The ARL

 

Disney's Animation Research Library is a marvel. It houses tens of millions of artworks from all of the companie's animated films. Story sketches, layouts, animation drawings, background paintings, models and much more. 

When I started at the studio in 1980 this massive collection was housed in the basement of the Ink & Paint building on the Burbank studio lot. At that time it was called the Morgue. A few years later all the art was moved to a state of the art, temperature and humidity controlled site nearby. 

As an animator I had the privilege to visit the ARL frequently and study scenes (the actual drawings) from Snow White to The Rescuers. Classic short films as well. 

It was important that before each visit I sort of knew what I was interested in researching. Without a clear idea in mind your brain would drown in this seemingly endless archive of masterpieces.

Analyzing the work by Disney's incredible animators was simply the best school you could ask for. And then to have the opportunity to ask Frank, Ollie, Milt, Marc and Eric in person why they did things a certain way!  

You can find "mini tours" of the Are on youtube. here is one of them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQoGpnLB6jg&t=386s

Peter Pan: A Closer Look

 

I am sure most of you have seen this model sheet of Peter Pan before. Copies of it have been circling the animation industry. 

Here are hi/res photos of the actual oversized original model sheet from 1951. All drawing are from scenes by Milt Kahl. These are photos of Milt's rough animation, the real drawings were sent to a clean up artist (possibly Iwao Takamoto), who then drew the tied down versions right on top of Milt's roughs.

And today these remain within complete scenes at the Disney Animation Research Library.

Be sure and double click on the images for full resolution.

Each one is a master drawing, full of life with that unique appeal that only Milt could bring to a character.

Peter Pan's subtle proportions are everything. A bit more realism, and you would have steril looking images. A bit more cartoony, and the character would loose believability.

Milt just knew instinctively how to find that perfect, precious balance. That's why Walt wanted him to animate Peter, and the film's villain Captain Hook went to Frank Thomas.

This previous post shows Milt's version of Captain Hook, the character he wanted to animate instead:

https://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2012/02/kahls-version-of-captain-hook.html

Mushka and Sarah Maquette

Strangely animation maquettes are often finalized late, toward the end of production, and Mushka is no exception. Hand sculpted by Craig Elliott, cast and hand painted, after a sketch of mine.

Happy Easter!

 

A great Easter character illustration from 1939. Possibly By Tom Wood or Hank Porter.

The Walt Disney Studios and World War II

That's the title of a brand new exhibition at the Walt Disney Family Museum. If you happen to be in the Bay area, you don't want to miss it. I myself will head up North soon. Can't wait to see what curator and WW II historian Kent Ramsey and the Museum staff put together regarding this important chapter in Disney history. For detailed infos go here:

https://www.waltdisney.org/wwii

 

Rotoscoping

 Here is an early example of live action use for animation at Disney. All human characters in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs relied on rotoscoping, except for the dwarfs. The more realistic a character concept, the more live action footage was used to help the animators get a nuanced performance on to the screen.

But rotoscoping is a tricky business. If not altered and interpreted by an animator, the result can be stiff and lifeless. Changes have to be made in order to portray these filmed performances for for graphic motion. A good animator will mess with the timing and proportions of the photostats.

Some of my favorite Disney characters who were successfully based on live action are Cruella de Vil and Roger and Anita Radcliff. Their design has various degrees of caricature, but the motion always feels reel.

Then there is Cinderella's Stepmother, a very realistic looking character based on live action, and she comes across as being very powerful.

Milt Kahl's comments about the use of live action cracks me up: "If you are going to have realistic animated human characters, I think the use of live action is necessary. If everybody on the picture was a Milt Kahl it wouldn't be necessary. But unfortunately they aren't."

Here is the Hunter from Snow White.

Art imitates Life

The Walt Disney Archives just posted a few photos of Milt Kahl in celebration of his birthday. I believe they were taken just before Milt left Disney in April of 1976 after completing animation of Madame Medusa. 

Look at these two images. Proof that artists unconsciously portray themselves in their work.

Another Milt Kahl Birthday

 

Milt Kahl was born on this day in 1909 in San Francisco. He was eight years younger than Walt Disney.

Most of you have seen this photo of him when he worked for the Fox West Coast Theatre chain. He drew print ads featuring titles and scenes from current movies. Each ad had a tiny "K" hidden within the composition. Believe it or not, but most of these original drawings still exist, they are with the Kahl family.

I have written plenty about Milt and his art over the years. Just enter his name in the blog search space, and all those posts will come up. 

Milt loved the way The Sword in the Stone turned out. He never understood why the film underperformed at the box office. "The studio didn't have confidence in it. Some theaters even showed it in a double bill with the Three Stooges (an American vaudeville/comedy team). If that won't kill, than what will?"

Here are Milt's key drawings for a scene with Merlin and Archimedes. The owl has just crashed under a tree after saving Wart -in the form of a fish- from a hungry pike. Merlin approaches to pick up Archimedes, who is dripping wet.

A short, simple and gorgeous scene. Before bending down, Merlin anticipates the move on #5. He then lowers himself to pick up the owl by one foot. He takes one step before placing Archimedes on a tree branch during the following scene.                                                                                                              

 

Behind the Scenes

It is always exciting to find photos from the Disney past. Photos I had not seen before from Behind the Scenes that give you a glimpse of what it was like working on incredible projects. Most Disney productions under Walt's guidance have become American folklore, embraced by the whole planet.

Here are a few pics I have come across recently. The shot above shows Walt as he reviews sketches by Marc Davis (standing, facing Walt). The pinned up drawings reveal Marc's analysis of motion ranges for various audio-animatronics to be installed at Disneyland. What a great photo.

Leopold Stokowski, Lillian and Walt Disney at the opening of Fantasia.

Kathryn Beaumont at an early story meeting for Alice in Wonderland with Winston Hibler, Ed Penner and others.

Ward Kimball and Fred Moore studying a marabou stork in preparation for Dumbo.

Joe Rinaldi, Mary Costa -the voice of Aurora- and Eric Larson in a small screening room (sweatbox), most likely reviewing dailies (rushes) from Sleeping Beauty.

The Reitherman family visits Ollie Johnston for a model train ride. Woolie with his wife Janie and sons Robert and Richard. Bruce wasn't born yet.

This drawing of Robin Hood looks an awful lot like a John Lounsbery sketch. So I suppose that's him in the photo.

Disneyland's first ambassador Julie Reihm, Marc Davis and Walt in the TV show Disneyland 10th Anniversary. I had the chance to meet Julie on a few occasions, and I asked her about filming this show. She said that Walt went off script, which she wasn't prepared for. It made her a little nervous, but it all went well.

Mowgli & Kaa

Here is a story sketch by Vance Gerry, who boarded the sequence in which Kaa tries for the second time to hypnotize Mowgli. I believe young Floyd Norman also contributed story drawings for this section of The Jungle Book. There are plenty of terrific personality gags here. I love that Kaa's body can turn into specific but unexpected forms to interact with Mowgli. A swing, a staircase etc.

Frank Thomas animated the whole sequence, and he made sure that each scene has great entertainment value. He would call this character business.