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The Disney renaissance

Image: Disney

There seems to have been an energy in place from 1988-1989 that catapulted Disney into the stratosphere. And, while it’s probably not the only reason, it’s hard not to connect the dots and suggest that Disney’s Orlando studio helped ignite the spark that brought about the golden Disney Decade – one of the most successful eras for the company’s films, theme parks, and other holdings.

When Disney-MGM Studios opened in 1989, the Magic of Disney Animation opened along with it, giving guests the chance to see Disney’s animators creating new films in real life. Most filmmakers only get to interact with their audience when the film is completed – and, often, the process of making the films can feel disconnected and distant. This disjointed feeling can become even more alienating while working on an animated film; there are no actors and no sets, and very often, the production process can last years instead of months. Yet, unlike their counterparts in California, these animators in Florida were given a constant reminder of why they were doing what they were doing – they were telling stories, and for the first time, they could see who they were telling those stories to. With their studio in Florida, Disney’s animators got to see, while they worked, their audience peering back at them.

Image: Disney

Maybe it’s no surprise, then, that some of the most memorable and iconic sequences in the Disney canon came from that studio: the two most notable being the I Just Can’t Wait to Be King sequence from The Lion King, and the Be Our Guest number from Beauty and the Beast. The joy and passion that pour off the screen in those scenes has to come, in part, because of the connection those animators felt with their audience as they were piecing those moments together. In the same way live theater can produce an ambient electricity between the audience and the performers, so too can creating art while under the eye of the filmgoing public add an extra bit of zeal to the work of the animators.

Need more evidence? In the time Walt Disney Feature Animation Orlando was open, Disney produced the following films: The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Mulan, and Tarzan. That is an impressive run of successful films – and most of them were penned, in part, right in the heart of the park we now call Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Maybe it’s not the only reason, but that personal touch has to be part of the equation that brought about some of the most beloved films in the Disney canon.

So, what was the Magic of Disney Animation like as an attraction?

Animation Building

Image: Josh Hallett, Flickr (license)

While the Magic of Disney Animation has gone through many changes over the years, the signature version of the attraction ran while the animation studio was fully in operation -- roughly the period from 1989-2003. The experience was akin to a walkthrough, museum-style attraction, where guests would proceed room-to-room with a tour guide, learning about the animation process as well as the Walt Disney Company’s history.

While it might seem small when described this way, the full tour was an expansive look behind the scenes at one of the largest animation studios in the world – and it was a lengthy experience that was one of Disney-MGM Studios' keystone attractions.

The tour began with guests entering the attraction queue and winding through various artifacts from Disney history – some cells and sketches from early animated films, one of Walt Disney’s Oscars, and more memorabilia associated with the mouse. From there, the guests would enter a large theater and watch the first filmed portion of the attraction – an utterly charming featurette starring Robin Williams and Walter Cronkite called Back to Neverland.

Back to Neverland

Image: Disney

In the film, Cronkite has been tasked with walking the audience through the Disney animation progress, and in doing so, decides to pick a “volunteer” among a group of tourists to be turned into a cartoon. Naturally, Cronkite chooses Williams – complete with a classic Goofy hat – and the film begins in earnest.

Using Williams as its protagonist, the film showed off each of the technical inventions and artistic skills that go into the production of a Disney animated film – everything from sketching to color to the multi-plane camera to the computer. During the process, Williams becomes one of Peter Pan’s Lost Boys, and the transformation is as wonderfully done and emotionally resonant as any feature-length Disney film.

Check it out:

The film was directed by Disney vet Jerry Rees, who was more famous at the time for his work on 1987’s The Brave Little Toaster, but has since gone on to collaborate on other Imagineering projects.

From there, Cronkite and Williams would guide guests along glass hallways showing off more artifacts from the animation process, as well as a demonstration from a current Disney animator. And, after that, guests proceeded on a walking tour wherein they could see real Disney animators working on upcoming feature films. And, If they were lucky, they might see some frames and cels from those films displayed out in the open. 

It was genius, when you think about it – Disney gave guests a peek behind the curtain, and in doing so, got them excited to rush off to see the next Disney film the moment it hit theaters.

A few more film presentations followed, one of which featured animators describing the process in their own words, and another of which showcased some high points from Disney animation history. And then, after another brief exhibit hall with more museum-style artifacts, guests were released back into the Animation Courtyard to go about their day.

The whole experience lasted roughly 45 minutes, and was considered a major attraction at its peak. When it was at its best, The Magic of Disney Animation showed guests in Florida something they couldn’t normally see: Their favorite movies, in production. That was special, and early on, it gave Disney what they needed to fend off Universal’s attack.

 
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Comments

I hope that Disney lives up to the expectations it is giving us, I personally thing that most of the new "Experiences/rides" ie. The little Mermaid and the, yes I am going to say this.. Seven Dwarfs Mine Train ride leave me a bit disappointed. They don't have the same feel as the older rides, they seam to be all "new" but are in my opinion very poorly done. Yes they have new innovations, swinging ride cars and such, but if you have been on these rides they lack that certain "disneyesque" quality, that " Plus" Disney is so proud of. Those who have ridden these know what I mean, but to explain it to others let me just say that they have left little to the imagination and have done little to hide the fact that they are rides in an amusement park, sure there is all the Facade work, making it Look amazing, but it has always been the experience inside that made a ride truly Disneyesque. They need to bring back the immersive quality that was once was. According to this article they just might...we'll see.

In reply to by Beth Newman Willard (not verified)

My thought on this is that those rides you mentioned -- The Little Mermaid and Seven Dwarves Mine Train -- really weren't put in a position to succeed. These attractions are D-Ticket attractions at best, but were over-hyped by the company as a sort of bizarre PR campaign to show that, yes, they were investing in Walt Disney World. With Universal expanding faster than a supernova, they needed to try and counter the narrative somehow.

I think for what they are, they're fine attractions. They simply aren't the game-changing experiences we all wanted them to be. What Disney's promising moving forward, from Star Wars to Pandora, are attractions in this mold -- attractions that we'll be awed by. It remains to be seen if they'll be as successful as Disney is claiming they'll be, but I think the recent disappointments, as you call them, are more due to unrealistic and unfair expectations that Disney itself fed into.

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