There are various ways to celebrate an anniversary. Sometimes it is a big, blow-out party, other times its sitting in front of the TV watching a favorite film and eating popcorn. But if you are The Walt Disney Family Museum, you celebrate your anniversary with a Sing-Along! October 1, 2011 marked the Second Anniversary of our museum. In celebration, there was a Sing-Along held both on Saturday (for Members and their guests) and Sunday (all were welcome to attend).
Alison Chenoweth, one of our museum staff, was largely responsible for bringing the program to life, having long dreamed of a Sing-Along program at our museum. She worked with another staff member, Rachel Eastin, to pull everything together. The first Sing-Aong (in what we hope to be many more to come) featured 18 songs from Disney films that have either been a "film of the month" or a special showing at our museum over our first two years.
Attendees were all given programs that provided not only the lyrics to the songs, but featured the song title, film origin and premiere date, original performers and writers, and when the feature showed at our Museum Theatre.
After words of welcome were spoken, the evening started off with the animated short The Sorcerer’s Apprentice from the 1940 feature Fantasia. Following that animated overture, all were invited to raise their voices and “Let’s Get Together” from the 1961 film, The Parent Trap. Other films represented with the first 10 songs were 101 Dalmatians, Lady and the Tramp, Pinocchio, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland, and Sleeping Beauty. On Saturday night, there was an intermission after the tenth song for the guests to socialize and enjoy some tasty desserts.
After the intermission for the Saturday program (and after song 10 for the Sunday program), guests were treated to another cartoon short, Mr. Duck Steps Out. Who knew Donald was such a jitterbug! After the short, guests joined in for an additional eight songs, including tracks some of the previously-featured films and adding songs from The Three Caballeros, Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, and Dumbo. The Saturday night program concluded with a special performance of “When you Wish Upon a Star”, sung by Member Paulway Chew.
Each of the eighteen songs featured clips from their respective films and words were added to the screen. Various forms of visual effects were used to bring the words to life. (My favorite was the effect used for “Spoonful of Sugar” from Mary Poppins when Mary sings to the mirror, Mary’s words were normal, but Mirror Mary’s words were backwards. Very clever!
Finally, no event is complete without a prize or two, and the Sing-Along was no different. Prizes included tickets to Disneyland, a Museum Grand Opening poster signed by Walt’s grandchildren, a San Francisco Giants prize pack, and tickets to the Aquarium by the Bay.
All guests who attended seemed to leave with a smile on their face. In the words of the final sing-a-long song, the evening was "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!"
- Julie Mikesell, Volunteer at The Walt Disney Family Museum
Image above © Disney