Chapter 9
It Was All Started by a Mouse

Previous Post | Next Post
Table of Contents

The first room once you actually enter the museum’s galleries is devoted to Walt’s early life.

All the plaques in these rooms had so much verbiage, and (unlike at other museums) we actually wanted to read all of it. There were also lots of artifacts to admire and plenty of pictures to look at.

Each of the first several rooms also had a video that was narrated by Walt (pulled from old interviews).

I think this first room basically covered his childhood—including some stories about his time in Chicago and Marceline. As we walked in a little further, it transitioned to a focus on Walt as a young adult, and his involvement with the ambulance corps in World War I.

After the war, he started trying to work as a cartoonist in Kansas City.

And it wasn’t long before he showed an interest in moving pictures.

This is the first camera that Walt and Roy bought.

Of course, it wouldn’t save him from bankruptcy right away.

The first rooms of the museum are very modest, and then they start to get a little more grand as Walt’s life becomes more exciting. After these first looks at his early life, you go into an elevator that takes you up to the Hollywood room.

This one focuses on the early Alice movies and Oswald cartoons.

I loved all the handwritten letters on display.

The whole museum strikes a good balance between looking at Walt’s career and focusing on his personal life. I enjoyed the stories about Walt and Lillian meeting (and also the ones about Roy and Edna).

The whole Oswald section is so bittersweet, and the museum also didn’t shy away from a focus on the betrayal Walt experienced when he lost the character.

Luckily, it transitions right into the birth of Mickey Mouse.

These are the first known drawings of Mickey Mouse. While they usually have the originals at the museum, they must have been on loan somewhere at the time, because these were labeled as facsimiles.

Several more early drawings.

Here’s a telegram describing the necessary funds to get the first Mickey Mouse short off the ground.

Mickey Mouse is so ubiquitous now, but it’s hard to believe there was a time when he was brand new.

I loved this wall of old merchandise that showed the evolution of products related to the character.

This display of over 300 drawings that went into animating less than 15 seconds of Steamboat Willie was just plain exhausting to look at.

Even though the whole Disney success story was one we already knew, it’s hard not to find yourself enthralled by the narrative. We were certainly rooting for Walt when he came through with the successful character who was able to pave the way for so many animation milestones in the future.

Previous Post | Next Post
Table of Contents