Lilo

This is a model sheet I made up after I finished work on "Lilo & Stitch".

During production I created the usual construction and turn around sheets,

but didn't have the time to do a board with xeroxed rough animation drawings from selected scenes until later.

Putting them together like this gives you an idea about consistency in drawing and character.

I enjoyed animating Lilo very much. She and the other characters were designed 

by Chris Sanders, so the supervising animators just needed to adapt to this

unusual and charming design style.

Before animation began I had the chance to join the directors and a few other artists to visit Hawaii on a research trip. We tried to connect with a local school, but didn't know if I would be allowed to join class and draw the kids.

Our Hawaiian tour guide knocked at the school's door and after a teacher appeared he explained that our purpose was to do some research for a new Disney animated feature set on Hawaii.  By then a couple more adults and a few kids had appeared by the half open door to see what was going on. 

We knew that the locals are very proud and  protective of their old language and culture. And they all gave us a skeptical look.

Then a little girl asked quietly : "Did you work on the Little Mermaid?".

I nodded....and all of a sudden all the other kids yelled "YEEEESSSS !"

That broke the ice and we were in.

Below are a few pages from my sketchbook from that day. I was trying to capture as much child like behavior as possible, while observing them  in class or watching them play.

They were a lot of fun and so enthusiastic.

It got a little emotional for me toward the end, when the kids all sat down and sang a few Hawaiian songs for me. The enthusiasm and joy in their voices was something else.

That was not just another day doing research for a film, that was truly special.

I''ll never forget that day.

Heinrich Kley

To begin with, just a little announcement.

From now on I will have a new post about every other day, 3-4 times a week.

This will give some of you the chance to absorb the material a bit slower, and 

I will be able to catch my breath. (Do I hear complaints...?)

I scanned a few of my Heinrich Kley originals, some of the better ones though 

are currently on loan to a Kley exhibition in Hannover, Germany.

I saw this exhibit earlier this year when it was in Munich.

If any of you are near Hannover, go...no, run to check it out. 

The show is absolutely amazing, it closes on August 21.

There are two Kley sketchbooks that are a must have.

"The Drawings of Heinrich Kley" and "More Drawings of Heinrich Kley".

Some art supply stores still carry them, also you can always find them on Ebay.

The exhibit's catalogue is pretty nifty, too.

To me, Kley was doing with illustration what Walt was doing with animation.

Making impossible characters and situations look completely plausible and believable.

If elephants could ice-scate, it would look like Kley drew them.

If centaurs existed they would move like in Kley's sketches, and so on.

Joe Grant and I exchanged xeroxes of Kley drawings and drooled over them.

It was Joe himself, who brought Kley's work to Walt's attention as inspiration for

"Fantasia".

More on him later.

I want to thank you guys for your interest in this blog.

Over 60.000 pageviews in less than two weeks...not shabby at all !

T. S. Sullivant

Ok...switching gears here for a moment.

I am nuts about T.S. Sullivant.  At the Disney Studio way back the book library had a clip file with small reproductions of his cartoons. That's where I first saw his work.

Since then I had the chance to purchase a few originals (they are pretty big, about

22x16 inches), and I own a good size collection of Judge and Life magazines

from the early 1900s. That's where and when Sullivant published most of his work.

He is in a class by himself ! Nobody caricatures animals and people like him.

He surprises you with completely unique ideas for proportions and exaggeration.

And it's all based on an insane knowledge of anatomy.

Sullivant  influenced Disney, Walt Kelly, Bakshi and many others.

He lived from 1854 - 1926.

Feast your eyes and be inspired !

Frank Thomas

Here is a gallery that spans a few decades in Frank Thomas' career.

As you can see, Frank had no limitation as an animator, he was great at everything.

Comedy, drama, evil, pathos, you name it. Even though he admitted to struggle 

 with his draughtsmanship, the final results and its emotional impact were very much admired by other animators who had an easier time with drawing and design.

Any of these drawings showcase an inner feeling for the character, animation from the inside out. 

Here are a few comments he made over the years about these characters:

Frank was proud of the the work he did with the dwarfs, mourning the death of Snow White, because for the first time audiences cried watching animation.

Pinocchio was like a little boy, but he had absolutely no life experiences yet,

he had just been "born". His animation required that the usual squach and stretch

be avoided in order to make him look like he is made out of wood.

Bambi was probably his favorite film.

Frank used some of Walt's own gestures when animating Mickey in "The Pointer".

Walt Kelly complemented Fred Moore on the opening animation of "The Flying Gouchito", when in fact this was Frank's work.

Toad was someone who "acted" in front of other characters.

He animated Ichabod Crane riding through the forest at the rate of about forty feet a week.

As far as the successful performance of Cinderella's stepmother, he gave credit to  actress Eleanor Audley, who voiced the character and provided live action reference. "One of the greatest voices we ever had".

After a long search Frank found inspiration for the Queen of Hearts while playing

the piano with the Firehouse Five plus Two on Catalina Island.

He watched a lady in the audience, who acted both, dainty and brash.

Captain Hook needed to be entertaining as well as frightening, but some of the action scenes with the crocodile went too far, he felt.

"Lady & the Tramp" had very rich character relationships.

Frank watched little old ladies in supermarkets as a study for the Three Fairies

in "Sleeping Beauty".

"101 Dalmatians" was storyman Bill Peet at his best.

"The Sword in the Stone" had great sequences, and he loved doing the squirrels,

but the relationship between Merlin and Wart lacked warmth.

Dick van Dyke's legs were constanty in the way of his penguin's choreography.

"Jungle Book" might have a very simple story, but these characters are some of our best.

When we started "The Rescuers" the time had come to add new, fresh talent to the crew.

Check out this great tribute by Ted Thomas to his father :

http://wdfmuseum.squarespace.com/posts/2011/6/17/disney-dads-ted-thomas-on-frank-thomas.html