On October 1st, 2009, The Walt Disney Family Museum opened its doors to the public for the first time. To commemorate the museum’s 15th anniversary, members were invited to a special event to celebrate the launch of the new book, Walt Disney Treasures: Personal Art and Artifacts from The Walt Disney Family Museum. Hosted by Executive Director Kirsten Komoroske and Content/Research Manager Bri Bertolaccini, the presentation included a few stories and anecdotes about the making of the book, plus a few things you won’t find within its pages.
The history of The Walt Disney Family Museum traces its roots back to the 1950s when Walt Disney founded his personal, privately-owned company, Retlaw Enterprises. In its small Hollywood offices is where many of his personal treasures were stored. In the 1990s, Walt’s granddaughter Joanna Miller expressed her wishes for a better way to preserve these items, as well as a vision for making them accessible fo the public. Thus began the germ of an idea that would grow into The Walt Disney Family Museum. Walt Disney’s daughter, Diane Disney Miller, was instrumental in the museum’s location, design, construction, and management. In a behind-the-scenes video played during the event, Diane carried the same amount of exuberance and knowledge about every detail of the museum that Walt Disney portrays in his archival footage from the studio and theme park.
The Walt Disney Family Museum’s collection expands beyond items that Walt personally saved, including pieces that were acquired by the family. Kirsten Komoroske shared that the foundation continues to acquire items of historical significance to Walt Disney’s life and legacy, with recent acquisitions including Marc Davis’ costume designs from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and sketchbooks that belonged to Marc and Alice Davis that showcase their personal artistry outside of the studio.
Diane Disney Miller crafted the museum’s two-part mission statement (“To inform present and future generations about the man and, through his story, to inspire them to heed their imagination and persevere in pursuing their goals”), and this book’s chapters also come from her touchstone’s for the museum’s themes – Animation, Innovation, and Inspiration. The museum’s staffs collaborated to expand these themes into eight chapters that represent the breadth of items in their collection. From 25,000 artifacts, 250 were chosen for the book, which also opened up the opportunity to rephotograph many of them for the first time since the museum opened. The book also presented the opportunity to showcase a few items that guests won’t see at the museum, either because they live in the family’s private collections or because they were acquired for special exhibitions that have since closed.
The front side of 6 souvenir cards given to event attendees, each depicting an item featured in the book.
Below are a few of the items showcased during the event, along with the stories behind them that readers won’t find within the pages of Walt Disney Treasures.
Heart
- Chris Millers’ Autopia Car – Walt gave Autopia cars to Diane’s first two kids, Chris and Joanna. But as Diane and Ron kept having kids, the car was passed down, with the parents getting new license plates for each child’s name. Home movie footage was shown of the kids riding the car through the Disney Studio backlot.
- Diane Disney Miller’s Souvenir European Travel Bracelet – Gifted to Diane by her parents from their 1935 vacation, the bracelet includes a tiny ring. Research uncovered that this was a baby ring from when Diane was an infant.
- Lillian’s Oscar Charm Bracelet – An anecdote you won’t find in the book is that the charm bracelet was stolen from the Disney family. Since it was custom-made, it was easy to identify when it went up for auction years later, allowing the family to get it back.
- Collection of Miniature Shakespeare Books – Not featured in the book is an anecdote about why these miniature books look so aged and worn. It wasn’t how they were made, but this collection was a favorite of Walt’s grandchildren, who would pull them out and try to read them often, even though a magnifying glass was required.
Determination
- Earliest Known Drawing of Mickey and Minnie Mouse – Housed in a safe at Retlaw by Bill Cottrell, an anecdote that didn’t make it into the book is Diane’s first time seeing this precious artifact in person when it was being preserved for the museum. It had been carefully maintained in a climate-controlled environment, but Walt’s daughter was so overcome with emotion that she picked it up and hugged it.
- Harper Goff’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Scrapbook – The book features four pages devoted to the designer’s personal scrapbook from the production of this 1954 classic. More pages were shown during the presentation, including a photo of the artist pretending he was fishing, catching his own model of the Nautilus.
Inspiration
- Neysa McMein Portrait of Diane – It’s unclear if Walt Disney was aware of the artist’s work for the American Red Cross during World War I, something they had in common.
- Herb Ryman Portrait and Concept Drawing of Sharon – Wat Disney personally lured artist Herb Ryman to his studio. Sharon’s daughter, Michelle Lund, contributed these items to the book, and Bri shared that this is her favorite spread.
- Thomas Hart Benton Lithograph Collection – This Kansas City artist’s work was a favorite of Walt Disney’s for a number of reasons. One of them could be because Walt attended Benton Grammar School from 1910 to 1917, named for the artist’s great great uncle.
- Walt’s Salvador Dalí Watercolor – Not featured in the book is the fact that this grotesque piece of artwork adorned a bathroom in Walt Disney’s Palm Springs home at Smoke Tree Ranch. His grandchildren recalled being so frightened of it that they would try to avoid going to the bathroom while visiting.
Animation
- Maquette of Monstro from Pinocchio – Displayed during the 2016-2017 special exhibit Wish Upon a Star: The Art of Pinocchio, Kirsten showcased this item as an example of how the museum conserves items rather than restoring them. This plasticine model was in pieces when it arrived, pieced back together in a way that shows that part of its history.
- Walt’s Lady and the Tramp Script Notes – Only one (of eight) pages of handwritten script notes is included in the book, but Bri shared that her favorite detail is on that page – the fact that Tramp was not yet named, referred to only as “Boy Friend.”
- Mary Blair Concept Art – Previously announced at D23, the Walt Disney Family Museum will hold another Mary Blair special exhibition in 2025 following the success of the 2014 event, Magic, Color, Flair: The World of Mary Blair.
Inspiration
- The Walt Disney Studios Multiplane Camera – The museum houses one of just three Multiplane Cameras built for Disney. Not included in the book is the reason why this one features the number 12 on its side – used to indicate the room it was located in at the studio. Don Iwerks personally helped with the installation of this historic piece of animation history at the museum.
- John Hench-Designed 1960 Olympic Torch – An anecdote not featured in the book came from an interview Ron Miller gave to Don Hahn for his 2009 film Christmas With Walt Disney. Unused in the film, Ron recalled how Organizing Committee President Prentis Hale had to tell Walt, who was Chairman of the Pageantry Committee, that his opening ceremony was over budget. Walt responded with something like “You know who I am, figure it out.” As in, ‘I’m delivering a Disney-quality event, you find the funding for it.’
Creativity
- The Lilly Belle One-Eighth Scale Train – Guests of the book launch party got to see home video footage of Ron Miller and Diane Disney Miller riding Walt Disney’s legendary backyard train during a family function.
- Walt’s Cowboy Boots – The text that accompanies this item in the book is all about horses. One horse story not featured is Ron Miller’s memory from the production of Old Yeller. He was tasked with returning a particularly ornery horse back to the stable at the Golden Oak Ranch, with the crew waiting for him because they knew the horse would try to fling Walt’s son-in-law off. They all had a good laugh about it.
- Walt’s Attenhofer Downhill Skis – Recounted in the pages of the book is a memory from Diane Disney Miller of riding down Sugar Bowl’s Mount Disney on the shoulders of Austrian skiing champion Hannes Schroll. What the book doesn’t mention is that the famous Olympian also provided Goofy’s iconic yell when he falls in shorts like The Art of Skiing, which features a Sugar Bowl cameo.
Imagination
- Disneyland Apartment Lamp – The original furniture from Walt Disney’s fire station apartment at Disneyland is part of The Walt Disney Family Museum, including the lamp that indicated to Cast Members that the boss was home. Not featured in the book is a recollection from the grandchildren about how difficult it was to actually sleep there, as the Jungle Cruise attraction sounds didn’t stop when the park was closed.
- Alice Davis “it’s a small world” Costume Design – Alice Davis was instrumental to The Walt Disney Family Museum. One of the non-profit organizations earliest champions, Alice donated several items, including this one, in addition to her time by participating in presentations and helping to curate the 2014 special exhibit, Leading Ladies and Femmes Fatales: The Art of Marc Davis.
Legacy
- Dr. Adrian E. Flatt Casts of Walt’s Hands – It wasn’t common for men to wear wedding bands when Walt Disney married Lillian Bounds. But in this 1964 cast of Walt Disney’s hands, he wears a ring on his wedding finger. The book describes both rings, but Bri Bertolaccini discussed the road to determining which ring Walt was wearing on his ring finger. It happened to also be part of the museum’s collection – his DeMolay Legion of Honor Ring. The book also features a section about that ring, which is on display in the museum’s Awards Lobby.
The back side of the 6 souvenir cards.
The event closed with another clip from a Ron Miller interview. As Diane’s husband and former CEO of The Walt Disney Company, Ron served as President of the Board of Directors of The Walt Disney Family Museum from 2013 until his passing in 2019. In the clip, he discussed how he sometimes forgets that Walt Disney isn’t still with us, because he feels his presence so strongly at The Walt Disney Family Museum.
To learn more about The Walt Disney Family Museum, visit WaltDisney.org. Walt Disney Treasures: Personal Art and Artifacts from The Walt Disney Family Museum is now available wherever books are sold (including Amazon), and at the museum’s in-person and online gift shop.
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