General

“Working with Disney” gives you an up-close look at Walt Disney, the man

Published

14 years ago

May 10, 2011

So when did Don Peri start collecting Mouse-related stories? Over 35 years ago. Back when genuine Disney Legends were still working at the Studios.

"Frank and Ollie were still doing animation back then. When I first met them, they were both working on 'The Rescuers' and were getting started on the research for 'The Illusion of Life,'" Peri recalled. "Which was harder than you might think. Given that Dave Smith was just getting the Disney Archives up out of the ground at this point."

When we talked on the phone last week, Don talked about visiting Dave in this early, early version of the Disney Archives. Which – back then – was housed in one of those old wooden buildings right at the edge of the Studio parking lot. Peri described Smith's office back then as being small and cluttered. Where – if you wanted to view one of the beautiful-but-massive background paintings that the Disney artists had created for "Pinocchio" … Well, you first had to figure out which boxes you needed to move out of the way before you could then close Dave's door.

Don has a great eye for detail. That extra added filigree that changes an average story into something really extraordinary. Which is why I'm so grateful that Peri went around from 1976 to 2005, collecting oral histories from folks like Frank & Ollie, Marc Davis, X Atencio and Bill Justice. Which have now been collected in a terrific new book, "Working with Disney: Interviews with Animators, Producers, and Artists" (University Press of Mississippi, January 2011).

This 192-page paperback is actually a follow-up to Don's earlier-but-equally-excellent collection of Mouse-related tales, "Working with Walt: Interviews with Disney Artists" (University Press of Mississippi, March 2008). Which grew out of a 1974 meeting with Ben Sharpsteen, a retired Disney animator, director and producer. Sharpsteen recruited Peri to come help him write his memoirs. And while he was researching the 30 years that Ben spent working at the Studios, Don got to talk with other veteran Disney employees about what it was actually like to work with Walt.

"And what I found was … Well, no two people who worked for Walt Disney ever saw that man the exact same way," Peri explained. "Some saw Walt as this tough taskmaster. While still others viewed him as being someone who was constantly creative, forever curious."

Bill Cottrell, Ted Sears, Lillian Disney, Walt Disney, Norm Ferguson and Frank Thomas
circa 1941. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved

That's certainly how Frank Thomas saw Walt. As a guy who never liked to repeat himself. Who was always looking for new challenges. In his interview with Don, Frank suggested that if "Fantasia" had succeeded at the box office when it was initially released to theaters back in 1940 …

… I think we would have found ourselves in a different field. But Walt kept hunting himself. I don't mean to say that he curtailed his creative efforts. For instance, he loved Hiawatha.

DP: The short subject?

FT: No, just the idea of Hiawatha. He's done that just as a short. No, but as an idea, the poem. He said, "Unlock your thinking. Try thinking of something new. There is something in that that people like. There's a magic to it. There's mystery to it. There's something in that subject matter." He said, "I don't know what it is. Don't think film. Maybe it's live. Maybe it's in a theater out in the woods. Maybe it's on a mountaintop, I don't know where the thing is or what you do with it, but there's an idea that someone could get ahold of." Well, this is the way he was all the time. "An idea there that somebody could get ahold of." No limitations on him.

As for Marc Davis … Well, he shared what it was like to be Walt Disney at the very height of his fame. When "The Wonderful World of Color" was broadcast by NBC every Sunday night. Which is how everyone in the world then knew what Uncle Walt looked like.

Which – as you might imagine – made touring crowded places like the 1964 New York World's Fair difficult for Disney.

… we went to the Miss Clairol exhibit, because we were thinking that they might be interested in coming into Disneyland. This exhibit was for women only practically, but we went through it anyway with the man who ran it. After seeing a few exhibits, we came into a room and there were quite a number of young ladies there. They discovered Walt and they shouted, "Oh, Walt Disney! Walt Disney! Can I have your autograph, Mr. Disney?" I'd say he autographed maybe six or seven pieces of paper. Then a little girl came up wearing blue jeans, a sweatshirt, bobby socks and tennis shoes. She said,"Oh, Mr. Disney, may I have your autograph?" He put his hands on her, and he said, "Look, honey, I just can't autograph any more. I'll be mobbed here." She starts screaming, "He touched me! He touched me!"

Now – you think – give how famous Walt was at this point of his life, that Disney would then pull rank. Insist that he be treated as a celebrity. But as Marc Davis recalled, that wasn't the type of man Walt Disney was.

(And when Walt and I toured the New York World's Fair fairground, we) finally ended up at the Ford exhibit – I think we skipped Lincoln – and they wanted to VIP (Walt). But he said, "No, I want to go through the whole thing. I want to go through like the public." So the three of us, plus the man who ran the show and a couple of Ford managers went through the whole serpentine –

DP: Was this in the car?

MD: This was the long walk going in there. You're on your feet for a good half hour before you ever get up to those cars. There was that long serpentine line going back and forth that eventually lined you with the exhibit car. In the line were a heavyset but well-dressed woman and a well-dressed man with a hat – typical New York types. I saw them look at Walt. We serpentine so that we were next to them. This woman looked at Walt, then she looked back at her husband, and she said , "It isn't either!"

That's what's great about "Working with Disney: Interviews with Animators, Producers and Artists." You get funny true-life stories about Walt Disney and the type of person he was. Not to mention peeks at never-built theme park attractions. Like this one that Bill Justice designed back in the mid-1970s,

… Mickey's Madhouse in glorious black and white! It would have been a ride-through. You'd see film clips of these old cartoons on each screen, there would be about five or six different scenes, and there's be an overall music track. Fun music, with maybe Goofy playing a washboard here, and you'd hear the washboard sound, and maybe Mickey's on a bunch of pots and pans over there, and you would then hear [the sound] from there. So as you go through, you'd see all these different things, and we'd have little animated figures, dimensional figures, that would keep time to the music, like [It's a] Small World.

DP: Or the Mickey Mouse Revue [then at Walt Disney World].

Yeah. That would set the mood for this thing, and each time you'd go through there, you'd probably see a different scene on those screens, you see. Then in the second room, your car would start to climb up through an old dilapidated castle-looking thing. On the screens in there, there'd be ghosts and goblins and skeletons and black cats and torture chambers and all this weird stuff: lightning and thunder and screeches and screams and bats and all kind of spooky stuff. As you go through there, you climb, climb, climb, and then you get to the top of the building. When you break out of that, you come down through a thrill ride that takes you through train tunnels and through a tornado from The Band Concert. The car would just break loose and go fast. We'd have projected things going by you.

DP: That sounds great!

BJ: I think it would be a wonderful ride. It would bring back memories to those people that had seen some of that stuff, and it'd be a whole new experience to the younger generation.

Of course, the best part of "Working with Disney" is – because Peri collected most of these oral histories back in the mid-1970s – you then get these real-time slices-of-life moments in regards to what was going on within the Company at that point in history.

Take – for example – this interview with X Atencio. Who – circa 1978, anyway – was clearly frustrated with the way work was going on the Epcot project.

Ray Bradbury stands in front of an early model for
EPCOT Center. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc.
All rights reserved

I have worked on the Transportation Pavilion that will be sponsored by General Motors. Ray Bradbury and I worked together on the Spaceship Earth. On the World Showcase, I've worked on the Mexican pavilion. I did a concept. And now we are getting down to the nitty-gritty. Even though these concepts were done a couple of years ago, we've got to get down to it. We've got to face it! The next four years are going to be hectic around here. [Epcot opened on October 1^st, 1982.] I think in essence it is an exciting project. But we keep vacillating; we keep getting away from the original theme, which is discouraging to me. That's one of our big problems in working with industry: we not only have to please ourselves, but we have to please somebody else.

Well, "Working with Disney: Interviews with Animators, Producers and Artists" certainly pleased me. Don Peri's new collection of oral histories by Disney Legends featured some stories that I'd never, ever heard before. Which is why – if you're a Mouse House history buff – I strongly urge you to pick up a copy of this University Press of Mississippi book. If only so that you can then read Don's definitive account of Walt's very last trip to WED.

Your thoughts?

General

Seward Johnson bronzes add a surreal, artistic touch to NYC’s Garment District

Published

9 years ago

June 23, 2015

Jim Hill

Greetings from NYC. Nancy and I drove down from New
Hampshire yesterday because we'll be checking out
Disney Consumer Products' annual Holiday Showcase later today.

Anyway … After checking into our hotel (i.e., The Paul.
Which is located down in NYC's NoMad district), we decided to grab some dinner.
Which is how we wound up at the Melt Shop.

Photo by Jim Hill

Which is this restaurant that only sells grilled cheese sandwiches.
This comfort food was delicious, but kind of on the heavy side.

Photo by Jim Hill

Which is why — given that it was a beautiful summer night
— we'd then try and walk off our meals. We started our stroll down by the Empire
State Building
…

Photo by Jim Hill

… and eventually wound up just below Times
Square (right behind where the Waterford Crystal Times Square New
Year's Eve Ball is kept).

Photo by Jim Hill

But you know what we discovered en route? Right in the heart
of Manhattan's Garment District
along Broadway between 36th and 41st? This incredibly cool series of life-like
and life-sized sculptures that Seward
Johnson has created.

Photo by Jim Hill

And — yes — that is Abraham Lincoln (who seems to have
slipped out of WDW's Hall of Presidents when no one was looking and is now
leading tourists around Times Square). These 18 painted
bronze pieces (which were just installed late this past Sunday night / early
Monday morning) range from the surreal to the all-too-real.

Photo by Jim Hill

Some of these pieces look like typical New Yorkers. Like the
business woman planning out her day …

Photo by Jim Hill

… the postman delivering the mail …

Photo by Jim Hill

… the hot dog vendor working at his cart …

Photo by Jim Hill

… the street musician playing for tourists …

Photo by Jim Hill

Not to mention the tourists themselves.

Photo by Jim Hill

But right alongside the bronze businessmen …

Photo by Jim Hill

… and the tired grandmother hauling her groceries home …

Photo by Jim Hill

… there were also statues representing people who were
from out-of-town …

Photo by Jim Hill

… or — for that matter — out-of-time.

Photo by Jim Hill

These were the Seward Johnson pieces that genuinely beguiled. Famous impressionist paintings brought to life in three dimensions.

Note the out-of-period water bottle that some tourist left
behind. Photo by Jim Hill

Some of them so lifelike that you actually had to pause for
a moment (especially as day gave way to night in the city) and say to yourself
"Is that one of the bronzes? Or just someone pretending to be one of these
bronzes?"

Mind you, for those of you who aren't big fans of the
impressionists …

Photo by Jim Hill

… there's also an array of American icons. Among them
Marilyn Monroe …

Photo by Jim Hill

… and that farmer couple from Grant Wood's "American
Gothic."

Photo by Jim Hill

But for those of you who know your NYC history, it's hard to
beat that piece which recreates Alfred Eisenstaedt's famous photograph of V-J Day in Times Square.

Photo by Jim Hill

By the way, a 25-foot-tall version of this particular Seward
Johnson piece ( which — FYI — is entitled "Embracing Peace") will actually
be placed in Times Square for a few days on or around August 14th to commemorate the 70th
anniversary of Victory Over Japan Day (V-J Day).

Photo by Jim Hill

By the way, if you'd like to check these Seward Johnson bronzes in
person (which — it should be noted — are part of the part of the Garment
District Alliance's new public art offering) — you'd best schedule a trip to
the City sometime over the next three months. For these pieces will only be on
display now through September 15th.

General

Wondering what you should “Boldly Go” see at the movies next year? The 2015 Licensing Expo offers you some clues

Published

9 years ago

June 10, 2015

Jim Hill

Greeting from the 2015 Licensing Expo, which is being held
at the Mandalay Bay
Convention Center in Las
Vegas.

Photo by Jim Hill

I have to admit that I enjoy covering the Licensing Expo.
Mostly becomes it allows bloggers & entertainment writers like myself to
get a peek over the horizon. Scope out some of the major motion pictures &
TV shows that today's vertically integrated entertainment conglomerates
(Remember when these companies used to be called movie studios?) will be
sending our way over the next two years or so.

Photo by Jim Hill

Take — for example — all of "The Secret Life of
Pets" banners that greeted Expo attendees as they made their way to the
show floor today. I actually got to see some footage from this new Illumination
Entertainment production (which will hit theaters on July 8, 2016) the last time I was in Vegas. Which
was for CinemaCon back in April. And the five or so minutes of film that I viewed
suggested that "The Secret Life of Pets" will be a really funny
animated feature.

Photo by Jim Hill

Mind you, Universal Pictures wanted to make sure that Expo
attendees remembered that there was another Illumination Entertainment production
coming-to-a-theater-near-them before "The Secret Life of Pets" (And
that's "Minions," the "Despicable Me" prequel. Which
premieres at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival next week but
won't be screened stateside 'til July 10th of this year). Which is why they had
three minions who were made entirely out of LEGOS loitering out in the lobby.

Photo by Jim Hill

And Warner Bros. — because they wanted "Batman v
Superman: Dawn of Justice" to start trending on Twitter today — brought
the Batmobile to Las Vegas.

Photo by Jim Hill

Not to mention full-sized macquettes of Batman, Superman and
Wonder Woman. Just so conventioneers could then see what these DC superheroes
would actually look like in this eagerly anticipated, March 25, 2016 release.

Photo by Jim Hill

That's the thing that can sometimes be a wee bit frustrating
about the Licensing Expo. It's all about delayed gratification. You'll come
around a corner and see this 100 foot-long ad for "The Peanuts Movie"
and think "Hey, that looks great. I want to see that Blue Sky Studios production
right now." It's only then that you notice the fine print and realize that
"The Peanuts Movie" doesn't actually open in theaters 'til November
6th of this year.

Photo by Jim Hill

And fan of Blue Sky's "Ice Age" film franchise are in for an even
longer wait. Given that the latest installment in that top grossing series
doesn't arrive in theaters 'til July
15, 2016.

Photo by Jim Hill

Of course, if you're one of those people who needs immediate
gratification when it comes to your entertainment, there was stuff like that to
be found at this year's Licensing Expo. Take — for example — how the WWE
booth was actually shaped like a wrestling ring. Which — I'm guessing — meant
that if the executives of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. didn't like
the offer that you were making, they were then allowed to toss you out over the
top rope, Royal Rumble-style.

Photo by Jim Hill

I also have to admit that — as a longtime Star Trek fan —
it was cool to see the enormous Starship Enterprise that hung in place over the
CBS booth. Not to mention getting a glimpse of the official Star Trek 50th
Anniversary logo.

Photo by Jim Hill

I was also pleased to see lots of activity in The Jim Henson
Company booth. Which suggests that JHC has actually finally carved out a
post-Muppets identity for itself.

Photo by Jim Hill

Likewise for all of us who were getting a little concerned
about DreamWorks Animation (what with all the layoffs & write-downs &
projects that were put into turnaround or outright cancelled last year), it was
nice to see that booth bustling.

Photo by Jim Hill

Every so often, you'd come across some people who were
promoting a movie that you weren't entirely sure that you actually wanted to
see (EX: "Angry Birds," which Sony Pictures Entertainment / Columbia
Pictures will be releasing to theaters on May 20, 2016). But then you remembered that Clay Kaytis —
who's this hugely talented former Walt Disney Animation Studios animator — is
riding herd on "Angry Birds" with Fergal Reilly. And you'd think
"Well, if Clay's working on 'Angry Birds,' I'm sure this animated feature
will turn out fine."

Photo by Jim Hill

Mind you, there were reminders at this year's Licensing Expo
of great animated features that we're never going to get to see now. I still
can't believe — especially after that brilliant proof-of-concept footage
popped up online last year — that Sony execs decided not to go forward
with production of Genndy Tartakovsky's
"Popeye" movie. But that's the
cruel thing about the entertainment business, folks. It will sometime break
your heart.

Photo by Jim Hill

And make no mistake about this. The Licensing Expo is all
about business. That point was clearly driven home at this year's show when —
as you walked through the doors of the Mandalay
Bay Convention Center
— the first thing that you saw was the Hasbros Booth. Which was this gleaming,
sleek two story-tall affair full of people who were negotiating deals &
signing contracts for all of the would-be summer blockbusters that have already
announced release dates for 2019 & beyond.

Photo by Jim Hill

"But what about The Walt Disney Company?," you
ask. "Weren't they represented on the show floor at this year's Licensing
Expo?" Not really, not. I mean, sure. There were a few companies there hyping
Disney-related products. Take — for example — the Disney Wikkeez people.

Photo by Jim Hill

I'm assuming that some Disney Consumer Products exec is
hoping that Wikkeez will eventually become the new Tsum Tsum. But to be blunt,
these little hard plastic figures don't seem to have the same huggable charm
that those stackable plush do. But I've been wrong before. So let's see what
happens with Disney Wikkeez once they start showing up on the shelves of the
Company's North American retail partners.

Photo by Jim Hill

And speaking of Disney's retail partners … They were
meeting with Mouse House executives behind closed doors one floor down from the
official show floor for this year's Licensing Expo.

Photo by Jim Hill

And the theme for this year's invitation-only Disney shindig? "Timeless
Stories" involving the Disney, Pixar, Marvel & Lucasfilm brands that
would then appeal to "tomorrow's consumer."

Photo by Jim Hill

And just to sort of hammer home the idea that Disney is no
longer the Company which cornered the market when it comes to little girls
(i.e., its Disney Princess and Disney Fairies franchises), check out this
wall-sized Star Wars-related image that DCP put up just outside of one of its
many private meeting rooms. "See?," this carefully crafted photo
screams. "It isn't just little boys who want to wield the Force. Little
girls also want to grow up and be Lords of the Sith."

Photo by Jim Hill

One final, kind-of-ironic note: According to this banner,
Paramount Pictures will be releasing a movie called "Amusement Park"
to theaters sometime in 2017.

Photo by Jim Hill

Well, given all the "Blackfish" -related issues
that have been dogged SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment over the past two years, I'm
just hoping that they'll still be in the amusement park business come 2017.

Your thoughts?

General

It takes more than three circles to craft a Classic version of Mickey Mouse

Published

9 years ago

June 9, 2015

Jim Hill

You know what Mickey Mouse looks like, right? Little guy,
big ears?

Truth be told, Disney's corporate symbol has a lot of
different looks. If Mickey's interacting with Guests at Disneyland
Park (especially this summer, when
the Happiest Place on Earth
is celebrating its 60th anniversary), he looks & dresses like this.

Or when he's appearing in one of those Emmy Award-winning shorts that Disney
Television Animation has produced (EX: "Bronco Busted," which debuts
on the Disney Channel tonight at 8 p.m. ET / PT), Mickey is drawn in a such a
way that he looks hip, cool, edgy & retro all at the same time.

Looking ahead to 2017 now, when Disney Junior rolls out "Mickey and the
Roadster Racers," this brand-new animated series will feature a sportier version
of Disney's corporate symbol. One that Mouse House managers hope will persuade
preschool boys to more fully embrace this now 86 year-old character.

That's what most people don't realize about the Mouse. The
Walt Disney Company deliberately tailors Mickey's look, even his style of
movement, depending on what sort of project / production he's appearing in.

Take — for example — Disney
California Adventure
Park's "World of Color:
Celebrate!" Because Disney's main mouse would be co-hosting this new
nighttime lagoon show with ace emcee Neil Patrick Harris, Eric Goldberg really had
to step up Mickey's game. Which is why this master Disney animator created
several minutes of all-new Mouse animation which then showed that Mickey was
just as skilled a showman as Neil was.

Better yet, let's take a look at what the folks at Avalanche Studios just went
through as they attempted to create a Classic version of Mickey & Minnie.
One that would then allow this popular pair to become part of Disney Infinity
3.0.

"I won't lie to you. We were under a lot of pressure to
get the look of this particular version of Mickey — he's called Red Pants
Mickey around here — just right," said Jeff Bunker, the VP of Art
Development at Avalanche Studios, during a recent phone interview. "When
we brought Sorcerer Mickey into Disney Infinity 1.0 back in January of 2014,
that one was relatively easy because … Well, everyone knows what Mickey Mouse
looked like when he appeared in 'Fantasia.' "

"But this time around, we were being asked to design
THE Mickey & Minnie," Bunker continued. "And given that these Classic
Disney characters have been around in various different forms for the better
part of the last century … Well, which look was the right look?"

Which is why Jeff and his team at Avalanche Studios began watching hours &
hours of Mickey Mouse shorts. As they tried to get a handle on which look would
work best for these characters in Disney Infinity 3.0.

"And we went all the way back to the very start of Mickey's career. We began
with 'Steamboat Willie' and then watched all of those black & white Mickey shorts
that Walt made back in the late 1920s & early 1930s. From there, we
transitioned to his Technicolor shorts. Which is when Mickey went from being
this pie-eyed, really feisty character to more of a well-behaved leading
man," Bunker recalled. "We then finished out our Mouse marathon by
watching all of those new Mickey shorts that Paul Rudish & his team have
been creating for Disney Television Animation. Those cartoons really recapture
a lot of the spirit and wild slapstick fun that Mickey's early, black &
white shorts had."

But given that the specific assignment that Avalanche Studios had been handed
was to create the most appealing looking, likeable version of Mickey Mouse
possible … In the end, Jeff and his team wound up borrowing bits & pieces
from a lot of different versions of the world's most famous mouse. So that
Classic Mickey would then look & move in a way that best fit the sort of
gameplay which people would soon be able to experience with Disney Infinity
3.0.

"That — in a lot of ways — was actually the toughest
part of the Classic Mickey design project. You have to remember that one of the
key creative conceits of Disney Infinity
is that all the characters which appear in this game are toys," Bunker
stated. "Okay. So they're beautifully detailed, highly stylized toy
versions of beloved Disney, Pixar, Marvel & Lucasfilm characters. But
they're still supposed to be toys. So our Classic versions of Mickey &
Minnie have the same sort of thickness & sturdiness to them that toys have.
So that they'll then be able to fit right in with all of the rest of the
characters that Avalanche Studios had previously designed for Disney Infinity."

And then there was the matter of coming up with just the
right pose for Classic Mickey & Minnie. Which — to hear Jeff tell the
story — involved input from a lot of Disney upper management.

"Everyone within the Company seemed to have an opinion
about how Mickey & Minnie should be posed. More to the point, if you Google
Mickey, you then discover that there are literally thousands of poses out there
for these two. Though — truth be told — a lot of those kind of play off the
way Mickey poses when he's being Disney's corporate symbol," Bunker said.
"But what I was most concerned about was that Mickey's pose had to work
with Minnie's pose. Because we were bringing the Classic versions of these
characters up into Disney Infinity 3.0 at the exact same time. And we wanted to
make sure — especially for those fans who like to put their Disney Infinity
figures on display — that Mickey's pose would then complement Minnie.

Which is why Jeff & the crew at Avalanche Studios
decided — when it came to Classic Mickey & Minnie's pose — that they
should go all the way back to the beginning. Which is why these two Disney icons
are sculpted in such a way that it almost seems as though you're witnessing the
very first time Mickey set eyes on Minnie.

"And what was really great about that was — as soon as
we began showing people within the Company this pose — everyone at Disney
quickly got on board with the idea. I mean, the Classic Mickey that we sculpted
for Disney Infinity 3.0 is clearly a very playful, spunky character. But at the
same time, he's obviously got eyes for Minnie," Bunker concluded. "So
in the end, we were able to come up with Classic versions of these characters
that will work well within the creative confines of Disney Infinity 3.0 but at
the same time please those Disney fans who just collect these figures because
they like the way the Disney Infinity characters look."

So now that this particular design project is over, does
Jeff regret that Mouse House upper management was so hands-on when it came to
making sure that the Classic versions of Mickey & Minnie were specifically
tailored to fit the look & style of gameplay found in Disney Infinity 3.0?

"To be blunt, we go through this every time we add a new character to the
game. The folks at Lucasfilm were just as hands-on when we were designing the
versions of Darth Vader and Yoda that will also soon be appearing in Disney
Infinity 3.0," Bunker laughed. "So in the end, if the character's
creators AND the fans are happy, then I'm happy."

This article was originally posted on the Huffington Post's Entertainment page on Tuesday, June 9, 2015