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Disneyland in Sherman Oaks? A Valley man brings his massive pop-up gallery to town

by in News

The empty space of a former Sports Authority in Sherman Oaks has been transformed into something every Disneyland fan will want to visit: an exhibit called “That’s from Disneyland!” and the culmination of 25 years of collecting by one man, Richard Kraft of Sherman Oaks.

“The goal was to eventually move all of Disneyland from Anaheim to Encino,” where he lived, Kraft joked about his massive collection. Kraft has been collecting Disneyland mementos for 25 years. It was nostalgia that sparked the collection.

As kids in Bakersfield, Kraft and his older brother David would spend all year planning what rides to take and what attractions to see during their annual trip to Anaheim. David suffered from Crohn’s disease and was often sick. Disneyland was an escape, a happy place, a chance to see Africa, ride flying saucers, take a bobsled on the Matterhorn.

“Disneyland was where we went growing up whenever he was feeling well,” Kraft said of his brother. “So (I have) nothing but pleasant Disneyland memories of childhood.”

  • Figures from Small World. Richard Kraft has a massive collection of Disneyland artifacts – parts of rides, posters, toys, etc. He’s auctioning it all off at the end of August, but in the meantime, the Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks is hosting his collection for the public to come see and place bids.
    Some of the money he raises will go to charities for kids with special needs. Sherman Oaks, CA 48/1/2018 (Photo by John McCoy)

  • A car from Mr. Toads Wild Ride. Richard Kraft has a massive collection of Disneyland artifacts – parts of rides, posters, toys, etc. He’s auctioning it all off at the end of August, but in the meantime, the Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks is hosting his collection for the public to come see and place bids.
    Some of the money he raises will go to charities for kids with special needs. Sherman Oaks, CA 48/1/2018 (Photo by John McCoy)

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  • Richard Kraft has a massive collection of Disneyland artifacts – parts of rides, posters, toys, etc. He’s auctioning it all off at the end of August, but in the meantime, the Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks is hosting his collection for the public to come see and place bids.
    Some of the money he raises will go to charities for kids with special needs. Sherman Oaks, CA 48/1/2018 (Photo by John McCoy)

  • Richard Kraft has a massive collection of Disneyland artifacts – parts of rides, posters, toys, etc. He’s auctioning it all off at the end of August, but in the meantime, the Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks is hosting his collection for the public to come see and place bids.
    Some of the money he raises will go to charities for kids with special needs. Sherman Oaks, CA 48/1/2018 (Photo by John McCoy)

  • Richard Kraft has a massive collection of Disneyland artifacts – parts of rides, posters, toys, etc. He’s auctioning it all off at the end of August, but in the meantime, the Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks is hosting his collection for the public to come see and place bids.
    Some of the money he raises will go to charities for kids with special needs. Sherman Oaks, CA 48/1/2018 (Photo by John McCoy)

  • On the left is a poster that was the first Disney Item that Richard Kraft purchased for his collection. Kraft has a massive collection of Disneyland artifacts – parts of rides, posters, toys, etc. He’s auctioning it all off at the end of August, but in the meantime, the Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks is hosting his collection for the public to come see and place bids.
    Some of the money he raises will go to charities for kids with special needs. Sherman Oaks, CA 48/1/2018 (Photo by John McCoy)

  • Figures from Small World. Richard Kraft has a massive collection of Disneyland artifacts – parts of rides, posters, toys, etc. He’s auctioning it all off at the end of August, but in the meantime, the Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks is hosting his collection for the public to come see and place bids.
    Some of the money he raises will go to charities for kids with special needs. Sherman Oaks, CA 48/1/2018 (Photo by John McCoy)

  • Richard Kraft has a massive collection of Disneyland artifacts – parts of rides, posters, toys, etc. He’s auctioning it all off at the end of August, but in the meantime, the Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks is hosting his collection for the public to come see and place bids.
    Some of the money he raises will go to charities for kids with special needs. Sherman Oaks, CA 48/1/2018 (Photo by John McCoy)

  • A painting from the elevator in the Haunted Mansion. Richard Kraft has a massive collection of Disneyland artifacts – parts of rides, posters, toys, etc. He’s auctioning it all off at the end of August, but in the meantime, the Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks is hosting his collection for the public to come see and place bids.
    Some of the money he raises will go to charities for kids with special needs. Sherman Oaks, CA 48/1/2018 (Photo by John McCoy)

  • A painting from the elevator in the Haunted Mansion. Richard Kraft has a massive collection of Disneyland artifacts – parts of rides, posters, toys, etc. He’s auctioning it all off at the end of August, but in the meantime, the Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks is hosting his collection for the public to come see and place bids.
    Some of the money he raises will go to charities for kids with special needs. Sherman Oaks, CA 48/1/2018 (Photo by John McCoy)

  • Richard Kraft has a massive collection of Disneyland artifacts – parts of rides, posters, toys, etc. He’s auctioning it all off at the end of August, but in the meantime, the Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks is hosting his collection for the public to come see and place bids.
    Some of the money he raises will go to charities for kids with special needs. Sherman Oaks, CA 48/1/2018 (Photo by John McCoy)

  • A painting from the elevator in the Haunted Mansion. Richard Kraft has a massive collection of Disneyland artifacts – parts of rides, posters, toys, etc. He’s auctioning it all off at the end of August, but in the meantime, the Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks is hosting his collection for the public to come see and place bids.
    Some of the money he raises will go to charities for kids with special needs. Sherman Oaks, CA 48/1/2018 (Photo by John McCoy)

  • Paintings from the elevator in the Haunted Mansion. Richard Kraft has a massive collection of Disneyland artifacts – parts of rides, posters, toys, etc. He’s auctioning it all off at the end of August, but in the meantime, the Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks is hosting his collection for the public to come see and place bids.
    Some of the money he raises will go to charities for kids with special needs. Sherman Oaks, CA 48/1/2018 (Photo by John McCoy)

  • Richard Kraft with his son Nicholas mirror a pose in front of the first Disney item Richard purchased for his collection. Kraft has a massive collection of Disneyland artifacts – parts of rides, posters, toys, etc. He’s auctioning it all off at the end of August, but in the meantime, the Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks is hosting his collection for the public to come see and place bids.
    Some of the money he raises will go to charities for kids with special needs. Sherman Oaks, CA 48/1/2018 (Photo by John McCoy)

  • Richard Kraft with his largest item, a Sea Serpent. Kraft has a massive collection of Disneyland artifacts – parts of rides, posters, toys, etc. He’s auctioning it all off at the end of August, but in the meantime, the Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks is hosting his collection for the public to come see and place bids.
    Some of the money he raises will go to charities for kids with special needs. Sherman Oaks, CA 48/1/2018 (Photo by John McCoy)

  • Richard Kraft with his largest item, a Sea Serpent. Kraft has a massive collection of Disneyland artifacts – parts of rides, posters, toys, etc. He’s auctioning it all off at the end of August, but in the meantime, the Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks is hosting his collection for the public to come see and place bids.
    Some of the money he raises will go to charities for kids with special needs. Sherman Oaks, CA 48/1/2018 (Photo by John McCoy)

  • Figures that were part of a window display from Snow White. Richard Kraft has a massive collection of Disneyland artifacts – parts of rides, posters, toys, etc. He’s auctioning it all off at the end of August, but in the meantime, the Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks is hosting his collection for the public to come see and place bids.
    Some of the money he raises will go to charities for kids with special needs. Sherman Oaks, CA 48/1/2018 (Photo by John McCoy)

  • Richard Kraft with Dumbo. Kraft has a massive collection of Disneyland artifacts – parts of rides, posters, toys, etc. He’s auctioning it all off at the end of August, but in the meantime, the Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks is hosting his collection for the public to come see and place bids.
    Some of the money he raises will go to charities for kids with special needs. Sherman Oaks, CA 48/1/2018 (Photo by John McCoy)

  • Richard Kraft sits in a skyway bucket that used to move people high above the park. Kraft has a massive collection of Disneyland artifacts – parts of rides, posters, toys, etc. He’s auctioning it all off at the end of August, but in the meantime, the Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks is hosting his collection for the public to come see and place bids.
    Some of the money he raises will go to charities for kids with special needs. Sherman Oaks, CA 48/1/2018 (Photo by John McCoy)

  • Richard Kraft has a massive collection of Disneyland artifacts – parts of rides, posters, toys, etc. He’s auctioning it all off at the end of August, but in the meantime, the Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks is hosting his collection for the public to come see and place bids.
    Some of the money he raises will go to charities for kids with special needs. Sherman Oaks, CA 48/1/2018 (Photo by John McCoy)

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David Kraft died in 1993 at age 35. He was a KTLA Channel 5 News TV director and even won an Emmy Award, Richard Kraft said. “When he passed away, I went back to Disneyland to smell the smells, to taste the tastes and hear the sounds.”

A week after that visit, Kraft went to an auction of Disneyland items and bought his first piece, a cheerful poster featuring a father and son enjoying a car ride in the Autopia attraction in Tomorrowland.

“Once I got one poster, I had to have every poster.” Posters from Fantasyland and Frontierland followed. Then toys, conceptual art for attractions, ride props, park maps, signage, postcards, matchbooks, trash cans from the park. The collection grew and grew. Ride vehicles, from a mint-condition pink-and-grey Dumbo to a red-and-black cart from Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, marked the epitome of his obsession, Kraft said. The cart from Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride sat in Kraft’s living room, and Dumbo flew from the ceiling, but Kraft also had several storage units full of artifacts, how many he’s not sure.

On Aug. 25 and 26, Kraft and Van Eaton Galleries, which is hosting the pop-up gallery, will auction off each item in the collection. Until then, the pop-up gallery is open to the public and free.

Kraft said he’s excited about connecting with Disneyland fans over his collection and hearing about what makes the theme park special to them. He said he hasn’t given much thought to how much money the auction will raise. But he’s already thought about how to use some of those earnings. He plans to make donations to two charities that benefit children who have special needs, as his four-year-old daughter does. Some of the auction proceeds will go toward the Coffin-Siris Syndrome Foundation and the CHIME Institute. Kraft’s daughter has Coffin-Siris Syndrome, which causes developmental delays.

Aside from the nostalgia Disneyland holds for Kraft, the music and the artistry are other reasons he’s devoted so much time, money and effort to his collection. A lover of Broadway music, Kraft is an agent representing some of the best-known composers, including Alan Menken and Danny Elfman.

“Here’s somebody who’s so passionate about his collection, and about sharing it,” said Mike Van Eaton of Van Eaton Galleries, which specializes in animation art. “He (Kraft) said, ‘I don’t want to just put this out. I want to make something. I want to have an event. I want to have a moment. … So it’s more than just an auction.”

In fact, the pop-up gallery will be accompanied by several Disney-themed events, some of them already sold-out, from artist signings to concerts, including one with Menken, composer of some of the most famous Disney film scores, from “Aladdin” to “The Little Mermaid.” See the events here: www.thatsfromdisneyland.com.

Outside the pop-up gallery Wednesday, about 80 people lined up, hoping to be the first inside when the doors opened at noon. First in line were sisters Kelly and Debbie Wilson of Covina, with a niece and a friend.

“If you go to any Disney event, were probably in front,” Kelly Wilson said. Disneyland is special for another reason, Debbie Wilson said.

“My dad had terminal cancer, and before he passed away, he wanted to go to Disneyland,” Debbie Wilson said. “Even in a wheelchair. He knew we loved it. … We went there a lot as kids. It’s about, when you get there, all your worries go away.”

A few of Kraft’s favorite things:

Most expensive purchase: Kraft initially planned to bid just $10,000 on the Dumbo seat from the “Dumbo the Flying Elephant” ride, but at the Florida auction where he bought the piece, he was forced up to $35,000 competing with an over-the-phone bidder. Kraft’s bid won. The other bidder was whispered to be Michael Jackson.

Biggest: The animatronic Sea Serpent from the Submarine Voyage attraction is 48 feet long and used to sit on one side of Kraft’s backyard pool. The 38-foot long Davy Crockett Explorer Canoe that floated around Tom Sawyer Island is a runner-up.

Piece that started the collection: A 1956 poster advertising the Autopia attraction in Tomorrowland. A smiling father and son race through the course in a bright red convertible. “This was always my favorite poster,” Kraft said. “It represents happy families having a great time in that sort of mid-century, optimistic, ‘gee-willikers’ sort of way.”

Favorite: Kraft can’t narrow it down to just one, but the portraits that hung in the Haunted Mansion are a favorite. The tall paintings look like formal portraits on top but reveal a punchline on the bottom, such as a girl with a parasol on a tightrope – suspended over the open mouth of a crocodile.