AWith his round face, his squinty eyes, and the yellow Mickey and Minnie patterned shirt he was wearing the day we met, Eric Goldberg, 68, is the perfect prototype of the big kid who has none of his nastiness has lost. His mischievous laugh erupts at regular intervals, like that of a Woody Woodpecker, and we’re not surprised to read on his resume that this co-director of Pocahontas (1995) and Fantasy 2000 (1999) was also the main animator of the ghost, played by the unforgettable Robin Williams, in the extremely funny 1992 masterpiece Aladdin by John Musker and Ron Clements. In short: under the guise of a clown ball, it is a great and humble name from the cartoon that answers our questions.
Guest of honor at the last Annecy Festival, where he presented, among other things Masterclass and the Disney animation studio’s 100th anniversary tribute session, which Goldberg spoke to alongside President Jennifer Lee Point pop about his field’s proximity to live-action cinema, as well as his memories of the late Williams and the current state of his industry, which was dominated by 3D for more than twenty years.
On the other hand, don’t ask Goldberg his opinion on his employer’s live-action remakes of his own animated films. There is no need to paint a picture for us: his reaction as quick as a pencil stroke and his tight smile undoubtedly indicate that the subject makes him laugh as yellow as his shirt. After this annoying topic, the fun-loving presenter’s bitterness disappears in a flash and we leave Eric Goldberg with a smile full of hope for the future of his art.
The Pop Point: This is the third time you have been invited to the Annecy International Animated Film Festival. How do you see this event?
Eric Goldberg: I am always amazed to be invited to Annecy. This festival is actually the place where the refinement of animated films in the eyes of public opinion and the emancipation of independent animated film directors began. OK, I work in a more traditional animation field at Disney, but I love the range of genres and styles that this industry offers, and I love the camaraderie that exists in Annecy, where virtually everyone has a passion for the medium and is always learning something want .
My memories of Annecy go back to the 1970s, when major, yet unrecognized filmmakers in the genre showed their films there for the first time. I couldn’t go there yet, but Annecy was already a legend in my eyes, I always knew what was happening there and I studied the invited directors. It’s a shame that even today, animated films are still relatively rejected by a section of the profession, despite being capable of so many different things. Guillermo Del Toro reiterated during the Oscars that animation is not a genre, but simply cinema, and I agree with him 100%.
You have a degree in illustration from Pratt Institute. Since when has animation been a calling for you?
Probably since I was four [rires] ! I got into animation through television, when all the big animated films were broadcast, from Disney to the animated films of Warner, MGM or the Fleisher brothers… I swallowed it all! I always knew I wanted to be an animator and made my first flip books [petits carnets de dessins qui donnent l’impression d’être animés quand on les feuillette avec le pouce, NDLR] from six years old. I never wanted to get a degree in cinema, but in illustration, although live-action films have always influenced me: Hitchcock had a decisive influence on me, as did slapstick comedies – the Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, the silent comedies of Chaplin, Keaton , Lloyd…
But I was also heavily influenced by film noir and its use of light to tell a story. At Disney, our artists layout [dans un film d’animation, ce sont les personnes chargées de créer pour chaque plan le décor et la lumière environnante où les personnages évoluent, NDLR] are true directors of photography: they contribute to the narrative through the lighting, the image composition and the staging. All of these terms come from film language. At Pocahontasfor the song “Des Sauvages”, our artist supervisor layoutRasoul Azadani, had the idea of creating these large shadows spreading across the hill: he stole the idea from Kurosawa [il explose de rire] ! I myself made a plan for the song “Me, me, me” while the boys were digging with their shovels cut a bird’s eye view where we see them whirling around with their shovels, and I stole that Time of innocence by Scorsese [rires] !
I took on “Aladdin” so as not to miss the wave of renewal that shook the entire animation sector in the United States.Eric Goldberg
Speaking of bridging animation and live cinema, what do you think? Remakes in live-action footage of Disney’s great animated films – including your own Pocahontas et Aladdin ?
[Il hésite longuement.] OK… Let’s put it this way: I’d really rather not have to answer this question. All I’m telling you is that the studio owns these characters and has the right to do whatever they want with them! [Et Eric Goldberg éclate de rire pour conclure, NDLR.]
How did you come to work as a technical manager? Aladdinbecome an instant classic?
I oversaw both the engineering and design of several supporting characters. It was a wonderful collaboration with John Muskers and Ron Clements, two very collaborative directors who listened to all the good ideas wherever they came from, while keeping their film in mind. Aladdin was my ticket to Disney. I had my own animation studio in London at the time, Pizzaz Pictures, and a year earlier I had met two Disney representatives at an animation festival in Los Angeles.
ALSO READ“The Little Mermaid”: What is the film adaptation of the Disney cartoon worth? They asked me if I could send them a montage of the animated commercials we were doing, which I did, and after that they kept calling me to come back to LA and meet Musker and Clements. When they told me they were recruiting me for the film project Aladdin, in which Robin Williams would perhaps play the ghost, I didn’t think twice about it. I knew that if I refused, I risked missing the peak of this wave of renewal that was shaking the entire animation sector in the United States. I had to take advantage of it before this movement dried up.
So I came back to LA, met Ron and John, who gave me the script… When I read it, I wanted to beg them to give me the genius whose dialogue had actually been written for Robin Williams. When they told me they were giving me the role of character handler, I was calm but in turmoil! I actually lost my car keys that morning and Disney security had to break the window of my rental car. This is my debut at Disney [rires] ! It was a great experience making this film. Robin gave so much to this role… But since we weren’t sure if the kids would guess all the characters he imitated, we made sure the ghost was always funny and made them laugh with his look.
They come from traditional 2D animation. How did you experience the arrival of the first? Toy story and the explosion of computer-generated image animations? A blessing or a curse for you?
I love the first one Toy story. John Lasseter invited me and his team to the screening and I found the result magnificent, intelligent and although I was aware that nothing would be the same again, I was seduced. I love all forms of animation. And what I loved about it Toy storyAbove all, it’s a great film, with a very well-constructed story and great characters. Since then, computer-aided animation has become so mature that it is also being implemented in the form of 2D animation, especially since many young 3D animators are influenced by traditional animation.
So I’m not afraid: 3D is just one animation tool among others and we all speak the same language, invented and perfected by the Disney studios in the 1930s and 1940s. Creatively, everything is in good shape; there have never been so many animated productions, even though Disney was the only studio that produced them for a long time. Now I see a lot of young talent who have great promise for the future.
