Mama Odie Test Scene

This is a scene I did a while ago, before we really got going with animation for

"The Princess & the Frog".  It was based on story work  that was current at the time, but was later changed and improved.

It's always good to do a few test scenes in order to get to know your character.

Usually it takes me 5-6 scenes before I feel comfortable with what I am doing.

I am showing you here the first pass pose test followed be the tied down inbetweened version.

There are also scans of the main key drawings.

Looking at the scene now, if it were production, I would probably punch up the timing here and there. 

Mama Odie was a blast to animate. With a character concept like this one, and the voice recordings of Jennifer Lewis....how much better does an assignment get?

Though originally I thought that her eye glasses would present a problem.

How do you show emotional change without eyes? It turned out that her eyebrow wrinkles would work well enough to show the mood she is in.

And "loose flesh" was the name of the game. The more her fatty neck reacted to her overall motions, the better. I probably could have pushed that in production scenes even more.

Anyway, in this scene Mama Odie talks to the off staged frogs, showing her enthusiasm for candy. At the end she interrupts herself when she smells the

burnt gumbo.

Milt researches Big Cats

I had the chance to ask Milt Kahl how long it took him to research tigers in preparation for Shere Khan in "The Jungle Book".

His answer was:"Oh...about two to three weeks. I looked at all kinds of big cats footage. We had done  a picture called "Jungle Cat", I studied that film and the out takes as well. Even though it was a South American panther, who has a somewhat different built, it was close enough. 

The other live action I studied was from the Disney film "A Tiger walks". 

I could also apply tiger footage to Bagheera,  and panther footage to Shere Khan.

Those big cats move in similar ways anyway."

So a while ago I took a little time to research what Milt had researched.

I found these two frames from "Jungle Cat" , and it sure looks like they served as inspiration for a couple of poses for Bagheera on this design sheet.

At the beginning of "Jungle Cat" all kinds of large cats are introduced, including the tiger. When I saw this short scene of a tiger jumping from screen right to left, it reminded me of an animated scene in which Bagheera does the same move, after Baloo yells for help.

I think it's interesting stuff , see for yourself. 

Wilhelm M Busch

Wilhelm M Busch (1908-1987) is one of my favorite artists.

I keep thinking, when I grow up I want to draw like him.

After many years of not looking at his work I sort of rediscovered him when Hans Bacher started to post some of his incredible book illustrations. Go to Hans' blog and check out much more on Busch.

http://one1more2time3.wordpress.com/

 I rushed over to amazon/Germany and ordered a whole bunch of books that included his work. Busch illustrated over 300 books during his lifetime.

He also taught illustration in Hamburg, Germany.

His illustration style changed over the years, yet every period of his life shows genius. Sometimes it's realistic other times very caricatured. It can be just linear or fully rendered. 

He never mocked anybody else. Looking at his art, you realize that it is totally based on his own personal observation. The way characters relate to each other, the fantastic sense of perspective, composition and mood...he owns all that, it's his.

And there is great story telling, too.

This man spent quality time looking at things, the human body, drawing at the circus and the zoo as well as studying environments.

I could go on...and I might in future posts. For now here is a very small sampling of his book illustrations.

Have you ever seen a more beautiful drawing of a couple dancing than this first drawing?