Sunday, April 1, 2012

Experimental Bambi

This is a scene by Milt Kahl which doesn't appear in the final movie "Bambi".
It looks to me like the scene was either cut from the film, or it was just a piece of test animation, done before actual production began.
I created this pencil test a few years ago and showed it at the Academy's tribute to Milt Kahl. There were a bunch of in-betweens missing, so I drew those based on the key drawings' charts.
When I watched the pencil test for the first time, I wasn't sure if the timing is 100% accurate. There was no exposure sheet to go by, so I just timed the drawings based on their numbers.
I do know though that occasionally (especially in the old days) the numbers don't always give you the final timing. In other words, drawings numbered on ones could be exposed for two frames for the final scene.
Also, it seems to me that Bambi is interacting with some other character, possibly a few bunnies.

Still, even just like this it is a gorgeous piece of animation to look at, done when Milt Kahl was about 30 years old.
There is full knowledge and control over the motion range of a fawn's body. And Milt knew how to combine that with the emotions of a little kid.
Animated gold!









 



27 comments:

  1. As well as having full control over the fawn's movement and the acting of a little kid, it's also done in perspective with a camera pan, just to spice it up a little bit more! :P
    Awesome to see on a Monday morning! I feel pumped to get to school and start animating! :S

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  2. Beautiful! I love the head turning bit with the ears waving around and the last bit of prancing at the end. Man I'd give my right arm to be able to animate like that.....although I would be unable to draw then! :P

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  3. Wow! He is such a master. And this animation is... a mix with wonderful and perfect!

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  4. So beautiful! Almost looks like he's finally getting comfortable and daring with his legs here. Like he has surprised himself by actually sticking a landing and wants to see what else he can do.
    Thank you for this - inspiring as always!

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  5. Amazing post !
    Wanna say Happy Birthday Dear Mr.Deja !
    Thanks for this awesome blog and all x

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  6. Whoa.. jaw dropper. What a way to start a Monday, thanks Andreas. Have a cool week.

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  7. Thanks for the wonderful bit of animation...and a belated Happy Birthday to you, Andreas!

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  8. Holy Animation...
    This is Incredible! This is Milt!!
    Thanks Andreas!

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  9. These are incredible! Bambi's movement is so smooth and natural. So difficult to do, yet flawless in these drawings.

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  10. Brilliant animation and inbetweens. Happy Birthday.

    Do you know if Milt relied on the maquette of Bambi's head to do the perspective changes in his drawings? Or did he just pull that out of his head?

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  11. Looks a lot like a test for the sequence where Bambi was working his way up to the log.I read that walt wanted to make sure that the guys could pull it off, so he had several tests done.The one with Bambi and the butterfly was another that made it into the final film.

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  12. Beautiful!
    Every frame of that film is gorgeous.
    Oh, and Happy birthday!

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  13. Beautiful :D That happy little fawn just brightened my evening so much! Happy Belated!

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  14. WOW!!! That piece of animation is scary good! And to think Milt did that a such a young age....master piece!

    Also Happy Belated Birthday Andreas! All the best:)

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  15. Andreas, Any chance there's someone out there about to publish a book about Milt's life and career at Disney, complete with his drawings, etc.? Any chance you can write it?! I can't think of a better candidate!

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  16. Beautiful & elegant! Putting this together is very much appreciated

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  17. That's beautiful, it's really ALIVE! No other words is necessary these were truly works of art!

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  18. Wow this looks like it was done mostly from imagination and study, not just rotoscoping.

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  19. These are fantastic!

    Mr. Deja, do you do convention appearances? Is there any way I can buy one of your animation cels?

    All the best!

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  20. Thanks Andreas for sharing these!! Your blog is really a inspiration for me to start doing hand-drawn animation~ You motivate me with every post why this artform is so special!

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  21. Wow, thanks for sharing this Andreas, Milt is my favourite animator and Bambi is my favourite film- this is a real treat!

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  22. wow. unbelievable to directly see those drawings in the video. Thank you so much for sharing, Andreas. You have a rare and important resource here, I love these posts.

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  23. It blows my mind to think that Bambi was 70 years ago! 70!

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  24. Is inbetweening these key frames that have been leaked to the public a good exercise? what can you learn from it. Would these kind of exercises be okay to show off to the public and employers? Thanks.

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  25. I've been working on an animated film for a little over a decade now, and I'm constantly looking back to the two Bambi films for reference. Most of the characters have the same head-shape and ears as fawn-Bambi, and seeing this treasure of a pencil test has proved to be unbelievably insightful as a result. I cannot thank you enough for posting this... it makes life for me and my tiny team so much easier!

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