Pink castles, talking sofas, a butler based on a golden candlestick, mirrored ballrooms that stretch into an infinity of twinkling reflections – the fantasies of Walt Disney are so spectacular they seem entirely without precedent. He seems sui generis, a true American genius conjuring visions straight out of thin air. Yet the butler, the ballroom and even the garrulous sofa have their sources, of all kinds, and they are far away from Hollywood in the French rococo art of the 18th century.
This is the premise of a mesmerising exhibition opening this week at the Wallace Collection in London. Inspiring Walt Disney aims to show the connection between French art and American animation across three centuries. It pairs objects and images with such persuasive intelligence that you perceive both in a different way. If you don’t generally love the gilded excesses of rococo clocks, paintings and claw-foot tables you may well by the end be seeing them anew through Disney’s eyes.
