Clik here to view.
"Madame Medusa's Pawn Shop Boutique!"
Milt Kahl animated this line of dialogue, as Medusa is sitting down on her desk while she answers the phone. Initially upset at this late phone call, she then fakes a friendly attitude toward the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fred Moore Mickey Roughs
This sequence of drawings was done for a scene from an unproduced Mickey Mouse short film. My guess is that they date back to the early 1950s. Fred might not have been at the peak of his form anymore,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Milt Kahl Autograph that almost didn't happen
During one of my visits to see Milt in Northern California I brought along a Colonel Hathi sketch, I had just purchased. Milt didn't animate any scenes with elephants for The Jungle Book, but he was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
New Lectures with Virtual Animators
I am about to start off a series of animation online lectures with my buddies at Virtual animators this coming Saturday, December 6, at 11 am US Pacific time. The last lecture was a lot of fun, I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mary Blair Cinderella Art
Mary Blair played a big part in the success of Disney's Cinderella. Her rough color/environment sketches didn't make it to the screen as such, nevertheless her artistic sensibilities influenced the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Donnie Dunagan
...is Bambi's voice. Early in 2011 I had the tremendous pleasure to meet him in Chicago while we were both promoting the Bluray release of the film. Donnie embraced his legendary work for Walt Disney,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Retta and Mary
A wonderful photo showing story artist/animator Retta Scott with visual development artist Mary Blair. They are studying a baby alligator at the Griffith Park Zoo in 1940 or 1941, I assume in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Mystery Photo
I can't figure out what is going on in this photo.Ollie Johnston and Milt Kahl are looking into a mirror during production of Lady and the Tramp.Ollie is presenting a pretty bad illustration featuring...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Verna Felton
Verna Felton is one of my favorite voice actresses in animation. Her rich vocal performances for Disney span decades. Unfortunately I never had the chance of meeting her, she died one day before Walt...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mermaids
The development of the Mermaids in Disney's Peter Pan involved several artistic hands. This cel set-up was made to announce the later arrival of the film during the holiday season of 1952. The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What's up with Ward's Hair?
Furthermore...why is Ward drawing Smee from the Disney film Peter Pan in this publicity photo?Story sketch artist/Mousketeer Roy Williams doesn't seem to be too impressed looking over Ward's shoulder....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Busch Circus Elephant Sketches
Wilhelm M. Busch drew these scenes of circus elephants, performers and handlers in the early 1980s.He loved drawing animals and visited circus performances regularly. I am fascinated by this elegant...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Animal Sketchbook 1991
It is not very wise to follow a post featuring Busch drawings with samples of your own work. But here it is, since I had nothing else prepared.When Disney announced the production of The Lion King way...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Magnificentness
When you take the time to study classic Disney production art up close you begin to realize just how enormously talented and dedicated the animation staff was. The studio's background painters were...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Clik here to view.
Paul Jouve's Big Cats
A while ago I posted artwork from one of Europe's most important animal artists, Paul Jouve.He was an expert in depicting all animals, but I am particularly impressed with his big cats. They remain a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ben & Me
A gorgeous background from Ben & Me, a 20 minutes film released by Disney in 1953. Wikipedia says:"Ben and Me was Disney's first animated two-reel short subject and released theatrically on...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Maleficent
Animator Marc Davis went through a few experimental designs before settling on the final look for Sleeping Beauty's villain Maleficent. We all know her final appearance, as can be seen in the image...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Counting Scars...
I cannot believe that I am am just now finding out about this video, made by "Oh My Disney".Apparently in some survey about Disney villains Scar won this year as the most evil one.What a production...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Jasper and Horace
Cruella De Vil's henchmen Jasper and Horace were principally animated by John Lounsbery (and beautifully so), but their final design was created by Milt Kahl based on story man Bill Peet's rough...
View Article