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Macy’s Parade Studio gets some major Buzz (Lightyear) going at D23 EXPO 2015

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Can you believe it? This November (November 19th, to be
precise) marks the 20th anniversary of the release of "Toy Story."


Copyright Disney / Pixar. All rights reserved

D23 — the Official Disney Fan Club — wanted to do
something special to commemorate this occasion. So they arranged for John
Lasseter
, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich and other Pixar Animation
Studios
veterans to come on down to Anaheim. Where — as part of D23 EXPO 2015
(which officially gets underway today at the Anaheim Convention Center) —
Lasseter & Co. will look back at all of the challenges they faced while
working on the world's first full length computer animated feature.

This panel (which — appropriately enough — will be
entitled "Toy Story: 20 Years Later, the Original Crew Looks Back"
and will be presented on Stage 23 on Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m.) was a good start. But given the huge impact
that Pixar's first full length feature had has on pop culture … Well, a
production crew reunion really didn't seem to be enough. This occasion called
for something bigger. Something grander.

Like — say — a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloon.


Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

But here's the thing: The folks who work at Macy's Parade
Studio
are very protective of their inflatables. The only other time that
they've ever allowed their full-sized Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons to be
seen outside of the context of that annual procession was back in late 1992. Which
was when Disney-MGM Studios tethered these inflatables along the rooftops of
its backlot as this theme park presented ''Macy's New York Christmas.''

"But when D23 called about 8 or 9 months ago about the
possibility of us bringing the Buzz Lightyear out to Anaheim … Well, given
that Disney & Macy's have been partners for so long and given that the 20th
anniversary of 'Toy Story' really is a special occasion, it made sense to send
this balloon west," said Amy Kule, the Executive Producer of Macy's Thanksgiving
Day Parade. "But to make sure that Buzz looks his best for his D23 debut,
we decided to bring four members of our elite balloon team from the Macy's
Parade Studios out to the EXPO."

This four person team was headed by John Piper, Vice
President of Macy's Parade Studio. And John was ably assisted by his fellow
balloonatics, Loryn Sotsky, Robin Erichsen, Matt Kaprielian.


Photo by Jim Hill

So how exactly does one go about inflating a 67.7-feet long,
39.9-feet wide space ranger? Piper & pals pretty much followed the exact
same procedure that they use the night before Thanksgiving when they're
inflating the full-sized Macy's character balloons in the street surrounding
NYC's Museum of Natural
History. First they lay down a tarp and then
unroll the giant deflated balloon on top of that. Then they cover this
character balloon with a large net which is weighed down with dozens of sand
bags.


Photo by Jim Hill

From there, John & his team begin feeding helium into
the multiple shapes & compartments that make up Buzz Lightyear's body.


Photo by Jim Hill

What's great about being able to watch up-close the two
hour-long procedure that the Macy's Parade Studio team studiously follows as
they carefully inflate Buzz Lightyear is that you then get to see all of the
fun little details that they've crammed into this massive character balloon.
Stuff like where Andy signed the bottom of Buzz's foot.

"John and the other artists at Pixar were very, very
hands-on, good collaborative partners when it came to developing the Buzz
Lightyear character balloon. They were the ones who came up with Buzz' heroic
pose with that one arm jutting out. This is a character balloon that — even
when it's netted on the ground — just looks it belongs in the sky," Kule continued.
"Mind you, what we brought to the table is our expertise when it comes to
building, designing and flying balloons. We were the ones who suggested to the
people at Pixar that they were going to need to creep in the length of Buzz's
wings. Because — for safety & operational reasons — the character
balloons that we design for Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade always have to fit
within a specific flying envelope in order to make it down the streets of
Manhattan."


Photo by Jim Hill

Once every compartment within Buzz's balloony body is filled
with helium … Well, for this space ranger's cameo appearance at the D23 EXPO
("Why use the word 'cameo?,' you ask. Because the character balloon
version of this Pixar favorite is only going to be on display outside of the
Anaheim Convention for today. Tonight after the last attendee clears out of
this three day-long event, Lightyear will be pulled down, get deflated and then
be packed up & shipped off to New Jersey), Buzz's guide ropes wound up
being tied to 10 ballasts. Which were so heavy that Macy's Parade Studio crew
had to use forklifts to move these anchoring pieces into place.


Photo by Jim Hill

It obviously took a lot of after-hours effort to get this
Buzz Lightyear character balloon inflated & then tied down. But judging by
John Lasseter's happy expression in the pre-dawn hours, the Chief Creative
Officer of Pixar & Walt Disney Animation Studios was clearly glad to see
his old inflatable friend. Because this version of Buzz is someone that John
has actually spent an awful lot of time with.


Photo by Jim Hill

To explain: Lasseter so enjoyed working with Macy's Parade
Studio on this project that — when the Buzz Lightyear balloon was officially
added to the line-up of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade — John didn't want to
let go.

"He was so enamored with our creative process and the
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade itself that John volunteered to become a balloon
handler for Buzz," Amy recalled. "And John didn't do this just once.
He was a balloon handler for Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade for multiple years.
He didn't want anybody to know. So we dressed him like everybody else. And he
wanted to be treated like everybody else. John Lasseter's a superstar. That's
why we invite him back year after year."


Copyright NBCUniversal. All rights reserved

It's just these sorts of behind-the-scene stories that make Disneyana
enthusiasts from around the globe travel to Anaheim. Just so they can
then experience the D23 EXPO. Just so you know: The 2015 edition is already
sold out for Saturday, August 15th. But there are still some tickets available
for Sunday. So if you'd like to see what's got Disney fandom buzzing, be sure
and check out this biennial event. 

This article was originally posted on the Huffington Post's Entertainment page on Friday, August 14, 2015

Jim Hill

Jim Hill is an entertainment writer who has specialized in covering The Walt Disney Company for nearly 40 years now. Over that time, he has interviewed hundreds of animators, actors, and Imagineers -- many of whom have shared behind-the-scenes stories with Mr. Hill about how the Mouse House really works. In addition to the 4000+ articles Jim has written for the Web, he also co-hosts a trio of popular podcasts: “Disney Dish with Len Testa,” “Fine Tooning with Drew Taylor” and “Marvel US Disney with Aaron Adams.” Mr. Hill makes his home in Southern New Hampshire with his lovely wife Nancy and two obnoxious cats, Ginger & Betty.

Jim Hill is an entertainment writer who has specialized in covering The Walt Disney Company for nearly 40 years now. Over that time, he has interviewed hundreds of animators, actors, and Imagineers -- many of whom have shared behind-the-scenes stories with Mr. Hill about how the Mouse House really works. In addition to the 4000+ articles Jim has written for the Web, he also co-hosts a trio of popular podcasts: “Disney Dish with Len Testa,” “Fine Tooning with Drew Taylor” and “Marvel US Disney with Aaron Adams.” Mr. Hill makes his home in Southern New Hampshire with his lovely wife Nancy and two obnoxious cats, Ginger & Betty.

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Events

From toxic gas leaks to the triumph of ‘Finding Dory,’ Lindsey Collins has loved every minute of her time at Pixar Animation Studios

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When it comes to “Finding Dory” producer Lindsey Collins, she takes “going-with-your-gut” to a whole new level.

To explain: This Occidental College graduate joined Walt Disney Animation Studios straight out of school in 1994. And after working as a PA on “Pocahontas” & “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” Lindsey had just been made assistant production manager on “Hercules” when she began hearing people talk about Pixar.

“I was working at Disney with Ron & John (Author’s note: That’s Ron Clements & John Musker, the acclaimed animation directing team behind not only “Hercules” but also “The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin” and WDAS’ soon-to-be-released “Moana“) and was really enjoying that experience. But just before ‘Toy Story’ came out, there was a brief blurb in the company newsletter about Pixar. And I was like ‘Well, who are these guys?’ And then I got to meet John Lasseter and was just totally blown away by what he and his team were doing,” Collins recalled during a recent phone interview.

Lindsey Collins. Copyright Disney Pixar

“Anyway, Disney liked what I was doing at Feature Animation and really wanted me to stay on there. So they offered me a contract. And I was like ‘I’m fine. I can stay here.’ So I signed that contract. And then I went home and threw up all night,” Lindsey laughed.  “The very next day, I went back into Disney and said ‘I’m sorry. I can’t do this. I really have to go.’ Then I went up to the Bay area and basically pounded on Pixar’s door & said ‘please, please, please hire me.’ “

Luckily for Ms. Collins, Pixar Animation Studios was just in the process of gearing up to do “A Bug’s Life.” More to the point, Sharon Calahan – the director of photography on that production – saw lots of potential in this recent Mouse House escapee.

“Sharon was hugely involved with Pixar’s decision to hire me. And part of that was because I had worked with background painters while I was at Disney Feature Animation. So even though I had no clue how CG worked at that time, I could talk with Sharon in the terms of painting. And she was like ‘That’s exactly how I want people around here to start thinking when it comes to how we light our scenes,’ ” Collins continued.

Sharon Calahan. Copyright Disney Pixar

“Mind you, I was the one who kept telling Sharon ‘I don’t know how helpful I can be to you guys. Because I really don’t understand a lot of what you’re saying when it comes to CG.’ But she wouldn’t give up on me. Sharon kept insisting that – because I had already worked with artists and knew how to communicate a vision for a painting – I was also going to be able to communicate with software engineers. It was just a matter of learning a new language. Sharon was instrumental in convincing me that I had any right to be at Pixar,” Lindsey stated.

Which isn’t to say that life was initially easy for Collins at Pixar. First there was that steep learning curve which came with her new job (“When I first got here, I had no idea what a render farm was. I was like ‘There’s a farm? Like a petting zoo?’ “). Then there was the fact that the Port Richmond office park which housed this animation studio at that time was downwind of a Chevron plant (“Sometimes – because there’d be explosions or gas leaks at that plant — we’d then be told to shelter in place or to not come into work at all that day. We used to call those toxic snow days”).

But even under these somewhat stressful & occasionally toxic conditions, Lindsey thrived. Largely because she really loved her new co-workers at Pixar (“They were people who could really make me laugh. In a way I didn’t know that real adults / professionals could make me laugh. And I feel like I haven’t stopped since I got here”).

Copyright Disney Pixar

But it hasn’t all been big laughs. Take – for example – what happened when Ed Catmull, the president of Pixar Animation Studios, approached Collins (who was producing “Finding Dory” at that time) about a change that he wanted to make to that Andrew Stanton film.

“Pixar had this new renderer that it wanted to try out. And Ed felt ‘Dory’ would be the perfect project to try this new technology on. The only problem was that – when Ed approached me – we were already well into production on this ‘Finding Nemo’ sequel. Which meant – if we were going to take full advantage of what Ed was offering us – we’d then have go back and redo a bunch of stuff we’d already done on this movie,” Lindsey said.

“But the good news was – because “Dory” was a sequel to “Nemo” – we weren’t discovering a look for this movie. We were just trying to improve on it,” Collins continued. “And that was the handshake deal that Ed was offering. That – if we agreed to use this new renderer plus some new lighting & shading tools. Basically reinventing the entire back end of the Pixar production line – we’d then end up with a far better looking film that was still set in the same world as ‘Nemo.’ As long as the studio delivered on that promise, Andrew was willing to go for it. Mind you, it would be another full year before Andrew would then actually get to see any footage that this new renderer produced. So it was a huge leap-of-faith on his part. But Andrew was incredibly excited when the redone ‘Dory’ footage began coming in and it all looked so great.”

Copyright Disney Pixar

Another technology challenge that Lindsey had to deal with while producing this “Finding Nemo” sequel was Hank the septopus. But in this case, as soon as Collins saw this character described in an early draft of  Stanton’s ‘Dory’ script, she immediately got Pixar’s character department involved.

“When you’re working as a producer, you get to see pages a lot earlier than the rest of the crew. And as soon as I read that first scene with Hank, I turned to Andrew and said ‘Just how big a character are we talking here?’ And he said ‘I think it’s a pretty big role.’ And I was like ‘Okay.’ And I then went down to the character department and told them that Andrew wanted to add an octopus to the cast. And they all went kind of pale,” Lindsey said. “I think what they knew right-off-the-bat that – if we were going to do an octopus in the ‘Nemo’ / ‘Dory’ world with all of the realism & beauty that entails and then have that character fit in – it was going to be incredibly difficult if not kind of impossible to pull that off. Largely because the character of Hank couldn’t be super-cartoony.”

“I mean, on ‘Finding Nemo,’ we had had Pearl, the little octopus who was in Mr. Ray’s class. But clearly the whole point of a character like Hank was that he needed to be a jack-of-all-trades. That this character was going to have to be able to get in & out of everything. So the character department knew – right off the bat – that this was going to be something that would kind of break the bank, if you will,” Collins continued.

Copyright Disney Pixar

“Now what you have to understand about Pixar is that we play ‘Chicken’ a lot here. By that I mean, we see how long we can let something sit on the page before we then have to finally move it into production. But when it came to Hank, that just wasn’t an option,” Lindsey stated. “Based on this character’s needs, Hank was going to take every minute we had, all the time between when he first appeared in Andrew’s script and when we’d be in full production on ‘Dory’ to build this. So we needed to commit very early on this character. But the good news is that I think we bet right on Hank. He actually wound up being a far bigger character in this film. And I think that was partially because the technology which drove this character was so cool.”

So how did it feel – after five years of hard work – to have “Finding Dory” become this hugely popular motion picture? The fifth animated film in all of Hollywood history to earn over a billion dollars at the worldwide box office? Collins – the mother of three – put a somewhat maternal spin on her reply.

“You have to understand that – when you work on projects like ‘Dory’ or ‘John Carter‘ for as long as Andrew and I did – these movies are kind of like your kids. In that they then go off & have their own successes & failures which are kind of beyond your control as a parent,” Lindsey said. “But as you’re finishing up working on a film, emotions do sometimes well up at the weirdest time.”

Thomas Newman (L) and Andrew Stanton in the booth during the recording sessions for “Finding Dory” ‘s score. Copyright Disney Pixar 

Take – for example – what happened while Collins & Stanton were sitting in the recording booth as Thomas Newman rode herd on “Finding Dory” ‘s scoring sessions.

“We’d had this huge orchestra for four days. And then – on the last day – Tom cleared the stage and recorded the scene where Nemo, Marlin & Dory reunite in the pipes under the Marine Life Center. Now you have to understand that this is one of the only times in his score for ‘Finding Dory’ that Tom reprises a cue from “Finding Nemo.’ And he has this single clarinet – or was it an oboe? – play that cue,” Lindsey recalled. “And as this was happening, Andrew got really quiet. He was just sitting there, watching.”

“So I went up to him and said ‘What’s going on? How are you feeling about all this?’ Because we were finishing this film up at that time. And Andrew looked at me and he was really emotional. And then he said “I remember the first time I wrote Dory’s name on a piece of paper. I can’t believe how far she’s come.’ And that’s when I started getting emotional too, ” Collins said.

Andrew Stanton & Lindsey Collins. Copyright Disney Pixar

And speaking of ” … how far she’s come,” one might say the same thing about Lindsey. Who – it should be noted here – when she was studying at Occidental College 25 years ago, didn’t major in business or film studies. But – rather – diplomacy and world affairs.

“Those diplomacy skills do actually come in handy when you’re working on a movie. But you want to honestly know the very best thing you can do at college if you eventually hope to become a producer? Work as an RA,” Collins concluded. “Katherine Sarafian – who’s also a producer here at Pixar — also ran a dorm while she was in college. And the two of us agree that that job was great training for becoming a producer. When you’re constantly dealing with people and have to get answers to ridiculous questions like ‘Okay, who pooped in the closet?’ “

The Blu-ray & DVD version of Pixar’s “Finding Dory” hits store shelves today.

This article was originally published by the Huffington Post on Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Jim Hill

Jim Hill is an entertainment writer who has specialized in covering The Walt Disney Company for nearly 40 years now. Over that time, he has interviewed hundreds of animators, actors, and Imagineers -- many of whom have shared behind-the-scenes stories with Mr. Hill about how the Mouse House really works. In addition to the 4000+ articles Jim has written for the Web, he also co-hosts a trio of popular podcasts: “Disney Dish with Len Testa,” “Fine Tooning with Drew Taylor” and “Marvel US Disney with Aaron Adams.” Mr. Hill makes his home in Southern New Hampshire with his lovely wife Nancy and two obnoxious cats, Ginger & Betty.

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Women in Animation panels prove that there’s more to San Diego Comic-Con than just promotion of pop culture

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Thanks to Comic-Con International, now through Sunday, San
Diego is the white-hot center of the pop culture universe.


Photo by Jim Hill

Mind you, there’s more to this four day-long event than
those high-profile presentations in Hall H. Which is where various movie
studios will be parading celebrities & showing exclusive clips. All with
the hope that those 6000 early adopters who have (some of them, anyway) been
camped out in this cavernous convention center for hours ahead of time will
then hop on social media and start evangelizing about how cool that footage
from next summer’s would-be blockbuster looked.

But if you can look past those long lines for
limited-edition merchandise and/or the tens of thousands of people who are
cosplaying, you’ll see that there’s another, more serious side to Comic-Con
International. And that’s the part of this four day-long event which allows a lot
of creatives to reconnect with one another.

Take – for example – Marge Dean, the general manager of
Stoopid Buddy Stoodios (i.e., that Burbank-based operation which is responsible
for “Robot Chicken,” television’s longest-running stop motion series, as well
as Sony’s just-about-to-begin-production-on-its-second-season-for-Crackle
superhero spoof, “SuperMansion”). Over the past decade, she’s made at least
eight trips down to San Diego for Comic-Con International. And what Marge loves
most about this four day-long event is all of the old friends she invariably
runs into as she’s coming & going from the convention center.


Photo by Jim Hill

“Whenever I’m down in San Diego for Comic-Con, I just love
the experience of getting outside the hall, walking down the street and then
suddenly going ‘It’s you ! A guy I haven’t seen in three years ! How are you
!,” Dean recalled during a recent phone interview. “Even though I really don’t
like driving to Comic-Con – which is why, these days, I always take the train
down from LA – I really enjoy strolling around San Diego and then running into
people that I haven’t seen for a long, long time.”

Mind you, Marge is sure to run into a lot of people that she
knows / has previously worked with today in Room 24ABC at the San Diego
Convention Center. That’s because this is where Comic-Con’s “Cartoon Creatives:
Women Power in Animation” panel will be held starting at 4:30 p.m. PT. And
joining Dean at this gathering (which will be shining a spotlight on Women in
Animation
‘s goal to have a 50/50 workforce by 2025) will be a veritable who’s
who from the worlds of television & feature animation.

Among those who are scheduled to appear today are:


Daron Nefcy, the creator / executive producer of “Star vs. the Forces of Evil.”
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved 

  • Lauren Faust (the creator of “My Little Pony:
    Friendship is Magic”)
  • Brooke Keesling (the director of animation
    talent development at Disney TV Animation)
  • Katie Krentz (the senior director of development
    at Cartoon Network)
  • Lauren Montgomery (the co-executive producer of
    “Voltron: Legendary Defender”)
  • Daron Nefcy (the creator / executive producer of
    “Star vs. the Forces of Evil”)
  • Gina Shay (the producer of DreamWorks
    Animation’s “Trolls”)
  • Stevie Wermers-Skelton (the co-director of
    Disney’s upcoming “Frozen” holiday special)

Dean (who serves as the co-president of WIA) views this
hour-long session (which will be moderated by Leslie Combemale of Animation
Scoop) as a great example of a lesser known aspect of Comic-Con International.
Which is the many ways that this four day-long event educates the fan
community. Gives them a clearer understanding of what’s really going on in
today’s entertainment world.


Marge Dean, co-president of Women in Animation, speaking at a WIA event 
honoring Nickelodeon’s contributions to television animation. 

“I mean, did you know that women hold only 20% of the
creative roles in today’s animation industry? While the landscape has obviously
changed over the 20+ years that I’ve worked in this field, women still predominantly
work on the management side of animation. Not the creative end of things,”
Marge continued. “That’s a big part of what the Women in Animation organization
is all about. More to the point, why we’re doing outreach to the fan community
at Comic-Con this week. We’re looking to shine a spotlight on this disparity in
the industry and hopefully create some opportunities for more women to break
through creatively in the future.”

Of course, in order to know where you are (more importantly,
where you’re headed next), it helps to have to have a firm understanding of
where you’ve been. Which is why WIA will be holding a second panel at Comic-Con
International, “She Made That? Nickelodeon hosts Women in Animation.” This
presentation (which will also be held in Room 24ABC from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. PT on
Friday, July 22nd) will honor some of the real pioneers of
television animation. The women who helped create such memorable Nicktoon
series as:

  • Vanessa Coffey (“The Ren & Stimpy Show,”
    “Rugrats” & “Doug”)
  • Mary Harrington (“Invader Zim,” “Hey Arnold!”)


Television animation pioneer Margaret Loesch

Of course, Coffey was quick to credit the woman who gave her
a leg up when she was just getting her start in animation in the early 1980s.
And that was Margaret Loesch, the then-President and CEO of Marvel Productions.

“At that time, Margaret was the only woman working in
television animation. I was just this intern, working down the hall from Stan
Lee. But Margaret took a chance on me,” Vanessa remembered. “And Margaret not
only mentored me, she genuinely inspired me. I mean, here she was running this
huge production company in a field that was mostly run by men. Margaret proved to
me that not only should women in the animation business but that they could be
these huge successes.”  

You see? That’s what’s really great about Comic-Con
International. If you can just get past all of the hype (not to mention handle those
super-crowded conditions you’ll encounter out on the show floor), you might
then discover that some real education has been mixed in with your
entertainment.


(L to R) Vanessa Coffey, Stephen
Hillenburg (the creator of
“SpongeBob SquarePants”) and and Butch Hartman (the
creator of “The Fairly Oddparents.” 

Comic-Con International is running at the San Diego
Convention Center now through Sunday, July 24th

This article was originally posted on the Huffington Post’s Entertainment page on Thursday, July 21, 2016.

Jim Hill

Jim Hill is an entertainment writer who has specialized in covering The Walt Disney Company for nearly 40 years now. Over that time, he has interviewed hundreds of animators, actors, and Imagineers -- many of whom have shared behind-the-scenes stories with Mr. Hill about how the Mouse House really works. In addition to the 4000+ articles Jim has written for the Web, he also co-hosts a trio of popular podcasts: “Disney Dish with Len Testa,” “Fine Tooning with Drew Taylor” and “Marvel US Disney with Aaron Adams.” Mr. Hill makes his home in Southern New Hampshire with his lovely wife Nancy and two obnoxious cats, Ginger & Betty.

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Books & Print

It’s Jim Hill in the Restaurant with the Book – The Jungle Book – and You Can Join Him June 5th

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It’s a Jungle (Book) Out There

For more than 50 years, The Walt Disney Company has been reimagining the writings of Rudyard Kipling–taking his tales of Mowgli the man-cub and his animal friends and then turning them into hugely popular films and television series.


Let Jim Hill take you from Bill Peet’s far-too-dark take on this tale (which Walt Disney just hated) to Jon Favreau’s photo-realistic box office smash (for which the Studio is already developing a sequel).

You’re sure to go ape as you listen to all of these great behind-the-scenes show business stories.

Join us June 5th, 2016 from 11:30 AM-1:30 PM at HB Burger, 127 West 43rd Street in New York City


Tickets are $62.00: Each ticket includes lunch at HB Burger, the program, and a special souvenir.

Buy tickets now on line here –> Unofficial Guide’s Disney Dish site  or here –> e.t.c. (events — tailor made & customized)

Get your tickets now!

email events@etccustomevents.com with any additional questions.

Nancy Stadler

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