In and Around the Disney Studios

Today was spent jumping between Disney Animation Studio (the fabled "hat building") and DisneyToon Studio. (The unfabled Sonora Building, which from the outside occupies a rung immediately above a down-at-the-heels warehouse/office building. On the inside, however, DisneyToons has hanging lights, retro furniture, potted plants, and a general air of northern California chic. The big-screen LCDs hanging on a center wall aren't too shabby either...)

The "Tink" crews up on the second floor at DisneyToons are working right along. They're at the end of the second pass of the first "Tinkerbell" sequel, with a screening for John Lasseter and the southern California division of the Diz Animation brain trust soon to follow.

The crew's hoping that the next Tinkerbell epic (there's a total of four) is ready for boarding by the end of the year so they can seamlessly swing on over.

Over at Disney Animation Studio, Bolt is slowly accelerating. Crew expects to be working hard on the flick right through to its release next Fall.

And as long as I'm talking about the hat building, let me mention the fine display case in the long entry hall. It ain't just a display case anymore, but a multi media case. It's got art, photos and LCD screens displaying shorts, test footage, and documentaries on Disney history. For the last month or so they've featured development on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and a cluster of photographs from various Snow White premieres.

Fun stuff to look at. Without any trouble at all I could stand gaping at everything for an hour or more. But I work hard to hold my open-mouthed staring down to a few minutes.