My Peoples canvas concept art
Before a film can enter production at Disney animation, it first has to be pitched. A small number of those films make it into pre-production, and then an even smaller number actually make it into full production. At that point, the film is most likely going to end up in a theater somewhere. The film “A few Good Ghosts” (also known by “My Peoples” along with a number of other titles) was an exception to that rule.
The story of how “My Peoples” came to be is tied closely to the Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida Studio. And Animation Director Barry Cook, who was intimately involved with the operation of the studio sat down with Animated Views to tell the story.
Mulan was the first feature animated film to be created almost exclusively in Florida. Cook was the co-director and basically devoted 5 years of his life to the film. After it was released he was burned out.
As Disney began to release Mulan internationally, Cook visited Studio Ghibli, where he met its co-founder, Hayao Miyazaki. But Cook had a personal confession for the master Japanese animator and director. “I told him, ‘I’m really burned out,’” recalls Cook. Miyazaki offered an encouraging response: “Stick with it. Animation is a great way to spend your life.”
The completion of Mulan, which won an Annie and was a small hit for Disney at the box office, was actually the beginning of the end for WDFA Florida, although nobody knew it at the time. It’s a fascinating story told in more detail than I’ve ever read.
After WDFA Florida closed a few animators went back to California, but many stayed in Florida. I’ve met a few of them and think it’s still possible that Orlando could again host a Feature Animation Studio, perhaps even one owned by Disney. Would you like to see a working animation studio inside Disney’s Hollywood Studios again?
Visiting Disney Animation was one of the highlights of a WDW vacation. I truly miss it.
It is my biggest dream for the animation studio to reopen at DHS. When I was little, my family and I would always make multiple trips to animation to see what films were being worked on as well as the animators at work. Once, we were in one the last group of the day and the castmember leading the tour let us just stay in the room with the windows that looked into the animators workspace for like a half hour. The animators saw me watching for a while, & instead of being angry, he came out and talked to us about the movie he was working on (which actually turned out to be Mulan). He even signed my autograph book and drew me a quick sketch of Mushu. This was so special to me. When I heard they closed the studio, it broke my heart. Flash forward to last summer: I interned backstage at WDW in the professional program (coolest job I’ve ever had). One morning, I had a meeting over at DHS. As we passed by the animation studio, I asked my supervisor what is in that building now. He gave me a sad, depressed look and told me that it was all HR/Casting now. :(
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Yes please bring it back!!!
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