Lilo & Scar

I posted a rough sketch of this composition before a few years ago. And I had almost forgotten that at one time I turned the image into a watercolor drawing. The black lines are thin Sharpie. There is something different about Scar's face. Any idea?

This was a donation to a charity auction. Wouldn't you know, it is now up on Ebay.

MUSHKA Sequence 14, Scenes 63 and 64

 

I loved animating these scenes. The tiger is being pushed from a cliff into a river. By Sarah and Alex. I won't give you the story context here, but this moment is part of the MUSHKA trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnTL5h3GC6g&t=4s

It is extremely comforting when you realize that you can animate such a scene without any reference. These are actually poses for the storyboard, but I also used them as a guide for the animation. After drawing tigers at the local zoo, studying footage of them frame by frame, you get to a point where you just wing it. Gut feeling, intuition. Of course Daniel Ernesto's beautiful water splash animation sure helped to make this a convincing scene. 

At Disney I hardly ever had the chance to do action scenes. I needed to focus on personality shots. But on MUSHKA I was able to do both, and I loved it. Figuring out the proper pacing for an action sequence was absolutely thrilling. You try to escalate the danger before things come to a halt. And then the resolve. 

Woolie Reitherman talked about this in several interviews. And I definitely kept that in mind.

Pinocchio Poolroom Sequence

One of the great sequences in Pinocchio. In the poolroom, just before the horrifying character transformations begin. I love these photostats that show the sequence in progress. Storyboard sketches mixed in with frames from the rough animation. Be sure to click twice on the image for large scale viewing.

Lampwick by Fred Moore, Pinocchio by Milt Kahl and Jiminy Cricket by Ward Kimball.

Sir Ector Color Model Cel

 

A beautiful color model cel currently being offered by Heritage Auctions. Milt Kahl drew this pose of Sir Ector from the 1963 film The Sword in the Stone. What a beautiful spontaneous  sketch. 

In the film Richard Reitherman provided the voice of Wart, England's future king. His father Woolie Reitherman of course directed the movie. Richard stopped by my house last Sunday with one of his daughters Daniella. We watched the Woolie episode from The Disney Family Album series. Followed by a screening of MUSHKA. 

I am happy to say that both of them got teary eyed at the film's ending. Because that's the ultimate reaction to MUSHKA. 

MUSHKA at the Laemmle

Thursday, Aug. 24 will be your last chance to see the film at the Laemmle Royal theatre. 

Sound and picture are terrific at this location. Showtime is 3:15 pm. Allow a little extra time for parking.

I will be there tomorrow. I hope you can make it.

https://www.laemmle.com/film/mushka

 

Film Composer John Powell

 

Here is the link to book your tickets:

https://www.laemmle.com/film/mushka

MUSHKA on the Big Screen

 

If you are in the LA area, you are now able to see MUSHKA on the big Screen, starting this Friday, August 18. I hope you can make it!

Here is the link to book your tickets:

https://www.laemmle.com/film/mushka

Here again the link to the film's trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnTL5h3GC6g&t=1s

MUSHKA at HollyShorts

 

 

Sorry for the late notice. For those who live in Los Angeles, MUSHKA will screen tomorrow, Monday as part of the HollyShorts Film Festival. At noon. Click here for tickets:

https://hollyshorts2023.eventive.org/schedule/64adede12bd7ad00402fd24c

 

Josef Pallenberg

Josef Pallenberg was a German animal sculptor. I only discovered his beautiful work recently while browsing the internet. Great poses, strong knowledge of anatomy as well as motion. 

Pallenberg kept a "tame" lioness and a wolf at his home. He enjoyed taking them on a walk occasionally as he watched people freaking out.

I tried to get this book, pictured above, but it is out of print. Hopefully it will pop up on Ebay one of these days.

Here is the link to his Wikipedia page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Pallenberg

More of Garbutt's Amazing Sketches

Bernard Garbutt was a master when it comes to quick sketch life drawings. There is so much life in each sketchbook page. Top notch observation. Disney was lucky to have him teach animal drawing at the studio during the Golden Age of Animation.

MUSHKA at San Diego Comic-Con

 

We look forward to presenting MUSHKA this Saturday at the San Diego Comic-Con. After the screening there will be a panel discussion. 

To me this is a big honor, because of my own history with the Con. I started visiting in the early 1980s. It was always fun to meet comic strip artists, run into animation peers and occasionally purchase original artwork. (Those beautiful Milt Kahl wolves designs for The Jungle Book...San Diego Comic-Con, https://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2012/08/jungle-wolves.html).

I hope to see you on Saturday!

 

MUSHKA Industry Screening

 

Last Tuesday we invited the animation industry to attend a special screening of MUSHKA. 

The old Fine Arts Theatre on Wilshire Boulevard turned out to be the perfect venue because of its superior sound and picture quality. 

We showed the film in 4K with full blown surround sound. 

With Dave Bossert, my friend and colleague. We both started at Disney on the Black Cauldron.

Checking sound and picture quality just before the actual screening.

We had a full house, about 400 people. What an amazing feeling to share the film with industry colleagues.

Two standing ovations...I was literally flabbergasted. What a lovely reaction.

The guest of honor was of course Richard Sherman who loved connecting with old friends that night.

The musical dream team behind Mushka..Richard with composer Fabrizio Mancinelli.

Richard and Bruce Reitherman. These two go back to the original Jungle Book!

Richard with two amazing friends of mine: Leslie and Mike Iwerks.

The lovely and super talented Holly Sedillos, who sang Mushka's lullaby for the film. The song was written by Richard.

Two old friends who both worked on the Jungle Book. That's story man Floyd Norman.

One of the best nights of my life.