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?

Lady and the Tramp

I thought you might get a kick out of this article about the making of

"Lady & the Tramp".  It is from the magazine "American Artist", May 1955, and written by one of Disney's great background painters, Ralph Hulett.

The text won't offer a lot of new infos to most of you, but it is a fun look behind the scenes, from an insider's perspective in the mid fifties.

Then more original drawings from the film.

The first six are by Milt Kahl. The rough pre-animation drawings of Lady show how comfortable Milt was with such a realistic character. Potentially complicated anatomy covered with fur is beautifully simplified on this sheet.

The two close ups of Jock might have been drawn for another animator's scenes,

possibly Frank's.  I just love their expression and mood, there is a real essence to them, and great clarity.

The beaver is one of my favorite characters. Those little beady eyes give him so much character. 

I wonder what the story sketch looked like for the scene with Trusty.

An idea for a pose like this one is not easy to stage. But when you give it to Milt it becomes a piece of beauty. The slight variations in the design of the skin folds

is what makes this believable.

Milt redrew these poses of Aunt Sarah several times. She sure looks like a caricature of voice actress Verna Felton here.

Frank Thomas stages his characters beautifully in the first sheet.

He blocks in their appearances, almost like an architect's sketch.

This also solidifies the composition so that they relate very clearly.

The same can be said for the next two close ups of Lady. What's interesting here is  that Frank used straight and curved lines to define the shapes of her ears.

You'd think something so soft would need curves only, but drawn this way, it shows more weight.

The small thumbnail sketches indicate the two main positions in the scene.

More thunbnails on the next sheet as Lady puts her head down.

Following is a drawing where Frank explores how her fur reacts in a frightened attitude.

In the last one Trusty is leaning in on Jock, you can see in his pose that Jock is the reacting character.

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.