By Casey Noenickx
For The Diamondback
After a montage of famous Disney scenes from movies such as The Lion King and Wreck-It Ralph played, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Nick Orsi connected those scenes to an upcoming production, Zootopia.
“The studio’s goal is to pay homage to what we’ve done in the past and stay true to our legacy, but at the same time, move forward,” said Orsi, who visited the University of Maryland to give a lecture on animation to about 50 people in Tawes Hall on Tuesday afternoon.
Orsi, a visual development artist, detailed to the audience full of art and film majors what it was like to work on the movie premiering Friday, his journey as an artist and how he got to where he is today.
“When I was in college, I was so afraid of what was out there — you need to get a job, you need student loans. There’s all these pressures and this big cloak over everything — like The Wizard of Oz — and you don’t know what’s behind it,” Orsi said.
Orsi was hired at Disney in 2011 after working with Lucasfilm; he worked his way up to become a character designer for Zootopia. He has since contributed to upcoming Disney films Moana and Gigantic.
Orsi previewed Zootopia to the audience, showing different clips of characters and revealing plot twists. The film stars Ginnifer Goodwin as the voice of Judy, a feisty rabbit who believes anyone can be anything, and Jason Bateman as the voice of Nick, a sneaky fox who believes personalities stay true.
He also presented original drawings of the characters in Zootopia, explaining his process of researching animals, watching movies, going to the zoo and adjusting anatomies in the ways he felt each animal should be characterized.
He also explained his artistic process and the challenges of working with just a pencil and paper. Orsi said he strays from working digitally, as he feels more confident with a pen in his hand.
To some art majors in the audience, the lecture was an inspirational, relatable concept.
“I’m a traditional artist,” said Michelle Hahm, a senior studio art major. “I liked the fact that somebody who came from a traditional art background made it to Disney.”
Orsi took questions from the audience as well. Some asked questions about Orsi’s professional history or where he plans on going next.
“I’m an artist, too, and I’m not really sure where to go next,” said studio art major Janet Fahnbulleh. “It was kind of eye-opening and helpful to see you can end up going wherever the wind blows, as long as you’re good at your practice.”
While Orsi said he wanted to get the audience excited about this new film, he also added that he wanted his words about becoming a successful artist to resonate with the students.
“My hope … is to pull off the cloak and be like, ‘Here, look, this is what it’s going to be like. Here’s why it’s great and here’s some things you’re going to need to adjust to, but this is what it means to be a working artist,'” he said.
