I've always been interested in how WDI translates the graphic design of an animated film into the 3-dimensional sets and AAs, character costumes, and fiberglass statues we see in Disney's themed attractions. Sometimes they really get it right! Other times, not so much.
Sometimes, they're limited by the materials and technology available. For example, the real-world Mickey character through the years:
The second one from the left is nightmare fuel.
But even with modern technology, the likenesses of some characters sort of fall into an uncanny valley as Imagineers tried to render in the real world. Ariel in the Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid seems like a good example of this to me, though it faces an even bigger challenge due to its having articulated mouth/eyes.
An admittedly unflattering photo of the Ariel AA.
In some ways, computer animation helps with this, because assets (character, props, sets) a rendered three dimensionally. The AAs on Frozen Ever After seem to match their on-screen depictions pretty closely. I hear that Disney is abandoning the rear-projection approach to animating faces, but it was a very creative approach to rendering CGI characters in the real world.
What's it called when someone's foundation makeup doesn't match their skin complexion?
With MM:RR, we see how weird a 2D character design (Mickey and friends from the Rudish shorts) can look when expressed on a 3D AA (the mylar balloon Mickey heads). In fact, most of this ride is an attempt to make the 3D world appear to the 2-dimensional (immersing you in a cartoon) in an attempt to bring these characters to life.
Probably not the most flattering angle.
And then there's the challenge of capturing the essence of an animated film's general art style.
Toontown at DL did a decent job of evoking that "toon" feel, with bulbous and curving architecture and the cartoon hills backdrop. But the real world inevitably encroaches on the cartooniness of it all (the street is flat, the sky is real, and all the colors quickly faded.
Splash Mountain pulled this off quite well, despite the fact that many of its AAs were pulled from America Sings, which was done in sort of Marc Davis signature version of Disney's in-house art style. For Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, they took took the simple approach, painting 2D characters and scenes on flat plywood cutouts. They did a pretty good job with Peter Pan, Snow White, Pooh, etc. in my opinion.
Now, we're watching Tiana's Bayou Adventure come to life. It probably faces some of the biggest challenges yet: it's a realworld take on a 2D character (Tiana and company) reusing an existing realworld setting (Splash Mountain) that was built to house pre-existing characters (America Sings AAs). I'm really looking forward to seeing what they come up with.
To be clear: I'm not being critical here, I genuinely think this is one of the bigger challenges WDI faces and, as an animation fan, this is something I find super interesting to explore.
What are some other examples of WDI's unique approaches (successful or otherwise) to bringing animated characters to life in the real world?
Sometimes, they're limited by the materials and technology available. For example, the real-world Mickey character through the years:
The second one from the left is nightmare fuel.
But even with modern technology, the likenesses of some characters sort of fall into an uncanny valley as Imagineers tried to render in the real world. Ariel in the Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid seems like a good example of this to me, though it faces an even bigger challenge due to its having articulated mouth/eyes.
An admittedly unflattering photo of the Ariel AA.
In some ways, computer animation helps with this, because assets (character, props, sets) a rendered three dimensionally. The AAs on Frozen Ever After seem to match their on-screen depictions pretty closely. I hear that Disney is abandoning the rear-projection approach to animating faces, but it was a very creative approach to rendering CGI characters in the real world.
What's it called when someone's foundation makeup doesn't match their skin complexion?
With MM:RR, we see how weird a 2D character design (Mickey and friends from the Rudish shorts) can look when expressed on a 3D AA (the mylar balloon Mickey heads). In fact, most of this ride is an attempt to make the 3D world appear to the 2-dimensional (immersing you in a cartoon) in an attempt to bring these characters to life.
Probably not the most flattering angle.
And then there's the challenge of capturing the essence of an animated film's general art style.
Toontown at DL did a decent job of evoking that "toon" feel, with bulbous and curving architecture and the cartoon hills backdrop. But the real world inevitably encroaches on the cartooniness of it all (the street is flat, the sky is real, and all the colors quickly faded.
Splash Mountain pulled this off quite well, despite the fact that many of its AAs were pulled from America Sings, which was done in sort of Marc Davis signature version of Disney's in-house art style. For Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, they took took the simple approach, painting 2D characters and scenes on flat plywood cutouts. They did a pretty good job with Peter Pan, Snow White, Pooh, etc. in my opinion.
Now, we're watching Tiana's Bayou Adventure come to life. It probably faces some of the biggest challenges yet: it's a realworld take on a 2D character (Tiana and company) reusing an existing realworld setting (Splash Mountain) that was built to house pre-existing characters (America Sings AAs). I'm really looking forward to seeing what they come up with.
To be clear: I'm not being critical here, I genuinely think this is one of the bigger challenges WDI faces and, as an animation fan, this is something I find super interesting to explore.
What are some other examples of WDI's unique approaches (successful or otherwise) to bringing animated characters to life in the real world?
With the eyes and grin, it reminds me too much of the scary doll thing that was on Goosebumps lol.
