The New York Times reports that heirs of Walt Disney are set to open a new museum in San Francisco called The Walt Disney Family Museum. The museum’s goal is to focus attention on the Walt as a real person and not a brand. Diane Disney Miller, Walt’s sole surviving child was quoted as saying “My kids have literally encountered people who didnâ??t know that my father was a person. They think heâ??s just some kind of corporate logo.”
To start the museum, Mrs. Miller had to buy or borrow most of the comic art on display. Most of Disney’s personal effects are owned by the Disney corporation which is assisting in the project.
One of my fondest memories of visiting MGM Studios Florida a few years ago was the Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream exhibit.
I vividly remember the glass-encased display of Walt’s drawing table which played an old B&W film of Mickey Mouse being sketched where the animator’s disc would be. There was something about that particular display which made an impression on me. The exhibit ended with a theatre where you could sit and watch the biography/documentary about Walt Disney.
I find it hard to imagine that there are people who don’t know that Walt Disney was a real person, but it would be interesting to see how they separate the man from the machine for this new museum.
Easy, they make an animatronic Walt!
I was just in Disney and at Hollywood Studios (fka MGM Studios). Love the museum idea, but why San Francisco? Was Walt from there?
This is GREAT and LONG overdue.
I wonder why San Fran? Walt was from the Kansas City area, I believe.
And Mike, that table and sketch probably really belonged to Ub Iwerks LOL
Diane Disney Miller owns a winery in Napa Valley, just north of San Francisco.
I really enjoyed the exhibit at MGM too. It inspired me and was one of the reasons I started cartooning again. This museum should be neat to see if I am ever in California.