Here are a few rough key drawings from a Milt Kahl scene with Mowgli from The Jungle Book. The man cub is not very pleased with Bagheera, who wants to take the boy to the man village.
I just love Milt's proportions in Mowgli's design. Complex but simplified anatomy.
Look at his neck line going into his jaw on the first drawing. Normally you would expect a break there to show the jaw line going toward the ear. But this looks so much simpler and leads your eye to his face, and also to his open hand.
That profile so appealing with the over hanging upper lip.
The acting is great, too. A little anticipation before he fully sits down, then letting one leg dangling.
As usual, beautiful stuff from Mr Kahl.
Blog reader Breana Melvin created a pencil test with these drawings. It looks great. Check it out:
Woolie Reitherman directing his son Bruce, who provided most of the dialogue for Mowgli.
I like these drawings a lot! Mowgli looks so appealing on them :)
ReplyDeleteAre these numbers in the corner showing the actual frame number in the sequence? So there would be 5 frames in between first two keys and then 1 frame after second and third key?
Yes, those are frame numbers.
DeleteI was surprised, because these numbers show how complicated the timing is - the keys are not just seconds or any other even interval, but they are sometimes every 6th frame, sometimes every 2nd or 4th frame.
DeleteI've recently found some info on 50mostinfluentialdisneyanimators blog that Milt Kahl was using such complex timing - it's just amazing that he could imagine how the motion will go with such uneven timing.
Wow, amazing drawings...
ReplyDeleteOof, inspiring stuff. Amazing how just a few lines drawn on a bit of paper can mean soooo much...
ReplyDeleteThanks
Really love that first one. ';)
ReplyDeleteI've always loved the way Mowgli moved. Fantastic stuff.
ReplyDeleteAndreas - who's your favorite Disney character in terms of the way they're animated?
Way too many to list here, the dwarfs, Stromboli, Bambi, Tytla's devil, Dance of the Hours, the Stepmother,Hook, Smee, Tramp
Deleteand on and on.
I always appreciate when you break down a drawing and explain how every line leads your eye to the focal point or "stage" of the drawing, like you did with your explanation of Mowgli's jawline or that post from a year ago where you drew red lines over key drawings to show the flow toward the focused area. So in conclusion...THANKS!
ReplyDeleteAs usual, I made a gif: http://animationtidbits.tumblr.com/post/29638095521/jungle-book-milt-khal
ReplyDeleteEnjoy =)
Thanks for offering the test!
DeleteI never met Woolie's son, Bruce. However, I heard his voice over and over so many times I feel I have.
ReplyDeleteAs always, Milt's stuff is incredible. Thanks for bringing back some wonderful memories.
Great sequence. Love the leg swing after he sits. Communicates a care free innocence. Also love Milts simple rendering style. Not many lines but communicates a lot about the anatomy and looks very realistic in terms of proportion and anatomy.
ReplyDeleteHello Andreas, I'm doing a study of these drawings but and am hoping you could tell me what medium Milt used here, looks to be pen but the line seems to grain in places like the texture of a pencil? The line quality is beautiful!
ReplyDelete