In 1935 Walt Disney and his brother Roy travelled to Europe for the first time, bringing back to the U.S. some 300 illustrated publications in order to build up a library of images to inspire their drawings and films. The aim of the exhibition is to present the sources that inspired the world of Disney alongside certain modern and contemporary works derived from Disney’s creations. More particularly, it will focus on the literary and iconographic sources of Disney’s most important animated feature films, from the launching of the Walt Disney Company until Disney’s death in 1967. The show will comprise some 300 to 350 pieces: original works by Disney studio artists selected from the Disney archives and from private collections together with paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, film clips and other items. By bringing Disney studio drawings together with the Western European artworks, from Middle Age to Surrealism, that inspired them, the exhibition will reveal a continuous exchange of influences and will illuminate one of the deep cultural ties that link Europe and North America through some of the most original and popular artistic products of our day.
The exhibition Once upon a Time Walt Disney: The Sources of Inspiration for the Disney Studios takes place from March 8 to June 24, 2007. Image courtesy of The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts .
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