Disney100: The Exhibition

Hello and welcome to our second published adventure!

Thursday the 20th June saw our first London trip as a couple. Why it has taken us so long to head to the big city, I don't know, but regardless we decided to make a day of it especially as we wanted to go to the Disney100 Exhibition before it left London. 

I'll admit, I have been before, but I didn't really take any of it in as I was in a negative headspace. However, Jamie suggested going as he is also interested in the big bad brand of Disney and so off we went to enjoy it together and actually take it in.

Located in the London ExCel centre, the exhibition lasts about an hour and displays original artwork, props, and costumes attributed to the Disney movies we all love.

At first, you are led into this dark room and told the story of Walt Disney and how the empire began. You then get flashes through the ages until Mickey and Walt themselves talk to you and the curtain swings back to welcome you into the exhibition.

The exhibits are sectioned into eras and themes. So to start with we entered into the very start of the Disney brand with Oswald, Steamboat Willie and Merrie Melodies. This section was primarily early sketches, inspirational art, stills for the artists to sketch from (photos of their live inspiration, such as the actress for Alice in Wonderland), and clips of these shorts for you to watch and listen to as you viewed the visual stimuli.

The next section was prop based and focused on the original Disney era. I'm talking Peter Pan, Cinderella, Mary Poppins, etc. Here we see sketches, props such as one of the books at the beginning of the animated movies (as seen below) and the glass slipper from the 2015 Cinderella, and an interactive section for Sleeping Beauty. This involved sound effects and moving pictures projected onto the wall as you turned the page of the large book in front of you.

 

The next section looked at more modern props such as the live action Pooh Bear and Cogsworth and Lumiere from the newest Beauty and the Beast. Not to mention stills from the original Pooh animation. 

 

 

Next we entered a section dedicated to animation. Here we saw maquettes made as the artists references as well as Emma Stone's costume for Cruella and some original artwork and pieces from various 101 Dalmatian movies. This included stills from my favourite scene in the original, as well as magazines and papers from the live action remake starring Glen Close. Then we began the flow down the evolutional Disney river as a life size Olaf made an appearance as did Halle Bailey's costume from The Little Mermaid 2023.

 

We took a step away from the classic Disney for a moment as we moved into the next section full of props and works which inspired discovery and adventure. Here we saw costumes and props from Pirates of the Caribbean, original artwork from Peter Pan, props from National Treasure, and stills from newer movies like Moana etc.

Just like that we jumped from adventure and discovery to space and heroes as up next, much to Jamie's glee, was the Star Wars and Marvel empire. 

Here we saw delights such as Luke Skywalker's lightsaber, costumes from the movies, not to mention a Porg and that loveable droid BB8! 

Moving onto the Marvel section we see a collection of helmets from The Avengers, the famous Captain America Shield, and a costume from Shang-Chi!

 

The next section is dedicated to the music in each movie. Here we get to see physical scores from some of the more classic films as well as the movie clips they relate to. We also get to flit through the jukebox that includes all sorts of magical movie music from songs like 'I wanna be like you' to 'You've got a friend in me' and then even as recent as those catchy tunes from High School Musical and delights from Hannah Montana. Lord that takes me back to my younger days!

From music to how the magic of Disney escaped into the real world, we walked into the next room dedicated to Disneyland/world and how Walt's vision made millions of people happy. In this section we have exhibits taken straight from the rides at our beloved theme parks themselves as well as original plans and posters prior to their opening. Also featured is the workings behind those creepy animatronics and interactive sections showing you how they work.

 

 

Not photoed by myself was also sections around here dedicated to Walt's love of nature and what spawned Animal Kingdom. Throwbacks to movies such as The African Lion, The Living Desert, and The Vanishing Prairie were all made. We then stepped into a corner dedicated to strange objects which made the famous sounds from some of the movies. These included an old leather wallet for creaking footsteps and rubber tubing for frog croaks (I may have gotten these mixed up but you get the gist).

Finally a handful of other props from the movies were dotted about as the exhibition came to an end. The included the original book from the start of The Sword and the Stone (one of my personal favourites) and the bedknob from Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

We ended this adventure with a little photo op (a professional one of course, this involved a green screen) and then sitting down to watch Once Upon a Studio which once again brought me to tears. It was a lovely way to end the exhibition and it was not included during my first visit here as the short wasn't released at the time.

I'll admit, the second time around and with a chance to actually take it all in, it is much better than I remember. The craftsmanship of each prop and the steady hand needed for each illustration is painstaking and beautiful.

I would be lying if I didn't admit to the fact that Jay and I were running around like children, flitting from exhibits and taking photos of each other as you can see from all those included in this post!

All in all, we had a lovely time here revisiting our childhood, getting close and personal with magical props and characters, and learning things about the movies we love that we didn't know before. As you may see from our photos we also made an effort with Disney themed T-shirts as you can't go to a place like that and not want to make it obvious you're a fan.

This is absolutely a fun, family friendly day out and a once (or twice) in a life time opportunity. Sadly this has now left London, but if you fancy going abroad you can catch this exhibition at it's next stop!

DISCLAIMER: Now for the official bit. This blog does not receive any paid promotions from the places mentioned above. We have not been approached to promote or act as spokespersons for any attraction mentioned within this post and this is simply a post intended to act as a day in the life of a couple on a cute date. All photos included are taken by ourselves and as such the rights for these images our ours, no links, brands, or companies mentioned otherwise belong or are associated with Phantom Adventures UK. We are responsible only for this blog. Opinions are our own and not influenced by any third party source.. 

If you have any recommendations on places to visit or somewhere you would like to see on the blog, please feel free to drop us a message on instagram under @phantomadventuresuk or email us at phantomadventuresuk@gmail.com