Lady & the Tramp Pencil Test Sequence

Classic Disney pencil tests are treasures. The characters seem to be even more alive than in the final color footage. You are reminded that someone drew this stuff with a pencil on paper. It represents the animator's art in its purest form. No color or rendered backgrounds to "distract" you, just a bunch of lines on the screen. But those lines have an explosive magic, because they reveal imaginary yet real life.

Steve Stanchfield just posted the complete Siamese Cats sequence in pencil test form. 

Before the release of Lady & the Tramp in 1955, Disney presented a TV program featuring Peggy Lee, Woolie Reitherman, Frank Thomas, Milt Kahl and others. 

I believe this pencil test sequence was supposed to be a part of the TV show, but was ultimately cut.

John Sibley animated the cats. They had originally been assigned to Ward Kimball, who animated some if not all of the sequence. His footage apparently did not fit the realistic style of the film.

This is a real treat, and I'd like to thank Steve Stanchfield for making it available to everyone on Vimeo.

 

Here is the link: https://vimeo.com/466013616

Experimental Bambi

This is a scene by Milt Kahl which doesn't appear in the final movie "Bambi".

It looks to me like the scene was either cut from the film, or it was just a piece of test animation, done before actual production began.

I created this pencil test a few years ago and showed it at the Academy's tribute to Milt Kahl. There were a bunch of in-betweens missing, so I drew those based on the key drawings' charts.

When I watched the pencil test for the first time, I wasn't sure if the timing is 100% accurate. There was no exposure sheet to go by, so I just timed the drawings based on their numbers.

I do know though that occasionally (especially in the old days) the numbers don't always give you the final timing. In other words, drawings numbered on ones could be exposed for two frames for the final scene.

Also, it seems to me that Bambi is interacting with some other character, possibly a few bunnies.

Still, even just like this it is a gorgeous piece of animation to look at, done when Milt Kahl was about 30 years old.

There is full knowledge and control over the motion range of a fawn's body. And Milt knew how to combine that with the emotions of a little kid.

Animated gold!

 

Madam Mim

Of all Disney animated classics, "The Sword in the Stone" was the last one I saw way back, in a re release in theaters. I was already an art student by then and appreciated beautiful design and animation.

When Madam Mim appeared on the screen I was blown away. There is great sophistication in her design, and her acting is fresh and full of life.

Walt Disney assigned Milt Kahl and Frank Thomas to this character, knowing that if you combine their creative forces, nothing but great stuff would come out.

Milt had perfected the way he drew hands in his animated scenes. The fingertips are squared off, and the fingernails are placed with realistic perspective. 

To give the design contrast, her body is kept short and chubby, her arms and legs are very thin and boney.

Both animators just loved working on Mim, and they agreed that there should have been more of her in the movie.

Milt's animation is full of inventive moves, like funky dance steps and hops. When Mim turns into a "beautiful" witch, her moves are almost risque.

Frank had a lot of fun with her dialogue scenes. His acting is eccentric, too, but it feels very believable and grounded.

Here is the first part of her intro in pencil test form.

These are a few of Milt's rough key drawings, beautiful and perfect.

Here you can see how Milt helped out with Mim drawings for a few Frank Thomas scenes. In doing this, graphic continuity was guaranteed.

These scans show you how Frank handled Madame Mim. His drawings are a mix of caricature, subtlety and realism. I have almost all rough drawings from this scene, where she comes up with her own rules for the Wizard's Duel (One of my all time favorites). 

I will add a few missing inbetweens myself and show the whole pencil test at a future post.

A gorgeous cel set up from the opening scene.

Tramp

Walt Disney often paired Frank Thomas and Milt Kahl for the animation of a single character. 

Pinocchio, Bambi (with Ollie), Cinderella's Duke, Tramp, Merlin and Mim as well as King Louie, to give you a few examples.

The talents of these two Super Animators complemented each other extremely well. 

Milt of course would do the final design, and as you know his animation would be 

flawlessly staged and timed, and show inventive acting.

Frank internalized the character, which resulted in very nuances performances.

They often showed their scenes to each other for input. Frank would come up with an idea to plus the acting, and Milt would draw over Frank's keys to solidify his drawings and add charm.

The first sheet below shows some of Milt's early design doodles, based on poses from story sketches. It's interesting to see that a black color area around one eye was considered for a rowdier look.

The next image is a layout/staging drawing for one of Milt's scenes.
Tramp is greeting a puppy through the window of a pet shop. Look how these two characters relate in the way they are posed.

The two key drawings following are by Frank for his legendary Spaghetti sequence.

I call this glorious character animation. See the tied down pencil test here:

http://vimeo.com/4215426

The single Tramp close up is by Milt, done for Frank for the same sequence.

It gives the scene that polished charm.

The last drawing was also done by Milt for a Frank scene.

Team work at it's best!

At the end of the post you'll find a tied down Milt pencil test of Tramp, as he first appears in the movie.

Milt Kahl's First Shere Khan Scene

This scene is at the beginning of a brilliant sequence from The Jungle Book when Shere Khan interrogates Kaa, the python. Milt animated both characters throughout. The moment when the tiger comes around the tree was the first production scene of him, and it's a beauty!

"It's me, Shere Khan. I'd like a word with you, if you don't mind", he tells Kaa ever so politely. No live action reference here, this came out of Milt's head. He said in an interview: " I learned so much about tigers by studying them that I didn't have to rely on any life action crutch." 

Great perspective walk, and I love the way the tiger lies down, upper body first, then the rear. The way he moves those front feet is worth studying alone. Such great anatomy.

The last pose holds for a while, and Milt kept it alive by adding a few eye blinks on a different level. 

By the way, Walt Disney did see the whole sequence in pencil test before he died. Milt said that Walt liked it and approved it.

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The final pose was inspired by a Ken Anderson design sketch, which was inspired by a Bill Peet drawing of the much cartoonier tiger from the 1945 Goofy short "Tiger Trouble". Milt animated that tiger as well…brilliantly.

In case you missed this earlier post, here is a great pencil test of Shere Khan stalking:

http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2012/02/shere-khan-crouches.html