The Walt Disney Family Museum, Paula Sigman Lowery and BEER in This Week's 'Mouse Castle Lounge'

I'm phoning it in on The Mouse Castle Lounge. Well, two of my guests are anyway. This week, I'm happy to welcome back Gabriella Calicchio, CEO of the Walt Disney Family Museum. Last November, I was at her place for the opening of the Museum's Snow White exhibit. This time, Gabriella calls up the Lounge and brings me up to speed on what new exhibitions are in store at WDFM in 2013. The diverse nature of these exhibitions is proof positive of why the Walt Disney Family Museum is beginning to thrive not just as a tribute to the legacy of Walt Disney, but also as a showcase for gifted artists, past and present, who were influenced by his life's work.

Camille Rose Garcia: Down the Rabbit Hole
May 9 to November 3, 2013

Camille Rose Garcia challenges fairy tale archetypes with her vivid gothic reinterpretations of classic characters ranging from Snow White to Alice in Wonderland.

Maurice Sendak: 50 Years, 50 Works, 50 Reasons
Opening May 23, 2013

Maurice Sendak is best known for his seminal children's book Where the Wild Things Are, but had a long and prolific career as a writer and illustrator. He often acknowledged Disney as an artistic influence, particularly Mickey Mouse and Fantasia.

Water to Paper, Paint to Sky: The Art of Tyrus Wong
Opening August 17, 2013 

Tyrus Wong's association with Disney was brief but profound. He created the dreamy and evocative watercolor forest backgrounds for Bambi before moving to Warner Bros. where he spent over 30 years as a motion picture illustrator. Still active in the arts at age 102, Wong is a master kite builder who flies his colorful and fanciful creations regularly from the Santa Monica Pier.

Also in the Lounge, I have part two of my conversation with Disney historian Paula Sigman Lowery. We continue our discussion of the evolution of the Walt Disney Family Museum from its virtual origins to its real-life presence in San Francisco's Presidio. Paula tells a great story of how builders and designers told Museum consultant Bruce Gordon that his idea for a curving ramp in WDFM's Gallery 9 simply wasn't possible. Gordon gleefully proved them wrong.
 

You can't build a ramp in here! Oh, wait....Never mind.

Finally, I'll talk on the phone with Tina, who was attending baseball Spring Training in Arizona with the Angels when suddenly a beer festival broke out.

Play beer!

It's all part of the fun and excitement that is The Mouse Castle Lounge. Enjoy!

The Mouse Castle Lounge can also be heard on iTunes and Stitcher.

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The Walt Disney Family Museum Shows Increased Attendance in 2012

The Walt Disney Family Museum

I always enjoy sharing good news about the good people at the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. Monday, they released their official attendance figures for last year, announcing that visitor volume in 2012 was 103,000, a 14% increase from 2011. Furthermore, the Museum saw a 43% spike in memberships and a 25% increase in group sales.

Gabriella Calicchio (r.) with Walt's daughter, Diane Disney Miller

Much of the Museum's new success can be attributed to CEO Gabriella Calicchio, who came on board in November 2011. Under her guidance, the Museum launched a five-year strategic plan and opened several exhibitions including one dedicated to the work of illustrator Heinrich Kley and another paying tribute to the art of stop-motion animation. In November, the Museum opened its ambitious and not to be missed exhibition celebrating 75 years of Disney's animated classic, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Crediting the leadership of Calicchio, as well as the hard work of the Museum's staff and volunteers, co-founder and board president Walter Elias Disney Miller said, "We now have a clear vision to guide us towards the best museum experience we can offer our visitors while showcasing the legacy of not only my grandfather, Walt Disney, but also the men and women of his organization that brought his dreams to life through inspiration and innovation."

In addition to the exhibits, the Walt Disney Family Museum offers many public educational and social programs including professional workshops and the very popular after-hours parties, Animate Your Night!

For more about the Walt Disney Family Museum, visit www.waltdisney.org.

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75 Years of Snow White on Display at the Walt Disney Family Museum

A new exhibition celebrating the 75th anniversary of Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs officially opens today at the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco.  On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to preview the exhibit, which contains over 200 pieces of concept art, pencil sketches, cel setups, watercolor backgrounds, original posters and other items used in the production of the classic film.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: The Creation of a Classic is housed in a separate two-story building behind the museum's main galleries. The building used to contain a basketball gymnasium in the historic Presidio.

On the second floor foyer, Walt Disney and Shirley Temple greet you with the special Oscar presented to Walt in 1939 for his achievements in making Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The award consists of a regular size Oscar, accompanied by seven little Oscars.

At Tuesday's preview, Walt's daughter and museum co-founder Diane Disney Miller was on hand with museum CEO Gabriella Calicchio to introduce the exhibition.

Said Calicchio, "For me, this exhibition is so special because it tells the story of the animation process, about this extraordinary film...But, what's really special to me is that it showcases the artistry that went into this film. There were some amazing artists that participated, and in this exhibition, you'll see amazing pieces of art."

Walt Disney once said, “Of all the characters in the fairy tales, I loved Snow White the best, and when I planned my first full-length cartoon, she inevitably was the heroine.”

The exhibition includes interactive kiosks that allow you to delve deeper into the making of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Charlie Chaplin, no slouch to comedy himself, once called Dopey "one of the greatest comedians of all time."

The exhibition takes you through the film scene-by-scene, often showing works-in-progress juxtaposed with the final product. Here, a cleanup drawing of the queen's transformation by animators Campbell Grant and Stan Quackenbush is presented with a video clip from the film.

Concept art by Samuel Armstrong of the hag in a rowboat is paired with two production cels.

While the exhibition does include some original production cels from the film, many of the cels were too fragile to transport to San Francisco, so reproduction cels were created at the Walt Disney Studios by its still active Ink & Paint department.

Diane Disney Miller (l.) views some artwork with exhibition curator and Walt Disney Animation Research Library creative director Lella Smith. In the next episode of The Mouse Castle Lounge, coming this weekend, I'll have interviews with Diane, Lella, Gabriella and an in-depth conversation with author J. B. Kaufman about the exhibition and his two new books about Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: The Creation of a Classic will run through April 14, 2013.

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