DHS Disney Animation-Inspired Experience Coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios

[ChewbaccaYourMum]

I thought it would be nice to have something unique as well but Once Upon A Studio is my favorite short soooo I find it okay!

Oh please don't get me wrong, I really did love that short and might have gotten a little teary eyed while watching it for the first time haha!

 

[mattpeto]

Mixed feelings on this. A new AA - awesome. Lack of live CM's involved- not so good.

I think overall it's a win. There are using expert animators to walk you through with tons of replay value:

Each class features a different character, inspired by timeless classics and modern favorites, giving you a unique reason to return again and again. You may find yourself sketching:

• Mickey Mouse, with Dan Abraham, director (Once Upon A Studio, Baymax!)
• Minnie Mouse, with Hyun Min Lee, animator (Frozen 2, The Princess and the Frog)
• Donald Duck, with Austin Traylor, animator (Once Upon A Studio, Moana 2)
• Genie, with Eric Goldberg, animator (Aladdin, Hercules)
• Moana, with Samantha Vilfort, story artist (Encanto, Zootopia 2)
• Stitch, with Fawn Veerasunthorn, director and head of story (Wish, Raya and the Last Dragon)
• Olaf, with Trent Correy, director (Once Upon A Studio, Frozen 3)
• Ursula, with Michael Woodside, animator (Big Hero 6, Encanto)
• Judy Hopps & Nick Wilde, with Byron Howard director, (Zootopia, Zootopia 2)

 

[Casper Gutman]

Yeah, just checked the updated Parks Blog and we have the full lineup now for the characters in "Off the Page!"

• Mulan in Story
• Rapunzel in Layout
• Chip n’ Dale in Hand-Drawn Animation
• Donald and Daisy in CG Animation
• Goofy in Lighting
• Stitch in Effects

All together we have "Off the Page!" (Meet and Greet), "Olaf Draws!" (Animation Academy), Once Upon a Studio Theater (Showing the Short), Enchanted Art Gallery (artwork that comes to life) and "Drawn to Wonderland" (Alice playground)

A show that’s been moved from another spot in the resort but without the live performer, some meet n greets, some frames with projection effects, a short that debuted on streaming years ago, and a playground, all in a spot that has been screaming for significant redevelopment for decades and which a lot of posters here assured the skeptics Disney was saving for a grand expansion.

 

[Trueblood]

I'm reminded of the drawing lessons they do on DCL ships, which tracks since Danny Handke is so heavily involved with DCL.

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

A show that’s been moved from another spot in the resort but without the live performer, some meet n greets, some frames with projection effects, a short that debuted on streaming years ago, and a playground, all in a spot that has been screaming for significant redevelopment for decades and which a lot of posters here assured the skeptics Disney was saving for a grand expansion.

Feel like the addition of a new animatronic, it being 8 meet and greets, and the enhanced effects are all being pushed down a bit,.

I still think that Disney is saving it for a grand expansion. I think it would be a perfect chance to put this area as the "entrance" to a new ToonTown.

 

[Brer Oswald]

None of the fab 5 have an animatronic??? When's the last time you were there?

Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto have those weird balloon abominations with screen projections in Runaway Railway. Donald has an animatronic from 71 in Epcot (which is still pretty impressive). Goofy has nothing. Should have been Goofy.

 

[Figments Friend]

I think overall it's a win. There are using expert animators to walk you through with tons of replay value:

Each class features a different character, inspired by timeless classics and modern favorites, giving you a unique reason to return again and again. You may find yourself sketching:

• Mickey Mouse, with Dan Abraham, director (Once Upon A Studio, Baymax!)
• Minnie Mouse, with Hyun Min Lee, animator (Frozen 2, The Princess and the Frog)
• Donald Duck, with Austin Traylor, animator (Once Upon A Studio, Moana 2)
• Genie, with Eric Goldberg, animator (Aladdin, Hercules)
• Moana, with Samantha Vilfort, story artist (Encanto, Zootopia 2)
• Stitch, with Fawn Veerasunthorn, director and head of story (Wish, Raya and the Last Dragon)
• Olaf, with Trent Correy, director (Once Upon A Studio, Frozen 3)
• Ursula, with Michael Woodside, animator (Big Hero 6, Encanto)
• Judy Hopps & Nick Wilde, with Byron Howard director, (Zootopia, Zootopia 2)

The only person on this list I would consider befitting the title ‘expert animator’ who has considerable animation history and decades of experience is Eric Goldberg.

Everyone else listed above are mostly ‘newbies’ who have been involved in more recent films…and many of them digitally animated efforts.

-

 

[EagleScout610]

Agree.

The interactions between the live Cast and audience were highlights of this presentation back when it was originally operating.
The Q&A session especially, always added to the show.

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I still have the nightmarish looking Donald I drew back in 2011 alongside the good one the CM gave me as the prize for getting the trivia question right. Can't ask Olaf for one.

 

[castlecake2.0]

Agreed, it's interesting that they are doing it like this considering you still need live CMs to make it work? Is it really that much more expensive for specifically an animator to do this?

Operationally it’s a win, you just need someone trained to press a button, rather than someone trained to spiel and draw AND work in time with the prerecorded animatronic dialogue. I may be wrong, but in this instance I’m wondering if that would have made it an equity role? They haven’t had trouble for the last 30 years having live animators, so I think it’s the added layer of the animatronic interaction that lead to this.

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto have those weird balloon abominations with screen projections in Runaway Railway. Donald has an animatronic from 71 in Epcot (which is still pretty impressive). Goofy has nothing. Should have been Goofy.

Well I mean 1/5 ain't bad I guess?

Goofy is the camera guy anyway and is found in a different form literally in the same building.

 

[Pi on my Cake]

Olaf is in the short animating. He's a popular character. He's a star of an upcoming sequel that's all but guaranteed to make a billion. He's one of the most popular characters with kids who are the target audience for a "how to draw a Disney Character" experience. More "fitting" characters wouldn't work as well (Mushu is too small to be a good anomatronic for something like this, Brother Bear is mostly forgotten, Stitch is too chaotic to lead a class). Olaf is defined primarily by his childlike curiosity and lack of knowledge of the world which is a combo makes him a great character to use for a class because he loves learning and can ask really basic question kids might have without it seeming out of character. Olaf is voiced by a huge Disney Parks fan who is probably really excited to do things like this. Imagineering already has made animatronics of the character which makes it likely cheaper to build another which keeps the budget down which I'm sure is important for a show that is just an A-Ticket in a spot likely to be demolished within the next 10 years.

Having a live host will be missed, but an aninatronic and using the show to give more credit to creative from the studio are both huge wins and Olaf really does make the most sense. Even if there's some characters I might rather have personally I definitely can't think of a better fit.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Feel like the addition of a new animatronic, it being 8 meet and greets, and the enhanced effects are all being pushed down a bit,.

I still think that Disney is saving it for a grand expansion. I think it would be a perfect chance to put this area as the "entrance" to a new ToonTown.

8 meet n greets… with characters already available elsewhere in the resort. Not a single unique character.

 

[Pi on my Cake]

Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto have those weird balloon abominations with screen projections in Runaway Railway. Donald has an animatronic from 71 in Epcot (which is still pretty impressive). Goofy has nothing. Should have been Goofy.

You not liking the animatronics doesn't make them not exist and not be high tech modern animatronics. I'm also not a fan of the way they look (other than Pluto he's pretty great imo) but I'm not going to say they don't count because of that

 

[mattpeto]

A show that’s been moved from another spot in the resort but without the live performer, some meet n greets, some frames with projection effects, a short that debuted on streaming years ago, and a playground, all in a spot that has been screaming for significant redevelopment for decades and which a lot of posters here assured the skeptics Disney was saving for a grand expansion.

It does feel a little bit of a reshuffle, but it's not a bad thing. This is going to be helpful at Hollywood Studios, especially for families. Launch Bay became a complete a waste of space.

In terms of grand expansion, I really don't think Monstropolis was ever going here. There was some that said "Zootopia" or "Simpsons" chatter but I honestly never bought those and still don't.

The Monsters show building would destroyed sightlines. They would have had to demo many back of house buildings and relocate hundreds or more of office staff.

While I do hope they turn the office space into "theme park grounds" eventually, I'm hoping that this new Animation courtyard will be the entrance of new attractions and they can built on to the new land.

This doesn't look like a short-term plan honestly to me.

 

[Brer Oswald]

You not liking the animatronics doesn't make them not exist and not be high tech modern animatronics. I'm also not a fan of the way they look (other than Pluto he's pretty great imo) but I'm not going to say they don't count because of that

Most people don’t like the way they look

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

The only person on this list I would consider befitting the title ‘expert animator’ who has considerable animation history and decades of experience is Eric Goldberg.

Everyone else listed above are mostly ‘newbies’ who have been involved in more recent films…and many of them digitally animated efforts.

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I do feel like in general working for the biggest animation company in the world might put you on top as an expert. Not to mention these are not their only movies and many of them showcase different aspects of the animation process. I imagine quite a few have also worked for a few other animation companies before coming to Disney.

 

[EagleScout610]

Orrrr... instead of Olaf, and hear me out, someone else who's about creativity gets the class to spread his wings:

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

Most people don’t like the way they look

Again not liking them is not the same as them not being modern day animatronics or existing....

 

[Jedi14]

Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto have those weird balloon abominations with screen projections in Runaway Railway. Donald has an animatronic from 71 in Epcot (which is still pretty impressive). Goofy has nothing. Should have been Goofy.

Goofy isn’t drawing in the short.

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

8 meet n greets… with characters already available elsewhere in the resort. Not a single unique character.

Yeah I was a little saddened by that, but I'm pretty sure those characters will also stay in their current spots? I doubt we're moving Stitch out of Tomorrowland, Mulan out of China, and Rapunzel out of Fairytale Hall permanently.