The Awards Lobby of The Walt Disney Family Museum stands as a testament to the wide-ranging successes of Walt Disney’s career. Here visitors find a collection of awards received by Walt Disney for achievements not only for filmmaking, but for contributions to a variety of fields and industries.
Just outside the entrance to the first gallery can be seen a case of Academy Awards won by Walt. The gold statues are striking and immediately recognizable, and are usually regarded as the highlight of the awards collection. The case includes the special Oscar awarded to Walt for the achievement of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Disney’s first full-length animated film. The one-of-a-kind award features one standard sized Oscar alongside seven miniature Oscars, in honor of the characters immortalized in the film. Walt maintains the record for most Academy Award nominations and wins for any one individual, living or deceased.
Other notable awards and honors exist in the Awards Lobby collection and throughout the museum. Distinguished examples include the Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded by President Lyndon B. Johnson, Walt’s honorary degrees to a number of prestigious universities including Yale and Harvard, and the Showman of the World award, for which Walt remains the sole recipient.
The Lobby also features less recognizable awards and honors from organizations around the globe. One such piece is a replica glass slipper from the 1950 Disney animated feature Cinderella. The commemorative item was given to Walt during the Cinderella Contest held in Japan in 1953 in conjunction with the film’s release in that country.
Similar contests were held in the United States during the initial 1950 release of the film. Ideal contestants for this type of pageant were expected to exhibit the positive qualities associated with the character of Cinderella. The traits most desired in the winner of a Cinderella Contest were primarily moral fiber, charm, and a helpful, pleasant disposition. The contests were intended to seek out and celebrate normal young women for their extraordinary qualities of character, mirroring the transformation of Cinderella from servant to princess.
This unique piece will be featured in the exhibit “The Dream of Walt Disney” which will travel to five cities in Japan over the next year.
Visitors can gain additional information about each of the awards on display in the Awards Lobby by searching the interactive kiosks stationed among the award display cases. Using touch screen menus, the awards can be scrolled through based on their location in the exhibit.
Alyssa Carnahan
Museum Educator
at The Walt Disney Family Museum
Walt Disney’s Cinderella screens daily through April at 1:00pm and 4:00pm (except Tuesdays, and April 28). Further program information and tickets are available at the Reception and Member Service Desk at our museum, or online by clicking here.