The Magic of Disney Animation

Animation Courtyard, Hollywood Studios

The Art of Disney Animation is designed to give you an overview of how Disney draw their animated characters. When there was a working studio in the park, this was a great attraction to visit as you could see the actual artists at work. Unfortunately since most of the production work is now in Burbank, California there are rarely any 'real' Disney artists here. The attraction artists are generally just cast members now.

You enter the attraction and start in a small theater where the audience is introduced to the attraction by a cast member and Musu, the dragon from Disney's Mulan animated film. It's a very brief introduction, and you will be hard pressed to take any actual useful information from this other than a bunch of upcoming Disney releases, which they conveniently plug during the presentation.

You're then moved into another room, where you'll need to sit on the floor. Another cast member gives guests verbal descriptions of what used to be done when you were able to go on a walking tour of the studio. You'll also be told a few interesting Disney animation trivia, but nothing really relevant or fascinating.

At this point guests can either leave the attraction and proceed to an interactive games area, or attend the Animation Academy, which is where an animator shows you how he or she animates a Disney character. The biggest downfall of this part is that there is limited space, and the animator works very fast, too fast to allow young kids to try and draw along or see how its done.