by Eumir Aroche, AMA Special Projects Coordinator
Es Sorprendente!
En mi vida es la primera vez que observo y que soy parte de una exposicion sobre la animacion de Disney, y es la primera vez no porque no conociera los personajes de Disney, si no porque es la primera vez que estaria muy cerca de ellos en un museo y desde una perspectiva del arte, cuando escuche hablar sobre la animacion, la verdad es que nunca nos ponemos a pensar como es el proceso de animacion, actualmente vivimos en una epoca de tecnologia en las computadora es comoda y rapida, pero nos olvidamos de los origenes, que aunque a muchos nos toco vivir el proceso y el cambio de tecnologia y especificamente hablando de animacion, nunca nos cuestimaos como se hacia este trabajo de arte, porque realmente es un trabajo de arte.
El trabajo de Arte de Andreas Deja habia llegado al Museo de Arte de Arlington, no es la primera vez que recibo o trabajo con piezas de arte, sin embargo para mi es emocionante recibir las piezas pues es la primer vez que las personas que nos dedicamos al arte en museos nos emociona ver cada pieza de los artistas y este es mi caso, estaba emocionado no sabia con que personajes iba a ver en su estado de origen”.
El dia llego, tambien debia leer acerca de Andreas Deja, Ollie Johntson, y Frank Thomas su trabajo de arte y quienes son estas personas, quede sorprendido, sobre todo por la imaginacion, la creatividad, sesibilidad y pasion por dibujar, pero no era solo dibujar y ya, estas personas realmente tenian un talento mas alla de dibujar, y era poder plasmar en papel vida, sentimientos a un dibujo, un dibujo que formaria parte de una historia que llegaria a los sentimientos de muchas personas, pues tendrian el poder de hacernos reir, llorar o hasta enojarnos, wow habia quedado sorprendido en la inspiracion y la sensibilidad que estos artistas tuvieron para captar lo que el personaje necesitaba en todo sentido, pero en esos anos no habia computadoras como ahora las conocemos, asi que vinieron a mi diferentes preguntas, cuantas horas dedicaron a dibujar? Con sus manos, cuantas hojas de papel usaron para que el personaje o los personajes estuvieran listos? Cuales eran los colores adecuados para la ropa, los zapatos etc? Empece a entender que no eran simples dibujos, era realmente arte, pues transmitian sentimientos, nunca pensamos cuantas hojas son necesarias para hacer una secuencia de una pelicula, para que un personaje tenga movimiento, de todo, ojos, boca, manos, se ria, llora, hable, tenga las expresiones exactas de un humano en la vida real.
Fue en ese momento pense es increible esta exhibicion que llega al Museo de Arte de Arlington y ahora me brinda la oportunidad de ver y ser parte de este increible trabajo que muchos desconocemos, espero que mucha gente venga a ver esta exhibicion y sepa, tenga el conocimiento del origen de la animacion y quien fue uno de los pioneros responsables de muchos de los personajes que hoy forman parte de nuestra cultura popular y muchos crecimos viendo estos personajes, dentro del neo expresionismo.
It’s amazing!
In my role as Special Project Coordinator for the Arlington Museum of Art, this is the first time in my life that I have observed–and that I am part of–an exhibition on Disney animation. It’s the first time, not because I did not know the Disney characters, but because the museum allows me to be close to them and observe them from an art perspective.
The truth is that we never stop to think about what the animation process is like.
We currently live in an era of computer technology. It is comfortable and fast. But we forget the origins. Many of us have lived through changes in processes that technology has brought to us in our lifetimes. Specifically as it relates to animation, we never question how this work of art was made, because it really is a work of art.
When Andreas Deja’s collection arrived at the Arlington Museum of Art, it was not the first time I had received or worked with art pieces as a museum employee. However, it is exciting because it is the first time for me–and all of my colleagues who dedicate ourselves to art–to see each piece of this original artwork! In this case, I was also excited because I did not know what characters I was going to see in their state of “origin.”
To prepare, I also read about Andreas Deja, Ollie Johnston, and Frank Thomas, both their art work and who they were as artists. I was surprised, especially by their imagination, creativity, sensitivity, and passion for drawing. But it was not just drawing. These artists really had a talent beyond drawing, a talent that gave them the ability to capture life on paper and feelings in a drawing, a drawing that would then become part of a story that would reach the feelings of many people. They have the power to make us laugh, cry, or even get angry. Wow! I was surprised by the inspiration and sensitivity that these artists captured and gave their character what they needed in every way.
In those years, there were no computers as we know them now, so then different questions came to me, such as how many hours did each animator spend creating each individual drawing with his hands? How many sheets of paper, even, did the artist use to complete the character(s) and build just one sequence of a movie, for example? How did they know the right colors for clothes, shoes, etc.? I began to understand that these are not simple drawings, but truly art: eyes, mouth, hands, movement, laughing, crying, speaking, conveying feelings, and projecting the exact expressions of a human in real life.
It was at that moment I thought, it is incredible that this exhibition is at the Arlington Museum of Art. It gives me the opportunity to see and be part of this incredible work that many of us are unaware of. I hope many people come to see it and learn about the origins of animation and the pioneers responsible for characters that are part of our popular culture today, not to mention that many of us grew up seeing these characters and experiencing their influence on neo-expressionism.
Learn More
Read these related stories on our blog:
- Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston: The Fathers of the Twelve Principles of Animation
- Meet the Artist/Collector, Andreas Deja: From Scar to Jafar, Gaston to Lilo, and Mama Odie to Mushka, and his “Deja view”
- The Seven Steps of Animation: “The Magic is Drawn One Line at a Time”
- Podcasts, Disney+, Books, and More: Take a Deeper Dive into the World of Disney Art
