WDW Daily News

CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

All Aboard: A Celebration of Walt’s Trains
November 13, 2014–February 9, 2015
All Aboard: A Celebration of Walt’s Trains explores the influence that railroading had on Walt Disney’s life and work, and how his railroading legacy lives on to this day in Disney films and theme parks around the world. Through rare artifacts, firsthand accounts, archival videos, images, and running model trains, guests will learn how Walt’s passion for trains developed before manifesting itself in Disney short cartoons, feature films, and in Walt’s personal life at home.

The Lost Notebook: Secrets of Disney’s Movie Magic
November 26, 2014–January 12, 2015
Go behind the lens with one of the most enigmatic and fascinating characters of early animation: Herman Schultheis. On view from November 26 through January 12, 2015, The Lost Notebook: Secrets of Disney’s Movie Magic shares the special-effects wizardry behind Fantasia, Pinocchio, Dumbo, and Bambi, which was found in covert scrapbooks from this technician who worked at The Walt Disney Studios in the late 1930s.

SCREENINGS

FILM OF THE MONTH: Dumbo
Showtimes: 1:30 daily (check calendar for exceptions) | Theater
FREE with museum admission | Note: The museum is closed on Tuesdays
Soar high in the sky with Dumbo, the world’s only flying elephant, and his pal Timothy the mouse.

FILM OF THE MONTH: Christmas with Walt
Showtimes: 4pm daily (check calendar for exceptions) | Theater
FREE with museum admission | Note: The museum is closed on Tuesdays
Enjoy a peek into Walt’s life during the holidays—at work, at play, and at home with his family.

TALKS

SPOTLIGHT TALKS | All Aboard: A Celebration of Walt’s Trains
Sat, Dec 5 | 11am, 1 & 3pm | FrEE with museum admission
Celebrate Walt’s birthday by exploring one of his greatest passions! Learn about Walt’s love of trains as museum educators guide you on a brief tour of our new special exhibition, All Aboard: A Celebration of Walt’s Trains.

SPOTLIGHT TALK | The Animation Process
Every Fri, Sat & Sun in Dec | 11am, 1 & 3pm | FREE with museum admission
The production pipeline for an animated film goes through many different hands, from the beginning of the animation process up to the finished product. Join us for a brief discussion about the crucial steps taken by Walt’s studio to successfully complete an animated film.

TALK | The Disney Effect
Sat, Dec 6 | 3pm | $18 members | $20 general | $15 youth (17 and under)
Think like an animator! Join us for the second in a five-part program series covering the basics of animation production that was developed in Walt’s time and continue to be used today. This talk covers design and character development, the use of maquettes, and casting and voiceover for the role. Join guest speakers from Pixar Animation Studios: Ricky Nierva, production designer; Matt Nolte, art director; Jerome Ranft, character sculptor; Kevin Reher; casting director/feature producer; and Natalie Lyon, casting manager.

SPECIAL PROGRAMS

A Birthday Celebration for Walt
Fri, Dec 5 | 10am–6pm | All Museum
In commemoration of Walt Disney’s birthday, The Walt Disney Family Museum offers FREE ADMISSION to all on Friday, December 5 from 10am to 6pm! Join us in celebrating this special occasion, during which we will host a number of exciting activities throughout the day that highlight Walt’s life, work, and legacy. Happy Birthday, Walt!

SPECIAL APPEARANCE | Train Release and Signing with Lowell Smith
Sat, Dec 6 | 10am–noon & 2–4pm | Awards Lobby
Join us for a celebration of the release of the fifth boxcar in the museum’s holiday train series! Train producer Lowell Smith will be available to sign the new boxcars and his specially produced The Great Locomotive Chase boxed gift sets. Offered in conjunction with the holiday exhibition, All Aboard! A Celebration of Walt’s Trains.

BOOK SIGNING | Bobby Burgess, Author of Ears and Bubbles
Sat, Dec 6 | 2:30–5:40pm | Lower Lobby
Join Bobby Burgess—known to generations of fans as a Mouseketeer on the original Mickey Mouse Club and then as a dancing star for over two decades on The Lawrence Welk Show—for a special book signing. Now, for the first time, Bobby shares his many behind-the-scenes showbiz stories along with humorous, heartwarming tales of his family life, world travels, and business ventures, including his famous Burgess Cotillion.

CLASSES & ACTIVITIES

OPEN STUDIO | Miniature Diorama Train: Hobbies
Sat & Sun, Dec 6 & 7, 13 & 14, 20 & 21, 27 & 28 | 1–4pm | Learning Center | FREE with museum admission
Inspired by Walt Disney’s fascination with trains and miniatures – some of his most notable personal hobbies – create a display of your own interests and hobbies within a small diorama. Connect your unique creation to others’ to form a miniature diorama train that will tour through our Learning Center!

LITTLE OPEN STUDIO | Fun With Winter!
Every Sat and Mon in Dec | 10–noon | Learning Center | FREE with museum admission
It’s getting cooler out, the night comes earlier, winter is in the air! Come join us in Little Open Studio to explore this wonderful time of year. Through open-ended, collaborative art activities, visitors will transform our Learning Center into a magical nighttime forest. Together we’ll explore the sights, sounds, and feelings of winter.

WORKSHOP | Story Workshop with Pixar Story Artists Matthew Luhn and Valerie LaPointe
Sat, Dec 6 | 10am–2pm | Art Studio | FREE with museum admission
For one amazing day, Students will learn how to develop full-length story ideas under the direction and supervision of Matthew and Valerie. This inspiring and engaging workshop makes it possible to immediately generate new ideas and develop stories on your own, and with others.

Blast into a Day of Space!
Sat, Nov 8 | 10am–5pm

In collaboration with the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in conjunction with the Bay Area Science Festival, scientists and Disney historians discuss and demonstrate Walt’s influence on the Space Age with the “Man in Space” series from the Disneyland TV show.

Although all space-related activities on this day are free with museum admission, an additional paid ticket is required for the talk with Jim Korkis and Eric Toldi.

TALK | How Walt Put a Man on the Moon
3–4:30pm | Theater | $10 members, $12 non-members
Get ready to blast off on an outer space adventure with Disney historian Jim Korkis and space historian Eric Toldi as they reveal how Walt Disney teamed up with scientists to encourage America to aim for the stars.

LITTLE OPEN STUDIO | Make a Shooting Star
10am–noon | Learning Center, Art Studio | FREE for members or with museum admission
Let’s celebrate the sky! Make your very own shooting star or flaming comet using a variety of colorful materials.

OPEN STUDIO | Orbiting Planets and Multiplane Animation
10am–5pm | Learning Center, Digital Media Studio | FREE for members or with museum admission
Join us for a hands-on experience animating the solar system using our Multiplane Camera stations. Create your own planets, and then dabble with timing and spacing to imitate how they orbit at different speeds around the sun.

In our art workshop, help us build a Martian colony, with fun, hands-on ways to think like NASA engineers. This unique colony, inspired by the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, lets kids apply science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills to solve design challenges and answer the important social questions that must be tackled before our big trip to the Red Planet!

SPOTLIGHT TALKS | Man in Space
11am, 1pm & 3pm | Gallery 9 | FREE for members or with museum admission
Explore Walt’s influence on space exploration in the 1960s with a guided experience with museum educators.

FILM | “Man in Space”
11am | Theater | FREE for members or with museum admission
Ever wondered about rockets, satellites, or space travel? Join us for a special screening of “Man in Space,” an inside look at all things zero gravity.

Also this weekend: WELLS FARGO CUSTOMER APPRECIATION
Wells Fargo customers get in free to The Walt Disney Family Museum as part of Wells Fargo Customer Appreciation Weekends. All Wells Fargo cardholders will receive one free ticket per household on Saturday and Sunday, November 8 and 9, 2014. Present your Wells Fargo debit or credit card, along with your photo ID, at the admission desk on the day of your visit to take advantage of this promotion. Additional charges may apply for special exhibitions, events, and programs.

The Walt Disney Family Museum is pleased to present All Aboard: A Celebration of Walt’s Trains, on view from November 13, 2014 through February 9, 2015. This comprehensive exhibition explores the influence that railroading had on Walt Disney’s life and work. It also tells the story of how his railroading legacy lives on to this day in Disney films and theme parks around the world. Including more than 200 artifacts, firsthand accounts, archival videos, images of Walt and his trains, and actual model trains running throughout the show,All Aboard highlights how Walt’s passion for trains developed long before manifesting itself in Disney short cartoons, feature films, and in Walt’s personal life at home.

Guest curator Michael Campbell, president of the Carolwood Pacific Historical Society, constructed the exhibition to reflect Walt’s railroad journey as told through multiple chapters: Lighting the Fire, Building Steam, Gaining Speed, Full Throttle, Switching Tracks, Branching Out, A Grand Circle Tour Around The World, and Coming Full Circle. The exhibition’s conclusion reminds us that, even over a century later, Walt’s railroading influence remains as a vibrant and relevant force.

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This coming October, come celebrate our fifth anniversary here at The Walt Disney Family Museum! On October 1, 2009, Diane Disney Miller first welcomed guests to explore the life, work, and legacy of her father Walt Disney: an entertainer, risk-taker, and innovator who helped define 20th-century America. In recognition, we’ve planned a month full of special events, captivating programming, hands-on activities, after hour parties, and so much more. For more information, a full schedule of events, and tickets, please visit waltdisney.org/anniversary.

SPECIAL EVENTS

OUR FIFTH ANNIVERSARY!

Wednesday, Oct 1 | 10am–8pm (special extended hours)

$10 admission after 6pm

On the anniversary of our opening five years ago, we’ll be extending our hours to 8pm in celebration. Enjoy special programming all day long, in the galleries, and in the Learning Center. All galleries will be open and animated shorts will be featured in the theater. We’ll have something special exclusively for members, too. Beginning at 6pm, enjoy treats from food trucks and half-priced admission.

SPECIAL EVENT | Animate Your Night: Haunted Mansion Halloween

Friday, Oct 24 | 7–10pm

$12 members | $15 non-members

Pirates, ghosts, ghouls, and a New Orleans vibe inhabit the walls of the museum throughout this after-hours party. Celebrate our fifth anniversary in costume and enjoy the final weeks of our special exhibition, Marc Davis: Leading Ladies and Femmes Fatales, featuring a selection of Davis’ famous Haunted Mansion paintings. Creepy crafts and feisty food help conjure good spirits for the Halloween season. Look alive!

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The Walt Disney Family Museum is excited to present the exhibition Leading Ladies and Femmes Fatales: The Art of Marc Davis. On view in the museum’s Theater Gallery from April 30 to November 3, 2014, this exhibition co-curated by the museum’s director of collections and exhibitions, Michael Labrie, and animator Andreas Deja spotlights some 70 original pencil animation drawings, conceptual artwork, paintings, cels, and photographs from animator and Imagineer Marc Davis (b. 1913). Davis, who was named a Disney Legend in 1989, was assigned and executed some of the most difficult animation for Walt Disney’s leading ladies and femmes fatales from classics such as Peter Pan (1953), Sleeping Beauty (1956), and One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961). It was Davis’ mastery of the human form and authority on anatomy and movement that brought these iconic female characters to life and made them believable.

Although his work and accomplishments could fill a much larger gallery, selected artworks mainly from Davis’ personal collection, Walt Disney Imagineering, several private collectors, and the Walt Disney Family Foundation’s collection, intend to focus on a part of Davis’ life and career with his mastery of the human form.Leading Ladies and Femmes Fatales highlights Davis’ female characters in film—such as Peter Pan’s Tinker Bell, Sleeping Beauty’s title heroine Aurora, its villain Maleficent, and One Hundred and One Dalmatians’ Cruella de Vil—as well as in live entertainment, his fine art, and through his beloved wife Alice Davis.

“If you can’t draw it, you can’t animate it,” Marc Davis once told an interviewer. He was proud of his drawing ability and had all the reasons for being so. Basically a self-taught artist, he honed his skills through a lonely childhood, and from his life experience he developed a keen sense of observation and ultimately became an excellent draftsman. Davis’ gift for dramatic storytelling coupled with his ability to inject humanity, humor, and emotion into his drawings is what made him stand out.
“Marc can do story, he can do character, he can animate, he can design shows for me. All I have to do is tell him what I want and it’s there. He’s my Renaissance Man,” said Walt Disney of Davis.

Davis’ sense of style and ability commanded admiration and respect. Employed at The Walt Disney Studio for forty-three years, Marc Davis was a master whose skills proved essential to a wide variety of projects both in film and live entertainment. As one of Walt’s renowned “Nine Old Men,” Davis was the only of the nine whom Walt asked to help in the planning of attractions at Disneyland the 1964/1965 New York World’s Fair. His creative contributions include attractions such as Pirates of the Caribbean, it’s a small world, and the Haunted Mansion, to name a few.

“Marc Davis became the most prolific Imagineer of his time in developing ideas and drawings for Disney Park attractions. There is a treasury of some of the world’s best-known and most humorous characters,” said Disney Legend and Imagineer Marty Sklar.

In 1947, Alice Estes—a promising artist from Long Beach, California—received a scholarship to the prestigious Chouinard Art Institute—a training ground for many Disney artists. With Alice’s goals of becoming an animator crushed because of the male-dominance in the field at that time, Mrs. Chouinard herself assigned Alice to become a costume designer, and gave her the added task of assisting the new animation teacher, Marc Davis.

After her graduation, Alice married Davis, eventually working with him at The Walt Disney Studios and becoming one of the first female Imagineers. She designed costumes for a number of Disneyland attractions, including Pirates of the Caribbean and Carousel of Progress—many based on her husband’s whimsical drawings.

Both Alice and Marc worked with a team of Disney artists and engineers to design and dress the Audio-Animatronics® figures for it’s a small world, including famed artist Mary Blair, one of Walt’s most recognizable leading ladies.

The exhibition is aptly timed with MAGIC, COLOR, FLAIR: the world of Mary Blair, on view from March 13 through September 7, 2014 in the Diane Disney Miller Exhibition Hall.

Leading Ladies and Femmes Fatales: The Art of Marc Davis is organized by The Walt Disney Family Museum.

The Walt Disney Family Museum is pleased to present MAGIC, COLOR, FLAIR: the world of Mary Blair. On view from March 13 to September 7, 2014, this comprehensive exhibition explores the artistic process and development of one of Walt Disney’s most original, beloved, and influential designer and art directors, Mary Blair (1911–1978). Blair’s joyful creativity―her eye-appealing designs and exuberant color palette―endure in numerous media, including classic Disney animated films, such as Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan, and theme park attractions at Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort, most notably it’s a small world.


Mary Blair Audio Guide
Enjoy an audio journey through this special exhibition with our exclusive audio tour. Travel through Blair’s early work, the inspiring trip she took with Walt to South America, the vibrant world of Disney feature films, and on to it’s a small world and beyond. Enjoy personal stories, anecdotes, and historical information from contributors John Canemaker, exhibition curator; Ted Thomas, director of Walt and El Grupo; Rolly Crump and Alice Davis, Disney Legends and friends of Mary Blair; and Blair’s nieces Maggie Richardson and Jeanne Chamberlain.

The audio guide is available for $7 or is free for members; find out more at the museum ticket desk.