Mim as a Dragon

The animators who worked on The Sword in the Stone all agreed that The Wizard's Duel was a highlight of the film. This is pure character animation material, two sorcerers turning themselves into a variety of animals in an attempt to crush the opponent. This story sketch showing Madame Mim as a dragon (a rule breaker) is by Bill Peet, who not only boarded this sequence, but the entire film.
Milt Kahl pretty much kept Peet's design intact while polishing it for the dragon's final appearance.
Milt basically redrew poses from Peet's story boards, making only minor adjustments so the character would fit into the overall styling of the movie.
Milt himself didn't animate any footage with the Mim/Dragon, Eric Larson ended up drawing those scenes.
Here is Milt's very graphic version.

You can find much more on the Wizard's Duel in this earlier post:
http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2012/05/wizards-duel.html

Marc Davis Sketch

I need to ask Alice Davis about the title and date of this beautiful color sketch. An amazing graphic composition emphasizing straight against curved lines. Look at the fluid movement of the python contrasting the bold straight lines of the giraffe's neck. There is no doubt in my mind that if Marc didn't have careers in animation and imagineering his contributions to American illustration and art would have made him a world renowned fine artist of the 20th century.

Get the book Marc Davis, Walt Disney's Renaissance Man:

http://www.amazon.com/Marc-Davis-Disneys-Renaissance-Editions/dp/1423184181/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421739566&sr=8-1&keywords=marc+davis+walt+disney%27s+renaissance+man

Fox Hunt and Horse Race

The huntsman blows his horn, and the pursuit begins for that scrawny, little fox in Disney's 1964 film Mary Poppins. Milt Kahl animated key scenes for the fox hunt, he also came up with the final designs for the horses, riders and the fox. Brilliant character research, influenced by illustrator Ronald Searle.

John Lounsbery animated the following two scenes beautifully, maintaining the design sensibilities  in these Milt sketches.  The final scene shows the horse with a monocle, just like the rider. The idea goes back to the opening sequence from 101 Dalmatians, where dogs and their owners share a definite resemblance.

An original, but discarded ruff from one of Milt's scenes featuring the nervous, but spunky little fox.
For more on this character go here:
http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2011/07/mary-poppins-fox.html

The welcoming committee at the races consists of a beautiful variety of stuffy seniors. A Milt Kahl scene done very effectively with limited animation.

Thanks again to my friend Wil for offering scans of drawings from his collection!

Disney Mix

Running a bit short on time these days, trying to finish the animatic (story reel) for my film Mushka. Almost there !
Here are a variety of images from different stages of Disney Productions.

The design and the animation of Disney classic characters blossomed during the late 1930s and early 1940s. I am still nuts about the appeal, the daring poses and the staging. Look how Donald is holding his artist palate, incredible! And Minnie...

Once flat graphic design was applied to these characters, they lost some of their charm.

Fine Art!!!

Some of Albert Hurter's brilliant character design explorations.

One of the oddest Disney short films.

Pecos Bill, crazy story, brilliantly animated by Milt and Kimball.

The one and only!!

Ken Anderson charm.

I had a poster of this Jungle Book grouping on the wall of my room when I was a kid. It sums up my childhood.

Pongo

Australian actor Rod Taylor died a few days ago in Los Angeles. I have always enjoyed his roles in films like The Time Machine and The Birds. For Disney he provided the voice of Pongo in the iconic 101 Dalmatians, with a wonderful and understated performance. I don't know if  any other actors were considered for the role, but Taylor turned out to be perfect.

A few of Milt Kahl's many facial studies, based on the appearance of life Dalmatians, brought into the studio for observation.
For more Pongo life drawings by Milt, Marc Davis as well as Frank and Ollie, go to this earlier post:
http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2012/01/dalmatians.html

It is interesting to see how Milt tried early on to incorporate the dark edges of a Dalmatian's mouth into the design, an idea that was eventually dropped.

A beautiful sheet showing Pongo holding Roger Radclliff's hat. Masterful sketches, and it's nice to see that even Milt occasionally corrected himself, like re-positioning the dog's left front foot.

Another type of design, with a larger muzzle and a very small pelvis area. The size of Pongo's muzzle became the subject of debate between Milt and story man Bill Peet. You can read about it here:
http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2012/01/pongo-muzzle-issue.html

The corrected and final version of this pose ended up in the film and on the model sheet. Perfect proportions and appeal!

Ollie Johnston animated the melancholic sequence with Pongo as he tries to comfort Perdita, who is hiding under a stove. The first drawing is an Ollie rough, followed by a Milt drawing, as he clarifies forms and shapes without loosing the sentiment of the moment.

Here are a couple exploratory drawings from one of my all time favorite scenes. The rough above is a  discarded animation drawing, probably rescued from Milt's trash bin by an assistant.

Milt goes very, very far here as far as graphic representation of this scene. Razorsharp points and an intense balance of straight against curved lines make Pongo look like a Picasso creation. Yet anatomical correctness is never compromised. Even if some people don't appreciate such a stylized approach to Disney drawing, they buy into it because of the scene's weight and  fluidity of motion.

Not to mention the overall convincing emotions a dog goes through when scratching, yawning and collapsing on to a pillow. 

Just a few years earlier Milt had animated a similar scene with Tramp, as he wakes up inside a barrel near the train tracks. It was in Milt's nature to constantly challenge himself and try different ways to handle a situation that was somewhat familiar to him.

Animated sometime in 1960, even after so many decades this remains a MODERN animated masterpiece.

 

A gorgeous drawing showing Pongo examining the cover of one of Roger's magazines. I love Milt's scribbly version of a pin up pose. Thanks to my friend Wil for offering a scan of this sketch.

So here's to Walt Disney's 101 Dalmatians and the main character's voice actor Rod Taylor, who's charismatic performance in this animated film as well as in other movies enriched many people's lives.