WDAS Canada

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Sotiris
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WDAS Canada

Post by Sotiris »

If opening an offshore studio failed for Pixar, financially-speaking, why does Disney believe it will work for WDAS?
Effective next year, Walt Disney Animation Studios is throwing the doors open to a new facility in Vancouver, BC that will focus on long-form series and special projects for Disney+. The first in the pipeline is the anticipated, feature-quality musical series Moana.

Animation veteran Amir Nasrabadi will serve as head of Walt Disney Animation Studios, Vancouver. He most recently served as EVP/General Manager at WildBrain Studios. Previous roles include overseeing Pixar Canada as VP/General Manager as well as senior leadership roles with Illumination and Paramount Animation. Nasrabadi’s role with WDAS marks a return to the studio, where he served as a finance lead.

The Burbank studio will also expand its more than 900 employees as it remains Walt Disney Animation Studios’ exclusive hub for feature film projects as well as shorter form series such as the recently announced Baymax! and Zootopia+. Story development, storyboarding and production design for all projects will be based on the Burbank lot.

“Disney Animation is creating more original storytelling for Disney+, expanding into series for the first time in our history with Iwájú, Tiana, Moana, Baymax and Zootopia+,” says Jennifer Lee, Chief Creative Officer, Walt Disney Animation Studios. “As we continue to grow our original slate of projects, there are more creative, artistic and technological opportunities than at any previous time.”

Said WDAS President Clark Spencer: “With Burbank and Vancouver both home to some of the world’s most talented artists and technicians, we believe the storytelling and visual quality created within each location will meet the incredibly high standards we set for ourselves and audiences have come to expect from Disney Animation.”

Added Nasrabadi: “I am so honored and excited to be joining the Disney family again. I can’t wait to dive in and collaborate with the talented teams at Disney Animation on a new slate of projects for Disney+ starting with Moana. I continue to be amazed at the high level of artistry and technical advancements coming out of the animation industry here in Vancouver and I am so proud to be a part of this community. This is really a dream come true for me.”

The Vancouver studio is currently hiring. Working on Moana, which is set to debut in 2024 on Disney+, is Oscar-nominated producer Osnat Shurer.
Source: https://deadline.com/2021/08/walt-disne ... 234809175/
The company is currently recruiting talent (Vancouver already has a robust VFX and animation community) and is expected to have an official opening in January.
Source: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/busin ... 234992792/
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Patricier21
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Re: WDAS Canada

Post by Patricier21 »

Well at the very least On behalf of my fellow Canadians, to the rest of the world I say “you’re welcome” for the Moana series :-)
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Re: WDAS Canada

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I’m not up on my history, but I recall that they had a hand-drawn studio up there back in the day of the direct-to-video sequels; for a time I was in correspondence with a Canadian animator that had worked on scenes of The Little Mermaid 2 before the studio closed, and he was able to give me a basic synopsis of the story before it was released (including why he thought the story was poor!).

He said that even though it was over a short period and even if he wasn’t 100% behind the final production, he was extremely grateful for the chance to work at Disney and was very proud of the work he did with them.

Anyway, to get back OT, it’s interesting to see they’re trying out the idea again. It may work out better now, simply because we have better digital means to have meetings and share production information all across the world. I think it makes sense for them to set up a smaller studio for more specialized projects that require a smaller budget.
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Sotiris
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Re: WDAS Canada

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Elladorine wrote:I’m not up on my history, but I recall that they had a hand-drawn studio up there back in the day of the direct-to-video sequels.
Yes, that one was in Toronto. It was part of Walt Disney Television Animation. WDTVA had offshore studios in Toronto, Tokyo, and Sydney while Walt Disney Feature Animation had studios in Orlando, London, and Paris.
Elladorine wrote:For a time I was in correspondence with a Canadian animator that had worked on scenes of The Little Mermaid 2 before the studio closed, and he was able to give me a basic synopsis of the story before it was released (including why he thought the story was poor!).
That's so cool! Do you you still have access to that correspondence? It'd be interesting to read what he thought of it back then.
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Elladorine
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Re: WDAS Canada

Post by Elladorine »

Sotiris wrote:That's so cool! Do you you still have access to that correspondence? It'd be interesting to read what he thought of it back then.
Sorry, I wish I did! Unfortunately, I no longer have access to that email address; and as this was over 20 years ago, I don't even remember the name of the animator. I can paraphrase the parts I remember, though.

He described the story as an unnecessary “soap opera” with the way Ursula’s “crazy sister” is introduced. Way too convenient since they couldn’t logically bring Ursula back, but of course Pat Carroll is amazing and they wanted to include her voice.

He also felt it was partially a rehash of the first film, and I asked how since Melody is too young for it to be a love story (again, this was all before the movie was released so I didn’t know anything other than it focused on Ariel’s preteen-ish daughter). So I asked if it isn’t about love, what does it focus on? He answered with something like, “heritage, I guess. Learning who she is and where she’s from.”

Something I recall him talking about was that the studio shared an amazing video with their artists that worked on Ariel and Melody. It was of Glen Keane explaining who she is as a character and how to animate her properly. I mused that I would love to see that video, and he pointed out that even if he still had access to it, Disney would likely go on a witch hunt if it was ever leaked, lol.

I wish I could remember more! If anything returns to me, I’ll add it to this thread.
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Re: WDAS Canada

Post by PatrickvD »

Story development, storyboarding and production design for all projects will be based on the Burbank lot.
So in short, the new studio is just a factory to churn out animation. I wonder what the quality will be? I’m not too fond of the animation in Monsters at Work. I hope this is better.

No mention of Tiana in the context of this announcement, which gives me some hope that it will be hand drawn. Especially now that they’re dipping back into it with Goofy.
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blackcauldron85
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Re: WDAS Canada

Post by blackcauldron85 »

It's interesting that Disney is making their own studio, not sending these projects to an already-established existing non-Disney studio, right? I guess they get more control this way. I have high hopes for these projects, so this is exciting.
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Re: WDAS Canada

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PatrickvD wrote:No mention of Tiana in the context of this announcement, which gives me some hope that it will be hand drawn. Especially now that they’re dipping back into it with Goofy.
I immediately thought of Tiana when reading this announcement. I'm curious if this studio will also be set up to produce a hand-drawn series of if they will find an outside studio to handle the animation (like Sergio Pablos Animation or Duncan Studio).
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Re: WDAS Canada

Post by Redadoodles »

Elladorine wrote:I’m not up on my history, but I recall that they had a hand-drawn studio up there back in the day of the direct-to-video sequels; for a time I was in correspondence with a Canadian animator that had worked on scenes of The Little Mermaid 2 before the studio closed, and he was able to give me a basic synopsis of the story before it was released (including why he thought the story was poor!). .
Do you remember his name ? Maybe I know him. :D
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unprincess
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Re: WDAS Canada

Post by unprincess »

I really hope this doesn't end up looking like Disney Jr toddler show quality CGI. :|
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Re: WDAS Canada

Post by singerguy04 »

estefan wrote:
PatrickvD wrote:No mention of Tiana in the context of this announcement, which gives me some hope that it will be hand drawn. Especially now that they’re dipping back into it with Goofy.
I immediately thought of Tiana when reading this announcement. I'm curious if this studio will also be set up to produce a hand-drawn series of if they will find an outside studio to handle the animation (like Sergio Pablos Animation or Duncan Studio).
I was pretty sure I read in an article that the new Studio was to handle all the new WDAS Disney+ series, but now I’m having trouble finding it so maybe that was a fever dream, lol.

I wouldn’t hold my breath for Tiana being hand drawn though, and to be honest given the quality of hand drawn we’ve been seeing recently we may be better off without it.
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Sotiris
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Re: WDAS Canada

Post by Sotiris »

Logos for the new studio.

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D82
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Re: WDAS Canada

Post by D82 »

The second one is not a bad logo. I like how Mickey's hat fits into the maple leaf.
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Re: WDAS Canada

Post by unprincess »

I really hope these guys(and whoever is gonna do the Encanto series if they do one) do good quality work. Im worried b/c Ive heard bad bad things about the Monsters Inc series and that Ice Age short? series? (I cant remember what it is,) that the quality of the cgi is really cheap looking. :|
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blackcauldron85
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Re: WDAS Canada

Post by blackcauldron85 »

I personally thought that Monsters at Work had nice animation.
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Re: WDAS Canada

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blackcauldron85 wrote:I personally thought that Monsters at Work had nice animation.
Where was that animated? It is only in recent months that I discovered it wasn't made at Pixar. I thought they'd do it, like they did all other Disney+ series.

unprincess, I heard that the animation for the latest Ice Age film was outsourced to Bardel Entertainment. However, it seems the new Scrat shorts announced recently were actually done at Blue Sky before it shut down.
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Re: WDAS Canada

Post by blackcauldron85 »

^
The production was instead outsourced to Canadian animation company ICON Creative Studio, which was tasked with creating a series that felt visually at home in the world of Monsters Inc.
https://screenrant.com/monsters-at-work ... fferences/
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