'Dreams Come True' close to home

Crestview residents Janice and Jim Crose are unabashed Disney enthusiasts. Several times a year they head off to Disney World in Orlando, where they have a timeshare condo. They have Disney memorabilia throughout their home, hanging from their key chains, on their backs and even on their car.

Folks like the Crose’s, whose cell phone ring tones play different Disney movie and TV theme songs depending on who’s calling, have a rare opportunity to plunge into one of the most magical aspects of Disney culture. And it’s closer than the more than six-hour drive to Orlando.

Until March 14, “Dreams Come True: Art of the Classic Fairy Tales from the Walt Disney Studio” is on exhibit at the New Orleans Museum of Art. It’s a marvelous cornucopia of imagery showcasing the exceptional high quality of animated film artwork for which the Disney name is synonymous.

It’s also the exhibition’s only stop in North America, and is fittingly displayed in the town that’s the setting for the studio’s newest animated film, “The Princess and the Frog.”

Exhibited in the grand New Orleans Museum of Art, or NOMA as it’s familiarly called, are more than 600 original artworks and artifacts from the Disney studios, including rare hand-painted animation cels, conceptual sketches, doodles, background paintings, and three-dimensional study figures of beloved animated characters used as guides for studio artists.

From Disney’s first feature-length animated film, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs through “Cinderella,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “The Little Mermaid” and “Beauty and the Beast” to “The Princess and the Frog,” visitors traverse theme galleries devoted to each film. With each, monitors display short film clips showing how the individual sketches and paintings led to the final films beloved by filmgoers throughout the world.

Rare gems on display include original theatrical posters, plus art from some of the Disney Studio’s earliest sound animated films, including “Steamboat Willy.” A short introductory video presentation runs continuously in the museum’s Stern Auditorium.

Don’t go dashing right off after you enjoy “Dreams Come True,” however. NOMA is one of the city’s cultural jewels, and art lovers of all degrees will love poking through its nearly 20 other galleries. Permanent exhibits include delightful portrait miniatures, decorative arts, photography, European paintings including several Monets, and Asian, Oceanic, African and pre-Columbian and American native arts.

My absolute favorite, however, has always been the glittering collection of works by the Fabergé studio for the Russian imperial court and aristocrats. Housed in its own little second-floor gallery, the pieces speak of an era of grandeur and excess while simultaneously exhibiting the masterful work of Karl Fabergé’s renowned studio.

The New Orleans Museum of Art is located in the city’s beautiful, extensive City Park. From Downtown, take the red streetcar up Canal Street and transfer to the Carrollton Avenue line, taking it to the end. Spend an artful day exploring a part of New Orleans many tourists who don’t venture beyond the French Quarter and Bourbon Street never know existed.

Poor fools: “Dreams Come True” only for those who pursue them.

“Dreams Come True” is on exhibit at the New Orleans Museum of Art through March 14. Admission: out-of-state adults, $16; seniors (65 and older) $15; children 3-17, $10; children under 3, free. While young children will delight in seeing drawings and paintings of familiar friends from the Disney films, “Dreams Come True” is not a “children’s” exhibition. Young visitors may soon tire of having the fascinating but extensive descriptions of each of the 600 pieces read to them. For information, visit www.noma.org, or call (504) 658-4100.