Rancorous giggles and vigorous applause erupt through a captivated audience as Darrin Butters, character animator for Disney, previews clips from his upcoming picture "Moana." Although he didn't pay much attention to the clips himself because he was too invested in the audience's reaction.
Butters, a Disney character animator who has worked on films like “Tangled," “Big Hero 6,” “Frozen” and being released Nov. 23, “Moana,” came to speak to film students in Tempe Thursday about his latest project and a little about his history working with Walt Disney Animation Studios.
Butters has worked with Walt Disney Animation Studios since 1996 and has animated several iconic characters that generations are celebrating today. In an interview before the event, he said that his job with Disney is one he sort of fell into.
“I’ve always been a performer, doing acting, improv, puppet shows or magic shows when I was a kid,” Butters said. “I’ve always had an affinity for drawing and illustrating, and the more I explored both of those avenues, the more animation was kind of the perfect blend of art and performing. That’s why I feel like animation kind of found me.”
He went on to say that when he applied for the job at Disney, he showed them his animation, but that wasn’t what landed him the position.
“They were like, ‘Great this is cool, but we see you’ve done all this theater stuff, and that’s something we really can’t teach,'" Butters said. "That desire to show an audience something — that was what got me the job.”
Butters said that he entered the job when the industry shifted toward digital animation, and that’s where his computer literacy skills really started to come into play.
“A lot of animators get into it by doing hand-drawn animation, and that wasn’t really my path,” he said. “It was more through my ability to understand the computer and make it do what I wanted to do. It was kind of my own path.”
While Butters has been traveling to spread the word of “Moana” and its upcoming release, he also had the opportunity to share his experience and passion for animating with students who also have aspirations of working in film or animation.
When asked about what he hoped students would get out of the event, he said he hoped the students would feel as inspired as he does when he sees their reactions to what he is doing.
“There is a theme in the movie about finding your identity — about knowing who you are, getting to find out what your destiny should be,” Butters said. “That’s kind of the stage the audience is in, here at the college. You’re kind of trying to figure out what your calling is or where you fit in and I think it might speak to people.”
During the presentation, Butters was able to speak with students about the process behind creating the film that has been five years in the making, and to show a few exclusive clips to the audience so they could get a feel for what the movie is like. Students had to make sure to keep their phones off during the event for, as Butters said he had, “a free pass from Disney to punch them in the face.”
The conversation went from talking about researching Pacific Island culture and myth, to casting the characters in the film such as 14-year-old Auli’I Cravalho, who voiced Moana, and Dwayne Johnson, who voices the character of Maui.
“Dwayne Johnson’s commitment to the film was a source of inspiration,” Butters said in the presentation.
After hearing about everything that went into the film, Courtney Clark, film and media studies senior, said that hearing him speak and watching the clips made her want to see the film even more than she already had.
“I’m a Disney freak,” Clark said. “So learning about it was fun. Learning how much they actually have to do — how much research they have to do … Like who would’ve thought you’d have to do research on a chicken? They should do this more often.”
Lizette Nunez, film and media production junior, said that she was impressed by all the work that went into the film as well.
“It’s just very mind blowing to think there is so much work and there is so much that they do,” Nunez said. “Five or six years they’ve been working on this? That’s insane, but it all comes together, and that’s the amazing part.”
During the event, while each clip was rolling on screen in front of the students, Butters would stare out into the audience instead of looking at the movie, a fact he said was because he gets a, “charge from showing people his creations.”
“I understand what he means when you want to show it to somebody, and then they like it, and you just get excited cause it’s like, 'So cool, they like it, this is great,'” Nunez said.
During the interview, Butters stated that while he loves working for Disney and being a character animator, visiting with students and sharing his work is another passion of his.
“I love doing this,” Butters said. “I could do this all the time. It’s so fun to talk to people and see how much my work impacts people in such deep ways.”
After the presentation, students were able to ask him questions. One student asked if he had any advice for students wanting to become animators or go into film.
“Make stuff,” Butters said. “Everything you do, you will learn something you couldn’t from just reading. Get honest feedback. Don’t get caught up in the tools, learn the principles. That’s what’s important.”
Reach the reporter at balnero13@gmail.com or follow @BaldnerOwen on Twitter.
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