Disney fans will find a fun (and free) exhibition at Forest Lawn Museum with unique pieces of Disney history on display including retired attraction vehicles, rare pieces of sheet music, and more. It’s all available for a limited time as part of California Visionaries: The Lives and Legacies of Walt Disney and Hubert Eaton.

Here’s everything you need to know about California Visionaries: The Lives and Legacies of Walt Disney and Hubert Eaton at Forest Lawn Museum.

What to Expect

The small but mighty collection is a surprising delight. The premise isn’t strictly about Walt Disney but instead takes a clever and novel approach to parallel and compare his life and career with that of his friend Hubert Eaton. Walt famously pioneered the concept of upscaling an amusement park concept into a theme park destination. Although he took an entirely different path, Eaton similarly revolutionized his way forward but with memorial park cemeteries – creating thoughtfully designed natural spaces that were more than just a place to visit departed loved ones but also beautiful destinations unto themselves. In fact, “Smithsonian Magazine” referred to Forest Lawn in 2022 as “the Disneyland of Graveyards.

Forest Lawn Museum makes the perfect home for this exhibition, as it was specifically created by Eaton in the 1950s to inspire curiosity and an enjoyment of art. During this limited run, you’ll find newly-discovered archival photographs, sculptures, illustrations, animatronic figures, and more. As you explore the exhibition, you’ll learn that both men came from Missouri, revered Abraham Lincoln, were inspired by the works of Mark Twain, and shared a respect and appreciation for the historical grandeur of medieval Europe’s castles and cathedrals.

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You’ll definitely want to be on the lookout for eye-catching wonders such as retired attraction vehicles including a Dumbo elephant and a Matterhorn bobsled. Colorful maps on display illustrate the parallel development and shared aesthetics of Forest Lawn and Disneyland in the mid-twentieth century. You can also get an up close look at a figure from Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room and a doll from the finale of “it’s a small world;” there’s even a figure of Figment along with sheet music for “Just One Spark,” written by the Sherman Brothers.

There’s also sheet music from The Skeleton Dance animated short and the original master score book for Cinderella, featuring hand-written annotations from the film’s creators. The exhibition was created in partnership with Walt Disney Music Legacy Library and also features objects on loan from Garner Holt Productions, The Walt Disney Archives, Bob Baker Marionette Theater, and from private collections, as well as artworks and artifacts from the archives of the Forest Lawn Museum itself.

Video

Here’s a great look at everything you can expect to enjoy if you visit the exhibition!

Photos

Here’s a peek at just some of what we enjoyed at the exhibit one opening weekend!

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See it for Yourself

California Visionaries: The Lives and Legacies of Walt Disney and Hubert Eaton is available at the Forest Lawn Museum from September 19, 2026 through February 7, 2027.

Admission and parking is free during Forest Lawn regular operating hours which are typically Tuesday through Sunday from 10 AM to 5 PM. Forest Lawn Museum is located at 1712 S. Glendale Ave., Glendale, CA 91205

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