Home / Disney / A Rare Peek Inside the Disney Animation Research Library | #DisneyInHomeBloggers

A Rare Peek Inside the Disney Animation Research Library | #DisneyInHomeBloggers

As part of my trip to California last month with Disney In Home Bloggers, I got to take a very special trip to the Disney Animation Research Library. Where is it exactly? I have no idea. Why? Because it is housed in a secret (shhh!) location, address unknown. Top.Secret. Stuff. And rightfully so, because carefully cataloged, filed, preserved and guarded within this building are years and years of Disney history.

Normally, when you have a group of bloggers in a space as fantastic as this, they are taking photos and tweeting endlessly  … but this was not the case here. We were not allowed to have our phones and/or cameras, only notepads and our memories. It was actually quite refreshing … an old fashioned “absorb your surroundings” reporting type of situation. The photos that you see here were provided by Disney, and I am so thankful that you get to see a peek at what I saw, because I will honestly remember this for the rest of my life.

Like the moment when I glanced over and saw this:

Hey! that is the flower from Tangled! … and look… right behind it, which you can barely see. . . is the satchel bag that Flynn carried. And next to that, the wanted poster. But that is the thing about the animation library, it is a large building and this stuff is everywhere. You can’t turn around without seeing something that you recognize from somewhere. You just have to give your brain a moment to place the objects that you are seeing with their respective movie. And if you are like me, and have seen some of these movies literally tens if not hundreds of times, then these objects and drawings are tucked deep in your childhood (and adulthood) memories. With each one that I would notice, I would get this crazy lump up in my throat and all goosebumpy excited. It’s that Disney magic I tell you … makes my heart smile!

As you can imagine, security is tight and everything is handled with care because so many wonderful pieces of Disney history are stored here. The storage rooms are climate controlled and the employees wear white gloves when handling the artifacts. Along with being stored and filed carefully, there is still a lot of research going on as to what some of the pieces are, who created them and what movies that they intended to be used for. As it turns out, they didn’t keep such great records years ago, and a lot of the work today is spent piecing  together and restoring artwork from the past. Here is just a glimpse at the many rows and rows of stored artwork:

There is SO much history when it comes to the Disney empire, and it is so neat to see the extreme care and passion that goes into making sure that all of the pieces, down to the tiniest of sketches, get put into their rightful place in history. I am so thankful that I got to experience and share this with you, as it only adds to my love for Disney and the true … yep, you guessed it: Magic!

Don’t forget… Cinderella was released today! You can purchase Cinderella (Two-Disc Diamond Edition Blu-ray/DVD Combo in Blu-ray Packaging) on Amazon for $22.99 (marked down from $39.99.)

Stay tuned as I have even more to share about my trip to California, including more from Disneyland, Disney Toons Studios, an exclusive meet and greet with Tinker Bell & Periwinkle … and so much more. You can see my previous post about my time interviewing Crush at Turtle Talk, my experience at California Adventure and Carsland here, my Finding Nemo in 3D and Partysauraus Rex Review here, and my Cinderella blogger makeover and consumer products post here.

 *Disclosure: I was provided with an all expenses paid trip to Los Angeles to participate in interviews and tours with Walt Disney Studios and Click Communications. All opinions are entirely my own, and will be in no way influenced by another person. (a cartoon character maybe, but not another person!)

Meet the author – Keri Lyn

The creative and frugal mind behind She Saved for over 12 years now, Keri Lyn shares her adventures in parenting along with her love for family travel, country living and brand marketing. A self-proclaimed “brand loyalist”, Keri Lyn is known for her strong and enthusiastic voice when it comes to the products and brands that she loves. She Saved has become a community for like-minded consumers who appreciate saving money, time and sanity by getting the best deals on quality products and experiences.

Find Out More About Me

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *