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Milt Kahl's Birthday
Today, March 22, is Milt Kahl's birthday. I have posted many tributes to Milt over the years, so here is something different.As I pointed out before, Prince Phillip was his least enjoyable animation...
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Otto Dill
Up until a few days ago I have never heard of Otto Dill. I don't know how that's even possible, since Dill is a German Painter who lived from 1884 until 1957. As soon as I googled him I fell in love...
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Another Ward Kimball Post
It always fascinates me to see an artist's style change over the years or decades. Ward Kimball drew these caricatures of colleague Harper Goff sometime during the 1950s. Goff was a Disney story...
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The Anatomy of Motion
This is the title for a book that Marc Davis had been working on for many years. Unfortunately it was never published, but all of Marc's research still exists. Motion range as well as comparative...
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Earth Day/Marc Davis
Happy Earth Day! Today I hope we can all reflect and contemplate the importance of the natural world and its wildlife. One of its biggest champions was Marc Davis. He and his wife Alice supported...
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Aristocats Art
People don't talk much about the art direction for The Aristocats. I think it is beautiful. After the conventional, painterly backgrounds for The Jungle Book the Disney team decided to go back to a...
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Indian Wildlife
A little while ago, while I was working on the Jungle Book exhibition for the WDFM, I had the idea to come up with sketches of the actual animals being portrayed in the film. The set is still not...
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A Milt Kahl Sketch Explained
Recently I had the good fortune to purchase this beautiful sketch by Milt Kahl. It was part of the Marc Davis Auction at Heritage. So what the heck is going on here visually?I remember seeing the...
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Richard Sherman Interview
You all heard by now that Richard M Sherman passed away recently. He would have been 96 years old next week on June 12. Richard was amazing in so many ways. Everybody who met him has a Richard Sherman...
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Shere Khan and Kaa II
I talked about this sequence from the Jungle Book before. Here Shere Khan interrogates Kaa, the python, about the man cub. The storyboards were drawn by Vance Gerry and Floyd Norman.Again I am utterly...
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About Scar
The Lion King turned 30 last month, and I have been speaking frequently to people who had questions about what it was like to work on the film. As some of you might know, I had already animated two...
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MUSHKA Music Video
We made a music video featuring Richard Sherman's "Mushka's Lullaby". The wonderful Holly Sedillos is featured during her actual recording. The amazing Synchron Stage Orchestra Vienna is playing the...
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Long Lost Model Sheets
I just re-discovered these model sheets. Drawings and notes (with typos) were meant for my animation crew, animators as well as clean up artists. These sheets date back to July of 1996. The hand...
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Elsie Henderson
Elsie Henderson was an English painter and sculptor who lived from 1880 - 1967. She was terrific depicting animals, particularly big cats. Since July 29 is World Tiger Day, here are a few sketches...
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An Olympic Chanteuse
These days the world is talking about the return of Celine Dion. Ever since her song for Beauty & the Beast (with Peabo Bryson) I have been a fan of hers. In 2011 I had the great pleasure of...
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Early Hercules
As mentioned in my previous Hercules post, I recently re-discovered early character designs which I thought had been lost. These marker drawings are less stylized than the final version, and Herc has...
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Jessica Rabbit Roughs
Russel Hall animated most key scenes with Jessica. His take on the character is unique as you can see in these two spectacular rough drawings. Her sensual qualities could have been portrayed in a...
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Henn/Deja Sequences
Congratulations to Mark Henn for receiving the Disney Legend Award!I worked with Mark on the same sequences from time to time. Here are a few of my favorites.King Triton argues with his daughter Ariel....
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The Horned King
I have written plenty about The Black Cauldron over the years. This was my first project at Disney when I started there in August of 1980. The studio was finishing The Fox and the Hound, and I was...
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John Lounsbery's Robin Hood
I have written before about John Lounsbery's involvement in the character of Robin Hood. He started him off by animating a few scenes, before Milt Kahl took over Robin. Early designs by Ken Anderson...
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