The Magic of Walt Disney Comes to Life at New San Francisco Museum Opening Oct. 1, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO -

- The Walt Disney Family Museum Celebrates Triumphs and Travails of Great American Storyteller, Animation Artist, Director and Innovator

The fascinating and inspiring story of Walt Disney will come to life on October 1, 2009, when The Walt Disney Family Museum opens in San Francisco.

Born in Chicago in 1901, Disney grew up on a failing farm in the rural Midwest, fell in love with drawing and animation and traveled, nearly penniless, to California in the early 1920s. Over the next 40 years, Disney elevated animation to an art form, created the first Academy Award-winning nature documentary, commissioned scores of songs that millions of people know by heart, and oversaw the birth of the first theme park, Disneyland. Today, more than 40 years after his death, Disney’s characters and creations remain an indelible part of popular culture around the world.

“The name ‘Disney’ calls to mind the vast company that bears my father’s name, rather than my father himself,” said Diane Disney Miller, daughter of Walt Disney and a director of the foundation that is funding the US$110 million museum. “My father was a man of endless curiosity who loved to tinker and explore and entertain people. We look forward to sharing an honest and affectionate portrait of this amazing man.”

Inside the Museum: An American Story

The Walt Disney Family Museum will contain hundreds of audio clips of Disney and his family and coworkers telling the stories of his creations, as well as over 1,600 objects and works of art, 200 monitors, and interactive exhibits that will invite visitors to learn about Walt Disney and the industry he nurtured. Highlights of the museum include:

- The earliest known drawings of Mickey Mouse - Animation cels of Disney’s characters - Storyboards, a Disney innovation, that map out timeless film classics - The innovative Multiplane Camera that revolutionized animation - The unique Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Academy Award: one full-size Oscar and seven miniature castings - The one-eighth scale train he installed at his Hollywood home that spurred his vision for Disneyland - A model of the Disneyland of Walt’s imagination

Visit www.waltdisney.org for more information.

Source: The Walt Disney Family Museum

Elaine Mellis of The Walt Disney Family Museum, +1-415-345-6822, emellis at wdfmuseum.org; or Christina French Houghton, +1-212-671-5162, choughton at resnicowschroeder.com, for The Walt Disney Family Museum