These beautiful, sensitive drawings are by Ollie Johnston. They predate animation, Ollie was exploring poses and attitudes that reveal Penny's personality. Already you see a sweetness and melancholy that define her character. And look at that light Ollie touch in the line work, so different than -let's say- Frank Thomas, Milt Kahl or Marc Davis. As Glen Keane said in the documentary Frank & Ollie, his pencil seems to be kissing the paper.
I realized that over the years I have posted quite a few times about this character. Turns out that I just have a lot of original material with Penny.
Ollie is ALL emotion. He knew he didn't draw as well as Milt or Marc, but the fact that he felt for his characters so deeply makes his work stand out.
Here are a few other previous posts on Penny:
https://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2011/12/penny-and-rufus.html
https://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2018/03/more-of-milts-penny.html
https://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2017/12/developing-character-of-penny.html
Penny is such a charming character, there's this beautiful simplicity to her that is conveyed effortlessly with just a few lines. I could definitely see some of that same childlike naïveté and lightness in Sarah's animation that was shown in the brief "Mushka" footage from a few years ago.
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