This is an article I wrote for Sketches Magazine in 2004. Walt Disney Classics Collection was about to release a Medusa & Penny sculpture, and I was asked to write a little piece about the character and her animator Milt Kahl.
As a bonus I am adding this rather peculiar pencil scene of Madame Medusa, which does not appear in "The Rescuers".
The outtake pencil test was put together from copies of the tied down rough animation drawings.
During the make-up-removal-sequence Medusa is responding to a line from Penny: "You want me to find that diamond." The final film version has Medusa's dialogue "That's right, dear!" on a Penny medium close up.
Perhaps the scene ended up on the cutting room floor, because it doesn't really work, the acting looks unnatural. Arguably that's very unusual for a Kahl scene.
What was Milt thinking?
I guess the first part works alright with her saying the words "That's right…"
But the word "Dear" isn't even pronounced in the animation, maybe Milt animated to a different dialogue take, one that was shorter. Still, the second half of the scene shows strange head bouncing and twinning hands action.
So this means that the man was human after all !!
Maybe I'm Kahl-biased by now, but I think the animation is great, but you are right, may be it's over-acting. I was studying Milt Kahl drawings of Roger and I was just thinking how much he has Picasso in his mind. His ability to abstract the human figure to so simple lines yet so wonderful and expressive is to consider him as one of the greatest artists of our time. He was amazing indeed. By the way two weeks ago was my birthday, so all those Milt Kahl and Jungle Book posts were like candles to my cake. Thank you so much for your posts. All of them. I hope you can show us something from Hercules one day. Another design so simple yet quite appealing in my humble opinion.
ReplyDeleteAndreas, Milt without a doubt would yell at you really loud like show for publishing that pencil test!
ReplyDeleteMaybe he had a bad day, maybe he was sick because it's so unlike him. He he.Drawing 73 is not really that good! Milt and a bad drawing! You found one!
73 looks good to me, I just don't like the acting.
DeleteWell.. I just found the pose kind of awkward... With a stare that doesnt make much sense. But thats just my opinion
DeleteAndreas, you made my day. I was looking all evening yesterday for rough images or pencil test of Medusa. I was so sad to find so little. So I just went to the blu-ray and saw her animation frame by frame until 3AM
ReplyDeleteAnd a few hours latter, you just put that post. Thank you !
I do like the way her hands flow in a circular motion in the pencil test.
ReplyDeleteI have to say I think I quite like it - it's kind of Tim Burton-ish, pushing the envelope into the weird and uncanny in a way that makes Mim scary on a whole other level - but maybe it's all just a little too uncanny for 'classic Disney' so I understand why it was cut out.
ReplyDeleteBut wow - to be able to outtakes like this is such a privilege, thanks so much for putting it up here.
I distinctly remember a nightmare I had about Cruella when I was about 5 or 6. Since then, I've grown to like that maniac of a woman. Medusa, however, still sends shivers up my spine. Those eyes... Yet somehow, that unsettling feeling is fantastic! ';)
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad they didn't reuse Cruella!
ReplyDeleteI can see why he left out that reassembled scene though. I've heard he would redraw everything a million times and pick the best poses.
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ReplyDeleteI love the work done, looks great .. best regards from Arthur - juegos de autos * - *
ReplyDeleteThanks for this Medusa post.
ReplyDeleteShe is my ALL-TIME favourite character and I have to admit to being a trifle obsessed by her.
I have a collection of original artwork from the movie, including a great Milt Kahl rough and a couple of terrific Key Masters, (so I'm always eager to see posts from your collection of her too).
So how thrilling it is to see a bit of rough animation of her that wasn't in the film. I agree that the acting is a little strange but it's great just to see her doing something else other the the actions we see in 'The Rescuers'. It's like discovering deleted footage of a favourite actress!
Any more Andreas? Do you have access to the deleted scene where she sews the Devil's Eye into Teddy? I heard about that scene on numerous occasions, and always wondered if it was finished, just roughed out or maybe it only got as far as the storyboard stage.
The recent Blu Ray release of 'The Rescuers' is woefully short on extras. This is exactly the kind of deleted scene that should have been included, so thanks again!
Despite Milt being human and the animation being technically imperfect it still looks great to me lol....
ReplyDeleteAlso wanted to add the Madam Medusa is one of the best animated performances ever. Up there with Frank Thomas's Captain Hook, Marc Davis's Cruella Deville and your Scar. Really unique and expressive character that felt alive.
ReplyDeleteIve talked about being more impressed with some of the stuff Miyazaki has done from total imagination. But I have to say I love this pencil test, it looks to be done out of his head, the hand movements are amazing I absolutely love it, there's so much going on in it, different acting is going on at once with multiple parts of the body, everything is expressing its self, eyes head hands body, this animation shows a true master and shows he had a very unique talent. I would love to see some of his life drawing or portraits I bet they were great.
ReplyDeleteThe bigger problem here for me is that Medusa looks even scarier because of the illogical movements. I wonder if that wasn't a reason for cutting the scene. Penny would be even more reluctant to help her with the diamond if she had acted this freaky in front of her. Horrifying!
ReplyDeleteIts a pretty terrifying pencil test. I think maybe Milt wanted to emphasize that over the top phoniness adults sometimes adopt when they talk to children, make her true creepy personality shine through, but yeah I agree with AT... WAY too chilling for the average kid. And I think you are right about him animating to a different track of dialogue.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean when you refer to the "acting"?
ReplyDelete