The Bare Necessities

 

This is a beautiful scene of Mowgli animated by Ollie Johnston. 

The boy and the bear have bonded by now, and Mowgli is singing along with Baloo about "The Bear Necessities" as the two of them float down a river. 

No live action reference here, this is all Ollie. To me it is one of those scenes that seems detached from the animator. It looks and feels so natural and in character, you might think Mowgli is acting on his own. No animator attached. The ultimate accomplishment, real life on the screen.

Mowgli sings: "With just the bare necessities of life." Ollie chose the word LIFE as the main accent for his animation. So beautiful and personal.

Visit the Jungle Book Exhibition !

 

...you just might run into Milt Kahl's daughter Sybil (center) and her group of friends. I understand a good time was had by all. As King Louie says: "Have a banana!"

"Where is Mowgli ?"

 

This is easily one of Milt Kahl's best scenes in the Jungle Book. Bagheera heard Baloo calling for him, so he runs toward where the bear's voice was coming from. He is less concerned with Baloo and more worried about Mowgli. 

The first part of the scene is missing here, when the panther steps on the bear. I just love the way Bagheera repositions himself to look for Mowgli in a different direction. Then back to Baloo for further questions about the boy's whereabouts. 

Those are complex, analytical drawings during the transitional motion from right to left and back. It would be just about impossible to draw those positions beautifully, but Milt pulls it off, needless to say. And he maintains a super simplicity in defining the panther's body. Always just a few lines, big cat anatomy boiled down to an essence.

The way Bagheera shakes Baloo's head in frustration at the end is such a human gesture. Done by a lesser animator this could look awful. Great squash and stretch on Baloo's neck!

The whole scene is a joy to watch and to analyze.

Wilhelm M. Busch, Letters M, N, O

 

Be sure to click on the pages in order to see the beautiful sketches oversized!

More Beautiful JUNGLE BOOK Art

 

These gorgeous pieces are not part of the JUNGLE BOOK exhibition, currently at the amazing Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. They were sold at auctions over the past few years. 

It still amazes me how the characters with black Xerox outlines work with backgrounds that are painted in watercolor/gouache with no black lines at all (Only a few BGs have some degree of dark linework).

After Walt nixed a Sword in the Stone approach to the art direction, background painter Al Dempster was called out of retirement to create this softer, more traditional approach to the backgrounds. As much as I love Walt Peregoy's early concept art, I am also very fond of the film's final art direction. It really is comparing apples to oranges. 

Disney Art in Arlington, Texas

 

There are a few days left to visit an exhibition in Arlington, Texas. The title says it all, plenty of gorgeous original art from countless Disney classics. I am one of the lenders to this rare and special exhibit.

If you live in the area, I highly recommend a visit. 

Some of my own personal work as well as character drawings from my Disney career are included in the show. 

Here is the link to the website:

https://arlingtonmuseum.org/disney-art-from-private-collections