By Dorothy Young, 18, Scholastic Student Reporter
Marble Falls, Texas
Neda Demayo and Dorothy look a gift horse in the mouth. Fortunately, Spirit is a good-spirited horse. (Photo: Dan Alvey) |
"Chances of glamour and excitement are coming to you." That's what my fortune cookie said at my first meal in Los Angeles, California, and boy, was it true! That very night I saw Hollywood Boulevard for the first time, and was in the audience for an episode of
The Weakest Link. I went to Grand Central Market, passed the La Brea Tar Pits, and had an unexpected tour of Chinatown. That's just the first day!
The next day we went to Disneyland's new theme park, California Adventure. I climbed through the treetops of a replica of the redwood forests, flew over the most scenic parts of California on a virtual hang glider, made my own animated cartoon, read books in an enchanted library, got my picture taken with the Monsters, Inc. characters [pause for deep breath], rode an awesome roller coaster, ate on the set of a soap opera, got shot with water from Fozzie Bear's 3-D trick flower, watched how the California dream shaped the future of that state, and was serenaded by a trumpeter in the balcony of a huge theater. Phew!
Meeting "Spirit"
On Wednesday I was introduced to the real Spirit, a Kiger stallion living on a wild horse sanctuary outside of Lompoc. Neda Demayo, the founder of the Return to Freedom sanctuary, led me on a tour. She explained the sanctuary's purpose and her dreams of saving the wild mustangs, a living part of our history, from being taken from their homes and killed. I was able to see dozens of horses that had been rescued and are now being well cared for. (For more on this subject, click
here.)
My favorite was a small filly named Paloma who was very friendly and let me pet her while Ms. Demayo described the family groupings of wild horses and donkeys. I was also allowed to stand in the corral with Spirit all by myself, and it was a little frightening knowing that if I spooked him he could hurt me. But he was a beautiful animal, an excellent ambassador for saving his kin.
After spending most of the day just enjoying being with such majestic animals, I was able to go to the beach in Santa Barbara. It was much too cold to swim, but I soaked up the beauty and rhythm of the sea just the same.
DreamWorks' Dream Jobs
Our next day was the one we had come to California for in the first place—a visit to DreamWorks to see how the animators created the new DVD for
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron.
First, I was escorted to a conference room where both of the directors of
Spirit sat waiting for me to interview them. They were both very cordial and fun to be with, especially since they have careers I aspire to.
I was given a tour of the studio, which is big and sprawling, almost like a college campus. I got a peek at some of DreamWorks' upcoming films and see where the people who put the magic into the movies–the artists of so many varieties, the producers, the marketers, storywriters, DVD specialists, and tons more—go to work every day.
I spent a good amount of time in the DVD department, where I was shown some of the ideas for the menus of
Spirit. I was given a demonstration of tradigital animation, which is a term used to describe the seamless merging of computer animation and
traditional animation. By combining traditional two-dimensional animation and three-dimensional computer animation, the animators were able to produce spectacular views and panoramic action sequences. Many of the types of scenes created for Spirit have never been attempted in animation before.
After the splendid tour, I was guided back to the conference room to eat a lavish lunch with the producer of DreamWorks Home Entertainment's DVD releases, Mark Rowen. I was given the chance to interview him about what he did at DreamWorks and to play with the part of the DVD that was complete at that time.
The
Spirit DVD has this really neat moviemaker feature where you can put together scenery, characters, and music to make your own
Spirit movie.
End of the Last Day
I had an awesome time, but it was getting late and I was supposed to have dinner with my aunt who lives in California. We went to Santa Monica to eat and walk down the 3rd Street Promenade. There were musical groups, vendors, a couple of tap dancers, a one-man band, and shops of all sorts all up and down the beautiful promenade. I enjoyed the time I got to spend with my family, but it was kind of sad that this was my last night in this wonderland.
