Here's Dr Milo reporting in about the studio tour and what he saw...
Dr. Milo reporting in again, having just returned from the Empire of the Mouse in Florida.
I went on the Animation Studio Tour, anxious to see what I could dig up about Mulan, which was almost completely done in Florida. In the main lobby, they have production art, maquettes (clay models used by the animators for visual reference), storyboard art, CGI art, backgrounds, and more on display. Unfortunately, cameras are not allowed. The storyboard sequence, which I believe someone mentioned before on AICN, shows Mulan in something that looks like a Geisha school (though Geishas are Japanse). The teacher is a large woman called the Matchmaker. Mulan has cheat notes written on her arm. When Mulan is chastized for speaking when not asked, the Matchmaker grabs her arm and gets the ink on her hand. The Matchmaker unwittingly draws a "Fu-Manchu" moustache on her face. Mulan tries to pour some tea and accidently sets the Matchmaker on fire and then tries to put her out with the hot tea. The storyboards are just like a comic strip, and break the film into each individual shot.
In the Animator's area, which they refer to as "the fishbowl," there wasn't much action since the film is nearly complete. There were lots more storyboards on the walls, but they were too far away to really see anything. I did see on animator at work, but again I couldn't tell what he was doing. I did see some cell work being done on the computer. As we walked into the Animator's area, there was some conceptual art for Tarzan, A Bug's Life (done by Pixar), Fantasia 2000 (nice images of the whales), and Dinosaurs, most all of it previously seen on AICN.
They showed us a preview of Mulan, which rather different and reflected the "Disney-feel" much more than the preview that's out now. The Emperor decrees that one man from every house must join the army to fight the Huns. Mulan's father is ailing, so she steals off into the night disguised as a man. The preview showed quite a bit of Mushu, obviously the comic side-kick. Mulan gets advice from the spirits of her Ancestors, which are the Disney-patented comedic trio. There's lots of comedy involved in the training scenes where Mulan shows-up her male counterparts, particularly in climbing to the top of a pole. There's a brief mention in the preview of the recruits having to bathe together. The male love-interest is the guy who trains Mulan and her fellow recruits. I thought he looked kind of bland, much more in the tradition of Prince Charming than the recent Disney male characters who have been more interesting. We'll see when the finished product comes out.
After the preview, we got to meet and chat with a Disney animator. This was a welcome addition to the tour since I last went on it four years ago. He did a quick drawing of Mushu and another of Mickey, then answered questions. I asked if they had done any work on Tarzan. He said that they might get some work later on, but that right now most of it was being done in Paris (where they did a lot of Hunchback). The Animator pointed out that even though they don't do manual cell-painting any more (which they show at the beginning of the tour), computers are only used for about 2% of the animated-filmmaking process. He said that an animated film takes about 4 1/2 years to complete, which is why they have about five animated films in various stages of production at all times.
