Leaving A Legacy...

Amazing what a day brings...

At an event honoring the life of Roy E. Disney, the Walt Disney Company announced that the studio's animation building will be named after him. It's not known if this is the original animation building or another, new one. If it's a new one, The Roy E. Disney Animation Building would be built on the studio lot in Burbank, not in Glendale next to WDI on Flower Street as John Lasseter and Ed Catmull originally wanted.

Unlike the Hat Building, which was designed with Michael Eisner's ego in mind, this one would be designed with animators in mind. You know them, right? It would be filled with open spaces designed to make people bump into one another, kind of like that other animation complex in Northern California run by the Lamp. If it's a new building, the exact location on the lot wasn't revealed, but in all likelihood it will be placed in the parking lot across the street from the ABC Building. This is where it was originally planned over two years ago, but was nixed because of the cost the underground parking structure was deemed too expensive for that time. It's unknown what changes have been made, but if built, the designs would be heavily influenced by John and Ed with a little advise from Steve.

More to follow...

UPDATE: When I first heard this, I was curious as to why an announcement would be made on a Sunday, and it appears that this wasn't the original animation building, but the Hat Building, guys. A re-naming, not a new building. Big news like a new building would arrive on a weekday to get the most press. Renaming a building that isn't built for animation for a man that helped bring about the animation rebirth of the company isn't nearly as big of news as we would like. Check out the story here. It would be nice to see some of those other plans for the original "new" building. Being as we're in a recession right now, I'm not sure that we'll see a new structure unless WDAS starts making major box office which sadly, "Princess and the Frog" hasn't achieved.

More to follow II...