Henry Ford Museum's Disneyland Exhibit About This Page:

[PassPorter News]

By Dave Marx, PassPorter Author

A bit of Disneyland has come to Dearborn, Michigan, right in PassPorter's own backyard. The Henry Ford (better known as Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, "America's Greatest History Attraction") has created its own contribution to Disneyland's 50th Anniversary celebration. A new exhibit, "Behind the Magic - 50 years of Disneyland" will be opening tomorrow, Friday, September 30, 2005. Created with the full collaboration of Walt Disney Imagineering, Disney's master theme park builders, the exhibit will run until January 1 at the Henry Ford. After that it sets out on what may be a four year tour of museums around the U.S., with the first stop at the Oakland Museum of California , in March 2006. (We'll keep you posted as additional stops are announced.)

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[PassPorter News]

Jennifer and I have been members of The Henry Ford for years. Many is the time we've driven from Ann Arbor to Dearborn for a quick escape to a place that, to us, delivers many of the joys of Walt Disney World and Disneyland in a smaller, easier-to-reach package. I've been long aware of The Henry Ford's "Disney connection" - Walt Disney's visits in 1940 and 1948 helped inspire his concept for Disneyland (as the exhibit so clearly demonstrates), and a visit here will show you why. So, when we learned about this exhibit, it immediately moved onto our "must do" list.

The folks at the Henry Ford were kind enough to arrange a preview for me - Wednesday, just two days before opening. Maybe it was something in the air, but as I was driving to Dearborn the car in front of mine sported a Mickey Ears antenna topper. Then, as I arrived in the museum's IMAX theater parking lot, workmen had just finished placing a giant, classic black Mickey Ears cap over the entrance. Measuring a whopping 32 feet in diameter with 10 foot diameter ears (that's size 384, big even for my swollen head), it's even bigger than Disney-MGM Studios' Earfful Tower (hat size 342 3/4). These ears may make it into the Guinness Book of World Records (seriously). Dan Stollings, a crane and rigging specialist who has moved many big objects for the Henry Ford over the years (including this hat), proved just how much he enjoys working on this exhibit by wearing a homemade, golden Mickey Ears construction hard hat for the occasion.

The exhibit is tucked inside the cavernous Henry Ford Museum building. If the museum looks familiar from the outside, it should - it's modeled on Philadelphia's Independence Hall, which also inspired Walt Disney World's Hall of Presidents and American Adventure pavilion. (Out on the west coast, Disneyland's neighbor, Knott's Berry Farm, has its own copy of Independence Hall). In the lobby outside the exhibit's entrance is the first clue that something cool awaits... an actual Toontown Trolley from Disneyland's Mickey's Toontown.

With the able guidance of Scott Mallwitz, the Henry Ford's Director of Experience Design (an Imagineer by any other name...), I headed through the doors and into the exhibit (no cameras allowed). From the start it's just so obvious that Scott and his colleagues are deep-down Disney fans... given the time, we could have schmoozed Disney and ogled artifacts for hours. Alas, the exhibit was still under construction (it opens Friday September 30) so we had little time to pause and browse. We had to keep moving as we made way for workers and they made way for us. Hands-on exhibits were mostly shut down, there were ladders and loose electrical wiring hanging about, and some precious objects were stored out of harm's way while workers put finishing touches on adjoining parts of the exhibit. Perhaps this is what Disneyland was like two days before it opened. But then, who wouldn't have wanted to visit Disneyland on July 15, 1955?

Here's what you'll find: Once inside you'll be immersed in a curving timeline that leads you through Disneyland's pre-history, including Walt's childhood influences and Greenfield Village's considerable role in inspiring Walt to build something similar in California. From across the room I spied the first-ever exhibit of the famous Herb Ryman Disneyland conceptual drawing. You've all seen the copies, but this is the Real Ryman! Tucked away on one display panel is a tiny souvenir tintype photo taken of Walt Disney and legendary animator, Ward Kimball. The Henry Ford dug this out of its own archives, and it's proof that not only did Walt resist the urge to buy the photo, but that the folks at the Henry Ford weren't about to give it to Walt as a gift (sounds like some things at theme parks never change!) From there the exhibit moves into the reality of the park's design, construction and history. There's just so much stuff here, I don't know where to begin, so I'm just going to call out a few of the items that grabbed my interest.

The exhibit is strong on flat artwork and a little light on three-dimensional objects, which is not surprising for a touring exhibit. I love drawings and sketches (you can't pry me out of Disneyland's Disney Gallery once I step inside), so I felt like a kid in the ultimate Imagineering candy shop. What's more, the 3-D objects present are the cream of the crop. Starting at the pinnacle is the original "Mr. Lincoln" Animatronic from the NY World's Fair, the first human Audio-Animatronics Disney created. Actually, this is a naked Mr. Lincoln - all the better to see the "ropes and pulleys." Nearby is a bust of Lincoln created by Disney sculptor Blaine Gibson (of Partners Statue fame), and there are also original maquettes (models) of "it's a small world" dolls and pirates from the Caribbean. Elsewhere you'll find scale models of Peter Pan's Flight and The Jungle Cruise (familiar from the Walt Disney: One Man's Dream exhibit at Walt Disney World), ride vehicles from Peter Pan's Flight (have a seat!) and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and even concrete "walk of fame" footprints of various famous Imagineers, an artifact from Imagineering headquarters that the public has never seen. In one nook we found the "stretch room" paintings from the Haunted Mansion, and one museum staff member gasped when she turned to find a giant cobra head from the Indiana Jones Adventure (it's on hand to display how Imagineering uses lighting effects to breathe terrifying life into simple statuary).

The exhibit explores each of Disneyland's original lands through conceptual drawings and plans and interactive video screens. Wherever you look you'll see fascinating and unfamiliar drawings of Disneyland and its best-loved attractions. The exhibit's curators selected the final 200+ drawings from tens of thousands of items made available to them from the Imagineering archives. Many of the interactive elements were not working during my preview, but I was very impressed with the video screen for Adventureland. Using a trackball to navigate, you can "pan" way past the borders of the screen to learn about every current attraction, including the Jungle Cruise, The Enchanted Tiki Room and the Indiana Jones Adventure - not only the attractions themselves, but how the art of Disney storytelling connects these attractions with movies and other entertainment that either inspired the attraction, or vice-versa. As you move the cursor around the screen, be on the lookout for audio "hotspots" and even a few "Easter eggs."

Alas that I had just 20 minutes inside the exhibit itself. I'll be dragging Jennifer and Alexander back here just as soon as I can. I can easily imagine spending two hours or more poring over every detail, and even the slightly-less-Disney-obsessed should allow at least an hour. If you can possibly get here on a weekday, do it. Weekends at The Henry Ford resemble weekends at a Disney park. Exhibit admission is $10 for adult museum members and $6 for member youths from 5-12. Non-members pay $24 and $16, which includes admission to the museum (but not Greenfield Village). Children under 5 ride free. Exhibit tickets should be purchased in advance, just in case they're sold-out when you arrive. Choose the date and time (20 minute intervals, starting at 9:40am and ending at 4:00pm) online at http://www.thehenryford.org/visit/default.asp , or call 313-982-6001 or 800-835-5237.

There are some other neat Disney events happening in conjunction with this exhibit. Disneyana at The Henry Ford takes place on October 8, with exhibits, appraisers and a Disneyana lecture. Tickets are available at the door, $10 (call the Henry Ford to double-check, there's nothing about this on the web site - 313-982-6001).

Then on November 11 the Benson Ford Research Center and the University of Michigan Museum Studies Program present an all-day conference, "Behind the Magic: The Influence and Impact of Walt Disney and Disneyland," featuring legendary Disney Imagineers Marty Sklar and Tom Fitzgerald, noted scholars and authors Karal Ann Marling and Linda Groat, and Donna Braden from The Henry Ford.

I don't intend to miss any of this!

The Henry Ford Museum is open daily from 9:30 am - 5:00 pm except Thanksgiving and Christmas days. Greenfield Village is open daily from April 15 - October 31 from 9:30 am - 5:00 pm. It's open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from November 1 Through January 1, and is closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and from January 2 - April 14 (that Michigan winter!).

Anyone want to have a PassPorter Meet here?