If you're a Disney fan and looking for something cool to watch, the documentary Adventure Thru the Walt Disney Archives (which was previously only available for a single screening to D23 members) gives a peek behind the magical curtain at The Walt Disney Company. While exploring the Studio lot, a warehouse of iconic treasures, and the theme parks, all with producer and host Don Hahn (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Maleficent) as a guide, viewers will hear from Disney Executive Chairman Bob Iger, Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige, Pixar’s Pete Docter, film historian Leonard Maltin and others, as they get a fuller understanding of the detailed history that’s helped shape every aspect of the company.
During this 1-on-1 phone interview with Collider, Becky Cline, Director of the Walt Disney Archives, talked about what it’s like to get to wear so many different hats for one job, figuring out what they wanted to showcase in the documentary, how emotional it is to walk through the reconstruction of Walt Disney’s office on the Disney Studios lot, the different types of special items included in the archives, making sure that storytelling is at the core of everything they do, and what she finds most fulfilling about her work.
Collider: This film is just delightful. I always tremendously enjoy watching behind the scenes specials, and this one does not disappoint at all.
BECKY CLINE: Oh, good. Thank you. It was fun to do.
Your job as Director of the Walt Disney Archives seems incredible. You’re in charge of and responsible for so much unbelievable history. For people who don’t know that Disney keeps this archive and the unbelievable amount of care that goes into it, how would you explain what you do?
CLINE: Well, I wear a lot of hats. The Walt Disney Company is very diverse and has so many different organizations and businesses under our umbrella. The Walt Disney Archives, being a corporate entity, we are responsible for keeping the history of the whole company, worldwide. It’s quite a challenge because it’s very diverse, as you might imagine. It’s everything from cruise lines to ESPN, to [theme] parks all over the world. It’s tricky. Some people think that because we’re on the studio lot, which is the headquarters of the Walt Disney Company, that we’re just the studio archive, but we’re really not. We do keep the history of the Walt Disney filmed entertainment. We keep the history of the animation division of the company. We keep track of ABC and Disney+, and all of the entities that are film-related, but we also keep the history of everything that goes on under the Disney umbrella. We keep the history of things that are really diverse, around the world.
The biggest part of my job and the hardest part is just keeping track of everything that the company is doing. Every day, we make announcements about new products and new experiences and adventures that are coming out. We have to keep on top of what the company is doing today, as well as knowing, in-depth, our past and sharing that. Disney reuses its history more than any other company I can think of. We have to know just as much about Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs that came out in 1937, as we have to about everything that’s just been announced or the newest attraction at one of our theme parks. It’s a big job, but it’s fun because there’s always something new to learn about and see and enjoy, as well as a lot of really deep, rich history to dive into.
Were you surprised that you were even able to show as much as you did in this documentary, when you could have gone on for at least a season of a TV series and still not show everything in the archive?
CLINE: Yeah. It was really fun. We were really strategic about how we worked with John Gleim, who’s the director and writer of the piece, to strategically figure out some things. We wanted to make it fun, of course, but we also wanted to look at the various types of things that we do in the archives. We have an exhibits program, we have a collections team, we have a digitization team, we have a photo library. We have all of these different things, as well as our research collection, which is the core of the archives. We wanted to make sure that, in the hour, we devote some time to each one of those aspects of the archives, but then we also wanted to show fun things to see. We also wanted to share one of our newest projects, or most beloved projects, which was Walt Disney’s office and the reconstruction of that.
In conversation, we hit on which parts of the archives we wanted to share, and I also wanted to try to get as many of the staff into the piece as we were able to. Not everybody has a speaking role, but at the time we created the documentary, everybody who is in the archives appears in the film. It turned out really fun. And then, there was the idea to use inspiration for a film called The Reluctant Dragon, which came out in 1941. Walt used that same idea to show the studio. The way described his studio was in this feature film. He had Robert Benchley, who was a well-known celebrity at the time, come to the studio with the conceit that he would bring a book that he wanted Walt to make into an animated cartoon and he ends up on a tour of the studio, seeing all of the different departments.
And finally, at the end of the film, he makes it to Walt Disney, who invites him to come in for a screening of the new cartoon that he’s making. So, it’s the same story, which was very fun film. It had the twofold purpose of giving a tour of the studio, as well as being entertaining. We thought that was the perfect way to do this and a host like Don Hahn is so funny. Everybody loves Don Hahn at the studio, and our fans really love Don, so it was an opportunity to pay homage to that film and Walt’s idea, and then bring it up to the present day and take you into Walt’s office. It worked out beautifully. John wrote a great script and Don made it so much more fun. It turned out pretty well.
I’ve gotten to see the office myself and I will never forget how emotional it made me to walk through it the first time. You can just really feel Walt Disney living there.
CLINE: Yeah, and it’s in the exact place. It’s not just his furnishings and a reconstruction of his office. It’s the actual space that he worked in and it hits people like that. Every time I take people in there for the first time, they come through the door and they stop dead and they just have this emotional response. I still get it, every time. I’ve gone in there so many times, but every time I go in there, I get that same feeling. It’s a very special place.
With so many different kinds of things housed under the archive umbrella, it’s probably like me asking you to pick your favorite child, but what do you find yourself most interested in or drawn to? Do you find yourself drawn to the older stuff? What do you find yourself most connected to?
CLINE: There are several answers to that. You’re right, it is like asking about your favorite child. Just on a personal level, having been in the archives now for almost 29 years, the things related directly to Walt Disney are very impactful to me. There are the things that meant something to him, like the contract that started the company, which I show in the film, and also the first script for Steamboat Willie was very special to him. Walt was always a forward thinker and looking forward, so he didn’t dwell on the past too much. He was sentimental, but he was always thinking about the future and making new productions and things. But one thing they found in his desk when the office was inventoried was that old copy of the script of Steamboat Willie that he and Ub Iwerks had worked on together. That was obviously a sentimental thing for him. So, pieces like that, that are in the archives, mean a lot and are very touching to me, to see these documents and things, like the letters. We have Walt Disney’s correspondence files, which are voluminous. To see the handwritten letters from the ‘20s, when he was struggling, to read those things and to experience that knowledge is really special to me.
But then, of course, there are also the things that are relatable from my own childhood, like the things from Mary Poppins. I love all of them, from the snow globe to the carousel horse and Mary Poppins’ carpet bag. That was a particularly special film to me, as a child, because it was the first movie I ever saw and I loved it, and I still do. When it comes to animation, we have animation art from Sleeping Beauty. We have the prop storybook, which I show in the film. I selected some of the things in the films that are my favorite to show, and we allowed the staff to do that too. Those are all things that are very near and dear to our hearts. There are so many different things in the archives that mean something special to me, personally. I could give you a list, but it would take a while.
And I’m sure that list grows and changes.
CLINE: Yeah, because we’re getting new things in all the time and I love the movies that we’re doing today. We have so much opportunity to share what the company is doing, on a daily basis. When we brought in other companies, like Marvel, Lucasfilm, Pixar and now Fox, there’s a huge collection of films that I love, that we have props and costumes for. There are lot of really cool things that I’m getting to see now from Fox Studios and I really enjoy sharing those as well.
When you put together these exhibits, is it not just trying to figure out the most interesting way to present it, but do you also try to figure out an emotion you want people to have?
CLINE: Yeah, that’s part of it. The thing that is at the core of everything Disney does is storytelling. When we create an exhibit, we create a story, just like you would in an attraction at one of the parks, or with the story of one of our films, or in a book that we’re publishing. It has to have a beginning, middle and end. They’re simpler stories, but we’re telling you something. We tell you what you’re gonna see, we tell you about the subject matter, and then we wrap it up with, “This is what you’ve seen and this is why you have that feeling and why there’s that impact.” That’s really important and I stress that within the archives, as we’re developing and curating exhibits. I want people to have that emotional impact. Even if it’s just, “Isn’t this great, look at what Disney’s done with this theme,” it always leaves you with a message of some sort. There’s so much heart to everything that we do because we’re there to entertain and educate, but we’re also there to touch people’s hearts. That’s a goal, when we’re first creating things.
What does it mean to you to be a part of the Disney family, from where you started to where you are now? You’re something of an unsung hero because people see the exhibits, but they don’t necessarily think about the work that goes into them, so what does it mean to you to be able to help care for and preserve so much history?
CLINE: I love my job, and it’s not just because of the exciting things I get to do or the wonderful people that I get to work with. I find it very, very fulfilling that I get to share with the world the things that mean so much to me personally. I grew up as a Disney kid. I lived in Southern California. I was born here. I enjoyed Disneyland, as a child and have always loved our movies and our parks. I am so blessed to be able to work with these materials, but it’s my honor and my responsibility. Something that I really love is that I get to share these things and I think it’s important that we have these things. I don’t want them sitting in a warehouse where nobody gets to see and enjoy them. I want to share them with people. My goal is just to find ways to share these things with the people who love them the most. There’s a lot of work that goes into what looks deceptively simple, but it’s work that we gladly do. We’re very honored to have that responsibility and honored to be entrusted with these things.
Adventure Thru the Walt Disney Archives is available to stream at Disney+.