A year-long Disney Restorations Series begins with "Cinderella" (1950) at the Orinda Theatre Jan. 3.
Movies long unseen on the big screen return looking and sounding better than ever. Thanks to an exclusive special arrangement with the Restoration and Library Management department of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, the Orinda Theatre will add a new movie series, complementing the theater’s other film and live music attractions.
Beginning Jan. 3, and each first Saturday of the month through 2026, the theater will showcase recent film restorations by the major studio.
Disney has been an industry leader in film preservation for many decades and has documented and preserved its own studio’s fabled and remarkable history since the beginning. In the past few years, this special department also became custodian and archive for several additional library brands acquired by the studio, including the collections of 20th Century-Fox, Fox Film Corp. and the David O. Selznick film libraries.
Since these libraries were acquired, the Restoration and Library Department, under the direction of Kevin Schaeffer, has effected a rigorous and active restoration schedule of these titles and assets in addition to the Disney studio library materials. Many of these films have been unavailable to theaters for several years.
The newly restored titles to be shown this year at the Orinda Theatre – many Northern California premiere screenings – are “Cinderella” (1950), “Star Wars: A New Hope” (1977), the 85th anniversary of “Blood & Sand” (1941) with Tyrone Power and Rita Hayworth, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988), Alfred Hitchcock’s “Lifeboat” (1944), “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937), “The Sword in the Stone” (1963), “Planet of the Apes” (1968), Shirley Temple in “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm” (1938), Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein” (1974), the original film noir great “Nightmare Alley” (1947), Noël Coward’s “Cavalcade” (1933), and Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck in “Spellbound” (1945).
The Orinda Theatre is the first theater in the nation to showcase these restorations in a year-long series, highlighting the commitment of Disney to film preservation.
These beautiful restorations are shown the first Saturday of each month at 1 and 7 p.m.
On the giant screen in the Orinda’s original 1941 auditorium of 750 seats, attendees have an ideal setting to see many of these films as intended. A select number of the year’s screenings will have a special presentation from a representative of the Disney Restoration and Library Management Department to introduce the movie and share before and after restoration comparisons on the screen.
The projection format for these presentations will be DCP, screened by a qualified projectionist from Local 107 of the IATSE.
The Disney Restorations Series begins Saturday, Jan. 3 with 1950’s animated classic “Cinderella” shown at 1 and 7 p.m., followed Feb. 7 by the new Disney restoration of “Star Wars: A New Hope” (1977). Admission $13. general, $11 for seniors 65 or better, kids 12 and under. Tickets at the box-office or orindamovies.com.
The addition of the Disney Restorations Series brings a total of seven ongoing monthly special series screening at the Orinda Theatre in 2026, with movies for every taste, offering more variety than ever before in the theatre’s history.
50 Movies You May Not Have Seen But You Should, are hosted by Derek Zemrak, the first Monday of each month at 6:30 p.m., featuring “The Man in the Moon” from 1991 Jan. 5, admission $13 general, $11 seniors.
Backdoor Cinema’s Free Cult Movie Night, is the second Saturday of each month at 9 p.m., free admission, offering “Pulp Fiction” Jan. 10.
The new Wide Screen Roadshow Series, the second Sunday of each month at 11 a.m., special $15 admission, features “Lawrence of Arabia” Jan. 11.
Free Movie Nights sponsored by Tommy O’Dowd, the third Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m, offers “The Godfather” Jan. 15, free admission.
The new Cinema Craft Series the last Sunday of each month at 1 p.m. features 1994’s ”The Hudsucker Proxy,” admission $13 general, $11 seniors.
Orinda Classic Movie Matinees, presented with short subjects, the last Tuesday of each month at 1 p.m. will show “An American in Paris” with Gene Kelly, Jan. 27. Admission $13 general, $11 seniors and kids.
