Thursday, April 16, 2026, 5pm-6:30pm PDT
Location: Online
Join legendary Disney animator and director Aaron Blaise as he takes you behind the scenes of his animated short, Snow Bear. In this session, Aaron will share the creative spark that inspired the project, walk through the development process from early concept to finished film, and offer a look at the realities of distributing an independent animated short in today’s landscape.
Drawing on decades of experience, from co-directing Brother Bear to forging his own path as an independent filmmaker, Aaron brings a rare blend of storytelling mastery and real-world insight.
Whether you’re an aspiring animator, a seasoned professional, or simply a lover of the art form, this session offers a candid and inspiring glimpse into what it takes to bring a passion project to life.
The session will conclude with a Q&A, allowing attendees to ask Aaron about his process, his career, and the world of independent animation.
About the speaker:
Aaron Blaise has been a professional artist for over 35 years. For 21 of those years, he was with Walt Disney Feature Animation, where he helped to create some of the greatest animated films ever made. During that time, he worked as an animator, supervising animator and character designer on Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, Mulan, and more. In 200,3 he was a co-director of Brother Bear for which he earned an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature Film.
After Brother Bear, he helped to develop several more projects but ultimately left Disney to pursue other opportunities, including founding one of the world’s top online schools for art & animation, CreatureArtTeacher.com.
Aaron recently returned to his storytelling roots and completed his first entirely independent animated short film, Snow Bear. He spent 3 years working every day on the hand-drawn film and handled all of the animation, backgrounds, effects, storyboards, and editing personally. Snow Bear won more than 40 Film Festival awards, including the Annie Award for Best Short Subject. He was named the 2025 recipient of the Winsor McCay Lifetime Achievement Award in animation by ASIFA-Hollywood.