When you think of San Francisco and the beautiful Bay Area, visions of the Golden Gate Bridge, trolley cars and maybe even Alcatraz Prison comes to mind. Well now you need to add another place on your list, an area of land these days run by the National Park Service known as The Presidio. The Presidio has always been prime real estate but up until a little over a decade ago was for military use only. Since 1996 the property has become a mixture of commercial and public areas. Some of the military aspects still exist to this day in the form of exhibits. However now the area includes The Bay School of San Francisco and even Star Wars creator George Lucas himself has taken on residence here with LucasArts making it their headquarters on 15 acres. Now the latest that just recently opened their doors is a museum dedicated to the life and memory of Walt Disney.
Housed in three of the original barracks built in the 1890s, which includes an additional expanded 20,000 square foot modern looking edition, the beautiful Walt Disney Family Museum is a sight to be seen. Who hasn’t heard of Walt Disney and his legacy? However, how much do we really know about the actual man himself? Hell these days the new generations might not even know there was actually a man named Walt Disney instead of it just being a corporate brand. Well this is the place to go to educate yourself and your family about the man behind the mouse.
Of course the first question you might have is why this is in San Francisco and not Los Angeles closer to where Disneyland is located. Well this museum was created by the Walt Disney Family Foundation (a nonprofit organization) and not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company. A little confusing at first but the Disney family has always wanted a museum dedicated to the man and not just the films and amusement parks. This is a labor of love about their most famous family member but that doesn’t mean a lot of the exhibits here don’t showcase his successes either. Don’t worry there is plenty of eye candy for the kids and the young at heart.
Right from the get go the lobby showcases many of Walt’s career successes with a wall of awards. This wall includes the famous one of a kind designed Oscar for his first animated motion picture, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1938. I’m not even going to spoil it you have to see it for yourself. Walking into the first set of rooms and the first part of the first floor of exhibits, we are introduced to the early years of Walt Disney. Through multimedia animated pieces, Walt Disney narrates his life in these very well made short films housed in little theater like stages.
As you continue through, you quickly arrive to an elevator to take you to the second floor designed to look like a train car. The doors open and you head into Hollywood. More of the great multimedia short films are here introducing us to Walt’s early animated beginnings with the Alice Comedies in the 1920s. These fun early films used the technique of both live actors and animation. There’s an original letter from Walt to the parent’s of the original girl who played Alice. In the body of the letter Walt encourages them to come to Los Angeles to make the films and it is the beginning of his successful career. There is also a replica of one of the enormous camera’s that were used in those days to make these multi-media short.
In the next room we start to see familiar territory. One wall is a collection of animated stills of Mickey Mouse’s first animated adventure, Steamboat Willie. There is a hands on sound synchronicity demo in the center, a wall of Mickey Mouse memorabilia including watches, dolls and a collection of drawings including the earliest known sketch of Mickey himself circa 1928. This is just the beginning of the great eye candy of exhibits in store for you. As you continue on, the museum takes you on a journey that will begin in 1937 with a room almost dedicated entirely to Snow White to Walt’s final participation with Mary Poppins and the beginnings of Disney World and the Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow (EPCOT) in 1964. Along the way we continue to receive insight into his personal and professional life with many of these one kind items on display.
His personal affects for visitors to see include passports, jewelry and hand written letters. Of course the professional items of his life on display still over power his personal life. How can it not with the career that someone life Walt Disney’s icon world achieved? Here for our viewing pleasure is a collection of things you would expect and not expect. There are some of the original pigment jars of paint that was used to color some of the Walt Disney animated classics along with a two-story camera that was used to control and make those classic animated films come to life. There is a model of the Fantasyland castle and a huge model of Disneyland complete with lights and moving parts (this is something you really have to see for yourself). Behind you there’s a wall of TV’s showcasing Walt’s participation in early television and an original bust of Abraham Lincoln used to make the animatronic for the Hall of Presidents and the mechanical torso as well around the corner.
The place has something for everyone and will keep you here for hours. If all of this still isn’t enough, there is a state-of-the-art digital theater on the lower level and two studios for teaching digital animation and the traditional way as well. Every month includes special screenings, concerts and even special appearances by some of the people that have worked with Walt through his career.
The next time you head out to San Francisco make sure you add an additional day to visit the Presidio and The Walt Disney Family Museum. It will be well worth your time and you’ll be reminded of your childhood while learning a little bit about the man that gave you all those great memories.
Powered by AkoComment 2.0!
