Tim Burton's preliminary designs for the character of Gurgi from The Black Cauldron fetched a big $ amount at Heritage's recent animation art auction. After all it's Tim Burton!!
Milt Kahl's version of the character sold for a lot less, after all, who is Milt Kahl??
When working on early designs (during the late 1970s), Milt "recycled" shapes and forms from some of his previous characters. I would say that his Gurgi is a mix of King Louie and Tigger...sort of.
I myself had just a little to do with the final appearance of the character. Animator Hendel Butoy came up with the final look of Gurgi and did beautiful fluid stand out animation.
