We already know we’ll spend an unreasonable amount of time looking at every little thing inside The Magic of Disney Animation when it opens at Disney’s Hollywood Studios on September 14. Walt Disney Imagineering has now given us even more reason to look closely.
In a new reel, Imagineer Ben takes us inside the Animator’s Office and points out some of the Easter eggs tucked throughout the space. And based on what we can see behind him, these are only the beginning.
What makes this especially fun is that some of the items aren’t simply props created to make an animator’s workspace look convincing. There is real Disney Animation history sitting on those shelves and desks.
One of my favorites is a mug filled with pencils that was originally given to the architects who worked on the animation building. There are also red rubber bands draped over a piece of equipment, which animators used to bundle completed scenes together. Apparently, they were also known to shoot those rubber bands at each other because, well, animators are people too.
Look around a little more and you’ll spot Chicken Little’s glasses, along with a book filled with caricatures drawn by Disney animators. Ben explains that artists would draw caricatures of one another and leave them on their coworkers’ desks, and the book preserves some of those drawings.
There’s also a fantastic piece of Disney-MGM Studios history hiding in plain sight. A copy of Rabbit Rabbit, an internal newsletter once distributed to the animators who worked inside the Florida studio, is pinned to a board. The issue shown in the video dates to July 20, 1998, and celebrates Mulan reaching the $100 million mark.
And then there are the things you could easily walk right past without realizing what you’re seeing: a Moana crew hat, a Hercules production jacket, a stamp connected to a Mulan team gift, and even a mirror that Once Upon a Studio co-director Dan Abraham reportedly found at a flea market.
The shelves are just packed with books, figures, artwork, and little pieces of studio life that make this feel like a place where an animator might actually work rather than a perfectly staged theme park set.
That attention to detail feels especially appropriate here. The original Magic of Disney Animation allowed guests to watch real artists at work when Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida operated at Disney-MGM Studios. Disney animators worked on films including Lilo & Stitch in this building, so bringing pieces of that history back into the reimagined space feels like a wonderful nod to what came before.
The Magic of Disney Animation will include several experiences when it opens, including Drawn to Wonderland, Off the Page!, Olaf Draws!, and the Once Upon a Studio Theater. The entire concept was inspired by Disney Animation’s Burbank campus and Once Upon a Studio, with Imagineering and Walt Disney Animation Studios working together on the project.
But now I have another activity to add to the list: Easter egg hunting.
If Imagineering is already pointing out this many details before the doors have even opened, imagine how many more are waiting for us to discover. I have a feeling this is going to be one of those places where you notice something new every single time you visit, and I can hardly wait!
