When I was 10, I wanted to be a Disney Animator. It happened around the time my single-parent mother, who was always working to make end’s meet for us, managed to scrounge up enough money to take us kids to Walt Disney World in the mid-90s. One of the parks we ended up visiting, the old MGM Studios Park, had this attraction called “The Magic of Disney Animation.” Sure that park also featured attractions for Star Wars and Indiana Jones, and not to mention the first-of-its-kind “Tower of Terror.” But for me, The Magic of Disney Animation was everything that made the park so special.

For 15-20 minutes, I got to see how true art was made. I learned about how the hundreds of talented artists came together and brought to life the iconic “Be Our Guest” sequence from Beauty and the Beast, and how those same people were working hard at that second to bring together future classics, Mulan and Lilo and Stitch. I went into that building a complacent boy who only watched movies, and exited a person inspired by a dream and a drive to make it come true.

Continue reading “Of Cyberspace and The Sea: A Magical Afternoon at Walt Disney Animation Studios”