WDFM Mickey Mouse Book

Get this book!

The catalogue/book that covers the Walt Disney Family Museum's current exhibition is gorgeous.

My co-curator Micheal Labrie and I had the greatest time compiling this unique selection of images and objects that cover Mickey's astounding career. 

From early black & white short films to color and TV shows, merchandize, Disney parks and a whole lot more. 

This was a labour of love for everyone involved. The exhibit is ongoing in San Francisco, and I can only hope that Walt's daughter Diane would be happy with what we've done. I'll never forget that day when she asked me a few years ago to take on such an endeavor.

We dedicate this book to her extraordinary, supportive husband Ron Miller. I was so pleased when he gave us his blessing after having seen the exhibit's layout and design.

Diane was very much on all of our our minds while we were planing to pay tribute to her dad's most iconic character.

The book includes artwork never before seen, like Mickey and Minnie dancing in the second image. 

From the estate of Les Clark.

Go get this Book! Click on the the Mickey image to the right, which takes you to AMAZON.

Can't Get Enough of Kley

I really can't.
Each new Kley piece I discover online or at auction takes my breath away. Maybe it's our common German background.
This drawing was titled by Kley "The Patient". Not sure of the date.
What a wonderful whimsical situation. An unwell dragon, an eccentric doctor and a princess.
Just for a moment...imagine this being animated, moving, as is in the illustration!
What a glorious film this could be....

The Genius of Milt Kahl

Another example of the immense creativity of Milt Kahl during the production of Lady and the Tramp. Milt was able to animate just about any situation with a four legged animal at this point.

He knew a dog's anatomy like nobody's business, and he could animate any scene believably in a masterful way. Milt liked this movie, he thought this film represented some of the studio's better efforts.

More on Tramp here:

https://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2019/03/a-lady-tramp-masterpiece.html

https://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2012/06/one-year-anniversary.html

https://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2011/07/tramp.html

A Father Daughter Story

I remember animating this sequence from The Little Mermaid. 

King Triton is having a serious conversation with his daughter, who has disobeyed the rules by going up to the ocean's surface. 

His tone of voice has concern, anger, frustration and disbelief. I was in the middle of animating this, when suddenly it dawned on me that all of his feels too familiar. My older sister Christa had started dating way back, and she would go out to have a good time at a nearby disco. 

My dad told her to be back home by 11pm, but of course Christa had a habit of being late. My father would wait in the living room until she returned in order to face her and read her the riot act.

He was very loud in his rants, and he got close to my sister, pointing at her, but never touching her. 

My sister held her ground. 

How could I not reference my dad when animating this? It was a case of art imitating life.

Years later I told my father that his personality and demeanor made it into a Disney animated film.

He wasn't sure if this was a good or a bad thing.

More on King Triton in this sequence here:
https://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2016/03/king-triton-stuff.html
https://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2015/12/king-triton.html

The Mystery Video Tape

This item is currently being offered on Ebay.
The year is 1994, and Disney Art Editions invited Marc and me to have a conversation about our careers and animation in general. The video would be distributed to animation art dealers in the mid 1990s.
Disney Art Editions in those days produced re-created cels of Disney characters from the films' memorable moments.
This is 25 years ago, and I remember vividly what a hot afternoon it was. And also what an amazing honor to spend time with Marc on camera in front of the original Burbank animation studios. What I don't recall is what we talked about specifically.

I actually owned a VHS copy of this, hopefully I will find it and have it transferred to a digital file.
And then post it!

Update: Found it!

The Princess and the Frog at the Academy

Great night at the Academy last Thursday. A 10th anniversary screening of the film and a panel.

So nice to see everybody again. I was asked: "Does it feel like 10 years ago to you?"

Heck yes! So much has happened since we made that film. 

After Frog Disney  gave us one more shot at pencil animation with Winnie the Pooh.

As soon as it was announced that that film's release date had changed to go head to head with the last Harry Potter film, we knew...

Anyway I had fun working on both films, Mama Odie was a blast to animate (she should have had one more sequence in the film though, perhaps the at the ending)

Here are a few Vis Dev pieces by various artists from the movie.

More on Mama Odie here:

https://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2012/10/mama-odie-maquette.html

https://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2011/12/early-mama-odie.html

https://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2011/07/mama-odie-test-scene.html

https://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2013/05/first-mama-odie-test.html

Mickey Mouse at 20

In 1948 members of the National Cartoonists' Society congratulated Walt Disney on the occasion of Mickey's 20th birthday. Quite the line up of who is who in American comic strips.

Which reminds me to remind you all that the exhibition MICKEY MOUSE, FROM WALT TO THE WORLD at the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco will run until early January. 

Go visit the wonderful museum and the Mickey exhibit next door. 

For more Infos:

https://www.waltdisney.org/exhibitions/mickey-mouse-walt-world

Jeremy Irons and the New Lion King

This made my day! You have to check this out:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1411068125814604/permalink/2371715359749871/

Here is Jeremy's interview with Larry King from 2016:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI18dj8KBbQ