From the black and white Alice Comedies to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, right up to the modern computer animated features of today, the magic of Disney Animation has touched us all.

This is your chance to discover the history and birth of animated, relive your favourite feature film moments, see the creation of a classic character and draw on your imagination by trying your hand at a host of interactive animation experiments, in a magical journey through the art and artistry of Disney’s animation legacy.

Attraction Experience

From Disney Bros. Plaza, the towering Sorcerer’s Hat from Walt Disney’s Fantasia (1940) draws you towards a new rendition of the Disney Animation Building. This simple and discreetly whimsical, curving, blue building, with red and blue details and stylish metallic elements, gives away very little of the secrets and experiences to be found within.

Surrounding the Sorcerer's Hat are 12 bronze Disney character statues, depicting loveable animation creations from across the ages, whilst the walls of the outside queue area feature giant sketches of other famous characters. Peter Pan, Wendy and Tinkerbell circle the Sorcerer's Hat.

Since the grand opening of the original Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio in 1923, the magic, spirit and history of Animation has been the backbone and blood of Disney, and you’re about to be given a unique insight into the creation of the legacy...

Art of Animation

Subtle lighting, plush carpets and elegant furnishings welcome you to the first room of the animation tour, where a series of unique exhibits and interactive displays trace the creation, history and development of animation right up to the initial golden age of Walt Disney.

From early cave paintings to the Magic Lantern, the classic Zoetrope and far beyond, the milestones of animation are all right here, many of which can be operated by guests to allow you to fully experience the early magic of the “persistence of vision” technique.

This fascinating room also allows you to stand in the shadow of one of only two remaining original Multi-Plane cameras in the world. This remarkable Disney Studios invention from the 1930s allowed for different animation cells to be photographed at varying distances, creating immersive animated worlds such as those seen in Bambi, Peter Pan and The Little Mermaid.

Before the doors to the Disney Classics Theatre open, you’re invited to gather in the centre of the room in front of the three large screens for a short video presentation featuring Walt Disney paying tribute to the European pioneers of animation before Roy Disney takes over to underline the importance of history to animated films. This film is presented in English, with subtitles in six European languages (English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish and Italian).

Disney Classics Theatre

Get yourself comfy in one of the 225 seats in this exclusive Hollywood-style private screening room, and prepare to take a journey through an animated timeline of Disney classics. The magic, the romance, the adventure and the tragedy of the classics are presented with arrangements of clips from all the favourites, from Aladdin to Pinocchio and many, many more. An accompanying soundtrack of classic Disney movie music makes this a funny, moving and poignant reminder of the magic of Disney.

Drawn To Animation

Your tour continues in the next room, which features a similar theatre arrangement, but this time facing towards an elevated animator’s desk, with countless toys, gadgets, books and mementos covering the shelves and cupboards of the “office”. Once everyone’s neat and pretty, then it’s on with the show! The animator on stage begins to detail the creative processes for an animated film, before enlisting the help of Mushu, the little red dragon from Mulan, to describe the character development process.. A surreal conversation begins between the character and the artist, presented live in French, with headsets offering guests the possibility of simultaneous translation in either English, German, Dutch, Spanish or Italian.

Since Mushu continues to deny that he is an animated character, the artist calls on the help of Chris Sanders, one of Mushu’s creators and a key figure in Disney Feature Animation, who appears on the video screen above him. In just a few moments, Chris gives Mushu an uncompromising look through his creation and development, showing unused concepts of a green, two-headed dragon, amongst others! Tom Bancroft, one of Disney's character animators, then appears on the screen, and illustrates that a great amount of painstaking research through ancient Chinese folklore and paintings went into the creation of the little animated dragon.

With Mushu happy and proud to be the ‘descendant’ of such noble ancestors, the tour moves ahead with the next step of the animation process: bringing the characters to life. Video clips show the animation process in action, with Disney animators acting out movements and facial expressions before applying them to their drawings. Pam Coats, the producer of Mulan, then appears on the screen, surrounded by her creative team from the movie who Mushu recognises right away, jumping from one screen to another to greet them. On stage, the animator ends the presentation by offering guests a tantalising glimpse of a forthcoming Disney feature, with a particular emphasis on the new characters involved. Meanwhile, Mushu cannot help himself from imagining how he could one day be the star of Snow White and the Seven Mushus or, better yet, The Mushu of Notre-Dame! As he continues dreaming, you’re free to leave the auditorium and enter the final stage of the tour...

Interactive Animation Adventure

The vast final room, with curving walls and elegant, colourful decoration, presents an interactive exhibition where you can discover more artefacts and artwork from the Disney vault or try your hand at one of six unique “animation station” activities. The first station, “Building Character” lets you mix and match different characters’ expressions together to create the perfect face for the scene. “Colourful Characters”, on the other hand, lets you give life to a character sketch by adding a splash of colour – without ever needing to lift a paintbrush! Kronk from The Emporer’s New Groove guides you through the computerised process, before placing your character on a finished background with surprising results!

A key part of the animation process is the creation of sound, since everything must be created entirely from scratch. Pumba from The Lion King has set out to find some fresh talent with his interactive sound effects station, “Sound Tracks”, which allows you to add your own custom sound effects to a classic Disney scene. Next, you can complete your sound mixing orientation by giving evil Ursula from The Little Mermaid your voice at “Speak For Yourself”. These special mini sound booths let you lend your own voice to a well-known animated scene or song and play back the new, remastered version.

The final two animation stations let you test your drawing skills with a look at animation history and a character drawing masterclass. “Draw On Your Imagination” gives you the chance to create your own spinning Zoetrope “persistence of vision” animation, with the choice of either colouring a pre-designed sequence or drawing your own from scratch. The final activity, and the most rewarding, is the grand “Animation Academy” with a live presenter guiding you through the construction of a Disney character sketch. Take a seat at one of the 16 Mickey desks (complete with shorts, buttons and feet) and follow the instructions from your host to create an artistic masterpiece in a matter of minutes!

Near the exhibition’s exit doors sits one corner of the Sorcerer’s Hat, protruding into the room. Step inside and you can pick up an animated souvenir at the cosy Disney Animation Gallery boutique.

Fun Facts & Footnotes

The Disney Character statues surrounding the Sorcerer’s Hat are, from left to right: Genie, Brer Rabbit, Donald Duck, Hercules, Tinkerbell, Mickey Mouse, Tarzan, Bachus, Mulan, Pinocchio and Dumbo.

The multi-plane camera featured in the Pre-Show is the original invention that helped win Walt Disney two Oscars for "Flowers and Trees". The only other multi-plane camera in existence is at the Disney Studios in Burbank, California.

The different historical inventions found in the pre-show area of Art of Disney Animation include a Greek Lantern, Magic Lantern, Thaumatrope, Phenkistoscope, Zoetrope and Praxinoscope.

History

This was one of the earliest known attractions of the park, and had been in planning for many years prior to construction commencing on the park. It was initially meant to be an updated version of the similar attraction at Disney-MGM Studios Florida, “The Magic Of Disney Animation”, which at the time allowed guests to watch real life animators at work in the Florida Animation Studios. It was hoped that Walt Disney Feature Animation’s Paris unit would move to a permanent new home in the resort, and become a part of the attraction. Unfortunately, disagreements and logistical problems caused this idea to be scrapped, and the tour eventually became the “interactive exhibition” experience it is today. In the years after the start of the new millennium, Walt Disney Feature Animation began a process of “downsizing” which ultimately brought about the closure of both the Paris and Florida animation studios, among others.

“The Magic Of Disney Animation” at Disney-MGM Studios features the same “Drawn To Animation” presentation as the Paris attraction along with the “Animation Academy” and various exhibits from Disney’s animation archives. It also features character meet ‘n’ greets and culminates with a boutique – the Animation Gallery.

“Disney Animation” at Disney’s California Adventure is the grandest and most acclaimed version of this attraction and opened with the park in 2001. The attraction takes the form of an indoor entertainment and activity hub rather than the “tours” seen at the other versions. The adventure begins in the “Courtyard Gallery” lobby, a vast room with countless screens and projection effects surrounding you with iconic scenes from animated classics. From here, guests can choose their own experience. “Drawn To Animation” and the “Animation Academy” are two presentations practically identical to those seen in Florida and Paris, whilst the “Sorcerer’s Workshop” is an elaborate, highly-themed interactive walk-through featuring some of the same activities as the post-show in Paris plus an immersive “Beast’s Library” exhibit. The newest addition to the experience is “Turtle Talk with Crush”, which replaced the “One Man’s Dream” film in The Animation Screening Room and uses truly ground-breaking technology to allow a real-time-rendered voice-activated Crush to interact with guests in the auditorium. Due to the obvious language difficulties here, it highly unlikely this feature will ever be presented in Paris.

The feature film preview section of “Drawn To Animation” changes with each new Walt Disney Feature Animation (or Pixar Animation Studios) release. The previews are the same as those seen during the identical presentations at the animation attractions in Florida and California, with the video fully dubbed into each of the featured languages.