Draw your favorite Disney characters with help from an Audio-Animatronic Olaf during the Olaf Draws! class at The Magic of Disney Animation. The brand-new experience in Disney’s Hollywood Studios opens on September 14.
Olaf Draws!
The opening of Olaf Draws! follows the closure of The Animation Experience at Conservation Station in Disney’s Animal Kingdom to be replaced by Bluey’s Wild World. Unlike previous art classes at Walt Disney World, Olaf Draws! is not hosted by a live artist, drawing criticism from fans. The show does include pre-recorded segments with Disney animators.
Guests enter through a gallery of artwork. A screen outside says when the next class takes place and what character guests will be drawing.
Near the Animation Academy door is an image from Frozen which Olaf has escaped from.
Brought to life as an all-new Audio-Animatronics figure, Olaf welcomes guests into a space inspired by one of his memorable moments from Once Upon A Studio. He sits at an animator’s desk with a shelving unit of props nearby.
There’s a large screen next to Olaf’s desk and more screens throughout the space so guests can see the animator drawing. The desks are based on those designed by Kem Weber for the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank in 1939. For kids, sleigh-themed desks at the front of the room feature color schemes and designs based on Frozen characters.
Guests receive a pencil (no eraser) and a drawing page branded with “The Magic of Disney Animation.”
Olaf is sketching when guests enter and Oaken makes announcements. Then Olaf introduces himself and asks questions about the animation process.
That’s when an animator appears on-screen. They share some history with Olaf, then launch into the lesson.
Here’s the list of characters guests can draw and the respective featured animator:
- Mickey Mouse, with Dan Abraham, director (Once Upon A Studio, Baymax!)
- Minnie Mouse, with Hyun Min Lee, animator (Frozen 2, The Princess and the Frog)
- Donald Duck, with Austin Traylor, animator (Once Upon A Studio, Moana 2)
- Genie, with Eric Goldberg, animator (Aladdin, Hercules)
- Moana, with Samantha Vilfort, story artist (Encanto, Zootopia 2)
- Stitch, with Fawn Veerasunthorn, director and head of story (Wish, Raya and the Last Dragon)
- Olaf, with Trent Correy, director (Once Upon A Studio, Frozen 3)
- Ursula, with Michael Woodside, animator (Big Hero 6, Encanto)
- Judy Hopps & Nick Wilde, with Byron Howard, director, (Zootopia, Zootopia 2)
The Eric Goldberg version of the show pays homage to the original The Magic of Disney Animation with clips from Back to Neverland. The film starred Robin Williams and Walter Cronkite, following Williams as he became a Lost Boy in Peter Pan.
Williams’ Lost Boy character was in Olaf’s scene in Once Upon a Studio. The character has returned on the poster for The Magic of Disney Animation and is on the attraction’s entrance sign.
After everyone is finished drawing, Olaf shows off his own drawing.
Video
Watch our video of the Mickey Mouse class with Dan Abraham below. Stay tuned for more videos of the various classes.
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