Collections of Italy's first animation museum on display in Florence

Florence is home to the first animation museum in Italy: AniMA Firenze, born from the passion of a group of friends and collectors that brings together numerous original drawings of animated films from 1915 to the present. Authors of the initiative are Federica Fabbri, Francesco Mariotti and Luca Chiarotti, heads of theNEMO Academy in Florence, Italy’s leading school for training new artists in the art of Entertainment. Most of the museum’s collection is gathered at the Academy, allowing students to learn among the masterpieces of the animation world that have made this field one of the most fascinating for young and old alike. In fact, the museum does not yet have a real location: it is housed in the spaces of the NEMO Academy, where students learn the secrets of animation. The NEMO Academy constitutes one of the most important educational realities in Italy: more than five hundred students attend it every year. Among the academic courses, animation to create cartoons, edesign to discover the world of illustration, game artists to immerse themselves in the world of video games, filmmaking to discover how to make a film, comics, 3D graphics; in addition, the Academy also organizes workshops, lectures given by the great masters.

The collection is supported by continuous donations from international artists, such as Sandro Cleuzo, Don Bluth, Gary Goldman and Yoichi Kotabe. It includes originals from Disney, Don Bluth & Gary Goldman, Warner Bros, Hanna Barbera, Cartoon Network, and Toei Animation; drawings from Sleeping Beauty in the Woods, Snow White, Pinocchio, Robin Hood, The Charge of the 101, Mary Poppins, The Sword in the Stone, Anastasia, Finding the Magic Valley, drawings from Hanna Barbera’s animated TV series, Filmation, and many others, totaling about eight thousand pieces including sketches, layouts, concepts, and storyboards. Of particular note are drawings starring Mickey Mouse (Mickey) and his friends, drawings by Preston Blair (his are the hippos in the Fantasia ballet), two thousand original drawings from the Walt Disney Collection, about five hundred original drawings from the Hanna Barbera Collection, the collection of Brazilian artist Sandro Cleuzo, and many originals from Japanese animated films and series.

Photos of the exhibit

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Photos of the staging

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Setup photos

Photos of the staging

Most of AniMA Florence’s collection is now on display until October 17, 2021 in the halls of Palazzo Medici Riccardi, on the occasion of AniMA. The Magic of Animated Cinema from Snow White to Goldrake. The exhibition, entirely proposed by MUS.E, is curated by Federica Fabbri, Luca Chiarotti, Sandro Cleuzo, Francesco Mariotti, and Francesco Chiatante, and is promoted by the Metropolitan City of Florence and MUS.E, in collaboration with Accademia NEMO of Florence; it brings together for the first time in review more than five hundred original drawings from the best-known and best-loved animated films for audiences of all ages. Illustrations made during the pre-production and production stages of Disney masterpieces, the famous Hanna-Barbera signature TV series, famous Japanese anime and many other films. The exhibition will also trace the history of animated films, through unique pieces that enrich the exhibition path: from the frame of the first animation in the modern sense, Gertie the Dinosaur, which dates back to 1914 and is one of about one hundred remaining worldwide, to the iconic Mickey Mouse from the early 1930s, to the recent concepts of the latest 3D films.

Also on the exhibition itinerary is an educational section that will allow children and adults to discover behind-the-scenes animation: character studies, preparatory drawings for environments, experiments with color, and much more. While everyone knows the films featured in the exhibition, few know how the characters and environments of an animated film come to life. The strength of this section lies precisely in the originality of the material on display: in fact, illustrating the creative process that leads from sketch to animation will be drawings and illustrations made for two unpublished short films by the most talented students of the NEMO Academy.

AniMA. The Magic of Animated Cinema from Snow White to Goldrake is accompanied by a catalog published by La Città delle Nuvole, with a preface signed by internationally renowned artists such as John Canemaker, Takashi Namiki, Tom and Tony Bancroft and Willie Ito. The volume, accompanied by insights and articles on Japanese and American animated cinema, contains a section devoted to the production of animated shorts, in direct dialogue with the educational section of the exhibition.

Daily guided tours are also scheduled: Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 4:30 p.m., Saturdays and Sundays at 11:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Reservations required. For information on costs and reservations regarding guided tours write to info@palazzomediciriccardi.it

For more info on the exhibition: http://www.palazzomediciriccardi.it/project/anima-la-magia-del-cinema-danimazione-da-biancaneve-a-goldrake/

Collections of Italy's first animation museum on display in Florence

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