Thursday, January 30, 2020

Sir Giles



Reluctant dragon slayer Sir Giles from the 1941 short film The Reluctant Dragon.
Beautifully voiced by Claud Allister, his personality reminds me of Merlin from Disney's The Sword in the Stone. Both characters are befuddled seniors who come to life through beautiful character animation.
I don't know who drew these lovely studies, but I like them a lot.








Sunday, January 26, 2020

Phillip and Samson



Another example of Milt Kahl's powers as a draughtsman, designer and animator.
Prince Phillip is taking off on his horse Samson after telling his frustrated father King Hubert that he is going to marry the girl he met earlier in the forest.
I love the under drawing in red which always conveys Milt's thinking process. Here he changed the position of Phillip's head a little. 
Flat graphic designs that nevertheless move dimensionally. Astonishing!

This earlier post includes a few more rough drawings as well as clean ups from this scene:



Sunday, January 12, 2020

More John Lounsbery Animation



The PETER PAN draft says:
Sequence 1.0, Scene 44.1
Father searching for cufflinks -- turning back covers on John's bed. 
Michael (o.s.) : "It got lost."
Father : "Good Heavens! My shirt front!"

This is a remarkable scene by John Lounsbery. Mr Darling is looking for his cufflinks, but instead finds his shirt front. 
I am sure there was life action reference footage available to Lounsbery, featuring Hans Conried, who voiced the father as well as Captain Hook.
But this goes way beyond live action. The broad motion reflects the father's frustrating emotional state. He can't believe he is finding something he wasn't even looking for.
John Lounsbery was a quiet, soft spoken man. Yet he was able to act out intense, volatile emotions as evident in this scene. 
Gorgeous staging and silhouette.