Disney Feature Animation Internship: MGM Studios Entrance

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This is another lunchtime sketch inside Disney’s MGM Studios. On the weekend I took some time off and wandered through Epcot people watching and sketching. Such excursions helped keep me sane through the pressure cooker that was the internship.

I managed to get a sun burn on my forehead since I forgot to wear my baseball cap while sketching.

I tried to arrange a haircut with a Disney barber but was told I would need to return in a week because I didn’t have a reservation. Just figuring out basic survival needs is a learning process.

The next assignment was going to be figuring out how a horse walks. It was hard enough figuring out how two legs worked in a walk and now I had to face 4 legs. Well, if the horses can figure out the mechanics of walking, then so can I.

Disney Feature Animation Internship: Halloween Plans

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This is a sketch of the waiting area outside Honey I Blew up the Kids. the attraction at Disney’s MGM Studios was a kids play area with the playground being made up of giant objects, like huge blades of grass, giant ants and a very large dogs nose.

Plans were under way for the Halloween festivities. Disney animators took Halloween very seriously. There was to be a costume parade and then a children’s costume parade. Well lets face it, animators are children. Then there were games and BBQ on the animation patio which was built on to the parking lot trailer.

I worked much of the day since it was raining outside. I was working on a “Singing in the Rain” walk sequence. It was broken but I spent the day re-timing some sections of the animation to get it to flow better. Working such long hours was starting to wear on me. I needed time away from the studio, but that would have to wait for another day.

Disney Feature Animation Internship: Popcorn Line

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I went to see the movie The Nightmare Before Christmas directed by Tim Burton. Part of the reason I went is because there was one of the fanciful sets and some of the character puppets on display at Disney’s MGM Studios where I worked. The set was larger than I would have imagined and quite impressive.

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, but what truly blew me out of my seat was the trailer for The Lion King which was in production in the studio I was working in. The trailer was simply the opening sequence of the movie and it was absolutely thrilling. Who knew that hand drawn images could pack such an emotional punch. I was hooked. I knew that I needed to be part of what this small army of artists was producing.

I am moved to tears any time I see the Lion King opening. The sequence is such an amazing celebration of life. Part of that emotional response must be because I always wonder if I ever will truly find my place in this miracle of life.

 

Disney Animation Internship: Ice Cream Gertie

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Meg Ryan and Demi Moore visited the Disney Feature Animation studio on October 11, 1993. I was not sure if they were looking for voice acting parts or were just on vacation. Who knows what goes on behind closed doors.

In 1996 Demi Moore provided the speaking voice of Esmeralda in Disney’s animated feature film The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Maybe Meg and Demi were auditioning for the same part.

I finished the 3 walks and runs I was working on. That put me three days ahead of schedule. I decided to go back into the scenes and add facial expressions and other details. So much of what I was doing was about mechanisms and I wanted to get some emotion into the scenes. After work I went to Epcot to watch the fireworks. The shuttle that I took to the studio each day also stopped at Epcot, making it a convenient stop.

Gertie was in Disney’s MGM Studios. On the opposite side there was a standard Ice Cream shop cut into her belly. I doubt I ever tried the ice cream, it was cheaper at the employee commissary. I was more interested in seeing Gertie from the lagoon side.

Disney Animation Internship: NYC Street at MGM

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I often went to sit on the NYC set at Disney’s MGM Studios when I had a break from animation. I missed the hustle and bustle of the big city which is where I lived before heading down to Orlando. The hustle and bustle of the tourists in the them park was not quite the same.

The view of the Empire State building was fine, but it was painted on a flat and propped up at the end of the pretend street. Having the Ma Bell truck in the street was a nice touch though I would have preferred an ambulance which is much more flashy and loud.

I spent half of this weekend day sketching in the park and the other half animating walks and runs. I liked working in the studio on the weekend because it was much more quiet.

Disney Internship: NYC Street MGM Studio

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By October, I was starting to feel rather burnt out form all the inbetweening drawings I had to do to finish each animation scene I was working on.

On lunch breaks I would walk around the MGM theme park to fins a place to sketch. Just having a chance to sketch on location helped ground me.

On one occasion I was sitting on a bench in the New York City like in this sketch and A woman walked past me. She looked over her shoulder at me while she walked away. She came around a second time and stopped in front of me. She leaned forward and asked, “Are you an animatronic?” If I wasn’t so surprised, I could have acted mechanical and messed with her but I simply said, “No, I am very much flesh and blood.” People don’t sit still in theme parks. They are always in a rush to get on the next attraction. Children get cranky since their tiny little legs can’t keep up. Artists function on a much slower pace, to take the time to look.

Disney Internship: The Stocks

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As a Disney Feature Animation intern, I enjoyed having free reign of the Disney Theme parks on the weekend to sketch.

On the week this was done, Barry Cook came to the Disney’s MGM Studios and pitched the idea for the next feature animated film which was called at the time China Doll, or FaMulan.

There was one section of the animation building which had a tall soundproof glass wall behind which tourists could watch the animation artists at work. Barry stood on a desk and told us the story of a daughter who joined the Chinese army as a man to save her father from conscription. Barry had a knack for storytelling and I was fully engrossed and hoped that one day I might work on the film which would later be called Mulan.

I also learned that as an intern I would have a chance to do some production drawings for the film the studio was now working on called The Lion King. The story of Lion King was built around the themes of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

Disney Internship: Tower of Terror Construction

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The Tower of Terror at Disney’s MGM Studios was constructed right next to the parking lot trailer where we were learning the art of animation during the Disney Feature Animation Internship.

The construction itself wasn’t that distracting, but when the ride opened, we could hear people screaming bloody murder every few minutes when the elevator dropped. The ride designers were kind enough to make sure the elevator doors were wide open overlooking  the park and studio, where we were working, each time they dropped.

When construction was complete the designers needed guinea pigs to test out the ride before it was opened to the public. Of course the animation interns volunteered. As the elevator rose I started to think it was a bad idea. What if the brakes failed? What if one of the shaft panels wasn’t bolted in right?