From Mickey Mouse to Marvel: Disney exhibition brings studio's century of work to Seoul

Visitors pose with a Mickey Mouse statue at “Disney100: The Exhibition,″ now on view at the K Museum of Contemporary Art in southern Seoul. [EXHIBITION HUB ASIA]
Walt Disney once famously said, “I only hope that we never lose sight of one thing — that it was all started by a mouse.”

“But I think we all know that Walt was just being modest,” said Matthew Adams, the exhibition manager at the Walt Disney Archives.

The red dress worn by American actor Emma Stone for “Cruella” (2021) [EXHIBITION HUB KOREA]
The Walt Disney Company is reflecting on its past century of work with a touring exhibition titled, “Disney100: The Exhibition.” It made its Asian premiere in Seoul at the K Museum of Contemporary Art in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, earlier this month.

The show was previously held in London, Munich, Philadelphia, Chicago and Kansas City.

“Disney100: The Exhibition” features the largest collection of artwork, costumes, props and other memorabilia from the Walt Disney Archives.

“As you can imagine, to tell 100 years of history is quite challenging and we have so many assets in our collection that it does present the challenge, ‘What do we show of our vast collection?’” Adams said.

The ultimate criteria, he said, was to distill down the selection to the ones that had the best storytelling and conveyed the philosophies of Walt Disney.

A crystalline glass slipper from the live-action film ″Cinderella″ (2015) [EXHIBITION HUB ASIA]
The exhibition, like how all Disney classics begin, starts with “Once upon a time” — the company’s origin story. It was founded by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Oliver Disney on Oct. 16, 1923. Visitors can learn about the thought process of the founders, like what exactly constitutes the “Disney magic” and how the iconic Mickey and Minnie Mouse couple were created.

Some notable museum-worthy artifacts include a costume bodice worn by American actor Marge Champion for a live-action reference used in “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937), a red dress worn by American actor Emma Stone for “Cruella” (2021) and a puppet version of Olaf from the “Frozen” franchise (2013-) that was used at the Disneyland Resort in California.

Installation view of “Disney100: The Exhibition.″ Here shows an Olaf puppet that was used at the Disneyland Resort in California. [EXHIBITION HUB ASIA]
The exhibition continues with pieces from the “Star Wars” franchise (1977-) and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, like a First Order Stormtrooper costume from “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” (2017) and Captain America’s shield from “Avengers: Endgame” (2019).

It also gets into the technical, behind-the-scenes aspects of the inventions and innovations, coined in the exhibition as “Innoventions,” developed by Disney animators and engineers.

Installation view of the ″Innoventions″ section of “Disney100: The Exhibition,” featuring an electric hand created for the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida [EXHIBITION HUB ASIA] A model of the Castle of Magic Dreams at Hong Kong Disneyland [EXHIBITION HUB ASIA]
One part is even a somewhat downsized version of a Disney theme park.

One of the organizers, Lee Hyung-jin, contributed to showcasing the collection in Korea. Lee is the CEO of Exhibition Hub Asia, an exhibition production studio. He said he visited a previous version of the show and was intrigued by how the enthusiasm behind Disney was universal and crossed generations.

“Seeing family members of different ages excitedly waiting outside the venue was something that I was certain that I wanted to bring to Korea,” he said.

“I think Seoul loves Disney,” said Hamza El Azhar, the co-founder of Exhibition Hub. “The goal is to see 450,000 or maybe 800,000 visitors.”

“Disney100: The Exhibition” continues until Dec. 31. The exhibition is open every day from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Regular admission is 30,000 won ($22) and can be purchased on Interpark Ticket or Naver.