Thursday, April 21, 2016

Helene Stanley/ Cinderella






Actress Helene Stanley acted out all of Cinderella's scenes for the animators. Here she takes an imaginary shower at the beginning of the film.
This requires the same acting talent as scenes that would be a live action/animation combination such as Mary Poppins and Roger Rabbit.
Here Stanley throws her robe backward over a divider. Birds catch it during the final scene. Then she imagines a cold water splash coming from a wet sponge, also carried by birds.

You can compare final frames to live action photostats, which have been drawn over by a layout artist, who added birds, props as well as ideas for environment.









This gag didn't make it into the movie. A little bird who was standing by, got drenched during the splash. He shakes off the water and is visibly displeased. Cinderella reacts sympathetically to the little guy.





It is obvious why Disney had Stanley act out other animated parts such as Sleeping Beauty and Anita in 101 Dalmatians. She completely understands what animators are looking for. Clear poses and movement that reveals the character's thinking and personality. It would be easy to over- or underact those scenes.


7 comments:

  1. Awww...Helene Stanley is one of my "ghostly" crushes, even though she's gone. I remember the first time I laid eyes on her when I saw her in the Disneyland episode "Tricks Of Our Trade", in that nice, beautiful ballet outfit.

    And also, when she's posing for Ben Ali Gator for the animators, it kinda makes me wonder that if Disney did the TV show "Bewitched", do you suppose that Helene Stanley would've played a nice Samantha Stephens?

    ReplyDelete
  2. the animators didn't include the last shots(when she turns toward us) It's much better that way.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Of course a few people couldn't even tell if Cinderella had any of 'those' given the way it was animated!

      Delete
  3. Rotoscoping done right, that's what it is...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Disney is my favourite^_^ I'm going to do aDisney cosplay, I hope I can make it perfect I need support~

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is really cute, Helene seems to be channeling Nellie Forbush in the "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out Of My Hair" in South Pacific-she even has a bathing suit on!

    ReplyDelete