CalArts' reputation as a womb of creative, new animation stems solely from the gentle inspiration of Jules Engel. Former animation students include award-winning film and video artists who helped redefine independent animation in the Seventies and Eighties.
The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) was incorporated in 1961 after the merger of two, well-established professional schools, the Los Angeles conservatory of Music and Chouinard Art Institute. It was established and funded by Walt Disney, who dreamed of a "City of the Arts" within a school where students of all of the arts would intermingle to develop ideas and skills.
"I like the workshop idea," said Disney in 1964, "with students being able to drop in and learn all kinds of arts. You know, a kid might start out in art and end up as a talented musician. . . . The trouble with universities is that they restrict students from learning about a lot of things. The young people have to get so many credits toward their subjects. That won"t be true at CalArts. Students will be able to take anything—art, drama, music, dance, writing..."
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