RON CLEMENTS EXHIBITION PART 5

PART FIVE: THE PREMIERE

Finally, the big day arrived when the public could visit and enjoy our
exhibition on the Disney animation career of animator and director Ron
Clements. The festivities began at the Orpheum Theatre where a new
35mm print of Ron's first feature, THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE was
screened for free. The majestic old theatre, one of those 1920s movie
palaces, newly restored, was filled to capacity and it was great to
see the film on the big screen again. Prior to the screening Ron, his
wife Tami, Nick and I got a detailed tour of the theatre which was
very impressive to a theatre buff like me. In another blog I'll
mention the time we ran one of these old palaces in Montreal.

We walked back to the Sioux City Art Center where the premiere of the
exhibition was to open. Nick and I had gone through it with Ron and
Tami. Ron was interested to see what we chose to show of his artwork
and artifacts, and seemed genuinely pleased with how it was done. We
hadn't bothered him with details of the show as we wanted it to be a
nice surprise, and it seemed to be so.

After opening remarks from the museum leaders, an artistic tribute to
Ron and his films took place. A live orchestra played music from his
films, a choir sang memorable songs, and dancers interpreted his films
through their art. Ron then spoke to the crowd, which filled the
museum's huge atrium on all floors. He spoke of his career and the
people he worked with and had nice comments about our exhibition.
Schools had held an art contest in the weeks before the opening. Nick
and I helped select the winners during one of our visits and Ron
handed out prizes to the winning students at the premiere.

The press was very positive about the show, and the public enjoyed it
from what they told us that night and in future. We got positive
reviews on various sites. The public response and attendance was high,
and I was asked back halfway through the exhibition's run to do an
animation show in the large theatre. From our collection of rare
animation films, going back to the silent era, I did a retrospective
of historic animation films similar to ones we have done in film
festivals. I introduced each film and there was a question and answer
session afterwards.

As expected and hoped, the exhibition helped launch Nick's career as a
designer. He now does work for various companies, including Disney,
Cirque du Soleil, and even work on Broadway. He still creates puppets,
and made the largest articulated puppet ever made for the opening of
the last Winter Olympics. He also enjoys stop-motion animation and
studied it under the great Will Vinton in Portland. Ron, of course,
co-directed another animated feature at Disney with John Musker again,
THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG. Working on the Ron Clements show was
certainly a career and a life highlight.

Thats all folks!!!!