Our very own Chuck Canzoneri attended a very special Pinocchio panel discussion at the El Capitan Theatre on January 22nd, & he has sent in these pictures & a couple of videos to us (with captions written by himself):

I went to the El Capitan to catch the premiere screening of the newly restored Pinocchio.

Outside window display.

Looking for merchandise? There was affordable plush.

Somewhat expensive sculptures and light boxes.

Or for $2000, a framed animation cell from the actual movie.

Pinocchio himself was meeting and greeting in the lobby. Overall the special decorations to go with the film were non-existent.

Not even a Pinocchio popcorn bucket.

Your pre-show entertainment.

A red button? Is he able to launch rockets from the piano?

Time for the special Panel Discussion, before the film.

The panel was hosted by Disney legend Don Hahn.

The panel was to show you all that goes into creating a cell-animated movie.

This is Dickie Jones, the voice of Pinocchio. Wow!

He sat down for a lively conversation about working with Walt and being part of Disney history.

Afterwards, Don showed how a hand-drawn film like Pinocchio gets made.

He showed the storyboard sketches for “Give a Little Whistle”.

The money was a common trick. Don explained that Walt would put money on the board in places where he needed a clever idea. Whoever thought of the idea, would replace the money with the drawing and pocket a little extra cash.

After going through storyboards, Don moved onto sculpting. He’s joined by Ruben Procopio who’s worked on The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and Mulan.

Ruben showed how they make model sculptures so all the animators have a consistent look to the major characters as they work on their individual scenes.

Ruben’s sculpture of Jiminy Cricket.

This is the actual 70-year-old model of Pinocchio.

This is the 70-year-old model of Geppetto.

Ruben also sculpts figures which are sold throughout the parks.

Popular legend Eric Goldberg goes over basic animation.

These are his drawings to sync with a line of dialogue from the film.

Here you can see the finished product.

Eric showed how words would be animated by writing them out letter by letter on a beat sheet.

Finally, a demonstration of inking and painting by Sherri Vandoli. She’s been doing this for 29 years.

Lastly, before the film began, we were treated to Disneyland’s very own Dapper Dans performing “When You Wish Upon A Star”.

Here’s a video of that performance.

Thanks for the great report Chuck!