Walt Disney Family Museum

Walt Disney Family Museum: An entertaining tribute to Walt's legacy

Share

Jan 26, 2010

     Hundreds of buildings on the grounds of the Presidio, the Army base-turned-national park at the northern tip of San Francisco, have been converted to civilian uses—from private homes to restaurants and a spa. But none has been more handsomely converted for the public’s benefit than this building on the Main Post that now pays homage to Walt Disney. It opened in October 2009.

     A visit begins with a museum greeter ushering you into a lobby packed with hundreds of Disney’s awards, including 15 Oscars in a single display case. That’s only the beginning. Next you proceed through two rooms focused on Walt’s childhood and young adulthood, featuring a World War I ambulance of the type Walt drove for the American Red Cross in France. An elevator decorated like a train car then lifts you to seven second-floor rooms. These cover Walt’s early years in Hollywood as an animator and producer of cartoons; the birth of Mickey Mouse (his first big success); the 1930s switch from black-and-white to color animation (with a display case of paints that were used); the explosion of music in mid-career films like “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and “Fantasia”; the introduction of special effects; patriotic films he made during World War II; and the making of classics like “Cinderella” and “Peter Pan” in the post-war years.

     A hallway with floor-to-ceiling windows reveals a stunning view of the nearly Golden Gate Bridge, then it’s down a long, curving ramp where displays focus on Disney’s plans (and a 13-foot-diameter scale model) for Disneyland. The last three rooms highlight “Mary Poppins,” Walt’s involvement with television, and his plans for Disney World and Epcot Center. He died before construction began.

     The museum dazzles with its multimedia delivery: a composite of old back-and-white photos; cartoon drawings (many by Walt himself); and video clips of Disney cartoons, movies and interviews (some on vintage black-and-white TV sets). Among the objects that bring home the message of how animation has changed through the decades are movie cameras that are larger in each room, culminating with a one-story-high multiplane camera.

    Unlike most Disney-operated attractions around the country, this museum is geared more to adults—especially those old enough to remember watching the avuncular Walt Disney introducing each episode of “The Wonderful World of Disney” on Sunday nights. Still, there are enough video clips to keep kids—older kids, at least—engaged enough to allow parents to admire the rest of the museum. Timed-entry reservations are recommended.

     Disney’s huge commercial success is well known. For three decades he was a celebrity whose acquaintances included artists (he once employed Salvador Dali), actors and U.S. presidents. But the visitor to this new museum leaves with a new, richer appreciation of another side of Disney, as artist and visionary.

- by Bob Cooper, San Francisco Reporter for HelloMetro  (Click to leave a message)