Monday, September 10, 2012

Fox and Rabbit


I love enlarging sketches.
The vitality and power of a good rough sketch becomes magnified when the art is blown up in size.
That's certainly the case here with Milt Kahl's animation drawings of Brer Fox threatening Brer Rabbit. The images are scanned off small old model sheets. These larger sizes make you appreciate these fantastic roughs even more. 
Milt was about 36 or 37 years old when Song of the South was in production. Studying his work here proves that he was already an expert draughtsman and a master animator.
Dynamic staging, expressive acting and extraordinary drawing. 
Look at the fox's threatening right hand in the first image. It is based on a human hand, but exaggerated for animation. 
I love the fact that you can feel the weight of the clothes' fabric. The fox's shirt is light, there are soft wrinkles on the under side of the sleeves, it convincingly hangs from his shoulders. The vest is a different material and feels heavier.
While the rabbit is drawn with ultimate appeal, the fox's expressions are pushed to the limit.

Milt and the other animators had a blast animating these characters.





13 comments:

  1. I could stare at the first drawing ALL day, my God, the POWER in that line work is outstanding!

    I would have loved to ask Milt about how he approached muzzles when roughing characters out, Brer Fox's muzzle was like two shoe insoles taped together, yet he could get so much expressiveness out of it!

    Awesome post, Andreas!

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  2. Incredible! The Brier Fox, Bear and Rabbit are my all time favorite sequences in Song of the South.

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  3. That IS a great right hand on Brer Fox in that first drawing. I've always been struck on how much is contained in both Brer Fox and Brer Rabbit's rather skinny forms. Since this film is hardly ever seen, these characters are underappreciated gems of animation.

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  4. The solidity with which Kahl turns Brer Fox's face and snoot is amazing. Great acting with a very active voice track too. This is my pick for Kahl's best work.

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  5. I've always wondered, Andreas, how many female leads has Milt animated? It seems that he was always stuck with princes and other male characters. Medusa seems to be the obvious, but were there any others?

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    1. Milt animated Slue Foot Sue in Pecos Bill, the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella, Alice, some scenes with Wendy, Madame Mim-also as a beautiful woman, Madame Bonfamille in The Aristocats, and Maid Marian.

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  6. Next time I see a fox catching a rabbit, send a Disney animator over here. ';)

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  7. Andreas, didn't Marc Davis end up animating Brer Fox?

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    1. They all animated scenes with the fox. Marc Davis, M. Kahl, Eric Larson, Ollie and J. Lounsbery.

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  8. The oh so subtle widening of Brer Rabbit's eyes and stiffening of his pose on the last drawing makes all the difference from the previous drawing. So good.

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  9. Being the fact that "Song of the South" is my favorite of the old-school Disney features, this particular sequence is some of, if not, THE BEST piece of animation in the whole 25 minutes of animation in the 94 minute feature. When Brer Fox's hand quickly claws then drops, you FEEL it! Another amazing talent the Disney Nine Old Men, even today's top animators (with you being one of the top on my list, Andreas) have- the ability for a 2-dimensional figure to make such a legit-feeling on humans.

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