Thursday, November 12, 2015

How rough, how clean ? II



Another batch of animation drawings that show a variety of styles. The Sneezy drawing above shows
that animator Fred Moore worked very fast and intuitively. Since he designed the final models for all
dwarfs, the clean up artist didn't need to change anything. Proportions and volumes are all in place, only a few loose details needed to be redrawn more specifically. (Like a line that separates the  
sole from the shoes' top).


Believe it or not, but this Kahl rough drawing of Pinocchio drawing as a real boy needed to be altered.
The size of his hands is much smaller in the final version of the scene. Milt most likely redrew a few hand key positions, so clean up knew how to handle the new size correctly. When it comes to hands, I can not imagine Milt leaving any changes to someone else.
Also, I remember him saying how tired he was at the end of production on the film, he wished he could do those last scenes over.



A rough from an early Art Babbit scene that was cut from the movie. Structurally there would be a bit of work left for the assistant. Hair, hands and upper body aren't quite as solidly drawn as the actual model of Geppetto.



A very clean drawing of Cinderella by Marc Davis. I remember him saying: "If YOU don't draw it well, nobody else will do it for you."



Ollie Johnston always had that light touch in his animation drawings, which allowed him to get through his footage pretty fast. Even at this speed Alice is drawn on model. A beautiful sensitive approach.



Milt became so confident and thorough in his drawing ability that nothing was left for possible misinterpretation. In this sketch he drew the upper body, while hands and legs were traced from a previous key drawing. (Those parts were not moving and held still.)



A lively key drawing of Peg by Eric Larson. All the clean up  assistant had to do here is find consistent patterns for all that moving fur. And that assistant was Burny Mattinson, who still works at the studio, in story.



John Lounsbery didn't leave his assistant guessing, Everything in this drawing of Tony is beautifully worked out and designed in a clear way. John had great rhythm in his work and tons of appeal.



Another Lounsbery key drawing this one depicting the Mock Prince from Sleeping Beauty.
Without the owl's wing flapping, this whole idea might seem highly questionable as far as logic, but Louns completely sells the idea.



Maleficent by Marc Davis as a stylized graphic design. Look at the power of lowered eye lids, 'up to no good' evil. Marc's charts were always even, no key drawing was ever favored. You'd think animation timed like this would float across the screen, but somehow Marc's scenes still show contrast within the acting. It goes to show you, every Disney animator structured a scene his own individual way.



Lots of experimental, rough work was done on the Dragon by various artists. By the time animator Eric Cleworth started production animation, his drawings were crisp and very solid, as the second image shows. Amazing design!




Another example of how gently Ollie Johnston puts his pencil to paper. Sir Hiss momentarily incapacitated.



No greater feeling than seeing your OWN drawings on the screen. You can't blame clean up for the scene not looking good, it's all YOU. I know Marc and Milt loved the whole idea of Xerox.





Images Heritage Auctions and  Howard Lowery.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Aristocats Stuff



I really like Ken Anderson's Vis Dev work for The Aristocats. Frank Thomas felt that Ken's work lost strength after his stroke in the early 1960s, but to me his art certainly never lost any charm. Just look at this sweat color gag sketch featuring Marie.



I don't know who the artist is behind this sketch, but I do love the atmosphere and staging.




 A couple of Anderson gag drawings showing that the kittens are spoiled and have the run of the house.



Development art by various artists for Duchesse, who was voiced by Eva Gabor.



Madame Bonfamille, animated by Milt Kahl, is a favorite of mine. She is a realistic, straight character,  brought to life by Milt Kahl with extraordinary nuanced performances and drawn absolutely beautifully. The character was voiced by British actress Hermione Baddeley, who had played a maid in Mary Poppins.

Sunday, November 8, 2015

Before Ever After




If you -like me- ever wondered how on earth Walt Disney's artists reached such astronomical artistic heights, you will find some answers to that question in this new book.
The short and feature films during Disney's Golden Age didn't just happen because the staff was talented and could draw and paint well. At that time there was a serious program in place which involved drawing classes as well as lectures with topics such as acting, architecture, color theory, caricature and anatomy to name just a few.
The best authorities and teachers in these fields stopped by the studio to give an insightful talk or they  were put on staff and taught on an ongoing basis.
Luckily these lectures were transcribed back then, and thanks to Don Hahn and Tracey Miller-Zarneke, who spent a considerable amount of time searching for these treasured documents, we now can all relive and learn from Walt Disney's art training program.




This is a big book, 448 pages full of photos, sketches and reproductions of those vintage pages, which reveal words of wisdom by in-house artists like Bill Tytla, Don Graham, Ham Luske and many others.
Visiting artists include architect Frank Lloyd Wright, painter Jean Charlot and color expert Faber Birren.



I think I am going to tattoo that Walt Disney quote on my arm, it is so true!

One of the most important and and inspiring books on animation ever published:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1484710819/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=desktop-1&pf_rd_r=1QC90QBHM6G035M7APS9&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=2253014322&pf_rd_i=desktop


Thursday, November 5, 2015

Technicolor Flowers



The Flower Ballet from Fantasia's Nutcracker sequence has always been one of my favorite pieces of animation. What an unusual mix of effects and character animation.
The storyboard pastel sketches are breathtaking as well. I wished I knew who drew them.











Images: Heritage and Bonhams Auctions

Saturday, October 31, 2015

Villains


If you'd ask me what Disney villain is the scariest, most evil, terrifying...my answer would be The Devil on Bald Mountain from Fantasia. Not much character development here, but a glorious  animated nightmare. Animation, effects, art direction...like Milt Kahl said:"There has never been anything like that since."



When it comes to villains in live action films, I can think of a few that scare the popcorn out of me.
Here are a few in no particular order of frightening degree.
Anthony Hopkins plays Dr. Hannibal Lecter so believably as a psychopath with cannibalistic habits, it's hard to look at the screen when he looking into the camera. This film frame alone...



Heath Ledger was so terrifying as the Joker in The Dark Knight, I went home after I saw the film and watches a sequence from The Aristocats (to calm down).



Jack Nicholson was made to play villains. He almost ended up voicing Hades for Disney's Hercules.
Talking about a gifted actor who has fun portraying evil.



Villains can be very good looking. It's a strange, but powerful concept.
Ralph Fiennes as Amon Goeth in Schindler's List.



Anthony Perkins in Hitchcock's Psycho.



Kathy Bates as the ultimate obsessed fan Annie Wilkes. Great film, difficult to watch.



I saw Clockwork Orange only once, will never watch it again. An amazing movie...too intense for me.
Actor Malcolm McDowell as Alex.



Movie bully #1, Zack Ward as Scut Farkus in A Christmas Story. One of my favorite films.



Another one of my favorite films, Spielberg's Jaws. Amazing script, actors, and the fact that you saw the shark only a few times helped elevate this film to classic status.
(Btw, right now we are having more sharks, Great Whites and Hammerheads, off the Southern California coast than ever before..scary stuff).



To me this character just might be the scariest of all screen villains. Actor Helgi Skulasson played a murderous tribe leader in the 1987 Norwegian film Pathfinder. This man has the look of death in his eyes. I apologize for the low res image, this is the only one I could find on the internet.
I really like the movie. Simple powerful story, great casting and....him!!



HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Here is a link to a recent article about the villains I animated at Disney for Disney Insider:

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

They Drew as they Pleased




You need to get this book!
Didier Ghez has compiled the most beautiful Visual Development artwork, representing the 1930s at Disney Studios. You will find gorgeous sketches, watercolors and pastels by artists like Albert Hurter, Ferdinand Hovarth, Gustaf Tenggren and Bianca Majolie. Their level of artistry and invention is mind boggling.
Today's animation industry can learn a lesson or two from the unconventional approach of these early Disney artists. These folks were feverishly experimenting, a quality I would like to see again in today's animated output.

Didier passionately chronicles the life and artistic style of Disney's early idea artists.
The illustrations are beautifully reproduced. Get the book!

http://www.amazon.com/They-Drew-Pleased-Hidden-Disneys/dp/1452137439/ref=zg_bsnr_tab_pd_mw_2


Here are a few of Hovarth's design concepts for various projects, not included in the book.







Drawings Disney/Heritage Auctions

Monday, October 26, 2015

Jungle Book Thumbnails



I really don't know who drew these small thumbnail sketches for The Jungle Book. They might have been done for the original, darker story treatment, based on Bill Peet's concepts. The rhino Rocky shows up in one of the images, a character Milt Kahl was about to start animation on, before Walt suggested to remove Rocky from the film.
It is interesting to see how certain situations were either restaged or entirely cut from the final version while others reflect scenes we know from the movie.
These original pages were offered at auction a while ago, I kept scans of some of the sketches.
Beautiful stuff!