Rescuers Down Under

Words and Photos care of Mike Gabriel.

Rescuers Down Under Research trip to Australia. We were the first animation crew at Disney to demand we go to the actual country and do the research before making the film. The studio naturally looked at this as an unnecessary boondogle since it had never been done as far as I know. I vowed to pay my own way if I had to. Peter Schneider relented—or should I say Jeffrey Katzenberg must have relented—-or should I say Michael Eisner must have relented— and allowed us two weeks to explore the continent of Australia. A great experience. This is Joe Ranft, Joe’s first head of story opportunity, and Maurice (Pixote Hunt) our art director at Uluru or Ayres Rock in the middle of the outback. (more…)

After the success of 1988′s Who Framed Roger Rabbit? The Disney folks offered animation director Richard Williams more feature projects, but Dick preferred to focus on his personal project, the Thief and the Cobbler. So Disney turned to Dick’s former lieutenant and top animator Dick Purdum, who came recommended by many in the London animation scene. By then Dick and his wife Jill Thomas had their own studio in London.

Dick took the job to direct Beauty & the Beast if he could do some of the initial preproduction in London, and a research trip was added to get texture for the French setting. (more…)