When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are….we all know those famous lyrics to the song When You Wish Upon a Star from the 1940 classic Pinocchio. I grew up watching the movie and the song has always been a favorite of mine. So when I heard that we were going to be able to see the Wish Upon a Star: The Art of Pinocchio Exhibit at The Walt Disney Family Museum, I couldn’t wait!
The Walt Disney Family Museum is in San Francisco, California and this was the second time I had the chance to visit it. It was made extra special by the fact that we were visiting the museum on what would have been Walt Disney’s 115th birthday! I’ve always been interested in the history of Walt Disney, having read several of his biographies and the museum offers an extra special glimpse into his life and the amazing company that he has created.
There are 10 galleries to explore at The Walt Disney Family Museum starting with his early beginnings in Marceline, Missouri and ending with a gallery remembering Walt’s legacy and the impact he has left on this world. You’ll also find special exhibits at The Walt Disney Family Museum and when we visited, we got to see the Wish Upon a Star: The Art of Pinocchio Exhibit.
The Wish Upon a Star: The Art of Pinocchio Exhibit was created by the Walt Disney Family Museum and allows visitors to discover the artistic process and go behind-the-scenes to explore how Walt Disney’s 1940 feature-length masterpiece Pinocchio was created. It was fascinating to see more than 300 objects that had to do with the film and how the animators turned it into a (kind of scary) children’s novel into the classic we know and love! Just seeing some of the original drawings and storyboards for Pinocchio made me emotional – this is one of the most influential animated films of all time!
Check out these some fun facts about Pinocchio that I learned from the Wish Upon a Star: The Art of Pinocchio Exhibit.
- Pinocchio was originally a children’s novel written, illustrated and released in Italy. Pinocchio was depicted as a cruel and selfish brat who stomped on Jiminy Cricket at the beginning of the book!
- In order to keep the film’s characters and narrative consistent, the artists relied on an improved method of storyboarding—a technique of pinning sketches to a corkboard in comic strip fashion—which became a method of storytelling that is used throughout the film industry to this day.
- Pinocchio used a horizontal Multiplane Camera, a tool developed and perfected by The Walt Disney Studios in the 1930s. There are only three left in the world and one of them is at the Walt Disney Family Museum!
- Animator Eric Larson created Figaro and based him on the personality of his nephew.
- The character of Monstro wasn’t identified as a whale in the original story but Walt Disney decided to make him one – and make him a much bigger villain!
I had such a amazing time visiting the Walt Disney Family Museum and seeing the Wish Upon a Star: The Art of Pinocchio Exhibit. If you’re wanting more Pinocchio in your life, it will be released on Digital HD and Disney Movies Anywhere on Jan. 10, and on Blu-ray™ and DVD on Jan. 31 with hours of new and classic bonus features.
Disclosure: Thanks so much to Disney for bringing me out to San Francisco for the event. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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