Uncle Walt, Remembered

I think one of the criteria for a successful museum is that a visitor will want to return for another go-round, more sooner than later. A second is that you recommend it to all of your friends and relatives. This is certainly true of the new Walt Disney Family Museum; which is located (oddly enough) in The Presidio in San Francisco. It doesn’t even look like a museum (or, at least, what we perceive museums should look like), being housed in what must be landmarked military buildings, although nicely cleaned up. The interior, however, is a thing of beauty; precisely and cleverly planned to lead you through the life and times of the singular visionary that was Walt Disney.

Fair warning: this is not Disneyland and it is called a “Family” museum for a reason. There are ten walk-through galleries, the first being ancestral. It looks to me like the Disney family never threw anything out as there is a lot of memorabilia on display, which conveys a mustiness and dustiness of that sort of material. There is also, thankfully and cleverly, a parallel history of the beginnings of animated films upon which Disney would later build his resume and, eventually, his empire. The overall chronological displays start with the departure of Walt’s grandfather from Ireland in the first gallery to Walt’s death in 1966 at the age of 65 in the tenth. This was quite a shock, actually, since his influence, and the ubiquity of his name, only burgeoned in the decades after his passing and, although there are exhibits depicting his vision(s) for the future, the journey of Walt’s life and the exhibits honoring it, stop in 1966. Kind of an “ulp” moment actually, at least for me.

But, fear not, in between galleries one to ten there is a lot of razzmatazz and the exhibits, some interactive, open up to the familiar and beloved creatures and innovation that those of us of a certain age can fully appreciate. The museum bursts into color and you would have to be a curmudgeon beyond measure not to have your senses rise to the occasion

Disney’s personal life is not totally whitewashed (the man was obviously a martinet of the first order) with an informational, and well presented, section devoted to his clash with labor unions and, even more interesting, a recording of his testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee, decrying all labor unions as Communistic, which is a nice (negative) touch within the mostly reverential atmosphere of the rest of the exhibits. So the museum is not only a chronicle of Disney’s life but a whiz-bang history lesson that was taking place behind his artistic and business palate. There is some stuff that kids would like, I think, but the museum is obviously aimed at adults. Since I fall into that category I enjoyed the museum immensely and I’m sorry we didn’t have more than the two hours we allocated (which included the gift shop). Who knew? We expected one hour would do the trick nicely. I recommend it highly to friends and relatives and I guess I’ll have to pay another visit soon (see paragraph one above).

One nice touch, which I wasn’t going to mention but have decided this kitty-cat needed to be let out of the bag, is the excellent use the museum designer/architect takes advantage of a spectacular view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the back of the building. A floor to ceiling panorama along a glassed-in walkway has been pasted to the rear façade giving a boost to the senses after a couple of hours on one’s feet. An unexpected “wow” factor to be added into the overall learning experience. Wow.