By Nicole Carroll, Walt Disney Archives “Who’s the leader of the club that’s made for you and me? M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!” Sixty-five years ago, on October 3, 1955, this popular anthem was heard for the first time as the Mickey Mouse Club debuted on ABC and became one of the most popular children’s television series of …
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By Kevin Kern, Walt Disney Archives Every now and then, while working with the historical production artwork preserved in the Walt Disney Archives, one has to pause to appreciate just how special each individual piece is, and what story it helps to tell. Some of my favorite examples to peruse in this way come from …
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By Rebecca Cline, Director, Walt Disney Archives Long before Henry led the Country Bears in their “Jamboree,” or even before Walt Disney made Davy Crockett’s raccoon skin cap all the rage in the 1950s, another famous Disney bear nearly sported some very “lively” headgear on top of his little red cap. These story sketches for …
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By the D23 Team One of the most cherished childhood memories for Disney fans is opening up a Little Golden Book to read a new story based on your favorite characters, movies, and television series. While these gorgeous books, filled with unique artwork and beloved tales, live on in our memories, they also live on …
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By the D23 Team Earlier this year, the Walt Disney Archives’ amazing retrospective exhibition—“Inside the Walt Disney Archives: 50 Years of Preserving the Magic”—premiered at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California. Commemorating five decades of collecting and preserving historical materials relating to Walt and the company he founded, the exhibit offers a rare look at some of the …
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By Nicole Carroll, Walt Disney Archives Everyone knows that a dog is man’s best friend and classic companion. And, as Walt Disney once said, “Dogs are known and loved in every land.” This is certainly the case in the many worlds created by The Walt Disney Company. Countless new and old Disney favorites include a …
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By Cesar Gallegos, Walt Disney Archives In the late 1930s and early 1940s, the Good Neighbor Policy was created to foster better relations between the United States and various South and Central America countries. The entertainment industry took considerable steps to encourage these relationships: For 20th Century Fox this included films showcasing themes and talent …
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By Nikki Nguyen, Walt Disney Archives World of Motion, an opening-day attraction at EPCOT, provided Guests with a fun-filled look at the history of transportation. Former Disney animator and train-enthusiast Ward Kimball came out of retirement to lend his characteristic sense of humor to the attraction’s action. As an art director, Ward helped shift the …
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By Becky Cline, Director, Walt Disney Archives When doing research in the collections of the Walt Disney Archives, it’s always fun when you stumble across interesting tidbits from Disney History. One day, while looking in Walt Disney’s 1955 correspondence files (for something else entirely), I came across this very charming note to Walt—and his equally …
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By Kevin Kern, Walt Disney Archives Sometimes, the most memorable delights are those which are the simplest. Walt Disney’s Dumbo the Flying Elephant attraction has withstood the tests of time to become not only a beloved tradition for families to seek out when visiting Disney Parks, but also as a sort of “rite of passage” …
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