Walt Disney: 
Imagination has no age

From the fairy tale to
animation & comics

Universe of imagination
As one of the most creative minds of the 20^th century, Walt Disney (1901-1966) not only co-created Mickey Mouse, which will turn 90 this year, but has built a unique universe of imagination, which still connects generations and cultures. The exhibition dedicates the magician with the pencil, to highlight the Golden Age of Disney animation as well as the development and the rise of the most famous characters of the Disney world to international comics stars.

European fairy tales as inspiration
As an inquisitive and enthusiastic autodidact, Walt Disney discovered early on in his career the importance of European literature and the genre of the European fairy tale for his short films. Already in the mid-1930s he began to purchase numerous books. They should form the basis of the studio library set up in 1934. For the first time, the exhibition presents original editions of books which Disney acquired next to original drawings from his films, such as Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, or The Jungle Book. The exhibition provides an opportunity to rediscover the works of once popular and now almost forgotten fairy tale painters and illustrators.

Against the backdrop of Disney's extensive collection of works by European artists whose style seemed interesting to him for his own projects, the exhibition also shows works of significant graphic artists of the fin-de-siècle. Heinrich Kley’s dancing elephants were the inspiration for Disney's feature films Fantasia and Dumbo. Disney’s interest in caricature is particularly reflected in works such as the previously unknown series of original drawings for his war propaganda film Stop That Tank, which is one of the special discoveries in the exhibition.

International comic stars
Disney’s innovative cartoons would not have become so well-known and popular around the world, were it not for the accompanying use of comics for their successful marketing. Initially conceived as mere merchandising tool for the films, the comic strips which were published in American newspapers since 1932 soon received great resonance. As a result, the studios began to set up their own comics department. With original comic strips from the 1930s as well as first editions of various comic magazines, the exhibition traces the genesis of comics culture in Europe and explores the birth and development of the two best known figures in the Disney universe: Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. The exhibition includes the graphic works of Floyd Gottfredson and Carl Barks, who significantly shaped the international comics stars Mickey and Donald.

The exhibition were curated by Daniel Kothenschulte and Hans-Ulrich Jetter.

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