MIA
Over the past four or five years, I’ve made a number of trips to Disney’s El Capitan Theatre on historic Hollywood Blvd. to report on many of the premieres held there by the Disney Studios. Prior to their home video release, many of studios’ digitally restored animated classics are given a limited—two or three week—run at the El Capitan.
Quite often, the opening night of these limited runs begins with a special opening night panel discussion featuring people who worked on the movie, along with current Disney artists who provide an informed commentary about the film. The discussion panels can also feature retired Disney animators, voice artists, film and animation historians, and other experts.
Generally, I run into o-meon senior correspondent Chuck Oberleitner at these events and shoot the breeze—something he’s quite good at!—with him about what’s currently going on in the world of animation.
I was more than a little surprised not to see him at the January 22 opening night event of the El Capitan’s three-week (January 23 through February 12) run of the digitally restored Platinum edition of Walt Disney’s Pinocchio.
Following the panel discussion and screening, I emailed Chuck and asked if he’d like me to write a report of the evening’s events for o-meon.
Making of a Masterpiece
One of the great joys of attending these special event screenings is the chance to see and occasionally say hello to some very talented people from Disney’s past. In the audience this particular evening were animation voice artists Kathryn Beaumont (best known to Disney fans as the voice of Alice in Disney’s Alice in Wonderland and Wendy in Disney’s Peter Pan) and June Foray (perhaps best known for two of her non-Disney characters, Looney Tunes Witch Hazel and the comical Mata Hari-like Natasha from the animated television series Rocky and Bullwinkle).
Also in the opening night audience for Pinocchio were Margaret Kerry, the live action reference performer for Peter Pan’s Tinker Bell, and Andreas Deja (lead animator of Jafar in Disney’s Aladdin).
I got a pretty good idea who would be leading that evening’s celebration of the 70th Anniversary of Walt Disney’s Pinocchio when, as I usually do before such events, I stopped in at the adjacent Disney Soda Fountain and Studio Store for a quick bite to eat. There at the counter, about to enjoy their meal, were Don Hahn, producer of Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, master maquette artist Rubén Procopio, and Eric Goldberg, lead animator of the Genie in Disney’s Aladdin.
Dan Hahn, Eric Goldberg and Rubén Procopio prior to the 70th Anniversary of Walt Disney's Pinocchio screening at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood.
Once we were all seated back in the El Capitan, it turned out that Don Hahn was the moderator of the Pinocchio panel discussion. As he introduced his fellow panelists, we learned that Dick Jones’—the voice of Pinocchio—appearance was in doubt because of his having been called earlier in the day to jury duty.
However, once seated with the rest of the panel, Jones talked about his trying out for and getting the role of Pinocchio when he was 11 and 12 years of age. He went on to tell the audience that, as a child actor, he had also appeared in the film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington at around the same time.
Dan Hahn interviews Dick Jones, voice of Pinocchio, for the 70th Anniversary of Walt Disney's Pinocchio.
Something rarely seen during the discussion of a classic animated Disney feature was taking place immediately behind Jones on the El Capitan’s giant screen. Rubén Procopio and Eric Goldberg, along with Disney artist Sherri Vandoli, were actually animating a scene from Pinocchio using the same classic hand-drawn animation techniques used in the film.
Don Hahn took the audience through a segment of Pinocchio in storyboard format (the scene where Jiminy tells Pinocchio, “You’ve buttered your bread, now sleep in it!”).
Dan Hahn with Pinocchio storyboards.
Rubén demonstrated the next stage of the classic animation process by sculpting, onstage, a three-dimensional maquette of Jiminy Cricket out of polymer clay. Despite the cavernous size of the El Capitan’s auditorium, cameras made it easy for the audience to see Ruben’s sculpture up close on the big screen.
Jiminy Cricket maquette on screen at the El Capitan.
Eric Goldberg sketched the three-second lecture Jiminy delivers to “Pinoke.” This demonstrated the next stage of the classic animation process, the drawing of characters in different poses, which, when shown in sequence, brings them to life.
Eric Goldberg animating Jiminy Cricket on screen at the El Capitan.
When it was completed, Goldberg’s classic hand drawn animation was played back on the big screen:
But it wasn’t over yet.
The final stage of classic hand-drawn animation, prior to actual filming, is the ink-and-paint process. Sherri Vandoli, a 29-year Disney ink-and-paint veteran, demonstrated how the various components of Jiminy are filled in with colored ink by following a color key.
Sheri Vandoli with Jiminy Cricket color key on screen at the El Capitan.
All this hard work and effort earned the artists and panel a generous round of applause from a very appreciative audience.
Sheri Vandoli, Dick Jones, Rubén Procopio, and Eric Goldberg on stage at the El Capitan.
This being Disney, the show wasn’t over yet. As a special surprise, The Dapper Dans were rounded up from Disneyland’s Main Street USA to perform an a capella version of When You Wish Upon a Star, the hit song from Pinocchio that has over the past 70 years gone on to become the signature anthem of The Walt Disney Company itself.
Did you know that at one time Walt Disney was seriously considering dropping When You Wish Upon a Star from his version of Pinocchio? Disney was never satisfied with the look of the cricket turned conscience, which had only been a minor character in the original story, and seriously considered removing him and his song from the film. That is until he assigned legendary animator Ward Kimball the task of animating Jiminy Cricket.
The Dapper Dans from Disneyland's Main Street USA.
The panel discussion, demonstrations, and performance having ended, everyone was treated to a spectacular new digital restoration of Walt Disney’s Pinocchio.
Following the film, I said to Eric Goldberg, “I was impressed with how interwoven the story and the music were. Each one drove the other.”
His response, “It’s magical, isn’t it?”
A perfect summation of the entire evening.
