Disney fans dream of walking through the Walt Disney Archives. So many of us love to see props, costumes, set pieces, and more from our favorite Disney projects and company history. I know that I personally had a freakout moment when I unexpectedly came across the “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” shrink-ray at a Walt Disney Archives 50th anniversary exhibition. Seeing these pieces of entertainment history that we’d only previously witnessed on a screen makes for a different type of magic. Although there have been numerous opportunities to see Walt Disney Archive exhibitions, I really wish there were a permanent location that guests could count on instead of being at the right place during the right time.
Few Hollywood studios have an archive of entertainment memorabilia as expansive as The Walt Disney Company. The company is in a unique position where fans of its content are often fans of its founder, Walt Disney, as well. Almost everyone knows who Walt Disney is, even it’s very surface-level. In a lot of other studio’s cases, I’d be surprised if most people even knew the founder’s names. This unique trait for Disney seems to encourage more interest than normal in the studio’s history.