Disney comes to ACMI in Australia-first exhibition

'Disney: The Magic of Animation' comes to ACMI in May, bringing over 500 unique Disney artworks to Australia for the first time.

ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image) is back with a bang after its two year closure. Melbourne’s own museum of the moving image is bringing the internationally acclaimed exhibition Disney: The Magic of Animation to Australia for the very first time.

From 13 May, ACMI will host this exhibition of all things Disney as part of Melbourne’s Melbourne Winter Masterpiece series, supported by Visit Victoria. 
Comprised of work from the Walt Disney Animation Research Library, the exhibition collects over 500 unique artworks, including sketches, paintings and concept art, that tells the story of almost a century of film artistry. The exhibition starts at the very beginning, with concept art behind Disneys’ first talkie, Steamboat Willie, released in 1928.

‘Whether it is a series of appealing line drawings, shot in sequential order to create a believable character, or complex digital imagery rendered to create a magical effect, animation has the power to transport the viewer into a world of imagination and beauty.’ 
– Mary Walsh, Curator Walt Disney Animation Research Library

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Jini Maxwell is a curator at ACMI, and an award-winning videogame journalist. They curated ‘Honk: Untitled Goose Exhibition,’ co-curate Gay24, a monthly film night showcasing rare, radical and archival queer films. Jini is currently co-curating a major videogame exhibition at ACMI.