Monday, May 12, 2014

Baloo brags about fighting the Monkeys


Milt Kahl only animated a handful of scenes with Baloo from The Jungle Book.
After King Louie’s monkeys kidnap Mowgli, they trip the bear who subsequently falls down a steep hillside. At this point the only thing he can do is to call for Bagheera.
The panther arrives at the hill’s edge to find Baloo bragging theatrically about what a fight he put up with the monkeys: “(They ambushed me…) thousands of ’em. I jabbed with my left, then I swung with a right, and then…”
During the dialogue he gets on his feet and acts out the dramatic battle in order to convince Bagheera that he fought tooth and nail in an attempt to protect the boy. 

Milt drew a heavier Baloo than Ollie did. (Frank Thomas also drew him big with long arms).
I remember Milt saying: “What’s so difficult about drawing a bear? You just have to make sure that his ass is big enough!”
Dave Michener, who did assistant work for Milt on Jungle Book, gave me these copies of the scene’s key poses. Dave had asked his boss how to interpret some of Baloo’s fists, since they were often just indicated as a circle without much definition. 
“You go figure it out!” Milt replied. He didn’t feel like dealing with a minor drawing issue right then and there.

It really is a great scene. Baloo moves with a lot of weight, and his broad arm swings define real space.















11 comments:

  1. Thank you for these amazing posts, it's always a pleasure to read your articles.

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  2. What a beautifull lines there. Thank you, once again, so inspiring drawings.

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  3. Great images and story! Always great stuff here.

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  4. "Man muss zusehen, dass der Arsch groß genug ist" welch ein Zitat - herrlich love this post!

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  5. Mr. Deja it´s always a pleasure to see your blog and your drawings in Disney movies. I know that you used to send letters to the great animators so that´s why i´m writing you. I´m a voice actor and have always dreamed to lend my voice to one of your drawings. Have a great day and thanks for coloring our world.

    Mario Gomez

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  6. I love Milt's answer to Dave Michener. "You go figure it out!" That sure sounds like Milt.

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  7. It's incredible! Milt exaggerated Baloo's facial expressions corresponding to the emphasized areas on the line Phil Harris gave in this scene so accurately. You can quickly recognize it as Milt's animation style. Thank you for sharing this, Dave and Andreas.

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