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By Grim Natwick

January 26, 2017, 9:30 pm
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I have kept xeroxes of a few magazine articles written by the one and only Grim Natwick, such as this one, for a long time. I just can't remember exactly which magazine they are from, but I do believe it was a UK publication from the late 1970s.
In this edition Grim talks about Disney animators Ollie Johnston, Marc Davis (who assisted Grim on the character of Snow White) and Milt Kahl. He discusses some of their work as well as their individual hobbies.
I will post his other articles soon.
Terrific caricature of Milt Kahl by Richard Williams.









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Walt Stanchfield analyzes Milt Kahl

January 29, 2017, 9:41 pm
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I found this photo of Walt Stanchfield among a pile of Disney memorabilia. I don't know where or exactly when it was taken. As Walt is holding a t-shirt, he probably just changed from his tennis outfit into his working clothes. He was sporty, loved life and was interested in just about anything. He always looked debonair, and I can tell you that quite a few young ladies at the studio thought, well...that Walt was hot. He was one of those people who happened to age well and gracefully.
As some of you know, Walt was an excellent teacher. One of his greatest points to get across was the relationship between life drawing and animation. He knew that many young artists somehow separate the two. Life drawing in front of the model being serous, academic stuff, and cartooning being something fun, yet completely different.
Walt made sure that his pupils understood that there is a strong connection.  Once you strengthen and simplify the human (or animal) model for action or acting, the whole thing starts to communicate so much stronger. And your animation will benefit greatly.
Here he points out Milt Kahl's knack for clear silhouette and positive change of shapes.






Get Walt Stanchfield's lectures in this two volume edition:

https://www.amazon.com/Drawn-Life-Classes-Stanchfield-Lectures/dp/0240810961/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0240810961&pd_rd_r=WCE5ZRXFFFNSA1SD3PW7&pd_rd_w=cGU6R&pd_rd_wg=n2y7i&psc=1&refRID=WCE5ZRXFFFNSA1SD3PW7


An earlier post on Walt Stanchfield:

http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2014/04/walt-stanchfield.html


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The 2009 Academy Tribute to Milt Kahl

January 30, 2017, 11:27 pm
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Gosh...it's been almost eight years since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences paid tribute to Milt Kahl. Allow me too brag a little, but way back Milt's 100th birthday was coming up, and so as an Academy member I suggested a celebration of his genius, which I would host.
The event was incredible, a packed house. We showed film clips, vintage interview outtakes, pencil tests and much more.
My buddy Charles Solomon moderated a panel of folks who knew Milt. Here are some of the panelists (Milt's daughter Sybil is missing from the photo, she was momentarily busy elsewhere.)
Next to me is Alice Davis, then Kathryn Beaumont, Brad Bird, John Musker, Charles, Floyd Norman, John Pomeroy and Ron Clements.

Here are pages from the event's program (courtesy of Hans Perk). Marc Davis' remembrance of his friend Milt Kahl is particularly touching.







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On My Disc...

February 1, 2017, 8:17 pm
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© Andreas Deja


Even though the story of my film Mushka is pretty much locked at this point, you still want be open to changes and improvements along the way.
Currently I am exploring a short dream sequence, which involves a wild ride in the snow with an unexpected ending. We' ll see how it will play in the reel.


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Frank Thomas' House for Sale

February 2, 2017, 6:41 pm
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Call it the ultimate Disney collectible, the beautiful Thomas residence is now on the market.
Located in one of LA's most attractive neighborhoods, La Canada, this mid century modern home was co-designed by Frank himself.
I feel very fortunate to have been invited to the Thomas home many times over the years. Visiting Frank and his wife Jeanette was always a special treat, and chances were that Ollie and Mary Johnston were present as well, since they lived next door.
There were garden barbecues, birthday parties and holiday get togethers. So many wonderful memories.
I remember arriving at the house years ago, only to find Frank squirting squirrels with a garden hose.
"Frank, you can't do this", I said. "You animated the beloved squirrel sequence in Sword in the Stone". "They do make a mess, you know", Frank replied.












Here is the link to the real estate offer, go for it!!

http://www.curbed.com/2017/1/23/14357228/la-canada-flintridge-california-midcentury-modern-homes-for-sale-frank-thomas-walt-disney


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The End of the Squirrel Sequence

February 4, 2017, 11:01 pm
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These are Frank Thomas' thumb-nail doodles, as he explores staging and continuity for the final scenes of the squirrel sequence from Sword in the Stone. Both Merlin and Wart have turned back into humans, and the girl squirrel is heartbroken.
Merlin seizes the moment to explain to Wart what just happened: "You know, lad, that love business is a powerful thing."
"Greater than gravity?"
"Well, yes, boy, in it's way. I'd say it's the greatest force on earth!"

I assume this was written by story man Bill Peet, and to me it's one of the most poignant moments in Disney animation. So simple, so moving, and yet powerful as a statement.
The movie does have its flaws, but then it does have moments like this one.

The actual footage was animated by several animators.


Ollie Johnston




Ollie Johnston




Frank Thomas



Hal Ambro




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Oh No, What Have They Done...

February 6, 2017, 10:48 pm
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...just kidding! Someone asked me the other day if any animators were involved in the making of the upcoming live action version of Beauty & the Beast. The answer is no, and that's how it should be.
We did our animated film way back, and we are thrilled to see how beloved it is to this day. 
The new movie will have to stand on its own, and judging by the trailers, it looks like it will.
Luke Evans as Gaston is a great choice. He sure has the looks and the acting chops...though he doesn't look like "the size of a barge". But that won't matter.

I'm very much looking forward to seeing the live action version, in part because my friend Alexis Loizon is in it. (Alexis played Gaston in Paris in the musical on stage.) In the film he  portrays the character of Stanley. You see him on the lower left in this film frame.




I can't help but remembering my first scene for the movie. Gaston, admiring his reflection. Originally I had animated him with a much larger jaw and a mustache. After reviewing the pencil test, I was told that the animation was fine, but Gaston wasn't handsome enough.
It took me a while to grasp the character's concept, but in the end I understood he had be drawn as a handsome dude.
Gosh...all that seems soo long ago!




For some of my Gaston pencil tests go here:

http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2012/01/gaston-pencil-tests.html


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By Grim Natwick II

February 9, 2017, 12:59 am
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Another Cartoonist Profiles article written by Grim Natwick about his buddy Bill Tytla. Grim gives us terrific insight into Tytla's work method as well as his intense relationship with animation. 
Don't we all wish he could have had his whole career at Disney, pushing the boundaries of character animation for a few more decades. We'll never know how Disney animation would have evolved with this artistic giant at the helm. 












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Upcoming Exhibition

February 9, 2017, 11:09 pm
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Alice on Trial

February 11, 2017, 11:33 pm
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Milt Kahl animated all scenes with Alice as she is hopelessly defending herself against the Queen of Hearts at the trial. Look at this beautiful, unused rough drawing that somebody must have gotten from Milt's trash bin. Parts of the line work is so delicate, such as her face and hands.
But when something needs to be worked out like Alice's dress, Milt goes at it forcefully.

Below are copies of the cleaned up key drawings. In the scene Alice reacts to the sudden appearance of the Cheshire Cat on the Queen's head.
Dialogue: "Your Majesty..."











Many more of Milt's Alice rough drawings here:

http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2012/03/more-alice.html


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The Martins and the Coys

February 15, 2017, 12:25 am
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Here is another rough animation drawing by Milt Kahl that was discarded. This sheet comes from the estate of Disney animator Ken O'Brian. It shows the two lead characters from the short The Martins and the Coys, which was part of the 1946 feature Make Mine Music. 
Grace Martin and Henry Coy are dancing energetically on their wedding night. For fast action like this, the animator most likely did all of the drawings (on ones) to ensure fluidity and readability of motion. This is a young Milt Kahl, who knew how to combine his knowledge of human anatomy with  cartoony drawing and motion. This single frame from the dance is a JOY to behold!
I would say that the overall character styling is still influenced by Fred Moore. But Milt takes it a step further, because he knew so much about the human figure, composition and action analysis.

The full sheet is pictured below. As you can see, once discarded, Milt used it as a surface to sharpen his pencil. There are notes, calculations ($ 3000 ?) and what looks like telephone doodles.
I am glad that Ken O'Brian saved this gem for all of us to enjoy more than a half century later!!




More stunning sketches from this sequence in this earlier post:

http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2012/10/animated-energy.html


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Disneytoon

February 16, 2017, 9:10 pm
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I had almost forgotten that I animated this logo for Disneytoon Studios a while back.
I remember sketching out about five different versions for the spot, and this is the one they picked.








Here is the YouTube link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnMeRgbpARM


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The Genius of Hans Bacher

February 18, 2017, 11:37 pm
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Hans Bacher knows what he is talking about. He is an avid student and admirer of classic animation as well as modern art. Hans knows color like nobody's business. He is an expert at composition, staging and mood. His work on Mulan elevated that film into one of the two most beautiful Disney films from the modern era. (The other one being Aladdin. Richard Vander Wende was responsible for the look of that film.)
Here are a few pages from Hans' Mulan style guide. Extraordinary!









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A Ken O'Brien Scene

February 21, 2017, 7:26 pm
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There is very little information about animator Ken O'Brien online or in books. This is a screen grab from a short 1986 interview, which was posted on youtube by Jerry Beck. Here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jIGKFbl0Zw

What strikes me is that Ken in his demeanor and speech reminds me so much of Marc Davis.
Kind of serious, confident, with the occasional chuckle during his answers.
He mentions working with Fred Moore (among others), and I can clearly see that influence in terms of clarity and fluidity applied to key poses for this scene depicting Jim Dear from Lady and the Tramp.
At the end of the film Jim Dear takes a photograph of the new dog family. The old fashioned flash light explodes, resulting in smoke filling the room. Here he makes a run for the window, before opening it in order to clear the air.
O'Brien is in full control of animating this realistic design convincingly. The overall body rhythm reads simply and clearly. There was live action reference involved, but O'Brien always altered his animation drawings to get more dynamic results.











A final frame with effects from the scene.



Check out this previous post on Ken O'Brien:

http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2015/02/ken-obrien.html

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Nottingham Wolves

February 23, 2017, 9:49 pm
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A while ago I posted a few sheets with rough drawings by John Lounsbery showing his early design approach for the henchmen wolves from Robin Hood. 
As always Milt Kahl came up with the final refined designs, shown here. I think they look terrific. The way their hoods often obscure the eyes makes them look dangerous, but a little dumb at the same time.
When you break up the proportions from the hood, then the torso to the skirt part, they are all different lengths. Milt knew instinctively that even proportions result in boring, uninteresting designs.
This philosophy is evident in any of his character designs.
Great drawings!







Here is the link to Lounsbery's earlier versions of the wolves:

http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2016/07/lounsbery-wolves.html


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Aristocats Mix

February 25, 2017, 10:07 pm
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A few images from behind the scenes of Disney's 1970 animated film The Aristocats.
Here story artist Vance Gerry is presenting his storyboard of the "boy meets girl" sequence to director Woolie Reitherman and animator Frank Thomas. Frank animated the beginning of this section, Ollie Johnston did the second half, and Milt Kahl drew a few scenes in the middle.
You can see the sequence in pencil test form here:

http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2011/08/aristocats.html


A sketch of Madame Bonfamille and her cats from a deleted song sequence. I believe Vance Gerry drew this one.



A vis dev piece by Ken Anderson. He created an enormous amount of character as well as environment visuals for the film.



Milt Kahl ended up animating Mme Bonfamille. In this scene she discovers that her cats have disappeared. It's a nice scene, beautifully drawn, but...lightening is going to strike me...her hands are a bit too large.



A couple of press photos showing the characters of Napoleon and Lafayette, along with their voice actors Pat Buttram and George Lindsey.
Frank Thomas and Eric Cleworth animated these guys. I love the feeling of loose skin on these dogs.



The Bonfamille household used to have a butler and a maid, but she didn't make the cut.
Drawings by Ken Anderson.



Another story sketch by Vance Gerry, followed by the final film frame. Ollie Johnston animated this sequence, and as soon as I locate his staging/thumbnail sketches in my inventory I will post them.




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Drawn Water

February 28, 2017, 12:15 am
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It is beyond me how Disney effects animators controlled all that massive line work from drawing to drawing when it came to animating water. Imagine looking at two of these drawings from Pinocchio on your animation disc, and then trying to create an in-between.
Yet they did it with stunning results. Scenes like these might look realistic to you, but in reality there are no graphic lines in the ocean. These moving drawings are imaginatively designed and timed to give you the illusion of water.






Beautiful art deco ripples appear as the crane takes a drink. From Fantasia's removed sequence
Clair de Lune. This short appeared years later in Make Mine Music with different music.



Bambi has incredible effects animation throughout, including water.



When I started at Disney way back, a friend asked me: Will we ever see water again like in Fantasia?




The Disney xerox films shared similar design ideas for water. Simple, economical, but still beautiful.



I believe the water's transparency was achieved through double exposure, I don't think they used transparent paint at that time.





We had some great looking water for Lilo & Stitch. The roundness of the character design is reflected in the wave patterns. And that's how it should be, special effects need to be specific to the overall design of the film.
Did I mention that this film was a ton of fun to work on?




Drawings, Heritage Auctions.

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Raymond Sheppard

March 4, 2017, 9:26 pm
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A while ago, when I was looking for artists who might inspire me as far as depicting tigers, I came across Raymond Sheppard. His work is solid, accurate, "no nonsense". Beautiful old fashioned animal drawing in the best sense of the word.

Wikipedia says:
Raymond Sheppard (1913–1958) was a British artist and illustrator of books for children and adults. He wrote books on drawing techniques, but is best known for his illustrations of Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea and the works of Jim Corbett.

Here is a sampling of his work.
















Much more on Raymond Sheppard on this terrific blog:



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Lady & Tramp Mix

March 9, 2017, 3:41 am
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Actors Barbara Luddy and Larry Roberts pose in front of storyboards drawn by Joe Rinaldi. They voiced the title characters in Disney's 1955 CinemaScope film Lady and the Tramp. 
Roberts was famous during the 1950s for his TV roles and his performances as a stand-up comic.
Luddy would later provide voices for Disney, including Merryweather in Sleeping Beauty, Kanga in the Winnie the Pooh films and the Church Mouse in Robin Hood.

Singer Peggy Lee had a major influence on the film. She wrote songs and was the voice of Darling, both Siamese Cats and of course the showgirl dog Peg.




Peggy Lee visits the ink & paint department.



A still from a TV program in which Lee explains how she recorded both voices for Si and Am.
That's song co-writer Sonny Burke next to her.



A couple of story sketches from the romance sequence.




A magazine ad featuring Tramp promoting dog food.



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Joe Rinaldi Story Sketches

March 10, 2017, 11:32 pm
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I brought this up before, Joe Rinaldi's story work on Disney features is often mistaken for for Bill Peet's. Both artists show top draughtsmanship, excellent staging and great story continuity.
Here are a few sketches by Rinaldi for Cinderella and one for Peter Pan.
As an animator your work is half done when so much is already worked out by the story artist. Personality-rich poses, character relationships and acting. Story artists like Rinaldi really are unsung heroes, because they provided the ground work, the storytelling and character development.
In many cases the animators used these poses within their animated performances.












For Joe Rinaldi's work on Lady & the Tramp, go here:

http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2013/04/joe-rinaldi.html


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