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The Magic of Disney Animation Is Officially Open, and Disney Marked It With a 60-Character Photo Including Oswald, Bolt and Merlin
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The Magic of Disney Animation Is Officially Open, and Disney Marked It With a 60-Character Photo Including Oswald, Bolt and Merlin

Michael Travels
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Sixty characters, one courtyard, one photo. Disney marked Monday's official opening of The Magic of Disney Animation at Disney's Hollywood Studios with a photo of 60 Disney Animation characters posed outside the building, gathered for what Disney called "a rare picture day."

Alongside the characters who meet inside the new building, WDW News Today lists Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Bernard and Miss Bianca, Bolt, Merlin, Milo and Kida, and Yzma in the lineup, characters it describes as rare.

Dozens of Disney characters gathered in a packed group on the walkway in front of the Animation building at Disney's Hollywood Studios, under the giant blue Sorcerer Mickey hat and the ANIMATION marquee, with Alice, Mulan, Donald, Daisy, Stitch, Rapunzel and Goofy in the front row, Baymax at far left and Olaf at right, and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in black and white among the characters on the left

The group photo Disney shared for the opening of The Magic of Disney Animation, with the Sorcerer Mickey hat above the entrance. Image: Disney

It is officially open

The building actually let guests in early, on Friday, September 11, and WDWMagic notes today's official opening followed that soft opening. Monday is the date Disney had been advertising, and Disney's press release now says the experience "is now open."

Inside, per Disney, every one of the 65 Walt Disney Animation Studios feature films is represented somewhere in the experience, including artwork from the studio's upcoming 2026 film "Hexed." The collection includes:

  • Olaf Draws!, a drawing class with a new Olaf Audio-Animatronics figure as your companion and recorded tips and techniques from Disney Animation artists
  • Off the Page!, character meets set in different departments of the animation process
  • Drawn to Wonderland, an indoor playground inspired by Mary Blair's original "Alice in Wonderland" concept art
  • Once Upon a Studio Theater, showing the Emmy Award-winning short "Once Upon a Studio" with brand-new animation Disney Animation created exclusively for the experience

Josh Gad, who recorded new dialogue as Olaf, said in Disney's release: "I'm so thrilled that a whole new generation of kids can dream of becoming animators one day and can actually begin their journey right there on the studio lot."

The Olaf Audio-Animatronics figure sitting in a teal office chair at a wooden animator's desk cluttered with pencil cups, a desk fan and character maquettes, in front of a blue curtain, with a large screen at right showing the hand-lettered Olaf Draws! title

Olaf at his animator's desk on the Olaf Draws! stage. Image: Disney

Who teaches what at Olaf Draws!

Disney's release pairs the drawing classes it lists with the Disney Animation artists who lead them on screen. Among them: Mickey Mouse with director Dan Abraham, Genie with animator and Disney Legend Eric Goldberg, Stitch with director Fawn Veerasunthorn, Olaf with director Trent Correy, and Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde with "Zootopia" director Byron Howard. Minnie, Donald, Moana and Ursula have classes too.

Where to find the characters

Disney's release names some of the characters guests may meet in Off the Page!, by department: Mulan in Story, Rapunzel in Layout, Chip 'n Dale in Hand-Drawn Animation, Donald and Daisy in Computer Animation, Goofy in Lighting, and Stitch in Effects.

WDW News Today checked the My Disney Experience app on opening day. Those meets started at 9 a.m. Chip, Dale, Goofy, Mulan and Rapunzel were scheduled until 6:30 p.m., and Donald, Daisy and Stitch until 6:15 p.m. Out in Animation Courtyard, Pluto was listed periodically through 4:20 p.m. WDW News Today says the start time will likely shift with the building's opening time, which it says will fluctuate in the coming weeks.

As for the rare faces from the group photo, WDW News Today says it is possible some of them will appear in the courtyard, and that characters will continue to roam the area now that the building is open.

The new map already points at Monstropolis

The opening also brought a new Hollywood Studios guide map, the first update since May, when Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring The Muppets opened. WDW News Today reports the entrance of The Magic of Disney Animation is pictured on the cover and the experience has its own section inside. It also notes The Studio Store is now open in Animation Courtyard.

On the map itself, the old Muppets Courtyard, off Grand Avenue, is now labeled "Future Home of Monstropolis."

The new Disney's Hollywood Studios paper guide map lying on a granite counter, with the label FUTURE HOME OF MONSTROPOLIS printed at left next to the Grand Avenue sign, Animation Courtyard labeled at right, and the Hollywood Boulevard and Echo Lake listings visible on the page beside the map

The updated Hollywood Studios guide map, with Future Home of Monstropolis at left beside Grand Avenue. Image: WDW News Today

Sources

Image credits: Group photo and Olaf Draws! photo, Disney. Guide map photo, WDW News Today.

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