About five months ago a Lady from Russia (I believe) posted these photos. She had seen this design sketch of the three Witches for The Black Cauldron on this blog, and she used the image as a motif for embroidering a collar. This blows me away. I feel flattered and flabbergasted.
This scene appears after the opening credits for The Aristocats. The kitten Toulouse has climbed on to the butler's head and is playing with the hat's plume.
Milt Kahl shows his mastery for how hands articulate an action clearly and beautifully. The first drawing is held for a little while with an eye blink on top. I love how Edgar's right hand reaches for and grabs the kitten. After that the same hand straightens out the hat before moving down to grab the horse's reins. Impeccable staging here. Edgar's head stays in profile pretty much throughout the scene as not to attract attention away from the hand action. And that action is the main thing in this scene for the viewer to follow.
Any animator who knows the mechanics of hands and how to apply those within the acting will always be ahead of the game.
I didn't get around to drawing up a new holiday illustration, so instead here are a few doodles for a scene from Mushka that is set in the winter. Actually the film includes a few sequences in the snow, but this one will look different in terms of rendering and camera moves.
I hope all of you are having a nice holiday season.
At Disney during Walt's time, there were numerous projects in development over the years, but then cancelled for one reason or another. One of them is Reynard the Fox. Developed in the 1930s at the studio over a few years, it was eventually shelved one day. The main character was too much of a thug and a rebel. Qualities Disney did not want to see in a title character.
Many years later, after Walt's death, the studio decided to produce the tales of Robin Hood, but with animal characters. Robin was going to be a fox, so for internal research, the artists referred back to what had been drawn for Reynard the Fox.
Milt Kahl ended up animating Robin, and I know that he referenced this vintage story sketch for one of the character's opening scenes. This is no coincidence. Look at the two poses! The old inspires the new. Lightning is going to strike me, but I have to admit that I prefer the lively story sketch over Milt's version.
This sketch is currently offered by Heritage Auctions.
...Mowgli proclaims to Bagheera, who for the moment is fed up with the boy's reluctance to be taken back to the man village.
This is a very simple scene animated by Milt Kahl. There is subtle movement within one pose. The body attitude is defiance, Mowgli's clenched fists show his rebellious temper. What a shame that The Jungle Book film presentation on Disney + is a 16 x 9 format. It completely cuts off Mowgli's lower body. The movie's proper format is 4 x3.
These copies of Milt's rough animation drawings were given to me by Dave Michener, who did assistant work on the film.
If you are an animator looking for daily, visual inspiration, look no further than Thomas Ragon's daily Tweets. I like everything he posts ....
Illustrators from all over the world, most of them unbeknownst to me. Thomas gives you the name and life span of the artist, and then it is up to you to google these incredible artists. I have bought books on Ebay based on his postings.
Thomas Ragon, you are a treasure trove. THANK YOU!
Here are just a handful of images from his Twitter account.
Go there and be inspired: https://twitter.com/ThomasRagon?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Kaa is threatening Bagheera, who has just smacked the python against a tree branch. It was the panther's quick reaction that saved Mowgli's life. Just like the boy before, now Bagheera is being hypnotized.
I remember watching this scene in a movie theatre -ages ago- and the strange feeling I got from seeing Bagheera's eyes become as large as tennis balls. It is an exaggerated effect to show that he, too, can't avoid Kaa's hypnotic stare.
Bagheera is a relatively realistic character, with proper big cat anatomy and motion. So you don't expect such a cartoony expression at all. But it sure lets the viewer feel what the panther is going through in this situation. I love this scene, animated by Milt Kahl. These are copies of his rough animation drawings.
