The Ballroom Beauty and the Beast

 The camera needed to follow Belle and the Beast into the Ballroom, follow and swirl around them as they danced, then follow them out of the ballroom.

The entire film was hand drawn, so we had to create 3D stand in guides for Belle and the Beast. We printed every frame out on paper, supplied them to the hand drawn artists, who would draw over our guides. 

When I say supply, I mean we put the stacks of of paper on dollies, and rolling them outside, then down the street to another one of our buildings. (confirm with Tina or Don Hahn)

In the opening shot, I moved the camera too quickly into the room, luckily the characters feet are out of frame at the bottom, otherwise their feet would be sliding along the floor. At the end of the scene, the Beast was meant to open the door for Belle. I did not give enough time for them to walk over there, so instead the door ‘magically’ opens as they walk over to it. A happy accident, that stayed in the film.

 

Once the song ends, and they exit the ballroom, there is no more use of CG.  The shot at the end of the film of the Ballroom is a 2D hand painted background. 

I remember Don Hahn being adamant about that decision, I think his exact words were "don't argue with me on this one." Looking at the film again after all these years, I know that was the right call. He just knew. 

When Don Hahn and others were working on Beauty and the Beast expressed doubts, they mentioned, "I think it's actually going to be a success," to which Howard Ashman simply replied, "Well, I could have told you that". While Ashman passed away in March 1991, before the film's release, his conviction was realized when Beauty and the Beast became a massive commercial success and the first animated film to be nominated for a Best Picture Academy  

ILM and the Digital Revolution

Dragonheart set a benchmark for digital acting, and the film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects. I’m glad I got to be a part of it.

Watto and Yoda

 

Finny and the Seal Hotel

 So it was a little over ten years later, that in honor of Draco, I would put a ‘naming scene’ in my first children’s story ‘Finny and the Seal Hotel.’ 

For the nine years that I worked at ILM, I’d grab my Starbuck’s coffee and sit at this same spot in Sausalito every morning, waiting until I saw a seal pop it’s head up out of the water, then I’d go to work. 

I got the idea of doing a story about a seal that wants to eat Crab Cioppino at Pier 39, and ends up at the Marine Mammal Center. 

Sandra Scott and I had volunteered there for one day. We were told not to contact the seals, so that they don't form a bond with humans. As soon as I stepped in the pen, a big white seal named ‘Casper’ came over to ME, and put his head on my foot. I stood, not knowing what to do  next.

I've attended several SCWBI workshops in wiring and illustrating for children. I wanted to create characters that were fun and memorable. The regulating book, Finny and the Seal Hotel is inspired by memories of Sausalito and the guest of the Marine Mammal Center, or as Finny and Tam call it 'the Seal Hotel.'