Character Designs from Long Ago

Going through my archives I keep finding drawings I didn't know I had.

Like these peculiar design sheets that bring back a lot of memories.

Way back I was on the original crew for Oliver & Company. The idea of replacing some of the original human characters with animals sounded very appealing to me. I did a first pass on most of the main characters, including Fagin, before story work was put on hold. I eventually left the project to work on Roger Rabbit.

This is a small street gang made up of cats and dogs who would eventually run into the kitten Oliver.

At one point Michael Eisner wanted the animation department to pursue the idea of turning the book The Catcher in the Rye into a film. I only worked briefly on the project before it was cancelled.

I do remember the main character being a dog. These drawings show the old sailor  Ol' Joe, no idea how he fit into the story back then.

I did this design of the Gorilla Bouncer from the Ink & Paint Club in Roger Rabbit in a hurry.

The footage was ready to get animated, but we didn't have a final model on him yet.

Dick Williams asked me to come up with something quickly, we faxed the sketch to Robert Zemeckis , and within ten minutes he gave his approval from the US. Once in a while things have to move fast even in animation. 

Pierre Lambert's Sleeping Beauty

I need to recommend this new coffee tablet/art book by Pierre Lambert, who in recent years has published several extraordinary volumes on Disney animated features.

For now Sleeping Beauty is only available as a French edition, but believe me, even if you don't speak the language, you will be amazed.

There are endless top quality reproductions of backgrounds, cel set ups, vis dev work, layouts and animation drawings. A few pieces from my collection made it into the book as well.

If you like this movie, the book really is a must have. 

You can order it from Stuart Ng right here:

http://stuartngbooks.com/new-arrivals/la-belle-au-bois-dormant-sleeping-beauty.html

I know the price is a bit high, but the book is totally worth it. So if you have a birthday coming up, or if you have $170 to spare, treat yourself to a spectacular insight into the making of Sleeping Beauty.

To celebrate the book's release I am posting these animation drawings which are NOT included in this edition.

"Here is your precious princess!" Maleficent is about to uncover Aurora's body in front of the Three Fairies. A great scene by Marc Davis, subtly drawn with incredible weight and dramatic overlap in the fabric.

Frank Thomas researches design and proportions for the Three Fairies.

This sketch almost represents their final appearances.

I've heard people say that the Fairies softer designs don't match the graphic style of the movie.
But as you can see, Frank followed the same principles of strong straight against curved lines, just like other animators for their characters.

I love these explorations, variations on one main idea. Subtle shifts for shapes and forms reveal individual personalities.

A couple of Prince Phillip roughs by Milt Kahl. He has just been freed from the chains around his wrists. The way he turns his hand to loosen up the joint is awesome.

A huge rough of Samson, the most stylized horse in Disney animation.

Milt also drew these King Hubert pencil/watercolor designs, before his outfit was simplified.

King Hubert runs to meet his son, he is about to discuss Prince Phillip's future.

An absolutely gorgeous drawing, this is a hop to break up the pattern of the run.

Мушка Update

It's been very busy around here, making a movie!

The story of "Mushka" is roughly storyboarded all the way through. It's a great feeling to be able to follow the whole story visually for the first time instead of reading the script.

That's me in a recent story meeting with scriptwriter Myka (sitting) and Matthieu Saghezchi who helped me draw the first rough pass. As soon as we were done sketching this early version, we started on corrections and improving ideas. That process will continue all the way through production.

But the story reel will go up soon, can't wait to see sequences timed out with temporary music and dialogue (there will be very little of that actually).

There are a couple of character designs that need to be finessed….but all in all that's where we are at the moment. 

So much fun!!

Photo and sketches ©Andreas Deja

Joe Grant Sketch

I don't have much time tonight for a post, still, I want to put up something.

I find this sketch showing early versions of Pinocchio and Honest John absolutely fascinating.

Evil and innocence in one drawing. The tone here is much darker and more severe than what we see in the final film.

The fox's expression reminds me a little of Joe Grant's designs of the witch for Snow White.

It is a haunting image, no trace of comedy whatsoever.

Fantasia Maquettes

I have always been in awe of Disney's character model department. Joe Grant was the head of this unit during the Golden Age Of Animation. 

Not only were rough model sheets produced here, but also three dimensional sculptures to help the animators visualize their characters.

The chosen poses for these maquettes always showed beautiful movement, appeal and expressiveness. The final look in the film might differ a little from these early representations, but what a great source of inspiration for the animation.

The photo above is from the 1941 Disney film The Reluctant Dragon, which includes a tour through Disney's magic animation factory. The guest being shown around is actor/writer Robert Benchley, who is visiting a made up model department.

Every one of these little sculpts is a masterpiece, representing not only the personality of a character, but the essence of Disney, period!

Ken Anderson Vis Dev

Ken Anderson was was an  artist who enjoyed exploring environments as well as characters for Disney films. In his days that was somewhat of an exception, most artists at the studio focused  on one of the two categories.

I guess today studios demand again that a Vis Dev artist is capable of not only developing backgrounds but also personalities for a film.

Here are a few wonderful examples of Ken's talent.

They show how to place characters in an environment in a way that presents mood combined with character development.

The films are 101 Dalmatians, The Sword in the Stone, The Jungle Book, The Aristocats, and Robin Hood.

I was lucky, I got to know Ken a little, he was somebody you could have stimulating conversation with about animation, art or whatever was on your mind.

Medusa on the Phone

This is one of many great close up scenes of Medusa animated by Milt Kahl.

At the beginning of the scene she has just changed expressions, her mood went from gleeful anticipation to angry disappointment. Not only hasn't Snoops found the diamond yet, but he saw Penny sending a message in a bottle.

Her response is :"You bungler!" 

So let's go through some of these keys. On #91 Milt draws her with a wonderful mad asymmetrical expression.

Then she turns her head, and her lips form a strong  yOU. You can feel that loose skin forming the mouth shape. The  face points downward, shoulders go up.

Her expression intensifies as she turns screen right, and the lips form a B.

As her upper head starts to lead the move upwards, shoulders and right hand start to drop down on #119.

Here's what's interesting: Milt does NOT use the open mouth shape for bUngler to move her head to the highest point, this would have been a typical stretch to help the head mass move fast and smoothly.

He keeps her lips closed through #123, THEN follows a broad open mouth shape.

By showing this strong shape change after the arrival of the head in its high position, when the overall motion is relatively calm, it makes the dialogue read that much better.

The end position shows Medusa starring at the phone (she is really starring at Snoops). Her mouth is slightly open to form the R for bungleR. Shoulders and hand have moved up from their lowest position, which supported a stretch in her upper body.

And of course every drawing is a masterpiece.