When the film Sleeping Beauty followed Lady and the Tramp in 1959, audiences were in for a surprise. All of a sudden the styling, for both backgrouds and characters, had become flat and graphic. Sleeping Beauty looked like a Renaissance painting come to life, while Lady and the Tramp had a Norman Rockwell feel to it. Quite a few animators needed to learn how to draw "flat", but keep the movements dimensional. Not an easy thing to do. For animators with superior draughtsmanship like Marc Davis and Milt Kahl this became a fairly easy task.
What about the key clean up assistants? One of them, Iwao Takamoto, made the switch just as easily. It is fascinating to compare these two drawings by Iwao. His clean up study of Lady looks like a sculpture. Round, dimensional forms that had been so typical for Disney's animation style. Aurora on the other hand looks like a beautifully designed paper cut out.
I don't know about you, but I love BOTH styles.
Here are links to earlier posts on Iwao Takamoto:
https://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2014/01/iwao-takamoto.html
https://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2016/03/why-this-scene-looks-so-amazing.html
Hi Andreas,
ReplyDeleteI hope you're doing well.
Wow! I completely agree — both styles are absolutely stunning and full of character. I’m especially impressed by Iwao Takamoto’s ability to adapt so fluidly between the soft, sculptural volume of Lady and the Tramp and the elegant, graphic precision of Sleeping Beauty. His mastery of form and line is truly inspiring.
I also had a quick question, if I may — slightly off-topic. I know you worked as an animator on Home on the Range, particularly on Alameda Slim and Junior, under the supervision of the late and great Dale Baer (may he rest in peace). I was wondering if you happen to have any rough drawings, thumbnails, or studies from that production that you might be open to sharing someday? I'd be fascinated (and probably others too) to see your take on those characters.
Thanks again for sharing these insights and treasures with us — always a joy to read your posts!