Disney preservationists launch $4M campaign, add key collaborators to save iconic animator’s KC studio

The legacy of Walt Disney’s foundational time in Kansas City — and the structure the famed animator left behind on Troost Avenue — must be preserved frame by frame, said supporters of an ambitious redevelopment project at the former Laugh-O-gram Studios. A newly launched “Dreams Start Here” campaign aims to secure a future for the historic…

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$2M in federal funds secured for Disney’s forgotten ‘cradle of Hollywood animation’ in KC

A decades-long effort to redevelop Walt Disney’s original Laugh-O-gram animation studios at 31st and Forest, along the Troost corridor, will receive $2 million in federal funding, as officially announced last week by Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II. The influx of funding should generate “momentum” to raise the remaining money needed to complete the project, said Gary…

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How Travis Kelce, Operation Breakthrough plan to turn this old muffler shop into a coworking space, lab for teens

As organizers look to re-open the doors to Walt Disney’s historic Laugh-O-gram Studios, they’re introducing Kansas Citians to a new era along Troost — in-part ushered in by a Kansas City Chiefs star and one of the city’s highest impact non-profit organizations. Plans for Operation Breakthrough’s Ignition Lab were on full display Thursday night, as Thank…

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