by Colleen Casner | Oct 27, 2014 | News Slider
Aspiring animators learned from the careers of veteran Disney animators during ProWeekend Animation and Illustration Weekend Artist Seminar on Saturday in Lipscomb’s Shamblin Theater. Headlining the event were three Disney animators, Tom Bancroft, Ruben Aquino and Claire Keane. Their experiences represented different periods of Disney animation as Bancroft and Aquino designed and animated characters from 1990’s films like The Lion King, Mulan and Beauty and the Beast, while Keane has worked on more recent films such as Tangled and Frozen. The event consisted of lectures by each of the three artists, a character design contest and a question-and-answer session with the artists. Attendees particularly enjoyed learning from the artists’ experiences. Gene Fayne enjoyed hearing how classic Disney characters evolved during the design process, but the most important part of his experience was being inspired by the artists’ success. “The biggest thing I’m taking away from it is to just be inspired and just continue to draw and practice, and hopefully I can get to where those guys are,” Fayne said. Lipscomb sophomore Elena Stewart said about her experience, “The most important thing I’ve learned about animation just this weekend is how important it is to do research and to tell a story.” Stewart is particularly excited about Bancroft’s new position as artist-in-residence at Lipscomb’s new animation department, a part of the College of Entertainment and the Arts. She has lofty ambitions for her career; her dream is to work at Pixar. “I can’t believe that I’m going to be working with Tom Bancroft. I just can’t wait to learn from someone who is so knowledgeable in the field. I...
