When I found out that part of our Rogue One Press Trip included a visit to the Walt Disney Family Museum on what would be Mr. Disney’s 115th birthday, you know I was over the moon. For all the times I have gone to San Francisco, I had not been able to visit this museum. Being a huge Disney fan, this of course, is like visiting a holy grail of sorts other than the parks or the studios. Well yes, pretty much anything Disney is always significant to me, I can’t deny it. 🙂 Our visit highlight was the “Wish Upon a Star: The Art of Pinocchio exhibition” which commemorates 77 years since the movie’s 1940 launch, and marks the release of The Walt Disney Signature Collection: Pinocchio, on Blu ray/DVD and HD formats this January 31rst.
Wish Upon a Star: The Art of Pinocchio exhibition
I was blown away by the exhibit. The magic, hard work and enthusiasm from the creators that it captured was vivid and palpable. With over 300 items featured at the exhibit, the creative-process and arduous work to bring to life our beloved Pinocchio became very real. I couldn’t help but think how many times the artists went back to the story and drawing boards to capture the magic delivered in a classic story that has captured imaginations and delivered valuable lessons to generations of us!
Definitely, the pre-digital era process is as intricate and interesting as the digitial one. For me, it ads one more personal dimension as we enjoyed someone else’s own hand traces and ideas on the paper in front of us.
Fun Facts on Disney’s Pinocchio:
Published as an illustrated serial in Italy, the original story of Pinocchio by Carlo Lorenzini, better known by his pen name Carlo Collodi, (1826–1890) presented Walt Disney with the challenge of adapting a rambling novella into a succinct story.

Gustaf Tenggren, Pinocchio concept art; collection of the Walt Disney Animation Research Library, © Disney_crop
The original novel was kind of a scary one in which Pinocchio was bratty. That all changed at the hands of Disney.
Gepetto’s transformation on the story board from a very old and fragile man to the character we know was amazing to see as well as finding out that in the original Italian story, Pinocchio actually crushes Jiminy Cricket at the beginning of the story!

Disney-Studio-Artist-visual-development-for-Pinocchio-pencil-on-paper-collection-of-The-Walt-Disney-Family-Foundation-gift-of-Ron-and-Diane-Miller-©-Disney.jpg
Monstro was not identified as a whale in the original novel. Nevertheless, Disney chose a whale to enhance his villain characteristics. Finally, Figaro is based on animator Larson’s nephew.
About Pinocchio
From the mid-1930s to the mid-1940s, The Walt Disney Studios created five cinematic classics that explored new possibilities and redefined the art of animation: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940), Dumbo (1941), and Bambi (1942). Produced at the end of the Depression in the late-1930s, Pinocchio brilliantly deployed state-of-the-art hand-crafted drawings and various technical breakthroughs—such as the Multiplane Camera— to tell an epic story. Touted by many as the crowning achievement of the extraordinary Golden Age of Walt Disney’s early studio, this groundbreaking film pioneered cutting-edge animation and sound technologies and firmly established a blueprint for Disney filmmaking that remains intact today. It became the first animated feature film to win a competitive Academy Award®—in fact it won two—and is now considered one of the finest films ever made.
About the Walt Disney Family Museum
The Walt Disney Family Museum presents the fascinating story and achievements of Walt Disney, the man who raised animation to the level of fine art, transformed the film industry, tirelessly pursued innovation, and created a global yet distinctively American legacy. Opened in October 2009, the 40,000 square foot facility features the newest technology along with a vast collection of historic materials and artifacts to bring Disney’s achievements to life, myriad interactive galleries presenting early drawings and animation, movies, music, listening stations, a spectacular model of Disneyland and much more.
The Walt Disney Family Museum has created many world-class exhibitions, such as Disney and Dalí: Architects of the Imagination; MAGIC, COLOR, FLAIR: the world of Mary Blair; and Water to Paper, Paint to Sky: The Art of Tyrus Wong, several of which have traveled to other museums around the world. Wish Upon a Star: The Art of Pinocchio is the fifteenth exhibition originated by museum since 2012.
Art is so powerful. It really was an amazing experience to witness and try to imagine the painstaking yet beautiful history on the process of bringing #Pinocchiobluray to life the Disney way at the Walt Disney Family Museum. We are now on total countdown to getting our Signature Pinocchio copy!
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The Walt Disney Family Museum is such an amazing place to visit, I had an amazing time there while I visit in 2015, cannot wait to return and learn ore about Walt, his family, and his legacy. Thanks for sharing!