Friday, June 21, 2013

Pierre Lambert's Sleeping Beauty



I need to recommend this new coffee tablet/art book by Pierre Lambert, who in recent years has published several extraordinary volumes on Disney animated features.
For now Sleeping Beauty is only available as a French edition, but believe me, even if you don't speak the language, you will be amazed.
There are endless top quality reproductions of backgrounds, cel set ups, vis dev work, layouts and animation drawings. A few pieces from my collection made it into the book as well.
If you like this movie, the book really is a must have. 
You can order it from Stuart Ng right here:


I know the price is a bit high, but the book is totally worth it. So if you have a birthday coming up, or if you have $170 to spare, treat yourself to a spectacular insight into the making of Sleeping Beauty.

To celebrate the book's release I am posting these animation drawings which are NOT included in this edition.

"Here is your precious princess!" Maleficent is about to uncover Aurora's body in front of the Three Fairies. A great scene by Marc Davis, subtly drawn with incredible weight and dramatic overlap in the fabric.





Frank Thomas researches design and proportions for the Three Fairies.



This sketch almost represents their final appearances.
I've heard people say that the Fairies softer designs don't match the graphic style of the movie.
But as you can see, Frank followed the same principles of strong straight against curved lines, just like other animators for their characters.



I love these explorations, variations on one main idea. Subtle shifts for shapes and forms reveal individual personalities.



A couple of Prince Phillip roughs by Milt Kahl. He has just been freed from the chains around his wrists. The way he turns his hand to loosen up the joint is awesome.




A huge rough of Samson, the most stylized horse in Disney animation.



Milt also drew these King Hubert pencil/watercolor designs, before his outfit was simplified.



King Hubert runs to meet his son, he is about to discuss Prince Phillip's future.
An absolutely gorgeous drawing, this is a hop to break up the pattern of the run.


17 comments:

  1. You seem to be a big fan. You should have been in Annecy last week. On the animation Festival there was a Sleeping beauty exhibition with many bg's, cel set ups etc. in huge frames...was very impressive...:)

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    1. Irgendwann schaff ich's mal wieder nach Annecy.
      Prima Zeichnungen auf Deinem Blog!

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  2. I'll never get tired of staring at these lovely drawings.

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  3. Thanks so much for posting these amazing drawings Andreas! Really beautiful stuff. I have already preordered my copy if the book. They are worth every cent.
    Loved your last post too on your short. It's great to see you making your own film and bringing your vision to the screen. Look forward to seeing and hearing much more about it.

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  4. Those sketches are so beautiful.
    I have the Pierre Lambert book on snow white, it is a great book. Even if your blog is a kind of book for me, do you think you will write a book? It would be sooo great.
    A french fan.

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  5. Why is that France and Japan always get such nice art books? We get a few hear in the US but generally none of them are as fancy or as well put together. I've even ordered a few foreign language art books through the internet myself. This is gorgeous. Too bad I'm a broke college student!

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  6. I didn't know Milt Kahl painted at all. Very interesting...I know his pencil work as being very solid, but even his water coloring has no transparency what so ever. It looks very opaque as if he used colored markers. Do you possibly know if Milt ever produced any artwork outside of the studio other than his wire sculptures?

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    1. I drew birthday cards for his grandchildren, that sort of thing.

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    2. Lucky grandchildren... Haha... It just seems as if every drawing he created was affiliated with Disney in some kind of way. Did the man ever have any artwork of people, animals or personal paintings not related to Disney?

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    3. No, he didn't. His famous quote:"I only draw when I have to."

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    4. Hahaha... That's pretty hilarious. Well cheers to you for putting up that water color drawing of his. Never knew he painted before.

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  7. There's such a great sense of energy in the last King Hubert drawing. Also love the Samson drawing.

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  8. Suuuper, habe Lamberts LIVRE DE LA JUNGLE ergoogelt, kostet in Europa 50 €......Donnerstag kommt's... Danke für den Anstoss..

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  9. Has Samson shown anywhere else? That horse really have personality.

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  10. I would argue that the horses in the wintertime sequence of Melody Time were more stylized, almost to a fault. Thanks for sharing these gems!!You Rock, as usual.

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  11. Thank you for the exciting article on Pierre Lambert's work on Sleeping Beauty. Your blog provides a unique insight into the process of creating this great animation. In this regard, I would like to note that attending beauty courses can be a great gift option that will help revive the inner beauty and unlock your potential in creating unique images. These beauty courses provide an opportunity to learn different make-up, skin care and hair styling techniques to help you express your individuality and creativity.

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