Page 10 - Demo

A Wonderful World
AStory by Logan Saldana
nimated films have become a staple in the childhood of many students with classic movies like Mulan and Shrek, to recent releases like Frozen or Moana.
Animation dates back over 100 years with the release of Humorous Phases of Funny Faces by J. Stuart Blackton. Disney released their first animation in 1937 and now have a plethora of animated productions from Pixar’s Toy Story to the Incredibles franchise. Edgewood has played a part in the wonderment of animation through alumnus and Disney animator Michael Woodside, son to Coach Deborah Woodside.
Going to Edgewood, and living in Brevard in general, many feel the presence that Disney has just 45 minutes west. Woodside, who attended the University of Central Florida after graduating from Edgewood, has been a part of some major projects for Disney and Pixar. Of the animated pieces, some of the most notable include Wreck-It-Ralph, Moana, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, and Frozen. Movies like Frozen and Wreck- It-Ralph are award winners, making it hard to see any clear favorites for Woodside to animate. He does however, have one piece that stands out to him more than the rest.
“I loved animating Moana! She was such an inspirational character to be around,” Woodside recounted.
Aside from being well-known around Edgewood for his relation to beloved gym coach Deborah Woodside, Woodside is well-known on a larger scale for his outstanding accomplishments as a Disney animator. He was part of the animating team that received an Oscar for the movie Frozen, and more specifically part of the team animating Olaf, the snowman, in the film. Woodside also received the Certificate
Edgewood alum draws attention to himself.
of Merit at the 2010 Annie Awards, for his service to the art, craft, and industry of animation.
The first project Woodside worked on was Wreck-It Ralph which came out in 2012.
“I was an Assistant Animator,” Woodside said.. “I was responsible for animating a lot of the background characters.” Even background characters play a crucial part in movies. We all start somewhere and for Woodside that somewhere was the corner of his notebooks while at school in Edgewood. “I was always drawing as a kid. I started animating little moments while I was at Edgewood in 7th and 8th grade. I used to draw in the corner of my textbooks and notebooks
during class to make little flip books,” Woodside said. Animating is obviously something that stuck with Woodside; he has quite the talent for it. Even the best of the best, however, have that one character that poses difficulties for them when animating. For Woodside this was Ralph in Wreck-It Ralph.
Luckily he had fellow animators at Disney to help him out.
“It was my first film at Disney and I still had a lot to learn. The best thing about a place like Disney is that the supervisors are very encouraging and helped me grow through that film,”
Woodside said..
With the help from college and his leaders at Disney,
Woodside has become a very successful animator. He continues animating and working hard to not only be the amazing animator he is, but to strive to be even better. Woodside believes that with the help of the other animators he learned lots of things about his career.
“It’s amazing what an encouraging leader can do,” Woodside said.
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