Saturday, October 31, 2015

Magical Miniatures and Halloween Fun

So this isn't a place where I typically brag about my vacations, but I did go to Disney World a couple weeks ago, had some Halloween fun at the Magic Kingdom (my mom and I trick or treated like sophisticated adults: hit every spot in the park, and ended up with a ridiculous amount of candy), AND during one of the days at the parks I saw something worth blogging about.

A couple years ago I passed along a neat article about Walt Disney and how, like many creative individuals, he had a thing for working in miniature. After that blog post I had people in the comments asking me if I had any pictures/if I knew where to find images of Disney's miniature collection. And the answer is still No. And I've never been to Disneyland, so if the collection is there/still there, I haven't seen it. However, if you go to Walt Disney World, you may cross paths with some models and some miniature scenes, some of which were made by Walt Disney himself.

And I did take some pictures. Of course, this is not my work, I am posting it specifically for discussion purposes, and thanks to the lighting + display case you are definitely much better off seeing this in person. Until you book your Disney trip though, here are some shots of a tiny set Walt Disney made back in the 40's, "Granny's Cabin";






And if you noticed in the placard, 
working on this miniature scene indirectly led to the planning of Disneyland. How cool is that?

So there you go, miniature work, by Walt Disney.

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Now, did I mention that I had some Halloween fun while I was on this trip? Yes, well Halloween also means it's the time of year where you can find all things, "The Nightmare Before Christmas", and since that's a movie I have cherished since I saw it in the movie theater, when I was only 4, you can imagine my delight anytime that movie or those characters popped up in the parks. I ended up bringing some things home with me;


That hat is pretty much a replacement for a similar one I've been wearing for the last decade or so, the purse I plan to start using soon, and the figurines - well my mom's guess was that they'd end up in a miniature scene - Yep, she was right;


(Several Fall's worth of tiny leaves, made by me)

So in conclusion to what I'm hoping is a cohesive post, despite being swamped with work and so busy you'd think I couldn't possible have time for fun or Halloween, it turns out I can/I did. And hey, look I even had a second to make a quick scene and blog. Hooray - And Happy Halloween Everyone! ^_^




9 comments:

  1. Glad you had fun at Disney World. I have yet to go. Here is a link to a house Walt Disney painted but he didn't build it. His mother's large diamond is a part of it too!

    http://imgur.com/gallery/TDC34.

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    1. Wow, I've actually heard of that dollhouse before, and I know a lot of people were employed to build it, but I didn't realize Walt Disney was involved with it. That does explain the color choices...

      Thanks for sharing. ^_^

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    2. Just to clarify, Disney didn't paint the castle itself, but rather did some paintings for its grand hall--portraits of Mickey and Minnie as the King and Queen of Hearts.

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  2. Very interesting. I read an article a while back about some of Walt's other miniature endeavors too including stoves. Thanks for posting.

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    1. Yeah, I read that too. Something about he just wanted to take time to get back to making things, sort of as a break from running the whole Disney thing, and then he had them sold in some stores without his name being included. So I guess it's possible that there are collectors unknowingly owning Disney originals. Pretty cool stuff.

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  3. Playing catch up with my blogs. I just got to see this exhibit this past june and loved it. Sadly, I just found out it is scheduled to close as part of a revamp of the Hollywood studios park.

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  4. Hi my name is Rachel. I also saw the miniature from So Dear to My Heart. What is really cool is that I am on the board of the Sterling North society and museum in Edgerton WI where Rascal took place. The museum is his childhood home and setting for Rascal (which is a true story) I was wondering if you had more pictures

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