John Musker and Ron Clements have been a directorial, writing, and producing team on THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE, THE LITTLE MERMAID, and ALADDIN for the Walt Disney Studio. Their unique blend of witty comedy, appealing heroines and heroes, and clever art direction is helping to redefine the Studio's styl – nd breaking box-office records. Here they discuss their background and training, and give some idea of how they work together.
NANCY BEIMAN: I guess we could start by asking you how you got interested in animation, and what your early training was.
RON CLEMENTS: One of the first movies I saw was CINDERELLA. I think I was 2-and that didn't make a real big impression on me.But, a few years later, when I saw PINOCCHIO, that had a profound impact. I went back and saw the movie about two more times, made drawings from the movie. That movie, and SLEEPING BEAUTY, were the two Disney pictures that had a big influence on me. I thought animation was so exciting-something to go into. I sort of fantasized - I played that I was an animator.
NB: How did you do that? By flipping drawings?
JOHN MUSKER: By drinking....
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