Today’s #DrawWithDisneyAnimation video takes to the islands of Hawaii jumping ahead to the 626th experiment from Dr. Jumba, the loveable alien that completes everyone’s “Ohana,” Stitch.
What’s Happening:
- Alex Kuperschmidt, a supervising animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios who worked on the 2002 classic, Lilo and Stitch, guides us on how to draw the lovable titular alien.
- Kuperschmidt was the supervising animator in charge of Stitch himself, so he is well versed in how to draw the classic character and takes great pride with it. He uses two different pencils, one for the guidelines and rougher aspects of the drawings and another one to make it a more polished and clean final piece.
- Aside from Lilo and Stitch, Kuperschmidt has worked on many films for the Walt Disney Animation Studios, including The Princess and The Frog, Chicken Little, Brother Bear, The Lion King, Mulan, and Meet the Robinsons to name a few.
- His work can also be seen in some short films, including two of the three Roger Rabbit shorts, Trail Mix-Up and Roller Coaster Rabbit all the way up to present-day favorites like Get a Horse! And Paperman.
- Lilo and Stitch was released in 2002 and follows the story of a young girl who finds and adopts a “dog” who turns out to be a genetic-experiment gone wrong and is also one of the most wanted creatures in the galaxy who is hiding out on E-arth. Through her unwavering belief in “ohana,” the Hawaiian concept of family, Lilo helps unlock Experiment 626/Stitch's heart and gives him the ability to care for others.
- Lilo and Stitch was a critical and box office success in a time when other traditionally 2-D animated films were not faring so well. It was the second of only three features to be made at the now defunct division of Walt Disney Feature Animation at what was then the Disney-MGM Studios in Florida (The others being Mulan and Brother Bear), and still remains a fan-favorite to this day.