Visiting Disney’s Animation Research Library

Jamie received an all expense paid trip to the Disney Planes premiere, as well as The Little Mermaid event, however all opinions are her own.

Have you ever been somewhere where you just felt privileged to be there and honored to have been invited? That’s exactly how I felt every minute of the Disney blogger trip in California. But, I felt the most honored when I stepped foot in to Disney’s Animation Reasearch Library.

Just driving in to the parking lot, we had to be approved by the guard and we were quickly told that while using social media, we were NOT to share our exact location. It’s very secretive. The worst news we heard was that we were only allowed to take pictures in the lobby, but anything beyond that was not allowed.

Thankfully, Disney has shared approved pictures with us to use in our blog posts. I couldn’t wait to share this experience with you guys and explain a little bit about what lies behind those doors, beyond the lobby.

Reproductions of story sketches from Sleeping Beauty, “Mickey and the Beanstalk,” & “The Pied Piper

Disney’s Animation Research Library

So why is this library you’ve likely never heard of such an honor to visit? The Animation Research Library (ARL) is the home of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ collection of artistic heritage. They are given the responsibility of collecting and preserving these artistic pieces, while also using the collection as an in-house resource for creative inspiration, brand enhancement, and product development.

As our tour director, Fox Carney, shared, “It’s the repository of just about all the animation art that the Walt Disney Company possesses.” The Animation Research Library is home to about 64 or 65 million pieces of artwork, which includes everything from shorts and features from the 1920’s to current day.

One of the things they are doing is taking on the task of digitizing major portions of the collection. With the help of special cameras and equipment, artists are now able to use these files to see more details than you can with the naked eye. The process is really amazing.

As we left this room, we were led in to the vaults, where most of the artwork is stored. They have gone to great lengths to preserve this artwork, even down to little details. Doug, who has worked at the ARL for over 23 years, greeted us at the door wearing white gloves in order to preserve the integrity of the artwork.

One of the first things I noticed as we walked in to the vault was the temperature. As a girl who’s used to being hot in Texas, this room, which stays at 59 degrees on purpose, was freezing!

It seems they’ve thought of everything to protect the work. In the event of a fire, the vaults were designed with a gas called Inergen, which will bring the Oxygen level down to 15%, helping to put out a fire. And because California is famous for their earthquakes, the artwork carriages have been designed and placed appropriately to keep them from falling over.

While in these vaults, we were shown the actual background artwork from Sleeping Beauty, which was painted on large glass sheets. THAT was an honor to have seen! In addition to that artwork, we all saw work from Winnie the Pooh, Snow White, The Jungle Book, The Little Mermaid, and more!

We wrapped up the tour standing in front of a table with original artwork laid out. Before we walked in to the room, we were told to only use pencil if we were planning to take notes. Why, you ask? They said that because it was original artwork, they could easily erase an accidental pencil mark, but could not erase a pen mark. They are serious about preserving this artwork and I have so much respect for that!

The table showcased original artwork from The Little Mermaid, including some original concept artwork. For instance, did you know that the original concept for Ariel was to be blonde? I like her much more as a red head!

We also saw concept artwork for Ursula, who they decided looked too scary, and eventually changed. I’m so glad they did!

I’m so thankful Disney gave me the opportunity to share a small peek in to what I experienced that day. It was beyond amazing and an opportunity I’ll never forget.

What piece of Disney history do you think you would have been the most excited to see?