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Eric Larson, Animator & Mentor
Eric Larson's animation training program, which started in the mid 1970s, was groundbreaking and very important. I was so lucky to have benefited from Eric's one on one mentoring. He was the most...
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More Wire Sculptures
I sold these three pieces at a charity auction last year. They actually date back quite a few years, the cow was the second piece I ever made.The lion was a weekend project during the lion king...
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Medusa Thummbnail Sketches
Milt Kahl used a thin felt pen for his exploratory sketches during production of The Rescuers.He produced a ton of these sheets searching for the most inventive poses, expressions and acting patterns....
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Classic Squash & Stretch
Wether applied forcefully or subtly, I don't think anything comes alive without it.Hollywood animation from the 1930s to the late 1940s normally shows a broad use of squash and stretch. As the years...
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Don Towsley is Amazing!
He really is!!Towsley was mostly a Donald Duck animator, but he also worked on some of the early Disney features such as Pinocchio, Fantasia and Dumbo.He created the most dynamic model sheets like the...
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Disney Owls
There have been so many owls over the years in Disney animation that I can't list them all in this post. Their personalities range from warm paternal to comedic types. Some of them took on the role of...
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From Live Action to Final Frame
These black and white photostats show clearly how the actors' performance influenced the Disney animators. To me it is always fascinating to find out what parts were kept and which ones were changed....
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Busch Circus Sketches
More spectacular gesture drawings by German artist Wilhelm M. Busch.Throughout his career as a prolific book illustrator, he kept going to the circus to study animals interacting with their trainers. I...
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Bambi Vis Dev Art
In their 1990 book Bambi, The Story and the Film, Frank and Ollie don't identify the artist who produced these magnificent poetic renderings. They probably didn't remember.The use of light gives the...
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Fred Moore from the Back
As far as I'm concerned there aren't enough photos of Fred Moore around.This is the guy who changed the look and feel of character animation during the 1930s in a big way.The photo above was taken in...
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Gag Drawing
You've probably seen some of those vintage gag drawings that were done at Disney way back. They usually poke fun at something that had happened between animators, occasionally even Walt was portrayed...
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TS Sullivant 7
What an amazing Sullivant cartoon, one of many based on the story of Noah's Ark.I am off to Germany for the Hamburg Animation Award event, so there won't be any new posts for a week and a half. In the...
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London & Peter Pan
I am writing this post slightly jet lagged, having just gotten back to LA from a week in London (after a few days in Hamburg, Germany).The weather was beautiful for outdoor activities, so I skipped...
View ArticleGetting to know Milt Kahl
I originally prepared these interview clips as part of a presentation for the 2009 Milt Kahl Tribute at the Academy. This is a series of brief, but fascinating statements which reveal Milt's passion as...
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Cruella as Medusa ?
During the early development phase of The Rescuers Ken Anderson gave some serious thought to the idea for a Cruella De Vil comeback. He made these sketches to experiment with the concept of Cruella as...
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Bill Peet's Dumbo
A young Bill Peet sketches elephants at a circus, backstage around 1940.He ended up doing story work on critically important personality sequences like those playful scenes with Dumbo and his mother....
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Alice giggles...
…and if you don't think this is the most adorable photo you've seen in a long time, I really can't help you.It looks like Kathryn Beaumont is cracking up at something that happened on the set. I don't...
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Jafar Clean Ups
A while ago I posted some of my rough animation of Jafar. When it came to cleaning up those rough key drawings on a new sheet of paper I tried to stay in touch with my clean up lead Kathy Bailey as...
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"…You worry too much, old boy!"
Here is a very simple and effective scene with Robin Hood in the opening sequence of the film.He responds to the bear Little John, who is concerned about the pursuits by the Sheriff of Nottingham. "Ah,...
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James Affleck Shepherd
J. A. Shepherd is not as well known nowadays as he should be. I first came across his work during the production of Roger Rabbit in London, when animator Chuck Gammage showed me one of his illustrated...
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