This is a retrospective review of The Wallace Collections’ exhibition Inspiring Walt Disney visited on 14th July 2022.
The exhibition is located on the basement level of the museum, accessible by stairs next to the toilets. The exhibition has rococo style lines drawings to emulate panels sympathetic to eighteenth century France décor. As the visitor walks into the gallery the exhibition title is bold and strong with a quote by Walt Disney on the wall next to the exhibition’s title. What is striking and one of the more interesting pieces is a black and white video clip that Walt Disney took during his family trip to the Palaces of Versailles after The Great war (World War one). The video shows snippets of the House of Mirrors and the palace from different angles. Versailles was some of Disney’s inspiration that his animation artists used for reference alongside France’s architectural design. The exhibition also mentions during Disney’s trip to France, he brought back sketchbooks of eighteenth century art that would be used as inspiration for animators to use for future work. Disney discovered the two French tales of Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella and wanted to transform and adapt these classic French stories into animation feature films.
The exhibition focused on Disney classics of Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Cinderella (1950), where the visitor is walked through a variety of objects from drawings, film stills and objects from the museum’s collection that provided inspiration for the animators. The main thread of the exhibition was that during the production of Beauty and the Beast, the Disney artists had a studio fifteen minutes from The Wallace Collection and became inspired by the French eighteenth century collection that the museum offered. The exhibition showcased a selection of these pieces that inspired the animation and character designs from the Jacques Gouchon bracket clock that inspired the character of Cogswoth.
The exhibition is divided into different areas from animating the inanimate, Disney’s early inspirations in Europe and architectural inspirations. An element that stood out the most was the wall of Cinderella drawings that transformed the character from a housemaid to a princess ready for the ball. Each frame lasted about one second long to make up the full transition and is a piece in the collection that emphasised the attention to detail and work that went into creating each iconic scene in Disney animations.
Jean-Honoré Fragonard displayed at The Wallace Collection. Photograph by amyleighchandler.
In many ways, I would have enjoyed a more hands-on experience with the collection and been able to see more prints on display as well as drawings that were created by Walt Disney himself. But, nonetheless the exhibition was a fascinating insight into the thinking and research behind some of the most iconic Disney films and designs. The historical connection and inspiration that led to the most architectural, detailed and beautiful castles and landscapes that have continued to inspire, entertain and encapsulate generations. In particular, I enjoyed the seeing the inspiration and context of the castles that have become so iconic throughout Disneyland and Disneyworld theme parks. This exhibition highlights how much research is needed before visually developing characters and how the past can help us design and interprets ideas, characterisations and scenes today.
My favourite print was in the animating the inanimate section of the gallery that featured sketches for Mrs Potts and Chip, Magic Carpet in Aladdin and Lumiere and Cogsworth. These sketches explored how to created emotion through inanimate objects and that through adopting simple gestures and movements creates the illusion of an emotion, such as happy or bashful. These characters like the Magic Carpet tend to bring comedy and dynamic nature to the scenes. Fun fact: the students at Disney have to animate a bag of flour to practice the technique of animating the inanimate.
Overall, this was an interesting exhibition but could have included sensory elements to create a deeper understanding of the objects. The exhibition was also very spaced out with little objects on display.
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