- Hi, I am Richard Kraft and I own the exhibit that's from Disneyland.
Will I own it for the next three weeks because it's all going off for auction.
[music]
The collection was started because my parents were schoolteachers and they saved
up money every year for an annual family trip to Disneyland.
But my brother who was older than me was ill
so we could only go when he was feeling well.
So, a trip to Disneyland wasn't just Disneyland, it was the happiest day of our
year because my brother was in good health. So when he passed away 25 years ago,
I just instinctually drove to Disneyland and all of
it brought back such great memories of David.
And then a few weeks later I heard about a Disney auction
and there was an attraction poster for Autopia and I just always loved
that poster and I bought it then I kept adding more and more posters
than ride vehicles and concept art. Then I lost my mind.
And there's almost 1000 pieces in my collection.
My son is now 28 and he moved out and talk about empty nest syndrome.
What if your empty nest had a dumbo in it? It was a little sad walking around by myself.
And so I moved and everything went in storage. So it's been in storage for five years.
And now I'm an old dad again, I have a four year old daughter
with special needs. So I thought, why don't I
auction this stuff off And give some of the proceeds to charities
that help other kids
with special needs and conditions of doing the auction
was a free exhibit that ran for a month so others could enjoy it.
I just sit in a chair watching people looking at my collection.
I eavesdrop on conversations,
Everyone's got their own personal connection to it all and it means so
much to me that I'm sharing something that is shared by others.
I thought we'd be lucky to have a few 100 people,
but now every day is it's in the thousands
and
I
love excess. So it makes me even happier I had people fly in from Denver
uh and this is only the first weekend, I think as the word spreads,
it's gonna get crazier.
It was the Disney Family Museum up in San Francisco that made me
think of exhibiting stuff in this manner because I love that museum boy,
do I hope they come because they inspired me.
I did not lay this exhibit out.
It was laid out by Mike Van Eaton of Van Eaton galleries.
Oh my God, he did such a brilliant job including
figuring out where to put parking lot signs,
He found polls and how to put them up there and when I saw that I go, that man is a genius.
I did not want this to look like a giant yard sale
and I think the taste that went into how to exhibit it
demonstrated great showmanship and it's Mike, Mike's the guy who did that.
I'm not thinking about the auction at all.
It would take away from thinking about being present
and in the moment of enjoying the exhibit.
Now during the auction,
I have no idea how I'm gonna feel this was in a private collection.
And I think I just hope it gets good homes. I bet you it will.
[piano music]