At an event hosted by the Pencil Mileage Club on Friday, Sept. 18, Eric Goldberg, popular Disney animator, paid Cal State Fullerton’s Titan Theater a visit.
He came to talk to animation students about bringing their character to life on screen.
Goldberg is responsible for the Genie from “Aladdin.” He also directed, wrote, and was lead animator for “Rhapsody in Blue” from “Fantasia 2000,” and is the supervising animator for the trumpet-playing crocodile, Louis, in the new Disney movie “The Princess and the Frog.”
The seminar, originally scheduled to take place in the Visual Arts Lecture Hall, was so popular it had to be moved to the Titan Theater to hold all the excited animation and illustration majors.
Armando Torres, 19, a sophomore animation major, was one of the many students to arrive early. “I’m hoping for a little insight on the professional world,” said Torres. “And who isn’t a fan of Disney?”
Goldberg received room-shaking applause upon his introduction and then jumped right into the lecture.
The lecture consisted of stories from the Disney animation studios.
His stories and examples from past works taught students about using lines of action, frame timing sheets called “X sheets,” understanding archetypes, and the benfits of believing your character exists.
It even involved audience interaction where the theater as a group created a character.
The result was “a fat, short, anthropomorphic, female tapir drawing conceitedly.”
Goldberg originally began his career in filmmaking and animation by making short films at USC.
He eventually won a scholarship to attend Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York where he majored in illustration while taking animation and film courses on the side.
After moving to London with his wife, he started up his own successful animation studio called Pizazz Pictures that did animation for television.
Shortly after some success in commercial animation and his work on “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” Disney eventually came knocking on his door and recruited him to lend a hand in making Disney history.
Ever since, he has played a key role in the creation of some of Disney’s most memorable characters and movie moments.
Outside of Disney he has worked on a short film called “A Monkey’s Tale,” made for a Buddhist cultural center in Hong Kong.
The short film received many laughs from the audience in the Titan Theater.
As a supervising animator on “The Princess and the Frog,” Goldberg is more than happy to see Disney finally returning to a 2-D animated fairy tale.
“It’s about time,” Goldberg said. “I think it’s very important for all of us at Disney to continue in the tradition and the legacy that all the greats started for us.”
A key element to “The Princess and the Frog” is that it introduces a new African American princess into the Disney universe.
“By and large, we are doing what most people think Disney does best and I think it’s time for Disney to do that again,”
Skylar Smith
Goldberg said, regarding the introduction of the new princess, Tiana.
Throughout the lecture, Goldberg made it clear that the best way to bring characters to life is to believe in them, and to follow the traditional structures set forth by the founders of the industry.
Even with many advances in technology the process has not changed much for him.
“You know what, it’s structured the same way but the tools are far more sophisticated,” Goldberg said. “We’ve been doing digital coloring since ‘The Rescuers Down Under.’ So to a certain extent I don’t think it’s the technology that’s improved; it’s all down to the people who are doing it and the choices they make. Tools are tools.”
After the recent acquisition of Marvel by Disney, people have been wondering about the future of Marvel projects within the Disney company.
To whether or not Goldberg would like to animate, direct or even lend voice talent to a Marvel project, he said: “Nobody’s asked be, but if they do it’s certainly interesting.”
The Pencil Mileage Club and the Visual Arts department have many more events like this planned throughout the semester.
Dana Lamb, art professor and the coordinator for the entertainment art and animation program, said, “We’ve been working directly with the studios for years … 12 years now.”
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