The Disney Animation Renaissance: Behind the Glass at the Florida Studio

Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida opened in Orlando at the dawn of the Disney Renaissance. As a member of the crew, Mary E. Lescher witnessed the small studio’s rise and fall during a transformative era in company and movie history. Her in-depth interviews with fellow artists, administrators, and support personnel reveal the human dimension of a technological revolution: the dramatic shift from hand-drawn cel animation to the digital format that eclipsed it in less than a decade. She also traces the Florida Studio’s parallel existence as a part of The Magic of Disney Animation, a living theme park attraction where Lescher and her colleagues worked in full view of Walt Disney World guests eager to experience the magic of the company’s legendary animation process.

A ground-level look at the entertainment giant, The Disney Animation Renaissance profiles the people and purpose behind a little-known studio during a historic era.

Mary E. Lescher (1957-2019) was an animator, art historian, and museum curator. She worked as a cameraperson and scene planner for Walt Disney Feature Animation and DisneyToon Studios from 1989 to 2006. The exhibits she curated include Collectibility: Art and Commodity from the Disney Renaissance and The Florida Studio: Disney Art and Artifact.