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The biggest collection of material ever from the production of the seminal Disney film 'Pinocchio' is currently on display in San Francisco.

The post In Conversation: John Canemaker On The Disney Family Museum’s Massive ‘Pinocchio’ Exhibit appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

Check out our image gallery of Mel Shaw artwork, which will soon be on display at the Walt Disney Family Museum.

The post From ‘Bambi’ to ‘The Lion King,’ Disney Legend Mel Shaw Lassos a Retrospective appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

The Walt Disney Family Museum has opened a new exhibit focused on one of the studio's legendary Nine Old Men: "Leading Ladies and Femmes Fatales: The Art of Marc Davis." The show will be up through November 3. Unlike the museum's current Mary Blair exhibition, the Davis show is much smaller, with around 70 pieces on display.

Diane Disney Miller, author J.B. Kaufman and Lella Smith (creative director of the Disney Animation Research Library) discuss the art just published in Kaufman’s second new Snow White book, Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs: The Art and Creation of Walt Disney’s Classic Animation.

This second Snow White book by J.B. – not to be confused with The Fairest One Of All, both on sale today – is primarily an art book published in conjunction with The Walt Disney Family Museum’s new exhibit, Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs: The Creation of a Classic (opening November 15th and will run through April 14th 2013). This book walks the reader through the movie, scene by scene, accompanying the art with behind-the-scenes stories about the film’s production. I highly, highly recommend it!!

The Walt Disney Family Museum announced yesterday their first major special exhibition, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: The Creation of a Classic.” The show is tied into the film’s 75th anniversary this year, and will be on view from November 15, 2012 through April 14, 2013 at the San Francisco-based museum.

I saw a preview of the exhibition yesterday afternoon and it will be a must-see for any Cartoon Brew reader. The more than 200 pieces of art on display will include conceptual drawings, early character studies, detailed story sketches, and animation drawings, as well as thumbnail layout watercolors, pencil layouts, watercolor backgrounds, cels, and vintage posters.

The show will be organized by sequence through the progression of the film, featuring plenty of never-before-seen artwork and behind-the-scenes stories about the film’s production. Artwork from deleted sequences like the Dwarfs’ Bed Buildng Scene and Snow White-dancing-in-the-stars fantasy segment will also be represented. The exhibition is curated by Lella Smith, the Creative Director of the Walt Disney Animation Research Library, and will be accompanied by an exhibition catalog written by J. B. Kaufman. (We’ve plugged the catalog earlier on Cartoon Brew.

Below is a preview of five of the pieces that will appear in the show. All images are ©Disney Enterprises, Inc. The watercolor concept of the witch in the rowboat was painted by Sam Armstrong; the witch offering Snow White the poisoned apple was drawn by Gustaf Tenggren; the layout thumbnail of the dwarfs looking over the precipice was drawn by Ken O’Connor. Click on any of them for a larger version.

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If you missed Brad Bird’s talk in San Francisco about “The Disney Treatment: Walt’s Versions of Classic Stories,” the Walt Disney Family Museum blog offers this lengthy summary of the talk. Brad sounds sharp as usual:

Brad pointed out that while Snow White had a very simple opening, it showed what a good storyteller Walt was. When the book of the Snow White fairy tale opens, it has a bit of a “silent movie” approach, with text that audiences have to read. When the Queen’s castle is revealed, Brad noted, “Instead of happy music it begins with mysterious music, which immediately puts you in a different state of mind. The coolest thing is he (Walt) instinctively begins with not only the Queen, but also the mirror. He shows right away she is a slave to her own image.”

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On the afternoon of Saturday, May 19, Brad Bird will speak at the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. The subject of his talk will be “The Disney Treatment: Walt’s Versions of Classic Stories.” Brad always has thought-provoking things to say, and this is a topic I’ve never heard him discuss at length so it sounds like a can’t-miss event. This is the lecture description:

Director (The Iron Giant, Mission: Impossible/Ghost Protocol) and two-time Oscar®-winner (The Incredibles, Ratatouille) Brad Bird will discuss how Walt adapted well-known and even previously-filmed stories and created what are widely regarded as “definitive” versions. From Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men; Treasure Island to Swiss Family Robinson, Bird will explore the appeal of these tales to Walt-and how his individual and personal viewpoint made them enduring classics.

Tickets are $12 and available on the Walt Disney Family Museum ticketing site. Their system doesn’t seem to recognize the event, which may indicate that it’s already sold out.

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