Suzanne Robertson
03-06-2011, 11:28 PM
Utah is a long way from California. I remember many times being packed into a car and heading out on a road trip. There was no air conditioning so the upside of the trip was if you could manage to get a window seat. Never mind that your arm and half your face was sunburned and wind blown, some air was better than none. Inevitably we always had car trouble and ended up in a repair shop drinking Nehi Orange or Grape soda at 3:00 in the morning. Sometimes the word vacation still makes me shudder.
I wasn’t satisfied to just watch the Disney movies; I wanted to know about Disney himself. I found out he lived in California and that there was a studio there where the “magic” was made. We were a long way from California. Nevertheless it was my dream to go there and I believe when you have a dream you can make it come true.
It happened that we had an Aunt and Uncle who lived in Santa Monica, California. The summer I was 15, our family decided to take a vacation and spend some time with our cousins. Wow, was I excited… I was getting closer to my dream.
While we were there I asked my Aunt Evelyn if she knew where the Disney Studio was located. She did, in fact she had a friend that worked there and offered to get us a tour. The arrangements were made and it was suddenly “Christmas in July.” I thought the day would never come. When it did, Aunt Evelyn happily drove us toward Burbank. This dear woman drove for a couple of hours before she finally had to confess she was completely lost. Demoralized we crept home.
But a dream is a dream. A new day was set, better driving instructions were given and finally I found myself in front of the Walt Disney Studios. I remember staring at the front of the building; even the colors in the brickwork were beautiful. Once inside, to my amusement, all the hallways and corridors had names… Mickey Lane, Dopey Drive. This was where “magic” was made… this was “Shangri–La” They were just finishing the film Peter Pan.
At this point I didn’t really understand the process between the art and the movie. After touring the main studio our guide, Bob Geabot took us to a second building, the ink and paint department. In a gesture of kindness he handed me a 4 inch stack of cells. There were paintings of Tinker Bell and Peter Pan, the Lost Boys, the Indian Chief, even Captain Hook himself. These were beyond comic books, these were real treasures. I learned that in making a movie 24 cells have to pass by the eye to make one second of film. That was mind boggling. I also learned that the men who made these characters come to life were called animators.
Now my dream had a name and a form. I knew what I wanted to be. I wanted to be an animator and I wanted to work at the Disney Studio.
TO BE CONTINUED…
When we were kids there were always mountains of dishes to do. We would amuse ourselves by playing games. My favorite game was when my brother Fred would sing a song and we would have to guess which Musical Comedy it was from. This song stuck with us.
Happy talk, keep talking happy talk,
Talk about things you'd like to do,
You gotta have a dream, if you don't have a dream,
How you gonna have a dream come true?
…If you don't talk happy
and you never have a dream,
Then you'll never have a dream come true.
South Pacific
Suzanne
I wasn’t satisfied to just watch the Disney movies; I wanted to know about Disney himself. I found out he lived in California and that there was a studio there where the “magic” was made. We were a long way from California. Nevertheless it was my dream to go there and I believe when you have a dream you can make it come true.
It happened that we had an Aunt and Uncle who lived in Santa Monica, California. The summer I was 15, our family decided to take a vacation and spend some time with our cousins. Wow, was I excited… I was getting closer to my dream.
While we were there I asked my Aunt Evelyn if she knew where the Disney Studio was located. She did, in fact she had a friend that worked there and offered to get us a tour. The arrangements were made and it was suddenly “Christmas in July.” I thought the day would never come. When it did, Aunt Evelyn happily drove us toward Burbank. This dear woman drove for a couple of hours before she finally had to confess she was completely lost. Demoralized we crept home.
But a dream is a dream. A new day was set, better driving instructions were given and finally I found myself in front of the Walt Disney Studios. I remember staring at the front of the building; even the colors in the brickwork were beautiful. Once inside, to my amusement, all the hallways and corridors had names… Mickey Lane, Dopey Drive. This was where “magic” was made… this was “Shangri–La” They were just finishing the film Peter Pan.
At this point I didn’t really understand the process between the art and the movie. After touring the main studio our guide, Bob Geabot took us to a second building, the ink and paint department. In a gesture of kindness he handed me a 4 inch stack of cells. There were paintings of Tinker Bell and Peter Pan, the Lost Boys, the Indian Chief, even Captain Hook himself. These were beyond comic books, these were real treasures. I learned that in making a movie 24 cells have to pass by the eye to make one second of film. That was mind boggling. I also learned that the men who made these characters come to life were called animators.
Now my dream had a name and a form. I knew what I wanted to be. I wanted to be an animator and I wanted to work at the Disney Studio.
TO BE CONTINUED…
When we were kids there were always mountains of dishes to do. We would amuse ourselves by playing games. My favorite game was when my brother Fred would sing a song and we would have to guess which Musical Comedy it was from. This song stuck with us.
Happy talk, keep talking happy talk,
Talk about things you'd like to do,
You gotta have a dream, if you don't have a dream,
How you gonna have a dream come true?
…If you don't talk happy
and you never have a dream,
Then you'll never have a dream come true.
South Pacific
Suzanne