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Disney100: The Exhibition—presented in Kansas City by Bank of America— opened in Union Station Kansas City’s Bank of America Gallery in May 2024. Since then, more than 115,000 guests from near and far have experienced hundreds of treasures from the collections of The Walt Disney Company.

As you might know, Walt Disney’s roots in Kansas City run deep. In fact, there are few significant Kansas City organizations that Walt did not touch during his early “K.C.” years. As a young boy, he delivered newspapers on his father’s paper route and took Saturday drawing classes at the Kansas City Art Institute. He frequented the Kansas City Public Library, where he checked out books on animation. He walked the marble floors and halls of Union Station, often arriving and departing by train. It is here, in Kansas City, where his budding career as an entrepreneur began—where he met Ub Iwerks and created and marketed some of his first original animated cartoons. And it is here in our hometown where he honed his storytelling skills and applied his creative passion in a professional sense. 

A MAN AND A MOUSE 

Walt was born in Chicago, Illinois, on December 5, 1901. His father, Elias Disney, was Irish Canadian and his mother, Flora Call Disney, was of German American descent. Walt was one of five children, four boys and a girl. 

Raised on a farm in Marceline, Missouri, Walt became interested in drawing from an early age. His talent for drawing and love of nature and animals became a touchstone for the rest of his life.

The Disney family would leave Marceline and move to Kansas City, Missouri, in 1911. Here, young Walter would rise at 3:30 in the morning to deliver The Kansas City Star newspapers on his father’s paper route. He attended Saturday drawing classes at the Kansas City Art Institute, and at fifteen, he worked on the railroad selling magazines and peanuts. During his time in Kansas City, Walt discovered and fell in love with animation.

In 1918, Walt attempted to enlist for military service. Rejected because he was only 16 years of age, Walt eventually joined the Red Cross and was sent overseas, where he spent most of a year driving an ambulance and chauffeuring Red Cross officials. His ambulance was usually covered with drawings and cartoons. Walt’s creativity was evident in everything he touched.

In 1919, Walt returned to Kansas City and began pursuing his dreams. He began his career as an advertising cartoonist, and in 1920, he created and marketed his first original animated cartoons, later conceiving a new method for combining live-action and animation. Before leaving Kansas City for Hollywood in the summer of 1923, Walt made a “pilot” film with four-year-old Virginia Davis as Alice who, with the magic of animation, stepped into a cartoon world.

Heading west, Walt had but a few drawing materials, $40 in his pocket, and his animated and live-action pilot film, Alice’s Wonderland. Walt’s older brother Roy O. Disney was already in California with an immense amount of sympathy and encouragement, and $250. Pooling their resources, they borrowed an additional $500 and constructed a camera stand in their uncle’s garage. Soon, they received an order from a distributor in New York for the first “Alice Comedy” short films, which propelled the brothers into their production operation in the rear of a Hollywood real estate office. 

Five years later, in 1928, Mickey Mouse changed the world. Mickey made his on-screen debut in Steamboat Willie, the world’s first fully synchronized sound cartoon. And as the saying goes, “the rest is history.”  

During Walt’s 43-year Hollywood career, which spanned the development of the motion picture medium as a modern American art, Walter Elias Disney, a modern Aesop, established himself and his product as a genuine part of Americana. A pioneer and innovator, and the possessor of one of the most creative imaginations the world has known, Walt, along with his team, received more than 950 honors and citations throughout the world, including 48 Academy Awards® and 7 Emmys® in his lifetime.

But we know that it really all started with a man and a dream. A dream that became a story. A story now being told in an entirely new way . . .  

A VERY SPECIAL STORY – 100 YEARS IN THE MAKING 

Walt Disney’s philosophies are at the heart and soul of Disney storytelling and experiences; they include telling meaningful stories, creating believable characters, summoning the spirit of adventure and discovery, appreciating the wonders of the world around us, feeling the magic of sound and music, and always experimenting and innovating.

“We at the Walt Disney Archives are incredibly excited to present this new and unique exhibition marking a century of unparalleled innovation and storytelling, celebrating the wonder of Disney, from 1923 to present and on into the future,” says Becky Cline, Director of the Walt Disney Archives. “We are thrilled to have the incredible opportunity to showcase how Walt still inspires and informs new generations of storytellers at Disney, and to provide a glimpse of the wonders yet to come in the next century of Disney magic.”  

Filling the expansive, state-of-the-art, 20,000-square-foot Bank of America Gallery at Union Station with more than 250 objects and artifacts across ten imaginatively themed galleries, the Walt Disney Archives has opened its vault of treasures to showcase works of art, costumes and props, and Disney memorabilia. 

This groundbreaking exhibition, celebrating 100 years of The Walt Disney Company, is one of the largest and most immersive projects the Walt Disney Archives has ever produced. Created by the Walt Disney Archives in collaboration with Semmel Exhibitions, Disney100: The Exhibition – presented at Union Station by Bank of America – features more than 250 objects across ten imaginatively themed galleries including works of art, artifacts, memorabilia, costumes, and props.

KEY EXHIBITION FEATURES INCLUDE:

Original costumes for characters such as Cruella (Cruella, 2021), Captain Barbossa (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, 2003), Black Panther (Black Panther, 2018), and Ariel (The Wonderful World of Disney Presents The Little Mermaid LIVE!, TV, 2019).

Film props such as prop storybooks from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Sleeping Beauty (1959), the prop spell book from Hocus Pocus (1993) used by Disney Legend Bette Midler, Cinderella’s glass slipper from the 2015-live action film Cinderella, the Skywalker lightsaber hilt used by Daisy Ridley in Star Wars: The Rise of the Skywalker (2019), and the Dinglehopper from the live-action The Little Mermaid (2023) used by Halle Bailey.

Imaginative photo opportunities featuring some beloved Disney characters, such as Goofy as well as the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella (1950).

A wide selection of artwork and three-dimensional maquettes showing the journey of animated characters and stories from concept to screen.

TICKET PRICES – MUST CLOSE JAN 5^th

*All Pricing Below Excludes 10% Preservation Fee

Adult: $25 | Seniors (55+): $22.50 | Child (4-12): $20

Union Station Member: $18.50

HOURS OF OPERATION
*Last Ticket Sold 1 Hour Before Closing

Sunday: 11 AM – 5 PM
Monday – Saturday: 10 AM – 5 PM

Note: For special holiday hours and closures, please check unionstation.org

Disney100: The Exhibition at Union Station