I had the pleasure to discover last week that the whole Walt's People series is now being sold at the Walt Disney Family Museum's store.

Two very good friends of the Disney History blog will be speaking at the Disney Family Museum in the upcoming few weeks.

Jim Korkis will give a presentation about Walt's Fascination with Outer Space on Saturday, July 23 at 3 PM. I have heard some of the stories he has to tell and this lecture is not to be missed.

And on sunday, July 24, at 3 PM Jeff Kurtti will host a tribute to Wally Boag and Betty Taylor with a special screening of the 1962 film The Golden Horseshoe Revue, directed by Ron Miller and starring Annette, Wally Boag, Betty Taylor, Gene Sheldon, Fulton Burley, and special guest star Ed Wynn; plus rare film clips and images.

This just in from Jim Korkis:

[Who is Charles Shows? Shows was a writer, but because he inflated his accomplishments (including claiming he created the Bob Clampett puppet show “Time for Beany” and originated “The Flintstones” for Hanna-Barbera) in press interviews over the decades and in his book, Walt: Backstage Adventures with Walt Disney (1980), it is hard to separate his very real and important accomplishments from imaginative puffery.

I have been researching Shows because he was hired by the Disney Studios in 1954 to work on the trilogy of space shows for Disney’s weekly television series. I will be doing a very special presentation on Saturday July 23 at the Disney Family Museum on Walt’s fascination on outer space, which will cover those shows as well as new material about them that I have uncovered recently.

Shows was hired primarily because he had been working on a Los Angeles based local television outer space adventure show for KTLA. Over the years, many have assumed it was the show “Space Patrol” but it was actually “Commander Comet”, a five day a week show with puppets that lasted over two years and starred Larry Harmon as Commander Comet just about a year and a half before he auditioned for the part of Bozo the Clown. Shows later wrote episodes for the syndicated Bozo the Clown animated series.

Shows did not prove valuable working with Ward Kimball and seems to have been moved over to working on the True Life Adventure series and the People and Places series before leaving Disney in 1957 to work with Hanna-Barbera on the launch of “Ruff and Reddy” and “Huckleberry Hound”. Shows claims to have worked at Disney for a decade as a “writer-director-producer” and apparently did some scripting on the television show of Walt’s contributions to the 1964 World’s Fair.

The photo of Shows (from his now defunct website) in front of the storyboard (Shows appears on the right) may be for “African Lion” but the sign in back says “Explorer’s Club” and the board itself looks like the creation story from “Man in Space”. I have no idea who the guy of the left is.

Does anyone have any more information about Shows at Disney?

Disney History in San Francisco and around

You have already read the reviews, the reports on various Disney-related blogs and seen the images on Flickr and on YouTube [If not click on this link sent me by Gunnar for YouTube content] so this story about the inauguration of the Walt Disney Family Museum will not attempt to be objective in any way, shape or form. This is the very biased report of an enthusiast who had been waiting for many years for this once-in-a-lifetime event.

Let's start by saying that I was not disappointed (on the contrary!). The Museum is without a doubt a tremendous success. It manages to humanize Walt by showing him as a caring father, a tremendously enthusiastic man even at home, and a loving husband, without shying away from the most problematic aspects of his life (the section about the strike is a case in point). Of course, Walt had been "humanized" before today in the best biographies written about him, in the movie The Man Behind the Myth, etc, but the Museum goes way further along this path, showing many beautiful home movies, simple personal artifacts, rare photos,... There was a lot that I had never seen before (and I mean a whole lot), but I consider those home movies as the key richness of the Museum. Far from the only richness, though.

The Museum is so rich, in fact, that it would be ludicrous to try and list even half of the great elements it contains. Especially since I only spent 2 hours there during the inauguration event, then another hour afterwards. This means that I did not have time to explore any of the interactive experiences that the Museum offers and that allow to dig deeper and deeper and deeper into Disney history.

But let's try and list the elements that struck me as most striking:

In the reception area, among the awards, the huge award from Italy featuring Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs fascinated me, along with Mickey on the Tortoise from Brazil which I had seen in various photos and whose story will soon be revealed by Celbi Pegoraro in his upcoming book about Disney and Brazil.

In the first few galleries, as I mentionned, I loved the home movies, but also Walt's early drawings (way more than I had ever seen before), all the photographs of his childhood and most of all the fact that his voice is telling the story (this is the case everywhere in the Museum but in this first room is where I realized how powerful this device can be). I also tremendously enjoyed the vignettes telling Walt's early days using paper cut-outs (on High Def TV screens - I will come back to this later).

On the second floor, some of the highlights include the Schultheis notebook (and the way it is presented - see below in this text), the way the Disney artists from Hyperion are presented, the fanciful recreation of the Moviola (I loved that one. While it might not be a real Moviola, it gave me a sense of what one would feel and see while using one. The first time I truly understood what the artists must have felt with Walt watching over their shoulder.)

I knew the Multiplane camera would be spectacular. It is.

Gallery 9 (the '50s and '60s) is a true fireworks with more to see everywhere than one could imagine and those beautiful movies of Walt's last trip to Canada, his Mineral King press conference,...

Suffice it to say that my wife cried in Gallery 10 when she realized that Walt had "just" died to give you an idea of how powerful the whole Museum experience is.

I was only disappointed by one aspect of the Museum: the store. Most of the products featured do not have much connection with Walt himself, the book selection is a bit underwhelming (although the books featured are truly excellent ones) and there was a feeling overall in that specific part of the Museum that nothing really special was taking place there if compared to the rest of the place. But I also have a feeling that this will soon be corrected as there was little time for the Museum team to concentrate on that specific section. The catalog of the Museum had not yet been released either (issues with the printing apparently) which of course did not help from my point of view (again, an issue the Museum staff was aware of and will be sorted soon).

Overall there are four key elements that dominate my sense of enthusiasm for the Museum:

1. The building itself is truly beautiful and the way it has been restored makes it even more stunning. This is a building which is really of the tremendous quality level you would expect for a museum about Walt.

2. A very large percentage of the documents presented are seen in this Museum for the first time ever, are of great historical value and have been selected with extreme care (by Diane, JB Kaufman, Paula Sigman Lowery, Jeff Kurtti, David Lesjak, and Bruce Gordon to name a few).

3. If you already loved Walt as a human being, radiating charm and enthusiasm, you will love him even more. If you did not know him, I have a feeling that the Museum will make you feel how special (if not perfect) a human being he was and how talented the artists who surrounded him also were.

4. The use that is made of new technologies to preserve and showcase old documents is truly outstanding: the home movies have been digitized, cleaned up and shown on HD monitors; the Schultheis notebook is presented using a huge touch-screen reminicent of the movie Minority Report or the large interactive board that was seen on CNN during the latest US presidential election,...
The inauguration that I attended on Friday 25th was followed by a cocktail party that was attended by several of the best Disney historians including JB Kaufman (working full time for the Walt Disney Family Foundation), David Lesjak (who heavily contributed to the WWII section of the Museum), Charles Solomon, and Jeff Kurtti, and prominent artists like Andreas Deja, Tom Sito and Pete Docter who have a strong passion for Disney history.

During that event Andreas mentioned that he was working on a blog. I will of course tell you all about it when it is launched.

The Walt Disney Family organized at least 5 or 6 diffent launch events before the official opening on October 1st. Some for the press, some for the Media industry (the one I attended), some for top VIPs (that Bob Iger, John Lasseter, Leonard Maltin, Tony Baxter, and others attended).

The day that followed the inauguration event quite a few Disney historians decided to gather for a lunch at the Fog City Diner. The group included people like JB Kaufman, Don Peri, Andreas Deja, Tom Sito, Alan Coats (Claude and Evie Coats' son), Joe Campana, Alexander Rannie, Stacia Martin, Hans Perk,...

Which leads me to share two dreams with you:

- I hope that the Walt Disney Family Museum will at some point become the visible part of a project focused on preserving Disney history on a wider scale.

- I also hope that the kind of lunch that happened on Satuday October 26 will be the first in a series of yearly events that will gather key Disney historians to work together on specific projects. A Disney seminar? Maybe.

We will see if 2010 brings this to us. We will wish for this at Xmas time (or in my case at Hannukah). Let's just say that I am actively promoting this concept along with a few other friends.

We spent the rest of the week at Yosemite, which although tremendously beautiful, is irrelevant in this report.

When we came back from Yosemite we had the chance to spend the night at the home of John Lounsbery's daughter, which also gave us the opportunity to meet again with Mel Shaw (and with Don Peri and his wife - who shot most of the photos that illustrate this report). Once again I was impressed by Mel's versatility. I fell in love with his sketches from South-East Asia and with his sculptures (I was already in love with his Disney concept art paintings, of course). I truly hope that we will soon be able to help him release his long-awaited autobiography.

During that part of the trip I learned that John Lounbery's grandson, Paul, is working on a website that will feature Mel's artwork. Again, I will let you know as soon as it is up and running.

2009 was a great year for Disney history. I have a feeling that 2010 will be even better.

Whatever you do, go to San Francisco as soon as possible. It is definitely worth it and I truly believe that we should support the Museum if we want our wishes for 2010 to become a reality.

My congratulations and thanks to all of you reading this blog who contributed to such a tremendous achievement. Let's work together to now go even further.

As promised, here are scans of the covers of the first two issues (Issue 0 and Issue 1) of the Walt Disney Family Museum Members Newsletter.

I would also recommend that you check out today David Lesjak's excellent post about the inauguration of the Museum.

I will of course tell you later this week about the Walt Disney Family Museum inauguration. This will have to wait until Thursday or Friday, though, as I am catching up with a tremendous amount of work that accumulated while I was away and am also about to enter a series of all-day meetings that will keep me extremely busy until Wednesday evening (no updates of the blog until Thursday therefore). I will however scan tomorrow morning (Monday) the cover of the first issue of the Walt Disney Family Museum Members Newsletter. While Jeff Kurtti, JB Kaufman, and John Canemaker penned excellent short articles for the newsletter, the real highlight of this issue is Diane's rememberance of Christmases spent with her father. A one page article but a pure delight for Disney entusiasts and Disney historians.

A few more elements from the Walt Disney Family Museum. Those are related to Gallery 8.

Here is one of the elements you will find in the 6th gallery of the Walt Disney Family Museum.

Here is one more treasure from the Walt Disney Family Museum, this one from Gallery 5. Highlights of the gallery will include one of the Studio’s original multiplane camera cranes, an animator’s desk and rare production art.

Here are two more items from the Walt Disney Family Museum. Those are from the 4th gallery.

43 Years and a Museum...

A quick thought I was having recently about the upcoming opening of the Walt Disney Family Museum. The Disney Company was established in 1923. Walt passed away in 1966. That's 43 years of Walt's leadership. And when the Museum will open the Company will have been led by someone other than Walt for another 43 years almost exactly.

No wonder the memory of Walt as an individual is in some ways fading (outside of the circle of enthusiasts). It was indeed high time for this Museum to open.

Here is a beautiful photograph that one will be able to find in the third Gallery of the Walt Disney Family Museum.

Good news: the web site of the Walt Disney Family Museum is now open. Among other things it features an upcoming book by JB Kaufman. Can't wait to get my hands on that one.

Here are a few more treasures that one will be able to discover at the Disney Family Museum. Those are from Gallery 2. Above is the well-known telegram that Walt sent to his brother Roy, which reads “DONT WORRY EVERYTHING OK WILL GIVE DETAILS WHEN ARRIVE”.

Below is Walt and Lilly's wedding certificate.

As mentioned below, the Walt Disney Family Museum is starting to send some photographs that will give us an idea of what can be found in each room of the Museum. I will be featuring on this blog only those photographs that have not been seen often elsewhere.

Here is Elias' violin from Gallery 1, which focuses on Walt's childhood.

This just in through Andy Wang, Communication Manager of the Walt Disney Family Museum:

[As you may have heard, The Walt Disney Family Museum will open October 1, and its website (http://www.waltdisney.org/) goes live on August 1 – when tickets will go on sale!

That’s all in the future. For now, we’re delighted to announce that the museum’s Facebook page is up and running – and we’ve started a Twitter stream as well! You can find them at:

http://www.facebook.com/TheWaltDisneyFamilyMuseum http://www.twitter.com/WDFMuseum

The Facebook fan page has tons of information – museum hours, ticket prices, directions to the museum, links to articles already written about the museum, community discussions, and more. Our Facebook page is pretty new – please feel free to join and spread the word by linking the page to any blog posts you may write. And when we see especially interesting press or blog coverage, we’ll be linking to the stories and posts from our page, as well.

To keep things fresh and exciting, starting today, July 16, we’ll be launching a series of sneak peeks into the museum’s collections and galleries. The previews—which will be sent to you every Thursday until opening day, October 1—will talk about Walt Disney himself, his innovations, and his unending commitment to creating the best. They’ll also include photos of some of the amazing things you’ll be able to see at The Walt Disney Family Museum in person beginning in October.

“My father's name is probably one of the most well-known names around the world, but as the ‘brand’ or trademark has spread, for many, the man has become lost,” said Diane Disney Miller, one of the Museum’s founders. “We are committed to telling the story of Walt Disney’s life, in his own words, and in the words of others who knew him well and worked with him. My father was very open and approachable, and in many conversations and interviews that were captured in audio, you will be able to hear in the galleries as you learn the story of his life. It is a wonderful story. Dad himself loved to tell it. Thanks to the amazing work of many dedicated people, we are fortunate to be able to tell it here using the tools he worked with—art, music, film, and technology—to present an honest yet affectionate portrait of this amazing artist and man.”

“From Steamboat Willie to Pinocchio to EPCOT, Walt Disney’s unyielding ambition was to ignite a sense of wonder and to enrapture audiences through great storytelling,” said Richard Benefield, founding director of The Walt Disney Family Museum. “He recognized the power of art to spark the imagination, and time and again, pushed himself and his companies to the breaking point as he pursued the highest level of excellence in feature animation. The Walt Disney Family Museum will present the compelling story of his life—of his successes and failures—as he entertained and enlightened the nation while it struggled with the Great Depression, joined the fight of World War II, and entered a golden age of prosperity and preeminence.”]

This just in:

[By Leo N. Holzer
Friends of the Walt Disney Family Museum

Well, here’s news many of you have been waiting for: Details about the annual membership plans for the Walt Disney Family Museum.

There are three levels for basic membership — Individual, Dual and Family — and a premium “Founding Membership” with additional perks.

All memberships are annual from date the museum opens or your registration date. For example, if you sign up now, your membership would be good through Sept. 30, 2010; but if you make it a Christmas present to yourself, family or another and sign-up on Dec. 18, then the membership would be good through Dec. 18, 2010.

All memberships include admission into the museum with a timed-entry ticket, (best acquired) from the Museum’s Web site ticketing system, www.waltdisney.org once it becomes operational Aug. 1 or in person, as available.

The Web-based ticketing system will offer tickets up to 60 days in advance. During August, tickets may be obtained for any day in October, as available.

It’s possible that there may be very few, if any, tickets available at the door on some given days, especially weekends, until well after the museum’s opening.

What is a timed-entry ticket?

Well, the system has been designed to help avoid overcrowding in the galleries. Ticket-holders will have a 15-minute window for entry, 10-10:14 a.m.; 10:15-10:29, etc.

Additional basic membership benefits include: a quarterly newsletter mailed to a member’s address; a 10 percent discount in the Museum Store; a membership card and additional discounts for educational and public programs.

The price for an Individual Membership is $75; $55 for seniors over 65 and students with valid ID. It allows tickets for one person on any day of operation, as available.

Dual membership, which includes admission for two, is $125 general and $95 for seniors.

The Family Membership is $175 and includes tickets for four, as available, on any day the museum is open.

All basic memberships are fully tax deductible.

Now, let’s talk about the premium FOUNDING MEMBERSHIP plan. It’s $500 per person, of which $425 is tax deductible.

Founding Members get all the basic individual membership benefits along with an additional 5 percent discount in the Museum Store; a total of 20 admissions for guests; an exclusive membership card and pin; an autographed copy of a newly published book; a numbered certificate signed by Diane Disney Miller and Executive Director Richard Benefield; and, invitations to select events, lectures, concerts, receptions and openings.

Those 20 guest admissions may be used in one visit — with coordination with the membership office for any group larger than 8 — or the Founding Member could use six in October, four in December and hold the remaining 10 in reserve for later.

Only Founding Members who join before the end of 2009 will get the signed and autographed certificate, which will be retired.

There’s an additional charge of $25 on all International Memberships.

To receive a membership application, send ane-mail to membership@wdfmuseum.org. For questions or to process an application over the phone, call (415) 345-6810.]

Leo Holzer has just launched a Friends of the Walt Disney Family Museum on Facebook and encourages readers of this blog to join it. He recently posted the following note that he encouraged me to share:



[Subject: seeking personal memories of Walt Disney

Hi there. Roger and I are working to set up some interviews for stories about the Walt Disney Family Museum for this site and elsewhere, but as the museum gets ready for its opening this fall, we'd thought we'd get this Facebook site kicked off with something fun and interesting.

We're looking for your personal memories of Walt Disney, stories you might enjoy sharing with others on this site.

Maybe you're of a certain age and actually saw or met Walt Disney. Maybe you have a photo of that event you'd like to post here. Please do.

But even if you're like me and your memories of Walt are through his introductions to Disney's Wonderful World of Color or some book or newspaper article, those memories hold meaning in your life and we're interested in reading those as well.

I still remember my first visit to Disneyland, a few years after Walt's death, but HIS PICTURE was on the guidebook. I don't think I quite grasped the idea that Walt wasn't still walking among us. Even today, on my best visits to the park or when I'm watching some legend talk about working with Walt, I feel his spirit, optimism and inspiration alive.

We're planning a monthly topic of discussion on this Facebook site, all specific about Walt Disney's life and works, and encourage your participation. For June, it being the month of Father's Day, we'll start with your personal memories of Walt.

Every month we'll read all the submissions and select our favorites to share with Diane Disney Miller and officials at the museum.

Finally, if you have friends who are fans or students of Walt Disney's life, encourage them to join our jamboree here on Facebook. Remember and honor the company's humble roots when you look at the multimedia behemoth it's become since 1923.

Thanks everyone.]