Dick Jones

Who is Dick Jones? He is none other than the voice of Pinocchio.

I had a fun dinner the other week with some friends including Dick Jones and his lovely wife Betty.

And wouldn't you know, I just happened to have some model sheets with me.

Dick was already a child actor before he voiced that iconic character for Disney. 

He was in recording sessions doing Pinocchio off and on for about a year and a half, from age 10 until 11 1/2.

I asked him what it was like to see the whole film way back for the first time, all finished.

His answer surprised me. Dick didn't attend the premier screening, but he felt like he had seen the  entire film, in pieces while he was working on it. It wasn't until a few years ago that he watched the complete movie, when it came out on Blu- Ray and the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood had a screening of the restored  film. He thinks this is the best animated movie Walt ever made, and many people would agree with him. (It's just fun to see how Dick says this, with an honest sense of pride.)

His long acting career included many roles in Westerns, on the big screen as well as on TV. 

That's him in the photo below recording Pinocchio next to Cliff Edwards, the voice of Jiminy Cricket.

What a great performance, so fitting for the character. Full of enthusiasm, innocent, naive and very charming.

The animation roughs are by Milt Kahl from the naughty cigar smoking sequence.

After having re designed Pinocchio early on (I'll get to that in a future post) this became a sort of break through assignment for Milt, from then on he was one of the supervising animators.

The Last Two Character Panels

These are the last panels that were part of an exhibition at Disney Feature Animation a few years ago. I will never forget the opening, the guests of honor were Marc Davis and Ward Kimball.

And everybody loved to study these oversized rough animation drawings.

To come up to this quality of design and personality today would be a real challenge.

There will be more specific posts on some of the featured characters in the near future, like Pinocchio, the cast from Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Prince Phillip.

Disney pencil animation rocks. Big time.

John P. Miller

                                                                     ©LIFE

His colleages at Disney called him Jack. He worked at the studio between 1934 and 1942 as a story and Vis Dev artist -exraordinaire!! 

Probably his most famous accomplishment is his work on the short Baby Weems, which was part of Disney's Live Action/Animated film "The Reluctant Dragon" from 1941.

Walt must have been so impressed with Miller's work that he invited him to join "El Grupo" for the now famous trip to South America, where a few Disney artists studied and sketched local art and folklore as research for a variety of upcoming short films. Other members in that group included Frank Thomas, Mary Blair, Lee Blair, Herb Ryman and James Bodrero.

To find out more about that trip and its significance in wartime history watch Ted Thomas' fantastic film "Walt & and El Grupo"  It is available on Amazon :

http://www.amazon.com/Walt-El-Grupo-Flávio-Barroso/dp/B003TVTRYC/ref=sr_1_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1340769676&sr=1-2&keywords=walt+%26+el+grupo

But back to Baby Weems, which is unique in that it's story is told by showing Miller's storyboard sketches only. There is a very limited amount of animation on the screen to add a little flair.

Joe Grant and Dick Huemer wrote the story treatment, and the whole thing works beautifully without being fully animated.

Below is a sampling of Miller's story sketches, they rank among the best ever done at the studio.

Everything comes together here, simple charm, irreverent humor, great staging and some exraordinary line work.

Go over to Michael Spoorn's blog, a while ago he posted an article on J.P.Miller, written by the one and only John Canemaker for ASIFA magazine. It's a must read, and shows some stunning artwork.

Here are the links for part one and two :

http://www.michaelspornanimation.com/splog/?p=2097

http://www.michaelspornanimation.com/splog/index.php?s=j.p.+miller+-+2&submit=Search

Shere Khan and Kaa

These are a few more examples that show the transition from story sketch to animation.

In other words, you can see how the animator got inspired by the story artist's work and then plussed the scene by improved staging and drawing.

I believe the story sketches are by Vance Gerry (Floyd Norman might be able to confirm that).

The animation of course is the work of Milt Kahl. I traced and combined all character levels on to one drawing. The whole sequence is almost like limited animation, often the body is on a held cel while only the head moves.

This high level of imagery, for the moment, is a thing of the past. It represents a blend of Character Animation and Fine Art, because the animator was deeply interested in both!

There is plenty of realism here, but a ton of abstractions as well. The designs are stylized, but remain very accessible at the same time. There is almost no way you could simplify the tiger's body any more. Everything is boiled down to an essence, every line has great meaning and communicates beautifully.

And the staging is as solid as a rock. Anatomy, caricature, weight, perspective and entertainment for sure.

The last image just kills me. How can you draw an extreme stretch like this one on the snake and still have it come off as plausible and believable? Yet one more inch and Kaa's head would pop off.

This set up also reminds me of a Henry Moore sculpture. Sophisticated but simple organic shapes and forms that work in three dimensions. (Milt had actually met Henry Moore).

A real high in Disney Animation.

Eduard Klablena

A few years ago I went to Vienna for vacation, I love that city.

To see originals works by Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele up close in local museums was worth the trip alone. But an unexpected discovery made my trip even more special.

While exploring narrow streets near the city's center I came across a gallery which showcased the most beautiful ceramic sculptures of animals. ( A few fantasy creatures as well ).

The artist was Eduard Klablena, someone I had never heard of. He lived from 1881 until 1933. Klablena worked in Germany but mostly in Austria, where he was a member of the prestigious Vienna Workshop (Wiener Werkstaette).  

The sculptures' poses are rich with animal character,  and the glaze finish on them is just incredible. Some of them remind me the old Disney maquettes that were produced in Joe Grant's model department. Full of charm and life.

You never know what you discover when roaming the streets of European cities.