I’m lucky enough to have a job that takes me to Florida, New York City, and Chicago on the regular, and last week I found myself in the Windy (and Bitterly Cold) City with an afternoon of free time. This gave me a chance to check out D23’s traveling exhibit, Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives, currently on display at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. There is a $9 ticket required to see this exhibit, but D23 members can get tickets for 50% off ordering online in advance. (Fair warning: the museum itself has a pretty steep entrance fee, and you can’t see the D23 exhibit without buying museum admission. It cost me $27 to get in, which included admission to the D23 exhibit.) Much like a FP+ (I had to go there), you’ll be assigned a time to enter the exhibit.

As evidenced by the title of this blog, I’m a self-avowed nerd. I have a master’s degree in history, and wrote did a couple of significant research projects in graduate school on Walt Disney, Disneyland, and Cold War politics. I love Disney’s history, and somehow gaining entrance to the Disney company’s archives in California is an item quite near the top of my (nonexistent, but still) bucket list. All this is to say, if you’re at all like me, you’re going to be happy you saw this exhibit. There are incredible items of historical significance on display, some brought out from the archives likely for the first time. There are items that help illuminate the history of Walt Disney the man, as well as Walt Disney the company. It’s a nice mix.

First things first. The Museum is clearly showcasing the D23 exhibit as its centerpiece right now, and in addition to the exhibit itself, the Museum was decked out in all things Disney to celebrate the Christmas holiday:

Mickey and Minnie greet you as you take the escalator up to the main floor of the museum.

What you see when you come off the escalator.

Is the museum holding some kind of Disney thing? Yes? You don’t say.

Truthfully it is quite an impressive Christmas tree.

Not-so-hidden Mickey.

Now, strictly speaking this isn’t Disney-related, but if you’re a fan of Christmas, the Museum does a nice display of Christmas trees representing countries from around the world. Who knows how accurate they are (does Native America really put up Christmas trees with giant knitted canoe ornaments on them?), but especially if you have a few minutes to kill before you can go into the D23 exhibit, it’s nice to wander around and take them in.

Alright, on to the exhibit. Helping provide momentary confusion – am I in Orlando, or freezing cold Chicago? – is the Photopass-like photographer waiting for you at the exhibit entrance, asking you to pose for a picture in front of a green screen. No thanks!

Once inside, you’ll find a darkened exhibit space that tells a linear story of Walt Disney and the Walt Disney Company, from Walt’s childhood to the present day.

A schoolbook belonging to Walt’s sister, Ruth; illustrations are his.

Live-action reference costume from Snow White, c.1936.

Prop storybook from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1937.

Page from an early Oswald sketch book.

Snow White charcoal/graphite concept drawing, c. 1936.

Pretty self-evident, but if not: a copy of Lady and the Tramp signed by Walt Disney.

Prop storybook from Cinderella.

Prop storybook from Sleeping Beauty.

Mary Poppins’ carpet bag, used by Julie Andrews in the film.

It’s a bit hard to make out, but this is correspondence from P.L. Travers to Walt Disney, 1961.

Walt’s name badge from Disneyland: he’s employee #1.

Original Haunted Mansion headstone honoring Imagineer Marc Davis, c. 1971.

Excerpt from the script to the 1966 Florida film.

As great as this exhibit is – and I’d certainly encourage D23 to do more of this type of thing, not less – there were a few flaws. First, while a linear narrative makes sense for a generalist exhibit like this one, there was simply far too much text up on the walls. I’m an avid reader and a pretty smart person and I found my concentration waning.

Second – and I’d be curious if this was the same when the exhibit appeared at the Reagan Library – the staging of the exhibit just looked a little cheap. If a picture is worth a thousand words, I think this picture will sum up my point:

Bad show in Chicago.

Third, certain “Disney-fied” elements pop up in the exhibit in ways that are just distracting and superfluous. Sure, the makeshift Animation Academy at the end of the exhibit is maybe a nice touch, but did the exhibit really need this?

But of course – it’s time to build your own princess castle!

Or maybe a villain castle?

Look, I know the MSI is a very hands-on science museum that caters to a lot of children. But the D23 exhibit is fairly adult and quite serious, and this just felt like naked pandering plopped down right in the middle.

Lastly – and this probably wouldn’t be an issue for the general public, but for those of us in the know, look out – many of the textual narratives were overly simplistic, contained glaring omissions, and/or presented historical events with an excess of optimism. A prime example? Check out the full (!) narrative on Epcot’s creation:

It’s a subject for another post and another time, but as much as I liked this exhibit, it raised an important issue that I think is worth critical thought: what is lost – or subject to spin – when a corporate entity like Disney is in charge of collecting, analyzing, and presenting its own history? Certainly no individual or organization is ever completely objective, but. A corporation in charge of its own archives is going to present materials and narratives that are largely sanitized and positive, and the D23 exhibit is no exception.

My advice? Go for the artifacts, and pay less attention to the “story.” It will still be well worth your time.