The Animation Experience at Disney's Animal Kingdom

 While visiting Rafiki's Planet Watch at Disney's Animal Kingdom, we took part in an animation class called the Animation Experience.  



You have to take the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch and if you need to know more information on how to find that, you can read this post HERE (click)



The Animation class is something I've never done before but have heard about it from others on social media. I like to draw ( doesn't mean I am good at it, but I like it), so I thought this would be a good thing to try since we are always trying to do new things at the parks and resorts. 


The Animation Experience is located inside the Conservation Station (right in front of the Animal Health Care Center).   There are several classes throughout the day. Each class lasts about 25-30 minutes.



When we walked into the "Classroom" we were given a pencil (like a small golf pencil without an eraser).  I told the cast member that I was going to need an eraser and they just laughed and said to do my best!  

We were also given a piece of  sketch paper with "Animation Experience" printed in one corner and the name of a Disney movie printed in the other corner. I didn't know if the movie was a hint to what we were  going to draw or if it was just for promotion purposes.  

On each comfy seat was a clip board.  We promptly clipped our sketch paper on to the clipped board and anxiously waited to see what character we would be drawing. 

I was REALLY hoping to draw a character from the Lion King, hopefully Simba.  I already had plans as to how I would display my Simba drawing ( if it was any good..lol). 

But then, the instructor started talking about another character. Neither my sister nor myself had any idea who he was talking about.  The character was called Tuk Tuk  from the movie Raya and the Last Dragon.  So yes, the movie title on the sketch paper was indeed a huge clue as to the character we would be drawing. 

I think we were both a little disappointed that we weren't drawing a character that we actually heard of, but we did our best and had fun doing it. Remember, we had no erasers...lol




As we drew, the instructor had a large screen that we could watch to follow along. The sketch paper had grid lines on it to help us with our lines.  The instructor did a nice job and it was easy to follow along.  However, the part that was challenging was that because we didn't know who Tuk Tuk was, we didn't know what our picture was suppose to look like.  It would have been helpful if the instructor showed us what the finish product should look like in the beginning.  About half way through, we did cheat and Googled Tuk Tuk to see what this character actually looked like. That gave us a better understanding as to what we were drawing! 



TIP:  If you plan to go to the Animation Experience and want to preserve your drawing, bring something to wrap your sketch in.  We brought an extra pair of socks and slipped one over each end of the rolled up drawing. Rolling the paper prevents it from getting wrinkled, and the socks protect it from getting wet or anything else.  We did the Animation Experience in the morning and carried the drawings in our back pack ( which also had a bottle of water in it), and it stayed in good shape all day.  You could also bring a folder to slip your sketch in, if you can fit a folder in your  backpack or park bag. 

The Animation Classes start at 10:00 am and run about every 45 minutes. Since Rafiki's Planet Watch closes before the rest of the park, the last class starts at 4:45 pm.  You may want to double check the times during your visit. 


Although I wasn't crazy about drawing Tuk Tuk, I did enjoy the class and would go back again and try drawing another character.


I have included some video from my Instagram that you can see HERE.

( This link might only show you the first slide, but the rest of them can be found in my Highlights under "Disney Fun".)

Have you ever taken an animation class?  What character would you want to draw? -M

3 comments:

  1. This sounds like fun, but I suck on drawing! Brilliant idea to Google the character — I agree they should have a poster of the character. Love the sock idea too!

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  2. OK - that would be the coolest class - but yep - I'm coming with my own pencils - WITH ERASERS (I love you asked about that) .. & I may have my little pencil pouch with the color pencils LOL... I would love to sit through this class though. Good idea about something to roll it up in!

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  3. Sounds like fun but I cannot draw! I would like to draw one of the dogs from Lady and the Tramp, since we have a Cocker Spaniel!

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