The Magical Archive: Disney’s Century of Princess Costumes, Sketches, and Hollywood Treasures

2023-07-06 13:12:47

Princess costumes, sketches, photos and collectors’ documents: in a century of existence, Disney has amassed hundreds of millions of treasures, which today make it possible to trace entire sections of the history of Hollywood cinema. The studio, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary on October 16, opened the depot at its headquarters in Burbank, near Los Angeles, to the press.

The studio’s bookstore-like rooms house a host of relics, including the legendary Mickey Mouse’s first script, the founding legal document attesting to the studios’ founding, and a slew of Marvel superhero costumes.

Archivist Nicole Carroll presents the original 1928 script for Disney’s “Steamboat Willie,” the first cartoon to feature Mickey Mouse. [Robyn Beck – afp]

“We collect so much that we’re always looking for extra space,” says archivist Nicole Carroll.

Old roller coaster cars from their amusement parks, the most diverse film props: beyond the Burbank site, Disney stores millions of objects and souvenirs in “five or six” warehouses “scattered” in the region from Los Angeles.

A team of 30 archivists

Founded in 1970, the team of archivists today consists of 30 people and strives to keep a “small representation” of everything the company has done, says Nicole Carroll.

On a film with 250 costumes, including four or five for each of the heroes, they select for example “a few emblematic looks of each character” for posterity. Despite this selective approach, each time a film ends, “we might add hundreds of things” to the collection, she explains.

Worthy of Aladdin’s genius cave, the archives are sometimes very practical. After narrowly escaping the trash, a snow globe from the 1964 “Mary Poppins” was thus able to be used to design a replica intended for the sequel to the adventures of the governess with magical powers, released in 2018.

Hundreds of millions of items

Among the most cherished relics are the collections of giant tales appearing at the beginning of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and “Sleeping Beauty”, as well as a crystal slipper from Cinderella, collected following the remake of the film in live action.

Including the documentary archive, which compiles the original edition of many cartoons, tickets for the opening of Disneyland in 1955 and many corporate documents, the total collection of the studio reaches “hundreds of millions” of items. , according to Becky Cline, the director.

The founder’s personal offices, holy of holies for fans

But the most mythical space for fans remains the personal offices of the founder Walt Disney, restored a little less than 10 years ago on the Burbank site. It was from there that the cartoonist built his entertainment empire, from 1940 until his death in 1966.

The items he left behind have been painstakingly inventoried and the rooms laid out exactly as they were then, right down to the slant of his books on Nikola Tesla or Salvador Dali.

Walt Disney’s private office during a media tour of the Disney Studio and the Walt Disney Archives on June 20, 2023 in Burbank, California. [Robyn Beck – afp]

These desks also contain unfinished amusement park plans and character figurines. Not to mention the multiple Oscars won by Walt Disney.

Only a few groups of visitors are admitted each year to this space, revered as the holy of holies by a community of devouring fans.

“People come in and cry for this amazing human being,” says tour guide Laura Sanchez. “It allows them to tread on the past.”

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