There are times when an animator has to think like a computer.
I remember feeling apprehensive when I started work on the scene above. Hercules is posing for a vase painter, "wearing" Scar's skin. As the camera moves screen right, a CG generated podium turns in perspective. That meant that Hercules needed to be animated holding still like a statue, but turn in perspective at the same time.
Having worked on Roger Rabbit actually gave me plenty of experience with this kind of a scene. However on that film the animation was usually very lively and energetic. But in this scene the one pose just had to match the rotation of the podium. I asked clean up to be extra careful with the in-betweens to avoid any unwanted graphic wiggles. Last time I saw the film it looked alright.
A thumbnail sheet for this scene as well as one that follows shortly thereafter, when Herc in frustration throws away the mock sword and the shield...and eventually Scar's skin.
By the way this Scar gag wasn't my idea. Somebody in story came up with it. I thought it was kind of cute though when they asked me if I was ok with the gag. I had absolutely no problem with it.
I'd imagine the Greeks had a hard time acquiring the skin from the hyenas. Lol
ReplyDeleteI always thought the same thing.
DeleteGreat to hear about these technical challenges of which you are not immediately aware as a viewer!
ReplyDeleteAndreas, I have been wondering for a while now how dialogue is kept lipsync when multiple people (animator, breakdown, inbetween, cleanup) work on the same scene. Is this all done based on the exposure sheet or is additional coordination required? It would be great if you could explain how this is done, all this nuts-and-bolts stuff is very interesting!
I think that scene is also a nice nod to the classical depiction of the character. Which leads me to these questions: I was a bit startled when Burny Mattinson expressed during one of his Clay Kaytis (or Steven Hulett) interviews that he didn't regret not working on the Herc movie because he thought it was too farcical. Do you personally think it's moot to apply mythological accuracy too strictly to a movie which treats its source material as loosely as Hercules did for the sake of comedy? Also, were there ever design pushes to depict Herc closer to his classical image, maybe even call him Heracles?
ReplyDeleteAndreas, for Hercules did you inspired your expression wen you where 20 years old it looks close or why not George Michael.
ReplyDeleteI was under the assumption that this joke had been your idea... Oh well, live and learn.
ReplyDeleteEven as a kid, I knew enough about the real animators at the studio through my collection of Disney books to know that this scene was obviously an in-joke to the fact that Hercules and Scar were both your characters (but also a nice reference to Hercules being depicted wearing a lion skin in Greek mythology). And being in on the joke only made it that much funnier. XD
ReplyDeleteAndreas in the all the Disney animated films and live action in Cinderella, Maleficent and Beauty and the Beast we see a Deer in cameo like Cinderella the Stag it's the Great Prince of the Forest and on Maleficent we see Aurora feeding Bambi in winter wen she was 15 before Maleficent take Aurora in the Moores and in the trailer of the live action of Beauty and the Beast there's there's the statu of Bambi adolescent wen Maurice take the white Ross before he bing captured by the Beast and later on Hercules there's a art of golden Deers in the wall red.
ReplyDeleteWhat is your favorite Disney character, my favorite it's The Great Prince of the Forest, The Beast, Mushu, Rapunzel and Elsa.
ReplyDeleteI love this kind of solid drawing. Solid drawings are every bit as "3D" as "3D" CG animation!
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