Watch A Legendary Disney Animator Draw Ariel From The Little Mermaid In Virtual Reality

Glen Keane, son of The Family Circus creator Bil Keane, worked on some of Disney’s most successful modern animated hits, including Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and The Little Mermaid. But the other night on The Late Late Show with James Corden, he traded his sketch pad and pencils for a 3D controller to paint Ariel in virtual reality.

Using a popular VR painting app called Tilt Brush, Keane demonstrates the unique advantages to sketching in virtual reality — the freedom to move in 3D space, creating depth and parallax while you’re drawing a character.

Given how many animated features are now created digitally, an app like Tilt Brush gives animators a chance to better test how their characters will look in 3D. Also, it just looks futuristic and incredibly cool to be able to walk through something you just drew.