The Magic of Disney Animation | |
---|---|
Disney's Hollywood Studios | |
Area | Animation Courtyard |
Coordinates | 28°21′30″N81°33′32″W / 28.35833°N 81.55889°W |
Status | Removed |
Opening date | May 1, 1989 |
Closing date | July 12, 2015 [1] |
Replaced | Studio Backlot Tour |
Replaced by | Star Wars Launch Bay |
Ride statistics | |
Attraction type | Tour |
Designer | Walt Disney Imagineering |
Theme | Disney Animation |
The Magic of Disney Animation was a show and tour located at Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. A Disney animator would show guests how the characters in Disney animated films were chosen and designed. The attraction closed permanently on July 12, 2015. In December 2015, the building began to be used to house the Star Wars Launch Bay.
Originally, when the park first opened in 1989, the Feature Animation pavilion of "The Magic of Disney Animation," designed originally by award-winning experience designer Bob Rogers [2] and his design team BRC Imagination Arts, [3] included four connected experiences which explored the legacy of Disney animation. The tour commenced with the live action/animated short film entitled "Back to Neverland," [4] in which veteran newscaster, Walter Cronkite and comedian Robin Williams guided guests through the different stages in animating a feature-length film by turning Williams into an animated character in the form of one of the Lost Boys of Peter Pan. Following that introductory film, guest would witness the process of animation, first-hand, from elevated, glass-enclosed walkways within Disney's actual animation studio. [5] Several original cels from Disney films as well as several of the Academy Awards won by Disney films were on display at the attraction. The third segment of the animation tour was a short film in which Disney Animators described the joy of the art of animation. A finale film, entitled "Classic Disney" presented a montage of key moments from animated Disney films and shorts. [6]
An expanded production area was dedicated and opened on April 22, 1998, the same day Disney's Animal Kingdom opened. Chairman Roy E. Disney noted it in his dedication speech.
Inside the building which housed The Magic of Disney Animation, were the former production facilities of Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida. Some of its productions included:
After the Orlando, Florida division of Walt Disney Feature Animation closed in 2004, the preshow was changed to one main showroom where a Disney animator showed guests how the characters in Disney animated films were chosen and designed, with the help of Mushu, the dragon from Disney's Mulan , (voiced in the show by Eddie Murphy's sound double, Mark Moseley.) After guests left the showroom, they were led to the area of the former studio with interactive games and a chance to meet characters from the latest Disney animated pictures. There was also a section called Animation Academy, where guests could draw their favorite Disney characters, under the guidance of a Disney animator.
Mulan is a 1998 American animated musical coming-of-age action-adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation for Walt Disney Pictures. Based on the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, the film was directed by Barry Cook and Tony Bancroft and produced by Pam Coats, from a screenplay by Rita Hsiao, Chris Sanders, Philip LaZebnik, and the writing team of Raymond Singer and Eugenia Bostwick-Singer, and a story by Robert D. San Souci. Ming-Na Wen, Eddie Murphy, Miguel Ferrer, and BD Wong star in the English version as Mulan, Mushu, Shan Yu, and Captain Li Shang, respectively, while Jackie Chan provided the voice of Li Shang for the Chinese dubs of the film. The film's plot takes place in China during an unspecified Imperial dynasty, where Fa Mulan, daughter of aged warrior Fa Zhou, impersonates a man to take her father's place during a general conscription to counter a Hun invasion.
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is an animated cartoon character created in 1927 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks for Universal Pictures. He starred in several animated short films released to theaters from 1927 to 1938. Twenty-seven animated Oswald shorts were produced at the Walt Disney Studio. After Universal took control of Oswald's character in 1928, Disney created a new character similar in appearance to Oswald as a replacement: Mickey Mouse, who went on to become one of the most famous cartoon characters in the world.
Disney's Hollywood Studios is a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. It is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Experiences division. Based on a concept by Marty Sklar, Randy Bright, and Michael Eisner, the park opened on May 1, 1989, as the Disney–MGM Studios Theme Park, and was the third of four theme parks built at Walt Disney World. Spanning 135 acres (55 ha), the park is themed to an idealized version of Hollywood, California, and is dedicated to the imagined worlds from film, television, music, and theatre, drawing inspiration from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, Inc., commonly referred to as Imagineering, is the research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation, design, and construction of Disney theme parks and attractions worldwide. The company also operates Disney Live Entertainment and The Muppets Studio and manages Disney's properties, from Walt Disney Studios in Burbank to New Amsterdam Theatre and Times Square Studios Ltd. in New York City. Founded by Walt Disney to oversee the production of Disneyland, it was originally known as Walt Disney, Inc., then WED Enterprises, from the initials meaning "Walter Elias Disney", the company co-founder's full name. Headquartered in Glendale, California, Imagineering is composed of "Imagineers", who are illustrators, architects, engineers, lighting designers, show writers and graphic designers.
Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene from its first synchronized sound cartoon, Steamboat Willie (1928). Founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy O. Disney after the closure of Laugh-O-Gram Studio, it is the oldest-running animation studio in the world. It is currently organized as a division of Walt Disney Studios and is headquartered at the Roy E. Disney Animation Building at the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank, California. Since its foundation, the studio has produced 62 feature films, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) to Wish (2023), and hundreds of short films.
Test Track is a high-speed slot car thrill ride manufactured by Dynamic Attractions located in World Discovery at Epcot, a theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida. Designed by Walt Disney Imagineering in partnership with Chevrolet, the ride is a simulated excursion through the rigorous testing procedures that General Motors uses to evaluate its concept cars, culminating in a high-speed drive around the exterior of the attraction.
Cranium Command was an attraction at the Wonders of Life pavilion at Walt Disney World Resort's Epcot theme park. The show was a humorous presentation on the importance of the human brain.
Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida was a division of Walt Disney Feature Animation that operated from 1989 to 2004. Its offices were backlot of the Disney MGM Studios theme park and visitors were allowed to tour the studio in The Magic of Disney Animation attraction to observe animators at work from behind glass-paneled overhead breezeways. The division had primarily animated Mulan, Lilo & Stitch and Brother Bear.
Disney Princess, also called the Princess Line, is a media franchise and toy line owned by the Walt Disney Company. Created by Disney Consumer Products chairman Andy Mooney, the franchise features a lineup of female protagonists who have appeared in various Disney franchises.
Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP) is a separate-admission Halloween-themed event held annually during the months of August, September, October, and November at the Magic Kingdom theme park of the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, near Orlando, and at Disneyland Paris Resort outside Paris, France. The party began as a response to the Halloween Horror Nights event at Universal Studios Florida. Disney's event caters to a traditional family atmosphere, whereas Universal's has more of a "fright-centered" event with their monsters.
Tony Bancroft is an American animator and film director who frequently collaborates with Disney. He is the founder and owner of the faith-driven animation company Toonacious Family Entertainment. Tony is the Executive VP Creative Development and Production for DivideNine Animation Studios.
Armand Serrano Armand is a Filipino American visual development artist who is known for his works in animated feature film studios such as Walt Disney Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, Sony Pictures Animation, and Skydance Animation. He has been in the animation industry for more than three decades. Armand is currently working as a production designer and art director. He is also known as a lecturer in the field of animation and design and conducts workshops and demos internationally.
The Disney Renaissance was a period from 1989 to 1999 during which Walt Disney Feature Animation returned to producing critically and commercially successful animated films. The ten feature films associated with this period are The Little Mermaid (1989), The Rescuers Down Under (1990), Beauty and the Beast (1991), Aladdin (1992), The Lion King (1994), Pocahontas (1995), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997), Mulan (1998), and Tarzan (1999).
Mark Alan Henn is an American animator and film director. His work includes animated characters for Walt Disney Animation Studios films, most notably leading or titular characters and heroines. He served as the lead animator for Ariel in The Little Mermaid (1989), Belle in Beauty and the Beast (1991), Jasmine in Aladdin (1992), Young Simba in The Lion King (1994), the title character in Mulan (1998), and Tiana in The Princess and the Frog (2009). Since all these characters except Simba became Disney Princesses, he came to be known as the "princess guy" around the studio. He directed the short films John Henry (2000) and D.I.Y. Duck (2024). Henn spent a total of 43 years at Walt Disney Animation Studios, from 1980 until his retirement in 2023.
Art of Disney Animation is an attraction at the Disney California Adventure in Disneyland Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland in Hong Kong Disneyland Resort. In Walt Disney Studios Park, the attraction opened on March 16, 2002 in the Toon Studio area, but was closed on January 7, 2019. It was reopened on November 17, 2019.
Mickey's PhilharMagic is a 4D film attraction found at several Disney theme parks around the world, including Magic Kingdom theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort, Hong Kong Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Park (Paris), and Disney California Adventure. The film was directed by George Scribner, who also directed Disney's 1988 animated film Oliver & Company. Mickey's PhilharMagic is a 12-minute-long show featuring 3D effects, scents, and water, as well as a number of characters from Disney movies. It is shown on the largest purpose-built 3D screen ever made, at 150 feet wide.
Barry R. Kooser is an American artist, painter, and educator who worked at Walt Disney Feature Animation Studios between 1992 and 2003 as a background artist on films such as The Lion King, Pocahontas, Mulan, Lilo & Stitch, and as background supervisor on Brother Bear. After leaving Disney, he worked independently as a painter exhibiting and selling fine art in galleries around the US. While teaching animation and story-boarding at Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design, he met Worker Studio founder Michael "Ffish" Hemschoot, and became a partner at the Colorado animation studio. Barry has since left Worker Studio. He is the Founder, Executive Producer and Director at Many Hoops Productions.
Barry Cook is an American film director who has worked in the animated film industry since the 1980s. Cook and Tony Bancroft directed Mulan (1998), for which they won the 1998 Annie Award for Best Animated Feature. Cook was also the co-director for Arthur Christmas (2011), directed by Sarah Smith. Cook also directed Walking with Dinosaurs (2013) with Neil Nightingale.
My Peoples is a cancelled animated fantasy film that was to be directed by Barry Cook, the co-director of Mulan (1998). It was scrapped in favor of Chicken Little (2005).
Disney Movie Magic is a nighttime projection show that debuted at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Walt Disney World on May 26, 2017. It is projected onto the façade of the park's Chinese Theater. It mainly featured the live-action films from Walt Disney Studios. The show had its final performance on April 30, 2019 and was replaced by a new show, Wonderful World of Animation as part of its 30th anniversary celebration.