Walter Elias Disney was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film producer, he holds the record for most Academy Awards earned and nominations by an individual. He was presented with two Golden Globe Special Achievement Awards and an Emmy Award, among other honors. Several of his films are included in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress and have also been named as some of the greatest films ever by the American Film Institute.
The Presidio of San Francisco is a park and former U.S. Army post on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, and is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
The Walt Disney Studios, located in Burbank, California, United States, serves as the corporate headquarters for The Walt Disney Company media conglomerate. The 51-acre studio lot also contains several sound stages, a backlot, and other filmmaking production facilities for Walt Disney Studios's motion picture production. The complex also houses the offices for the company's many divisions, with the exception of Pixar Animation Studios, Lucasfilm, and 20th Century Studios, which remains on its namesake lot in nearby Century City as tenants of Fox Corporation.
John Hench was an American artist, designer and director at The Walt Disney Company. For 65 years, he helped design and develop various Disney attractions and theme parks.
Ward Walrath Kimball was an American animator employed by Walt Disney Animation Studios. He was part of Walt Disney's main team of animators, known collectively as Disney's Nine Old Men. His films have been honored with two Academy Awards for Best Animated Short Film.
Lillian Marie Disney was an American ink artist at the Disney Studios and the wife of Walt Disney from 1925 until his death in 1966. Born in Spalding, Idaho, Disney graduated from high school in Lapwai before moving to Lewiston to attend college. She left Idaho in 1923 to move to southern California, where she met future husband Walt while working as a secretary at Walt Disney Animation Studios.
Vance DeBar Colvig Sr., known professionally as Pinto Colvig, was an American voice actor, cartoonist, and circus and vaudeville performer whose schtick was playing the clarinet off-key while mugging. Colvig was the original performer of the Disney characters Goofy and Pluto, as well as Bozo the Clown and Bluto in Popeye. In 1993, he was posthumously made a Disney Legend for his contributions to Walt Disney Films, including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Fun and Fancy Free.
Marc Fraser Davis was a prominent American artist and animator for Walt Disney Animation Studios. He was one of Disney's Nine Old Men, the famed core animators of Disney animated films, and was revered for his knowledge and understanding of visual aesthetics. After his work on One Hundred and One Dalmatians he moved to Walt Disney Imagineering to work on rides for Disneyland and Walt Disney World before retiring in 1978.
The Disney Family is an American family that gained prominence when brothers Roy and Walt began creating films through the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, today known as mass media and entertainment conglomerate The Walt Disney Company. The Disney family's influence on American culture grew with successful feature films such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 and the opening of the Disneyland Amusement park in 1955. Other Disney family members have been involved in the management and administration of the Disney company, filmmaking, and philanthropy.
Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, Inc., commonly referred to as Imagineering, is the research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation, design, and construction of Disney theme parks and attractions worldwide. The company also operates Disney Live Entertainment and The Muppets Studio and manages Disney's properties, from Walt Disney Studios in Burbank to New Amsterdam Theatre and Times Square Studios Ltd. in New York City. Founded by Walt Disney to oversee the production of Disneyland, it was originally known as Walt Disney, Inc., then WED Enterprises, from the initials meaning "Walter Elias Disney", the company co-founder's full name. Headquartered in Glendale, California, Imagineering is composed of "Imagineers", who are illustrators, architects, engineers, lighting designers, show writers and graphic designers.
The Carolwood Pacific Railroad (CPRR) was a 7+1⁄4-inch gauge ridable miniature railroad run by Walt Disney in the backyard of his home in the Holmby Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It featured the Lilly Belle, a 1:8-scale live steam locomotive named after Disney's wife, Lillian Disney, and built by the Walt Disney Studios' machine shop. The locomotive made its first test run on December 24, 1949. It pulled a set of freight cars, as well as a caboose that was almost entirely built by Disney himself. It was Disney's lifelong fascination with trains, as well as his interest in miniature models, that led to the creation of the CPRR. The railroad, which became operational in 1950, was 2,615 feet (797 m) long and encircled his house. The backyard railroad attracted visitors to Disney's home; he invited them to ride and occasionally drive his miniature train. In 1953, after an accident occurred in which a guest was injured, the CPRR was closed to the public.
The multiplane camera is a motion-picture camera that was used in the traditional animation process that moves a number of pieces of artwork past the camera at various speeds and at various distances from one another. This creates a sense of parallax or depth.
Ronald William Miller was an American businessman and professional American football player. He was president and CEO of The Walt Disney Company from 1980 to 1984 and was president of the board of directors of the Walt Disney Family Museum. Miller was the son-in-law of Walt Disney.
Diane Marie Disney-Miller was the daughter and only biological child of Walt Disney and his wife Lillian Bounds Disney. Diane co-founded the Walt Disney Family Museum alongside her family. She was president of the Board of Directors of the Walt Disney Family Foundation.
Mary Blair was an American artist, animator, and designer. She was prominent in producing art and animation for The Walt Disney Company, drawing concept art for such films as Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Song of the South and Cinderella. Blair also created character designs for enduring attractions such as Disneyland's It's a Small World, the fiesta scene in El Rio del Tiempo in the Mexico pavilion in Epcot's World Showcase, and an enormous mosaic inside Disney's Contemporary Resort. Several of her illustrated children's books from the 1950s remain in print, such as I Can Fly by Ruth Krauss. Blair was inducted into the group of Disney Legends in 1991.
The Disney Gallery is an attraction and merchandise location at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, United States. It opened at its current location on Main Street, U.S.A. on October 2, 2009. From 1987-2007 it was located in New Orleans Square above the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction. The Gallery is a changing exhibition area focused primarily on artwork from Walt Disney Imagineering created in the designing of the Disneyland theme park. Merchandise relating to the current exhibition is usually available for purchase as well.
Walt Disney Presents is an interactive gallery exhibit located in Animation Courtyard at Disney's Hollywood Studios featuring memorabilia from the Disney archives. The gallery displays artifacts from Walt Disney's life and from the history of the company he founded from his birth in 1901 through the company's vision for the future. In addition, the attraction, The Walt Disney Theater includes a 15-minute short film of Walt Disney's life that explores the extraordinary hardships he overcame, as well as previously unseen footage, including Walt talking about the creation of Mickey Mouse.
Art of Disney Animation is an attraction at the Disney California Adventure in Disneyland Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland in Hong Kong Disneyland Resort. In Walt Disney Studios Park, the attraction opened on March 16, 2002 in the Toon Studio area, but was closed on January 7, 2019. It was reopened on November 17, 2019.
Kerner Optical was an American practical visual effects company based in San Rafael, California.
Richard Benefield is executive director of the George Rickey Foundation, Inc., as well as an independent consultant to museums and educational organizations including the Heard Museum, University of Arizona, and Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. He previously held director positions at The David Hockney Foundation, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, The Walt Disney Family Museum, and Harvard University Art Museums.
