DHS Animation Academy

PetePanMan · Jun 6, 2015

I have never done this. I understand it is a short film followed by hands on instruction - Is that correct?

Any feedback would be appreciated. Did you enjoy this? Is it popular (ie long waits)? How long does it take? etc.

DisPup75 · Jun 6, 2015

I love The Animation Academy. Just love it. We go in the off season and are usually able to get in to the next class without a wait. Each class is maybe about 20 minutes and has a live instructor who guides you through drawing a character. I would classify myself as someone with no artistic ability but my drawings are always recognizable and a few are even pretty good.

pmaurer74 · Jun 6, 2015

I plan to do this tomorrow or Monday. I have always wanted to do it.

soniam · Jun 6, 2015

There's actually two separate things in the same building complex: Magic of Disney Animation & the Animation Academy. The Magic of Disney Animation is the short film. The Animation Academy is the part where you follow an artist and draw a Disney character. You can do them both or separately. The Animation Academy seems to be more popular lately. I would try for one of the first couple of shows in the morning. I think it opens at park time, but I could be wrong. Check the daily times guide to verify when it opens. I think with the popularity of Baymax, who meets in the same building, people may be doing the Animation Academy while they are waiting in line for the meet & greet. Baymax & Hiro start meeting at 10 or 10:30am.

samsteele · Jun 6, 2015

The Animation Academy has really become popular in the past year. So much so that on my last trip, the line was just too long (2 full classes ahead of me) to wait for the time I had budgeted. I did get in one time on another occasion but waited a good 40 mins in line. I was there mid afternoon & this may simply have been bad timing on my part. Possibly peak interest time. I remember when this used to be an easy walk-in and the classes were never full. If it is of interest, then definitely make it a priority in the morning.

AllieBoo · Jun 6, 2015

We do this every trip! Just did it again on Wednesday. We drew Tigger and mine actually does resemble him somewhat, lol! No film beforehand, just 20min drawing class. We did have to wait because the class we tried to get into was full.

brb1006 · Jun 6, 2015

Me and my Guidance Counselor went to the Animation Academy during my Senior Trip. We both drew a sketch of Woody, mine looked very funny. I brought it back home with my Senior Trip bag. However, I don't know where it is now. I remember waiting in line looking forward to what random Disney character they be doing that day. I was hoping Marie from The Aristocats or Pinocchio we're going to be done. I remember asking the person if they do sketches of any of the characters from The Aristocats. She said "Sorry, we currently haven't done a session for Marie or Ducchess." But she did mention that they might do a session for that character in the future. So I hope they might do that in the future along with Toulouse,Berlioz, and even Duchess.

BuckeyeBama · Jun 6, 2015

I am terrible at drawing and even my attempts come out looking pretty good. Lots of fun.

brb1006 · Jun 6, 2015

BuckeyeBama said:
I am terrible at drawing and even my attempts come out looking pretty good. Lots of fun.

Me to, in fact my sketch of Woody was the closest I could ever get to drawing an accurate sketch of Woody. Since I'm more fond of painting then drawing.

PetePanMan · Jun 6, 2015

I will have to give this a try in December. I like others have stated am a brutal artist. In fact, everything I draw looks cartoonish (even when I am trying to draw something real)

disneyfanlincoln · Jun 6, 2015

I love doing this, its one of our favourite things. We try to go a few times every trip, in January we drew Fred from big hero 6 but we've drawn many different ones in our time. We are not artists but the drawings come out great and are a brill souvenier. This attraction has got a lot more popular in the last couple of years IMHO when we started going we could do back to back classes, now you usually have a significant wait. But its still worth going!

spiderann · Jun 6, 2015

DH and I just did this the other day. it was busy! we almost didn't get in to the class we were in line for. we were on the front row with lapboards, but it was still fine! we drew Russell from Up and while DH's came out funny looking, mine came out pretty good if i do say so myself lol.

Miskey · Jun 6, 2015

We did this on our last trip for the first time after seeing it mentioned so much here. We really liked it. The one tiny thing I didn't like, is the instructor kept trying for a character that everyone in the room had not drawn before, and it was obvious there were people in the room who have done this A LOT, because they had already drawn ALL the suggested characters.

After seeing the suggestion here, I had put an empty paper towel holder in my backpack and put our rolled drawings inside it to carry around in the backpack.

sehudson2006 · Jun 7, 2015

Worth a shot one time to see if you enjoy it! My 10 year old daughter loves it, but she loves to draw. Drawing stresses me out, so it isn't my favorite! lol have fun!

samsteele · Jun 7, 2015

The class also tends to be pretty supportive of young children. Usually, the instructor picks a child to show their drawing at the end. Last time, a very excited & proud young lad held up his drawing of Winnie the Pooh . . . it was a stick figure

But a lovely stick figure! Everyone cheered! Pixie dust all round.

SPSRAS · Jun 7, 2015

This was actually one of the highlights of our trip (hopefully that doesn't make our trip sound bad - it wasn't) but my daughter really really enjoyed it and we framed her drawing when we got home - she is so proud of it - she shows it to everyone!

bhartman · Jun 7, 2015

Miskey said:
We did this on our last trip for the first time after seeing it mentioned so much here. We really liked it. The one tiny thing I didn't like, is the instructor kept trying for a character that everyone in the room had not drawn before, and it was obvious there were people in the room who have done this A LOT, because they had already drawn ALL the suggested characters.

After seeing the suggestion here, I had put an empty paper towel holder in my backpack and put our rolled drawings inside it to carry around in the backpack.

Great idea! I plan to do this with my art-loving kids in September. I'll be sure to bring a paper towel roll to put the drawings in. Thanks for sharing this tip!

Stitch808 · Jun 7, 2015

We did this for the first time last year. They show a video of characters being drawn while you wait to go into the drawing room. They won't tell you what you will be drawing until you get in there, but we drew Stitch last time. :stitch:

I suggest bringing the paper towel roll because we kept our drawings perfect until we were waiting for Fantasmic! and we accidentally sat on the drawings...oops. It is definitely worth the wait and a free souvenir!

kamikazecat · Jun 7, 2015

I think we are finally going to give this a try this trip. I am a terrible artist but my 9yo son loves to draw. I am sure his will turn out better than mine.

DemonLlama · Jun 7, 2015

I wish we'd known about this from our very first trips, but my daughter, who is leaving in two months to attend Ringling College of Art and Design in Florida, credits the Animation Academy as one of her first realizations that this is what she wanted to do.

A few photos across the years: