Next year, in celebration of Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary, a new show titled Walt Disney – A Magical Life will debut in the Main Street Opera House. Announced at D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Experience, the attraction will feature a Walt Disney Audio-Animatronic to honor the visionary’s legacy. After yesterday’s announcement that the show would debut in May of next year, the Walt Disney Family Museum has issued a statement in support of the addition.
Honoring Walt Disney:
- For over 100 years, Disney has brought fantastical stories and experiences to families around the world.
- Started by the creative revolutionary Walt Disney, the impact that Disney has had on how we consume media and the magic of the world around us is undeniable.
- As we head into Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary, Walt Disney Imagineering is honoring the founder of the company with a brand new show titled Walt Disney – A Magical Life.
- Opening on May 16th, 2025, guests at Disneyland will be invited to step through the doors of the Main Street Opera House and into Walt Disney’s office to honor the founder.
- Featuring a highly advanced Audio-Animatronic of Walt Disney, some of Walt’s relatives have mixed feelings about his life-like recreation.
- However, the Walt Disney Family Museum released a statement in full support of the addition.
- Located in San Francisco’s Presidio, the Walt Disney Family Museum is a beautiful tribute taking guests on an interactive and informative journey through Walt’s life.
- In their statement, they shared that back in July of 2023, the museum’s Board, which includes five of Walt’s grandchildren and three of his great-grandchildren, were invited out to WDI’s Glendale campus to get a sneak peek of the project.
- Highlighting their “support and admiration for the work that The Walt Disney Company is doing,” the museum expressed their admiration for the technological advancements made to bring Walt Disney to life.
- The Walt Disney Family Museum also compared their mission with the new experience, as they both wish to embrace and honor who Walt Disney was.
- Tamara Miller, Walt Disney’s granddaughter and vice president of the museum’s Board of Directors shared “We believe that our grandfather would have been enthusiastic about the project and fascinated by the advancements of the Audio-Animatronics technology that was first developed during his days at WED (now Imagineering)—a technology that he was always passionate about, as evidenced by Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and The Enchanted Tiki Room.”
- Moreso, the museum highlights Walt’s purpose with honoring American history with Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. While Walt is no longer here to spread his creative vision, his ideas and creations have changed the world. Walt Disney’s legacy has impacted American culture in ways unfathomable to those who weren’t alive to witness it. Now guests at Disneyland will have to opportunity to really take in Walt’s legacy
- After the 70th celebration, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln will rotate with Walt Disney – A Magical Life allowing guests to experience the impact of two of America’s most impactful visionaries.
- Check out the full statement from the Walt Disney Family Museum below:
The Walt Disney Family Museum would like to express our support and admiration for the work that The Walt Disney Company is doing to create an Audio-Animatronics figure of Walt Disney, as announced at the D23 Ultimate Disney Fan Event in August 2024.
The Disneyland and Imagineering teams invited members of the museum’s Board—which includes five of Walt Disney’s grandchildren and three of his great-grandchildren—to view the current progress of the project in July 2023.
“We are grateful that the Disneyland and Imagineering teams reached out for any observations we could make for the accuracy of their model,” said Chris Miller, Walt Disney’s oldest grandson and a member of the museum’s Board of Directors. “Their work to that point was stellar, and they were very eager to be as accurate as possible in creating this. We came away confident that this is the right group to take on this important project.”
“The addition of the Audio-Animatronics figure of our grandfather to the Park’s attractions complements and enhances the Museum’s mission to educate people about who he was,” added Tamara Miller, Walt Disney’s granddaughter and vice president of the museum’s Board of Directors. “We believe that our grandfather would have been enthusiastic about the project and fascinated by the advancements of the Audio-Animatronics technology that was first developed during his days at WED (now Imagineering)—a technology that he was always passionate about, as evidenced by Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and The Enchanted Tiki Room.”
For over a decade, The Walt Disney Company and The Walt Disney Family Museum have been collaborating on various projects. The Company has been endlessly generous in providing the museum with historical information, loaned objects, and support for our initiatives. And the museum team has been pleased to be able to provide the Company with research, visual assets, and loans for exhibitions. “We are deeply grateful for our collaborative relationship,” said executive director Kirsten Komoroske. “We are enthusiastic about, and grateful for, the Company’s efforts to create this exciting new attraction that will allow people to experience Walt Disney, the man behind the magic.”
The Walt Disney Audio-Animatronics figure is set to debut as part of a new show, Walt Disney — A Magical Life, which will play in rotation with Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, an attraction created during Walt’s lifetime that features an Audio-Animatronics figure of Abraham Lincoln. After that attraction debuted in 1964, Walt said, “Ever since I was small boy in Illinois, I have had a great personal admiration for Abraham Lincoln… We wanted to bring to the people of today the inspiring words of [this] man.”
When the Lincoln attraction opened at Disneyland, park tickets included the inscription: "So young people may have a better knowledge of the man who played such an important part in American history… Walt Disney invites you to be his guest to spend a few…Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln." Thanks to the incredible efforts and vision of the Imagineers, new generations can now also spend a few moments with Walt Disney.
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