The Amazing Story of Walt Disney

This (Part 1) article was published in the Saturday Evening Post in 1953. It gives you an idea how far Disney had come until then, and how he was perceived by the media at that time.
When I look at photos of Walt's workshop in the photos below, a story comes to mind:

One day, way back in 1988 or perhaps '89 when I was working on King Triton for The Little Mermaid, my office phone rang. It was an outside local call from a lady who I didn't know. She spoke in English with a German accent, and phoned just to congratulate me on my early career at Disney.
Hmmm...strange I thought, but then things became interesting. She had read about me in a German newspaper, and it turned out that her mother knew my mother, they happened to be neighbors in my small home town. When I asked her wether she was in California on vacation she replied that she actually lives here, and that she works for Mrs Disney. "Walt Disney's daughter?" I asked. "No, Mrs Walt Disney." She informed me that she does the cooking as well as supervising the gardening for the house in Holmby Hills (near Beverly Hills). She also lived there in the maid's quarter.
To make a long story short, I was invited to come to the house for a home cooked German dinner.
Twist my arm....
When I arrived a few days later , I not only had a German meal, I got a tour of the house. Mrs Disney was away to spend the weekend in her Palm Springs home. So it might not have been the proper thing to do, but...I got to see the house.
I remember vividly walking into the workshop, pictured here. There was an old phone hanging on one of the walls with a label that said Kansas City.

A Little Man with an Egg Head

That's what Ward Kimball once called his early creation of Jiminy Cricket from the film Pinocchio.

He also said that the only reason we know he is a cricket is because we call him that. No resemblance to the actual insect whatsoever. 

What gets me, when I look at the clean up drawing above, is the lack of any straight lines. It's all curves. As you might know, straight lines add strength while curved lines give you rhythm. Usually you see a balance of both in a solid drawing, but in this case curves alone define this dimensional pose of Jiminy. 

Kimball's model sheet below blows me away. Look at the insane range of expressions he got out of this egg shape. Incredible, and so appealing!

I believe these earlier design sketches are Kimball's as well. Here he looks a little bit more like an insect.  There were plenty of different versions for this character before Walt Disney approved the final appearance.

A photostat of an actor as he performs a scene for the animators. A perfect example for how to use live action. Pick out acting patterns you like, and incorporate them into your animation.

This model sheet from 1955 shows a re-designed Jiminy Cricket, the way he appeared as a host for  Disney TV shows and educational films. This is a more graphic (two dimensional) design with plenty of straight against curved lines, but somehow he lost some charm during this transformation.

A beautiful cel set up from the movie. The "Rembrandt" of Disney animated features!

GO SEE the Pinocchio Exhibit at the Walt Disney Family Museum! It is a once in a lifetime chance to study and admire hundreds of original pieces of art from the film:

http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2016/05/pinocchio-at-walt-disney-family-museum.html


Here is more on Jiminy from an earlier post:

http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2015/05/jiminy-cricket.html


And one more:

http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2015/05/jiminy-cricket-ii.html

Wilhelm M. Busch, The Little Hero 1977

More beautiful book illustrations by Busch for Dostojewskij's novel, titled The Little Hero.
In the past I have posted samples of his work that show a linear, graphic quality. The following images are much more rendered and define a certain mood through intriguing light and shadows.
As always I love the compositions, the depth and the life in his drawings.

Shere Khan Dialogue

Another post showing rough animation drawings by Milt Kahl for a Shere Khan scene.
This is Seq. 8.1, Sc. 102.
The tiger is interacting with Kaa, who has just said: "Shere Khan - what a surprise!"
The response in this scene is: "Yes, isn't it? I just dropped by. Forgive me if I interrupted anything."
Beautiful controlled head movement, and nice squash and stretch on the muzzle.

Yes

yAs

ISN'T IT

I

I

Just

droppeD

By

bY

bY

Inhale, as he turns his head screen left in anticipation of a right turn toward Kaa

Forgive 

fOrgive 

me iF

 I

interruPted

anythiNG

By looking up toward the tree top he is letting the audience -as well as Kaa- know that he suspects something.

Ollie's Farewell Animation

The 1981 film The Fox & the Hound turned out to be the last animated movie Ollie Johnston worked on. After decades of superb character animation Ollie's work still had that magic touch. But as he told me, drawing didn't came as easily to him as it used to years earlier. It actually started in the previous film The Rescuers. He remembered working on a specific scene with the character of Penny, the orphan girl. His drawing hand was starting to give him a little trouble, from time to time it wasn't holding steady. "I just couldn't animate the scene, the fielding and size felt wrong, so I gave it to someone else to do."
It is hard to imagine how Ollie, under those circumstances, was still able to produce top notch character animation. These heartfelt key drawings of Copper still show his strong personal engagement with the character.

Images Heritage Auctions.

More drawings from The Fox & the Hound by Ollie as well as Frank Thomas here:

http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2014/07/frank-ollies-last-assignments.html

Skiing Crocodile

Only Heinrich Kley could add such convincing life to this fantasy situation. A Croc skies downhill while a couple of Monkeys are looking on. As so often Kley challenges himself by portraying a character from an insane difficult angle. Why stage something conventionally when you are a master draughtsman ?!
I purchased this piece a little over 15 years ago on a trip to Munich/Germany. A local gallery was still selling "Left over Art" from Kley's estate. As I said before, Kley's art never gets old. It is fresh, funny, masterful and endlessly inspirational.

I've posted several times on Heinrich Kley in the past, here is one of those posts:

http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2014/06/heinrich-kley-was-crazy.html

Eyvind Earle

This incredible hi/res photo surfaced online recently. Walt Disney is dropping by Eyvind Earle's office, it looks like a late afternoon meeting sometime during the late 1950s. Walt loosened his tie, and his right arm is leaning on one of Earle's exploratory paintings, which is pictured below. Casual photos from behind the scenes of Disney animated films are rare, and this image takes you right back in time when Sleeping Beauty was in production. 

Heritage Auctions recently offered beautiful cel set ups from the film. The first two images don't show matching cels with background, but still reveal the amazing color choices for the character cels.

They read clearly over the highly detailed, stylized BGs.