This clip of Disney animator Glen Keane drawing Ariel in 3D is pretty cool. James Corden is known for having some pretty interesting bits on his show but this is something else. At first you get the feeling that he’s scribbling over his own drawing, and then the view pulls out and you see he’s doing actual 3D, meaning that there is more than one viewpoint on this particular drawing. Given that he’s a legendary Disney animator it’s not too hard to believe that he can do all this from memory. He’s probably drawn thousands of pictures of so many different characters that it comes as second nature when he’s doing something like this. But still,I mean WOW.
So much goes into the animation process that it’s easy to forget just how in depth it really is. Keane has no doubt drawn more pictures of the iconic Disney characters than many people could remember, and has them so firmly in memory that bringing one to mind wouldn’t be much of an effort. But to be able to do this kind of thing in virtual reality is amazing. To give the onlookers the chance to see what he’s seeing is something incredible. Plus the fact that he can do this so rapidly within the course of a song is extremely impressive as well.
His favor towards Ariel is also interesting since she possesses a greater story than many seem to realize. While the original legend of the little mermaid was something far more gruesome and less kind this adaptation was something that fell along the same lines. It was the tale of a young mermaid that wanted to live on land and become something she was not. While Ariel wasn’t the typical princess of old, meaning she was waiting around for someone to come save her, she wasn’t quite the toughened princess that has come in the movies of this era. She was the curious one, the princess that bucked the rules simply because she wanted to know more about the world beyond her borders.
She needed someone to rescue her but she was still adventurous. She was fearless in so many ways that it often got her into trouble and put her at great odds with her family. In other words Ariel was a perfect example of a teenager going through yet another stage of life. The only time she wasn’t hopeful was when she believed her prince had already decided to marry another woman, but that lasted only so long as it took for Scuttle to reach her and announce that the woman was Ursula in disguise. Then it became all go and no quit.
That’s been the kind of attitude that most of the Disney princesses have had these days, the empowered feeling that quitting or just lying around and waiting isn’t good enough. I don’t know as Ariel started this shift in attitude but she was certainly there right around the time it began.
Good job Mr. Keane, well done.
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