By Tinker Belle Diva
In July of 2015, I had the pleasure of visiting the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. The museum tells the story of Walt’s family starting with his parents and then goes through his life and up to his death. I thoroughly enjoyed it, so I was pleased to find out that there is an option in their app now available for anyone to virtually visit the museum. As the museum is temporarily closed, this is the only way to experience it for now.
In either the Apple or Google Play store, download the free App called, “The Walt Disney Family Museum”. From here, you will select your language and then will be at the home page. Select “Virtual Offering” and you will be taken to the next page with two choices. The first is The World of Tomorrow: A Virtual Community Art Exhibition. Here you will “step into The World of Tomorrow virtual exhibition and browse the halls to appreciate the artwork submitted by many inspiring artists from our global community”. The second choice is Virtual Tour and Highlights, where you can “Step inside the museum and enjoy this immersive tour for people of all ages who wish to visit the museum and learn about Walt’s life in a streamable format” – in other words, this is the Tour. If you don’t want to download an app, you can experience both of these from your home computer at this website. The tour is narrated by Camille Dixon and Bill Rogers and will be offered free to the public for a limited time.
Oscar for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
The tour takes you through the museum’s main galleries, starting the awards gallery with a focus on the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Oscar. The guide takes you through images and stories of Walt’s childhood and early adulthood, including his time serving in World War I.
You will then learn about his start as a comic artist once he returns from the War, and how he built is career with the Alice comedies, his creation of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and then the birth of Mickey Mouse. You will hear about the development of other Disney films and how they achieved the quality we know and love in these films. My favorite gallery is Gallery 9 which is all about the Happiest Place on Earth – Disneyland! The tour concludes with a piece from Diane Disney Miller, Walt Disney’s daughter and founder of the museum.
The Model of 1955 Disneyland
The tour is a nice mix of still photos and video clips. You will see images from the museum galleries and hear narrations from Walt too. The tour lasts just over 30 minutes, and it is a great summary of what you will find if you visit the museum. I spent over half a day in the museum, so you are just going to get a touch of what you will find if you visit the museum once it reopens.
Want more Walt Disney Family Musuem virtual experiences? There are plenty to be found on their Virtual Calendar. I attended Disneyland’s 65th Anniversary Special. This was a free event streamed on Facebook and YouTube, and you submitted your questions to Camille Dixon, Bill Rogers, and Chris Crump head of time. We also had time with Bob Gurr!
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