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LPWire: Lunch with Disney Artists at Disney-MGM Studios

Let's Do Lunch With Disney Artists
Artists Share Secrets at the Hollywood Brown Derby

"Why is Stitch blue?" "Is animation all done by computers now?" "What are the challenges of interspersing live-action with animation?" "Does everybody have the same job?" "What is your day like?" "Just what is an in-betweener, anyway?"

Curious fans of Walt Disney Feature Animation can get their questions answered. And just like the golden years of Hollywood, it's over lunch with one or two artists in a private back room at the Hollywood Brown Derby -- not in Southern California, but at Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World Resort.

Guests can get up close and personal and touch the magic of Disney animation like never before, thanks to the new "Lunch With an Artist" series.

"Guests ask every question imaginable," said Irma Cartaya-Torre, who joined the Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida team as one of the original studio members in July 1989 and has made the transition from traditional cel painting to a digital coloring process.

"They want to know how we got started in our career, what we're working on now. They love the classics, know everything about "Snow White, " "Cinderella" and "Lady and the Tramp."

" 'Stick to the magic,' they advise us," Cartaya-Torre continued. "They love the color, love the characters. Most guests have an amazing depth of knowledge."

The biggest misconception about animation is that it's all computerized, she said.

"Everything is hand-drawn except for a few things -- for instance, the truck that ran over Stitch [in "Lilo & Stitch"] was computerized, and the space ship was created by a computer. But all the characters are hand-drawn, all the backgrounds are painted by brushes and paint, then scanned and tweaked."

Every lunch is a new experience, a give-and-take flow of conversation based on what fans want to talk about. Artists in the past have included Ruben Aquino, a 20-year veteran of Walt Disney Feature Animation who has worked on everything from "Oliver & Company" to "The Lion King" and "Lilo & Stitch"; Byron Howard, an animator on the team that created the soldier Yao and Mulan's ancestors in "Mulan" and supervising animator on "Lilo & Stitch"; and Sam Ewing, who followed in the footsteps of his father who was a Disney animator in the 1960s.

Though the artists are center stage, a four-course lunch makes the experience even more special. Diners start with baked onion soup with fresh herbs and Derbyshire gratin, then a classic Cobb salad, a Brown Derby specialty. There's a delectable choice of entrees including filet mignon with boniato mash, a Thai noodle bowl with seared breast of duck, or pan-fired grouper with roasted asparagus. Dessert is crème brûlèe with cinnamon biscotti.

At meal's end, guests receive an autographed, decorative plate etched "Lunch With an Artist, Walt Disney Feature Animation, Disney-MGM Studios."

Lunch is 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. on select weekdays for groups of 2-10. Price is $60.99 for adults, $34.99 ages 3 to 11. Reservations can be booked up to 30 days in advance by calling 407/WDW-DINE.

--Posted August 14, 2003
Source: Walt Disney World Resort

 

 

 


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