Disney reveals its vast archive to celebrate its anniversary

From princess dresses and sketches of cute characters to toys from a century ago, photos and documents: the deposits and cellars of Disney are full of “hundreds of millions” of movie treasures.

To celebrate the company’s 100th anniversary, which officially falls on October 16, Disney recently opened the doors to its vaults, allowing the media to visit its recording studio in Burbank, near Los Angeles.

“This is what we call the tip of the iceberg”said Becky Cline, director of the Walt Disney Archives, before unveiling original artifacts such as the legal document marking the studio’s founding, the first script for the Mickey Mouse cartoon, and costumes from the latest Marvel movies.

Many other items are touring the world with “Disney 100: The Showcase”which is simultaneously in Munich and Philadelphia, and which must visit other destinations, such as London.

In Paris, an immersive and multisensory experience focused on the friendship between its distinctive characters was also opened.

But most of the Disney archives are in “five or six” warehouses “distributed” in the Los Angeles area, with large items like vintage theme park cars and movie props, archivist Nicole Carroll said.

“We do so many things that we are always looking for more space!”, commented.

Founded in 1970, the goal of the highly specialized and meticulous team of 30 archivists is to maintain “a small sample” everything, Carroll explained.

For example, if a newly released movie has 250 fancy costumes, with four or five for each superhero, the team will select “a pair of distinctive models of each character” for posterity.

But even with this methodology, every time a production ends, the team could add “hundreds of things” to the file, Carroll explained.

precious treasures

One of the most precious treasures in the archives are the gigantic storybooks that appear at the beginning of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” and “Sleeping Beauty”as well as a glass slipper of the acted version of Cinderella.

Some gain a new purpose: a snow globe from the movie “Mary Poppins” from 1964 was removed from the archive and replicated by the filmmakers who worked on the 2018 remake.

If we add to this the photographic and documentary archives containing the first editions of cartoons, tickets for the opening of Disneyland in 1955, corporate balance sheets and press clippings, the total collection amounts to “hundreds of millions” of articles, says Cline.

But perhaps the most hallowed space for Disney obsessives lies right on the Burbank lot: the personal offices of founder Walt Disney, where he built his entertainment empire from the 1940s until his death in 1966.

A meticulous inventory was made of every object he left behind, even detailing the exact angle of repose of his books, including volumes on Nikola Tesla, Salvador Dalí, and trains.

A decade ago these offices were restored by employees of the Walt Disney Archives.

Now they concentrate everything from unfinished plans for theme parks to figures of beloved fairy tale characters.

And of course, several Oscars.

Only a few groups are admitted to visit this venue annually, considered sacred by the connoisseurs of a company famous for the almost unparalleled obsession of its fans.

“People come and cry in front of this amazing human,” says the tourist guide Laura Sánchez. “They get to wander into the past.”

Source: AFP