walt Disney
The end of World War II presented a new creative opportunity for Walt. Like most war-damaged countries, Britain had frozen payments due to American film companies. Disney and RKO had millions of dollars that could only be spent in the United Kingdom...
Marc conceptualized characters, while Alice dressed them. To date, they are the only married couple to be dedicated Main Street, U.S.A. windows for their contributions to Disneyland.
In the 1950s, when Walt’s childhood hometown of Marceline, Missouri asked permission to name their new swimming pool and park after him, it triggered events, full steam ahead, toward a very historical event in the town’s history...
“The greatest wealth a man may acquire is the wisdom he gains from living. And sometimes, out of the small beginnings, come the forces that shape a whole life.” These words invite visitors of The Walt Disney Family Museum into the main galleries, setting the stage for the story of Walt Disney’s birth and early life and, as Diane Disney Miller has said, “explain the purpose of our museum better than I ever could.” They were written by screenwriter John Tucker Battle, for the opening scene of one of Walt Disney’s favorite films, So Dear to My Heart (1949).
Two years before Mickey Mouse debuted in color in The Band Concert (1935) and several years before his iconic redesign popularized by his turn as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice in Fantasia (1940), he starred in a black-and-white short film that encapsulated where The Walt Disney Studios was in the development of animation as an American art form. Ye Olden Days it was, in more ways than one.
On June 9, 1934, Donald Duck made his first appearance in The Wise Little Hen. Eighty years later, let's salute one of America's most beloved, and "exasperated," ducks!