London & Peter Pan

I am writing this post slightly jet lagged, having just gotten back to LA from a week in London (after a few days in Hamburg, Germany).

The weather was beautiful for outdoor activities, so I skipped museum visits this time around.

I decided to look up the bronze statue of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. 

Walt Disney paid a visit there while working on his animated version of the J.M. Barrie story. Commissioned by Barrie in 1902, the tall statue was sculpted by Sir George Frampton and placed in the park in 1912. There are all kinds of characters like rabbits, squirrels and fairies climbing up the base toward Peter.

Last Sunday a few friends joined me for a boat trip on the Thames, from the London Eye to Tower Bridge and back to Big Ben. How can you not think about Peter Pan as you pass by these incredible sights. It was an absolutely beautiful evening.

I have always liked this attractive illustration which was used for the film's poster as well as other promotional material.

These are key drawings from a Milt Kahl scene which takes place inside Skull Rock. 

"(Psst, Wendy) watch this!"

Milt didn't use any live action reference here, he was more than capable of pulling this one out of his head. The action is a little cartoony, but believable anatomy is maintained throughout.

Woolie Reitherman animated this surreal moment with Captain Hook emerging from inside of the crocodile's mouth. Other animators criticized the scene at the time for its irrational quality.

All I can say is…works for me! And you couldn't portray Hook's scream for Smee any better.

TS Sullivant 8

What an amazing Sullivant cartoon, one of many based on the story of Noah's Ark.

I am off to Germany for the Hamburg Animation Award event, so there won't be any new posts for a week and a half. In the meantime enjoy these Sullivant beauties, scanned from original Life magazine pages.

Gag Drawing

You've probably seen some of those vintage gag drawings that were done at Disney way back. They usually poke fun at something that had happened between animators, occasionally even Walt was portrayed in a satirical sketch. Milt Kahl and Ward Kimball kept huge files of those drawings.

In the 1995 documentary film Frank and Ollie Frank Thomas revealed several gag drawings that involved him and Ollie . Pretty funny stuff.

Perhaps my generation of animators wasn't as quick with gag artwork, but we drew them, too.

Years ago I was one dollar short when paying for my lunch at the commissary. So my buddy Nik Ranieri lent me a buck, I told him I'd pay him back tomorrow. Months later I found this drawing on my desk.

Fred Moore from the Back

As far as I'm concerned there aren't enough photos of Fred Moore around.

This is the guy who changed the look and feel of character animation during the 1930s in a big way.

The photo above was taken in Fred's office at the Disney Hyperion Studio. It looks like Walt is dropping by with guests Leopold Stokowski and Deems Taylor, and Fred is giving a demonstration on how animation works by flipping a scene with Mickey from The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

This was the time when Mickey's design changed, and he was given pupils for the first time.

You can see the character has come a long way since the early black and white films.

There are plenty of graphic cheats going on in this model sheet from 1938, but who cares, there is ultimate appeal in every single sketch!

The next image shows Fred decorating a board with centaurettes. That board served as a backdrop for a filmed drawing class as part of the feature film The Reluctant Dragon. The photo was taken on one of the sound stages of the new Burbank Studio.

Bambi Vis Dev Art

In their 1990 book Bambi, The Story and the Film, Frank and Ollie don't identify the artist who produced these magnificent poetic renderings. They probably didn't remember.

The use of light gives the settings a magical, dreamlike quality. There is subtle shading on the characters, even though the final appearance of Bambi, Thumper and all the others would mostly consists of thin ink lines and flat cel paint. 

Nonetheless these drawings sure helped to establish the mood for one of the most beautiful films ever made.

Busch Circus Sketches

More spectacular gesture drawings by German artist Wilhelm M. Busch.

Throughout his career as a prolific book illustrator, he kept going to the circus to study animals interacting with their trainers. 

I am astounded by his ability to find golden moments in front of his fast moving objects.

You can tell by the line work that each sketch took only seconds to put down. 

This man continues to amaze and inspire me. He is the real deal!

From Live Action to Final Frame

These black and white photostats show clearly how the actors' performance influenced the Disney animators. To me it is always fascinating to find out what parts were kept and which ones were changed. 

Young dancer/actress Marge Champion, who had just finished acting out the role of Snow White for the animators, also performed as The Blue Fairy in Pinocchio.

By the way, today at age 93 Marge looks as beautiful as ever. I had the good fortune to get to know her a little, she is a remarkable lady, who had a remarkable career.

That's actor Christian Rub, painting Pinocchio's mouth. He not only acted out the part of Geppetto for animator Art Babbitt, he also voiced the character. Rub was born in Germany and his accent was for real.

Actress Rhoda Williams, as Cinderella's stepsister Drizella, beats up on actor Don Barclay, who is trying his best to fit the glass slipper on to her foot.

Ollie Johnston animated this scene.

In this group shot Wendy, John, Michael and Mrs. Darling are feeling sorry for the dog Nana, who just had an accident running into Mr. Darling.

Wendy of course is Kathryn Beaumont, John is Paul Collins, Michael has Mickey Mouse standing in for him, and Mrs. Darling is played by English actress Heather Angel, who also voiced her character.

Nana is put together by a sac, a box and a plunger. 

Young Prince Phillip is being presented to baby Princess Aurora by the Queen, except that he is not supposed to look into the camera !!

The boy is Cubby O'Brian, who was a famous Mouseketeer in his day job at that time. The Queen is played by Jane Fowler (later Boyd), a Disney effects artist.