For 50 years guests have been visiting the “Vacation Kingdom of the World,” making memories to last a lifetime. With the Walt Disney Archives being founded in 1970, the year before Walt Disney World Resort opened, founder and Disney Legend Dave Smith knew how significant the opening of the resort would be for the Company …
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By Brian Ball, Walt Disney Archives Before a spirited princess is captured. Before a smuggler shoots 1st or 2nd (still up for debate). Before a young farm boy would take to the stars. And before a war hero and mentor is lost. Some unlikely heroes embark on what would be a one-way mission that could …
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By Katie Strobel, Walt Disney Archives 2021 marks the 30th anniversary of the 30th full-length animated feature from Walt Disney Animation Studios: Beauty and the Beast. Produced by Don Hahn and directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, let’s take a look back at how this enchanting story of love and inner beauty became a …
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For nearly a century, The Walt Disney Company has created timeless family entertainment that has touched the hearts of generations the world over, encouraging us all to smile, sing, and even shed a tear. This tale began in 1923, when Walt Disney arrived in Hollywood. Over the next four decades, this one-of-a-kind storyteller introduced the …
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By Matt Moryc, Walt Disney Archives If you grew up watching television in the 1980s and ‘90s, there is an objective argument to be made that some of the greatest family sitcoms of all time were produced during this era. The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) was at the forefront of this golden age of adolescent …
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By Christina Pappous, Walt Disney Archives Halloween is here at last! We are ready to don our festive costumes and fill up our Trick-or-Treat bags with delicious candy. But first, let’s glean a little investigative inspiration from the final installment of our 20th Century Fox “Spooktacular.” We are hot on the case of The X-Files, …
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By Becky Cline and Kevin M. Kern, Walt Disney Archives Every now and then, we here in the Archives have the honor of spotlighting historical materials so unique from our collection that the objects themselves seem to transcend matters of just Disney history and cross over into a realm documenting a wider moment from popular …
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By Matt Moryc, Walt Disney Archives It’s been 50 years since Walt Disney World first opened to the public on October 1, 1971. In the months leading up this milestone anniversary, many employees from across The Walt Disney Company have asked the Walt Disney Archives to search our collection for vintage merchandise, graphic designs, and …
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By Christina Pappous, Walt Disney Archives This film is for mature audiences. Halloween is just a couple weeks away and with it, all manner of spooky, scary creatures have begun haunting us… Among these ghouls and goblins, there may be a particularly scary creature lurking in the shadows of the jungle. Get to the chopper …
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By Francesca Scrimgeour, Walt Disney Archives With the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World underway, what better way to celebrate than by looking back at the grand opening celebration of the Magic Kingdom Park? After the success of the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair, Walt Disney recognized the impact an East Coast theme park and …
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