Disney’s Hollywood Studios has many things to delight animation fans, particularly those like Disney fans who, like myself, who have long nurtured a not-so-secret desire (if not the talent) to be an animator. Walt Disney World Resort offers just that with its Animation Academy experience inside the Studios.
The Studios theme park no longer has a working production facility, having closed its Walt Disney Feature Animation Orlando in 2003 with Brother Bear. But guests may still tour the Magic of Disney Animation building, which remains the heart of Disney animation at the Studios and of Walt Disney World Resort. In this building, located in Animation Courtyard roughly between the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Rock n’ Roller Coaster thrill rides and the interactive 3-D game play of Toy Story Mania! on Pixar Place, is the
Here, guests may watch ”Drawn to Animation,” a 10-minute show that provides guests with background about how animated characters are born and features interaction between a live artist and the character Mushu from Mulan. They can try their hand and several interactive displays, including creating your own sound effect or playing with digital painting of an animated scene. Guests may also which occasionally offers sights of Cast Members painting limited edition cels. And there’s even a character meet-and-greet area.
But the real attraction of the Magic of Disney animation, what is its true draw for those who love the Disney animated films and character, is the Animation Academy – a must-see and must-DO for any animation fan.
Animation Academy draws in guests
At Animation Academy, Disney guests have the opportunity to try their hand at making the magic of animation happen as they learn to draw a Disney character. Disney artists offer short classes that take guests of all ages through the steps of drawing one of Disney’s most popular characters, including members of the “Fab Five.” Mickey Mouse, of course, is very popular, but guests may also have the opportunity to draw Goofy, Pluto, or Eeyore, among others.
The Animation Academy looks like you’d imagine a studio classroom would look, with several rows of light tables. Each class session holds about 30 students who can participate at a light table outfitted with three-peg paper and pencils. There is additional seating for guests who want to just watch – but trust me on this one, you’ll want to join in if you can, even if you’ve never thought of yourself as an artist.
During each Animation Academy, a Cast Member guides guests in creating a Disney character by offering verbal instruction that provides a step-by-step process using basic shapes and drawing techniques. At the same time, the Cast Member draws his or her example along with the students. That work is projected on an overhead screen so that guests may use the instructor’s work to guide their own.
At the end of each session, guests sit back, compare their work with the instructor’s and other guests, laugh a little and exchange “good jobs,” and sign their masterpieces. These free souvenirs can then be taken home, occupying a place of pride on family refrigerators or framed as mementos of a Disney World trip.
Each Animation Academy class lasts approximately 20 minutes, which goes by all too quickly, and classes are offered every half hour throughout most of the day (from mid-morning on).
Which Disney character is featured varies, and Cast Members – whose instructional styles range from humorous patter to a Zen-like focus – rotate throughout the day, so each class session is a little different. Guests who groove on the doing of Disney as well as the seeing of Disney have been known to leave one class and immediately return for the next one, skipping that second ride on Tower of Terror to try get that glint in Mickey’s eye just right.
Animation Academy as participatory Disney experience
What’s particularly delightful about Animation Academy, like many of Disney Hollywood Studios’ smaller and often overlooked delights, is that it’s an experience designed around guests’ hands-on participation. Guests not only see how to draw a Disney character, they draw one. And that simple concept – we put pencil to paper – is the Academy’s appeal.
What’s more, the Animation Academy doesn’t emphasize what guests’ finished drawings look like, despite its instructions on how to draw a particular character. It instead stresses enjoying the experience for its own sake, to be in the moment. Pencils don’t have erasers and guests are encouraged to draw lightly and to make mistakes while experimenting, an apt metaphor for approaching the Academy experience and to touring the Disney theme parks in general.
By putting guests in the middle of the experience, the Animation Academy provides guests with an participatory experience that exercises our imagination – and does so not only by demonstrating what Disney Imagineering can do, but what we’re capable of. The Animation Academy, then, is one of the happy participatory events Walt Disney World offers that acknowledge the importance of guests in making the Disney magic happen.
The Animation Academy is one of Disney’s Hollywood Studios many interactive and participatory attractions, experiences that live up to the park’s promise that guests are the “stars of the show.” Attractions as varied as The American Idol Experience, Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, Toy Story Mania!, and the Studio Backlot Tour, as well as the idiosyncratic and humorous Streetmosphere entertainment, provide guests with active and interactive experiences.
For more on participatory experiences at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, see this post by Main Street Gazette. For more on Streetmosphere characters, see my previous article.
Animation Academy is also available at Disney California Adventure, part of Disneyland Resort, and at DisneyQuest in Orlando.
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Comments
Great article! Love how thorough you were in the article about a real fun way to spend your day at Hollywood Studios.
I sat in several times at the one at DCA and well, I think I'd have to go everyday for 10 years before I might develop an ounce of talent! It was definitely a fun experience though - hoping to do it again on one of these trips back home. I love the "classroom" and how it is decorated too. Definitely a recommended experience. Great article!
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