D23 Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives – Over 160 Photos

July 9, 2012 Denise

We were invited to a preview of D23 Presents: Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives, which officially opened on July 6th and runs through April 2013 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. It took a while to go through the nearly 1000 photos our correspondent took (thanks to LB for covering it for us!)

The Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives display is the largest exhibition ever created by the Walt Disney Archives and the largest temporary exhibit ever brought to the Reagan Library. An MP3 album inspired by the display has even put on sale here at Amazon for only $9.99! The exhibition runs the span of over 100 years – including Walt Disney's baptism certificate from 1901 and the Tron Light Cycle from 2010's Tron: Legacy. There are over 500 artifacts included, many of which have never been displayed before.

For those who haven't been, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library is in a quiet, beautiful Simi Valley setting. And there is much more to see during a visit, one of my favorite parts of the Library is walking through Air Force One! Allow for at least a few hours or more. We are looking forward to visiting next month!

We also have a video with some information about the exhibit here.

The entrance to the exhibit includes busts of Walt Disney and Ronald Reagan, who were longtime friends.

Fantasia sculptures:

Walt's office includes the piano that the Sherman Brothers sat at as they played music for Walt, including his favorite, "Feed the Birds" from Mary Poppins.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks memorabilia:

Do you remember this gorgeous coat that Annette Funicello wore in Babes in Toyland? (next to it, Tommy Sands' outfit).

We'll be bouncing around a bit, in order that the photos were taken. Downstairs we find the former Hitchhiking Ghosts and Bride from the Walt Disney World Haunted Mansion. Archives Director Becky Cline told us that the exhibit felt more academic on the top floor, and like a theme park experience on the lower floor. How did the Ronald Reagan Museum give so much space for this exhibit? By "blowing a hole in the wall", said Steven Clark, head of D23, telling us that it allowed for the exhibit to double in size.