Dreams Come True: The Art of Disney’s Classic Fairytales
Australian Centre for the Moving Image
November 18, 2010 – April 28, 2011

A combination of symphonic music and flawless animated sequences are guaranteed to trigger nostalgia when one recalls seeing their first Disney feature animation. Dreams Come True: The Art of Disney’s Classic Fairy Tales opens a door into a haven of possibilities that existed long before Academy Award winning scores were being discussed. It’s time-travel to the nook of the studio, the library, and the artists’ space where ideas were visualised. It’s a peek into how the magic happened before the animations eventually found their way into cinemas, cathode ray tubes and DVD shelves.

The exhibition is a concentration of the Disney classics, featuring the main heroines throughout the history of Disney’s animations. It was first brought to New Orleans, post-Hurricane Katrina, as a gift of hope to the people of the city. Melbourne was privileged enough to host the exhibition after New Orleans, where it is currently exhibiting at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI).

Rich with historical and geographical detail, the showcase reinforces Walt Disney’s trademark of intricacy and the aversion of taking short cuts. Substantial research went into the animated films, many of which were based on the Grimm’s brothers’ fairytale stories. Walt Disney procured a collection of over 300 fairytale books during a family holiday to Europe in 1935. Most, if not all of the original tales, were adapted to be accessible to a young audience and rewritten as moral tales that were told through light and uplifting musical scores. Part of the strength of Disney’s storytelling could be attributed to the focus on character development, which can be seen in many of the experimental concept works on show at this exhibition. The artists took care in defining the personalities of the Disney princesses through the use of colour and experimentation with facial expressions and body language. Clay maquettes were also modelled to each character as, allowing artists to get a sense of their three-dimensional form.

Perhaps, the most striking aspect of this exhibition is the insight into the laborious processes that went into a finished 80-minute feature animation, particularly pre-1990. The amount of work that was required to paint separate cells on each of the characters and the hand-finished sceneries meant that each film took years to complete. The age of computer aided animation has significantly changed this process and some amazing footage of the upcoming movie, Tangled, demonstrates how far animation has progressed.

Whether you are an animator or filmmaker who is after some insights into one of the most iconic and successful animated films of all time or simply an avid Disney fan who wants to reconnect with the brightest films of their childhood you will not be disappointed by Dreams Come True: The Art of Disney’s Classic Fairy Tales.

You can find all the details of the exhibition through the ACMI website here.