Deer Development

This post focuses on the different stages that were involved in the design of deer characters for animation, particularly young adult Bambi. To get the artists ready for a film that featured characters with unprecedented realism in drawing and movement, special anatomy classes were held, so the animators would get to know the body of deer inside and out.

In the photo above you can spot story artist Mel Shaw in the middle of the back row, and on the left are animators Retta Scott and Frank Thomas.

After many thorough studies of the animals, it took a while to come up with animatable designs that could communicate true animal behavior as well as human feelings. 

It seems that three artists were responsible for this successful evolution.

Bernard Garbutt had a way of simplifying the appearance of deer and discover natural and dynamic poses. His animals don’t talk, but they present a terrific base to build personalities on.

Marc Davis studied graceful realistic movement, before adding human expressions while storyboarding particular sequences for the film.

Milt Kahl gave the final look to all deer characters, including adolescent Bambi. He ended up animating most of his personality scenes, including the section where Bambi meets Feline as an adult. As usual, the anatomy in his drawings feels rock solid while offering possibilities for unrealistic, even cartoony animation. Milt’s animation of Bambi following Feline through the clouds has nothing to do with realistic deer motion, but it interprets instead the dreamlike state of falling in love. 

A great doodle sheet, Milt explores proper animation anatomy in detail.

Scar in Entertainment Weekly

What a pleasant surprise! I was recently going through the pages of the magazine Entertainment Weekly when I came across this article on animated villains. The write up referres to the upcoming release of Disney’s live action film “Maleficent”. Cruella takes center stage, as she should.

I have to tell you, it feels mighty good that a character I animated years ago still seems relevant to audiences and critics. And he is written about among such distinguished company!

Made my “entertainment” week.

I found these throw-away ruffs in my inventory, most of them from the sequence when Scar sets up young Simba before the wildebeast stampede.

I still remember listening to Jeremy Iron’s voice recordings, thinking: Wow…this is gold! I better not screw this up.

Downsized

After Cruella and the Baduns crash their cars during a chase, we see the characters stranded in the snow among automotive wreckage. Cruella yells at Jasper and Horace, and blames them for this embarrassing outcome.

The scene is fielded as a long shot, we see the tiny trio stuck in a wintery landscape. Before animation began, the smart decision was made to draw the characters full size on 16 field paper. Later the artwork would be reduced with the help of the Xerox process.

This is Cruella’s last scene in the film, and animator Marc Davis wanted to be sure that he could articulate her frustration in a thorough way, without being tide down to a teeny drawing size.

It is a beautiful piece of animation, full of comic rage and defeat. So, in a way it’s a shame that we can’t see all the subtleties Marc put into the scene as far as drawing and acting.

Still, the framing works great for the film’s continuity, and presents an effective final blow to Cruella’s nasty ambitions. 

Here is the line drawing of the scene, followed by the much larger sized character drawings.

What a great pose for Cruella! Marc was on fire with this character.

Baloo brags about fighting the Monkeys

Milt Kahl only animated a handful of scenes with Baloo from The Jungle Book.

After King Louie’s monkeys kidnap Mowgli, they trip the bear who subsequently falls down a steep hillside. At this point the only thing he can do is to call for Bagheera.

The panther arrives at the hill’s edge to find Baloo bragging theatrically about what a fight he put up with the monkeys: “(They ambushed me…) thousands of ’em. I jabbed with my left, then I swung with a right, and then…”

During the dialogue he gets on his feet and acts out the dramatic battle in order to convince Bagheera that he fought tooth and nail in an attempt to protect the boy. 

Milt drew a heavier Baloo than Ollie did. (Frank Thomas also drew him big with long arms).

I remember Milt saying: “What’s so difficult about drawing a bear? You just have to make sure that his ass is big enough!”

Dave Michener, who did assistant work for Milt on Jungle Book, gave me these copies of the scene’s key poses. Dave had asked his boss how to interpret some of Baloo’s fists, since they were often just indicated as a circle without much definition. 

“You go figure it out!” Milt replied. He didn’t feel like dealing with a minor drawing issue right then and there.

It really is a great scene. Baloo moves with a lot of weight, and his broad arm swings define real space.

Peter Pan Rough Layouts

I find these layout sketches utterly magical. Disney artists who researched and designed environments were wizards. Even the house of the Darling family, in- and outside, is presented with a dreamlike quality. These guys knew how to use light and shade so effectively, it not only helped set the mood for a sequence, but their art became a major part of the film’s overall storytelling. The characters’ surroundings communicate their emotions just like the acting does. 

I look at these atmospheric backdrops with a sense of awe, partly because this is the kind of work I myself can not do. That’s why I am forever grateful to layout and background artists who gave my own characters an interesting and beautiful world to live in.

These drawings are probably the work of Ken O’Connor or Ken Anderson. I’m sure some of you know the name of the rightful artist. If you do, I’d appreciate it if you would leave a comment to let us know.

In this film frame Wendy takes a final look at Pan’s ship as it sails away toward new adventures.

Hook has a Cold

After his rough encounter with the Crocodile at Skull Rock, Captain Hook manages to get back to his ship, where a bad cold plagues him. Frank Thomas animated this sequences with Hook wheezing and sneezing while cursing Peter Pan at the same time. The acting is just incredible in these scenes, each gesture shows Hook’s unsuccessful attempts at easing his pain. Everything has proper weight, the hot water bottle over his head, the blanket covering his back and his body in general.

This is also an example of outstanding use of live action reference, which was provided by the character’s voice actor Hans Conried. Frank chose a few of his important acting moments and translated them inventively into graphic motion. 

Stunning character animation, the kind that makes me feel so passionate about drawn animation.

Frank explores key poses that reveal Hook’s agony. Beautiful sketches by an animator who proclaimed that drawing didn’t come easy to him. 

This amazing clean up drawing is currently being offered at Heritage Auctions:

http://www.ha.com/c/search-results.zx?Nty=1&Ntk=SI_Titles&N=793+794+791+792+1893+1577+2088+0&No=0&Ntt=animation+art

Eventually Smee enters Hook’s cabin. He ends up poring way too much hot water into the tub, before sharing rumors about Peter Pan and Tinker Bell.

This set up does not include matching cels. Smee is holding a thermometer, but Hook already has one in his mouth. Still, what lovely artwork.