A day in the studios

Following the release of his first few cartoons, which left audiences around America delighted, Disney began to explore other ways of animating that would push the boundaries of his craft into a whole new dimension.  In 1937, this inevitably led him to the multiplane camera, which was first used in a Silly Symphony called The Old Mill. The multiplane camera essentially allowed layered scenes to give a three-dimensional effect.  Parts of the artwork of one layer are left blank, to allow other layers to be seen behind them.  These layers could then be moved independent of each other, and in varying distance from the camera, creating the illusion of motion and depth.  It was a break-through moment in animation, famously used in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and employed subsequently for the next fifty years in Disney classics, all the way up until the 1989 film, The Little Mermaid, after which time computer systems began to take over.  Nowadays, only three Disney multiplane cameras survive – one of these is housed at Walt Disney Studios, at Disneyland, Paris.  It’s a great artefact to start a day in Walt Disney Studio park, and a real piece of history so pertinent to all of this, for without it there really would have been no Toy Story, no Monsters Inc, and no Frozen. 

The Disney multiplane camera (Source: WaltDisney.org)

Walt Disney studios is a celebration of modern Disney, and all the techniques that have brought its bulging back-catalogue into the 21^st century.  The computer may have superseded the pencil, but there’s still a decent nod to the past around this place – a statue of Walt sharing a joke with Mickey Mouse stands centre stage, whilst family favourites such as Jiminy Cricket are scattered around the site, intermingled with the modern-day heroes like Buzz Lightyear.  The whole mixup sort of works; where else would 1928's Steamboat Willy so easily and seamlessly encounter 2014's Frozen heroine, Elsa?

So what is Walt Disney Studio Parks all about?  There are studios devoted to Disney animation history, stage shows, stomach-churning rides, and special effects left, right and centre.  My favourite spot on our chilly visit is inside Studio One, packed full of Americana, where the restaurants and cafes sit on a fake boulevard, a vintage car is serviced at a redundant gas station, all under the watchful eye of a slowly setting Beverly Hills sun.  The gaping doors of the studio open to reveal the bright lights of Hollywood, sky scrapers giving way to that famous hilltop sign.  It's fake, but at the same time it feels like an utterly romanticised reality - which is, I suppose, the genius of film-makers.

Studio One

Hollywood at Walt Disney Studios, Paris

Once we've sat through the obligatory Art of Disney Animation presentation, the Animagique spectacular stage show (in which Donald Duck steals Mickey Mouse's key to the animation vault and unleashes the fun onto everyone in an all-singing, all-dancing, mad, magical adventure - yes, it's exactly as it sounds) and the flying carpets of Agrabah (talk about disappointing - our carpet never got off the ground) you can still take a tour around earthquake-stricken London, be first on the scene at a mining disaster, and take a turn around a hidden Parisian square.  And if that's not enough to float your boat, you can join virtually every other visitor in watching one of the park's famous stunt shows, which plays out live-action car acrobatics, guns, explosions, and people being set on fire.  It does offer something of a wow factor, and the slick one-minute film produced at the end of the show - using actual footage from the performance - makes for gripping viewing.

Quake-stricken London

A gripping stunt show

Our day at the studios complete, we head for the exit and make for the Disney Village, a complex of shops and restaurants sitting outside the park bounds, and open late into the night.  Its the usual energetic mix of bright lights and good times, as hotel residents and day trippers unwind from their hectic days with a burger, beer or cocktail.  For us, it's some light browsing at the World of Disney flagship store, followed by dinner at Billy Bob's Wild West Tex Mex, and then a gentle stroll through the village, out past the lake, slowly meandering home amongst exhausted parents, and children with big Minnie Mouse balloons.  The skyline of the Disney Village itself appears like a film set from across the water and the peace, after such a loud and bustling day, is a as magnificent as any movie score.

Evening scenes in the Disney Village