Friday, December 23, 2011

The Sword in the Stone Christmas


Merry Christmas to everybody who celebrates this holiday.
I have always liked this photo of Walt Disney presenting "The Sword in the Stone" at Christmas time.
It would be interesting to find out if this was only a photo shoot or maybe a filmed introduction to the movie.
In any case, this gives me the opportunity to show you a few more beautiful sketches by Milt Kahl for the film. As you might know "The Sword in the Stone" was one of Milt's favorite projects he worked on. He admitted there were some story issues that didn't get resolved, but he thought that the richness of the characters more than made up for that flaw.
He also mentioned that the reason for its lack of success was  the fact that it was released in 1963 as a double feature with "The Three Stooges".

Happy New Year to everyone!










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31 comments:

  1. Herman GonzalesDecember 23, 2011 at 11:58 PM

    Such a delightful drawing of Wart. Ha ha and the wolf that tries to eat him. Always loved those Walt intro's. Happy holiday's to you to Andreas.

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  2. Chris SignoreDecember 24, 2011 at 12:22 AM

    Strewth, that Wolf....one of the many highlights of this Disney movie. One I am proud to admit as my top favourite all round - and one which is played every Christmas in the UK, in fact =)


    Thanks for all the wonderful Disney memories Andreas - Merry Christmas back atcha.

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  3. UnknownDecember 24, 2011 at 4:34 AM

    A Happy New Year to you as well, Andreas! These Milt Kahl drawings from Sword and the Stone are wonderful.

    Out of curiosity (and slightly off-topic), is there any truth to Milt Kahl designing & basing Madame Medusa on an ex-wife? Just curious...thanks!

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  4. neil.hunterDecember 24, 2011 at 7:27 AM

    Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you as well.
    Thanks for sharing all this great artwork.

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  5. AnonymousDecember 24, 2011 at 9:57 AM

    MERRY CHRISTMAS ANDREAS DEJA! YEEPEE! John 3:16
    For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have eternal life.

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  6. Michael CibulkaDecember 24, 2011 at 9:59 AM

    Happy Holidays to you. Thank you for your insight into Disney and Animation history. I have enjoyed reading your thoughts and viewing the wonderfull artwork.
    I was reading that Disney was getting ready to start a 2d film to be called FROZEN, and was wondering if you have any insight into this, and if you, yourself will be involved.
    Again thank you for sharing all this great work.

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  7. Juan AlfonsoDecember 24, 2011 at 3:49 PM

    Frohe Weihnachten und danke fur alles hier im ihren platz(sorry I'm a little rusty)and a "Feliz navidad" too(we are celebrating Nochebuena)wonderful stuff!i wish you had some sketches of the squirrels.

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  8. UnknownDecember 25, 2011 at 10:53 AM

    Hi Andreas!
    Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

    Thank you so much for the wonderful images, videos and information you've shared. I never thought I'd be in a position to see these amazing pieces of animation history. They are truly inspirational.

    I spent the majority of Christmas day watching 'Aladdin' and 'The Sword in the Stone' on television with family. I was so pleased to see that the main British television stations were once again showing some Disney classics, along with some shorts like 'Pluto's Christmas Tree'.

    I really hope that this, along with the successful theatrical re-releases, incites a high demand for more 2D magic. :)

    Thanks once again and best wishes.
    Matthew x

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  9. tiffannysketchbookDecember 25, 2011 at 11:49 AM

    Drawings seem to flow easy from Mr Kahl's pencil. Thank you for sharing these! The wolf is awesome!! Makes me laugh.
    Ps. that's a great profile pic of you, handsome. :)

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  10. David December 25, 2011 at 12:22 PM

    Andreas,

    Thank you for posting more of this inspiring artwork from the masters of animation. (I feel like every day is Christmas Day on this blog; it's true gift to all aficionados of hand-drawn animation.)

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  11. UnknownDecember 25, 2011 at 12:46 PM

    I have been working on my own project and looking/searching for artwork to study from. I knew Milt had his hand on this project and just got this movie the other day for this reason alone. Coming here and seeing you actually post his work is a blessing for everybody to enjoy. Thank you for these post's and helping out the artist community learn rather than stay in the dark.

    Roberto A Cordova

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  12. BTSProDecember 25, 2011 at 7:31 PM

    I love this movie. When you see the character you gust love them. This movie always makes me smile. Andreas when you start on a new character design what is your approach too it?

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  13. David McBrideDecember 26, 2011 at 12:27 AM

    Happy Holidays!!! I have always loved this film. Great Sketches!!

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  14. Chris SobieniakDecember 26, 2011 at 7:11 AM

    "One I am proud to admit as my top favourite all round - and one which is played every Christmas in the UK, in fact =)"

    Of which I hardly see at all back over here, we're lucky just getting it on home video for years!

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  15. Andrea PucciDecember 26, 2011 at 8:49 AM

    Merry Christmas and a new year full of good things!

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  16. Ty CarterDecember 26, 2011 at 9:09 AM

    Beautiful! Merry Christmas Andreas

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  17. patrick mateDecember 26, 2011 at 11:31 AM

    I didn't had the chance to talk to you the other night at the Open Door to wish you a Happy New Year and all my best wishes for 2012!

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  18. Snow White ArchiveDecember 26, 2011 at 6:06 PM

    Cool image of Walt.

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  19. massimiliano lucania December 27, 2011 at 5:23 AM

    First of all, when I was a child, here in Italy, " Sword in the stone", was almost synonymous of Christmas time, because on TV, they usually broadcasted that on the night of the 24th of december, every year.

    That brings me a nice memory of you Andreas, because one particular year ( I think it was 1990, I was about 13) after one of those broadcasts, they aired "The making of the little mermaid"...and guess who was there talking about the animation of King Triton? Ah-ah...that's right! Mr.Andreas Deja...I still have the videocassette ( because I taped both things, Sword in the Stone and the making of the little mermaid)


    Cheers!
    Happy new year!
    massimiliano

    Oh, and by the way, they finally aired the Little Mermaid on tv yesterday night here in Italy!

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  20. MR CreativeDecember 28, 2011 at 5:07 AM

    Nice! This was one of my favorites as a kid when I was really ramping up my interest in being an animator. The character designs were just so damn great, and the laughing sequence with Archimedes...man, I used to rewind that with my brother ALL THE TIME just to watch it over again. That poor VCR got a work out on that one. Happy New Year Andreas!

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  21. DarylTDecember 29, 2011 at 8:12 AM

    Merry Christmas!

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  22. Claudio Vieira de OliveiraDecember 30, 2011 at 8:52 AM

    HAPPY NEW YEAR ANDREAS!

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  23. mike perazaDecember 30, 2011 at 9:59 AM

    Good to see you blogging too Andy! I believe The photo of Walt was from a publicity segment used on the Sunday December 22, 1963 Christmas show of "Wonderful World of Color" to promote "Sword in the Stone" which opened December 25, 1963.

    Happy New Year old friend.

    Mike Peraza
    INK & PAINT CLUB
    http://michaelperaza.blogspot.com/

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  24. Peter Nagy-GalambosiDecember 31, 2011 at 2:39 AM

    Happy New Year, Andreas! :)

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  25. Mark SonntagDecember 31, 2011 at 10:43 PM

    Happy New Year Andreas! Thanks for posting this, The Sword In The Stone has always been one of my favorites. It's a simple and fun movie with some beautiful animation.

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  26. Erik DellbladJanuary 5, 2012 at 5:52 PM

    Thanks so much for putting up these model sheets! Higitus Figitus!!

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  27. DarylTJanuary 10, 2012 at 6:32 AM

    Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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  28. ojlopez03January 11, 2012 at 9:59 AM

    Wow! Thank you for posting the amazing sketches and drawings. Sword in the Stone has some brilliant character designs and Merlin has the coolest hands ever! Happy New Year!

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  29. ChayemorJuly 5, 2018 at 8:00 AM

    The wolf gave me such fear in that movie hahahaha All these years later and his design is still so appealing for the purpose. I'm so happy to have found this blog, so much reading to do!

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  30. lukeperkins1024December 23, 2020 at 1:38 PM

    I believe the picture of Walt was actually filmed for a rerelease of the special, “From All of Us, to All of You”. Whenever a new movie was coming around Christmas time, they would show a sneak peek of an upcoming movie, with an introduction.

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  31. David MussetMarch 4, 2021 at 12:46 PM

    I love the drawings. I would like to be able to draw like that :)

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