Ollie's Come Back

Ollie Johnston fell ill after finishing animation on 101 Dalmatians. It was one of those childhood diseases that can be life threatening when an adult catches it. I remember Ollie telling me how grateful he was to Walt Disney, who kept paying his regular salary during Ollie's lengthy hospital stay.

When I watch The Sword in the Stone I can't help but realize that Ollie's work on that film seems somewhat unsteady. He animated many scenes with Merlin (including his introduction), as well as scenes with Wart and Archimedes, the owl. A master animator not on top of his game, due to his recovery. 

But Mary Poppins already shows that Ollie got his groove back. His penguins (animated by him and Frank Thomas) are beautiful. His scenes are full of fluid motion and personality.

And by the time Jungle Book came around, Ollie was back in action. He animated the first encounter between Mowgli and Baloo  (Frank Thomas did the boxing scenes). All of The Bare Necessities sequence is Ollie's work, and how spectacular it is. Full of musical rhythm and top character animation. I consider his work on that film a career highlight. 

Here are a few of Ollie's thumbnail sketches followed by final frames.

Three Pigs

These two Fred Moore drawings were recently auctioned off at Heritage Auctions. In them you can actually study four different stages of Fred's drawing approach.
In the upper sketch the orange lines were the first ones he put down. They are rough and spontaneous, and show how he begins to define staging and expressions for the characters. Note that the pig on the left was originally placed further to the side.
Moore's black pencil pass on top is still rough and loose, but it clarifies the main volumes in greater detail. Practical Pig's index finger was changed for better silhouette.

I am sure that the second sheet was placed over the first one on Fred's animation desk in order to tie down the pigs' composition even more. He used a red pencil to select the lines that actually matter for the final presentation. The thin graphite pencil on top is almost a clean up drawing. But even at this last stage he makes subtle changes like adjusting the tilt of Practical Pig's hat. He also adds a tail to
Fiddler Pig.

The drawing is most likely a publicity illustration, since all of the characters were drawn on the same sheet. This would not happen in an animated scene, since due to the pigs' individual timing, they would be drawn on separate sheets.

The liveliest version of the two is the upper one. Each time you reduce your instinctive scribbles down to thin fine lines, some of the drawing's life is lost. But...this is the classic Disney style, thin, distinctive outlines and flat color shapes.

Barrie versus Disney

An amusing article from a UK publication, which compares J. M. Barrie's original play of Peter Pan to the Disney animated film. The writer seems to defend the Disney version, but often can't decide which adaption he prefers. 

It's a fun read that deals with the Americanization of English folklore.

Cruella's Car

In order to save costs the 101 Dalmatians production team thought up an inventive way to animate Cruella De Vil's automobile. Instead of drawing the vehicle frame by frame the conventional way, a cardboard model was filmed, as effects animators moved it around in front of the camera. Note the black lines that define all edges.
Frames from this "live action" footage were xeroxed on to cels before being painted in the ink & paint apartment. (The same process was used for the Baduns' car, and later on for Edgar's motorcycle in The Aristocats.)

Art director and production designer Ken Anderson, story artist Bill Peet, and co directors Woolie Reitherman and Ham Luske play with a couple of toy car models.

Here the scene is being filmed in which Cruella tries to run the Baduns off the road.
Effects animator Dick Lukas is manipulating the models.

Woolie Reitherman moves Cruella's car up a snowy embankment set up. Even the movement of the simulated snow made it in to the final film.
Some people might consider this whole procedure a cheat. I think it is pretty ingenious, considering that these guys were under the gun as far as having to bring down the film's budget.

1984

Good Lord.., I forgot who posted this pic originally, but here it is again on my blog.
It is 1984, and a few selected junior Disney animators were invited to join Marc and Alice Davis at the Olympic Arts Festival (which was then organized by Peter Schneider).
We showed an absolutely beautiful 70mm film print of Sleeping Beauty, I have not seen this movie in a better version since. It was a thrill to watch the film with Marc Davis and ask him questions about  it. Actually this was the beginning of my friendship with Alice and Marc.
I do not want any comments about our not so hot pants.
From left to right:
Mark Henn, Ron Husband, Ruben Procopio, Joe Lanzisero, and me.

Busch, The Gourmet Paradise 1976

These are Wilhelm M. Busch illustrations for a book written by Hans W. Fischer. It is basically a guide on how to enjoy and live the good life (until the grim reaper shows up.)

Again, phenomenal compositions and characters. So much to learn...

Witch Hunt

Look how cinematically Disney's story artists thought when working out continuity for a dramatic sequence for their first feature Snow White. 

At the end of the movie the Witch realizes she is being pursuit by the dwarfs, and it is time to run.

These terrific story sketches show how the artist not only worked out the continuity of this section, but also gave thought to staging, background mood and effects. The final film footage comes  very close to these early gutsy concepts.

Disney Legends

 

Cartoon Brew published this great photo a couple of years ago, it was taken on May 1, 1989, in Orlando. On that day the Disney/MGM studio park opened. I believe this backdrop is the entrance to the then new Feature Animation Building, which later would became my home during the production of Lilo and Stitch.
Here Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas, Ward Kimball, Ken O'Connor and Marc Davis personalize cement blocks before leaving their handprints on them.

The West Coast Burbank versions of these prints are pictured below. Naturally Kimball wouldn't do things according to protocol. Hilarious.

As some of you might know the Orlando Animation Building closed early in 2004.  It was a beautiful place to work in with a great floor plan, spacious offices and of course a terrific team of artists.

But times change... and then you find yourself working on a plan B as far as your animated future. Part of my own plan B involves a 1/2 hour hand drawn film, which is coming along very nicely. It is a passion project, and I can't wait to share it with audiences.

Lilo and Stitch

Fifteen years ago the film Lilo and Stitch had its US premiere.
Thinking about this movie now makes me realize that it turned out to be one of my favorite projects I ever worked on. The story and the characters are highly unconventional yet very memorable and emotional. I remember that everybody who worked on the film felt so lucky to be a part of something extra special. (Just look at this breathtaking background.)

Lilo and Stich touched many people. People who identified with situations that had never before been portrayed in a Disney animated film.
It touched me, too, as an animator. I remember tearing up a little while working on certain scenes, like the hammock sequence. How crazy is that?

Read this just published article by Damian Alexander for Teen Vogue. It shows you what an impact an animated movie can have.

http://www.teenvogue.com/story/lilo-and-stitch-anniversary-parentless-gay

I haven't watched Lilo and Stitch in many years, I think its time to take a break and revisit what we were doing at Disney over fifteen years ago.

Milt helps Ollie

These are design sketches by Milt Kahl, showing construction and anatomy of Smee, a character that was animated and supervised by Ollie Johnston.
These all come from Ollie's estate, they are drawings he kept after production on Peter Pan wrapped up. The power of teamwork! Milt's solid and inventive draughtsmanship and Ollie's superb acting.
You will find a few of Milt's draw overs for Ollie's shaving scene, which I featured in my last post.
I have animator friends who's favorite Disney character is Smee. I can see why, his animation is influences by Fred Moore, Ollie's mentor. But Ollie goes further in his acting, he hits a high note as far as his animated career. There is a Moore fluidity in the animation, but the acting is all Ollie.

An Ollie Johnston Masterpiece

One of the greatest acting/comedy scenes in Disney Animation.
That's actor Don Barclay as Mr. Smee pretending to give Captain Hook a shave. Of course Smee doesn't realize that he is actually shaving the rear of a seagull.
Ollie took great advantage of the comic possibilities. The staging is hilarious, I have no idea how he came up with Smee's exaggerated poses during this dialogue scene. And his face shows amazing flexibility and range. I love the nervous acting as he adjusts his glasses and pulls on his hat when realizing that Hook's head is missing. This is definitely a scene worth studying frame by frame, the timing is ingenious as well.

Ollie had Milt Kahl go over some of these expressions. I do have a few of those sketches and will show them on my next post.