Earlier today, it was announced that the Animation Academy experience would be returning to Disney’s Hollywood Studios as part of The Magic of Disney Animation. The Magic of Disney Animation is itself a part of the rethemed Animation Courtyard area into a Walt Disney Studios Lot-themed area. While the return of the Animation Academy would typically be a very welcome one, the story doesn’t stop there. As it turns out, Disney is planning on removing live artists from the reimagined Animation Academy experience, drawing backlash from the fan community.
Live Artists Removed from Disney World Animation Academy Experience
When it returns later this Summer, the Animation Academy experience will be renamed Olaf Draws! and the lovable snowman from the Frozen franchise will play host. Olaf will be there in Audio-Animatronic form, but he’s not the best illustrator, so he’ll need some help. Instead of leveraging the help from one of the talented artists who hosted the Animation Experience as recently as this weekend at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Disney World is opting for a pre-recorded artist video to do the drawing. Here are the details.
Since Olaf can’t quite draw on his own, he turns to the expertise of some legendary Disney Animation artists whose pre-recorded guidance brings the class to life. Together, they guide you step-by-step through the creative process, sharing tips, techniques, and stories straight from the studio as you learn how beloved Disney Animation characters come to life.
Each class features a different character, inspired by timeless classics and modern favorites, giving you a unique reason to return again and again. You may find yourself sketching:
– Mickey Mouse, with Dan Abraham, director (Once Upon A Studio, Baymax!)
– Minnie Mouse, with Hyun Min Lee, animator (Frozen 2, The Princess and the Frog)
– Donald Duck, with Austin Traylor, animator (Once Upon A Studio, Moana 2)
– Genie, with Eric Goldberg, animator (Aladdin, Hercules)
– Moana, with Samantha Vilfort, story artist (Encanto, Zootopia 2)
– Stitch, with Fawn Veerasunthorn, director and head of story (Wish, Raya and the Last Dragon)
– Olaf, with Trent Correy, director (Once Upon A Studio, Frozen 3)
– Ursula, with Michael Woodside, animator (Big Hero 6, Encanto)
– Judy Hopps & Nick Wilde, with Byron Howard director, (Zootopia, Zootopia 2)
With the announcement that live artists wouldn’t be part of the experience, it appears that the only drawing being done these days is drawing backlash. Disney’s social media posts, particularly on Facebook, have no shortage of fans sharing their disappointment that live artists were removed from the offering.
As Disney likes to say, Cast Members are the magic, so removing a live artist for a pre-recorded video seems like a step in the wrong direction for the guest experience, but a win for the yield management team. To be fair, it is cool to have some really big names doing the recordings, but there was something extra special about watching a character come to life right before your eyes at the hands of a talented Cast Member in the room with you.
The Animation Experience at Disney’s Animal Kingdom is now permanently closed as Disney begins construction on a Bluey takeover. That means that the final daily live artist drawing at Walt Disney World has concluded, rather unceremoniously.
Disney typically does offer a live artist Animation Academy at the seasonal EPCOT Festival of the Arts. As luck would have it, today is the final day of the EPCOT Festival of the Arts, and the final day that live artists will be present at Walt Disney World, daily or seasonally. It’s unclear if the Animation Academy will return for the 2027 version of the Festival of the Arts as Disney hasn’t announced details for next year’s Festival yet.
For a bit of our own commentary, we are saddened by the removal of live artists. It is likely too late for Disney to reconsider, and while we’re always excited for new Audio-Animatronics at the theme parks, we have to wonder if this was too high a cost for this particular experience.
It would’ve been extra magical to watch a live artist interact with Olaf on the same stage, and our hope is that Disney retools the experience in the future to bring back live animators to a theme park with such a rich history of animation.