Friday, March 9, 2012

More Alice

Here are a couple of magazine articles which helped to promote "Alice in Wonderland" for its initial release in July of 1951. They both show a fantastic variety of photos with Kathryn and other actors at work, performing scenes for the animators. Part of the French article features Bobby Driscoll, who would soon give Peter Pan his voice. Bobby also provided live action reference for that character.









There are still a few drawings of Alice by Milt Kahl I want to share with you.
Every possible angle of her head, every hand gesture is so beautifully worked out.
It's animated realism and appeal on the highest level.














20 comments:

  1. so beautiful! just wondering who animated the majority of the hatter and hare at the t party?(my favourite comedy in the whole film, oh, apart from bill!- who animated him)

    I was just wondering Andreas, I was watching Lion King II a few nights ago - I really like this film, despite criticism I've henceforth read online. Did you have any part/influence in this production?
    I know the sequels are widely criticized and I haven't seen them all, but I like this and the Aladdin sequels (even though the artwork is very rushed).
    I wondered, were these films/projects assigned to learning/apprentice/younger animators as a sort of learning ground during that Disney period?

    I remember Walt saying (in an interview) he did not feel he captured the appeal/ likeability/sincerity in Alice (and Peter) that he had on prior characters. I wonder if this is because her head is quite big!(circle here very much pronounces cranium),in combination with her sometimes sulky young girl tendency.
    Love the life in these designs.
    -sorry for rambling

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can't speak for Andreas, but I am an avid Lion King enthusiast. Having watched the DVD extras and done some research years prior to this, I know that for the most part Lion King II was done in Disney's small sector of animation in Australia, cheaply, for a rush sequel to cash in on the mania that was Lion King. So to answer one of your questions, no, it wasn't a project for novice Disney animators. It was just a low budget ploy to make more money by turning one gem of a film into a franchise. The Aladdin sequels were the same concept. Since Lion King II was made overseas, none of the known original animators followed production... who would want to temporarily move overseas to work on a low budget film when they could stay where they were and continue to produce feature films? And by the time they decided to make a third, Lion King 1 1/2 starring Timon and Pumbaa, even though it was produced in the US. with most of the original voice actors, I'm almost positive it was also a "leftovers" team of animators. The direct-to-video Disney sequel films do NOT get the star treatment cast of animators and pros that the original films get.

      As for your other questions, if you spend some time googling Disney animators and feature films, there is a wealth of information as to who did what on each film Disney produced from that golden era before Walt's death. It is probably better to spend some time hunting around for the information yourself. I've noticed that as this blog has grown in following Andreas seems to be responding less and less to individuals that he doesn't know personally outside of the realm of the internet.

      Delete
    2. Cheers. found various credits, but I just was slightly unsure, didn't animators sometimes work on multiple characters back then, (or was that later?) Ollie was credited to "Alice/King", and later in Aristocats "Duchess, Thomas, Kittens, Amelia, Abigail, Waldo"! Did Ward Kimball animate all these: "White Rabbit;Tweedledee Tweedledum;Cheshire Cat; Mad Hatter;March Hare;Walrus,Carpenter;Oysters; Dormouse"?

      Delete
    3. Like I said, I can't speak for Andreas and I most certainly don't know anywhere near as much about the animators. All I know is he isn't really responding to anyone anymore, so what you got from the internet is pretty much what you get =/. It was nice for a while seeing personalized responses, but that seems to be no more. Sorry!

      Delete
    4. Most of the Tea Party sequence was animated by Ward Kimball
      with some help from John Lounsbery and Cliff Nordberg.
      I need to find out who animated Bill.

      The sequels to the features I worked on were all animated by various studios overseas. The only one I helped out on was Bambi II.

      Walt was talking about character development, not graphic design.

      Delete
  2. What beautiful drawings! They're delicate and graceful, yet so expressive.

    It seems that even aside from obvious details such as the shading of Alice's eyes, the second- and third-to-last drawings are very different from the rest. For example, the head construction is slightly unique in these.

    Is there a particular reason Milt approached these drawings differently? Were they done at separate points in the film's development, or am I imagining/exaggerating the differences?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think Milt started out with a younger looking Alice. As production went on she seems to age a little bit in his animation.
      Those things happen.

      Delete
  3. Are you ever going to do a post on Norm Ferguson, Les Clark, or maybe a few of the lesser known animators?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll try, don't have much artwork from these animators though.

      Delete
  4. Nice. But I wish I could read the French article too.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I agree with James about the Hatter. He was always one of my favorite characters in all of film. I'd love to animate a character who is simply nuts.

    These drawings are magnificent. Just a few faint lines convey such emotion its wonderful.

    Its funny, some of the old Disney films that are considered not as successful as the others are some of my favorite. (Ex. Alice and Robin Hood)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Amazing! I love the wacky, quirky beauty in all the Alice in Wonderland characters :D

    ReplyDelete
  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is a really nice post ! I love the pictures with the actors. I didn't know they used that kind of acting reference that much for the movie. And the french article is perfect. Good to be french sometimes and to be able to read it. Instructive and so retro ! Thank you for sharing !

    ReplyDelete
  9. Alice is such a nice character great touch and design, I used love her when I was a kid. Miyazaki's Kiki Delivery service is drawn so well too with such a delicate touch, and the flying broom scenes look like they were done with out reference.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Dear Andreas!
    I'm very happy to see this wonderful blog! Thanks once more. you can't imagine how much grateful I am to your work. You don't know me but your work is always inspiring to my works. I work for Disney publications from long time ago and I did the Hercules graphic novel and more and more titles, but I've specially enjoyed with your characters and designs.
    So, I just want to say THANK YOU ANDREAS! for all the inspiration and great moments with your works.
    Best wishes.
    Mario.

    ReplyDelete
  11. People... here is a feast to the eyes a lot of drawings of Alice and the flamingo. This is absolutely gorgeous to look at the energy in this drawings.
    http://www.michaelspornanimation.com/splog/?p=2425

    ReplyDelete
  12. I just had a question, are these prismacolor pencils that Milt is using on Alice, they look it to me, looks like one is a light color for the rough, then a darker color for the definition.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I find it interesting that Milt drew the original shot of Alice very large in the room with the doorknob, but in the final film, Ollie Johnston animated her in those shots.

    ReplyDelete