FEATURED EVENTS

During D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event presented by Visa®, The Walt Disney Family Museum announced its latest special exhibition, Directing at Disney, inspired by the recent book of the same name written by Academy Award®-winning director and Chief Creative Officer of Pixar Pete Docter and Disney historian and author Don Peri—published by Disney Editions. Guest curated by Docter and Peri with the museum’s Director of Collections and Exhibitions Marina Villar Delgado, Directing at Disney will spotlight many of the legendary directors whose creative talent and innovations made Walt Disney’s animated films possible. Opening October 17, 2024, this original exhibition will be on view in the museum’s Lower Lobby and Theater Galleries. Directing at Disney will showcase an extensive selection of rare film artifacts from The Walt Disney Studios and archival photographs featuring Walt, his early production teams, and legendary directors—dating as far back as the 1930s. Objects and ephemera on display will include detailed production and story meeting notes, storyboards, concept paintings, layout drawings, original sheet music, office memos, and hand-written letters. The special exhibition space will also feature touchscreen interactives and opportunities to scan QR codes to access additional digital content.

This behind-the-scenes tour will take you through a facility designed to accommodate all current and future animals at Oakland Zoo, from small birds to large tigers and grizzly bears. It features radiology and surgical suites, a small laboratory, a pharmacy, wide transportation docks, and LEED Gold certification.

From the earliest hand-drawn cartoons to today’s blockbuster CGI films, all animation begins with an artist and an idea. The Cartoon Art Museum’s new exhibition, A Treasury of Animation, showcases original production art following the evolution of animation from the 1920s onward. The first major exhibition drawn from the Cartoon Art Museum’s vast permanent collection since its reopening in Fisherman’s Wharf, A Treasury of Animation features historic never-before-seen work. “Our permanent collection houses thousands of animation cels and concept drawings,” says CAM Curator Andrew Farago, “but only a small portion of that artwork can be shown at any given time. This exhibition is an opportunity for us to show off the best of the best from the museum’s archives.” Highlights include background paintings, cels and production art from beloved films like Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Fantasia and theatrical shorts starring icons like Bugs Bunny, Tom and Jerry and Popeye. The exhibition explores the history of television animation from the first TV animated series, Crusader Rabbit, through primetime favorites like The Simpsons.