![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770396907_636_LAC_BySethKubersky_6884.jpg\")
A Disney animator\u2019s desk in Orange County Regional History Center\u2019s Drawing Magic exhibition Credit: Seth Kubersky<\/p>\nA Disney animator\u2019s desk in Orange County Regional History Center\u2019s Drawing Magic exhibition Credit: Seth Kubersky<\/p>\n
The frigid finale of Animal Kingdom\u2019s Dinoland U.S.A. on Feb. 1 added Dinosaur to the list of long-running Walt Disney World attractions that have gone extinct within the last year. While some fans are grieving the ride\u2019s imminent Indiana Jones makeover as much as I mourn MuppetVision<\/a> and Tom Sawyer Island<\/a>, you won\u2019t hear anyone crying over the closure of Star Wars Launch Bay at Disney\u2019s Hollywood Studios. That\u2019s largely because the little-lamented exhibit and its surrounding courtyard are returning to their roots and reopening this summer as the Magic of Disney Animation, a new incarnation of one of Disney-MGM Studios\u2019 opening-day headliners.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re excited about an interactive exploration of the animation process returning to town, you don\u2019t have to wait for Disney\u2019s version \u2014 which will include a Mary Blair-inspired playground and multiple princess meet-and-greets \u2014 because the Orange County Regional History Center\u2019s new exhibition Animationland covers much of the same ground, without the IP or expensive admission. Katie Kelley, the History Center\u2019s curator of exhibitions, gave me a tour of the exhibit and its locally curated companion show, Drawing Magic, devoted to Walt Disney Feature Animation\u2019s former Florida unit.<\/p>\n Animationland is a touring exhibit developed by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, an institution Kelley praises for their \u201chighly interactive exhibitions, particularly ones that incorporate science and creativity.\u201d Visitors follow a pencil\/dog named Tracey as she creates Animationland from her imagination, starting in her studio with an RFID-based demonstration of basic storyboarding. From there, guests can trace a character (or create their own) before moving onto other simple computer-assisted demonstrations of flip-book animation.<\/p>\n Although aimed at children from preschool through pre-teen, Kelley says they\u2019ve already seen guests of all ages enjoying Animationland\u2019s activities. The antique Mutoscope and stop-motion camera will be of particular interest to grown-ups, and the Foley sound effects booth demonstration is strongly reminiscent of a feature formerly found in the theme parks. But the best reason for Disney adults to visit is accompanying exhibit Drawing Magic, which displays memorabilia \u2014 from park maps and collectible pins to a commemorative crew coffee cup \u2014 charting the rise and fall of WDFA Florida, which only lasted from 1989 to 2004.<\/p>\n The small studio started with only 78 artists, who were initially little more than living props for the theme park\u2019s animation studio tour, where guests would walk through a simplified version of the animation pipeline. However, Disney-MGM\u2019s debut coincided with the start of Disney\u2019s second animation renaissance, and the Florida unit was soon put to work on parts of scenes or characters for The Rescuers Down Under, Aladdin and The Lion King.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBy the mid-\u201990s, the studio had grown [and] there was just incredible talent here,\u201d says Kelley. \u201cA couple of Disney\u2019s most iconic animators of the \u201990s were at the Florida studio, so by the mid-\u201990s, they were given Mulan to take on as their own production.\u201d<\/p>\n The centerpiece of Drawing Magic is an actual animator\u2019s desk from the Disney studio, which was donated to UCF. It is cleverly displayed surrounded by life-sized graphics of gawking tourists, re-creating the vantage of artists who worked within the tour\u2019s \u201cfishbowl\u201d windows. One former Disney animator who remembers that experience well is Thomas Thorspecken, who began as a trainee in-betweener on The Lion King and rose to key assistant animator on Lilo & Stitch and Brother Bear.<\/p>\n \u201cMy first day on the job, my desk was right against the wall where the tourists looked down at the artists at work. The glass was soundproof, but I could hear the tourists knocking on the glass every few minutes. I would look up at them and they would give me a thumbs-up with a big smile. It was a nightmare. I felt like a gorilla in a zoo,\u201d recalls Thorspecken, who later discovered a prank note reading, \u201cIf you like my work, please knock on the glass\u201d taped to his glass wall. \u201cI was dumbfounded. The artist across from me a slight distance from the glass was laughing his head off. It was a memorable first day in the fishbowl.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Pixar\u2019s 1995 hit Toy Story made Disney executives focus on CGI and largely phase out hand-drawn animation, shuttering the Florida studio in 2004. \u201cI was there until they closed the studio down. When an artist walked down the hall, we would mutter \u2018dead man walking,\u2019\u201d says Thorspecken. \u201cEventually a huge meeting was called and we were told the studio would close down. We were given a few months to write r\u00e9sum\u00e9s and apply to other studios.\u201d<\/p>\n Following the closure, Thorspecken and several other Disney animators joined Dominic Carola at Project Firefly (now Premise Entertainment), a start-up studio that worked on the 2006 Curious George feature. He went on to document Orlando\u2019s arts scene in sketches and \u2014 along with many of his fellow former colleagues \u2014 teach art at area schools like Full Sail and Creald\u00e9, making the studio\u2019s impact echo long after its end.\u00a0<\/p>\n The reimagined Magic of Disney Animation attraction will doubtless be better than the mostly empty hall of mock movie props it\u2019s replacing, but it will never be an authentic working studio again. You\u2019ve got until May 3 to get to the History Center if you want a real look at how cinematic magic was once made right here in Orlando.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAnimationland\u201d and \u201cDrawing Magic,\u201d through May 3 at the History Center, 65 E. Central Blvd., thehistorycenter.org<\/a>, $10.<\/p>\n Orlando\u2019s daily dose of what matters. Subscribe to The Daily Weekly.<\/p>\n Related Stories<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\tEven for audiences willing to return to Rowling, the truncated touring version of \u2018Cursed Child\u2019 running at the Dr. Phillips Center may not connect\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\tSo cruise industry marketeers have dubbed the slow months from January through March, when they now offer attractive discounts\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Theater](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770396907_68_ARTS_HPCC_NATour_with_Nightingale_Close_Smith_PhotoByMatthewMurphy.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Mark](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/LAC_bigboat_sethkubersky_6286.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
![\"15](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/CLYMOVE-06-scaled.jpeg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n