The Art and History of Disney Toys

Discover how Disney toys shaped the company, the industry, and the world through behind-the-scenes stories and with over 500 enchanting photos and rare artwork.

Calling all fans of Disney toys—The Art and History of Disney Toys was made for you and me.

The Walt Disney Company has enjoyed a unique—perhaps even surprisingly intimate—relationship with the toy industry for nearly a century. Walt Disney developed his sense of play as a young boy from Middle America before setting out for California when he was twenty-two. By pioneering new Hollywood industries, Walt’s creations would provide a much-needed booster shot to America’s flailing manufacturing sector at the height of the Great Depression. The fledgling studio would also establish the importance of toys in marketing theatrical entertainment, invoking the idea of “total merchandising.”

In the decades that followed, toys became a catalyst for many future innovations, inside and outside the toy manufacturing arena. Walt’s passion for model trains ultimately expanded the horizons of entertainment, giving birth to the modern theme park. Toys would also play a key role in funding his theme park construction, while providing inspiration for future enhancements like Audio-Animatronics figures.

As with any great memory that tugs at the heartstrings—and every great story—Disney’s “odyssey of play” has seen its share of surprises over a long and fruitful tenure. Discover how modest beginnings would revolutionize the world’s movie capital . . . and how toys would become an epicenter for reinventing entertainment.