Meet Jaime, the Artist Behind Tiny Disney Coloring Books

You might not realize this but you need a tiny Disney coloring book. Yes, they’re a thing. And they are awesome. Jaime S. came up with the concept several years ago as a way to stay connected to Disney parks. She’s the biggest Disney fan I know, and that’s saying something. I built a Disney website in my spare time, so the competition was stout.

Last April, my family had an extra ticket to an Animal Kingdom Moonlight Magic party. I asked Danielle if she knew anyone who might like to go. She told me she had the perfect person. That’s how we met Jaime, who made an instant impression on my group (and not just because she gave us tiny Haunted Mansion coloring books). Jaime’s a genuine, awesome person. She taught us plenty about Disney parks while we ate at Satu’li Canteen, rode Expedition Everest after dark (please stay open later, Animal Kingdom), and walked on Flight of Passage.

As Moonlight Magic wound down, I asked her for an interview. She graciously said yes, and we finally had our video call on Tuesday. She sat in a Wilderness Lodge chair (the matching desk was offscreen). A Polynesian Hotel dresser serves as the TV stand in her bedroom. The repurposed Disney furniture is just the beginning of her decorating plans. She wants her home to be a mix of subtle and in-your-face Disney, set to a mid-century futuristic vibe. She even has plans to create her own Disney Murphy bed, complete with custom murals similar to what you find in DVC rooms.

Our interview lasted two hours, the conversation touching on everything I had intended to talk about and so much more. I hardly looked at my notes. For the first 30 minutes, we simply chatted about our mutual love of Disney.

Why Disney?

Jaime, an only child, grew up as a military brat. At a young age, her family moved to Patrick Air Force Base in Florida. The base’s proximity to Disney World allowed her to spend countless days in the parks. Those visits made an impression. When not in the parks, she drew Disney characters and film scenes from VHS movies, foreshadowing what was to come.

Unfortunately, military assignments don’t last forever, and after four years, Jaime’s family moved to Virginia. Disney World was replaced with Busch Gardens Williamsburg and King’s Dominion. I grew up going to those parks, so we went down memory lane, talking about the Loch Ness Monster, Grizzly, and Big Bad Wolf before remembering our purpose.

Jaime helped convince her family to relocate to the east coast of Florida after completing their last assignment. There she met Paul, her future husband. When deciding where to go to college, three things called her to Orlando: a great architecture school, Paul (who had relocated after high school), and of course, Disney World. For a while, she worked as a Universal Team Member at Honeydukes. Today, she’s a drafter for a large homebuilder where she also does 3D modeling. We actually live in a house built by her company.

Jaime is perfectly suited for her field. She’s analytical and creative. “I love math. And I love engineering… to a point,” she says. She has intention when she draws. It serves her well when recreating intricate scenes from Disney attractions. I appreciate that level of left and right brain camaraderie.

Why tiny coloring books?

Before the internet, Jaime collected Disney maps. It helped connect her to the parks when she couldn’t visit in person. She soon began filling notebooks with her own park maps and attraction drawings. Later, she brainstormed new rides, which jibes with her Imagineering aspirations. She actually had an Imagineering notebook that included plans for a Monsters, Inc. attraction in Hollywood Studios!

Her hobby became more intentional during the pandemic. Once again, Jaime was prevented from visiting the parks she loves, so she turned to her creative outlet. Relying on the internet’s many Disney point-of-view videos and still photos, she drew her first tiny Disney coloring book, Disneyland Paris’ “It’s a small world.” Since then, her tiny library has exploded.

Jaime’s coloring books measure 3.5 by 5 inches. I asked her why she chose such a small medium. “It’s fun to put so much detail into a tiny space,” she said. She’s also fascinated by the look. Who can blame her? People love anything that’s been miniaturized. We’re drawn to the cuteness. And her color books are overflowing with it.

There’s another reason. She’s intimidated by creating art on a larger canvas. I’d be intimidated by drawing something like Tiana’s final party scene on such a small scale. She agreed that adding the dozens of characters and architecture was difficult, but she nailed it. If you’ve been in that room, you’ll know what she was up against.

Another challenge was the Haunted Mansion ballroom scene. To preserve the incredible detail in that space, she chose to break it up into three separate pieces. I don’t have a great pic of the far end of the room, but you can see her attention to detail in the items that are present in my image and Jaime’s work.

Both Tiana’s and the Haunted Mansion examples demonstrate her ability to recreate beautifully proportioned scenes on paper. That’s a trademark of her work, which includes the following Disney (and Dollywood) attractions.

• Disneyland
  • Haunted Mansion holiday gingerbread houses
  • Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway
• Disney California Adventure
  • Cars Land (with Halloween and Christmas overlays)
  • Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue!
• Magic Kingdom
  • Carousel of Progress
  • Haunted Mansion
  • Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
• EPCOT
  • Spaceship Earth
• Hollywood Studios
  • Toy Story Land
• Disneyland Paris
  • “it’s a small world”
• Disney Cruise Line
  • Disney Wish
• Dollywood

Jaime’s process

Before drawing, Jaime studies each attraction, both in person and by viewing photos and videos online. In June, she told me she needed detailed photos from Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. Luckily, I rode it 2.5 times during AP previews and was able to help fill in the gaps. A Tiana’s coloring book arrived in my mailbox a few weeks later. That’s Jaime.

She draws her tiny creations using only a pencil and paper. A typical page takes her an hour or two to create, but the Tiana’s party scene took longer, about four hours. She’ll never use a drawing tablet or iPad. Either would make her process easier, from zooming in to perfect the fine details to sending the finished product to the printer. But she’s not interested. “It would feel like cheating,” she told me.

Instead, she lightly pencils in a rough sketch of the attraction. Once she’s happy with the proportions, she adds the characters and applies the final pencil touches. Then she scans and imports the page into PowerPoint to save it as a PDF. Her methods might seem unorthodox by today’s standards, but they work beautifully.

She does use digital tools, but only as an enhancement. In addition to coloring books and maps, she also draws skylines and reels. Skylines are entire lands and reels are individual ride facades. For those pieces, she sometimes adds color using Procreate, a $13 “complete art studio” app. While she enjoys coloring her own books, those she sells or gives to Cast Members will remain in black and white. She wants others to fill them in:

“I’m not the end of the line with this artwork.”

Jaime

She recommends using gel pens for their precision, preferably from a pack that includes at least 100 shades. Colored pencils also work well, but crayons do not. Once you see a tiny coloring book in person you’ll know why. You’d have zero chance of coloring inside the lines with a Crayola.

What’s next?

Jaime and Paul will soon head to California to hang with Danielle and enjoy Disneyland, among other things. No doubt she’ll spend plenty of time in Cars Land, one of her favorite spots in any Disney park. Jaime loves the intention Imagineers had when building Radiator Springs, especially how the strip transforms when day turns to night. She is correct. Cars Land is the best Disney land.

She also plans to work on Indiana Jones Adventure and Haunted Mansion Holiday reels. Her favorite California Adventure scene is Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue! She’s drawn and colored those doors dozens of times.

It’s a pretty good bet Jaime will hand out coloring books to Cast Members. She loves giving CMs artwork she created based on the rides they work. She understands how difficult those jobs can be. Danielle, a former Cast Member, has seen it play out in person:

“Watching Cast Members receive Jaime’s coloring book is truly magical! They’re always surprised and always grateful. It’s special because Cast Members rarely get magic made for them. It’s one of the reasons the book is so special.”

How can you get your own tiny Disney coloring book?

Get hired as a Cast Member! I kid (but it doesn’t hurt).

Jaime is happy to chat on Instagram. She’s always drawing new scenes, so ask her about her latest creations. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!