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 may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Tomorrowland (Disney Parks), a theme land at a number of Disney theme parks around the world * Tomorrowland (festival), an annual electronic dance music festival in Boom, Belgium * ''Tom ...

'' area of the park.

History

When

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. 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, ...

opened in

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orang ...

, on July 17, 1955, a temporary location for the store was set up at the end of

Main Street, U.S.A. Main Street, USA is the first "themed land" inside the main entrance of the many theme parks operated or licensed by The Walt Disney Company around the world. Main Street, USA is themed to resemble American small towns during the early 20th centu ...

, in a striped tent adjacent to the Red Wagon Inn. It offered souvenirs and

Disneyana Disneyana is a term for a wide variety of collectible toys, books, animation cels, theme-park souvenirs, ephemera and other items produced and/or licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Examples range from products featuring virtually every Disney ...

. 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 Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...

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

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

Jiminy Cricket Jiminy Cricket is the Disney version of the Talking Cricket, a fictional character created by Italian writer Carlo Collodi for his 1883 children's book ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'', which Walt Disney adapted into the animated film '' Pinoc ...

, Chip 'n Dale,

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

flip book A flip book, flipbook, flicker book, or kineograph is a booklet with a series of images that very gradually change from one page to the next, so that when the pages are viewed in quick succession, the images appear to animate by simulating moti ...

s, 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 introduced in 1825. When the strings attached to the small illustrated disk are twirled quickly between the fingers, the depicted elements on either side of the disk appear to blend into one image. It was ...

, 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