The Museum of Science and Industry (MSI) in Chicago is one of my favorite places, and Christmas is my favorite season, so of course I love the MSI’s Christmas Around the World and Holidays of Light exhibit year after year. This year, I was even more excited than usual to see the Disney spin given that the Treasures of the Disney Archive is still open. Presented by D23: The Official Disney Fan Club, the exhibition celebrates Disney imagination, innovation and entertainment with nearly 300 artifacts.
Imagine the excitement, then, when we realized that there were recent additions to the Treasures of the Disney Archive that made it even more spectacular.
Let me cut to the important info, according to my daughter: There’s a new Frozen section!
It’s fascinating to see how the animators created the characters who are now so familiar.
My daughter loved the interactive features, especially being able to animate Elsa’s snow.
My favorite interactive feature was one that explored the architecture of Arendelle.
And a touch screen and the Duke of Weselton – so fun!
At the Disney Animation Academy, we had a blast drawing everyone’s most favorite snowman, Olaf! Not exactly sure why my girl decided that Olaf needed a tie, but she wanted to add her own unique spin, I guess. Maybe she was inspired by all the talk about Walt Disney’s focus on creativity and willingness to try new things.
We also got to draw Mickey wearing a Santa hat. That was a great set up for the fun new costumes and props from The Santa Claus movies that have been added to the exhibit.
Trust me, that cape really is to die for. And we checked for our names on Santa’s list, but apparently he still hasn’t made up his mind about us yet. He’s a wise man.
Of cours this is all in the shadow of the Grand Tree in the Great Hall.
I loved the attention to detail, including the not so obvious Mickey ornaments decorating the tree, and the fact that the gifts underneath were wrapped with paper featuring hidden Mickeys and addressed from one character to another.
The banners surrounding the tree perfectly set the fun, festive mood of a Disney holiday. This one was my favorite, of course, given my adoration of Donald Duck.
There’s only one Grand Tree but there are dozens of other trees representing countries from around the world. If you get a chance to check out the MSI in Chicago, especially now while the trees are up and the Treasures from the Disney Archives exhibit is open, it would be a holiday treat that you won’t soon forget.
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