The Art of Animation

Welcome to Disneyland's Opera House where the Art of Animation is housed. For animators, it is a place of "worship." You see your favorite animated films in their "infant" stage. I have always been amazed with artists. Their "baby" all started from an idea and through their creativity and greatness, blossomed into the "real" thing.



Here are some characters from Disney and Pixar's animated films that have entertained us from childhood to old age :)

Mickey and Friends

Dumbo

Snow White

Aladdin

Cinderella

The Incredibles

Belle

Beauty and the Beast

Cars

Ratatouille

I love animation. I remember my dad bought me a Fisher Price film projector where I can watch 8mm Disney films like Snow White, Cinderella, etc by cranking it by my bare hands. It was my fantasy world. Maybe that is one reason why I went into moviemaking. Whenever I travel abroad, I always try to look for that toy but cannot find a similar one. My toy just got lost during my childhood years and cannot remember if we gave it away :(

I saw the IMAX version of "Beauty and Beast" on New Year's Day in Canada years ago. It blew me away watching it on an eight-story screen size. It was also a sweet screening because every woman was given by a plastic red rose (which looked real) at the cinema. I still have it until now. I also got a big picture of Belle framed in my room. I think all girls dream of being a princess someday, waiting for the right guy to sweep them off their feet hehe.

One of the oldest animators I met was Ray Harryhausen (responsible for the animation in Mighty Joe Young, Jason and the Argonauts, The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, Clash of the Titans) in a festival in Hiroshima, Japan. He is the "father" of stop motion animation. It was an enlightening trip. I saw his passion discussing his films. He lectured to a large crowd and no one is allowed to take pictures of his creations or record his demonstration. Even at an old age, he breathes and lives animation. He would tell stories on how he used his parent's garage to make his films. He is quite an inspiration. (If you watch Monsters Inc, there's a place called Harryhausen--a homage to a great man!)

Animation is a long and tedious process. It is also a lonely job. Most of the time you are alone doodling your craft. I have always admired animators and artists for they bring us back to our happy and carefree childhood years with their heartfelt and entertaining imagination.

Hail to the animators!

Welcome to HK Disneyland!

My first trip to Disneyland was two years ago at Los Angeles and I was into my early 30s! I spent the whole day touring the place and checking the fun rides. It was a moment I would never forget for it brought a lasting "adult" experience in a kid-at-heart like me. I vowed to visit Hong Kong's version and it happened last month.

Guys playing the drums...

Our HK sojourn was a family trip. My sister and dad were more concerned with shopping at the Causeway Bay than seeing the sights so I forced my mom to come with me. It was a good decision though. We bonded together and we were both like 10-year-old little children enjoying our big playground.

We arrived at lunchtime so the first thing I did was to look for a map and the schedule of the shows so I can plan our iterinary. Our first stop: the Starliner Diner. Our stomachs were growling so bad that we had to pacify it by ordering Cheeseburger and Chicken Wings (HK$ 104).

After a delicious fatty meal, I had to look for my favorite ride---the Space Mountain! We were so lucky that there were no long lines! I have always looked forward in repeating this space blast experience since I enjoyed this thrilling ride in LA. Since I also wanted to check out some talents in the theater, I made sure to catch the show, "Festival of the Lion King." The show was entertaining and very commercial in nature.

We cruised over the river to visit "Tarzan's Treehouse." We learned about Tarzan's history and life in the jungle. We saw his things just like any esteemed hero erected in any museum. This is not an "exciting" adventure so you can pass it for some important magical tales.

A great discovery is "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh." I was clueless about this place. I just saw children and adults lining up so I also lined up. Boy oh boy, it was a "live" storybook experience! I totally enjoyed it. The ride is so simple yet magical! If you have a kid, make sure to visit Pooh here.

Exactly at 3:30 PM came "Disney on Parade." All Disney characters were showing their "acting skills" to the crowd! Below are Mickey and Friends, The Little Mermaid and the gang from Toy Story.

After the rides, I took a break, sat on a bench and ate a Mickey Head ice cream (HK$18). See my band aid? Got it when I was in the NAIA restroom on my way to HK. The lock is so old, got a deep cut when I closed the door :( Blood poured out of my finger and it was so ouchy!

Here is a video of the carousel during its test run. My mom and I didn't let this pass. We happily picked our own horses and rode the carousel!

At 7:30PM, all guests were on the Main Street to savor the evening's fireworks---the last magical presentation of the day! After the fireworks, we went to our respective bus coaches and went back to our hotel. I will never grow tired of visiting theme parks even when I'm 60! :)

The "Toy Story" Zoetrope

When I was growing up, my parents would bring my sisters and I to different summer lessons so we can do something productive. It started with swimming, the following year, art lessons and finally, yearly tennis summer workshops until we finish our grade school years. In tennis, we even joined competitions and I would meet my sister in the finals! After I won my first trophy, I knew I had to stop being "competitive." I was happy playing the sport, the win boosted my confidence but the most important lesson is to be content with the simple things. There was one match when I was up against a daughter of a stage father who was shouting vindictive words towards her daughter when she was making errors. Even if I was leading the match, I gave way and let the poor girl win. I wanted to end the girl's misery. Looking back, those "hardcore" junior players whom I have competed before are all gone from the tennis limelight. We have our different careers now and I am happy I made the decision early on to just enjoy the sport.
As I grew old, I began to choose the summer workshops I would like to take part in. In 1996, I enrolled in an intensive animation workshop. It was fun learning the basics of animation. I used a 16mm film camera and I appreciated every frame on the screen because for one second, I had to make 24 drawings or 24 movements!

The short film I made travelled to different film festivals from Amsterdam to Japan. Those trips were one of my first travels abroad.

My recent trip to Hong Kong Disneyland reminded me of my animation workshop. There's a" modern" Zoetrope from the "Toy Story"---one of the first fully computer generated animated films. It is also one of my fave films.

In reality, the figures of Buzz, Woody and Jessie are all static but once the spinning disk moves, it provides an illusion that they are creating movements. The strobe lights also helps with the persistence of vision which is a phenomenon of the eye to see an illusion. The animation is shown before your eyes LIVE!

Here's the video: