Taylor, Hillsboro, Oregon

Walt Disney’s biography by Bob Thomas (Walt Disney: An American Original) includes photographs of Walt’s brothers Herbert, Raymond, and Roy, and his sister Ruth.

Tina, St. Pete Beach, Florida

You can contact the Walt Disney Archives at Disney.archives@disney.com.

Aden, Leawood, Kansas

Almost everything was duplicated for the film; there were no original artifacts loaned from the Archives. Posters and photographs were new prints that were made. Some Oscars, however, were borrowed from a display at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

Carl, Katonah, New York

If you will email a photo of your pin, with any supporting information, to the Walt Disney Archives (Disney.Archives@Disney.com) they may be able to help you.

Bradley, Laconner, Washington

Disney licensed footage from a 1947 film, Animated Cartoons—The Toy That Grew Up, produced by Les Films du Compas and Roger Leenhardt, for that television show. The Walt Disney Archives has no further information on that film, so they do not know if the Théâtre Optique still exists.

Barbara, DeWitt, Michigan

The technique of using a book to open an animated feature was a popular one with Walt Disney. The three books that the Walt Disney Archives has are the ones from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty. They are actual books and are currently on display at the Ronald Reagan Presidential …

movie still of Tom Hanks at Walt Disney in Saving Mr. Banks

Avi, Irvine, California

No, he was not. Walt was played by Walter Fenner (1886–1947) in the 1944 Columbia picture, Once Upon a Time. Christian Hoff played a young Walt Disney in the TV film, Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream, in 1981. In the last two decades, Walt has been played on various TV shows and documentaries by a …

Remembering Robin Williams: We’ve Never Had A Friend Like Him

Like Mork, the character he first played on an episode of ABC’s Happy Days, this utterly original comic and movie star appeared on our television sets seemingly out of nowhere, almost as if from outer space.

Animators Desk from the Walt Disney Archives

Walt Disney Archives Introduces a New Exhibit on the Walt Disney Studios Lot

Upon entering the Archives Reading Room, the first thing you’ll notice is a detailed recreation of an animator’s office from 1940—the year The Walt Disney Studios debuted its new Kem Weber-designed facility.

Avi, Irvine, California

The suggestion has been made many times, but nothing has come of it. Some speculated that the Disney family might not approve of an Audio-Animatronics® figure of Walt.