“All That Glitters: The Crown Jewels of the Walt Disney Archives” Exhibit at the Bowers Museum
Today, December 12th, the Bowers Museum, located in Santa Ana, California, will open to the public their second exhibition in conjunction with the Walt Disney Archives: All That Glitters: The Crown Jewels of the Walt Disney Archives.
After a long couple of years since the opening/premature closing of their last Disney exhibit, Inside the Walt Disney Archives, the Bowers Museum again presents some treasures from the Archives’ vaults–this time with an emphasis on some of the most iconic jewelry and accessories from classic Disney and 20th Century Studios properties.
The exhibit is divided up into three main sections. The first, “Jewelry Informs Character,” illustrates how wearable accessories help to define characters for the viewers. Some of the pieces, such as Mulan’s matchmaking outfit from the 2020 Mulan and the Genie’s lamp from Aladdin (2019) have never been on display before.
One of the cases in this area, “Reflections of History,” showcases prop jewelry and artifacts compared with some of the actual items they reflect, from the Bowers Museum collection.
The next area, “Feature Vault” exhibits some of the Archive’s most prized possessions, whose worth stems from associations with people and places both real and fictional.
Finally, “Reflections on Reality” showcases the effort that goes into every costuming detail to give the most complete verisimilitude of reality possible.
All That Glitters is a bit smaller than the last Archives exhibit, but the pieces are, by and large, satisfyingly sparkly as the title promises. Most of the items are from more recent films with a decent representation from their 20th Century acquisition so fans of that studio’s output or The Princess Diaries should be particularly interested in catching the exhibition before it ends on June 19, 2022.
There are a large number of related events planned at the museum in conjunction with the exhibition:
- December 17, 18: D23 Holiday Mixer at the Bowers Museum
- January 1: Online Encore: 50 Years of the Walt Disney Archives: A Gold Mine of Fun Finds
- January 22: An indoor screening of Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
- January 29: Anatomy of the White Witch with Isis Mussenden, award-winning costume designer for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
- February 20: Online Encore: Inside the 20th Century Studios Collection with Lynne Drake
- March 5: The Women Artists of Disney–A Fusion of Fine Art & Animation–presentation and book signing with Mindy Johnson.
- March 19: The Art of Disney Costuming: Panel Discussion & Book Signing with Becky Cline, Robert Maxhimer, Holly Brobst, and Rick Lorentz
- April 30: Crown Jewels Afterhours Tour
- May 7: AristoKrown’s Princess Tiara-Making Workshop
- Outdoor film screenings:
- May 20: The Princess Diaries
- June 17: The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
- June 4: Crown Jewels Afterhours Tour
More information and individual ticket pricing for events is at https://www.bowers.org/index.php/upcoming-exhibition/all-that-glitters-the-crown-jewels-of-the-walt-disney-archives. Timed entry tickets to the exhibition are $25 and include access to the rest of the Museum exhibitions. D23 Gold Club members can get a $5 discount, along with a 10% discount at the Bowers Gallery Store.
The store has a wide variety of interesting merchandise, some of which is directly or indirectly related to the exhibit and the Walt Disney Company.
