I came across this drawing by Milt Kahl a few years ago, and it is interesting for a variety of reasons.
Milt rarely did sketches of Disney characters for fans or friends. This one is dedicated to the 86 year old Mae Orman, who was a friend of the Kahl family.
The following note was written on the back of the framed piece.
Attached with tape was also this small unusual cut out photo from a magazine, picturing Milt and Walt Disney. I wonder where the picture was originally published, I've never seen it before.
As far as the Siamese Cats from "Lady and the Tramp", Milt didn't do any animation with them, but he set their final design based on story sketches by Joe Rinaldi.
The cats were animated beautifully by Bob Carlson, Bill Justice and John Sibley.
So how does Ward Kimball fit into all of this?
As I understand, Ward actually started out animating the sequence featuring the Siamese Cats. The result apparently was way too zany (think Three Caballeros) for the more conservative animation style of the film. So his work was cut, and the characters were re-assigned.
Ward left the production and started directing very successful short films and TV shows at Disney.
But wouldn't it be great if the original Kimball footage was found? It might not have fit in with the other characters in the film, but I bet it was hilarious.
In this picture Ward is still working away on those darn cats.
Yeah I can bet Ward's take on the cats would have been out of sync with the rest of the films style. I love the inscription on the back of the cats- "...the Nine Old Men who made Walt Disney famous". Somehow that seems to fit. I can't picture the other 8 men having anything but praise for Walt, and giving him the credit that they probably deserved. But Milt clearly told this friend of the family that it was his efforts and those of his coworkers that were really making Disney what he was.
ReplyDeleteThat Milt´s white tie with blue shirt is so great! :)
ReplyDelete... and oppsite with Walt :D
DeleteI wish Milt had indeed done the Si & Am sequence. To me, Milt always seem to be at his best and most entertaining when he animated outrageous characters. Just look at Madame Mim!
ReplyDeleteWarner Brothers rarely comes up here, but if I could play God and go back in time, I would have shuffled Kimball to Warner's and Robert McKimson to Disney.
ReplyDeleteBetter than that, I wish Chuck Jones and Ward Kimball had collaborated on an animated project. Imagine how hilarious that would turn out!
DeleteAndreas, would there be any of Kimball's surviving work on this sequence buries somewhere in the Disney morgue?
ReplyDeleteI agree, it would be a real treat to see what kind of zaniness Ward had in mind with these two cats!
I know that Ward Kimball had publicly spoken of the tragedy of having his soup bowl sequence cut from Snow White. I imagine this was an equally distressing blow to Ward. Was this "the last straw" for Ward in regard to grinding out animation for feature films? Was he no longer directable?
ReplyDeleteI don't know how it took me so long to find this blog...but man have I been missing out. Great Stuff!
ReplyDeletePass on the word, please.
DeleteI was suprised, when find this and another great sites, how living legends have time to write so awesome blogs and share the precious knowhow about animation. :)
DeleteBeautiful as always. Mr. Andreas, one question, when did Milt Kahl became a key player in setting the design for the characters? I mean, it's obvious he earned that right by his own since Pinoccio but it would be great to know when it became one more of his dutties at Disney. And thanks again for your blog, I try to show it to everyone I know.
ReplyDeleteSo this is the breaking point between Ward Kimball and animation for the big screen. I know that Kimball did the animation of the Indians and the Lost Boys from "Peter Pan". Is it right to assume that Walt wanted to avoid another Kimball cat after Lucifer and the Chesire Cat? Kimball's version reminds me of the Siamese Cat from the Aristocats. I always wondered if Kimball ever missed animating characters for a feature film. Television gave him a new freedom and allowed him to use a graphic style unthinkable for a Disney movie. (A style that I adore). He also had the possibility of animating the pearlies band for Mary Poppins and was an animation director for Bedknobs and Broomsticks, but I imagine those task must have been very different in terms of characters animation. Did he ever regret the choice to animate just for TV?
ReplyDeleteI just love how animated the limbs and the the tails look. It's this thing in my head that I can never vision an 'all nice' kitty. The way they look at you and the way they walk, they look 100% EVIL!
ReplyDeleteThank-you for telling us about The Siamese cats from aristocats and Ward Kimball and the other animators. I really like seeing their work that I would never get to see . and I do like the fact that you show and talk about your work and Thier's. Its all so facintaing.
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