Disney Cracks Open Vast Archive for Centennial Celebrations

In celebration of the company's upcoming centennial -- officially marked on October 16 -- Disney recently allowed a glimpse into its vaults. Robyn Beck / AFP
In celebration of the company's upcoming centennial -- officially marked on October 16 -- Disney recently allowed a glimpse into its vaults. Robyn Beck / AFP
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Disney Cracks Open Vast Archive for Centennial Celebrations

In celebration of the company's upcoming centennial -- officially marked on October 16 -- Disney recently allowed a glimpse into its vaults. Robyn Beck / AFP
In celebration of the company's upcoming centennial -- officially marked on October 16 -- Disney recently allowed a glimpse into its vaults. Robyn Beck / AFP

From princess costumes and cute character sketches to century-old toys, photos and documents, Disney's backrooms and warehouses are stacked to the rafters with "hundreds of millions" of filmmaking treasures, its archivists say.

In celebration of the company's upcoming centennial -- officially marked on October 16 -- Disney recently allowed a glimpse into its vaults, hosting a media visit to its film studio lot in Burbank, near Los Angeles, AFP said.

"This is what we call the tip of the iceberg," said Walt Disney Archives director Becky Cline, before presenting artifacts ranging from the studio's founding legal document and the first Mickey Mouse cartoon script to costumes from the latest Marvel films.

Many more items are currently out touring the world, with "Disney100: The Exhibition" on display simultaneously in Munich and Philadelphia. More locations including London will be added soon.

Paris is currently hosting an immersive, multi-sensory experience, centered around the friendships between Disney's iconic characters.

But a major portion of the studio's archives is in "five or six" warehouses "scattered around" the Los Angeles area, including larger items such as former theme park ride vehicles and movie props, said archivist Nicole Carroll.

"We make so much stuff, we're always looking for more space!" she said.

Founded in 1970, the 30-strong team of archivists aim to keep a "small representation" of everything, Carroll explained.

For example, if a recently wrapped movie has 250 lavish costumes, including four or five for each of the heroes, the archive team will select "a couple of iconic looks from each character" for posterity.

Even with this selective approach, every time a film wraps, "we could be adding hundreds of things" to the archive, said Carroll.

'Cry'
Among the studio's most treasured memorabilia are the giant storybooks featured at the start of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and "Sleeping Beauty," and a crystal slipper from the live action version of Cinderella.

Some items end up serving a practical purpose -- an original snow globe from 1964's "Mary Poppins" was pulled from the archive and replicated by filmmakers creating the 2018 sequel.

Factor in photo and document archives containing first-edition cartoons, tickets to Disneyland's 1955 opening, plus corporate reports and press clippings, and the total collection extends to "hundreds of millions" of items, said Cline.

But perhaps the most hallowed space for Disney obsessives is located right on the Burbank lot -- founder Walt Disney's personal offices, from which he managed his entertainment empire from 1940 until his death in 1966.

A painstaking inventory of every item he left behind was taken, right down to the exact resting angle of his books, including volumes on Nikola Tesla, Salvador Dali and trains.

Just under a decade ago, those offices were restored by Walt Disney Archives employees.

They now contain everything from unfinished plans for theme parks to figurines of beloved fairy tale characters.

And, of course, several Oscars.
Just a few tour groups are admitted each year to this space, considered sacred by cognoscenti of a company renowned for the almost unparalleled obsession of its fandom.

"People come in and cry at this amazing human," said tour guide Laura Sanchez.

"They get to walk in the past."



'Den of Thieves 2' Opens at No. 1 as 'Better Man' Flops

This image released by Lionsgate shows Gerard Butler, left, and O'Shea Jackson Jr. in a scene from "Den of Thieves 2: Pantera." (Rico Torres/Lionsgate via AP)
This image released by Lionsgate shows Gerard Butler, left, and O'Shea Jackson Jr. in a scene from "Den of Thieves 2: Pantera." (Rico Torres/Lionsgate via AP)
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'Den of Thieves 2' Opens at No. 1 as 'Better Man' Flops

This image released by Lionsgate shows Gerard Butler, left, and O'Shea Jackson Jr. in a scene from "Den of Thieves 2: Pantera." (Rico Torres/Lionsgate via AP)
This image released by Lionsgate shows Gerard Butler, left, and O'Shea Jackson Jr. in a scene from "Den of Thieves 2: Pantera." (Rico Torres/Lionsgate via AP)

On a quiet weekend in movie theaters, while much of Hollywood’s attention was on the wildfires that continue to rage in Los Angeles, Lionsgate’s “Den of Thieves 2: Pantera” debuted atop the box office with $15.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Mid-January is often a slow moviegoing period, and that was slightly exacerbated by the closures of about 10 theaters in Los Angeles, the country’s top box-office market, The Associated Press reported.
A sequel to the Gerard Butler 2018 heist thriller, “Den of Thieves 2” performed similarly to the original. The first installment, released by STX, opened with $15.2 million seven years ago. O’Shea Jackson Jr. co-stars in the sequel, which debuted in 3,008 North American theaters.
Butler's films are becoming something of a regular feature in January. He also starred in “Plane,” which managed $32.1 million after launching on Jan. 13 in 2023.
“Den of Thieves 2,” made for about $40 million, was a bit more costly to make. Audiences liked it well enough, giving it a “B+” CinemaScore. Reviews (58% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) weren’t particularly good. But it counted as Lionsgate’s first No.1 opening since “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” in November 2023.
Also entering wide release over the weekend was the Robbie Williams movie “Better Man,” one of the more audacious spins on the music biopic in recent years. Rather than going the more tradition routes of Elton John (“Rocketman”) or Elvis Presley (“Elvis”), the British popstar is portrayed by a CGI chimpanzee in Michael Gracey’s film.
The Paramount Pictures release, produced for $110 million and acquired by Paramount for $25 million, didn’t catch on much better than Williams’ previous forays into the United States. It tanked, with $1.1 million in ticket sales from 1,291 locations. Gracey’s previous feature, 2017’s “The Greatest Showman” ($459 million worldwide), fared far better in theaters. Reviews, however, have been very good for “Better Man.”
It was bested by “The Last Showgirl,” the Las Vegas drama starring Pamela Anderson. The Roadside Attractions release expanded to 870 theaters and collected $1.5 million.
Also outdoing “Better Man” was Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist.” Coming off winning best drama at the Golden Globes, the A24 postwar epic grossed a hefty $1.4 million from just 68 locations. It expands wider in the coming weeks.
The weekend's lion share of business went to holiday holdovers, including “Mufasa: The Lion King,” “Sonic the Hedgehog 3,” “Nosferatu” and “Moana 2.”
In its fourth week of release, Barry Jenkins “Mufasa” continued to do well, adding $13.2 million to bring its total to $539.7 million worldwide. Also on its fourth weekend, “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” padded its $384.8 million global total with $11 million. Robert Eggers’ “Nosferatu,” the surprise hit of the Christmas period, collected $6.8 million in ticket sales, bringing the vampire tale to $81.1 million domestically.
The Walt Disney Co.’s “Moana 2,” in its seventh week of release, added $6.5 million to bring its global tally to $989.8 million. In the coming days, it will become the third Disney film released in 2024 to notch $1 billion, joining “Inside Out 2” and “Deadpool and Wolverine.”