Hercules Mall Tour

Back in 1997, I had the privilege to help kick off a Hercules Mega Mall Tour as a promotional effort for the release of the film. It was a lot of fun, and I remember flying to Atlanta, Georgia with Roy Disney in his private jet. How cool is that!?

The Disney Hercules Mega Mall Tour was a five-month promotional tour that began in February 1997 to promote the release of the 1997 Disney animated film Hercules. The tour included stops in 20 cities across North America and featured a variety of activities, including: 

• Ani-Muse-Ment-Show: A multimedia performance with a live singing muse inspired by the five muses from the film 
• Learn To Be an Animator: A 10-minute video workshop where kids could follow Andreas Deja, the animation supervisor for Hercules, through the animation process 
• Hercules-themed games: Midway games and game booths 
• Pegasus carousel: A carousel featuring Pegasus 
• Drawing lessons: Lessons on how to draw Hercules 
• Merchandise: A variety of Hercules merchandise for purchase 
• Cassette giveaways: Mall patrons were given away cassettes of the song "Zero to Hero" 

A Maleficent Color Issue

  

A beautiful color design for Sleeping Beauty's Maleficent by animator Marc Davis. You may notice that her main colors here are black and red. Marc told me that red to him represented fire, and he felt strongly that this should be her final appearance..

Art director Eyvind Earle had a slightly different color scheme in mind for this villainess. To him it was black and purple. And since Walt Disney had given Earle a lot of authority over Sleeping Beauty...purple it was.   

Many of us might think that working on classic Disney animated films was all fun and games, when in fact there were artistic disagreements all the time. 

Fritz Hug Animals

 This is not the first time I post beautiful animal drawings by Swiss artist Fritz Hug (1921 - 1989). Especially his loose, sketchy work is very inspiring to me. 

Many more images here at the new Fritz Hug website:

https://fritzhug-bildarchiv.ch/

Marc Davis Art

A few highlights from the recent Heritage Auction, featuring the art of Marc Davis. From gag drawings and personal notes to Picasso-esque art. This man expressed himself in a multitude of ways.

The sculpture of him was a gift from Imagineering to Marc upon his retirement.

More Heinrich Kley

I just discovered these two Kley drawings online. It is unusual to see his sequential work, or in this case  A, B illustrations. 

I suppose the first image might say: Come check this out! And the second one: Booo!

Great attitudes on the human figures as well as the the fantasy ocean characters.

 

Jungle Book Color Sketch

I believe Al Dempster painted both of these visuals for the Counsel Rock scene from the Jungle Book. First the color sketch, then the final background (with the characters cel overlay).

Both absolutely stunning!

A Frank Thomas Birthday

 

Yesterday was Frank Thomas' 112th birthday. His work and the films he worked on have become timeless masterpieces. When reflecting on his animation career Frank said that he always felt lucky to have been at the right place at the right time. Aptly called "The Laurence Olivier of Animation" he set himself very high standards when it came to creating a performance. Someone asked Frank once about now he felt about his accomplishments. He responded by pointing out that 2 or 3 scenes (out of all he had done) met his standards. He did not say which ones. 

People who worked with him said that he was impossible to please. There was always...always room for improvements. Disney was so lucky to have such an animator who helped elevate the art form. 

The first photo shows him in his office working on Miss Bianca for The Rescuers, around 1976.

In the next pic we see Frank at the premiere for the film in 1977 along with actress Eva Gabor, who voiced Miss Bianca. 

Frank at his home in 2001. 

Just a handful of drawings that show Frank's versatility, his love for the performance, his sense for appeal and many other things. Genius.!!!

Much more here in this early post from 2011:

https://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2011/06/frank-thomas.html