I just found these historic color-slides hidden with 1000s others in one of my slide boxes. it was a big presentation in the disney studio that day, sometime in the fall in 1995 – the first presentation of the style designs for MULAN. we had mounted on boards some of the older paintings together with the latest look. that was as far as I remember the meeting where I was asked by some higher ranks if I could add a bit more detail to my designs, they looked too empty, the audience might think disney could not afford more elaborate backgrounds. oh well…
© disney enterprises, inc
my name is hans bacher, – I work as production designer in the animation film industry. for the last 40 years I lived and worked in duesseldorf, london, paris, los angeles, manila and tokyo. now I am professor for film-design at the nanyang techn. university in singapore.
Would love to know how they decorated the office space. Disney used to have the tradition of decorating the area to match the movie. Thanks for sharing.
I wonder how you did manage to convice them not to overload the BG with details.Simplicity was precisely what the staff was seeking for.
from hans -
that would be an extra story, maybe in my memoirs. I promised peter schneider, president of disney animation at that time, that I would make it work and that the film would look different but terrific. he said, if not, my head will roll. fair enough. after a while tom schumacher, senior vice president of animation, came up with the official definition of the style – poetic simplicity. what it probably was, but who cares…
and that’s how the movie looks indeed : different and terrific.
Did Mr. Schneider admit that you were right?
from hans -
he gave me a handwritten note saying that I did a good job and some more nice stuff