joe randel's art dump

So, as some of you might have guessed, I’m a pretty big fan if Disney  arts. What you might not know is that I wasn’t always a fan. In fact, back in college I down right detested everything that Disney did or had done. Why you might ask? Well it wasn’t just me. Most of my animation class had the same kind of stance. We hated the establishment because we thought we where better and because they sat at the top of the heap. I opinion of them didn’t change much. It did go from a hate to a “I couldn’t care less” kind of attitude. Once I had kids, my wife brought Disney back in to our lives with the Aristocats. I kept my  opinions to myself, but the more I watched the more I started to soften up. It wasn’t until Tangled was released that I changed my view entirely. I remember coming out of the theater in total awe. I was so incredibly moved by the story, the colour pallets, the characters, the designs and of course, the animation. It was like my eyes opened to the creativity that went in to these features. I felt like such a fool. This whole time… I just hated a name. I took no issues with other animation studios, just Disney and the Disney name. Back when I was a kid I loved watching Disney stuff. Ducktails, Darkwing Duck, Tail Spin and the rest of the Disney line up. I loved Aladdin, The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast too. I threw it all away and decided to turn my nose on what I thought was a huge corporate machine the killed creativity.

I’m sure that others out there will tell me that is exactly what Disney is. I will say that, yes… Disney at the end of the day is business and business has to make money. But for them to make that money, they need creative people like you and me. Business people make the gears turn, but with out gears, there is nothing. That’s how I view it anyway. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions on the matter.

Since then, been reading all kinds of Disney books. I was shocked to learn that all the techniques and innovations that I was taught in college for Classical Animation, was first done by Disney and his team. That he looked to his animation staff to become the first imagineers for the parks and that Walt Disney himself was an animator with vision and goals. It’s truly amazing what he dreamed up for us all to enjoy.

Now that my opinion has totally flipped and I’ve been to Disney World more than a few times. I would love to see me get my art in the galleries in the parks and on merch too. That would be fantastic. Drawing such naughty art of said characters though I think would be a stain on my art career and the one thing that stops me from trying. Not that I would ever show or mention it of course. Maybe one day I’ll give it a shot. I think I would drop to my knees and cry if I ever got the chance to have fan art hung in the park galleries for people to see. Maybe one day.