900 WEST EXPOSITION BOULEVARD, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, 90007
Please step this way, as we embark on a special Walt-centric tour through the historic Natural History Museum of Los Angeles, founded in 1913! For today’s excursion, we will visit the permanent "Becoming Los Angeles" exhibit on the First Floor of the museum. This exhibit honoring the achievements and growth of Los Angeles County, holds one very special artifact that Walt Disney personally donated in 1937 - the camera rig that he and brother Roy built (likely) in his uncle Robert's "Holly-mont" garage during 1923!
Just look West of the colorful rotunda and the statue of the Three Muses (appropriately representing History, Arts, and Sciences)! There we find our destination - the Becoming Los Angeles Exhibit Hall, and our Disney artifact!
The original unfinished one-reel Alice Comedy short subject that was shown to Margaret Winkler, was partially photographed at Laugh-o-Gram in Kansas City. However, that same film was completed in Los Angeles, using this very table. The camera stand continued in service at The Disney Bros. Cartoon Studio in Los Feliz, being used to shoot many (if not all) of the Alice Comedies.
This camera rig was used to shoot the films that would first give Walt Disney a presence in the entertainment industry - the Alice Comedies! While other cameras were used to shoot Alice and the live-action portions of the films, this animation camera rig was utilized to shoot the animated characters that populated Cartoon Land. Typically, the camera was operated by two individuals - one to control the functions of the camera, and the other to load the drawings. The 10,000 to 12,000 drawings were placed under a sheet of glass (one by one), which held them in place firmly for the camera. This glass sheet also protected the drawings from elements, and made it easy to keep dust and hairs from tainting the shots.
The camera attached to Walt’s hand-built rig hung (traditionally) elevated over the drawings, shooting downward.
Lamps were attached to the right and left of the drawing. This allowed light to flow unobstructed and freely, but it also prevented glare from showing up in each shot.
If you look closely, you'll notice that the camera stand even features a couple of preserved hand-written notes by Walt Disney himself!
Hand writing analysis of letters (like “B”, “R”, and “S”) confirm that the notes were assuredly written by Walt’s hand. As for the message on the first card, twenty blank frames gave the film extra space to be cut and edited. This second cautionary note was attached to the camera stand, because many of the materials (the celluloid and gum) were flammable, and could easily be damaged by debris like cigarette ashes.
This chair (once used by the operators), was donated along with the camera stand. Just think - individuals like Walt & Roy Disney, Ubbe Iwwerks, and Hugh Harman (to name just a few legends of animation) likely sat in this very chair at one point or another, while they produced film after film in Mickey Mouse’s developing career! The museum plaque indicates that ultimately several Mickey Mouse short films were also photographed at this rig. Most notable are Mickey’s debut film Plane Crazy (and first synchronized sound cartoon, Steamboat Willie) were both shot on this stand.
Ultimately a brand-new camera rig was employed and appeared in an issue of Modern Mechanix and Inventions, published April of 1934. Both improvements in cinematic technology and a four sheet patent filed September 1, 1936, by Walt Disney himself would deem it necessary to completely replace the old hand-built rig by 1937. Though the old rig had outlived its usefulness when it came to shooting steady shots with the latest expensive cameras, it wasn’t ready to be “put out to pasture” just yet.
Walt knew the cultural significance of this camera stand - the scientific and artistic achievements in the field of entertainment that were made with the help of this handmade device. So after ten years of service to Disney Bros. Studios and Walt Disney Studios, Walt Disney donated this stand (and accompanying chair).
The intent of this gift was likely similar to sentiments expressed when Disneyland was dedicated - that it become a source of scientific and artistic inspiration - to the visitors of the Los Angeles Museum of Natural History. This important cinematic artifact is not preserved in some archival vault, but readily accessible to the curious visitors of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles! Now, we invite you to please step this way!
Walt Disney’s camera stand (and the surrounding Disney connections) were the subject of our very first Disney History 101 Featurette. We invite you to CLICK the following link to Disney History 101’s official YouTube channel, and WATCH our quest below. If you enjoy the short film, please support Disney History 101 by LIKING and SUBSCRIBING!
PLEASE, STEP THIS WAY!
NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY hours of operation : 930AM-5PM DAILY