Before Walt and other early animators produced hand-drawn animated short films, innovators in the 19th century created optical toys like the zoetrope. By spinning a zoetrope and peering through the viewing slits, one could watch the images inside move and appear to come to life. Inventions like the
When Disneyland first opened its gates 65 years ago, one of the attractions that opened with the Park was Mad Tea Party. On this dizzying ride, guests sit in oversized teacups which spin wildly to the accompaniment of jaunty music. Each teacup features a unique painted design that is simple, yet
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Located in the historic Presidio of San Francisco, California, The Walt Disney Family Museum is a center for art, animation, and inspiration. Since October 1, 2009, our nonprofit museum has celebrated the remarkable life and legacy of Walt Disney, thanks in large part to Walt's daughter, Diane Disney Miller, who wanted to share her father's story with the world. Now, in recognition of the museum's tenth anniversary, this podcast will do its part to honor the man behind the magic.
Join us for stories and conversations about the remarkable life and legacy of Walt Disney as we reflect on The Walt Disney Family Museum's first decade as an institution. Subscribe on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, and TuneIn.
The Walt Disney Family Museum is pleased to announce a range of innovative virtual offerings designed to make the galleries more accessible to guests of diverse abilities, economic circumstance, geographic location, and language. These initiatives include a new mobile app featuring a Virtual Tour and Highlights, an audio guide translated into 12 different languages (including American Sign Language), and an Audio-Described Tour for guests with vision impairment.
The streamlined, easy-to-use WDFM mobile app has been carefully created to enhance the guest experience in a variety of ways—both for guests visiting The Walt Disney Family Museum in person and for the public to virtually enjoy from the comfort of their homes or anywhere in the world.
The WDFM app utilizes a number of innovative features and helpful educational tools that allow users of all ages and abilities to explore the museum galleries at their own pace and learn unique facts about Walt Disney. For those visiting the museum, the app provides gallery-by-gallery tours in 12 languages, as well as an Audio-Described Tour for people with vision impairment and a Scavenger Hunt designed to engage with younger guests. Translated languages include American Sign Language, Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Simplified Chinese, and Spanish.
Other features of the app include a Social Story for families with children on the Autism Spectrum, a list of Top Ten Things to Visit, WD-FM Podcast episodes available to stream, and accommodations for iOS accessibility features.
The app also features the museum's new Virtual Tour and Museum Highlights and first ever virtual community art exhibition, The World of Tomorrow: A Virtual Community Art Exhibition.
To download the WDFM mobile app for Apple and Android devices, search for “WDFM” or click the provided links to download directly from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
If you experience any issues or have any feedback about the app, please email publicprograms@wdfmuseum.org.
Anyone in the world can experience and enjoy The Walt Disney Family Museum with our Virtual Tour and Museum Highlights. Benefitting from a wide range of embedded digital media content—including exclusive archived audio clips from a 1956 interview with Walt—the Virtual Tour brings Walt’s inspirational message directly to people’s streamable devices. Guests of all ages can learn about Walt’s early endeavors and struggles, his storytelling principles, and the technological innovations that made classics like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) possible. Narrated by voiceover artists and producing partners Camille Dixon and Bill Rogers—recognized for their contributions to commercial broadcasts and theme parks—the Virtual Tour will be offered free to the public on the museum’s website and the WDFM app for a limited time.
The Virtual Tour was soft-launched in a live format by the museum’s Education Department in 2019, and initially designed for school groups. High-resolution videos of the galleries were merged with Disney film clips and narrated by a museum educator, allowing for a more customized experience for students unable to visit the museum due to geographic or financial constraints. Since the live Virtual Tour’s debut, the museum has been able to reach classrooms across the world, including a homeschool in South Africa.
In light of the museum’s temporary closure, The Walt Disney Family Museum team recently transformed the Virtual Tour into an immersive experience for people of all ages who wish to visit the museum and learn about Walt’s life in a streamable format.
To view the Virtual Tour, download the WDFM mobile app or view the video directly below.
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