Inspiration takes hold during a visit to Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Was there ever a moment in your life when you felt so many happy feelings that you wanted to literally wanted to tell the world how you were feeling? Where you were so joyously overwhelmed that your eyes began to water and you didn’t care that over a hundred people saw you cry? If you were to tell me yes, I would have called you a liar. But I can’t say that anymore…that was me this past week when I literally saw and experienced my dream firsthand. It is easy to say that it was the most inspiring, heart stopping, incredible ten hours of my life.  And for the first time, I know that I will never be the same again. I am writing this from a brand new perspective and a renewed mindset. Yet, what could have been so life changing that could make me feel like such a different person?

Well, because on Thursday, May 31^st I went to the one place in the world I want to be part of more than anything, Walt Disney Animation Studios.

I was fortunate enough to be selected as one of ten students from my school to attend the 2011 Walt Disney Animation Studios “Inspire Days”. This invitation doesn’t come lightly. WDAS is just as exclusive and secure as the White House. This event was not only an invite only to certain universities, but also invite only to the students they let in their doors. When I found out that I was going to be able to go, I was extatic. I knew very little about what the day entailed, only that I got to go on a tour of the “closed to the public” studio, and that I would be driving three other students to Burbank at 5:45 in the morning. Regardless, I slept very little the night before out of pure excitement.

It has been my greatest childhood dream to work for the Walt Disney Company. I literally grew up a Disney baby, my parents met working in the parks and my dad ended up working in the company for fourteen years. During several of which he was an Imagineer stationed in Burbank. My life has revolved around Disney, and have now started my own career in the company as a Cast Member at the Disneyland Resort. It seemed to me that the natural next step in my hopefully long career through the company would be to work at the Animation Studios, combining my love and passion for Disney animated films with my love for the art of storytelling. Being able to go to WDAS was a dream come true, but what I learned in those ten hours has become even more important to me than just being there.

Some of my classmates and I in front of the iconic "Team Disney, Michael D. Eisner" Building adjacent to the Animation Studios.

Now, I could explain to you all the dirty details on what we experienced within the several hours we were in the beautiful conference room in the Frank G. Wells building, but where’s the fun in that? I may have been sworn to secrecy, and I may not want to ruin the upcoming projects that we were shown, so to spare you the pain I won’t tell you anything that went on in there. What I can tell you though is what I learned from my tour of the actual Studios. We were taken in the nearly 100 degree heat in groups across the street (through the original Animation buildings I might add) to the new Walt Disney Studios.

It was there that I learned from the “director’s perspective” how day-to-day workings on Disney’s amazing animated feature films are created. The departments each gave a five-minute speech to our small groups about their own department as well as spent time answering our unique questions about their jobs. On the tour we visited the following departments:

• Animation
• Recording
• Editorial
• Look
• Lighting
• Visual Development
• Effects Department
• Technology
• Talent
• Marketing
• 2D Animation
• Story
• Character TD
• Modeling
• Layout

Yes, it was a lot and I got tired even typing all of that! I promised I wouldn’t ruin anything because we were shown things that haven’t yet been finished. However, one thing that I found most interesting was the incorporation of 2D and 3D animation in their newest, upcoming films.

The main focus of the Studio during our visit was on their newest film Tangled, which garnered lots of success and praise for WDAS and is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray. It was interesting to see just how many traditional hand drawn elements went into the making of their 3D film. Now I have stated before that I am particularly sad that Disney has chosen not to fall back on it’s classic hand drawn 2D animation, but seeing the massive scale and attention to hand drawn animation within all the departments at the Studio that helped create Tangled was incredible.

CG has been part of Disney for over 26 years now, even though it doesn’t seem like it.  We were very fortunate enough to hear a speech from Glen Keane, who is credited as being the greatest animator of our time and the new “Walt”. Glen opened his speech by explaining his background and passion for animation. He quickly drew (and when I say quickly I mean in a matter of 10 seconds) pencil sketches of Ariel, Beast, Rapunzel, and Tarzan; all of which he personally animated and designed for the famous Disney movies. As he drew he told us that he created Ariel because he believed in her. His passion for animation and for his characters resonated around the room. He is probably the most inspirational person I have ever had the chance to see and is the biggest driving force behind the success of WDAS. If you haven’t heard of Glen, here is him drawing his character Rapunzel.

The story of Rapunzel was one of Walt Disney’s original ideas for an animated movie. It was written on an original list of his which included Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast. According to the animators at WDAS, the Company had been pushing directors for decades to create the film only for it to be turned down every time as not “having the right amount of magic for the story” and not “being fitting to the times”. As a tribute to Walt, the idea of a Rapunzel movie was finally picked up, and his final dream was finally completed. Glen was involved as a head animator in Disney’s Tangled, though at the time, he had never been part of a CG movie, he is a traditional animator. Though he expressed his own doubts.

“Pocahontas was as real as it gets. She is fluid, she moves with the wind. She is a drawing, we are given that freedom. She is tactile and hand drawn, so how can we bring that into a computer?”

Drawing inspiration from Glen’s hand drawn characters, the technological experts at WDAS were able to figure out just that. Always thought to be a “lifeless” form of animation, animating believable CG has been difficult for many studios. The trick of getting real human emotion, which can be found in the human world into a rigid 3D program like Maya has always proven to be a challenge. During the beginning stages of the production of Tangled, Glen told us he was amazed by how much of traditional animation can be put into a CG film, and more importantly a CG character.  He expressed after seeing the progress of Tangled that “…we are no longer bound by technological limitations in hand drawn. We are now free to move on to the computer.” And WDAS is doing just that, they are now starting the newest section of their animation legacy by combining both animation art forms. They are unstoppable.

My ten-hour day at the Studios ended on Glen’s lecture. And as cheesy as it sounds, it was nothing but magical. There is no other way to put it. There is nothing like seeing the place that has created your childhood and has started a legacy firsthand. What I learned at Disney isn’t just the technicalities on how WDAS works, what I learned runs so much deeper than that. I learned my passion, I learned self motivation. I saw in those 10 hours what I wanted my life to be like. I learned to love what I am doing, and to be excited about everything I am learning.

Animation is about putting your life on the screen. I think more importantly, what I took out of my day was to never doubt myself. It’s a long road, and it’s uncertain where I will be. But Glen Keane told us that we are the next generation of animators, storytellers, digital pioneers, and artists. Another Character TD told us, “Don’t sell yourself short. Never ever say that you can’t do something, because you can.”

I learned so much in those 10 hours to the point where I will never be the same again. I have a renewed sense of passion, and an invigorating perspective on my ultimate dream of continuing Disney’s legacy. It might take a while, but I will get there in the end.  I know that with the tools I learned at Inspire Day, I will one day become the next generation of animators to work at Walt Disney Animation Studios, and my journey has just begun now. As a final note, Glen was asked on his advice for all of us aspiring animators in the room…

“My advice? Be open, don’t discount the closed doors because it may be the right path for you. Look where it’s gotten you! Think about how many people in the world would want to be right here, in your shoes! But something brought you here. Call it destiny, call it a reason…you are meant to be here. Something bigger and out of your control wanted you to be here, right now. Never, ever give up on the closed doors.”

 

 

What do you think? Does The Walt Disney Animation Studios inspire you?