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Vis Dev Giants

January 13, 2014, 12:43 am
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Here are just a few examples that show the caliber of talent Walt Disney employed to help style his animated movies.
Mary Blair, Eyvind Earle, Walt Peregoy and Ken Anderson all had a huge influence on the look of a number of films. The thing they all had in common was thinking outside of the box. After Snow White and Dumbo, these artists represented new visions for color, design and art direction.

Their gutsy visual experiments helped Disney animation to move on to new horizons.




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"You Old Goat…"

January 15, 2014, 2:33 pm
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"…if I ever catch you in my kitchen again, I'll…!" yells the Scullery Maid to Merlin, the magician, who just left her kitchen in a complete mess. A short scene with a character, who only has a small part in the film The Sword in the Stone. But leave it up to Milt Kahl to make the most out of this moment. The maid approaches Merlin utterly upset with no fear at all she might become a suspect to the magician's powers. 
I love her walk and the way she she moves her shoulders back and forth throughout the scene. She is voiced by actress Martha Wentworth, who isn't even trying to sound differently from Madame Mim who she is also responsible for. 
The maid's fantastic design is another example of Milt's line of chinless wonders (The Lackey from Sleeping Beauty and Madame Medusa fall in this category as well).

The photo shows an assistant who is in-betweening the scene for Milt. Perhaps Floyd Norman is able to point out who the gentleman is.

To me 101 Dalmatians and Sword in the Stone represent a modern golden age of Disney character designs.










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John Lounsbery Characters

January 17, 2014, 11:38 pm
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There certainly isn't enough art by animator John Lounsbery shown on this blog.
This unassuming man never gave any filmed interviews, he never wrote a book, as a matter of fact, he just wasn't into self-promotion. Lounsbery just focused on his work (and raising a family outside of Los Angeles). His contributions to Disney Animation were enormous. His amazing performance of Ben Ali Gator in Fantasia's Dance of the Hours sequence made him a break out animator at the studio.
The photo shows him animating Willie the Giant from Mickey and the Beanstalk, around 1947. 
Here are just a few examples of characters who came to life through Lounsbery's touch.

A great key drawing of the policeman arguing with the professor in front of the zoo's entrance from the film Lady & the Tramp. Look at how Lounsbery feels that strong pull. Every line defining the professor helps to support that pull. Amazing!



Jasper from 101 Dalmatians threatens to kill the puppies. Beautiful definition of fabric in his jacket, and great feeling of stretched skin on his face.








A few key drawings of Sir Pelinore's dainty walk from The Sword in the Stone.
Frank and Ollie said that Louns could come closer to Milt Kahl's type of drawing than anybody else.
I think this sheet proves that point.



A couple of key drawings from The Aristocats, involving the mouse Roquefort, Scat Cat and Italian Cat. Great staging in both of them.




More on John Lounsbery in this earlier post:
http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2011/06/john-lounsbery.html
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Test Screening

January 20, 2014, 2:09 am
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Looks like Walt Disney is getting ready for a screening in one of his sweatbox theaters on the Burbank studio lot. The photo was probably taken in the early to mid 1940s. 
And look at the audience, men and women in equal numbers. I wonder what film they are about to watch.

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Jungle Book Studies

January 21, 2014, 3:04 pm
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Ken Anderson and background painter Al Dempster had something to do with these color studies for the Jungle Book. The beautiful cel above of Mowgli and Bagheera is a Milt Kahl drawing.
There are endless ways to portray the Indian Jungle, including this early version by color stylist Walt Peregoy:


As you know, Walt Disney opted for a light, airy jungle, since the story included mostly comedic sequences. Dark, mysterious backgrounds would have worked for a more dramatic story treatment.






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French Sketchbook

January 23, 2014, 8:00 pm
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I wasn't quite sure what kind of stuff I might post today. Then I noticed a pile of old sketchbooks in a corner of my studio. One of them dates back to 1994 , when I spent some time in Paris to work with Disney's French studio on the Mickey short Runaway Brain. My fabulous apartment was on the Ile Saint- Louis with walking distance to just about everything. Occasionally I would take my sketchbook and walk along the Seine to the beautiful Musee d'Orsay. I sketched sculptures I saw  along the way, and then inside the museum. 
One day I noticed a little booth on the museum's lower level. A sign said that a special discount was available for professional artists who wanted to purchase an annual pass. So I told the lady behind the booth's open window, that I'd like to buy an annual pass. She asked me if I had any documentation that would indicate I was a "professional artist". I quickly pulled up my official Disney ID and explained that I was an animator. The lady held the ID card in front of her, paused for a moment, and then….busted up laughing, out loud!!  She literally couldn't control herself. I thought: What the…. when she turned to her buddy in the back of the booth and showed him my Disney ID. Then HE laughed hysterically, with her!
I stood there like an idiot, not knowing what's going on. So the lady finally calmed down to inform me  that the discount was only available to REAL artists who paint in oil or do watercolors. (My French was good enough to understand what she was saying). I briefly tried to explain that animators study art, too….but she wouldn't have it. I walked away fuming (she was still chuckling), but suddenly had a thought: Looking at my Disney ID the lady probably thought I worked at Disneyland Paris, and that I held a job as a costumed character, like Winnie the Pooh or Grumpy. 

Here are a few pages from my Paris sketchbook.














Go here, if you want to check out pages from my (mostly) Rome sketchbook:


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The Reluctant Dragon

January 25, 2014, 8:59 pm
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I was thrilled to discover the other day that NetFlix has started streaming a beautiful HD version of Disney's Reluctant Dragon. This is the whole feature, which includes the Robert Benchley backstage tour as well as the Goofy short How to Ride a Horse and The Reluctant Dragon.
The photo below shows John P. Miller, who storyboarded the famous Baby Weems section of the film. It looks like Miller is still at Disney's Hyperion studio, working on designs for Pinocchio and Dumbo.


Here is a link to a previous post on Baby Weems:


A couple of Miller's charming story sketches.




Baby Weems meets Albert Einstein in this Miller sketch and the maquette from Joe Grant's character model department.




Ward Kimball is featured in this story sketch for his live action appearance.




A poster from the 1941 movie.


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Line, Shape and Form

January 28, 2014, 12:44 am
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…all of those in a magnificent balance for this moment from the film 101 Dalmatians. 
"Melody first my dear, and THEN the lyrics."
So many graphic lines are directed toward the main business of Roger's finger touching Anita's nose. Her long neck, the lines in her hair and the curve of her nose clearly point to the subtle contact about to happen. Roger's whole body leans forward toward Anita's face, and every line, from folds in the fabric to his basic anatomy, leads the viewer's eye to the specific area of interest.
Then there is the background's layout. Look at how those lines defining the wooden edge of the sofa seem to move upward toward the characters' heads. 
(I love the perspective change of the sofa's right side, it's flat and dimensional all at the same time!)
There is an absolute unity between the shape language in the background and in the characters. It feels like ONE artist is responsible for the entire image. 
We all know that Disney animation is about family entertainment, but vintage stuff like this is also high art.
Milt Kahl animated both characters in the scene. Below is an out-take rough drawing of Roger. 

One of Milt's countless masterpieces. 


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Groupshots

January 29, 2014, 9:10 pm
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I have had these prints for a while, I hope you enjoy them.
Woolie Reitherman, Ken Anderson, Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas meet up with some of the Robin Hood Disneyland characters outside of the animation building. I would guess 1973.

Below are a couple of pics taken on April 9, 1978.
The University of Southern California chapter of the Delta Kappa Alpha National Cinema Fraternity recognizes the "Nine Old Men" with the "Pioneer in Film" award.
From left to right:
Les Clark, Eric Larson, Ollie, Ken Anderson, Woolie, Ward Kimball, Frank, Marc Davis and the boss.
(John Lounsbery had passed away in 1976, and Milt Kahl had moved to San Francisco).



Singer Peggy Lee attended the event, here she is congratulating Ollie.
(Eric Larson animated the character Peg from Lady & the Tramp to Lee's voice more than two decades before)

I believe this photo was taken at the restaurant on the upper floor of the animation building, early 1970s. From left to right:
Ken Anderson, Milt Kahl, Card Walker (Disney top executive) and John Hench (Disney background painter and Imagineer).


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Robin Hood & Little John in Drag II

January 31, 2014, 7:02 pm
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I have posted some material on these two characters dressed as gypsies before, but I have more to show. The doodle sheets above and below were drawn by Milt Kahl. He is trying to find entertaining solutions to the problem of fitting a dress on the body of a fox and a bear.
Beautiful sketches!



This model sheet includes most of Milt's key drawings from a scene in which Little John reacts to the arrival of Prince John's royal coach:  "Now how about that for luck! It's only a circus, a peanut operation." During the dialogue the bear is tying the bonnet's strings into a knot, which is a lovely piece of business. At the end of the scene he turns to Robin screen left.




Ollie Johnston tries a different costume arrangement.



Frank Thomas and Milt Kahl research ideas for interesting looking outfits.



More of Milt's designs. At one point he attempted to keep the ears in the open, but their shapes interfered with the front bow. 





Here is the link to an earlier post about these two characters as gypsies:


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Ollie & Milt team up on Robin Hood

February 3, 2014, 12:07 am
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Ollie Johnston did a ton of animation for the film Robin Hood. His work includes the final section of the tournament. Ollie studied the storyboard, then reworked continuity, framing and personality business. 
Here the stork has just been identified as Robin Hood, who gets arrested immediately to be executed. When Maid Marian begs Prince John for forgiveness, he sympathizes for a moment before angrily calling for Robin's head. 
All the characters wee animated by Ollie, but when it came to drawing Robin Hood, Ollie had a few of his keys redrawn by Milt Kahl, who supervised the character.




Milt drew these couple of beautiful drawings for scene 332.




Robin Hood reacts to Prince Hohn's verdict in scene 336.




In scene 337 Milt tackles interesting, but tough to draw head angles.





Milt of course didn't have the time to key all of Robin Hood's scenes. There are some inconsistencies in the way the character looks throughout the film, even Milt's own animation shows some irregularities due to model changes. 

You might want to revisit Milt's extraordinary designs for the archery tournament characters:


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Wilhelm M. Busch 1950

February 4, 2014, 11:49 pm
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More tiny Busch spot illustrations for a novel by Ernst von Salamon titled "Glueck in Frankreich" (Happiness in France). The reason why I love these drawings so much is because of their economy of lines. Just like in a Milt Kahl drawing, every line counts to communicate an idea in the simplest way possible. Anything that isn't essential to telling the story is left out! You only get the bare bones.
Busch is also able to create real space with so little. Just amazing!
Leaving things out is a marvellous thing, anybody can render an image to death. But presenting only the bare essentials makes for a fascinating artistic statement.











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Walt Peregoy's Jungle Book

February 7, 2014, 1:07 am
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Here is another gorgeous visual development piece by the cranky, but enormously talented Walt Peregoy. As I said before, this type of jungle would have worked for The Jungle Book as well, but the other Walt (Disney) envisioned lighter, more airy backdrops for the characters. The production of this wonderful film saw two casualties: Story man Bill Peet and Walt Peregoy, who both left the studio in a huff, because of their artistic disagreements with where the movie was headed. 
Peregoy has a way with blue/greens and a touch of purple. You can see a lot of that in The Sword in the Stone. And I love it!

Here is a previous post on Peregoy's Jungle Book:

http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2011/11/early-jungle-book.html

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Bambi Art

February 8, 2014, 11:44 pm
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Your guess is as good a mine, as far as who drew the beautiful sketch above. Perhaps Frank Thomas, but I am not sure. Doesn't matter, it is obvious that the artist had a lot of affection for these characters. As did everyone else who was involved in the production.
Milt Kahl drew these appealing studies of Thumper, and I think that a couple of poses represent the cutest application of squash and stretch ever.



Just like the films that preceded Bambi, there were a number of art directors involved in creating the look for the movie. And they all shared one thing with Rembrandt, a mastery of the use of light. Absolutely breathtaking!




This is a magazine article from September of 1942 that promotes the film by showing mostly sketches. Frank Thomas and Milt Kahl created layouts for some of the illustrations. (Young Bambi meeting Feline is a Marc Davis drawing).



You can see some of those original layouts in this previous post:


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Another Tigger Outtake

February 10, 2014, 3:09 pm
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Here are two versions from a discarded scene that a I animated for the feature film Winnie the Pooh.
First the rough pose test, then the in-betweened rough animation. 

Tigger is standing on Winnie the Pooh's belly, and he is impressed to find out how much Pooh knows about Tiggers.





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The Bambi Lollipop Story

February 12, 2014, 5:22 pm
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This is young Frank Thomas showing an animation sketch to an onlooker, who I believe worked at the studio as well.
They both look very serious, yet in those early days at Disney the working atmosphere was pretty casual with plenty of time for practical jokes and silly activities.

Animator Milt Kahl remembers this episode (from an early 1980s interview):

"Frank had one of these big candy suckers with a big piece of doweling for the stick. It was wrapped in cellophane with a ribbon. And I told him that I would just love to smash that thing down on his work table and find out what would happen to it, you know.
It might be disappointing where it would just break up inside the cellophane or what ?
And so when we finished with Bambi we decided that I could break his sucker. And I took this thing, and his work table was just the right height, and I swung this thing down with a lot of force. It must have hit it absolutely perfectly flat, because a sharp, loud report…and there was nothing there but the stick. And actually this thing, it was back in all of the shelves. There was a drawing thumb-tacked on a wall, it looked like one of these transparent easter eggs. Sugar coating like on glass, you know, the drawing was just coated…and it was back in the drawers and in the cuffs of Frank's trousers, and mine.
Then when you walked on the carpet, when you lift your foot, it would go klack- klack- klack.
It was hard candy, but it was amazing , this stuff is just like glue, and it was just terrible.
It took a long time to get that all out of there. We had the janitors busy for a while, because it really just disintegrated, it was like an atom bomb."

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Valentine Greetings from Milt Kahl

February 14, 2014, 11:56 pm
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Somehow this wedding scene of Robin Hood and Maid Marian reminds me of Milt and his late wife Julie. When I met Milt for the first time in Marin County near San Francisco he had just gotten married to Julie. He was very much in love with her, and even told me how they met in a library, love at first sight. Here was this titan of an artist showing his tender side. Originally Julie had no knowledge of Milt's background at all, she just loved him for who he was. 
They both enjoyed going to the San Francisco ballet, as well as watching movies including the Disney classics in theatrical re-runs. Julie was unfamiliar with most of them. During one of my visits  she mentioned that they had just watched 101 Dalmatians, and how much she enjoyed Marc's Cruella De Vil. Milt responded with a smile: "Now, honey, you haven't seen Medusa from The Rescuers yet."

The two would spend ten happy years together before Milt passed away in April of 1987.







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Ollie & Frank on Pinocchio

February 16, 2014, 8:42 pm
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Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas talk about animating Pinocchio in this clip from a 1988 UK TV show on the life of Walt Disney. They discuss acting issues as well as technical challenges.



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Earliest Wire Sculptures

February 18, 2014, 9:51 pm
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These wire sculpture go way back to 1985. I had a small exhibition in the library of the old animation building on the second floor. It was a bitter sweet event, because the staff was in the middle of being relocated to a new building in Glendale. Needless to say, most of us thought that this move would be the beginning of the end for Disney Animation, including our mentor Eric Larson. Luckily we were wrong, big time.
As for my sculptures, people seemed to like them, which encouraged me to do many more over the coming years. Eventually I'd like to get back into it, but this animated film with a tiger and a girl takes absolute precedence. Hmm…I think when the film is finished I'll do a couple of sculptures with the two main characters.












Just a few years later I had another exhibit at Disney with these pieces:
http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2011/09/wire-sculptures.html
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Ollie had a cranky Assistant...

February 20, 2014, 10:18 pm
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…while he was working on a few close up scenes featuring the centaurettes from Fantasia's Pastoral sequence. Further down are Ollie's original rough drawings that were handed out to an assistant to be in-betweened. (Unfortunately I don't have the animation of the two cherubs, who create this sort of hat from a piece of bark and flowers.)


The designs for the centaurettes were created by Fed Moore, who had been a mentor to Ollie when he first joined the studio. These animation drawings show a complete understanding of Freddie's way to draw girls' faces. Full cheeks, a round nose and eyes with long, almost straight lashes.
I am sure Ollie animated scenes like this one very quickly, he re-numbered  the drawings several times until the right timing was achieved. I should say he also re-numbered them very quickly, making them a little hard to read for anyone else down the production pipeline.

The last drawing includes a note to Ollie from a very upset assistant, who also must have been fearless…or naive.













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