Dumbo (2019) (with Chris McKenna)

The emergence of Disney’s so-called ‘live-action’ remakes provides the focus of Episode 123, with the recent adaptation of Dumbo (Tim Burton, 2019) offering Chris and Alex plenty to get their teeth into thanks to the film’s particular brand of digital realism as well as director Tim Burton’s reflections on the very nature of spectacle itself. Special guest for this discussion is Chris McKenna, current Head of Creative Operations at the VFX studio Moving Picture Company, and Lead Technical Animator on Dumbo who has also worked on a host of Hollywood blockbusters and franchise films, including Terminator: Genisys (Alan Taylor, 2015), Spectre (Sam Mendes, 2015), Transformers: The Last Knight (Michael Bay, 2017), Ad Astra (James Gray, 2019), Cats (Tom Hooper, 2019), and Disenchanted (Adam Shankman, 2022). Among his many credits, Chris has several of the Disney remakes and spin-offs on his CV too, from The Jungle Book (Jon Favreau, 2016), The Lion King (Jon Favreau, 2019), and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (Joachim Rønning, 2019) to Lady and the Tramp (Charlie Bean, 2019) and the upcoming The Little Mermaid (Rob Marshall, 2023), where he worked as Head of Layout and Animation at MPC. Listen as the trio discuss the industrial workflow of VFX studio production, from the definition of “technical animation” to the question of simulation; how Dumbo reconciles Burton’s own “flavour” as a filmmaker with its broader ‘photorealistic caricature’ visual style; technological deterministic narratives of cinema and what it means for digital animation to copy lens-based media in these ‘live-action’ features; how Dumbo reflexively acknowledges histories of effects and photography in its construction of screen spectacle; and how when it comes to VFX artists creativity functions as an extension of passion. **Fantasy/Animation theme tune composed by Francisca Araujo**