The Magic of Disney Animation opening is 11 days out, and Walt Disney Imagineering just pulled back the curtain on one of the best details inside. There is an animator’s office in the building, and most of what sits on that desk is not a prop. Those are real artifacts from the history of Disney Animation.
That distinction matters more than it might sound. Theme park environments are usually built to look authentic. This one is authentic, down to a mirror somebody found at a flea market and a magazine that animators working in that exact building used to receive every week.
Here is everything Imagineering revealed, why the approach behind it is unusual, and what else is going into the building before it opens on September 14 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
Quick Summary
- The Magic of Disney Animation opens September 14 at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- Walt Disney Imagineering shared a video walkthrough of the animator’s office inside
- Many items on the desk are real artifacts, not reproductions
- The animator’s desk itself was saved from the original Animation Academy at Hollywood Studios
- Imagineers photographed real animators’ desks in California as reference
- The building also houses Olaf Draws!, Off the Page!, Drawn to Wonderland, Once Upon A Studio Theater, and an enchanted art gallery
What Is Actually on the Desk
Imagineering walked through the desk area and called out specific items. This is the list, and it is worth reading slowly.
- The animator’s desk itself, saved from the original Animation Academy at Hollywood Studios
- A small building replica of the Feature Animation studio in Burbank, California
- Ping pong balls gifted to the Feature Animation crew in California
- A mirror sourced from a flea market by Dan Abraham, director of Once Upon A Studio
- The Rabbit Rabbit magazine, a weekly publication given out to animators in the Hollywood Studios building itself
- A book of caricatures that Disney animators drew of each other and left on each other’s desks
- A Mulan crew hat and a Mulan team gift stamp
- A Hercules production jacket
- Chicken Little’s glasses
- Animation paper tabs, used by animators to flip through paper without tearing it on the pegs
- A mug gifted to the architects who worked on the original building when it opened
- Red rubber bands, used by animators to hold finished scenes together and, as Imagineering notes, to shoot at each other
The Details That Say the Most
A few of these deserve a second look.
The Rabbit Rabbit magazine is the one that hits hardest for anyone who knows the history of this building. It was handed out weekly to animators working in the Hollywood Studios animation building. Putting it on the desk in the new version of that space closes a loop that has been open since the original Animation Academy closed.
The caricature book is the kind of thing you cannot fabricate. Animators drawing each other and leaving the results on each other’s desks is workplace culture, not set dressing. Including it says someone on this project cared about what the job actually felt like.
The red rubber bands get the best footnote. They held finished scenes together, and Imagineering openly admits animators also used them as ammunition. That is a detail a corporate design review would normally sand off.
The flea market mirror is worth noting for a different reason. Dan Abraham directed Once Upon A Studio, and he sourced it himself. That is a filmmaker contributing to a theme park build, which does not happen often.
Why the Approach Is Different
Here is the part that explains the rest.
Early in development, the Imagineering team photographed real animators’ desks at Disney Animation in California. They used those photos as reference for the look and feel of the space.
The stated goal was an environment that feels lived-in rather than staged. That is a harder target than it sounds. Theme park spaces trend toward tidy, because tidy photographs well and tidy is easier to maintain. A desk that looks like somebody actually works at it requires deliberate mess.
Working from photographs of real desks is the right method for that. You end up with the clutter patterns of an actual working animator instead of a designer’s idea of clutter.
What Else Is in the Building
The animator’s office is one piece. The Magic of Disney Animation houses several experiences:
- Olaf Draws!
- Off the Page! character meets
- Drawn to Wonderland
- Once Upon A Studio Theater
- An enchanted art gallery
That is a fuller slate than the building has held in years, and it gives Hollywood Studios something it has been short on: an air-conditioned, walk-through experience that does not require a queue for a ride.
How to Plan for Opening Day
If you are visiting near the Magic of Disney Animation opening on September 14, expect crowds. New openings at Hollywood Studios draw them, and a September 14 date puts it in a lower-crowd stretch of the calendar, which helps but does not eliminate the problem.
Go early or go late. The first hour after park open and the last two hours of the night are your best windows for a walk-through experience like this one.
Give yourself time at the animator’s desk specifically. The whole point of what Imagineering built is detail that rewards standing still, and most guests will walk past it in 30 seconds.
The Bottom Line
The Magic of Disney Animation opening on September 14 is bringing back a building that has meant a lot to Disney Animation fans, and the animator’s office suggests Imagineering understood the assignment.
Real artifacts instead of reproductions. Reference photos from actual working desks. A magazine that animators in that very building once received. These are choices made by people who cared about getting it right rather than getting it done.
Put it on your Hollywood Studios list, and give the desk more than a passing glance. The best thing in that room is the stuff you only notice if you stop.
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Meet the Author: Nate Bishop
I’m a die-hard Disney fan with 38 years of visits under my belt, having stepped into Disney World 120+ times. Proud to be a Disney Annual Passholder, a Vacation Club member since ’92, a Castaway Club Member, and a runDisney enthusiast. Oh, and I’ve graduated from the Disney College of Knowledge. Need Disney insights or planning tips? I’m your guy!
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