The Classic Disney Animation Desk Lives On

To touch history is to become history.

My favorite video of all time.

Watch as Executive Producer Chris Sonnenburg takes a Disney fanatic on a tour of his office during the production of the Tangled: Ever After animated television series. Wait till he opens up the shelf of his Kem Weber-designed Disney animation desk from the 1940s...

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...that friend “Jim” he mentions? That’s me!

That was my desk back when I was a Disney animator. I found it in a warehouse when I was working on Pocahontas and kept it through The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Hercules, and Tarzan.

When I departed, I gifted it to Moana’s Head of Story Dave Pimentel and he gifted it to Chris when he left. Chris moved on to other things (among them, producing the opening animation for Enchanted) and when he came back to helm the Tangled television series Chris brought the desk out of storage and reclaimed it for all time.

I absolutely loved that desk—the history behind it all, not only my experience, but that of those who created beautiful works of art before me.

And I’m so happy it’s in great hands now.