Tangled Choreographing Destruction: Art Directing a Dam Break

Much like the character animation in Tangled, the goal of the dam break sequence was to bring classic Disney 2D sensibilities to CG effects. Hand-drawn effects animation in films such as Pinocchio and Fantasia served as inspiration. The water shapes drawn in these films were very stylized yet conveyed recognizable forms of nature. The concept was to emulate these shapes and then enhance them with the modern benefits of CG rendering such as ray traced reflections and ambient occlusion.