Living the fairy tale

STORY BY DANA BOYINGTON

When 22-year-old Omar Elhindi sent a demo reel to Disney Studios he never expected life’s his fairy tale to come true.

“I was worried that it wouldn’t live up to [their] expectations – but it did,” he said.

Elhindi was accepted last spring for a two-month summer internship as a computer animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, California.

The third year animation student grew up drawing whatever and whenever he could– and had so much fun doing it.

“When I found out that people actually get paid to draw and animate movies, I thought why not me,” says Elhindi.

Elhindi spent his time on three assignments during his internship. It included reworking some animations from the movie Frozen.

Elhindi never figured he would be chosen for the coveted work term, but applied anyway.

“I saw the internship online and thought it would be stupid if I didn’t try,” Elhindi said.

While at Disney, Elhindi met many of his idols. He says he was “honored” to get their feedback.

“I got to work with one of my favourite animators, Eric Goldberg, who was the artist [for the] Genie from Aladdin,” said Elhindi. “Everyone was super friendly and I learned so much.”

After his time in Burbank, Elhindi walked away with new skills and techniques to use in his future animations.

“I learned that a lot of animators focus on speed over quality,” said Elhindi. “But at Disney they focus on the quality… that the animator must act through the character.”

Although Elhindi was only on the job for eight weeks, he was there just long enough to miss it, but hopes to try somewhere else in the future.

“It was a dream come true. But, I would like to try something new like Creative Studios,” he said.

Originally from Windsor, Ont., Elhindi chose Sheridan for several reasons.

“The school has a reputation of pumping out successful animators,” he said. “And I hope too be one.”