From: Rich_Koster@agwbbs.new-orleans.LA.US (Rich Koster)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.disney
Subject: Kern Sculpts For Disney
Distribution: world
Date: 4 Oct 92 18:13:00 CST
Organization: The Amiga GateWay BBS * New Orleans, La.

Excerpted from New Orleans newspaper "The Times-Picayune" from Sunday,
September 20, 1992  (Note that near the end it mentions that Kern will
be supervising the building of the second phase of EuroDisney -- I
assume working under Disney's Tony Baxter -- and that he says the
expansion will include the world's largest water park!):
 
"Doing Disney: Kern son sculpts new dreams"
By Judi Russell, West Bank Bureau
 
"For years, the Kern family's business has been the stuff dreams are
made of.  Blaine Kern Artists in Algiers specializes in creating the
magical figures that adorn Mardi Gras floats."
 
"Blaine Kern's son, Barry Kern, has turned to another market.  Kern
Sculpture Co., formed in the early 1980s, has made the statues and
facades for Festival Disney, a section of the Disney empire's
EuroDisney theme park near Paris.  The park opened in April.  Kern
and his wife, Christina, returned this spring from a year in France
supervising the project."
 
"'We had saturated the market for Mardi Gras,' Kern, 30, said."
 
"The sculpting company began doing work for Disney years ago, creating
props and statues at the Algiers workshop and shipping them to
California, Florida and Tokyo."
 
"The original contract for Festival Disney called for Kern Sculpture
to make building fronts and trims and another company to create the
statues."
 
"But Kern wanted to do the figures too.  So he had a Jiminy Cricket head
sculpted, and he and Jiminy hopped a plane to Paris to seal the deal."
 
"The Kerns were married May 17, 1991.  They left for Paris the next day."
 
"The Disney figures are fiberglass, similar to those used on floats,
but more finished.  They should last for many years, Kern said."
 
"Each one is made to exact specifications -- no fooling around with
Minnie Mouse or Donald Duck.  One statue was rejected because when it
was enlarged Huey Duck looked frightening instead of friendly."
 
"Dealing with a company as large as Disney can be intimidating, Kern
said.  'Disney is like the Pentagon,' he said.  Throw in the language
differences and the challenge of working in a foreign country, and
you have a job that Kern said was exhilarating but challenging.
Twenty-eight artisans worked on the figures.  Each statue took several
weeks to make and had to be hand-painted."
 
"Some of the characters were from cartoon shows and had never been
built in three dimensions before."
 
"Because of time constraints, the figures were built in France.  But
Kern would like to see the company pick up similar jobs for theme
parks in the United States, jobs that might bring increased employment
to New Orleans."
 
"'There are only a handful of companies in the world who can do this
kind of work,' Kern said."
 
(stuff deleted about Kern living in France and the Kerns' background)
 
"Kern gets as excited as a reigning Rex when he talks about the future
of sculpting figures.  He'll be making frequent trips to France to
supervise building for the second phase of EuroDisney, which will
include the world's largest water park.  He sees many of his plans as
ways to employ local artists and designers."
 
"But working abroad can have consequences, Kern said.  'I missed my
first Mardi Gras.'"
 
End of article

-- Via DLG Pro v0.992

Internet: rich_koster@agwbbs.new-orleans.LA.US
    UUCP: rex!agwbbs!rich_koster
Newsgroups: rec.arts.disney