Walt Disney Family Museum to hold first gala, honoring Richard Sherman

The glitzy gala is a familiar fundraising tool among prominent museums across the country. Starting next month, the Walt Disney Family Museum will get into the tradition with a bash that will honor songwriter Richard Sherman.

The Disney Family Museum said its first gala fundraiser will be held Nov. 3 to raise money for its arts education programs. Sherman is set to receive the newly created Diane Disney Miller Lifetime Achievement Award, intended to recognize individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of arts, education, community involvement or technological advancements.

Disney Miller, who was the eldest daughter of Walt and Lillian Disney, spent years working to create the museum, which opened in 2009 and is located in the Presidio in San Francisco. The nonprofit museum is dedicated to the life and work of Walt Disney, but isn’t affiliated with the Walt Disney Co.

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The museum board is made up of three generations of Disney family members, and is headed by Ron Miller, who was married to Diane Disney Miller until her death in 2013.

One of the movie industry’s most recognized songwriters, Sherman penned numbers for multiple Disney movies, including “Mary Poppins” and “The Jungle Book.” (He was portrayed by Jason Schwartzman in the 2013 movie “Saving Mr. Banks.”) Perhaps Sherman’s most familiar song is the earwig “It’s a Small World” from the Disney theme park ride.

Reached via email, Carma Zisman, the museum’s director of institutional advancement, said that between 2013 and 2014, the number of students and educators that the museum served nearly doubled. For 2015, she said, the museum saw a sharp rise in the number of guests served, as well as in the number of requests for its activities and programming.

“It is our hope to bring in half a million dollars” from the gala, she said.

A spokeswoman for the museum said that all proceeds from the fundraiser will support the educational programs at the Disney Family Museum.

Not surprisingly, the gala will have a distinctly Disney flavor -- the event is being produced by Don Hahn, whose producing credits include the Disney animated movies “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Lion King,” and is to feature a live concert that will include Sherman and actress Jodi Benson, who voiced Ariel in “The Little Mermaid.”

The museum is currently featuring an exhibition titled “Disney and Dalí: Architects of the Imagination,” about the relationship between the surrealist artist and the movie titan. The exhibition runs through Jan. 3.

Twitter: @DavidNgLAT