Production design in animation is a unique art form. Disney's Beauty and the Beast, directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, takes the environments the story takes place in and uses objects and architecture design in ways live action productions are not able to. Animating a film allows the production design team to create unique spaces and link them to the characters and their story arc. The sets are also in sharp focus, allowing the audience to see every detail. The Beauty and the Beast was also one of the first animated films to have a production design team, which is pretty cool! I find it interesting that maybe production design wasn't considered as important in the past for animated films, maybe, or it was just assumed that the animators would have that as part of their job description?
The animation for the time the film was made is incredible, the quality was great especially when you consider that everything was hand drawn. Knowing that the production design team would have had to coordinate with the animators in order to get the best look possible, and the one the production design team had in mind initially. Both of these teams working together for a common goal is pretty impressive, especially when you remember that this was one of the first animated films to have a production design team in the same way live action films do.
The Beauty and the Beast was also hand-animated, which requires a crazy amount of precision and focus. These teams were working together to make something they could be proud of, and I think that's pretty admirable.
Georgia x
