Client: Walt Disney Animation Studios
Agency: Iwerks & Co.
Role: Creative Director, Animator
Date: Winter 2015
THE PROJECT
Working with visionary director Leslie Iwerks and her production company, I had the opportunity to work on something that was truly a career highlight. Walt Disney Animation Studios was celebrating its 100th year anniversary, and considering Leslie was the granddaughter of Ub Iwerks, the original animator of Mickey Mouse, she was chosen to produce a beautiful piece that celebrated the history of animation that had come from Disney’s early days through modern times. We had come up with the idea of visually traveling through the history of animation by creating a three-dimensional ‘diorama’ of shots, bringing a virtual camera through classic animation pieces, speeding up with time. Leslie employed me to handle all visual elements of the production. It was time to take a trip through history!
PRE-PRODUCTION
We had nearly unlimited access to the Disney Archives - the amazing people who preserve Disney’s history in high quality scans of some of the original art and cel animation. We also had access to unique behind-the-scenes pictures and historical archives that we could use to tell our story.
The only photos I was allowed to take at the Archives!
There were 65 effects shots that were going to be needed. Here is some of the notes I was making in the pre-production stage to help plan out our art direction.
It was awe-inspiring to walk in the shoes of some of the most talented artists, animators, and creatives in the history of motion pictures.
PRODUCTION
There was no time to waste. With just 7 weeks to produce the entire spot and 65 effects shots that needed full treatment, I hired an international team to help break apart the workload. We used the highest resolution images, assets, and clips from movies that we could. Then we would break these compositions apart into layers, separating background, foreground, and extreme foreground layers to create a large sense of depth throughout each scene, then use a consistent camera move throughout each segment to travel through time.
Photoshop Shot Layer Creation
Final Shot Composition
Some animated shots we got to have a lot of fun with, like getting the original animation cels before they were colorized, and getting to blend them into the final shots while still keeping our “parallax effect” backgrounds over the top. This was all thanks to the many frame layers we got from the Disney Archives.
Compositions within compositions was the norm, using different separated layers to bring the virtual camera through time and maintain the effect. Constant camera motion and high resolution assets was key to pulling off the intended effect.
WALT’S GARAGE
One of my favorite shots I directed was the opening shot. We started on an old-timey frame and zoom in on the familiar picture of Walt Disney’s garage studio where Disney first started. But then it becomes obvious that we are headed into the picture! We faithfully recreated the entire garage scene in 3D, and then used the first animation - “Alice in Wonderland” - as the ‘interior’ of the garage to help get our video started.
The 3D scene in Blender of Walt’s Garage
The final shot going through the photo wall
FINAL RESULT
Unfortunately, I cannot show the video in its entirety. But I will show off the final shot to close this part of my portfolio. The last shot featured the famous WDAS logo, but now we pull back to see the history, staff, and animation projects all together in one happy picture wall, showcasing the incredible talent and history that is present at the studio over the last century.