Jack Plotnick and Disney built a House of the Future

Jack Plotnick is an actor who began making short videos when he wasn't acting. During Covid, he began a long term project where he began playing the background parts in several Disney TV documentaries from the late1950s. "The Wonderful World of Color" was a series of television programs which appeared nationwide on TV sets all over America every Sunday night. Occasionally, Walt Disney would take you behind the scenes to show the making of his new amusement park, Disneyland!

Fast forward to the beginning of Covid, Jack Plotnick comforts himself in old Disney episodes until one day, using only i-Movie, a tripod and a green screen, he created a 45 minute video beginning with artist Mary Blair, who is tired of working on Disney artwork and soon discovers a sinister plot about the real creation DisneyWorld! 

Here is a recent interview about Jack's previous projects and how he combine his short Disney videos into "Disney made a House of the Future: The Movie"

If you enjoyed this interview, please leave a comment on the video or a like. Subscribe to see future videos or if would like to support my YouTube channel, please donate to my ko-fi.

Watch the Zootopia 2 Q&A on Animateducated

Zootopia 2 is in theaters now and if you've seen it, watch the Q&A below. But be warned there are a few spoilers if you haven't seen the film yet.

While I filmed the entire Q&A, I had a slight problem with the video when I was editing it together. The screen went black, but I could still hear the audio. I tried everything to get this video back up, but could not find a solution. That's why it switches to a title card.

So you can now enjoy it as a podcast and learn how they make films at Disney. The video does pop back on at the very end.

Animateducated 2026 calendars are still available at my ko-fi shop and am posting links to other interviews too. If you don't need a calendar and like Animateducated, you can donate to my Ko-Fi. 

I'm currently finishing up animation classes at CSUF and CSUN soon and will be looking for new interviews and episodes to produce in 2026. If you have an suggestions for show ideas, please let me know. And if you need a calendar...

Kent Melton, Animation Sculptor

Kent Melton was a character sculptor and maquette builder who worked on some of the most famous animated films -- someone had to sculpt the genie from Aladdin!

Puppetmaker Maria Andreotti was lucky enough to work as Kent's assistant on her first film, Boxtrolls, and was soon fangirling about the amazing sculptures and maquettes he had created at Disney, Laika, Dreamworks and Pixar for such movies as The Incredibles, Paranorman, Prince of Egypt, Treasure Planet, Tarzan, Hercules, Mulan and more.

Kent eventually became Maria's good friend and mentor and when he was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, Maria was inspired to make a documentary about him.  She created a Kickstarter campaign and has so far raised over $100,000 (and counting) to finish the film.

If you would like to make a donation to Maria's documentary, here's a link:  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mariaandreotti/untitled-kent-melton-documentary Also check out Maria's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariathemuppet/

Enjoyed this interview? Please leave a comment or check out more past Animateducated interviews on the YouTube channel. 

And Thanks for Reading!

Syrenka the Warsaw Mermaid

 Disney's Live Action version of "The Little Mermaid" is coming to a theater or streaming service near you. Are you super excited or like me, a little disappointed. I don't mind that this Ariel is a young black actress, but seeing photos of Sebastian the Crab, Flounder the fish and Scuttle the seagull made me almost gag.

Really WDA, are these the most appealling character designs you could come up with? With your animation studio of the most talented artists in the world, these supporting characters look like an AI program spit them out. Although, I bet an AI program would come up with a lot better choices. And how many designs did it take to narrow them down to these?

Do you think maybe Disney is just pulling our fin? Is this a brilliant Marketing ploy? Maybe Disney is showing these awful character designs to hype the film and then do a bait and switch where we see more appeal supporting characters when we see the film. Oh, what a relief that would be. But I have a funny feeling this is as good as it gets.

The original Little Mermaid was so great when it came out, because Disney animation was coming back, we loved the story and the characters all worked well together. I am not going to go see this new Little Mermaid, because like Disney's Aladdin, I already saw the good original and I don't need to see a Live Action version.

Would you like to see these characters walking along at Disneyland or Disney World? 

And this brings me to a new 2D Mermaid film which you might not see until 2 years from now. Its a short 7 minute or so, animated film by Tina Nawrocki called "Syrenka the Warsaw Mermaid".

This is about Syrenka, the twin sister of the Little Mermaid, swam up to Warsaw, Poland and became a legend there. Below is my interview with Nawrocki and how she is planning to make the film.

If you would like to help Tina finish her film, please check out her Indiegogo campaign and if you send her some support, mention you heard about on Animateducated!

Thanks for the support and Check out more interesting interviews and animated stuff on the Animateducated YouTube channel. and Thanks for your support!

Disney Multiplane Camera

Disney's Multiplane camera was invented by UB Iwerks, the same man responsible for design and animating the first Mickey Mouse cartoons. Here is a copy of the actual patent approved April 23, 1940.

The Multiplane camera was first used on Snow White and a short called "The Old Mill". It was used to bring depth to various scenes to get dimension to the animation and required several camera operators to shoot the complex scene.

There were only 3 multiplane cameras invented and used by the Disney studios. Here is a video with Walt Disney explaining the process and several clips of various animation scenes filmed with the Multiplane camera.

If you enjoyed this video, please visit Animateducated on YouTube to leave a comment or subscribe to the channel. 

Flip books by Flipboku

Every kid who is now an adult, either still interested in animation or are a working professionally started off by making a flip book one time or another. You may have been the bored kid in math class who would scribbled drawings in the corner of the thick math book. Or you might have made some animated epic using a small note pad of paper or index cards clipped together. Either way, you remember the fun in making your drawings move around by simply flipping through the pages rapidly to see the drawings suddenly come to life.

Meet Raul Garcia, as a young boy going up in Spain, Raul did all of the above and recently created a very unique 6 in one animated flip book made by Flipboku. Please enjoy the interview below and share it with your flip book friends.

Hope you enjoyed this interview, and you did, kindly leave a comment below!

Bill Matthews Animation Educator

I first met Bill Matthews when he gave a tour of the Disney Studios to a group of student filmmakers involved in the Student Film Awards. Many years later, I got to know and work with him at Woodbury University where he was teaching an intro to animation class.

Before he passed away at the beginning of 2022 at the age of 94, he gave me a box full of DVDs which he had used as part of his lecture series for new talent at Disney. I have found a way transfer the videos to my Animateducated YouTube channel to help share his collection to other interesteand helped educate a lot of students interested in learning animation.

I will be posting them there, but for now here are a few clips of Bill's work at NASA's JPL in Pasadena, several animated cameos in various Disney films and an educational film from JPL which Bill created the animated segments.

Here's one of those animation shorts that Bill collected from a short film by Prudential Insurance called "The Lion and the Mouse." 

Well now that you know more about Life Insurance, why not show your appreciation and support this blog.

Thank You.

Halloween Animateducated episode!

Hey Past, Present and Future Viewers!

The Halloween 2020 season is here and below is the Animateducated Halloween episode! 

And if you enjoyed that, here's a Halloween episode from a few years ago when I started doing this as a podcast. 

Thanks to Watching!

The Ron and John interviews

 I got an opportunity to talk to Ron Clements and John Musker, the dynamic duo of such Disney classics as "The Great Mouse Detectective", "The Little Mermaid", "Aladdin", "Hercules", "Treasure Planet", "Princess  and the Frog" and "Mohana"

The above is Part 1. Check back as I include the other part or parts. While you are waiting, below is a really interesting interview you should also watch.

If you liked the interviews, please let a comment below on this blog. 

Thank You!

Nightmare Before Christmas

Here's a great article about The Nightmare Before Christmas from Cinefantastique, Dec 1993. Enjoy...

If you want to learn even more about the making of this classic Stop Motion film, check out the podcast called "The We Know Jack Show". Here's a link to it!

Thank You!

The Ron Husband Interview

As a young kid, Ron Husband loved to draw and his High School art teacher got him to start drawing quick sketches from life in a sketchbook. He did and started filling up every sketchbook he owned. He majored in art and won the Scholastic Arts national competition as well as played varsity football for Monrovia High.

While taking a class at Art Center in Los Angeles, Ron met Disney Imagineering and teacher, Sam McKim who got him an interview with Eric Larson at Walt Disney Studios. Larson was in charge of recruiting for the Walt Disney animation training program.

Ron had a portfolio which wasn't acceptable, but he was able to deliver 3 of his sketchbooks from High School filled with quick sketches. In 1975, Ron was accepted into the program and would eventually become the first African American animator working at Disney.

From 1975 to 2008, Ron animated on 19 Disney animated films and still keeps a sketchbook to this day. To find out more about him, check out the Animateducated interview on YouTube.

To learn more about Ron Husband's work, here's a link to his current blog and how to get his book, Quick Sketching. 

If you enjoyed this post and would like to show your support, please leave a comment below or subscribe to the Animateducated Youtube channel!

The Ron and John Interview

I'm preparing for another big interview, this time with the directors of Disney classics like The Great Mouse Detective, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Princess and the Frog and Moana. 

The dynamic duo of Ron Clements and John Musker.

I will be recording the interview this Wednesday if the weather is right and posting it later to the Animateducated YouTube channel which you are a subscriber of or should be!

It was also Ruthie Thompson's 110th birthday!

Lee Crowe Interview

Back in the early 1980s, Women were just beginning to enter the animation industry and Lee Crowe was one of them. She graduated with a BA in Art from a college near her home in Georgia, before moving to Canada to be enrolled into the Sheridan College Animation program.

After graduating, moved to Los Angeles, where she job her first job in animation at a smaller animation studio called Carter Mendez. She met Floyd Norman and worked there on several animation projects before it was discovered that the studio was a front for a money laundering scheme.

Take a look at the interview below and learn about more animation stories that Lee Crowe experienced during the early part of her career in animation. 

If you enjoy it, please subscribe to the Animateducated 

YouTube channel and help me make more interviews like this one!

Don Hahn Interview

This Summer, I've been working on a lot of new interviews for my YouTube channel, Animateducated. I always enjoy the process of finding guests to interview, recording the interview and then editing everything together. 

My hope is that Animateducated will help and inspire students to learn more about the people who have worked in animation and in other creative ways.

Please help the Animateducated YouTube channel by subscribing or sharing it with a friend or two and enjoy this recent interview with Disney producer, writer, artist and educator, Don Hahn.

Enjoy...

Sergio Pablos 2020 Interview

My first interview with Sergio Pablos was back in 2016, just before Klaus was pitched to Netflix. You can see the posted interview by clicking here.

Klaus was nominated for an Academy Award in 2020 and during the Covid-19 situation, I was able to set up a Zoom interview with Sergio from his SPA Studios in Madrid, Spain. Enjoy the interview below and please share it with a friend!

If you enjoyed this interview, please leave a comment below or subscribe to see past and future interviews on YouTube channel Animateducated! 

And one more thing! 

Do you have any questions for the next interview with Don Hahn? Leave your questions in the comment section below!

Nancy Beiman and Tee Hee!

Nancy Beiman is an well known author of several animation books and an independent animator. I found a few articles she wrote in Cartoonist Profiles back around 1989, early in her career...

Hope you enjoyed this article which I have been carrying around with me for years, just so you could read it. Perhaps one day, I will get a chance to interview Nancy on Animateducated. Before that happens, feel free to share this with a friend or subscribe to the Animateducated YouTube channel!

 

2D or Not 2D?

Here's a question for you, the interested Animation student, Educator or Animation Professional. Do you think 2D animation should be taught as a beginning animation class or not at all?

This is a pretty important question which will decide if all the traditional animation techniques we have learned from Disney's Nine old men and other animation studios, will be handed down to the next generation or forgotten by them.

Please leave a comment below or email heyjimr@gmail.com.

Nik Ranieri

Nik Ranieri graduated from Sheridan College in Canada and started off his animation career working on a TV series called "The Raccoons".

From there, He finally got his first big break working on a new film at the time called Roger Rabbit. Eventually he got to animate Meeko, the raccoon from Pocahontas.

After Meeko, Nik was given his first villian, Hades from Hercules. Take a listen to this interview and learn about what else Nik worked on during his days at Disney.

If you liked this interview and learned something new, show your support or subscribe to the Animateducated YouTube channel!

Aya Suzuki: Animation Artist

Aya Suzuki is a 2D Story Artist, Animator, Concept Artist living in London and my special guest on the Live Streaming from London episode on YouTube Animateducated. Here's the link below and her Demo Reel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfXQv5PRBwE

Aya Suzuki Demo Reel 2018 from Aya Suzuki on Vimeo.

Her 2005 graduation film, she did at University.

Wooden Island from Monica Gallab on Vimeo.

 Pencil tests and Final footage from "The Illusionist" 2010

Wolf Children 2012, 

Aya Suzuki 'Wolf Children' reel from Aya Suzuki on Vimeo.

Anime Mirai: Death Billiards 2013

‘Death Billiards’ pencil test, final comparison from Aya Suzuki on Vimeo.

Aya can adapt to any style, from realistic Anime to cartoon cats.

Aya Suzuki "Simon's Cat" animation from Aya Suzuki on Vimeo.

O2 Make Them Giants 2015. Animating camera motion in 2D animation takes a lot of skill and study.

Aya Suzuki 'O2 Make them Giants' reel from Aya Suzuki on Vimeo.

Ethel & Ernest 2016

Aya Suzuki 'Ethel & Ernest' animation from Aya Suzuki on Vimeo.

Isle of Dogs 2018

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=398819774185522&t=5

Subscribe to the YouTube channel Animateducated.

Kathy Zielinski Animator

Animator Kathy Zielinski gave an interview and told about her animation career so far. You can see and hear the entire interview on the Animateducated YouTube channel.

A native of California, Kathy discover animation at an early age by watching Peter Pan on the big screen. She later attended Cal Arts where she made her student film, "Guess Whos for Dinner."

The film won a Student Film Award in 1982. And won 2nd place in FOCUS film award that same year. 
Below, Director John Badham interviews Kathy and shows the entire film.

There is also a glimpse of another film she was working on at the time. 

Focus Film Award - 1982 Interview with Kathy and Director John Badham from Kathy Zielinski on Vimeo.

Kathy started her Disney career working on Mickey's Christmas Carol in 1983, but her first feature screen credit was on The Black Cauldron as an Animator. 

She animated Fidget from the Great Mouse Detective,Oliver & Company and Ursula from The Little Mermaid. 

Later, Kathy became a Supervising Animator on Frank the frilled neck lizard from The Rescuers Down Under and Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. On Aladdin, she animated Jafar disguised as a Beggar and later turning him into the giant snake. 

She did Character designs Pocahontas and the evil Hexxus character from Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest.

Here's a sample reel of her best animated scenes.

Kathy Zielinski - 2D Animation Reel from Kathy Zielinski on Vimeo.

Not only is she an amazing animator, but she also is a very talented sculptor. She often would sculpt models of the characters that she would be animating. Here are a few of them from her blog.

After Disney, Kathy went to work for DreamWorks where she was involved with The Prince of Egypt. She later became the supervising animator for the villian Tezekel Khan from The Road to El Dorado. 

Kathy animated on the main character Spirit in Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, and animated on Over the Hedge, The Bee Movie, Kung Fu Panda, How to train your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda 2 and The Croods.

Kathy Zielinski - Animation Demo 2013 from Kathy Zielinski on Vimeo.

In 2013, Zielinski returned to Disney to work on Frozen.

Today, Kathy is working with the Simpsons and enjoys riding her bike to work. 

If this has been of any interest to you, please subscribe and share Animateducated with your other animation friends.

Next Episode: Gary K. Wolf author of Who Censored Roger Rabbit.