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On Tuesday, November 7th, The Walt Disney Family Museum hosted its third annual fundraising gala to recognize and support the future generations of creative talent. The night’s honoree was John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios, a true talent whose creativity has touched hearts and minds across the world. John Lasseter became the third recipient of the Diane Disney Miller Lifetime Achievement Award, an honor that was previously bestowed upon Imagineer legend Marty Sklar and American songwriter Richard Sherman.
Leading the evening’s celebrations was actress and comedian Bonnie Hunt (Cars, Toy Story 4) alongside presenters Bob Iger (CEO of Disney), Ed Catmull (President of Pixar), and members of the Disney family including Ron Miller and his daughter Joanna Miller. Guests enjoyed a special performance by songwriter duo Bobby Lopez (Frozen, Avenue Q, and Book of Mormon) and Kristen-Anderson Lopez (Winnie the Pooh, Frozen). As a special surprise for the evening’s honoree, Bobby and Kristen invited Kristen Bell (Frozen, The Good Place) and Idina Menzel (Frozen, Rent, Wicked) onstage to perform songs from their hit Disney film Frozen. Additional notable attendees included Jim Morris (President of Pixar Animation Studios), Andrew Stanton (Director of Finding Nemo, Wall-E, Stranger Things Season 2), Pete Doctor (Director of Inside Out, Up), Jonas Rivera (Producer of Inside Out, Up, Cars), Brad Bird (Director of Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Ratatouille, The Incredibles), and Larry Baer (CEO of the San Francisco Giants), among many others.
Gala guests enjoyed an evening of laughs, performances and even an opportunity to bid on a single speaking part in Pixar’s upcoming film, Toy Story 4 – an item that was in such high demand that John generously decided on the spot to open-up two more roles for guests to bid on.
ABOUT THE MUSEUM
The Walt Disney Family Museum presents the fascinating story and achievements of Walt Disney, the man who raised animation to the level of fine art, transformed the film industry, tirelessly pursued innovation, and created a global yet distinctively American legacy. Opened in October 2009, the 40,000-square foot facility features the newest technology along with a vast collection of historic materials and artifacts to bring Disney’s achievements to life, myriad interactive galleries presenting early drawings and animation, movies, music, listening stations, a spectacular model of Disneyland, and much more. The museum is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization located in the scenic Presidio of San Francisco.
The Walt Disney Family Museum has created many world-class exhibitions, such as Disney and Dalí: Architects of the Imagination; MAGIC, COLOR, FLAIR: the world of Mary Blair; and Water to Paper, Paint to Sky: The Art of Tyrus Wong, several of which have traveled to other museums around the world. The most recent, Awaking Beauty: The Art of Eyvind Earle, is the eighteenth original exhibition originated by the museum since 2012.
San Francisco, Calif., November 7th 2017
1. Golden Gate Club exteriors
2. Silent auction and cocktail reception
3. Ron Miller, Bob Iger, John Lasseter and Kirsten Komroske pose for photographs
4. Soundbite (English) Kirsten Komoroske, Walt Disney Family Museum Executive Director
“We're at the Golden Gate club in the Presidio and this is the third annual fundraising gala for the Walt Disney Family Museum and tonight we're honoring John Lasseter with the Diane Disney Miller lifetime achievement award.”
5. John Lasseter arrives and poses for photographs
6. Soundbite (English) Kirsten Komoroske, Walt Disney Family Museum Executive Director
“And it's to honor people who have had a significant role in the arts, in animation, in creative pursuits but also people who have given back to the community.”
7. John Lasseter interviewed by the media
8. Soundbite (English) John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer, Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios
“The Walt Disney Family Museum is honoring me tonight so I'm so thrilled. This museum means so much to me and everybody who works in animation, everybody who loves Walt Disney and every-- all the films he made and parts he made and everything. It's really a special place and I'm so proud to be here and be honored by the museum.”
9. Walt Disney memorabilia
10. Guests mingling
11. Soundbite (English) Kirsten Komoroske, Walt Disney Family Museum Executive Director
“So the mission of the museum is to inspire future generations. To hear their imagination. But also Diane wanted people to know how many challenges Walt had so to not give up, to persevere through tough times. And that expands into a lot of different areas. But education is very important to us.”
12. NAT SOUND/ Announcer: Please welcome the wonderful Bonnie Hunt!
13. Soundbite (English) John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer, Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios
“I know Bonnie Hunt is here, my good friend Bonnie Hunt, one of my dearest dearest friends. We worked together you know all the way back since "A Bug's Life", our second movie we made.”
14. Soundbite (English) Bonnie Hunt, Actress and Comedian
“And the first thing John says to me, ‘let me tell you all about the story that we're working on. Here are the characters, and this is what we want the audience to feel.’ And I'm looking at him and I think, "Oh my god I found him! I found my Walt Disney."
15. Bobby and Kristen Lopez performance
16. Soundbite (English) John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer, Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios
“Bobby and Kristen Lopez are here. I worked with them on "Frozen: The Musical". And they did all the music for it.”
17. Soundbite (English) Bobby Lopez, Songwriter
“John is probably our favorite collaborator of all time. He's sort of the ultimate genius of animation and we are just so thrilled to get to you know get to work with him every day and it was a no brainer to do this and to benefit the Disney Museum”
18. Bobby and Kristen On Stage: “We don't have Kristin Bell here tonight but the music will hopefully bring her to life for us.” (Kristen Bell joins on stage).
19. Audience cutaway
20. Idina Menzel performance
21. Soundbite (English) Bob Iger, CEO of Disney
“I cannot think of anybody more deserving of this distinction tonight, more deserving an award that is given in front of many members of the Walt Disney family. More deserving an award that represents the essence of who we are as a company that's great creative fearlessness. Knowing again that caution never creates magic. Only fearlessness and risk taking chances does. So thank you from the bottom of my heart, John.”
22. Soundbite (English) John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer, Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios
“It is really worthy. It's really meaningful and it's really noble. To put creativity, hope and goodness out in the world as Walt Disney did.”
23. Pan of stage with John Lasseter and his award alongside Ron Miller, Bob Iger, Bonnie Hunt, Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Kirsten Komoroske, Bobby Lopez and Kristen Lopez
24. Soundbite (English) John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer, Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios
“Well, the immediate future for Pixar is we have a brand new movie, "Coco" that is coming out at Thanksgiving and it celebrates the incredible vibrant holiday of Dia de los Muertos and i'ts about family and it's, it's really a special story. And it's really beautiful. It's full of heart. It's a fantastic Pixar film, an original film.”
7 November 2017
