Wednesday, October 19, 2016

The Milt Kahl Book



I have talked before about my proposed idea for a series of books, each volume would celebrate the art of a particular Disney animator (not only the Nine Old Men). I had meetings about the book series when I was still at Disney. At that time the studio was working on the Disney Archives series, and I was told that these individual animator books would be too similar.
You might agree when I say that the time has come to re-visit that idea. The other day I had lunch at the Disney commissary with a small group of people, one of them was no other than Fred Moore's granddaughter. I had met her before way back in 2002 over at Ollie Johnston's house.
Anyway, it was great to find out that another member of the lunch group is working on a book on Fred Moore!!
So I here declare that after I finish my film Mushka, one of my main projects will be to publish a coffee table sized book on the art of Milt Kahl. I still have a lot of artwork by Milt that didn't make it into my Nine Old Men book. That art needs to be out there to inspire!
To give you an example: This gorgeous partial scene of King Hubert from Sleeping Beauty.

In the previous scene we see King Stefan looking out the window, sighing: "No sign of her yet, Hubert."
Scene 5 from seq. 13 follows. The Disney draft says: King Hubert at table, gorging greedily on food, talks to o.s. King Stefan. "'Course not, ha! Good half hour 'till sunset, ha. Ah. excellent bird! Ah, come on man, buck up! Battle's over...(girl's good as here!)"













Look at how Milt added overlapping action (in red pencil) on Hubert's sleeves in some of the last rough drawings. (Yes, this is rough animation, before clean up!)
All keys from this scene might end up in the Milt Kahl book.


27 comments:

  1. That's amazing! A Milt Kahl book would be glorious!! I can never have enough of Milt's work. I'm really exited!!:D

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  2. Yes!!! We totally need a whole book on Milt and if there is an author who should do it, is definitely you. After I saw the beautiful Marc Davis book I could not help to think on a similar book on Milt. Please, do it , make this happen for all of us Milt Kahl fans.

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  3. Yes!!! We totally need a whole book on Milt and if there is an author who should do it, is definitely you. After I saw the beautiful Marc Davis book I could not help to think on a similar book on Milt. Please, do it , make this happen for all of us Milt Kahl fans.

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  4. Hah Jenny Lerew posted a pic of Moore's grand daughter with Mark Henn on Twitter. Very cool. I'd be first in line for a Milt book from you.

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  6. That is amazing Andreas, Milt Kahl he is always my favourite animator/artist. A great example of persistence and hard-work in order to achieve the best in the history of Disney my favorite is Bambi adolescent he draw very well thank you for posting.

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  7. YES!! I wantttt :)
    That's a really great idea for a coffeetable book.
    Milt Kahl is a genious animator as we can always see in the many posts you dedicate to him.
    And if anyone is the right person to make this book its you!
    Looking forward to it already

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  8. Yes please! A Milt Kahl book would be fantastic!

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  9. I would love it, especially if you filled it with your thoughtful analysis of his work and the knowledge he shared with you. I'm still amazed at what they accomplished creating this medium and he is without a doubt a master.

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  10. you're the perfect guy to write a book like this, great news!

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  11. A book about Milts work would be great to have! Don´t hesitate to reach 1000 pages ;)

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  12. Andreas you can right a book of Milt Kahl artworks and of the art of Bambi adolescent.

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    1. check out Frank and Ollie's Bambi book, if you haven't already

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    2. I don't know if thay had this artwork in the book but in the nine old men thay have.

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  13. I personally would rather see the complete versions of the animator interviews done for the Disney Family Album Series. I keep seeing extra bits popping up on Blu-ray extras and I think "this is from the same interview as the family album episode. so there must be more extended interviews sitting in the archives. So much better to see this stuff in motion as well. Perhaps a companion DVD or blu ray that has the pencil tests and storyboard comparisons.cheers from San Diego

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  14. I hope the book will have a lot of Brer Rabbit. I love him!

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  15. I always loved King Hubert. Golly, I'd love such a book.

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  16. I believe Dick Willams hoped to do a similar book years ago; it would be nice if he could collaborate to some degree, tho I presume he is quite busy with his own animated film at the moment!

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  17. I'm all for the idea of a series of books centered around a particular artist! It would allow us to get a broader scope of their work.

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  18. This is amazing news! I am deep into your book Nine Old Men and found myself craving more information on Milt Kahl. As a graphic designer located in the SF Bay Area, I would love to design this publication! www.giacomellidesign.com

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  19. After seeing your book Nine Old Men on Amazon, I wondered why there is no book on Milt Kahl alone since Kahl is regarded as the Michelangelo in the animation scene. W orked on various features and Milt was always mentioned as the best.
    Who better could write a book than you?. I hope it is still planned.

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