The Black Cauldron

Ink and Paint, Scene Planning, Animation and Final Check, Camera and Administration

Click here to see the other departments crew photo.

The Black Cauldron used the traditional ink and paint process where the drawings were xeroxed onto cell and hand painted one by one. I remember that they experimented with a “new” xerox technique (I can’t remember the name) that prooved a failure as the line faded off the cell over time so they returned to the traditional xerox process. But production fell behind and everyone painted cells in the end.

(more…)

This picture of the crew of The Black Cauldron was taken at the end of production on the steps at the south end of the Animation building on the Walt Disney lot at 500 S Buena Vista St. Burbank California. This was the last feature animated film ever to be completed in this building. Approximately 1 year later we were “temporarily” relocated to a warehouse in Glendale.

The memo states that the relocation is temporary not to exceed 2-3 years. It would be 9 years before the animation department came back to the Walt Disney Studio lot, but not back to the animation building where they came from, but rather a new construction built specifically for them directly across the street.Because the animation department had been so successful in the so called temporary “warehouse environment” producing such classics as “Lion King” there was now alot of concern about the design of the “new animation building” to ensure continued success. That being said the decision was made to design the new building’s interior to mimick that of a warehouse since it was thought at the time that it was an important ingredient in the creation of a successful animated film. (wink)