'Once Upon A Time, Walt Disney' exhibit & book

[Tom Morrow]

Paris exhibition may not come to the U.S.


Why won't Disney exhibition come to U.S.? (http://blogs.ocregister.com/morningeye/archives/2007/01/why_wont_disney.html)
Orange County Register BLOG - California

An elaborate, analytical exhibition of the works of Walt Disney has just closed at the Grand Palais museum in Paris, preparing for its trip to the Mus?e des Beaux-Arts in Montreal. It will run there from March 8 through June 24. After that, it will go ... nowhere?

For reasons unknown, no museum in the United States has made arrangements to display these collected works of the man whom Parisian curator Bruno Girveau calls "one of the great geniuses of the 20th century, and the greatest storyteller of the 20th century." The exhibit demonstrates the Disney method of building innovative new works by building on Old World artistic works of the past.

As a review of the Grand Palais show stated:The premise is that Disney took great influence from Old World artistic traditions. Many of his early animators were European emigr?s from continental art schools, including Albert Hurter of Switzerland, Gustaf Tenggren of Sweden and Kay Nielsen of Denmark.

A turning point for Disney - whom Girveau compares to an orchestra conductor, overseeing the work of other artists - was a 1935 trip to Europe. Disney brought back more than 300 illustrated books for his animators.

Many are on display, along with original art and other treasures. Disney opened up its 70,000-piece archive for the curator - not something it does often, said Nathalie Dray, spokeswoman for the Walt Disney Co. in France. More than 500 Disney pieces are on display.

The show also borrowed works from museums around the world, placing oil paintings in gilt frames alongside the Disney animations they helped inspire. A scene from the spooky forest in "Snow White," where trees come to life and grab at the heroine with spindly branches, is next to an eerie 1900 painting of anthropomorphic trees by William Degouve de Nuncques.If only we could see those works in the Disney heartland of Southern California, without traveling to Montreal.




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[Ezra]

It's a shame that there's no interest in this exhibit here. The Grand Palais only displays works of the "old masters" and has never exhibited American art before. This is a very significant achievement for Disney that their artists works would be exhibited in the Grand Palais. It's a symbol of acceptance of Disney by "the art world".

It's hard to believe that The Walt Disney Company wouldn't sponsor an American tour of this exhibit.

I just pre-ordered the exhibit exhibit catalog (http://www.amazon.com/dp/379133770X) at Amazon. It's probably the only way for me to ever see this. It's so sad.

[Henry Ravenswood]

I've been there (they day after my last visit to Disneyland Paris ... it was a perfect week-end :rolleyes:) and I loved it ! (I finally got to see Steamboat Willy and Destino !)

It's hard to believe that The Walt Disney Company wouldn't sponsor an American tour of this exhibit.
... especially after helping so much Bruno Girveau :icon_conf ...

Anyway ! There was a great French documentary made out of the exhibit ... you can watch it if you want :
http://mousefiles.com/videoiletaitunefois.php
(don't worry if the link seems to be dead ... it happens all the time ... but only for few hours ... usually)

You can also have a guided tour of the exhibit (in French bien s?r !) :
http://www.dlrp.fr/news/upload/attente/flashvideo/player.php?video=disneyexpo

[Tom Morrow]

Paris' Grand Palais exhibit comes to Montreal


Disney opened archive for Montreal exhibit (http://www.cbc.ca/arts/artdesign/story/2007/02/27/mmfa-disney.html)
CBC Montreal

The Disney studios in California has shared its rarely-opened archive to help create Once Upon a Time, Walt Disney, coming to Montreal in March. The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts will be the only North American stop for the exhibit, which features an examination of Disney's artistic roots, and also highlights his long-term legacy to the art world.

The show, opening March 8 in Montreal after a run in Paris, connects the dots between Walt Disney, the founder of the company, and the German Expressionist cinema of the early 1900s, and surrealist and abstract painters of the 1930s. By putting Disney drawings next to the original paintings and art styles, the exhibit teases out the deep artistic roots of the animation. With more than 500 works, including 300 from the Disney archive, it also begins to show how artists such as Alain Jacquet, Robert Combas and Andy Warhol drew images from the art of Disney.
complete article (http://www.cbc.ca/arts/artdesign/story/2007/02/27/mmfa-disney.html)



Sent from Ezra (http://www.visionsfantastic.com/forum/z/Ezra/)

[Tom Morrow]

http://www.visionsfantastic.com/forum/gallery/files/15227-QueenUta.jpgDisney art exhibit comes to Montreal


Finding Faust with Walt Disney (http://www.canada.com/cityguides/montreal/story.html?id=da469a5d-7039-4809-986b-66748cd31660&k=90437)
Montreal exhibition: Curator shows the artistic influences of uber-cartoonist
Montreal Gazette - Quebec, Canada

The Walt Disney Company had humble roots and fought to gain respect in the art community. Walt Disney relied on fellow artists, paintings, books and architecture for inspiration. This is what curator Bruno Girveau wants to show with his exhibition Once Upon a Time: Walt Disney, coming to Montreal for its only appearance in North America.

Opening at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts on March 8, the collection features some 500 never-before-seen pieces from the Disney archives, as well as various European film clips, books, manuscripts and photographs that inspired the early works Walt personally supervised, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) to The Jungle Book (1967).

complete article (http://www.canada.com/cityguides/montreal/story.html?id=da469a5d-7039-4809-986b-66748cd31660&k=90437)

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[Tom Morrow]

Montreal exhibit showcases Disney's artistic Fantasia


Disney's artistic Fantasia (http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/story.html?id=3720fb81-99f2-416f-b786-00f0d53a6a99&k=64781)
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts offers an exclusive look
at the animation genius's work and inspirations
Montreal Gazette - Quebec, Canada

If you haven't darkened the doors of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts recently, you might want to consider it, say, between tomorrow and June 24. Take the kids. The occasion is a exhibition-sized mouthful - Once Upon a Time: Walt Disney - The Sources of Inspiration for the Disney Studios. But the show is a joy.

Fresh from its debut in Paris and making its only North American appearance, the collection includes about 500 never-before-seen pieces from the Disney vaults - from the days of Steamboat Willie, in 1928, to the year after Disney's death in 1966. They include paintings, sculptures, drawings, film clips, maquettes, prints, books and - to welcome all at the entry - Mickey and Minnie Mouse, as modelled in 1930. This wealth of archival material is augmented by many stunning examples of European art that inspired Disney's greatest animated feature work, from 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to 1967's The Jungle Book.

The show is rounded out with modern and contemporary art inspired by Disney, from Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg and others. The current corporate Disney of theme parks and Pixar animation is nowhere to be found.

The show's purpose, French curator Bruno Girveau said yesterday, is to position Disney as not only an iconic figure in popular culture, "but as one of the major artists of the 20th century... The exhibit shows the genesis of the art of Walt Disney," Girveau explained. "I hope after you see it, you, too, will be convinced that he and his collaborators were great artists."
complete article (http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/story.html?id=3720fb81-99f2-416f-b786-00f0d53a6a99&k=64781)

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[Tom Morrow]

Walt Disney exhibit illustrates collaboration of geniuses



Walt Disney exhibit illustrates the collective collaboration of geniuses (http://www.westendchronicle.com/article-84131-Walt-Disney-exhibit-illustrates-the-collective-collaboration-of-geniuses.html)
The Chronicle, West End Edition - Montreal, Canada

Last Thursday, 4,000 people piled into a priceless exhibit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Featuring the story behind the stories that circled the world through Disney’s animation, this North American premier showing — with Montreal as its exclusive host abroad — originated at the Grand Palais in Paris. Titled ‘Once upon a time Walt Disney: the Sources of Inspiration for the Disney Studios’, it is a must for lovers of art in all its forms with Disney at the helm.

The presentation featured story boards, books, films, paintings, drawings, photos, collectibles, even Walt’s winnings, including his1938 Oscar for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs – complete with seven little Oscars beside the big one. It wasn’t only the animation clips that were a delight to behold, but most importantly, the archival treasure trove of films and century-old books that graphically and directly showed the viewer where Disney pulled his sources for inspiration. More than 500 pieces tell the story behind Disney’s classic pictures, such as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Bambi and more.

“I think that the importance of this exhibit is to be able to see side-by-side, beautiful works of art that ended up being reinvented by Disney’s animators to produce the classics we’ve come to know,” said Roxana Irigoyen, from NDG, a television and film prop buyer who greatly appreciated the artistic treats she got in the exhibit. “I got to see some beautiful pieces from the Pre-Raphaelites, such as M?lisande by Marianne Stoker. It was the inspiration for Disney’s Sleeping Beauty, among others.” Interestingly, that painting was made in 1895, and it took 36 years for it to make its legendary animation mark. “I loved seeing all the art that came with this. It was fun to see these real pieces and how they ended up in film.”
Complete article (http://www.westendchronicle.com/article-84131-Walt-Disney-exhibit-illustrates-the-collective-collaboration-of-geniuses.html)



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[Ezra]

I just recieved the exhibit catalog
Once Upon A Time: Walt Disney (http://www.amazon.com/dp/379133770X) today.

It's a beautiful book! All of the artwork is incredible. Seeing great original art printed side-by-side with Disney studio art that it inspired is really wonderful.

There are essays about Disney's Animation Reference Library, and the animators' training, Disney's sources for art and architecture, literature and cinema. In the back of the book there are biographies of all the Disney artists referenced in the book. This book is just packed!

I haven't read any of the essays yet, I'm still looking at the illustrations. :tongue:

[Tom Morrow]

Book on Disney artwork focuses on sources of inspiration




Disney's discovery: How to avoid a midlife slump (http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/money/article_1675850.php)
Book on Disney artwork focuses on sources of inspiration
Orange County Register - CA

http://www.visionsfantastic.com/forum/gallery/files/15227-OUATcover.jpgSome of Disney's approach to innovation is evident in the new book "Once Upon a Time Walt Disney," published in conjunction with an exhibit of Disney art that opened last year in Paris and is currently on display in Montreal.

Basically, Disney was an idea man. He began his career as a hands-on cartoonist, but as his company grew he soon became a full-time manager, organizer and inspirer. As Disney expert Pierre Lambert writes in "Once Upon a Time," Disney knew that "the kind of organization he had set up left him no time for drawing, but …he never felt any regrets about the fact, because drawing for him was just a tool to express his ideas."

As an idea man, Disney was a "conceptual innovator," a category defined by David Galenson, a University of Chicago economist who studies the careers of creative people, from artists to entrepreneurs. Conceptual innovators tend to come up with bold new ideas and make plans to achieve them, which lets them delegate work to assistants, as Disney did with artists starting in the 1920s.

"Once Upon a Time" focuses on this aspect of Disney's work. True to its subtitle, "The Sources of Inspiration for the Disney Studios," it portrays Disney works and the originals that inspired them. These include:

http://www.visionsfantastic.com/forum/gallery/files/15227-OUATcastle.jpgKing Stefan's castle from "Sleeping Beauty" of 1959 next to a castle scene from Laurence Olivier's 1944 film "Henry V," which in turn was inspired by medieval paintings.http://www.visionsfantastic.com/forum/gallery/files/15227-OUATtink.jpgModestly clothed Tinker Bell next to a nude winged goddess by 19th-century British painter John Atkinson Grimshaw.



complete article (http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/money/article_1675850.php)






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[Tom Morrow]

Book review: 'Once Upon A Time, Walt Disney'


How the Masters inspired the Mouse (http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/archive/2007/05/09/once-upon-a-time-walt-disney-catalog-showcases-seldom-seen-arl-treasures.aspx)
Jim Hill Media

Once Upon a Time, Walt Disney: The Sources of Inspiration for Disney Studios (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/379133770X)
http://www.visionsfantastic.com/forum/gallery/files/15227-OUATcover.jpgThis gorgeous catalog (Which was edited by Bruno Girveau, the Chief Curator of both the Paris & Montreal exhibit) features hundreds of photographs, preliminary sketches and full-blown concept paintings. Not to mention images of many classical pieces of art that Walt and his animators supposedly drew inspiration from.

Girveau's main purpose in staging this exhibition was to prove that Disney & his artists didn't work in a vacuum. That they studied the old masters and then "borrowed" various bits of staging and used color, light and shadow from these paintings to make the studio's shorts and animated features seem that much richer.

For - in this exhibit - Bruno did manage to showcase some truly hidden Disney gems. through the pieces that he selected for his exhibit, Bruno significantly deepens one's understanding of how the Mouse House's animated features ultimately come together.

Me personally, what I felt were one of the real highlights of this catalog were the appendices at the back of the book. Which featured brief biographical sketches of such Disney Legends as Marc Davis, Woolie Reitherman and Bill Peet.

Picking up a copy of this handsome Prestel Publishing hardcover is almost as good as taking a trip up to Canada to see this once-in-a-lifetime animation art exhibit in person. Almost.
complete article (http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/archive/2007/05/09/once-upon-a-time-walt-disney-catalog-showcases-seldom-seen-arl-treasures.aspx)


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