In my last post, I covered the Diamond Ticket Destination D experience for the morning of Monday August 13^th, when I had the opportunity to tour the Disney Animation Studios in Burbank.

By the time we left the studio, we were all getting hungry, so after boarding our busses, we were driven across the road to the ORIGINAL animation building – the one where Walt and his team of talented animators worked back in the studio’s original heyday.  A short walk from the studio entrance took us to the Disney Legends plaza where a delicious hot buffet lunch had been laid out for us between the plaques and hand-prints of Disney celebrities past and present.  We had plenty of time to enjoy the food and wander around the plaza.  We could take photos and admire the fantastic Team Disney building which appears to be held up by none other than the seven dwarfs.  One thing I loved about this part of the Studios was that we could get up close to The Partners statue of Walt and Mickey.  In the parks, this iconic piece is surrounded by fences and landscaping.  Here, it was completely open for us to go up and stand next to Walt for photographs.  It gave us the opportunity to see up-close the wonderful detail in Blaine Gibson’s work.

After lunch, we were split once again in to smaller groups and our section was taken over to the original Animation Building.  We were taken in to Walt’s screening room and given a fascinating presentation about how the old animated features are being restored and cleaned for release on to DVD and Blu-Ray.  We were shown slides and footage allowing us to see the difference in quality between the original films and their new enhanced versions.  The difference was stunning and I was impressed by now much work goes in to cleaning up scratches and dirt marks from the originals’ negatives.  We also saw some shocking photos of what eventually happens to the old nitrate film that was used by the studios decades ago and how sadly much of this has already started to deteriorate.  When nitrate film begins to decompose, it turns in to a hazardous flammable substance and must be destroyed.  Until that time, Disney takes exhaustive measures to securely store the film, in an attempt to prolong the condition of the originals for as long as possible.  Now, movies are shot on safety film, which as the name suggests, does not possess the hazardous qualities that the old style used to.

Our next stop was at the Animation Research Library (ARL).  We boarded our busses again and were driven about 10 minutes down the road to a non-descript building on Flower Street.  Hidden amongst a housing estate, the ARL stands to preserve and archive the millions of pieces of art produced by the Disney company since its inception in the 1920s.  My impression before arriving at the ARL was that we would be stood listening to the employees there talk about some of the art they had and perhaps show us a few pieces to whet our appetites.  What we actually had, was a chance to walk around a number of rooms and vaults in the ARL and see hundreds and hundreds of sketches, cels, glass plates, macquettes and paintings.  And everything was original.  I thought I’d died and gone to Disney heaven!  Amongst some of the gems we got to see up close were original drawings from Steamboat Willie, paintings by Eyvind Earle, glass plates from Peter Pan and references models from every Disney movie you could think of.  The staff on hand were so friendly and gracious enough to answer every question we had to throw at them.  It was such a privilege to be stood so close to some of the most precious artwork I’ve ever seen and I think I could easily have spent the entire weekend exploring the ARL’s many filing cabinet, archive boxes and display cases.

Back on the busses, we headed back to the studios and were taken in to the Frank G Wells building which is home to the Disney Archives.  The main room of the archives is very small and intimate and we had the pleasure of Dave Smith’s company during our time inside.  He spent around 20 minutes talking us through some select pieces of Disneyana, including the original photos and IDs of Walt and his team featured in the documentary Walt and El Grupo, a first day press pass for the opening day of Disneyland, an Oscar which Walt received for one of his True Life Adventure movies, some original art-work and cels amongst other things.  After Dave’s presentation, we had the opportunity to look around the Archives in our own time and admire the wonderful collection of memorabilia on Display.  We could have our pictures taken with the Oscar (heavy!) and admire the enormous collection of books on display.  As somebody who collects pretty much any Disney publication I can get my hands on, this was a real treat.

After the Archives tour, we had around 20 minutes to relax on the couches in the lobby and take a look at the multi-plane camera which is housed in the building.  There were also several other archive displays behind glass, one of which was themed on Disney miniatures (which I believe Armchair Archivist Josh Turchetta did a D23 video for just a few weeks ago).

The final part of our studio tour was at the Ink and Paint department, just across the way from the animation building.  In the original Disney animation process, cels were hand inked and painted by a large team of cast-members who bought the animator’s drawings to life in glorious colour.  Now, a team of just five people work in this part of the studio, inking and painting cels which are sold as collectibles as that done traditionally during Walt’s day  It was fascinating to see the work being done up close.  The artist begins by inking the outlines of the drawing on to a cel and then, when dry, flips it over and colours in with specialized paints.  During Walt’s era, the paint would take 8 hours to dry, so a new formula was developed which would quicken up the drying time and therefore increase productivity on movies.  On the day we visited, the artists were working on cels of Cinderella and the mice.  This one piece (which was relatively simple) would take around 90 minutes to paint by one person and there were 270 cels to be made in the series.  If there is even the tiniest mark or scratch, the entire cel is shredded, destroyed and the piece must be started over.

Our time at the Ink and Paint building was over and so concluded our tour of the studios.  Our D23 escort walked us to the Studio Store (via Pluto’s corner where you can find the famous Dopey Drive/Mickey Avenue sign post, from the Reluctant Dragon).  We were given some time to shop and buy some exclusive merchandise that couldn’t be purchased in any other Disney Store.  For me, that included some pins and a Director Mickey vinylmation to add to my collection back home.

As one final surprise, D23 had arranged for a farewell buffet on the lawn outside the store, where we had an opportunity to chat to fellow members and swap stories from our day at the lot.  Becky Cline and Steven Clarke were on hand to wrap things up and we were given a parting gift of a souvenir photo and a copy of ‘Dreams Comes True’, which is a book featuring fairy tale art from the Walt Disney Studio.

It was a fantastic day and one I will not forget.  To have the opportunity to explore and see up close the workings of animation (past and present) was amazing and as a huge Disney fan, it was a dream come true.

The entire weekend was so well organized and our tour on the Monday was the icing on the cake.  Everybody I spoke to agreed that it was worth every penny and if you ever get a chance to attend anything like this in the future, I highly recommend you take the opportunity!

Cara lives in Portsmouth in the UK and has had a passion for all things Disney ever since she first saw “The Rescuers” when she was about 7 years old.  Her obsession started with Walt’s classic animated features, but expanded in to the theme parks when she spent her honeymoon in Walt Disney World in 2004.  Since then, she has had many trips to Orlando, Anaheim and Paris, and is a proud charter-day member of D23, doing her best to attend fan events as often as her wallet (and husband!) will let her.

The post Insider Report: D23′s Destination D Tour of Disney Animation Studios–PART 2 appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.

by Cara Richards

On the weekend of August 11^th to 13^th 2012, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend D23’s annual Destination D convention at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim – the theme for 2012 was ’75 Years of Disney Animated Features’.

Unlike previous Destination D’s, the 2012 event had a choice of ticket levels open to D23 members.  The basic ticket included the two main days inside the hotel (including fantastic panels featuring Disney celebrities such as Andreas Deja, Eric Goldberg, Tony Baxter, Dick Van Dyke and Alan Menken to name just a few).  But for the first-time, a premium level (Diamond) package was offered to a select number of D23 members who were quick on their computers when tickets were released earlier in the year.  I was one of the lucky few who managed to secure one of these special passes at an additional cost and as a result, had one of the most exciting Disney trips of my life.

Lou hosted a great panel on show number 287 covering the details of days 1 and 2.  I ‘m excited to share with you what the Diamond ticket holders were treated to on day 3 – Monday 13^th August.  So hold on to your mouse-ears as you come along on an exciting journey to Burbank, California…

Before we board the Mouse-ka-Bus and head in to the hustle and bustle of tinsel-town, a few details about what Diamond ticket holders had to look forward to on the first two days.  We were treated to a Destination D shoulder bag, which included our welcome pack for the weekend – a Sleeping Beauty sketch book and pencil, a ‘How To Draw Jiminy Cricket’ character model guide, a Tinker Bell lithograph, a set of Destination D buttons and a Cast Member style name badge.  All lovely souvenirs.  In addition to this, we were given early entry in to the merchandise hall – so first pick of the goodies on offer! – and we also had the first five rows of seats in the main ballroom reserved for us, so that we could avoid having to queue for seats between dining breaks.  A small meet and greet was also organized on the Saturday afternoon, where I had the pleasure of meeting and talking to Don Hahn, Dave Smith, and Bill Rogers.

So, moving forward to Monday, we were scheduled to meet bright and early at the Disneyland Hotel where a grab and go breakfast was waiting for us along with two large coaches, which would transport the 100 or so of us to the Disney Animation Studios in Burbank.  On the way, we were entertained with some vintage episodes of Disneyland, specifically about animation techniques which got us all in the mood for the tours to come during the day.

Upon arrival at the Disney Animation Studios, we were issued with stickers featuring one of four different Disney characters (I was Donald Duck!) and from here we were invited to enjoy some fresh fruit and pastries before being taken inside the main building to be split in to our different tour groups.  Before heading off, Darrin Butters (who has worked on a plethora of Disney animated movies, including Tangled, Prep and Landing, Chicken Little, Meet the Robinsons and Dinosaur) met with us and showed us the trailer for the new ‘Wreck-It-Ralph’ movie (which he has also done animation for).  We were then ushered off to our first location – the Story room.

We were sat down in a large meeting room and told about how the ideas for new animated stories are decided upon, much of which is done in the form of a brain-storm with no idea being dismissed.  Everybody is encouraged to suggest characters, plots, storylines and we even had a go at doing this ourselves, with the other groups later in the day adding to our suggestions in the hope we could put together a whole story plan by the end of the tour.  A member of the Disney story department then showed us how a story-board would be presented to an animation team and we got to see some actual storyboards from Wreck-It-Ralph (the scene where Ralph and Vanelope are arguing on the candy tree in Sugar Rush).  The cast-member who presented this scene to us did voices and actions and had a similar enthusiasm as can often be seen in old movie footage of Walt with his own team of animators decades ago.  Nowadays, most storyboard sessions are done through a computer, but it was nice that we were given an opportunity to see how it would have been done in the more traditional method.

Our next stop was at Pre-Vis and on our way we passed through a corridor where Studio Cast-Members were being encouraged to display their photographic skills.  The theme for this month was architecture and there were many impressive shots lining the walls of buildings and structures from all over the world.  Already we could see that this was a very creative building where EVERYBODY is given an opportunity to show off their talents.

The Pre-Vis presentation was done inside the actual blue sorcerer hat (which you can see from the building entrance).  It was designed to be Roy E Disney’s office and due to his extensive smoking habit, he even had a state-of-the-art air filtration system installed to get rid of the excess smoke – however, he decided to give-up smoking before he had a chance to try it out!  It was exciting to be in his office and the information we were given about Pre-Visualation was really interesting.  We got to see the different styles and themes used through the different worlds appearing in the new Wreck-It-Ralph movie and were shown how colour and design can convey the mood of a scene.

Next stop was the room where dailies are run for all the animated movies.  Here, the director and his team will sit for up to eight hours reviewing the days’ work and analysing it frame by frame.  We got to sit down in the director-style chairs and see some unfinished footage from Wreck-It-Ralph (are you seeing a theme here at all?) and the cast-members explained how as  a team they would discuss which pieces of the animation needed to be improved on and batted about ideas on parts that weren’t working.  This is also where positive feedback is received and where sections of the film can be built upon, eventually turning it in to the polished movie that we expect from a Disney production.

After leaving the screening room, we walked past some of the offices in the building (many of which are customized with shelves and shelves of stuffed toys, macquettes and custom art – all Disney of course) and made our way to ‘The Pod’.  This area of the studio is changed up every time a new feature is in production and true to the theme of our current tour, this time the pod was made up to feature the adventures of Wreck-It-Ralph.  The entrance to The Pod was made to look like an arcade doorway and there were even old 80s video game systems (including Pac-Man and Space Invaders) adorning the entrance.  Inside, there were bean-bag seats, foosball tables and vending machines where cast-members could relax between shifts.  A couple of tables were laid out featuring Sugar Rush scenes from Wreck-It-Ralph, made from real candy and there was art-work EVERYWHERE – a real feast for the eyes for any Disney animation fan.

Next, we followed some paper-planes which were suspended from the ceiling (in honour of the new short Paperman – which by the way is AWESOME!) and headed downstairs in to the belly of the building.  Our next stop was the voice-recording department.  For me, this is an area of Disney animation that I find fascinating.  We were given the opportunity to star as either Ralph or Vanelope and read some lines from the movie, doing our best to sync our voices with the animation on the screen.  In pairs, we were taken in to the recording booth and did our best Disney voices.  What a fun opportunity!  In a real-life situation, the voices are recorded BEFORE the animation, giving the animators prompts for facial expressions and movement in their work.  It was mind-blowing to think of the dozens and dozens of actors who have passed through this doorway and applied their voice-talents to so many wonderful Disney movies in the past.

As we walked down the corridor to our next location, we got to see a brief history of Disney animation in the form of sketches on the walls.  There were also a number of large ‘flip-books’ where our tour guides encouraged us to look at some of the wonderful work by animators such as Glen Keane and Frank Thomas.

Our next stop was in Rigging.  We were all sat down in front of PCs where we were presented with a large computer model of Disney’s latest hero (or bad-guy depending on how you look at it!) – Ralph.  We were given a brief lesson on how to animate him and were shown how to manipulate his body to put him in to different positions and change his facial expressions.  This was the ACTUAL Ralph computer model that the animators used when making the movie and after our brief lesson, it was fun to see what crazy positions other D23 members had put their Ralph in to – mine ended up looking like he was break-dancing!

We were told by our tour guides, as we left the Rigging room, that ALL employees at the Disney Studio are given the opportunity to take part in art-programs (regardless of what department they work in) and amongst other things, there are art classes held every day at the studio, where cast-members are encouraged to join in and perfect their techniques or learn new skills.  We got to see one of these class-rooms, where live models feature regularly; it which was decked out with easels, benches and a variety of art materials including paints, pastels and clay.

It was now time for us to go back downstairs and meet the other people who were touring the studios with us.  We got down to the ground-floor via an amazing stairwell where employees are encouraged to graffiti the walls!  There were sketches and doodles everywhere.  Some were Disney related, some featuring other well-known non-Disney characters (such as Warner Bros and The Simpsons/Futurama).  Many had witty comments or anecdotes written next to the art.  It made for fun reading as we headed back downstairs.

Back in the main lobby of the studio, we were guided en-masse in to the Studio Theater where Darrin Butters was waiting for us with goody-bags and a slide-show of photos of us on the big screen.  Our gifts included a Wreck-It-Ralph movie poster and postcard, a Paperman art-book, a Winnie The Pooh mug and a framed photo of the entire tour group taken outside the Animation Building when we had arrived that morning.  This was all bagged up in a Disney Animation Studios branded tote with a vintage-style Mickey Mouse button.  After asking us all whether we had enjoyed our time (a resounding YES! from everybody of course), Darrin proceeded to read out the completed story which we had as groups, written in the Story Board room over the course of the morning.  I can’t even remember much of the plot as it was so bizarre, but suffice to say it included a teddy bear, life-time passes to the parks and an evil roller-derby girl – very random!

In my next post, I’ll tell you about the afternoon session of our day at the Disney Studios.

Check back on the blog tomorrow to learn about Cara’s experiences in the afternoon session!

The post Insider Report: D23′s Destination D Tour of Disney Animation Studios–PART 1 appeared first on WDW Radio - Your Walt Disney World Information Station by Lou Mongello.