Saturday Sept. 21st members of Women in Animation San Francisco had the great pleasure of meeting and hearing animation legends Carol Kieffer Police and Andreas Deja discuss their careers and work on Bambi II at the Walt Disney Family Museum. The pair in front of a sold out audience in the Disney Theater first discussed how they came to excel in their respective careers.
Ms. Police's career spans the gamut from feature films to television, including animating on The Lord of the Rings, and serving as a layout artist for Ducktales: The Movie, Home on the Range, and art director for Tinker Bell, Bambi II, and as a location development artist for Shrek.
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| From left to right top: Sarah Fenton, Carol Kieffer Police, Andreas Deja, Angela Entzminger, and Diana Martinez. Bottom left to right: Kristen Sanzari, Samia Khalaf, Jasmine Truong, and Marji Fortin. |
A native of Germany, Mr. Deja dreamed of working on Walt Disney animated features, and took his first life drawing course at the impressionable age of 16. Although he earned a degree in graphic design, he longed for the world of animation. Since their were few formal classes he could take, he resorted to creating assignments for himself, such as animating walk cycles for various types of people, big and small, and animating horses. His persistence paid off and in August 1980 he became a member of the Disney Training Program led by animator Eric Larson.
Stateside, Ms. Police dreamed of becoming a renowned fashion illustrator in New York City. Her mother, president of the National Watercolor Society and an accomplished painter and illustrator in her own right, created the catalyst that led to Ms. Police's determination to excel in her field. She attended Art Center College of Design and the week before graduation, was hired by Ralph Bakeshi to work on the animated The Lord of the Rings. "You can do all the pretty stuff in the movie, " Backshi said upon seeing her illustrative work. Afterwards, she received a call from legendary animator Richard Williams. "I'll hire you for one hundred dollars a day and teach you what I know," said Williams. For the next three years, she worked with both Williams and animator Art Babbitt, gleaning a wealth of experience in the world of animation.
As the crowd of students, professionals and animation fans listened in awe, Ms. Police and Mr. Deja chronicled the ups and downs of their careers. Above all, Ms. Police urged students to "...not be afraid of being afraid. Fear is the great motivator." "Just do it," she said. "You guys will be great. Use your brain. Draw, draw, draw."
Along with discussing their careers, the pair also discussed the art of Tyrus Wong, now on display at the Museum through the fall. They analyzed Mr. Wong's lyrical style in his paintings, his sense of line and motion, as well as the shape detail of his backgrounds and characters. Influenced by the Chinese Sung Dynasty, it was Mr. Wong's unique style using gouache studies that led the Disney studio to hire him as a background artist on Bambi. "Bambi is one of those films where one artist was able to put their stamp on the film. That doesn't happen that often," remarked Mr. Deja on Mr. Wong's artistic sensibility.
Mr. Deja entertained the crowd with stories he heard firsthand from luminaries like Marc Davis, Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas, and Milt Kahl, who all worked on the feature. As Mr. Deja explained, "Even they didn't know they could do this." This was the first time Disney feature films had ever crafted realistic looking creatures, even more so than in other films like Snow White and Bambi. Disney's excitement encouraged them, said Mr. Deja. These were not individuals who had studied deer for decades, these were artists in their 20s , figuring out new ways to draw.
Mr. Deja and Ms. Kieffer Police ended the session by answering questions about everything from where they felt 2D was heading in the future to more in depth discussions of Bambi. Mr. Deja even gave a demonstration on how to draw the famous faun in under 10 minutes.
Very Special thanks also to Walt Disney Family Museum Public Programs Coordinator Mary Beth Cullen as well as the numerous volunteers at the Museum and the staff at the California College of Arts who made the event possible.
Visit Mr. Deja's blog at http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/
Visit Ms. Police's studio site at: http://www.madeinparadiseprod.com/
For more information on the Walt Disney Family Museum and their upcoming events, visit their website at www.waltdisney.org
For more information on Women in Animation San Francisco and to get updates on other animation related events in the Bay Area, check out our Facebook page:
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