LORENZO

I had a bittersweet experience yesterday, during a screening at the Disney studios.
I saw Mike Gabriel’s new five minute animated short, LORENZO (which will be released May 26th with the feature “Raising Helen”) and it’s a real gem. I truly think it’ll be the Oscar winner in next years animated short competition.Like DESTINO, it is artistically brilliant, innovative and dare-I-say-it, “cutting edge”. Unlike DESTINO, it has a clever story, funny gags and sharp comic timing. And did I mention it was animated traditionally?That’s the sad part. I sat there enthralled by this delightful cartoon knowing that the studio had dismissed a majority of it’s traditional animation staff – and here on the screen was a clue to where Disney 2-D could go; here was a possible future direction for feature animation. A brilliant way traditional and CG can blend together beautifully.
The film does indeed use computers – a new computer program, ‘Sable, which allows characters to retain the crude but lush brushstroke appearence of Gabriel’s original inspriational art: acrylic paints on black construction paper.The finished product is a delight. That elusive “magic” that Disney once had is here in spades. Joe Grant came up with the story – about a cat whose tail comes to life and he can’t get away from it. Gabriel set the story to an Argentine tango (the film was started as a possible segent for Fantasia 2000). Roy Disney, Don Hahn and Baker Bloodworth produced. Kudos to all – for reminding us all how great animation is, and can continue to be.