Fantasy, adventure at animation exhibition

By Kwon Mee-yoo

The fantasy and adventure of Disney animations can be explored at "Dreams Come True: The Art of Disney's Classic Fairy Tales" exhibition, which opened Saturday at Hangaram Design Museum of Seoul Arts Center, southern Seoul.

The exhibition, curated by the Walt Disney Animation Research Library (ARL), presents more than 600 artworks including paintings, concept art, production notes, maquettes, photographs and film clips used in famed Disney animations such as “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “The Little Mermaid” and more recent ones including “The Princess and the Frog” and “Tangled,” inviting visitors to the enchanted world of Disney.

The delicate artworks are part of Disney’s animation history, portraying the development from the early hand-drawn cel animation works to state-of-the-art 3D animation.

The ARL is an archive of Disney animation and the collection of more than 600 million pieces are only open to Disney employees. Some of the artworks are exhibited outside and the "Dreams Come True" is one of the ARL's touring exhibitions.

The exhibition was originally created for New Orleans in 2009, travelled to Australia and Korea is the third destination.

Lella Smith, creative director of the ARL, said "Dreams Come True" offers a four-dimensional experience to visitors and inspires them, whether they are young or old.

After a timeline of Disney animations and an introductory film, the exhibition begins with early Disney classics in the "Silly Symphonies," such as "Three Little Pigs" and "The Ugly Duckling." A drawing of Mickey Mouse in the "Mickey and the Beanstalk" is exclusive for the Korean exhibition, since the lovable white-gloved black character is Korean’s favorite.

It also explains the elements of animation, from concept art and model sheet to cel, layout and background. Typical cel animation relies on the industry standard of 24 frames per second.

The multimedia exhibition moves onto "The Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," the first animated feature film from Disney. The early concept drawings show how the characters of Snow White and the evil queen, modeled after Katharine Hepburn, were developed.

"Cinderella" displays Mary Blair's contemporary style concept drawings and three-dimensionality of the background using the vertical multiplane camera. Illustrator Kay Nielson brought various details to the castle and the forest of “The Sleeping Beauty,” blending Asian, Middle Eastern and European styles.

A special desk on which animators actually work on after being taken directly from the Disney animation studio is on display in the middle of the exhibition room.

“The Little Mermaid,” originally written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen, was reborn as a Disney animation in 1989. The look of Ariel differs by artists in the early concept art on display.

At the “Beauty and the Beast” section, the Beast looks more ferocious in early concept drawings. There also are small resin models of the characters, so the animators can maintain the quality of each frame according to the models.

The exhibit then presents more recent work "The Princess and the Frog," the New Orleans version of the fairytale. Tiana, the princess, is much more active and adventurous than traditional princess characters and such personality is shown through detailed drawings. As technology develops, even concept art is done by computer, not hand-drawn.

Last but not least, “Tangled” is the only 3D animation in the exhibition. The beautiful 25-feet hair of Rapulzel was one of the most difficult things to describe in the film, as it had to move in a natural way.

Video clips of various special effects used in Disney animations wrap up the exhibition, while familiar sound tracks of Disney animations arranged especially for the exhibition spice up the mood.

The exhibition runs through Sept. 25 and is closed on the last Monday of each month. Tickets cost 10,000 won to 14,000 won. Docent-led exhibition tours are available on weekdays ― 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. for children and 3 and 5 p.m. for adults. English docent tours are available by group reservations.

Call (02) 795-2011 or visit www.dctexhibition.com for more information.