For the release of “Wall-E” in 2008, a custom animation takeover of Disney.com homepage was pitched to PIXAR Animation. My role was to finalize the concept and coordinate with PIXAR and the in-house development team to execute the takeover. The project posed technical and creative challenges. Working with PIXAR, we quickly learned that feature-quality animation for the web required a different workflow. PIXAR’s expertise is in linear storytelling, whereas the need for the web was for a short narrative with a “keep alive” (looping) animation cycle as users stayed on the page. In addition, the underlying technology powering Disney.com at the time was Flash. This posed creative challenges – namely format and file size. Clear communication with PIXAR and tight coordination with our development teams resulted in a successful takeover which greatly outperformed “Hannah Montana,” up to then the most highly trafficked franchise on Disney.com.

This project ultimately proved the Disney.com’s creative teams’ ability to work with high-touch animation partners and led to partnerships for original content with Disney Animation Studios for “Prep & Landing”, Disney Pictures’ “Tron: Legacy” homepage takeover, and Disney Television Animation’s “Kick Buttowski” for a Rock Callahan (Dwight Howard) “El Jaywalker” faux trailer.