Computer Animation Festival

Speaker(s):
Seth Boyden, Walt Disney Animation Studios, United States of America
Becky Bresee, Disney Animation, United States of America
Jim Hasman, Walt Disney Animation Studios, United States of America
Dan Abraham, Walt Disney Animation Studios, United States of America
Trent Correy, Walt Disney Animation Studios, United States of America

Speaker:

Abstract: Join director Dan Abraham, director Trent Correy, head of animation Becky Bresee, associate producer Jim Hasman, and story artist Seth Boyden as they discuss the making of their studio’s latest CG animated short film, Once Upon a Snowman. They’ll discuss the original project pitch, how they transitioned directly from the Frozen 2 production onto the short, and how they had to dig out the “time machine,” a computer from the original Frozen production, to once again animate some of that film’s famous scenes. In Once Upon a Snowman, now available on Disney+, Olaf, the bouncy, irascible, and playful summer-loving snowman from Walt Disney Animation Studio’s award-winning Frozen franchise, returns in a gorgeously animated and charmingly funny new animated short. Josh Gad is back to voice everyone’s favorite winter sidekick though this time, he’s a bit more ponderous and inquisitive as he questions his own identity, as well as choice of noses. The film shares the previously untold origins of the innocent and insightful snowman we first met in the studios’ 2013 Academy Award-winning Frozen, and its 2019 follow-up, Frozen 2. In the new film, written and directed by Dan Abraham and Trent Correy, we see Olaf’s first steps as he comes to life and searches for his identity, mit and sans sausage nose, in the snowy mountains outside Arendelle.

Speaker(s) Bio:
Seth Boyden joined Walt Disney Animation Studios in April of 2019 and is most recently credited on Once Upon a Snowman. As a story artist, Boyden creates a visualization of the script through story panels to inspire the directors, discover new ideas, and identify and refine the emotional rhythm of a sequence. He is currently working on Disney Animation’s unannounced 2021 feature film. Raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Boyden was interested in both cartoons and botany until he discovered his fascination for animation. His childhood dream led him to attend the California Institute of the Arts and continues today as he lives in Burbank with his other early childhood interest, lots of lively plants.

Becky Bresee began her Disney Animation career as an animator on the film Dinosaur. In her career, she has worked on several WDAS films including Bolt, Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph, Zootopia and Moana. Within the world of Frozen, Becky was the supervising animator of the character Anna for Frozen, and went on to be head of animation on the short Frozen Fever and on last year’s Frozen 2. Last Summer, she jumped immediately from heading the animation on Frozen 2 to doing the same role for Once Upon a Snowman.

Jim Hasman has spent over a decade of his film career at Walt Disney Animation Studios. Within his career, Hasman has been the production manager of the animated features Ralph Breaks the Internet and most recently, Frozen 2, which is the #1 animated feature of all time. In his role as production supervisor, Hasman has worked on the film Frozen, overseen the effects team on Moana, and the animation team on Zootopia. His first project with Disney Animation was as production department manager for backgrounds and visual development on The Princess and the Frog.

Dan Abraham is a veteran story man, director and animator, who began his association with Walt Disney Animation Studios in 2005, when he started an internship which led to fulltime roles at the Studio and DisneyToon Studios. At DTS, he was head of story on the theatrical feature Planes and made his directing debut on the short, Vitaminamulch: Air Spectacular. Dan was a leading story artist on Frozen 2 and is currently working on a certain film that isn’t officially announced but maybe Lin-Manuel Miranda talked about it on Good Morning America a few months ago.

Trent Correy started at Walt Disney Animation Studios in 2012 as an animation trainee in the Talent Development Program. His credits as an animator include Frozen, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, Moana, and multiple shorts. In addition to his feature assignment on Frozen 2 (where he oversaw the animation of Olaf, Bruni the fire spirit salamander, among other characters), he made his directing debut on the Short Circuit film, Drop. He is currently at work on an as-yet unannounced new project for Disney+.

Speaker: