INSIDE Walt Disney’s Office That Was Restored to Look Same Way It Did the Day He Died

Walt Disney was the most important person in Hollywood during the last decades of his life. His office was the center of activity controlling the Disney company which during the 1950s and 1960s was rapidly expanding from animated films to live-action films, television shows, and theme parks with the opening of Disneyland. Two years before his death Walt Disney was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the insignia that hangs in his office reads – “Artist and Impresario, in the course of entertaining an age, he has created an American folklore”.

I got to step foot into this amazing office that still exists at the heart of the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank, California as part of my recent press tour of Walt Disney Imagineering. The Walt Disney Archives team painstakingly restored Walt Disney's office to look exactly as it did on the day he died in 1966. Shortly after his death the founder of the Walt Disney Archives, Dave Smith, documented every inch of the space with photographs and then carefully packed away all the objects found inside the office. Now, those objects have been restored to the office.

Come with me inside Suite 3H inside the Animation Building on the Walt Disney Studios Lot to see more of this incredible Disney history location.

Disney Studios Lot

Just inside the lot we passed the Hyperion Bungalow which was originally located on the Hyperion Studio Lot that was home to the Disney company before the Burbank, California location.

The new Walt Disney Company headquarters building featuring the Seven Dwarfs and the accompanying Disney Legends Plaza sits right outside of the original Animation building where Walt's office sits. This new building is where the executive leadership of Disney has their offices.

Inside the animation building we spotted some fun views like the floor decoration below.

Next upstairs check out this view looking out from the classic Walt Disney Animation building windows.

There's a fun sign featuring the Walt Disney Archives logo on the wall outside the office.

Now, let's go inside Suite 3H where Walt Disney and his team of secretaries ran the company from 1940 to 1966 when he died.

Inside Walt Disney's Suite 3H Office

In the years after Walt Disney's passing, several other executives including Disney CEO Michael Eisner, Desperate Housewives creator Mark Cherry, and producer Shaun Cassidy used this office. In 2015 the office was taken over the Walt Disney Archives and painstakingly restored to be a point of history for invited Disney employees and visitors to reflect on.

Outside of the main office is an awards cabinet filled with real awards given to Walt Disney and the company during that era. On the top of the cabinet is a replica Oscar of the honorary award given to Walt Disney for the creation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This Oscar prop was created for the shooting of Saving Mr. Banks which stars Tom Hanks as Walt Disney. We learned that you can tell it is a replica Oscar because the real awards feature the figure holding a sword while the replicas all hold wreaths. The real version of this Oscar statue is located in The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco.

Here's a closer look at the replica Oscar.

I also spotted a fun nod to Walt Disney's history with the Olympics. This torch is from his time programming the opening and closing ceremonies at the Squaw Valley Lake Tahoe 1960 Olympics. He served as the Chairman of the Pageantry Committee.

After walking through a couple of antechambers where secretaries would have been sitting to welcome guests and gatekeep Walt from drop-ins, we entered the main office. Our tour guide and the entire group was extremely reverential of the space which just added to the awe I already felt being in the presence of the literal seat of Disney's power.

Side note – This day only got more surreal when I had the chance to hear from Disney CEO Bob Iger later in the day about the future of the theme parks.

The office features a desk, couches, and a grand piano where members of Walt Disney's stable of musical talent would perform their newest hits for Walt. The most frequent artists here were the Sherman Brothers who helped create Disney hits like “it's a Small World” and “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” from Mary Poppins. To this day, Richard Sherman, now 95, is the only person besides the piano tuner who is allowed to play this piano.

This is the same piano where on certain days the Sherman Brothers would play “Feed the Birds”, the reflective song from Mary Poppins. Richard Sherman has previously shared that Walt Disney believed this song represented his life's work as someone bringing art and stories to the people.

While walking through the room I was particularly interested in the books and paraphernalia that Walt had out and in view.

His desk area covered in a mix of things he collected and gifts he received from his travels around the world. A model of his private jet (both the one he had and one he was building) was also seen here and in his private office. Behind his desk are photos of his daughters alongside sketches of his daughters done by Normal Rockwell.

Walt Disney also kept cards like the one on his desk that he would sign and send off to people who wrote the studio asking for an autograph. When asked for an autograph at Disneyland he would direct guests to send him a letter at the studio so he could send them one of these.

Here's a closer look at the figures behind his desk.

One particular trinket was quite notable – the robotic automaton bird that inspired the creation of Disney's Audio-Animatronics all around the world. We just shared more about that bird in our article discussing the new figures coming to Tiana's Bayou Adventure. There was also another automaton in the office, the little man figure above the desk on the top shelf of the room which you can see three photos above.

The office, along with the entire studio lot, was designed by Kem Weber who specialized in the popular streamline modern style from the 1940s. I like this style was brought into all aspects of these original buildings on the lot.

Walt Disney's Working Private Office

Next door inside Walt Disney's private office, there were more items focused on what was to come. A massive map of Disneyland hung on one wall featuring red and yellow cards sharing recent additions and things opening soon respectively. The yellow card for “it's a Small World” reads “A magic Kingdom of all the world's children” and the one for the Haunted Mansion reads “Future home of 1,001 ghosts”. Below the map are shots of the interior of Walt Disney's airplane.

Above you can see the stacks of scripts that Walt Disney was constantly working through giving notes. In the window, there's a statue of the little mermaid statue from Tivoli Gardens. This was gifted to Walt by Tivoli Gardens, one of the many inspirations for Disneyland.

Looking out these windows from Walt Disney's office, you can look down to see where his brother Roy's office was. It's a funny angle to notice because Walt could look in to see what Roy was doing but Roy couldn't look into Walt's office. It's a nice representation of how the creative (Walt Disney) had more oversight generally than the money and financial decision makers (Roy Disney ran the business side of the company).

On the bookcase was a book on urban planning called “The Heart of Our Cities” which inspired Walt Disney in his plans to develop Epcot Center at what would become Walt Disney World. Above are photos of the Abraham Lincoln Audio-Animatronic (this was always Walt's favorite president) and of Ed Wynn, an actor who frequently worked for Disney, notably in roles in Alice in Wonderland and Mary Poppins.

The group photo here captures Walt Disney with the cast of The Happiest Millionaire. This was the final live-action movie that Walt Disney worked on. See also the Disney family crest that today hangs above the walkway through Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland.

Here's that other Disney jet model.

Walt Disney and Roy Disney always remained close brothers as they ran the business together.

Along another wall of the private office is a kitchenette. When not in use the walls would expand to hide this corner area. The kitchen was always stocked with Walt's favorite V8 juice and Hormel and Gebhardt's chilis, the two chili brands that he combined to make this favorite. Did you know you can still try Walt's favorite food at Disneyland? See the restaurant and info on where it's still served.

On the counter are original glasses featuring Walt Disney's initials “WED” for Walter Elias Disney.

Beyond Walt Disney's private office, there was a room that was used for his physical therapy sessions and had a shower. Now this room has been transitioned into a space with rotating exhibits. When we were there the exhibit featured the building of the Burbank Disney Studio location. I wish I had captured more of these details to show how interesting this transition to Burbank was.

On our way out of the tour we were given these pins which represent the signature on some of his lettering.

This fun and now iconic street sign for Mickey Avenue and Dopey Drive is outside of the original Animation Building where Walt's office is located. This sign was installed for the “Reluctant Dragon” movie which I highly recommend you watch on Disney Plus. If you are this far into reading the article about Walt Disney's office, you'll enjoy this look at the studio's history. The movie was Disney's first live-action film which was created to bring guests who wanted to tour Disney inside the Studio Lot.

Visiting Walt Disney's office has a bit of a sense of melancholy for me. Walt accomplished so much in his life and built the foundation for the incredible company that continues to this day, but there was so much more than he was trying to accomplish. His still busy office demonstrates that Walt Disney in 1966 was still dreaming bigger.

For me, this office is a reminder of our limited time here and a push to make big bets and go after your big ideas. Walt Disney accomplished so much, but seeing this working office just leaves me wishing that we could've seen what was next.

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