I have talked and posted before on Disney's color model department. These talented artists created the most appealing and intriguing color concepts for all of those fantastic characters.
Particularly during the 1940s and 1950s those Technicolor hues looked like fresh fruit, und you just wanted to take a bite.
Later on starting with 101 Dalmatians the character color palettes became much more muted, but still very beautiful in their own way.
Each time a character is drawn by several animators, different looking versions will appear on the screen. Even after clean up artists try to bring that character "on model" by re-drawing him.
For example, in The Jungle Book I can tell a a Frank Thomas Mowgli from Milt Kahl or Ollie Johnston. I am sure many of you can do the same.
James Baxter was a young animator when he realized this very phenomenon. James drew this comparison sheet with a variety of Roger Rabbits. I dare you to tell me what animator is behind each version!!
OK...here goes, from left to right: Richard Williams, Simon Wells, Phil Nibbelink, me, and the last one by Matt O'Callaghan (who worked in the LA unit). To tell you the truth, James nailed all of our different versions.
A few stunning pieces by Marc Davis currently offered at Heritage Auctions. Mid Century American Modern at its best. (Or as Richard Williams called them: California Picassos).
I suppose I should have posted this image for Halloween. I drew this sketch while I was working at Disney's Orlando Studio, quite a few years ago. It is a rough layout for an illustration I never finished. Perhaps I can use it as the cover for my autobiography.....
I posted this image of Milt Kahl drawings before. Here is Thomas O'Malley, the alley cat from The Aristocats, drawn with stripes. It is hard to imagine that during a time of tight budgets at Disney (post Walt), the studio was even considering adding this pattern on to the character. It would have taken longer and it would have been expensive to bring O'Malley to the screen.
Here are a couple of realistic "cat with stripes" sheets. They come from the estate of Ollie Johnston, though I am not sure if Ollie drew these. He might have, because Ollie ended up animating a lot of scenes with O'Malley...without the stripes.
These are pages from a booklet that show what kind of character merchandise Walt Disney Productions was offering in 1949. As you know revenues from these products were essential in keeping the company afloat, particularly during the "lean" 1940s. The early 40s presented a very tough time because only Dumbo was profitable (and not by a lot).
It is mind boggling to realize that Pinocchio, Bambi and Fantasia all flopped when first released.
I enjoy studying the quality control over these items. Most of them look actually very nice. There is a vitality and a sense of joy to them.
There are a lot of pages, so here goes:
