Animation Masterclass
Andreas Deja is a traditional animator who has worked on many classic Disney characters such as The Little Mermaid, Gaston in Beauty and the Beast; Jafar in Aladdin; Scar in The Lion King and the title character in Hercules. He also animated Lilo in Lilo and Stitch. He found the time to talk to Film Education about being Supervising Animator for two of the characters from The Princess and the Frog: Mama Odie and her snake JuJu.
Watch this interview and pause it at opportune moments to discuss the following questions:
- How did Andreas come to be a Disney animator?
Extension: research the other film titles that he mentioned. Are there any similarities between the characters that he animated? - How did he feel about animating Mama Odie?
Extension: What did he find challenging about animating Mama Odie and Juju? - What are the benefits and drawbacks of traditional hand-drawn animation?
Extension: When animators work on a film like The Princess and the Frog, they have to create 24 images per second. How many images would an animator have to create for a minute's worth of film? - What are the similarities and differences between classical animation and computer-generated images?
Extension: have a debate with the title 'Disney's best films use traditionally hand-drawn animation.' Half of the class have to argue the case for computer generated image movies like 'Up' and 'Toy Story' and half have to argue for the traditionally hand-drawn movie like 'The Princess and the Frog'. The teacher decides on the most convincing argument. - 'The Princess and the Frog is an adaptation of the fairy tale story where a Princess kisses a frog and the frog turns into a Prince. What does this new version bring to the traditional story? How do characters like Mama Odie, the New Orleans setting and the jazz music help to bring the story to life in a new way?
Extension: what does Andreas say is the secret of a good story? What do you think make up the ingredients of a good story?'
