Well if you’ve visited this blog in the the past few days, I’m sure you know by now that I recently had the privilege to head out to California to attend both the premieres for Thor: The Dark World and Delivery Man in Hollywood. However, that wasn’t the only awesome event I experienced while out there! Disney welcomed us to the Disney Toon Studios for a preview of their latest home entertainment release, PLANES!
Now some of you may remember that I actually was able to visit the Disney Toon Studios back in June to preview PLANES before its theatrical release in August! It was such an amazing experience to meet the individuals who worked hard on this film. I was super excited to learn that I would get to meet with some of them again on this trip out to California. I’ve seen the film multiple times and with each viewing I have a new appreciation for the film and always find myself in awe of aviation!
One of the presenations we attended was by the Pre-Vis Development department on how to give PLANES “its wings!” We met with Jason McKinley, the Flight Supervisor, and Thomas Leavitt, the Aerial Pre-Vis Artist. They were part of a specialized team that was formed to make the planes flying as realistic as possible. Both the the director Klay Hall, and executive producer John Lasseter, mandated that when the planes are on the ground they had to be characters, but once they were in the sky, the planes had to be realistic and were limited to realistic physics.
It was really cool to hear them go through the process! The editorial department would evaluate the series of panels drawn by the story artists to get an idea of how the animation will flow. Once animated, the pre-vis department works to give the sequences that cinematic look, as well as give the planes in the film a more accurate look and feel.
They noted that the process from boards to final sequences took about a year. They spent about 6 weeks with Pre-Vis to add the second layer of animation. Adding in the soldering and lighting to the animation then takes another several months. It’s quite a process, but the beautiful animation in the ends is well worth it!
Big thanks to Jason and Thomas for meeting with us! It was beyond awesome to get a sneak peek into their world of aviation and Pre-Visual Development.
Disney’s Planes Salutes National Aviation History Month
Did you know that November is actually National Aviation History Month? Disney couldn’t have picked a better time to celebrate all things PLANES along with the Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack release of this great family film. If you head over to their Facebook page, there are lots of fun aviation themed facts to learn. Did you know that the home of the famous Wright Brothers and “birthplace of aviation” is located in Dayton, Ohio?
To celebrate National Aviation History Month, select aviation museums will feature “PLANES”-inspired learning materials designed to introduce children to the world of flight. Not only will they see the amazing characters made famous by PLANES, but learn about historic figures such as Charles Lindbergh, Amelia Earhart, and of course the Wright Brothers.
Top 10 Flyers
Now here is a special treat for all you aviation fans who may also enjoy ESPN’s Top 10! Here is a clip from one of the bonus features on the PLANES Blu-ray and DVD. It’s the Top 10 Flyers presented by ESPN’s Colin Cowherd.
Be sure to follow the hashtag #DisneyPlanesBloggers to check out all the fun my fellow bloggers and I had while learning more about this Blu-ray/DVD release! Don’t forget to connect with PLANES on Facebook and Twitter! In all the excitement of the home entertainment release on November 19th, be sure to also follow the #DisneyPlanes hashtag for the latest information and news on the film.
Don’t forget to check out my PLANES Fruit Snack and the teaser trailer too just in case you didn’t catch the film back in August!
While I attended an expense paid trip by Disney to the Thor: The Dark World Premiere and other events, all opinions are 100% my own. All original photos courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures. All edits by me.
That first photo is awesome, what a great time that must have been!!
Wow – sounds like you had a great time. I always love learning and actually seeing how they create movies like this. Both my kids loved Planes, can’t wait for it to come on DVD.
What a great experience to be so close to the making of the movies! I would love to attend one of these events!
Being in the Air Force, I love anything that has to do with planes. This looks like it was such a cool experience. I would have died if I’d gotten to go to Disney Toon Studios.
Love getting a behind the scenes look at movies! Such a great experience.
I love that photo of you and Dusty! My son would die. :-) We have such a great history of aviation in America. It’s nice to see Disney embracing that.
I can’t wait to see this movie! Looks like you had a great time!
Looks like you had a great time. I can’t wait to show Planes to my 3 year old nephew.
This movie was great – my boys loved it!
I think Santa is bringing this movie to my boys for Christmas. Looks like you had an amazing time. Thanks for sharing.