Wellington's Tākina: Hundreds of Disney sketches, concept artwork to go on display

Every Disney character starts with a drawing and now fans will get to see the beginnings of 100 years of their favourite characters in Wellington.

Over 600 Disney animation sketches and concept artwork will be on display at Tākina from Thursday.

Disney: The Magic of Animation showcases concept drawings from Mickey Mouse's first appearance in Steamboat Willie in 1928, though to the recently released Moana 2.

The exhibition has toured cities from Paris to Melbourne and is now on its final leg in Wellington.

Stepping through the archway cut out in the shape of those iconic mouse ears, the exhibition begins with original animation, drawings, and story sketches from Steamboat Willie.

Walt Disney Animation Research Library managing director Mary Walsh said Steamboat Willie was both Mickey Mouse's introduction to the world, and also the first animated cartoon with synchronized sound.

The exhibition features original animation, drawings and story sketches from Steamboat Willie.

She said it was exciting for people to see the evolution Mickey Mouse had taken from Steamboat Willie to world icon.

In that same section, fans will also be able to see character drawings and story sketches for Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Pluto and Donald Duck.

Walsh said Steamboat Willie was in fact Minnie Mouse's first appearance as well.

"Minnie has been here as long as Mickey has," Walsh said. "And has a huge impact on Disney Animation as well as the culture, and is as iconic, I would argue, as Mickey is."

The exhibition houses artwork from several classic films such as Dumbo, Pinocchio, Alice in Wonderland, 101 Dalmatians and Bambi, along with a raft of Disney princess films including Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and Beauty and the Beast.

Among the early concept drawings in the Beauty and the Beast display is a beast that looks a little different to how people know him.

The design, by Glen Keane, shows the beast with a baboon head. It was one of many early designs while the artists figured out what the beast would look like.

Things take a sweet turn at the Wreck-It Ralph display, with a model of Sugar Rush.

Walsh said the model was designed by Brittney Lee in 2011 and uses real biscuits and ice cream cones and various sweets.

She said as the model was made with organic material, art exhibitions & conservation manager at the Walt Disney Animation Research Library, Kristen McCormick, refreshed it at every venue.

"She has little Bento boxes in which she carries all of the little types of candies and cereal and cookies" Walsh said.

"The same materials, cookies, candies that Brittany used when she first built this model."

Under a beach fale at the Moana exhibition that fans can see there is some never seen before work from the new sequel film.

"We have some character sketches and designs of both Moana and her younger sister, who is a new character in Moana 2."

Walsh said that the Tākina venue would be the first to showcase the original artwork from the recently released Moana 2 film.

The fale, which is designed to look like the ones in the Moana film, was also designed for Tākina.

Walsh said for many the exhibition would be nostalgic as they uncovered new insights into how their favourite characters were formed.

After the Wellington leg of the exhibition the artwork will be returned to the Walt Disney Animation Research Library.

Walsh said the facility had over 65 million pieces of original animation artwork from the Walt Disney Animation Studios in its collection.

She hopes in the next few years to be able to tour more pieces from the collection.

"The Disney Company's been around for 100 years and animation is the division that started it all. You could argue without Disney animation, the rest of the company may not be here. So we take that legacy very seriously."

But with several past exhibitions at Tākina failing to break even, the question remains whether Disney will work its magic on punters.

Wellington City Council chief economic & engagement officer Anna Calver said the exhibition had performed well in other places around the world.

She was optimistic that the exhibition would pull people in over the more autumn and winter months.

"Ticket sales have gone really well, so if we compare it to other ticket sales in terms of what those pre sales look like, it definitely shows that there's plenty of interest," Calver said.

She said they were expecting tens of thousands of people to go through before the end of the exhibition.

"If you haven't been to Tākina before, you have to come and enjoy this exhibition. Disney: The Magic of Animation is truly that, magic," Calver said.

The exhibition opens on the 20 February and runs until the 13 July 2025.

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