For this most unusual of all Disney animated feature films Marc Davis storyboarded the fight sequence between the eagle and the octopus. The drawings date back to 1942/43.
What a change from his story work on Bambi, which delicately showed the poetry of nature and animal characters in the forest. Here Marc pulled all the stops in order to portray these action scenes in the most dramatic way. These story sketches were so effective that the powerful staging, color and lighting made it into the final film intact.
Marc had established himself as an artist who could handle any kind of material. Wether character styling, story sketch or animation, he excelled at all of these.
Incidentally, it was the Bill Tytla who animated the sequence, and I believe this was his last assignment before leaving Disney.
Marc and Tytla stayed in touch and remained friends for the rest of their lives.
A final film frame from the sequence.
