I still remember vividly how a childhood friend of mine could sketch a perfect Mickey Mouse on back of his textbook in five minutes. To younger me it was magic.
And I always wonder how professional artists first came up with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Winnie the Pooh and many other Disney characters. Did they just doodle for the whole afternoon and suddenly get the inspiration? Or did they work their characters out in detail with thorough requirements in their minds?
You can figure it all out this summer at the National Museum of China. From now through August 18, the Walt Disney Animation Research Library will be showcasing many of their treasured collections at the museum, including many original sketches of our beloved Disney characters in their rudimentary forms.
In addition to over three hundred sketches and art objects, the exhibition will also demonstrate the animation process with an iPad program designed specifically for this event. The program will demonstrate step by step how successive drawings can create the illusion of movement, and how movements can become movies on the big screen with the help of computer programs.
Works will be themed into four different sections at the exhibition: love, family, courage and friendship.
Don’t know what to do this weekend? Take your kids to the National Museum to see how Mickey Mouse was made! The exhibition is bilingual.
National Museum of China 国家博物馆
Free. Tue-Sun 9am-5pm. Gallery N4, 16 E Chang’an Avenue, Dongcheng District.
Photos: beijingnews.com.cn, ctoy.com.cn
