Fred Moore's talents baffle me. How can someone so young show so much skill
as an animator? He was 19 years old when he started at Disney in 1930.
I heard the story that he submitted drawings done on grocery paper bags, I wonder if that's true.
In any case, this kid changed the Disney animation style forever.
And not just Disney, you can see his influence on all the other studios as well.
Fred had a knack for a variety of things. He perfected squach and stretch, characters now showed real mass and therefor looked more believable than ever before.
And drawings with charm....oh boy ! No wonder Walt put him in charge of the dwarfs in "Snow White". Look at these rough doodles below, fantastic intuition for personality.
Where did all that come from ? He hadn't had the time to observe and experience much at that young age. (Or do a lot of bad animation before becoming great).
He was just gifted like crazy.
Frank, Ollie, Marc and Milt all told me what a nice guy he was. "Couldn't do a drawing without appeal!" And Fred helped everybody, looking at their scenes and
drawing over their animation. He really WAS the Disney style at that time.
I will not get into the tragic aspects of his later life here. Let's just look at some of his stuff and get inspired.
Wonderful stuff! He did great girls.
ReplyDeleteDo you know which cartoon that drawing of practical pig is from?
Indeed some wonderful drawings.
ReplyDeleteFred Moore was really the Disney animator from that era in the 1930's and 1940's, his animation was Disney. It was a shame that other animators took over and he didn't do much. Some of his work in "Cinderella" is some of the best stuff.
Although, I somehow always thought his animation was crude when he animated Timothy Mouse in "Dumbo". Some of his animation was good in it - but animators like Woolie Reitherman or John Lounsbery did the best animation.
JEWELS,to the tears!!!
ReplyDeleteI always get a little excited when I see part of a timing chart in rough animation drawings, like with Donald swinging the bat. It always feels like they're giving us clues to reveal their mastery. "ah-ha! So that's how he planned it!"
ReplyDeleteLooking at Fred's rough sketches, it is obvious that there were no obstructions between his emotional feelings and the line that flowed out of his pencil onto the page.
ReplyDeleteFred MOORE forever!! Thanks for sharing the images Andreas.
ReplyDeleteHi Andreas! Sorry to leave this on a comment; I know it's kind of obnoxious, but I can't find any contact info anywhere! I just wanted to send you a press release about some rare animation art event, but can't find any contact info anywhere. It looks like you are both a lover and expert of animation art, so I figured I'd shoot it your way. I don't want to spam your page, so if you are interested at checking out some OLD b/w cels, Salvador Dali/Disney stuff next Saturday, let me know! ian@absolutelyfabulous1.com -- I apologize for the public nature of this... I just couldn't see any other options. -- Ian
ReplyDeleteGREAT collection. Thanks for sharing! I especially like seeing that first Mickey. It shows what he was being asked to do in the beginning and then where he took it in a few years. And those girls! Such a keen observer to take all that info and boil it down to such appealing luscious shapes.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing this blog! I graduated from ucla a year before you started teaching so I totally missed out but I am so happy to see this stuff on here and can see that all the wonderful things my peers say about you are so true! Thank you for teaching and for sharing, what a treat!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous.. Those Donald's are in the "Illusion of Life" book too.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! Fred Moore was "Mr Appeal" from that era.....but is there anyone at Disney today that you think could be blessed with the same name Andreas?
ReplyDeleteLove those dwarf sketches!
ReplyDeleteWow, Freddie Moore wasn't only a fantastic animator, but a good person. Your post inspired me to do more research into his life. I can't believe how much Freddie did for Disney in such a short amount of time.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great way to start a 3 day 4th of July weekend. I have followed your blog since it started, everyday has been a treasure. But this is the day I have been waiting for.I have been a fan of Fred Moore since the 60's and the drawings you posted truly show his great talent. An artist who worked for me in the 90's was Fred Moore's assitant at the end of his life.He always talked about his great talent and was the nicest guy in the world. Andreas I have more stories about FM if your interest? Let me know Iwould love to share them.
ReplyDeletebest
TW
TW,
ReplyDeleteplease, we would love to hear stories about Fred Moore.
Post them rigt here, take as much room as you like.
Thanks.
This blog has been a long time comin'. Knowing the extent of Andreas' collection, the rest of us are in for a real treat over the next couple of years. More please!
ReplyDeleteAndreas....Here is one , Johnny Cannon an early 1930's animator at Disneys told this to Marvin Woodward who in turn told it to Amby Paliwoda who told me. When Fred Moore came to the studio in 1930 Johnny Cannon befriended him. When Fred first tried animation they were still using dimes nickels and quarters when drawing mickey mouse, he had a terrible time with this method. Johnny talked with Fred for several days about this and suggested maybe there was a different approach.Fred threw his change into the desk drawer put pencil to paper and shall we say the rest is history.
ReplyDeleteALSO...Joe Voight an assistant animator who worked at Diisney,MGM and Lantz told me his sister Dolores Voight who was Disney's secretary told Joe when Walt fired Fred he said
that it was the hardest thing he had ever done.
more to come...
TW
Thank you, TW !
ReplyDeleteThese stories are gold, and we all appreciate it.
That Walt comment about Fred makes complete sense.
Wow.
A blast of inspiration. It always amuses me how simple shapes can be full of life. Thank you very much for share these beautiful drawings with us!
ReplyDeleteANDREAS! your blog is awesome!
ReplyDelete-pb
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ReplyDeleteZartok, I think the pig drawing is from "The Practical Pig" 1939.
ReplyDeleteAndy, there are quite a few artists today who show a lot of appeal in their work, it's just that Fred's stuff was so
groundbreaking.
Clay and pb, thanks for stopping by.
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ReplyDeleteFreddie Moore.. so young and so talented!
ReplyDeleteyour blog is incredibly inspirational Andreas! thank you for sharing all the great stories and work from the great masters of animation! would love to see more of your work as well!
ReplyDeleteIt seemed that some animators thought Fred Moore was becoming too old school in the late 40's and 50's and the animation had just become too sophisticated for Fred. However, I have heard Ollie specifically talk about his frustration on the animation business sort of pushing Fred's style out and calling it "too simple". I know Ollie might have been prejudice toward Fred, because Fred was a mentor to Ollie. But, Ollie seemed to think that Fred's style was beautiful and he did not deserve the criticism he got toward the end of his career. I was wondering what you thought?
ReplyDeleteP. S. I know two other reasons for Fred's fall from glory was drinking and inability to consistently draw (he needed to be inspired first). So I don't know if those things were more of the reason for him getting kicked out then his drawing style.
Sorry for the long comment,
Jacob
I'm a huge Fred Moore fan and have been learning from his work. He is a constant source of inspiration. Creating an appealing drawing is what it's all about for me. Fred worked hard at that and I heard he even had a list that included the word "appeal".
ReplyDeleteI don't feel there has been enough said about his impact on animation as a whole. He was a game changer in him time. I appreciate what you said and the pictures.
Even his departure from Disney for a short time produced some great results in giving Woody Woodpecker a make over. :) Here's to Fred.
Andreas.....Here are a few more...LaVern Harding was an animator at Walter Lantz when Fred Moore came to the studio. She became instant friends with him. She would supply him with his favorite beverage and in turn he taught her about drawing and stagging for animation. She learned a great deal from him, and was so greatful to him.
ReplyDeleteWhen Fred left for Lantz he asked Cliff Nordberg if he wanted to join him,he told me he almost left Disneys with Fred because because he so admired the guy and he would be working close with him everyday and would learn so much.But decided to stay at Disneys.
By the way my favorite Woody cartoon is "The Mad Hatter". It has some of the most beautiful drawing of Woody ever done by Fred Moore.
Hope you and your readers are enjoying these stories...
Best,
TW
Thank you for posting these. Freddy Moore is such a great inspiration.
ReplyDeleteTim (magoo) ,
ReplyDeleteI hope that you will write up an article with all the various Fred Moore memories you've collected from the animation vets you worked with who knew Fred Moore.
Great post Andreas, I always admired Fred mores sense of appeal in his drawings. Just curious, will you be doing a post on Bill Tytla? He was probably my favorite animator of that era, I would love to see more of his work.
ReplyDeleteHe really was good, I think one of the mysterious to Freddie about his talent could also be linked to Frank Frazetta, Disney wanted Frazetta to come to work for him when he was a teenager also around 17 or something, Frazetta didn't want to go to California because he was just a kid. If you look at Franks drawings they absolutely ooze with life like no drawings Ive ever seen. Whats interesting about this is, Frazetta along with the drawing talent also had incredible hand eye coordination he could have almost played pro Baseball. Heres the connection, I have heard Fred Moore also with his incredible art talent also had amazing hand eye coordination for baseball. Not every one with great art talent could be a pro baseball player, with this added ability it could be why Fred's drawings as well as Frazetta's stood out at such an early age.
ReplyDeleteWow, what amazing work. Thanks for posting!!!
ReplyDeleteAll though the Final Drafts are not an accurate document, going by the Sorcerers Apprentice draft, Fred Moore didn't animate a single scene in the that segment. So the two drawings posted must be poses done for other animators?
ReplyDeleteI think that's correct.
ReplyDeleteFred Moore was one of those indviduals who was born with the gift to draw. You're right, Andreas. This is beautiful, inspiring work!
ReplyDelete