Lorenzo (film)

Plot

The short opens with Lorenzo lounging on the cushion. A black cat passes by, and Lorenzo can't help but express his glee that the stray is missing his tail. He flaunts his own luxurious backside accessory, and goads the cat with expansive displays of tailery. As Lorenzo laughs the black cat casts a hex, bringing Lorenzo's tail to energetic life. Lorenzo is little more than perturbed until the tail's incessant motion begins to take its toll. The pampered cat grows both exhausted and desperate, as it becomes apparent that even the most extreme measures (such as high voltage electrocution, drowning, and being run over by a train) will not quiet his tail. At junctures the black cat appears and offers Lorenzo a knife, his intentions clear. Lorenzo resists him just as strongly as he does his tail's advances. Lorenzo is however, finally driven to capitulate and severs his own glorious tail.

Production

Lorenzo is based on an original idea by Disney artist and writer, Joe Grant. He came up with the idea after he saw his cat dive into the middle of a fight between his two poodles. He wondered, what if that cat lost its tail? Grant began developing Lorenzo in 1949. It was written, designed and directed by Mike Gabriel, in collaboration with Grant. Don Hahn suggested Gabriel to use tango music as an inspiration when conceptualizing the film. In search for a tango music, he went to a Virgin Megastore, where he spent $346 of his own money buying 40 tango CDs. The first song he listened to—"Bordoneo y 900", performed by Juan José Mosalini and his Big Tango Orchestra—secured his attention and became the song he chose for the production. For the final film's score, the creators hired Mosalini and Big Tango Orchestra, who recorded in France a new version of "Bordoneo y 900." Baker Bloodworth produced the film, along with Roy E. Disney and Don Hahn who served as executive producers. Gabriel hand painted all of the short's backgrounds with Tempera paint on a black construction paper. A painterly renderer called Sable, created by Daniel Teece, was used to create 3D brush strokes on the backgrounds. Traditional animation and clean-up were done at the Paris-based division of Walt Disney Feature Animation, while all painting, digital work, and post-production were performed at the Burbank studio.

The short was developed as a potential segment for Fantasia 2006, the third installment following Fantasia and Fantasia 2000. After several years of funding and staff cutbacks at Walt Disney Feature Animation, the project was shelved by November 2003. In addition to Lorenzo, two other potential shorts that could be included in Fantasia 2006 were also completed before the projects cancellation – Destino and One by One – and were subsequently released as individual short films.

Awards

Lorenzo was nominated for the Academy Award for Short Film (Animated) at the 77th Academy Awards in 2005. The short won the 2005 Annie Award for Best Animated Short Subject. It was included in the Animation Show of Shows in 2004.