Hi, I’m Fabiana! This is my first time posting on this website, but I hope you’re prepared to read all my crazy stories about art or anything else. Currently, though I’m a Marywood student, I am participating in the Disney College Program in Orlando, Florida, and so far, it has been a fun experience. As you can see, the main reason I did it is that I wanted to broaden my horizons and meet new people. I also made numerous connections in the art world of Disney. I have seen what goes on behind the scenes, and unfortunately, I cannot tell, but what I can tell you is how it has inspired my art so far since I have been here.

Lately, I went to a class with none other than Cody Reynolds, who is the Director of Character Art at Disney, and he is responsible for all the art in merchandise at the Disney parks. He talked to us about how he and his team offer internships for 4th-year students in college and how their job is to mostly draw Disney characters all day.

They work with Disney animation studios, along with other franchises, to bring your favorite characters to merchandise stores and even promotional art for the parks as well.

One of the things he told us was that at first he wanted to be an animator but chose not to since it was too difficult, but instead dived into the world of merchandising and used his skills to draw characters from previous movies and use them so that they could be in sweaters and all kinds of merchandise. He also created the famous Disney Bear, which nowadays they call Duffy, and it was so cool seeing the original one he brought in compared to the one they sell today.

Overall, I am enjoying my time here, and, sadly, I have to go soon, but I look forward to returning to campus, and I hope this post will show you that this program has great opportunities for art students, since it may not be a direct internship in which you do art, but use it as an opportunity to network and meet new people.

I hope to see you guys soon back in the Spring semester, and tune in for more. 

~ Fabiana