Footage. Talk to the animators who worked on Disney’s latest feature, TARZAN (opening June 19) and that’s the one word that continually comes up. Since film is measured in feet, “footage” is the animation term for the amount of completed work a person or department creates each week.
Footage is usually used as a barometer for how production is moving along, but on TARZAN, it meant freedom. Unlike recent Disney animated features that used quicker cuts and rat-a-tat production numbers, the animators on TARZAN were given the luxury of time for this latest take on the legendary ape-man. “This film probably has the longest scenes of any Disney film,” said Randy Haycock, supervising animator for TARZAN’s villain, Clayton.
“Many times we’ve gotten caught up in the idea that a scene was getting too long or slow. But we discovered that this film is just so much about character. We had to give the characters time to relate to each other."
“We’re allowing the characters to be characters,” noted Mike Surrey, who serves as supervising animator for the gorilla sidekick, Terk. “People are going to see the characters through acting.”
“I equate it to BAMBI,” added animator Glen Keane, who brings his masterly touch to TARZAN’s title character. "There was a film where they allowed Bambi, or the mother deer, to walk, lift their head, then have this attitude that showed they were extremely alert, all of their nerves were taut and they were receiving information. The audience was fascinated as it watched this deer go through this very naturalistic movement. Nothing else happens on the screen for long periods of time, you’re just following the movements of a deer. I felt that with Tarzan, that kind of action would be fascinating.”
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