FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Katie Boone
Phone: (818) 433-7600
Email: press@etmla.org
Website: www.etmla.org
On March 29, 2021, Education Through Music-Los Angeles (ETM-LA) continued its At-Home Family Hour Series with the composer and animators behind Disney Frozen and Frozen II. ETM-LA partner school students, families, and community members enjoyed this special virtual event that featured character drawing tutorials and gave a behind-the-scenes look into the creative process of writing songs for film.
Special guests included Christophe Beck (Emmy-Winning Film/TV Composer – Frozen, Frozen II, WandaVision & ETM-LA Advisory Board Member) and Trent Correy (Supervising Animator – Frozen II, Frozen, Zootopia), who shared how they work as a team on an animated movie. Correy commented, “Music and animation are siblings; they go together.”
Beck described how he matches the action and emotions of animated scenes through his compositions, and shared his “favorite tricks” when creating specific melodies for each of the characters. Of the scene in Frozen II where Olaf re-enacts a recap of the entire first Frozen movie, he explained that the music was arranged so that the original music for each Frozen scene played during Olaf’s rapid-fire re-telling — about 12-14 musical selections condensed into a three-minute scene!
The participants received drawing lessons for characters Olaf, Anna, and Elsa from Correy and his fellow Disney animators. Wayne Unten (Supervising Animator – Frozen II, Wreck-It Ralph, Tangled) shared that Elsa’s movements when casting her magic were inspired by the flowing movements of modern dance, specifically by choreographer Martha Graham. For Anna, Supervising Animator Hyun-Min Lee (Frozen II, Raya and the Last Dragon, Moana) shared that emotions were portrayed mainly through her eyebrows, later demonstrating this in a drawing breakout lesson. Correy, the main supervising animator for Olaf, reflected that Olaf “always looks to the positive side of life” and has a “ready to hug” pose. Of course, as Correy pointed out, it helps that his arms are wooden and not able to bend!
The icing on the (carrot) cake was when Olaf – Actor Josh Gad – made a surprise guest appearance! The students excitedly showed off their amazing Olaf drawings while Gad scrolled through each Zoom page to view each one – giving inspiring comments to the kids. He encouraged them to keep practicing, reminding them that it’s “…a lot of hard work, but you’re already getting a head start!”
As the event came to a close with Q&A, the artists talked about their daily work schedules and what brings them inspiration. One student asked, “How would you draw Olaf’s house?” The answer, according to Correy, is it has to be cold — and also “wherever Anna and Elsa are, since he would want to be close to them.”
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