DISNEY
Veronica Alarcon
14 March 2013 / Story #2
JOU 1100: News Reporting
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL – When 23-year-old Megan
Maher first found out about the opening position for a Sketch Artist at
Disney’s The Magic of Animation Gallery in August of 2012, she knew not to
waste a minute in applying for the job. Maher had been waiting for an
opportunity like this to show Disney her artistic talents so that she can
follow her dreams in contributing magic to the company.
At the time, Maher was working as a Cast
Member at The American Idol Experience Attraction in Disney’s Hollywood
Studios. When her coordinator mentioned the job opening to her, knowing that
she would definitely be interested, Maher quickly sent The Magic of Animation
Gallery her portfolio of all her past work.
“From all the time that Megan had worked
here at American Idol, she had always been talking about how badly she wished
she could sit in one of the studios and let her imagination run. That was when
I knew I had to help out,” said Rachel Henry, Maher’s coordinator at the time.
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Now, Maher draws sketches from
pre-designed images of Disney characters for guests to purchase and frame. Guests
from all over the world come to the animation gallery to have these custom-made
sketches to give as gifts or to simply just bring back some of the Disney magic
home.
In the gallery, Maher sits in an
animation cell, or drawing desk, with her hair in bun and two pencils stuck in
it, and wears a white sketching glove on her right hand to not smudge the
paper. Several of her sketches are laid out around the desk so that guests can
view them and purchase them. When Maher isn’t drawing for her customers, she is
drawing every character in all the Disney films from which they appeared by
year. “Right now, I’m in the ‘90s, specifically in the film, “The Lion King”,
which is actually my inspiration in becoming an animator.”
Not only did “The Lion King” contribute
to her dreams of becoming a Disney animator, but also her father. Maher essentially grew up in Disney
property (Windermere Area), since her father worked for the company as well, as
part of the Disney Design Group. Maher watched her father and his coworkers in
the art studio and picked up on all the talents floating around. “Drawing is my
blood and I’m proud of it,” stated Maher.
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From there, she attended Ringling College
of Art and Design and graduated in the Computer Animation Program in the summer
of 2012. She also did an internship at the college with a Clean-up Animator who
taught her how to properly trace before painting. Now, she specials in
traditional animation, but claims that story telling is her “forté”.
“I’m a very character-oriented person. I
live to tell character’s stories!” She hopes to one day become a Feature
Animator in the Disney Animation Studio in California and create Disney
characters of her own for the world to watch and fall in love with.
“While my dreams of moving to California
are set in the far future, I am thankful for this opportunity to work my way up
and become a part of the most magical place in the world, where dreams come
true.”
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