Welcome! We’re here with a new Sunday issue of the Animation Obsessive newsletter. This is the plan:

• 1) The creative process of Aaron Blaise.

• 2) Animation newsbits.

Now, let’s go!

1 – A Disney legend

In the ‘80s and ‘90s, Disney animation came back. Viewers got excited about the films again: this stuff was more ambitious, more relevant. Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King didn’t feel like The Black Cauldron. The press was talking about a “Disney renaissance” as early as 1988.1

The renewed energy in Disney’s movies had many causes. For one, computers started to reshape its process. The new management played in, too. When Eisner took over, he noted that the company couldn’t “rely on the Disney name and reputation alone” to appeal to the “tastes of a new generation.” His regime left room for fresh ideas.2

Even more important, though, was the team. The Nine Old Men passed the reins to younger artists — like animator Glen Keane. Their role was to continue Disney’s tradition beyond where it’d been. If they failed, the tradition failed with them.

Back then, Aaron Blaise stood among the new people — the ones who made the renaissance happen. He joined Disney in the late ‘80s and climbed quickly. You’ve seen his work: he was an animator on the Beast and supervised the tiger in Aladdin, plus characters in Lion King and Mulan. Eventually, he became one of the two Brother Bear directors.

Blaise is an artist steeped in the Disney school. His gold-standard animators include Glen Keane and Mark Henn (his mentors), Andreas Deja and the Nine. He describes James Baxter as “one of the best animators who’s ever lived” and someone “up there with the Milt Kahls of the world.” And, although he left Disney years ago, Blaise carries its style with him and continues to teach it.3

You find that style in his recent film Snow Bear — currently getting Oscar buzz.

Earlier this week, Blaise spoke to our teammate John via Zoom. He went deep into his approach to animation, and into how intensely, personally meaningful the Snow Bear project has been for him. Their chat (edited for length, clarity and flow) appears below.

John (Animation Obsessive): I guess my first question is, what does a piece of animation need for