Olaf draws a new home for animation at Walt Disney World
Animated storytelling is the foundation of The Walt Disney Company. Animated shorts paved the way for feature animation, a music company, live-action features, television specials, theme parks, cruise lines, and now streaming services. The theme parks may now be Disney’s current cash cow, but animation will always be the cornerstone of its flywheel.
It’s a no-brainer, then, to have animation activities featured in the theme parks to pay tribute to this legacy and inspire the next generation of animators. This manifested at Walt Disney World in the form of Hollywood Studios’ Animation Academy (drawing classes led by working Disney Animators), another Animation Academy in DisneyQuest (featuring digital sketch pads), and finally The Animation Experience at Conservation Station (drawing animal characters in Animal Kingdom after hopping aboard the Wildlife Express).
After the revamp of Conservation Station to home “Bluey’s Wild World,” the Walt Disney World parks have been absent an animation experience. That is, until the opening of The Magic of Disney Animation at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
This new experience marries both foundational components, animation and storytelling, of the studio that was “all started by a Mouse.”
But in this case it all starts with a snowman.
Entrance to “Olaf Draws!”
“Olaf Draws!” is the new interactive sketching show inside The Magic of Disney Animation. In this experience guests learn, alongside a wonderfully devious animatronic Olaf (who has seemingly taken over the Animation Academy), how to draw a Disney character from a rotating selection of 9 different artists from the studio–many of them drawing characters they helped create.
The list of available characters and their respective animators are:
- Mickey Mouse, with Dan Abraham
- Minnie Mouse, with Hyun Min Lee
- Donald Duck, with Austin Traylor
- Genie, with Eric Goldberg
- Moana, with Samantha Vilfort
- Stitch, with Fawn Veerasunthorn
- Olaf, with Trent Correy
- Ursula, with Michael Woodside
- Judy Hopps & Nick Wilde, with Byron Howard
Guests are seated in spacious animators’ desks and are provided sturdy pages of drawing paper and cups full of sketching pencils. Screens are set up around the desks, making it easy to follow along with the animators in their pre-recorded interactions.
The auditorium of “Olaf Draws!”
When the show starts, the animatronic Olaf comes to life and shortly begins interacting with one of the animators. This is a great animatronic with fluid and expressive movements, a nice “plus-up” from what could have been an otherwise screen-guided experience.
Throughout the instruction Olaf and the animator exchange delightful barbs (this is Josh Gad at his unhinged best), adding a bit of levity and chance for some of the slower drawers in the audience (me) to catch up. I found Olaf funny without being annoying or overused.
Each session lasts around 11 minutes, and I found it pretty easy to follow along for most characters. Though I will admit the speed with some of the more involved characters like Genie was a bit fast for an artistically challenged person who struggles to draw stick figures and abstract art. But it was nevertheless enjoyable. And the animators must know what they’re doing because my sketches actually turned out looking like something resembling the characters. We were even given a mailing tube afterwards for keeping our sketches safe.
I offer Eric Goldberg my sincerest apologies.
But it’s in the moments of pause where the show really shines. The animators get a chance to talk about what inspired them to get into animation or why a certain character resonates with them. They aren’t just teaching you how to draw Mickey Mouse, they’re telling a story about why Mickey Mouse is so resonant.
It’s these personal stories from the animators that justify the pre-recordings. Sure, live animators can provide live feedback, but there’s something remarkable about watching Eric Goldberg draw The Genie (and go toe-to-toe with Olaf to boot). By all means mourn the loss of live animators in the parks, but Disney was able to create a wholly new experience that weaves together animation and storytelling in a seamless experience.
And that’s worth melting for.
“Olaf Draws!” opens with The Art of Disney Animation September 14. Virtual waitlists may be used as needed.
Replies (2)
Thanks for the kind words!
This article has been archived and is no longer accepting comments.
Thanks for your coverage of this section of the park @myhands! It’s been equal parts informative and engaging.