A Little Diversion to SFO

April 5, 2013

Snow White Exhibit,
Walt Disney Family Museum,
San Francisco, CA

I thought I would share a little diversion I recently took this past couple of weeks ago to San Francisco, CA to see the Snow White exhibit on display at the Walt Disney Family Museum at the Presidio.  If you have never been to visit this museum, you are in for a real treat.  Walt's daughter, Diane Disney Miller founded this institution several years ago to house and share the personal story and incredible things about her father.   I visited the museum the first year it opened and was amazed at all the wonderful things on display.  The permanent collection includes the original Academy Awards presented by Shirley Temple to Walt Disney in 1937, a wonderful selection of Disney production artwork, Walt's backyard train - The Lily Belle, a unique scale model of Disneyland and more.

Several months back I learned that the Disney company in conjunction with the museum was planning to host an exhibit on Snow White in celebration of the film's 75th anniversary.   This exhibit opened in late 2012 and would run through April 14, 2013.   I just knew that I had to find time to go down for the weekend to see the exhibit before it closed.  When I arrived, I noticed the museum had expanded into an adjacent building on the campus and the complete Snow White collection was on display in this special gallery.  

As you walked into the exhibit gallery you are greeted by a wonderful selection of vintage/period lobby cards and movie posters as well as the Snow White Academy Awards.  Starting on the top floor you work your way through the story with pieces of original production art from the Museum's collection and other prominent collectors as well as the Disney Archives.   Early pieces included the Wicked Queen at the mirror (on loan from Stephen Ison) and concept drawings of Snow White cleaning and with some of her forest friends.  One particularly interesting piece included a concept piece of the Magic Mirror faces.  Production pieces from this sequence are incredibly rare and no animation cel setups of the actual mirror face is known to exist. 

As one continued into the exhibit, there were a number of great pieces from the scene where Snow White runs into the forest before heading downstairs.   A couple pieces to note include the drawings of the scary forest (to be explained in a later post) and the dramatic high note where Snow White is very expressive in single cel setup.

Moving downstairs, the exhibit continues with the story and one of the only known maquettes from the film is on display.  But wait there is not one but two of them!  Both of Dopey in a wood finish and a full color mock up.  They are simply beautiful.  I love to collect maquettes and it was a thrill to see one of the earliest in animation up close.  

Some other pieces of note, included a wonderful production background of the interior cottage scene with her forest friends, complete with an overlay, a wonderful background of the cottage exterior on loan from the Disney Archives and an even better key master setup of all seven dwarfs with production background on loan by Disney animator, Andreas Deja.  It was important to note that not all of the cel setups on display were actually production.  The Disney Archive had recreated several scenes from the original animation drawings and paired up with reproduced backgrounds in the exhibit.  This was due to fact that the original setups were becoming to fragile to travel and be on display.  However, there were a number of original backgrounds and original cel setups in the collection that more than made up for some of the reproduced works.

Next up was a section from one of my favorite scenes in the film, the Queen's transformation. Included in this section were some wonderful drawings of the Queen's hands as they change into that of an old hag.  I particularly liked the drawing of the her bony structure.  Also up for display was the chemistry of the magic potion being worked up.   As noticed throughout the exhibition, there were TV monitors allowing you to experience a part of the film while taking in the beautiful artwork.

Rounding out the story, the exhibit then showcased a fantastic concept piece of the Old Hag offering Snow White an apple by Gustav Tenggren.  I had never seen this concept piece before and in particular this one by Tenggren was striking with the somewhat realistic looking Snow White offset by the very grotesque appearance of the Queen.  The piece was placed somewhat high up on display but it worked well to present this key scene in the movie.  Tenggren was known for his storybook quality in illustration and it clearly shows through in this very graphic stylized piece.  I loved it, and can understand why they used it in their marketing materials.

As you wondered to the end of the exhibit it continued with the story of the Dwarfs chasing the Old Hag to her demise and the finale for the film.  Of particular note where some wonderful black and white thumbnail layouts by Ken O'Connor of the Old Hag and Dwarfs. I loved the dramatic styling with using just two colors.  I also particularly noticed how some of the better key master setups were displayed in a special plexi-box that really allowed for a better visual experience and without the need for a frame.  This is something I am interested in doing for pieces in my own collection and I hope to explore more in the future.  

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed this exhibit and what it offered.  There were a number of art pieces that I had not seen before and it is a great thrill to discover something new through seeing the art up close.  So, if you did not get an opportunity to see the exhibit, there is a second chance.  This exhibit is on it way to the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA opening June 8 and closing October 7.  To learn more about it, check out their webpage.