Magic Beyond the Mouse

Posted on by Thor

In
May of 1989, The Walt Disney Company added an
animation studio in Central Florida.  Spearheaded by animation industry
expert, Max Howard, the Florida studio grew from a crew of 40 to more
than 400 in the mid-90s, before closing in January 2004.

The studio was responsible for the box office hits: Mulan (1998), Lilo and Stitch (2002) and Brother Bear (2003) and contributed substantially to films such as, The Little Mermaid (1989), Rescuers Down Under (1990), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), The Lion King (1994), and many more, reinvigorating the animation industry and The Walt Disney Company.

The
artists and staff at the Florida studio fostered an atmosphere that
bottled a type of magic that is hard to put in words, but anyone
familiar with the facility can attest that working together, this team
created a family that no other Disney environment has.

I teach an Urban Sketching class at Elite Animation Academy (8933 Conroy Windermere Rd, Orlando, FL 32835). The primary goal of the class is to introduce young students to the idea of carrying a sketchbook everywhere they go. Elite was formed by a former Disney Feature Animation artist and its mission of delivering traditional and digital art courses remains true to this day. It is a place where students can build a portfolio of work should they choose to pursue a career in movie making or game design.

A few blocks away from Elite, is Art of Fitness (5154 Dr Phillips Blvd, Orlando, FL) which was also formed by a former Disney Feature Animation employee named Ron Beta. Ron decided to mount an exhibit by former Disney Artists showcasing their art since the Disney Feature Animation Studio closed in 2004. In 2004, the Orlando Disney Studio was  just starting production on a new project tentatively called My Peoples or A few Good Ghosts that was about a folk artist living in Appalachia that made puppets out of re purposed parts. For instance Abe Lincoln was made from an old broom. I was slated to do the key drawings for a villainous possum and I was gearing up to find the final look of the character.

I invited my Urban Sketch students to sketch the installation of the exhibit. In my sketch you can see a full wall of wildlife paintings by Aaron Blaise and some mermaid watercolor paintings by Ronnie Willford lined up at the base of the mirrored wall. I had simply framed one of my Urban Sketches to add to the show. In all, twenty one former Disney Artists exhibited work in the show. When the Disney Studio closed, these artists proved that there is magic and meaning to life after the Mouse. Hopefully my students took away the lesson that working for any particular a studio isn’t always the crowning moment of an art career. Every artist who remains curious is always evolving.

The goal isn’t to live forever, but to create something that will.

Posted on by Thor

In April of 2015 there was a reunion for the former Florida artists of Walt Disney Feature Animation. The reunion was held in an Elk Lodge down in Kissimmee. The Orlando, Florida based animation studio closed on Monday, January 12, 2004, putting
approximately 250 artists, technicians and other personnel out of work.
This followed the cancellation of the feature, A
Few Good Ghosts, which was being developed by the studio. Artists scattered to the wind but many, myself included, stayed since Orlando had become home.

At Disney I got to work side by side with many of the best artists in the world. The reunion was an incredible experience because so many of these artists had re-invented themselves. Aaron Blaise who co-directed Brother Bear, had worked on a digital feature film about elephants, but that studio closed down as well before the film was completed. He has since moved back to Central Florida and now instructs Creature Teacher courses online.  I’ve looked at several of his instructional videos and always pick up something new. He also had a successful Kickstarter campaign to raise money for another animated feature film called Art Story.

Christine Lawrence Finney, who had been the head of the clean-up animation department at the studio, gave me a warm hug and smiled as she said “I thought you would have changed the world by now.”  She had an amazing gift for making people around her want to live up to their full potential. Her eternal smile reminded me of all the things the were great about working at Disney Feature Animation, a sense of family, friends and pride in making some amazing films.

On a table in the front of the room were seven photos of Disney artists who had passed away. One was Kevin Proctor who had been in my intern group when we first started at the studio. He went into the layout department which drew the backgrounds for the films. At lunch time I would often sneak in a sketch of my co-workers, and I caught a sketch of Kevin as he worked on a drawing of Lilo’s kitchen for the film Lilo and Stitch. Pres Romanillos had been the lead animator for Shan Yu in Mulan. Christine was the lead of the team of clean up animation artists who created the final drawings that went up on the big screen for this character. As she said “Drawing in his shadow was one of the highlights of my Disney career! He
was extraordinary!! His passion was contagious…forever an inspiration.”

I danced for one song at the reunion, but spent most of my time in the back room finding out what artists were doing now as well as adding a sketch to a memorial book that was for Bob’s family. Christine and her husband Trey were now accomplished plein air painters. Photos were layered thick on tables and we could dig through to find the memories of a crew of artists who took pride in their work and knew how to celebrate as well.

Bob Walker who had co-directed Brother Bear with Aaron Blaise had passed away unexpectedly just before the reunion. Aaron related a story about the day Bob had been given a computer at Disney. Bob had a large stack of papers next to the computer, and he called Aaron in to ask a question. He pointed at the stack of papers and said,  ” How do I get this in there?” Laura Ashborne Sacks said a few words in Bod’s memory, her voice cracked as she looked back, “The goal isn’t to live forever, but to
create something that will. Everyone in this
room should be proud of the work we created.” This heart felt sentiment got me choked up as well. I will always miss the intense collaboration with incredible artists but know that those films we created will live on for generations.

That brings me to the reason I started writing this article. Christine Lawrence Finney passed away suddenly on January 5, 2016. She was just 47 years old. I honestly can’t wrap my head around this. She was so vibrant at the reunion. She was such a joy to work for.  Terry remembered that when we moved to Orlando, we were invited to a Disney artist party in Winter Park and to this day she remembers how warm and welcoming Christine was. Photos of Christine keep getting posted online and each heightens the loss of an incredible artist and a shining personality. On the evening after I heard the news, I had to host an event called Orlando Drink and Draw. I had more wine than I should have to numb the thoughts in the back of my mind, and on the dive home, I cried for the first time when American Pie by Don McLean played on the radio.  In my inebriated state, the song encapsulated my sense of loss. “Something touched me deep inside the day the music died.” I pulled off the road to sing along, calm down, and sober up. The title of this site, Analog Artist Digital World, hints at the idea that traditional hand drawn animation might die because of the advent of computer animation. Christine’s death makes me feel that the magic of hand drawn animation might indeed become a lost art.  She inspired so many of us to push ourselves. Perhaps creating is the only way to eventually come to terms with the loss.

Christine always paid tribute to the special people in her life, “To all my family, friends, mentors, and supporters thanks for the safety net! You
teach me how to fly.” She taught everyone she met how to fly as well.

Soar on. Christine.

Casselberry House

Posted on by Thor

The Florida Painters Group had their annual exhibition at the Casselberry House (125 Quail Pond Circle in Casselberry, Fl) in June. The show included paintings from 15 artists, who are mostly landscape painters. I went to the opening reception to see the work.

Show participants were: Ann Gale Holstein, Robert Ross, Carol Platt, Cathy Hempel, Cori Garret, Diane Walters, Gary Rupp, Gary Sisco, Karen Minnigan, Kim Ashby, Laura Bates, Lynn Tolar, Lynne Polley, Mary Martin, Orit Reuben, Rosa Bujali and Seemi Usmani.

The paintings that most caught my eye were by Robert Ross. He did a painting inside the  Capen House. This historic Winter Park home was slated for demolition, but locals are raising funds to save the house and float it across the lake Osceola to the Albin Polasek Museum where it would be lovingly preserved.

After viewing the paintings I decided to sketch Louis Alfredo playing guitar. He was quite good and several people actually danced as he played. For the most part however people shouted at one another in the crowded space and didn’t notice the incredible talent in the corner.

Cami Smith who is an industry outreach liaison at Full Sail introduced herself. When she found out I had worked at Disney Feature Animation, she asked me if I knew Aaron Blaise. Of course I knew Aaron who had co-directed “Brother Bear“. He had taken a research trip to Alaska for that film and his sketchbook from that trip was absolutely inspiring. Aaron had gone on to work at Digital Domain in South Florida but that company went bankrupt before they could finish an animated film about an elephant. I heard Aaron was returning to Orlando. Cami informed me that he is hoping to produce a Computer Animated film called “Art Story” about a boy and his grandfather who travel into the worlds of famous paintings. She showed me the Kickstarter page and Aaron has successfully raised the $350,000 needed to further develop the story. I like the story’s message, “Life is a blank canvas, now go paint your masterpiece.”