California...Part 2

Disney Animation Studio...WOW!!! This is not a tour that just anyone can take. You have to know someone that works there that can show you around. Well lucky for us, James has a friend that he worked with at AMC movie theaters back in high school who draws for Disney. He has been there since the mid 90s and has directed a couple of films...like Meet the Robinsons and the most recent Winnie the Pooh movie...as well as drawing and even doing some voices for many other films. However, he is one of the nicest, most humble and genuine people I have ever met.

He gave us a tour all around the studios and told us how films begin from ideas and end up on the big screen. We got to see different movies at different stages of development. We learned how they have to be so detailed in creating robot arms or growing hair through computer animation. It was absolutely fascinating. I know there is a lot that goes into making an animated feature happen, but I had no idea just how many different departments there are. There are people who do special effects (I figured that you just draw some sparkles or smoke in an explosion...nope wrong!). There are people who draw characters and others who draw the scenery. There are people who are responsible for lighting...again I thought you just draw the picture a little lighter or darker or make it look like it's inside. Wrong again!

Everyone was so nice and very chilled and laid back. It was such an atmosphere of creativity. Ella has said for a long time that she wants to be an artist when she grows up. Oh boy! Haha! Well I turned to her and said, "Ella, you could grow up and be an artist like these people are." Steve, James's friend, stopped what he was doing and asked Ella about being an artist. He asked her what she likes to do...drawing, painting, sculpting, etc. She said drawing. Then he asked what she likes to draw and she said people or characters. He said he did too and likes doing different expressions. Her eyes were twinkling. He told her later that he would love to help her in any way and see her work. She was on cloud 9. We will see what the future might hold.

The only down side was that we were not able to take any pictures. There were a few times that we would talk about pictures we saw that we were told, "You didn't see that!" haha I guess they are just protecting their ideas. After we finished at the animation studio, we walked across the street to the live action film sets. Movies such as Pete's Dragon, Mary Poppins, Pirates of the Caribbean, and countless others were filmed at this location. WOW!! This is the studio that Walt Disney himself created. It is where his office was and where Saving Mr. Banks was filmed. We were able to take some pictures here. It was so cool to see how movies used to be made compared to how they are today.

They were actually filming that day and this was a trailer set up for cast and crew, it said. 

Thank you, Steve, for a very special day!! We will never forget this opportunity!!