Wart

Milt Kahl is showing off a pencil test on his moviola. (A moviola was a specifically designed contraption for the purpose of running pencil tests on a loop. You could also view a whole reel of film on it.)

If I am not mistaken, the other person in the photo is assistant Stan Green. Someone might correct me on this one. I only knew Stan in his later years, so I don't know what he looked like when he was younger.

I have been meaning to post some development art for the character of Wart from the film The Sword in the Stone. 

Bill Peet drew this great story sketch, which inspired Milt to restage it slightly as part of his final design research. So much personality in both drawings.

These drawings show a slightly different looking Wart. His nose in particular is more caricatured, which gives him a bit of a nerdy look, but it is still a very appealing design. (I actually prefer this version over the final one).

When I asked Milt way back, why these facial changes were made, he said that Walt Disney didn't think Wart looked attractive enough and made him alter the design.

Milt redrew many scenes in an effort to keep the look of the characters on model. The drawings below show Wart attending to the "Jousting Machine". Cliff Nordberg animated this scene based on live action, and Milt polished off the key drawings.

Not everybody enjoyed working on such a stylized looking character. I remember Eric Larson reminiscing about working on Sword in the Stone. "Boy, that kid was so skinny, tough to draw."

Ken Anderson's Doodles for The Rescuers

Ken Anderson did a ton of loose character design sketches and background studies for The Rescuers. He was not concerned with the final look of the film, instead he presented valuable ideas which layout and background artists as well as the animators could put to good use. There is always a good dose of charm and personality in his work.

These drawings show how Ken staged the mice with objects from the human world in order to make them look small. Fun stuff!

See Milt Kahl's version of the following sketch here:

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A couple of line ups showing the swamp folks.

Tinker Bell Gets her own Book

And what a treasure trove this book is. Mindy Johnson presents all aspects of Tinker Bell's career.

Tink started out as a flash of light in J. M. Barrie's 1904 play Peter Pan, she appeared in a silent film version of the play and then went on to become one of Disney's most iconic characters.

You might already know that actress Margaret Kerry was the live action model for the character, but a lady from the ink and paint department provided facial expressions to inspire Marc Davis and other animators. And did you know that Milt Kahl drew an early model sheet of Tinker Bell?

You will find plenty of visual development art from a variety of artists such as  David Hall, Mary Blair and Don DaGradi.  There are many Behind the Scenes photos, never published before.

The book also covers Tinker Bell on TV, in story books and merchandise. The last chapter is devoted to her CG film career.

Trust me, you will love this book. Mindy's thorough research provides fascinating insight into how and why Tinker Bell has become a phenomenon in modern popular culture.

Here is the link to Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Tinker-Bell-Evolution-Disney-Editions/dp/1423172019/ref=pd_ys_sf_s_283155_b2_45_p?ie=UTF8&refRID=1KCP6TGTY1J4NPA3DGRX

Johnny Appleseed

We are in Ollie Johnston's office, around 1947. He is working on the character of Johnny Appleseed, who was the original "man who planted trees".

This is a lovely short which was part of the feature length film Melody Time.

It tells the story of American folk hero John Chapman (1774-1845), who was on a mission to plant apple trees around the Ohio River region for many decades. 

Ollie animated the opening section of the film, where we first meet Johnny.

Milt Kahl is responsible for the song sequence, when Johnny's Angel demonstrates the many ways apples can be used in recipes. (One of my all time favorite animated songs.)

Eric Larson drew scenes with Johnny planting seeds and befriending wild animals in the forest.

Milt drew these rough model sheets to establish the look of the character. It turned out to be one of his least favorite assignments. He explained years later that to him Johnny was just a mild mannered guy without any strong emotions. Not much fun to animate.

A beautiful unfinished staging sketch by Milt. Old Johnny is following his Angel into a pink apple blossom sunset at the end of the film.

Vis Dev art by unknown artist and story sketches (by Joe Rinaldi).  What a beautiful inspiration for the animators to bring their characters to life.

Mickey, Donald and the Rest

There was a time, around the late 1930s to the early 1940s, when the Classic Disney characters peaked in terms of their design, animation and things like book illustrations.

They had reached a level of appeal that was very unique to that time.

The last short films in which Mickey was drawn with solid black eyes up to the first films that introduced him with pupils within an eye unit define that period.

During the decades that followed, these iconic movie personalities still performed and entertained, but that special touch faded somewhat with time. One of the reasons for this development was the studio's main focus on its animated features, another reason proved to be economical circumstances. Theaters slowly realized that they could sell a feature length movie just as well without the typical opening of an animated short. So Disney and other studios spent less money and attention on characters that had defined the medium of animation not so long ago.

But that Golden age of Disney short films had a huge impact on regular audiences as well as on a number of graphic artists. American childrens' book illustrator Maurice Sendak once mentioned that, as a kid, he was so mesmerized by the Mickey Mouse films he saw, he felt like taking a big bite out of the screen.

That pretty much sums it up.

Let's start with this stunning magazine illustration that helped announce Disney's move from Los Feliz to Burbank in 1940. Everything looks appealing, even Minnie's shoes.

Incredible Book illustrations that somehow capture the innocence and wonder of childhood.

The characters jump off the pages, they seem alive and real.