Art Corner was a retail store that operated at Disneyland amusement park in Anaheim, California, from 1955 until 1966. The store was located in the ''

Tomorrowland Tomorrowland is one of the many themed lands featured at all of the Magic Kingdom styled Disney theme parks around the world owned or licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Each version of the land is different and features numerous attractions ...

'' area of the park.

History

When

Disneyland Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envisi ...

opened in

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

, on July 17, 1955, a temporary location for the store was set up at the end of Main Street, U.S.A., in a striped tent adjacent to the Red Wagon Inn. It offered souvenirs and Disneyana. The permanent location opened on September 15, 1955.

Store offerings

One of The Art Corner's main claims to fame is as an outlet for Disney animation cels. These collector-prized items had once been available through the Courvoisier Gallery (from 1938 until 1946), but had been off the market until Disneyland opened in 1955. Disney collector Rob Richards notes "The Art Corner rescued thousands of cels from being destroyed and saved them for posterity." Other offerings that had an immense impact on future artists were a series of Cartoon Character Guides on drawing Mickey Mouse,

Goofy Goofy is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. He is a tall, anthropomorphic dog who typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled fedora. Goofy is a ...

Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Sun. It is the largest k ...

Jiminy Cricket Jiminy Cricket is the The Walt Disney Company, Disney version of the "Talking Cricket" (Italian language, Italian: ''Il Grillo Parlante''), a fictional character created by Italian writer Carlo Collodi for his 1883 children's book ''The Adventu ...

, Chip 'n Dale,

Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic American Pekin, white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shi ...

, flip books, and animation kits.

Art of Animation exhibit

On May 28, 1960, an exhibit, ''The Art of Animation'', opened adjacent to the store. It contained artwork and other items, including a

thaumatrope A thaumatrope is an optical toy that was popular in the 19th century. A disk with a picture on each side is attached to two pieces of string. When the strings are twirled quickly between the fingers the two pictures appear to blend into one due t ...

, drawn from an international traveling display that had promoted the release of ''Sleeping Beauty''. It closed on September 5, 1966, to make way for the renovation of Tomorrowland. The Art Corner permanently closed on September 6, 1966, also to make way for the renovation.

Legacy

The Art Corner was a precursor of the Disneyana shop that sold vintage Disneyana which operated on Main Street U.S.A. from 1976 to 1986. The current Main Street Disneyana shop (opened in May 1998) solely sells books and limited edition merchandise/art prints. Unlike its predecessors, this shop does not offer vintage Disneyana products.

References

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External links