Although some aesthetes still grumble about the ``cultural Chernobyl,'' Disneyland Paris attracts more visitors than Notre Dame or the Louvre.

It's not surprising then that the Grand Palais, one of the most prestigious cultural addresses in the French capital, has opened its doors to Mickey, Bambi, Pinocchio and Cinderella. ``Il Etait Une Fois Walt Disney'' (Once Upon a Time There Was Walt Disney) doesn't hide its Tinseltown background: The colors on the floor and the walls are gar ish, and the display cases look like Snow White's coffin.

Yet this is a serious affair. The show aims to explore the roots of Disney's imagery in European culture.

Everybody knows that fairy tales by Charles Perrault and the brothers Grimm had a profound influence on Walt Disney's output. The graphic artists who shaped his vision are less obvious. Many of his animators came from Europe. Since he gave no screen credits to anyone but himself, they have remained in the shadow.

In 1935, seven years after the first Mickey Mouse film hit the screen, Disney spent several weeks in Europe and bought hundreds of illustrated books as a stock of images for future productions. A great number of these books are on display at the Grand Palais.

Schubert's Pal

You find draftsmen and caricaturists such as Jean Ignace Isidore Gerard, who called himself Grandville and brilliantly blended human and animal features and Schubert's friend Moritz von Schwind, the painter of German fairy tales. There is also Arthur Rackham, who illustrated children's books with poetic virtuosity.

There are paintings by Gustave Moreau, Arnold Bocklin and other celebrities. Most of the names, though, are known only to specialists.

The decor, always of capital importance in Disney's movies, was also deeply embedded in European traditions. Pinocchio's village was modeled on the medieval town of Rothenburg in Bavaria. Sleeping Beauty's castle is a cross between ``Les Tres Riches Heures,'' a pictorial record of the Duc de Berry's magnificent residences, and yet another Bavarian tourist attraction -- Neuschwanstein, the most extravagant among the architectural fantasies of the ``mad king'' Ludwig II.

Expressionists

Inevitably, Disney also was influenced by other film makers. The show stresses the profound impact German expressionist cinema had on him. In ``Fantasia,'' traces of F. W. Murnau's ``Faust'' and Paul Leni's ``Wachsfigurenkabinett'' are omnipresent.

The last, rather superficial chapter of the show tries to demonstrate how other artists, mostly of the pop generation, were inspired by Disney's imagery. Among today's artists, the Japanese Takashi Murakami seems almost obsessed with Mickey Mouse, who reappears in his work as a crazed mutant.

This is a vast, though by no means critical, exhibition. It's up to you to compare the often sophisticated models with the dumbed-down triviality of their Disney incarnations.

No wonder Disney's collaboration with Salvador Dali ended in failure. Hundreds of paintings and drawings have survived, but ``Destino,'' the film they wanted to make in 1946, was patched together only in 2003 -- long after both men had died.

The show runs through Jan. 15 and will then travel to the Musee des Beaux-Arts in Montreal.