Where " Tangled " Animators found their Inspiration for the Magical " Lanterns in the Night " Sequence

Two days ago Disney released new Tangled trailers, one of them is the "international" trailer. If you didn't watched them yet you'll find them below. Also, you may have heard that Walt Disney Animation Studios showed last week an almost finished "Tangled" to the press. And apparently most of the guests loved it, some even saying it deserves an Academy Award which is may be a bit exagerated... However, it seems that everyone was fascinated by one magical sequence, i.e the "lanterns" sequence with hundreds of lanterns flying in the sky.



I thought you would be interested to know where Disney animators found their inspiration for this sequence, but first i let you have a look to the scene in the Tangled trailers.







In the trailers you've seen just a few seconds of this lanterns scene but in the movie it'll be for sure a longer and fascinating sequence. And if i tell you that the sight of hundreds of paper lanterns flying in the sky is truly magical and memorable it's because i've seen it myself! And in real.



And where did I saw it, you ask? In South-East Asia. In Thailand, more precisely. You see, on New Year's Eve it's thousand of lanterns who fly high in the sky over the Andaman Sea. Thaïs people are there to help tourists to light the lanterns (and to sell them too, for a small amount of 3$) and if one day you come to Phuket for Christmas holidays it's something you must not miss.



Above two pictures shot in Phuket on Patong beach - you don't see well the people because it's nighttime but there was literally thousands of people on the beach, both flying lanterns and waiting for the New Year's Eve fireworks. And below, two short videos filmed by me which will show you these hundred of lanterns flying in the sky - in the video, all the white spots in the night are lanterns! On the second video, a big part of the New Year's Eve firework WITH the lanterns flying in the middle of it! These two videos are in HD and the firework itself, launched from almost everywhere all around Patong Bay is spectacular, so don't hesitate to watch the videos in full screen mode!

As you've probably understood by now these lanterns-flying-in-the-sky is a typical Asian tradition and, although you won't see this in Europe, it didn't stopped Disney animators to use the idea for this Tangled sequence, even if the story don't happen in Asia. After all, why not, and i'm sure this sequence will be magical in the movie. But at least you will know where the idea is coming from.









Pictures: copyright Disney - Alain Littaye

Videos: copyright Alain Littaye