Happy Birthday, Kathryn Beaumont!

 

June 13, 1949: "DISNEY SIGNS THE 'VOICE OF ALICE, BURBANK, CAL....Kathryn Beaumont, 11-year-old English girl, is shown as she signed a contract as the voice of Alice in Walt Disney's lavish cartoon feature production of 'Alice in Wonderland'. Kathryn is the daughter of British actor-singer Kenneth Beaumont. Disney (who stands beside her) gave her a voice test and was immediately captivated. It was originally intended for Margaret O'Brien to play the voice."

Today is Kathryn Beaumont's birthday. I was lucky enough to celebrate with her and a few friends while enjoying a wonderful brunch at one of her favorite local restaurants in Studio City.

Kathy is doing great. She was happy that our LA pandemic lockdown has recently been lifted, and that it is now possible to socialize with -vaccinated- friends again. (Here's hoping it will stay that way.)

At the restaurant we witnessed a few teens being completely consumed by looking at their cel phones. We had a giggle when I asked her if she, as a former school teacher, would be able to have her pupils put down their phones in class and pay attention. Her answer was: "I don't know...I really don't know."

Happy Pride Month!

 

I drew this poster for a party in Paris many years ago. (The paper is showing its age). And a great party it was. To be clear: this image of affection between Herc and Gaston is imaginary. There is no doubt that Hercules is pursuing Meg, and Gaston is insisting on marrying Belle.

But it's fun to play around once in a while...

Muzzle Off

 

This is a beautiful example of classic Stretch and Squash. The beaver opens his mouth extremely wide as he holds the top part of Lady's muzzle right between his upper and lower teeth. This is top notch staging because you want the audience to focus on the upcoming bite. The beaver's stretched open mouth is an anticipation in animation terms, but the viewer is also left anticipating and wondering if the bite will be successful. And you guessed it, the animator is Milt Kahl.

To see a few rough animation drawings of this character by Eric Larson, go here:

https://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2015/02/eric-larson-on-lady-tramp.html

10 Years

 

I can't believe it's been 10 years since I started this blog. 10 years!!! So much fun to share my passion for hand drawn/pencil animation with you. It's glorious history and... doubtful future, as far as Disney full fledged articulation is concerned. What I love is the fact that animation these days tells all kinds of stories.

Political, social and commercial statements.  But I do miss Walt's  drive for personality driven hand drawn stories. I feel so proud of having been apart of the modern "revival" of animation. 

Here is a pic of me working on King Triton for "The Little Mermaid". The maquette  you see is the only one in  existence. It was deemed too large to be cast and reproduced. 

Mushka Scenes

Those scenes represent a little over half of the film. I need more scene stackers. There are other piles of scenes around my studio that need to be stored properly. 

Home stretch, bits and pieces of footage left to animate, and one long important scene. I guess I'll sell some of these animation drawings to benefit charities that are important to me...