Places with Disneyana

Beetle House is a restaurant and bar themed in honor of Tim Burton. Burton worked as an animator for Disney in the 1980s before moving on to his own feature films, including many for Disney and Fox including Edward Scissorhands (1990), The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), James and the Giant Peach (1996), and Alice In Wonderland (2010). Though the restaurant isn’t officially sanctioned by Burton or Disney, the decor and staff are dressed as references to his films and characters and the menu makes reference to these films including items like Edward’s Lemonade, Coco Skellington, and Giant Peach Salad. The restaurant also has a sister location in New York City. This location was featured in The Nightmare Before Christmas episode of the Disney+ series, Prop Culture. In the episode, host Dan Lanigan brought key members from the film’s production to the restaurant to review props and sets from the Tim Burton cult classic. Read more about the real-life locations featured on the show in our blog post: 7 Real-Life Locations From The Disney+ Series Prop Culture. Address: 1714 N Las Palmas Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90028 Visitor Information: Beetle House LA

Beetle House is a restaurant and bar themed in honor of Tim Burton. Burton worked as an animator for Disney in the 1980s before moving on to his own feature films, including many for Disney and Fox including Edward Scissorhands (1990), The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), James and the Giant Peach (1996), and Alice In Wonderland (2010). Though the restaurant isn’t officially sanctioned by Burton or Disney, the decor and staff are dressed as references to his films and characters and the menu makes reference to these films including items like Edward’s Lemonade, Coco Skellington, and Giant Peach Salad. The restaurant also has a sister location in Los Angeles where a scene from the Disney+ series, Prop Culture was filmed. Address: 308 E 6th St, New York, NY 10003 Visitor Information: Beetle House NYC

The Birthplace of Kermit The Frog Museum is a museum in Jim Henson’s boyhood town of Leland, Mississippi, just down the street from the Rainbow Connection Bridge. Henson was the mastermind behind The Muppets franchise (now owned by The Walt Disney Company) as well as Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and, of course, Muppet*Vision 3D. The permanent exhibition opened in August, 1991 and is presented by the city in cooperation with the Jim Henson Legacy and with the support of The Jim Henson Family. The museum is located over Deer Creek, where Jim would play while living in the area during his formative years, from 1936 to 1948. The exhibition is named after his most famous creation but is devoted to all aspects of Henson’s career, featuring family photographs lining the walls, an original Kermit on display, puppets and props from The Song of the Cloud Forest, and an impressive display of vintage Muppet merchandise. The building also serves as Leland’s tourist welcome center and host of the annual FrogFest each Fall. The museum is free to visit, with a $1 suggested donation. Address: 415 S Deer Creek Dr E, Leland, MS 38756 Visitor Information: Jim Henson’s Delta Boyhood Exhibit

Cars on the Route is an old gas station, converted into a cafe and gift shop, just off of historic Route 66 in Galena, Kansas. A 1951 International Company boom truck, affectionately named “Tow Tater”, sits outside the cafe and serves as the inspiration for the look of the character of Mater in Pixar’s Cars franchise. As the story goes, Cars screenwriter Joe Ranft became inspired by the rusty old truck he saw in a junkyard near Galena when the Pixar team was there in 2001 on a research trip for the film. The cafe’s owner happened to purchase the truck afterward and upon finding out about the Mater-connection, moved the truck next to the building, where it lives today. Address: 119 N Main St, Galena, KS 66739 Visitor Information: Facebook: Cars on the Route

Atlanta’s Center For Puppetry Arts is the United States’ largest non-profit organization dedicated to the art of puppetry. Inside the building lives a museum, research library, and theater which screens films and performs fully-staged puppet shows. The museum houses a massive collection of puppet artifacts including items from The Lion King on Broadway as well as a Jim Henson collection where a number of Muppets (an entity of Henson’s creations that has been owned by Disney since 2004) are on permanent display. For more information about the museum here, including tons of photos, check out our blog post: Highlights from the “Worlds of Puppetry” Museum in Atlanta’s Center for Puppetry Arts Address: 1404 Spring St NW, Atlanta, GA 30309 Visitor Information: Center for Puppetry Arts

Fentons Creamery is an ice cream shop and cafe. Their Oakland location is near Pixar’s Emeryville Studio and a favorite of their animators – a usual spot to gather after meeting a deadline. Pete Docter, director of Pixar’s Up (2009), lives in Oakland and is a frequent visitor to Fentons with his children. He is such a fan that he incorporated a likeness of the local shop, logo and all, into the final version of the film as Russell, Carl, and Dug enjoy a cone on the sidewalk in front of the store. If you visit this shop, look for a framed photo of the above scene as well as a plaque with the following quote: To Fentons: “Thanks for all the ice cream! And for a great place to meet friends.” Pete Docter Disney•Pixar “UP” 2009 Address: 4226 Piedmont Ave, Oakland, CA 94611 Visitor Information: Fentons Creamery

Fløyen or Fløyfjellet is a mountain in the Norwegian city of Bergen, offering great hiking, dining, and other activities. You can reach a viewpoint over 1,000 feet up (320 meters) the mountain by taking a funicular system called Fløibanen or by hiking up the designated path. Just behind the upper Fløibanen station, find a giant troll statue near the playground. This troll is a duplicate of the one found in Epcot’s The Fjording shop. This location is mentioned in our blog post: A Perfect Disney Day In Bergen, Norway Address: Fløyfjellet, 5014 Bergen, Norway Visitor Information: Fløibanen AS

Hôtel Sidi Driss was a filming location in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977) starring as Luke’s sunken home (the Lars family homestead) on Tatooine. It was again a filming location in 2002’s Episode II – Attack of the Clones. The interior courtyards of this traditional Berber style home still feature some remnants from filming including murals and set dressing as it seems the current owners embrace the Star Wars lore. While interiors were filmed here, the exterior shots of the home took place about 150 miles away at an unnamed structure on the Chott el Jerid salt flats. This location made our list of the 10 Most Unique And Coolest Disney Related Locations Where You Can Spend The Night Address: Matmatat-Al-Qadimal, Tunisia Visitor Information: Hôtel Sidi Driss (only available in French)

Indiana Jones Bed & Breakfast is a full-service bed and breakfast in Antonio, Colorado – halfway between Albuquerque and Colorado Springs. The house, built in 1888, was used as the filming location for 1989’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Both interior and exterior scenes were shot here, as the home of Henry Jones and his son, a young Indiana Jones (played by the late River Phoenix). Today, you can stay in one of four rooms at the B&B and admire the Indiana Jones decor, the “Jones” mailbox standing outside, and the nearby Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad which was also used in the beginning sequence of the film. This location made our list of the 10 Most Unique And Coolest Disney Related Locations Where You Can Spend The Night Address: 502 Front St, Antonito, CO 81120 Visitor Information: Indiana Jones Bed & Breakfast

This free museum located on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio is devoted to all things related to the US Air Force. Items on display include uniforms and memorabilia among their huge collection of airplanes. The museum has a permanent Disney Pins on Wings exhibit in their World War II Gallery. During the war, Walt established a team of six animators from his studio to assist in creating insignia for all branches of the US Armed Forces as well as Allied Military Units across the world. 1,200 designs were created and painted on the sides of planes, turned into patches for uniforms, and put onto letterhead for the troops. “The insignia meant a lot to the men who were fighting … I had to do it … I owed it to them.” – Walt Disney If you’d like to take a virtual tour of the exhibit, check out NMUSAFVirtualTour.com. Find the Disney exhibit by clicking forward to slide 11 of 23 in the World War II Gallery. If you’re in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, check out Rosie’s All-American Café, a quick-service dining location themed to Disney’s involvement during World War II. Address: 1100 Spaatz St, Dayton, OH 45431 Visitor Information: National […]

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is the largest natural and historical museum in the western United States. One of its most prized possessions is found in the California History Hall – it’s an original animation desk hand-built by Walt Disney in 1923 and used in his animation studio set up in his Uncle Robert’s garage. According to the plaque, Walt built this stand from an old packaging crate and a second-hand Pathé camera. He personally donated the stand to the museum in 1938, claiming that he had used it to film Steamboat Willie. “When things began to look hopeless, I then got my cartoon thing out again. And I built myself a cartoon stand out of plywood boxes and any lumber I could pick up” – Walt Disney Address: 900 W Exposition Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90007 Visitor Information: Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHM)

Newby Hall is an historic manor and garden in the city of Ripon, North Yorkshire. There are a number of galleries on the grounds including a Teddy Bear Exhibition which has an original Fozzie Bear puppet on display. Address: Newby Hall, Skelton-on-Ure, Ripon HG4 5AE, UK Visitor Information: Newby Hall & Gardens