Thursday, September 19, 2013

Lady & the Tramp Doll Houses



Well, not quite.
These three dimensional models were built to help Disney layout artists visualize the perspective for specific interior scenes. Look how detailed they were put together, with furniture, props , even wallpaper design. It makes total sense to offer this kind of visual reference to the layout department.
I just wonder why there were no models like these made for films like Snow White, Pinocchio or Peter Pan.
Even the movies that followed Lady & the Tramp didn't have this kind of reference. As far as I know 101 Dalmatians and The Sword in the Stone were all laid out without the benefit of miniature sets.









Final frames from the film show the result of all the research that went into creating believable environments.



21 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Great stuff, but I thought in The Illusion of Life they say they actually made a model for the cottage in Snow White or am I just imagining it?

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    1. -B-

      Thanks Michael, I'm also sure that I have saw somewhere that studio has build dwarfs cottage during production...
      Is there any photo of it?

      -Amir

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  3. Hello Andreas,

    Did you know Ron Husband was retiring this week? We're having a little party this afternoon at 2:00 over at Disney Publishing. That's today at Disney DCP in Glendale. Please stop in if you get the chance and say hi and goodbye to our wonderful animation friend and colleague.

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    1. Hi Floyd, unfortunately I can't make it this afternoon.
      I'll try and hook up with Ron soon.

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  4. My goodness, I wish there had been more models like this one! :D

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  5. My take on it was that they needed the models to get the down low perspectives correct. So much of the film is from that low point of view. My favorite scene with this is Lady creeping up the stairs to see the baby for the first time. The shots are amazing looking up the stairs. This is the best way to keep consistancy over several shots. Also, so much of the action takes place in the house anyway so it was definitely worth the time to build those.Thanks for sharing these. These are great!!

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  6. Agree with Brad.The more cartoony feel of Snow white and Pinnochio layout design probably would have taken so long to build and get exactly right(spent that energy on Disneyland I guess)The timeless dollhouse and miniature industry probably helped out with these sets.Interesting to see this...thanks Andreas!

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  7. Hello Andreas !
    I understand the use and need of these three dimensional models !
    This film has an important difference !
    THE DOG POINT OF VIEW !

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    1. That's exactly what came to my mind. The dog perspective is done in LATT so beautifully, because they used these models to reproduce it perfectly. When showing the emotions of little Lady's first night, the low perspective is an important part of the story.

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  8. Hello Andreas, I can answer your question about the Lady and Tramp houses. They were built by Ken O'Connor, who also built Cinderella's coach and the submarine for Captain Nemo...on his own time. This made it easier for him to (a) show Walt what he wanted (he claimed that he had literally seconds to 'sell' the carriage to Walt, which he did by having Walt view it through blue gel to indicate the lighting) and (b) set up his camera angles for difficult scenes like the rat fight, which he also laid out. But Ken said that he distorted the perspective, and always urged us to do the same. Ken also did layout for Skull Rock and the Witch's death in SNOW WHITE, and the Fox and Cat sequences in PINOCCHIO...but built no prop locations, probably because two of these were outdoors locations that could be 'fudged' a bit, and the third only had one indoor sequence in the Red Lobster Tavern, with fairly simple layouts. Cheers!

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  9. I have seen photos of the dwarfs cottage model, but for the life of me I can think where it was.

    Here is a photo of a model of Basil's sitting room from the Great Mouse Detective on the site of artist Michael Peraza. http://michaelperaza.blogspot.com/2010/03/basil-of-baker-street-part-3.html

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  10. Hello Andreas, I am a French Journalist and would like to interview you. Here is my email : laurent.valiere@radiofrance.com. Could you please contact me ? Thank you.

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  11. Hello, Mr. Deja! I'm a 18 year-old student with a big passion for art and filmmaking. I'm currently teaching other students how to draw and compose frames and other interesting things. Also photography. I want to try and apply for a job at Disney when I have all my things ready here. I'd like to ask you for advise for the lessons I'm giving because there is one about Disney animation. You didn't respond to my last comment because I didn't present myself correctly, sorry. Could you please contact me? My email is angelprodanovproductions@gmail.com. Thank you!

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  12. Hi Andreas. Don't forget that Lady and the Tramp was the first cartoon feature in CinemaScope. I think all these three dimensional models were built because Walt was very interested in making a good impression with the new widescreen ratio. He definitely wanted to get it right! Also, Walt shot two versions of the film: one in CinemaScope, and another in the regular aspect ratio...

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  13. -B-

    Folks, check this out:

    http://paperwalker.blogspot.com/2013/09/101-dalmatians-cruellas-motorcar.html

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  14. There's a photo of Les Clark, Ken Anderson etc with the opening credit boards for 101 Dalmations and up in the right hand corner is the sofa that Jasper lays on at the big house. Or it's the sofa from Roger and Anita's house, one and the same. Also there's a similar picture with a model of Merlin's chair. Actually Harper Goff in his own time designed and built the model of the Nautilus and not Ken O Conner.

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