Animators in Spotlight on Studio Tour

Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck get back to work next year when the boss opens a second animation studio in Florida.

As part of the Disney Studios’ “animation renaissance,” a crew of about 70 directors, designers, animators, assistants, background painters and ink-and-paint artists will produce 22-minute featurettes starring the familiar Disney characters.

And getting the star treatment themselves will be the creators of Mickey and Donald. Visitors at the new studio will be able to watch the animators at work in their special unit of the Disney/MGM Studios in Orlando, Fla.--the first public tour of a working animation studio.

(Another group of animators will continue making original feature-length cartoons at the Disney animation facility in Glendale--but undisturbed by continuous tours.)

Designing the Florida tour presented major problems. Unlike live action film making, the animation process doesn’t offer the dramatic fires, daring stunts and glamorous stars. An animation studio often resembles a rowdy classroom: One person acts out his character’s gestures while another works at his desk; a third may stare into space, seeking inspiration; a fourth could be dashing off unflattering caricatures of the other three.

“I think the concept of seeing artists at work is very exciting to the general public,” said Peter Schneider, Disney vice president, feature animation. “Most people don’t understand how animation is done, which gives the process a mystery and a magic that make it seem more interesting than its inherently quiet nature would suggest.”

Architects and engineers sought input from the animation staff--and the building has been re-designed from the ground up “at least six times,” said Bob Weis, executive producer, Disney/MGM Studios.

“This has been the most difficult of the 27 buildings in the project from a design perspective,” he explained. “In many ways, the building is laid out like a storyboard--that configuration accommodates what Peter needs for his working crew and gets the visitors through in a logical sequence. The tour parallels the flow of the work.”

It still hasn’t been decided whether artists will be allowed to meet tour visitors and perhaps respond to requests for drawings.

“That’s something people enjoy, but we don’t want to exploit the artists,” Weis said. “In a lot of ways, we don’t want to do anything that will make the guests feel that this place is setup for them. It’s better for them to understand that this is a factory making motion pictures and they have an opportunity to see it.”

In fact, the animated featurettes will be distributed through a variety of outlets--theatrical release, cable TV, networks and video cassettes. “The artists aren’t going to come out and draw Mickey Mouse for people all day,” said Weis. “They’ll have production schedules to meet.”