Creature Teacher – Analog Artist Digital World

The Disney Feature Animation Alum held a reunion In Orlando Florida on March 8, 2026. I drove Stella Arbelaéz and James Paris to the hotel in my Prius. It has been 22 years since the Florida Studio closed its doors, ending a long tradition of hand drawn animation. When we entered the hotel, the open lobby area was packed full of familiar faces. Large tables were set up with bites and there was a table for drinks. We had some free drink tickets and I decided to have a Coke so that I was flitting about like a Humming Bird.

Every time I turned around, I saw someone I had not seen in decades. There was a large screen set up which showed photos of life in the animation studio from years ago. I know now that what I really wanted to see was all the art that had been created by these amazing artists since the Disney Feature Animation Studio closed. I didn’t need to look back. I wanted to look forward.

I knew what James Paris had worked on since we had talked extensively at Stella’s studio, but for most folks I met at the reunion, I could only get an abbreviated elevator pitch of what they were working on. Being a visual artist, I wanted to see it all. I had been in talks with the Museum director at the Orange County History Center about having tables set up at the museum so that former Disney artists could showcase and sell their recent art work the day before or after the reunion. That idea fell through when the director got another job in NYC. I had just returned from 3 months in Europe where I had sketched the 70 or so cities that my father’s 75^th Infantry Division had helped liberate in WWII so I found myself repeating that story often.

Kevin Deters had flown in from California. He had stayed with Disney and went on to direct Prep and Landing which was an animated short about elves helping Santa land his sleigh. Aaron Blaise has gone on to produce direct and animate his own short film called Snow Bear and he founded Creature Teacher which has taken off as an online an in-person way to encourage the next generation of animation artists. Xiangyuan (Jay) Jie had helped set the style of the gorgeous painterly backgrounds for Brother Bear. I admired his work on that film so much, and I got to paint beside him in the after-hours painting sessions with models. Jie speaks best through paint since he still isn’t fluent in speaking English. He spoke with me and his wife helped translate. He had images on his iPhone he wanted to show me. He had an amazing sketch of me from one of those after-hours paint sessions. I looked so focused in his sketch. He said there were images I should see on the big screen as well but there were so many pictures that I could not wait for the reel to make its way around again. I was quickly drawn into another conversation.

Laurie Ashborne had a cameraman set up in the corner of the venue. She was asking each artist a few questions about their memories of the studio. This is what I decided to sketch quickly. While working on this sketch I was approached and I was amazed that someone was very familiar with my work. There was some honest reverence in the way my work was acknowledged. I don’t experience that very often. It was heartwarming. With the sketch finished I went and stood in line to offer Laurie my quick answers to her questions. It was a fun interview. I hope a sound bite makes it into her documentary about the Florida Feature Animation Studio.

The whole evening was such a whirlwind. It was like trying to digest hundreds of stories of artistic growth in just a few hours. Bill Silvers has made a career of doing large Disney character themed paintings that are sold at Disney Village. Ginger Wolf gave me her card. She has also become a painter. Former animator, Trey Finney lost his wife Christine Lawrence Finney who was my supervisor at Disney. They had both become painters after leaving Disney. She had a warm heart and was delightful to work for. Christine gave me the opportunity to supervise the final clean up on the director’s cut of Pocahontas. Scenes were added which had been left out of the original film. The largest scene was a love song (If I Never Knew You) sung by John Smith when he was being held captive and Pocahontas gently placed her head on his chest while he sang. The camera rotated around the couple as he sang, making it a mechanically challenging scene to work on. I worked out long timing charts to keep the even timing of the rotation consistent. I was proud of the result. It was so rare to have complete control of both lead characters in a scene.

I was amazed by so many of the artists I got to meet again. The Disney Feature Animation Studio had truly been like catching lightning in a bottle. All that talent spread out across the country after the studio was shuddered in 2004, but I decided to stay and make my mark right here in Orlando.

Stella, James and I met near the hotel reception and made out way out to the parking lot. Good-byes lasted for at least an hour. It was a shame to leave, but we had an exciting ride back sharing stories of who we had caught up with. The following morning, the main shooting would begin on James Paris’s short film. We all needed our rest. The caffeine had worn off, and I collapsed in my Air B&B and instantly fell asleep. As always I was an outsider looking in, even in my dreams.

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.