Disney animator speaks to students on campus


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Have you ever wondered how your favorite Disney films come to life? On Wednesday, USC students were invited to get a glimpse inside the creation of Disney’s new animated comedy Zootopia directed by Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Jared Bush. The event took place in the Ray Stark Family Theater and was sponsored by Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Chad Sellers, current animation adviser for Disney Animation, took the audience on a journey through his career of overseeing the performances of characters from the director’s perspective, while maintaining a consistency in the characters’ personalities. Furthermore, Sellers divulged everything one needs to know about what goes into animating popular family films.

Sellers has been working with Disney Animation since 2009 and is known for his work in popular films, such as Tangled, Feast, Wreck-it-Ralph and Frozen.  Prior to working for Disney, Sellers worked with Sony Picture Imageworks as an animator of the popular films, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and Pirates of the Caribbean. In his films, Sellers focuses on specific characters in individual sequences which leads to the development of main characters and the production of the overall story, all while maintaining the director’s vision of the film.

Zootopia, Sellers’ most recent work, is a story of a capital city where all of the residents are animals. Just like Los Angeles, the city of Zootopia is a diverse city with residents coming from high-income and low-income areas. The story line revolves around Judy Hopp, a bunny who has become a police officer among a workforce of tough animals. With a will to prove her capabilities in the law enforcement field, Officer Hopps takes on her own investigation and leads the audience through an adventurous comedy in the metropolitan area.

The film features many pop culture references that aren’t too hokey, and even pokes fun at Disney’s stereotypical cheesiness. In addition, Zootopia is said to tackle many social issues that are present in today’s society, including sexism and racial diversity.

In addition, the voices of Jason Bateman and Ginnifer Goodwin are featured in the Disney film among a cast of directors, Rich Moore and Jared Bush, commonly known for directing animations such as The Simpsons and Penn Zero: Part Time Hero.

Guests attending the event had the opportunity to view a behind-the-scenes animation presentation. The audience also had a chance to ask Sellers their own questions about animation and his advising along with his prior experience with Disney during an open Q&A. Additionally, guests had the chance to win tickets to a 3D advance screening of Zootopia as a part of Leonard Maltin’s film symposium scheduled for Thursday at 7:45 p.m.

Zootopia will be released in theaters Friday. More information regarding the film can be found online.