Behind the Scenes of Disney on Ice: Toy Story 3
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One of the many characters Scott Lane contrived for that number was �Palomino Patty�, who he named after Show Director, Patty Vincent.

�Our director�s a little bit of a tomboy so I made her a tomboy cow-ropin� cowgirl.� he laughed.

Palomino Patty, with Pippi Longtocking-esque braids, sports a pair of riding jodhpurs with tall western boots, a plaid shirt tucked in with a little bolero vest, fringed gauntlets, a long bandana tied around her neck and a ten gallon hat.

�And of course a rope,� Lane added, ��cause she�s a ropin� kind of gal.�

Lane, like Joe Stewart does of his initial designs, starts out with the basics: pencil and paper. For �Toy Story 3�, however, he took a new approach to the later drafts.

�Instead of painting my renderings and doing them that way,� he said, �I used a host of scrapbooking papers that are available and I created them all like paper dolls. I cut out every layer of everything �well, I drew all the characters first, then I turned them into little templates and I traced them out on the papers that I wanted and cut them out and then added all the details.�

Paper Dolls. Particularly apt for a �Toy Story design, wouldn�t you agree?

�It was incredibly time consuming, so I�m glad the show wasn�t any longer than it was.� he joked. �But it was also very rewarding, I had a blast doing it.�

Matching fabric to the designs was another challenge for Lane. �Usually I will go out and do a general swatching of things that I like - so many times I�ll come back and I�ll render the piece of fabric that I found already into the sketch.� he said. �But in this case I was using all existing paper patterns and a limited palette. So we ended up taking a lot of the paper into a fabric printing place and they scanned it in and they printed the exact paper patterns onto fabric for us. Which also gave us the advantage of getting it printed on four-way stretch fabric - which was really helpful with the ice skaters.�

For a lot of shows they hand paint fabrics, but having fabric printed for many costumes also allowed Lane to keep the patterns authentic to the paper doll designs. �We could have exactly what we wanted and I was able to really turn out a product that looked just like the sketches. And it also kept that graphic quality that the �Toy Story� characters have.�

Step 3: Insert Tab A Into Slot B

Once each designer has their individual components for their contribution fleshed out, it�s time to begin to see how all the pieces will fit together.

�We do another presentation where everything kind of has its basis. And it�s in color, so we begin to understand what the color of everything is going to be because that becomes so important for wardrobe and lighting design.� Stewart said. �And then finally, to completely work out everything, we do what�s called the white model presentation where we see everything we�re planning on doing in 1� scale and we go through the show.�

No video conferencing here, as is the modern way of many projects. Everyone heads out to Mickey�s Workshop in sunny Florida, (eat your heart out, chilly North Pole denizens), to meet face to face and finalize exactly what this toy will look like and what it will do.

�It�s rare that you have this collection of all the artistic team all in one place to make adjustments and to understand everything, because time is so precious these days.� Stewart said. �A lot of times these meetings are done with a computer in front of everybody - but not here. We all come together for a couple of days and I think it�s beneficial. It makes everybody get on the same page, and also we get to see each other and sometimes another idea springs forth from this meeting - and everything just improves the production. And then we start building after that.�

Also important is making sure things will work properly in a skating environment. Scott Lane started his career as a musical theatre performer, which helps him in designing skater-friendly costumes.

�It always gives me the upper hand in the fact that I understand how stuff has to move - from the inside out.� he said. �It�s one thing to make a dress twirl or something drape nicely but first there has to be somebody inside of everything. They have to be able to move, so I like to think I�m very conscious of that outcome, or how that affects the costume. So I think of it from a dancer, performer, athlete�s perspective, because they do far more strenuous stuff than any dancer ever does. And they put costumes to the test more than any dancer ever does. I mean, they skate at angles, they spin, they have centrifugal force that goes into play which - you wouldn�t believe it, but they can pull fringe off stuff pretty quickly.�

Step 4: Remove Tab A From Slot B. Insert Tab A Into Slot C

At times during the process, the designers together may decide they want the toy to do something different than each had originally imagined.

�I don�t do it by myself.� Stewart Said. �I present ideas and then collectively I depend very much on the director and the producing entities to guide us down the road to make sure we�re in the right place, that everything is functioning correctly. It�s a collaborative effort.�

If something isn�t right in the physical environment, I might not notice it because I�m so close to it, then somebody else will go �wait a minute, wouldn�t it be better if we do this and this and this� and then all you have to do at that point is be receptive to ideas, and flexible and say �well okay, maybe, yeah, let�s try it that way.�

And that�s what�s kind of a wonderful experience because there may be this wonderful idea that you�ve never thought of that like, enhances the experience.

Another benefit of these collaborations is that with a host of different creative minds and viewpoints all together in one room, concepts can more readily be changed or improved upon.

�If something isn�t right in the physical environment, I might not notice it because I�m so close to it.� Stewart said. Then somebody else will go �wait a minute, wouldn�t it be better if we do this and this and this� and then all you have to do at that point is be receptive to ideas, and flexible, and say, �Well okay, maybe, yeah, let�s try it that way.�,

because there may be this wonderful idea that you�ve never thought of that enhances the experience.�

Initially, Stewart had in mind a three-dimensional backdrop of toys in the background as the main set piece. As the idea evolved, the concept expanded.

�It sort of became a magic box and it had different things that opened up in it and opportunities for performers to make entrances and that became a great development-we realized �Oh, we can work on multiple levels and have the army guys repel down the set and stuff.� So it did more things.� he said. �And the sets splits in half is the other thing it does, it splits in half and we have a lit cyc that goes up in the back.� (A cyc, or cyclorama is a curved drop at the back of a stage, used for creating an illusion of unlimited space or distance in the background of exterior scenes or for obtaining lighting effects.)