African Cats Revisited

The Disney Nature film African Cats premiered in theatres in  2011. Way back I posted some artwork I had created based on scenes from the film. The sketches were used as part of the film's promotion.

Among my digital files I just found a few more images. 

The original African Cats post is here:

https://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2011/10/african-cats.html

The movie is still available for viewing on Disney+. I still think it is magnificent, in its storytelling as well as cinematography.

Painting Milt Kahl Cels II

A few posts back I wrote about the challenges some cel inkers and painters might have had when dealing with Milt Kahl scenes.

It was in fact Cherie Miller who gave me this bit of information. In this photo she is working on a Madame Medusa cel from a scene when Medusa threatens Snoops and Penny. 

The character's lips were painted painstakingly on top of the cel while all other colors were added on the back as usual. You can see from the sketchy drawing that decisions had to be made as to where exactly a particular color area ends, against which line?

Here is the link to the previous post:

https://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2025/01/painting-milt-kahl-cels.html

Milt Kahl, 116

Today is Milt Kah's birthday number 116. He was eight years younger than Walt Disney. I don't have much to add to what I have been saying in previous posts. Milt was the right guy at the right time in the right place working for the right person. Hard to imagine what all those Disney characters would look like without his design contributions over so many years. Also countless outstanding animated performances.

So here's to Milt who had one of the most stellar careers in animation. 

Here are a few key drawings showing Madam Medusa as she interacts with off stage Penny. Milt was still experimenting with new expressions and graphic styles.

An amazing scene with George Hautecourt, the old lawyer from The Aristocats. He is sitting in his car, and as he takes off his gloves you can feel the leathery material by the way he uses squash and stretch. In the most sophisticated way. 

Dame Edna Everage

Some of you might be familiar with Barry Humphries' bigger than life creation of Dame Edna Everage.

I first became aware of this character in 1987 when I was working in London on Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

At that time many magazine covers were announcing a new talk show with host Dame Edna. 

For one reason or another I got to talk to Dick Williams about this upcoming program. He said I should watch it, because it will be a very funny show.

The Dame Edna Experience had its debut in September of 1987....and I haven't stopped laughing since.

Guests included VIPs like Sean Connery, Joan Rivers, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Rudolph Nureyev among many others. Dame Edna takes pleasure in ridiculing her guests, but in a "sharing and caring way".

Eventually Edna also gave live theatre performances in London, and I remember going to see her with a group of friends like Don Hahn, Max Howard, Dick Williams and his wife Mo. We were laughing so hard that our stomachs were hurting. The way Edna interacted with a live audience on stage was comedic brilliance.

In later years I was able to catch her live shows in New York, Los Angeles and Sydney.

To me Edna is the funniest character creation ever. Nobody makes me laugh more.

Barry Humphries died in April of 2023, age 89.

There are many hilarious Dame Edna clips on Youtube, this one shows Humphries' genius as a guest on the Michael Parkinson show. Watch the reactions of co-guests Judie Dench and Sharon Osborne. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neMoV2AJO-c&t=562s

Mickey Sorcerer by Fred Moore

A beautiful Fred Moore sketch of Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer's Apprentice is currently being offered on Ebay. I don't think Fred animated any scenes for this stunning short film, but he was animation supervisor. That means he would guide and help other animators with drawing and staging Mickey.

I find the second image particularly interesting, since it shows Fred's search for a better body pose. Here Mickey is about to magically bring the brooms to life. Fred is trying to show tension in Mickey's body in order to perform this forceful act. I think both positions could have worked, but Fred decided on the better version.

This reminds me of the Mickey Mouse exhibition I curated for the Walt Disney Family Museum a few years ago. Here are a few pics from that exhibit:

https://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2019/07/mickey-at-walt-disney-family-museum.html

Three Caballeros and a Lady

I keep discovering new, unpublished Fred Moore drawings from the South American movies all the time. Fred was in high demand when it came to promote these films. This one is a real gem.

Donald, Panchito and Jose Carioca, each showing different attitudes. Beautiful!

Crazy with the Heat

Crazy with the Heat is a Goofy/Donald short from 1947. Ed Aardel was the lead animator on the film. I remember seeing it as a kid in a theatre as part of a Disney shorts package program.

These terrific rough drawings from the short were recently offered on Ebay. I did not get them, but I think I should have. Because when examined closely, I believe at least some of them are by Milt Kahl. This is exactly how Milt drew during the 1940s, and as we all know during his career he helped many animators to improve staging and drawing for their scenes.

I think these are fantastic "doodles". What do you think? Could these be Milt's?

Here is the Wikipedia link to Crazy with the Heat:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_with_the_Heat

Oscar Winners

A few days ago I had the pleasure of spending time with recent Oscar winners Hossein Molayemi and Shirin Sohani. Their animated short film "In the Shadow of the Cypress" is stunning and profound. I was able to arrange a tour for the couple of Walt Disney's office and the Archives. Hossein and Shirin, you are amazing, and I am happy to call you my friends.

 

Fred Moore's Granddaughter

Quite a few years ago I got a call from Ollie Johnston, and he asked me if I could swing by his home and bring a few Fred Moore drawings with me. (I had purchased those from Ollie a while back.)

This was for a special occasion:  Fred Moore's granddaughter would visit the next day to film an interview with Frank and Ollie about her grandfather Fred Moore. And Ollie wanted her to see some of Fred's sketches to show how great of an artist he was. 

She arrived with a student friend of hers from Santa Barbara, where both studied fashion design at the local university. And this is what she was wearing that day. A printed T-shirt with one of Fred's girl drawings. She said that she owned this sketch and a few others. But on the whole her family did not have much of Fred's art.

It turned out to be a fun afternoon, listening to Frank and Ollie as they told stories about how much Fred meant to them. I would love to see that video recording today, if it still exists. 

 

"There will be a King!"

 

These pics were taken at Disney's ARL, Animation Research Library.

The color drawing of Scar is the very first drawing I did of the character as I was trying to design him.

I remember the directors asking me to add some "cheek hair" to his face...and that was it. The graphic appearance of Scar was set. 

This is a key animation rough from the Be Prepared sequence. Scar is yelling at the Hyenas:"There will be a king!" I remember animating this scene vividly. 

Scar moves forward, then upward during the dialog. I thought this is a chance to move his mane in a dramatic way. Lots of secondary action on all of that hair.

And since the staging is basically an upshot, I wanted to show Scar in that up perspective for his second main pose. I had studied drawing dramatic head angles from Milt Kahl's animation of Bagheera and Shere Khan. 

When a scene calls for this kind of an angle, boy, it can be so rewarding. It might be tricky to get the drawing just right, but it is so worth trying.

This scene was a lot of fun to animate.

Woolie

Last week Saturday was a special afternoon at the Walt Disney Family Museum. All three of Woolie Reitherman's sons, Bruce, Richard and Robert presented an amazing keynote about their dad. 

His upbringing, art school, early Disney, his time as a pilot during WWII, his comeback to Disney animation, his astounding career as an animator as well as a director and producer.

They also talked about working with their dad as voice talents for films like The Sword in the Stone, Winnie the Pooh and The Jungle Book. And, what Woolie was like as a father.

Honestly, I wished you all could have been there, this was a truly historical event. The life of Woolie Reitherman was EPIC! 

OK, so I have done things with my life...but after this presentation I couldn't help but ask myself: Shouldn't you have done more??? Are you living up to your potential? 

I remember attending an Academy event during the early 1980s, when Woolie Reitherman talked about his career and his boss Walt Disney, and how he carried on after his passing.

Newsflash: I am helping Bruce Reitherman with a terrific project about Woolie. Details to come later.

Here are a few highlights showcasing Woolie's career as an extraordinary animator and director.