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Virtual Animators
A little while ago I was invited by my friends over at Virtual Animators to give an online lecture on character animation. We settled on this coming Saturday, Oct. 11. Buddies of mine like Don Hahn,...
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Joe Rinaldi II
Here are more luscious drawings by story artist Joe Rinaldi for Lady & the Tramp.They are story sketches as well as publicity artwork. Full of charm and personality. It’s interesting to compare...
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Drawing Help from Kahl
The Peter Pan scene pictured above was animated by Eric Cleworth. But since Milt Kahl was the supervising animator on the character, he gave Cleworth this one key drawing, which shows Pan being goofy...
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The Power of Breathing
I know, this sounds like advice from some health lifestyle guru.During my online talk last Saturday I mentioned the importance of having your character breathe.Particularly during a quiet moment,...
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"I'm an Action Figure"
When I animated this scene with Hercules I was able to benefit from some live action reference. The actor who went through the motion in front of a video camera was Robert Gant. I received a layout...
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Lee Blair
We all know about his famous wife Mary, but it was Lee Blair who started first working for Disney in 1938. (Mary joined him in 1940). Lee was a master watercolor artist from a very young age. At Disney...
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Don Lusk
…will celebrate his 101 birthday on October 28. I had the pleasure of meeting him for the first time one week ago at a Disney event. Don has an amazing memory and didn’t mind recounting highlights from...
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Wilhelm M. Busch, Early Works
These beautiful drawings were were done during the 1940s. Busch published them much later in a little book, in which he points out that most of his student work was destroyed during the war, but a few...
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A Bit of Frank Thomas Magic
Frank and Ollie were perfectly cast on the There Fairies from Sleeping Beauty. These ladies have a warmth that is unique to the work of the two animators. This is part of a pose test that Frank did...
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Milt's Llama
One of my all time favorite pieces if character animation is the Lake Titicaca sequence from the feature Saludos Amigos. The way the Llama interacts and reacts to Donald Duck and the little Peruvian...
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Lorenzo
I love Disney’s 2004 short film Lorenzo. It was the last project Disney’s French Studio animated before closing. The award winning film showed where hand-drawn animation could go in the future. The...
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Happy Birthday, Ollie Johnston!
Photo by Mark KirklandThis Halloween would have been Ollie's 102 birthday.Even a few years before he died at age 95 he would say: "Gee, I never thought that I would get THAT old."A young Ollie animated...
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More Ollie
These photos were taken sometime during the early 1990s, when Ollie had invited friends and their families to ride on his model train. The tracks went around the house and beyond, and Ollie enjoyed...
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Woolie, Tramp and the Rat
Woolie Reitherman was an expert in animating action sequences such as fights and chases.In Lady & the Tramp he drew the street dogs as they threaten Lady before getting into a brawl with Tramp. But...
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Pesky Fauns
...could be the title of this illustration by Heinrich Kley. It's a little unsettling to see these Fauns treating the old Centaur so disrespectfully. Maybe the situation is a part of a mythological...
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The Little House
This is an unusual Disney short film from 1952. It brings to life the most rigid objects imaginable, buildings. I love the story and art direction, I’m not so sure how much fun it would be to animate a...
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Dancing Monkey
Some animators are great handling scenes that involve dancing. Eric Goldberg is one of them, so is Ken Harris and Ollie Johnston. Frank Thomas had the analytical mind to bring dance to life with...
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Milt on Human Reaction
I am not sure if I recall this Kahl statement from one of his lectures, or if he told me in person.It is an interesting comment on how a person reacts to, let's say a loud sound, at a moment when he...
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Jonathan Freeman
I will update my blog again toward the weekend. In the meantime I am off to New York to see my friend Jonathan perform Jafar on stage. As some of you might know he originated the role for the animated...
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