The concept Ollie Johnston (1912-2008) had for Pinocchio's personality was that of a well-meaning, naive little boy:
"All he wanted to do is please his father Geppetto, but his lack of life experiences got him into trouble. After all, he had just been born." The sequence in the film when Pinocchio comes to life was animated by Ollie, but Fred Moore still lent a hand when appeal and drawing needed to be strengthened.
A young Ollie animated this scene of Brer Rabbit from Song of the South. Brer Bear shakes the rabbit's hand forcefully thinking they have come to a working agreement. Suddenly Brer Rabbit realizes that Brer Fox is approaching fast, and he knows he needs to get out of here.
Two seconds of animated gold! This scene hasn't been pencil-tested since the movie's production. Just imagine being Walt Disney, watching the rough animation and giving comments.
I just love Ollie's work, it's so intuitive and natural. He rocks my world.
Ollie got the chance to show his talent for comedic timing in the Sleepy Hollow section of The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. Here are two animation roughs of Ichabod.
Layout and compositional study by Ollie.
Working on the title character of the film Alice in Wonderland meant a shift for Ollie Johnston from broad animated types like Susie the Little Blue Coupe to a more finessed and realistic style of animation. Live-action reference was filmed to provide a basis for the animators' work. Ollie found this method somewhat restrictive because the main acting choices were made by actress Kathryn Beaumont. But there were scenes that did call for the animator's imagination.
The dog characters in Lady and the Tramp required the kind of realistic approach in terms of their movements not seen since Bambi. These canines needed to walk and run with real weight. Lady and the Tramp is a sincere love story, making simple cartoony designs out of place.
Ollie did scenes with mostly Trusty, the old bloodhound. Ollie sympathized with this warm, grandfatherly type, who had lost his sense of smell. Trusty's very loose skin gave the animators the opportunity to show these folds in overlapping actions, particularly in dialogue scenes. Ollie applied strong squash and stretch to Trusty's face which not only adds age, but it is simply fun to watch.
In "Sleeping Beauty" when it came time to create a wedding dress for Aurora, it was Flora who insisted on taking on this challenge. She only needed Merryweather as a model.
We all know how well that turned out. I love the dialogue between the two.
Merryweather: "It looks awful!" Flora: "That's because it's on you, dear."
The pencil test shows two scenes from "Sleeping Beauty" in continuity.
The first scene was animated by Ollie, the second by Frank.
Acting and drawing are so utterly convincing, completely alive!
Ollie stages his scene very clearly, three characters interacting, but the focus is on Flora's finger. And Frank's close up of Merryweather shows a mood change with stunning subtleties.
The way her head anticipates ever so slightly the word "frost".
This is the kind of stuff that still brings me to my knees....
By the time he gets into animation for the movie The Aristocats, his drawings of the geese Amelia and Abigail Gabble become more solid, and the acting is terrific.
This lovely sketch by Ollie Johnston shows scene continuity and staging for the introduction of Prince John and Sir Hiss in the film "Robin Hood". It is based on original storyboards, which were done by artists like Ken Anderson, Vance Gerry and Dave Michener among others.
But before Don Griffith and his layout team would start working on the the background scenery, Ollie took a last look at the story sketches, intending to improve and refine the continuity and bring out the characters' personality. He would always use his pencil very lightly, but draw fast.
Disney's next generation of animators got involved in this stage of production as a group.
They had long meetings in which storyboards were scrutinized. Present were the directors, key layout and story people and the supervising animators. Everybody was encouraged to come up with ideas that would plus what we saw in the storyboards. After all changes and improvements were made, so called "Work Books" were printed out as a final guide to the animators, layout and background artists.
If you compare Ollie's sketch to the final film, you'll find out that he pretty much stuck with what he had planned out in his "Work Book" pages.
Most of the personality scenes with the albatross Orville from the film The Rescuers were animated by Ollie Johnston. This is an interesting character, he is pilot and airplane all in one. Jim Jordan’s voice brought a confidence to the character despite his questionable flying maneuvers.
For Orville’s take offs and landings Ollie used some live action footage as reference for his animation.
The Disney 1952 documentary Water Birds included scenes of an albatross’s awkward attempts to get airborne as well as his crash landings.
Ollie Johnston animated this scene with Penny and Rufus, the old cat.
Penny is staged back view, and we don't see her face, but her body language signals resigned sadness very clearly. Rufus approaches her from screen right and tries to offer some comfort.
One character in need of affection, the other one intending to help emotionally.
In this clip of Disney Family Albums, Ollie Johnston talks about Walt Disney and The Jungle Book.
I love the staging in these roughs of Willie the Giant.
He looks scary and funny at the same time.
More of John Lounsbery (1911-1976), this work is undisputedly brilliant.
The crocodile in Peter Pan is for the most part a comedic villain, even it he ate one of Captain Hook's hands. Lounsbery animated the introductory scenes, as the croc approaches the ship in hopes to get the rest of Hook.
Here is the tied down pencil test of the Mr Darling scene.
Tony is anticipating a big gesture by raising his head and his arms. Upshots like this one are tricky. Is the nose tilted up enough to show nostrils? Or are you going to cheat a little and stay with just the shape of the nose?
Everything looks pretty broad here, but Lounsbery didn't forget subtleties.
I like the definition of the "U" mouth, the lower lip is partly covering the open mouth, which adds dimension.
Most of you are familiar with the Genie from the movie Aladdin, superbly animated by Eric Goldberg.
You might not know that there is another Genie, who came before, also superbly animated, this time by John Lounsbery. In 1957 Walt Disney introduced an educational TV show called "Our Friend The Atom", which described the benefits of nuclear power - with a cautious but optimistic look toward the future.
Below is a key drawing (clean up over the rough) from a scene where the Genie threatens the fisherman.
John Lounsbery animated most of the important scenes involving the Goons, including their pig like leader.
John Lounsbery animated the "Friday Mickey segments" for The Mickey Mouse Club. He has a terrific handle on the character, who wears a very involved Cowboy outfit with lots of detail.
You can tell that Lounsbery enjoyed animating Mickey, every drawing is loaded with charm. He took the classic Fred Moore model and made it his own, a Mickey for the 1950s.
The drawing in which Mickey pulls his hat down is one of the most appealing Disney drawings I have ever seen!
The wolf in "Sword in the Stone" was designed by Milt Kahl, but beautifully animated by Louns.
Jasper from 101 Dalmatians threatens to kill the puppies. Beautiful definition of fabric in his jacket, and great feeling of stretched skin on his face.
Following The Sword in the Stone was The Jungle Book, which turned out to be the last animated film Walt Disney supervised. By that time the group of directing animators had shrunk to only four: Milt Kahl, Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas, and John Lounsbery. Other animators had either left the studio or they functioned in non-supervisory roles. Nevertheless the movie became one of the studio's major hits, particularly in Europe. John got the assignment of animating Colonel Hathi and his herd of elephants. Every character in this film is beautifully developed as a character, and Hathi is no exception. He is a member of Her Majesty's Fifth Pachyderm Brigade, and therefore demands respect and military readiness. Lounsbery was in his element bringing this oversized personality to life. Just the way he walks during the march as well as during inspection has so much character. He is an old-school military type, and even though he is past his prime, military drill still runs through his veins. John made great use of his loose skin around his neck during dialogue scenes. Even his tusks are involved when he talks, and are part of the overall facial squash and stretch. (In theory this goes against rules of anatomy, since an elephant's tusks are locked and connected firmly to his skull, not his flexible jaw. John threw away the rule and we still believe they're elephants.)
Marc Davis (1913-2000) was hired by Disney studios in 1935, and his application portfolio showed already that he was an expert at drawing animals.
As an art student Marc would visit the local zoos early in the morning before opening time. He had made a deal with zoo management, in return for this special treatment Marc would leave an occasional sketch for the animal keepers.
He told:" It is during the early morning hours when the animals are most active. They are being fed and move around, and this makes for interesting study of motion and behavior."
In the afternoons Marc went to libraries and studied animal anatomy from books.
You can see clearly how the bodies are functioning mechanically, and of course there is also a feeling for the essence of the animal.
It is ironic that Marc didn't get to animate many animals during his career, but that's because he had a terrific knack for drawing humans as well.
Below are scans of a few of Marc's animal drawings and model sheets.
Most of you know about Marc's enormous contributions to the art of character animation.
Early on when Walt Disney saw his design work for Bambi, he asked Milt Kahl and Frank Thomas to make an animator out of Marc, because he wanted to see his drawings on the screen.
Marc Davis studied graceful realistic movement, before adding human expressions while storyboarding particular sequences for the film.
A "doodle sheet" that shows Marc exploring Cinderella's face as a sculpture in three dimensions.
Marc Davis served as an animator for Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom, which won the Academy Award. Looking at this 1953 Disney short reminds us just how great the need had become for graphic change at the studio.
Here is a rough Tinker Bell doodle sheet by Marc Davis.
To me Tinker Bell is perfection. Her character arc in the story is very strong. Because of her affection for Peter Pan she is jealous of Wendy, which gets her into trouble. But toward the end of the film she saves Peter's life as well as the other kids.
Her animation throughout is flawless. Occasionally based on live action reference, Marc animated her beautifully. She always feels like a small figure, but the acting has great range and subtlety.
Marc said he really enjoyed the challenge of a mute character, where pantomime is the name of the game.
Below is a scan of an animation key. Maleficent is about to leave the prince alone in the dungeon. The raven became a nice "prop" and gave her large hands something to do with.
The rough animation drawing by Marc portrays Aurora being distraught after being told by the Three Fairies that she has royal duties as a princess. She would never see "that young man" again whom she had met in the forest. Loosely based on live action reference there is great clarity in the staging of this scene. The character styling of this film pronounces vertical and horizontal lines. I think Marc worked on designing some of the film's background characters as well.
This early drawing still shows an influence by the "101 Dalmatians" book illustrations. This was done by Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone.
Character actress Mary Wickes provided live action reference for Cruella.
Cruella is facing off with Nanny, who is holding her own in this confrontation. An incredible composition for these two characters, full of personality in this one frame alone.
This is a key drawing from a production scene, where Cruella throws a bottle with booze into a fireplace in an effort to scare Jasper and Horace. As it turns out she scares herself quite a bit, too. Look at how graphic and gutsy Marc draws her in this scene.
After the completion of Disney's "101 Dalmatians" there were two different projects in pre-production as possible follow ups.
One was titled "The Sword in the Stone" which was developed by Bill Peet, the other one was "Chanticleer".
Walt picked "The Sword in the Stone" to move forward.
Marc added: "I think that I did some of my best drawings at the studio for Chanticleer".
A selection of Marc Davis' incredible work for the project, ranging from color images to rough character studies.
After "101 Dalmatians," he later transferred to Walt Disney's Imagineering, designing character concept art for Disneyland attractions. Marc Davis was a man of many artistic talents who continued to experiment throughout his life as a fine artist as well as an animator.
Here is a clip from an early 80ies UK TV show.
Marc is in his home studio, where he explains how he achieved human child facial expressions on a realistic fawn.
Frank Thomas told once that the animators couldn't have come up with the same results if it wasn't for Marc's thorough and extremely useful research.
Characters like the ones in Bambi could easily look overly sweet and kitschy, but when you have artists involved with Marc's caliber, that's not going to happen. Instead the film's cast is portrayed with unparalleled elegance and beauty.
Of all of my visits to the Disney Family Museum, this one is probably my favorite. I was walking into the auditorium, already excited that I'm getting to meet Andreas Deja. As I sat in my seat, a row behind me on my left, I saw Pete Docter, director of Up and Inside Out. I was even more ecstatic that I couldn't help looking at both him and Andreas Deja. I occasionally turned my head to see what was Pete doing and thinking and then go back to Andreas Deja. The whole time I was jotting notes and wondering what was Pete writing on his notepad. After the end of the lecture, I gathered up the courage to talk to him. I told Pete how much I loved his films (I cried watching them) and can't wait to see The Good Dinosaur. He signed my sketchbook and took pictures with me. Before the curator calls down each row to get in line to meet the guest speaker, it's amazing to converse with the people who attended. You never know who you're going to meet.
Andreas Deja, supervising animator on The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Hercules, Lilo and Stitch, The Princess and the Frog and Winnie the Pooh, was grateful to answer a lot of my questions and sign my book. I told him there was never a character he drew that I didn't like. He talked about how grateful he has been getting to work with such talented artists in the business such as Mark Henn, Glen Keane and Dick Williams. He hopes to screen his upcoming short film Mushka in San Francisco. The one piece of advice he would give to aspiring animators is to keep practicing your artwork everyday. I assured him that his book would be great and told him how much he inspired me. What really made my day was when he said, "I noticed you were laughing a lot. I like you. You're my kind of audience." I smiled so big.
I also ran into renowned animation historian and author Charles Solomon who wrote many books, critiqued films, contributed to several articles and publications, and lectured at numerous universities. I teaches a UCLA course Disney: Then and Now, which I took last year during the summer. I ended my visit with a BBQ pork sandwich from the museum cafe. I love the Disney Family Museum, the place where you can love animation and don't feel like a freak. Where Disney nerds congregate.
Andreas Deja told a funny story he remembered with Ward Kimball (1914-2002).
For the opening showcase of a Disney TV show in the mid nineties of classic Disney drawing panels the remaining Nine Old Men were invited. Frank and Ollie weren't able to make it, but Marc Davis and Ward came by.
At the end of the wine & cheese reception Deja's animator friend Doug Frankel, who is a huge Kimball fan, had the courage to walk up to Ward and to introduce himself. Ward sat on a chair, facing one of these panels, stonefaced!
So Doug said excitedly: "Listen to this, Ward, I've heard this great joke!"
And he proceeded telling it.
The punchline came, the joke was told....Kimball still stonefaced looking at the panel. He then slowly turned his head to face Doug and went sarcastically:
"HAAAAR, haaar, haaar!!"
Ward's face then turned back to the panel.
Deja still remembers poor Doug's awkward smile as he walked away to grab a beer.
Lesson #1: You don't tell Ward Kimball a joke, you let him tell you one! He likes to be the center of attention!
These are two absolutely fantastic key positions from Ferdinand the Bull. How much bolder can you get?! The matador had just exposed his chest in a last effort to challenge Ferdinand to a fight. But the bull only notices the tattoo of a flower which he starts licking affectionately.
The staging of the lick in the first drawing is already crazy, but it goes on from there. The tongue moves from the chest on all the way up to the jaw in one gigantic stretch.
Here's the funny thing: By the time the lick is in it's extreme position and the matador's body is fully stretched, his jacket fits tight on him now with the tie in place.
Logically this makes no sense. I assume that Ward Kimball, who animated the matador, didn't want to go through the business of having him put on his jacket afterwards.
The "morphing" of the jacket is a clever cheat, but you don't notice it unless you look for it; you just follow the main extreme action.
Ferdinand was animated by Milt Kahl.
These guys, even at a young age, sure had fun, and they knew what they were doing.
Early in 1937, Ward Kimball was not happy about working for Walt Disney. As a matter of fact he was seriously thinking about quitting the studio. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was in the final phase of production, and every artist involved with the film was working enthusiastically and long hours to meet deadlines. Yet Kimball could not share the crew's sentiment, he was brooding. Practically all of his animation had just been cut out of the movie.
He was told that his sequence involving the seven dwarfs eating soup proved irrelevant to the film's plot line. Another animated section that showed the dwarfs building a bed for Snow White had been eliminated as well for the same reason. Ward had contributed scenes for this piece as well. What remained of his work were a few shots with the vultures, as they fly above the Witch, who is making her way into the forest toward the dwarfs' cottage. A meeting with Ward and Disney was scheduled, and its outcome could have been the end of Kimball's career at the studio.
What happened instead proved that Walt Disney was a master when it came to dealing with any of his artists' problems. Ward left that meeting anxious to get back to his drawing board. Walt had just given him a brand new assignment, a character who would play an important role in the studio's next animated feature Pinocchio. Kimball was going to develop and animate Jiminy Cricket, and he was promoted to supervising animator. Disney's passion as well as his powers of persuasion had just helped him to avoid losing one of his most important artists. Kimball's subsequent career at the studio was long and fruitful, but not without the occasional bump in the road.
The looseness showcased in Kimball's early animation was much more suitable to cartoony characters than realistic ones. When the studio began work on Snow White, it was no surprise that Ward ended up in the dwarfs unit.
In the rough key Happy takes a sip of soup and then reacts rather strongly.
This is ONE beautiful scene, done by a very young animator.
When these scenes were deleted from Snow White, Ward very nearly quit working for Walt Disney.
Ward Kimball surely was looking forward to animating Jiminy Cricket, after the bad experience he just had on Snow White. His brilliantly animated "Soup Eating Sequence" had been cut from the film, and now it was time for a fresh start on Pinocchio. Even though Walt Disney personally assigned the Cricket to Kimball, the animator didn't seem to be able to please the boss with his initial designs. Not appealing, too grotesque and insect like! After many revised versions in which Ward cutesified and de-insectified the design, Walt finally approved a design that though very appealing had very little to do with the anatomy of a real cricket.
Charm was a quality Ward had a very hard time getting into this assignment. "A cricket looks like a cross between a cockroach and a grasshoper," he stated in a later interview. Naturally, as a Disney artist, it is obvious to start researching the characteristics of the real insect. But each time Ward would show Walt Disney an updated design of Jiminy for approval, the boss' response was always the same: too ugly, lacks appeal. After more frustrating attempts and virtually eliminating any resemblance to a real cricket he finally succeeded in getting Walt's OK. By this time Jiminy looked appealing, but not much like an insect at all. Instead his proportions were similar to Mickey Mouse's.
Ward might not have been entirely happy with Jiminy Cricket's appearance, but he most certainly succeeded in developing his personality as a caring and likable mentor to Pinocchio. He might look like a little man without ears, but he jumps high like a real cricket. The timing in his acting is quick and contrasting, but the overall performance is always sincere and believable. The audience likes Jiminy instantly, because he cares so much about Pinocchio. Just like Mickey Mouse, his poses are strong and easy to read. This beautiful animation drawing by Ward shows that he came to terms with Walt's vision for the character. Frank and Ollie thought that his animation of Jiminy Cricket was the most sincere he ever did.
Kimball's next animated character required again careful synchronization between movement and music. Ward Kimball didn't really enjoy the assignment of animating the character of Bacchus for the Pastoral sequence in Fantasia. I do know that he had his eyes set on the hilarious parody of the ballet Dance of the Hours, featuring dancing hippos and alligators, but he didn't end up being cast on that part of the film. He enviously watched his colleagues who pulled out all the stops when animating the segment. "Once in a while something perfect comes along," Ward stated years later. "The 'Dance of the Hours' turned out as perfect as it gets."
Following are animation drawings of Panchito (Strong poses and tons of appeal), The Reluctant Dragon (hysterical animation), the Mice, Tweedledee & Dum (who move as if their bodies were water balloons), and a cel from "Mars and Beyond" (He switched to directing TV shows with limited animation style). For The Reluctant Dragon, Woolie animated the introduction scenes and Ward did the later scenes, particularly the upside down cake poem. Ward drew Jaq and the mice from Cinderella; he could do characters like Alice or Wendy, but he didn't want to.
The model sheet of M. C. Bird from the 1969 Academy Award winning short film It's Tough to be a Bird. These are Ward's drawings, and I think they are fantastic, loose and formula free.
He collected model trains and restored real vintage trains. Like Walt Disney, he was a train enthusiast. In this clip of Disney Family Album, Ward Kimball shows his museum-like house, which included a huge antique mechanical toy collection and stacks of gag drawings. His backyard railroad Grizzly Flats included a full-sized beautifully restored steam locomotive that his family and friends would ride.
Ward Kimball was known for his wild and wacky characters, but his personal life was as crazy as his animation. Aside from his many hobbies, a small plane crashed into his front yard in 1988. Luckily, he and his family weren't hurt.
Let's start off Milt Kahl (1909-1987) with a drawing from one of the first scenes he ever animated for the short "Mickey's Circus" from 1936. Mickey moves with gusto.
Animator Milt Kahl wasn't happy with the way the character of Pinocchio was coming along in late 1937. During a meeting he voiced his disapproval; the design just did not look appealing to him.
He received a certain look from other artists in the room, then one of the directors, feeling somewhat annoyed, asked Milt to put his pencil where his mouth was.
So the 28-year-old animator went to work, trying to prove that he was perfectly able to improve on the existing design of Pinocchio. Milt's approach went in a new direction, his drawings showed the character as a charming little boy, who just happened to have joints like a marionette. The fact that he was made out of wood was of secondary importance.
It turned out that Walt Disney just loved Milt's new designs, and subsequently promoted him to supervising animator for Pinocchio. Eventually Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas joined the unit that would be responsible for animating important personality sequences with the title character.
Starting with Pinocchio, Walt relied more and more on Milt Kahl's extraordinary draftsmanship and his sense for designing characters.
Milt Kahl then became the drawing police, finalizing all character designs, and was responsible for 85 to 90 percent of the Disney look.
Following Pinocchio it was the film Bambi that offered new challenges for supervising animators Frank Thomas, Eric Larson, Ollie Johnston, and Milt Kahl. Walt Disney asked for believable animal characters whose anatomy needed to be based on real deer, rabbits, and birds.
This is a scene by Milt Kahl which doesn't appear in the final movie "Bambi".
It looks to me like the scene was either cut from the film, or it was just a piece of test animation, done before actual production began.
In this rough animation drawing of Thumper, this is a classic scene. Thumper has just been asked by his mother:"What did your father tell you this morning?" He replies:" If you can't say something nice...don't say nothing at all."
He enjoyed developing characters, animating "Song of the South" turned out to be one of his favorite assignments. Song of the South was released in 1946, and Milt Kahl turned to story-man Bill Peet's drawings as inspiration for the final designs of the fox, the bear, and the rabbit. The personalities were clearly defined and Peet's story work provided the animators with outrageous situations.
These anthropomorphic animals gave Milt a chance to be much broader with his animation, something he cherished. The character's voices provided a springboard for razor-sharp timing, yet nothing looks over-animated. Key poses are held long enough to read clearly; it is the transitions to another pose that happen very fast.
This Kahl sketch shows a perfect and appealing mix of human and animal traits. This rough drawing shows there's a lot going on in this composition but their personalities are very contrasting and it's interesting to see them play off each other.
For a brief moment Brom Bones gets to dance with Katrina in this Kahl sketch. Milt Kahl often helped animators with drawing problems.
Another character he developed was the warm and sympathetic Fairy Godmother in "Cinderella."
Milt proved that he was perfectly capable of bringing a character to life whose acting required subtleties and qualities such as compassion and tenderness. The acting is restrained until she begins to use her magic. Then the gestures become broader, and she puts real effort into creating pixie dust with her wand. "Never underestimate the benefit of props," Milt said, and he used the magic wand to enhance the Fairy Godmother's acting. In one scene, while in deep thought, she rests the wind's tip on her cheek. It is a casual gesture that a grandmother might do with her knitting needle.
For Alice in Wonderland (1951) Milt designed and animated the title character along with Marc Davis. Carefully based on live-action reference Milt's animation has a simple elegance. "I don't approve of using live action," he stated once, "but if you deal with human characters, it is necessary." He added that if everybody on the movie was a Milt Kahl, it wouldn't be necessary. "But unfortunately they aren't, so it is necessary." This Alice drawing is from one of Milt's first scenes he did for the film, when Alice meets the Caterpillar.
The drawings on that sheet are by fellow animator Milt Kahl, who had lobbied hard for the assignment to animate Hook. But Walt Disney had other plans and wanted Milt to supervise the title character Peter Pan as well as Wendy, and it was Frank who ended up with the villain.
Another realistic assignment was in store for Milt when Walt Disney asked him to supervise Prince Phillip in Sleeping Beauty (1959). Milt Kahl pretty much hated the assignment of animating him. The prince's role in the film didn't call for any interesting emotional changes in his acting. He was just a nice guy who falls in love with the princess; all Milt could do was to draw him in an attractive way and animate him realistically. "Not the type of animation you can get your teeth into," he stated. Being the professional Milt was, he did his best to bring this character to life with the story material given to him. "You gotta do your best."
At least he had the opportunity to also animate scenes with King Stefan and King Hubert, who required a broader style of animation. The degree of caricature of these two monarchs is much greater, which allowed for broader acting and more expressive animation.
Heavyset King Hubert usually anticipates any big moves he makes, before his body mass is set in motion. Without this he would float across the screen. Skinny King Stefan is more elegant in his animation; any hand gesture is emphasized by the overlapping action of his large sleeves.
This new stylized drawing style was right up his alley, even if it presented challenges. But there was nobody at Disney who enjoyed solving drawing problems more than Milt Kahl (even though he stated that this was always hard work for him.) He reveled in the fact that he was able to give new Disney characters the “That’s it!” look. Perfection that can not be improved.
The Kings are configured of solid round and square shapes, their lines are either straight or curved. There is an architecture to this type of drawing. It’s one thing to come up with good looking designs like these, but then to be able to turn and move them around in space is astonishing.
One of my favorite scenes with Pongo shows the final design, based on Picasso.
From the second half of his career, this visual sketch of Wart pulling the sword from The Sword in the Stone reminds me on his extraordinary talent.
The image below is one of my favorite Kahl drawings. You see Bill Peet's influence in the staging, but Picasso is sneaking in, too. Look at the croc's hands, fantastic!
For The Jungle Book, Milt Kahl's key drawing of the Little Girl is more nuanced compared to the sketches by Ken Anderson. I am completely in awe, there is an absolute beauty and charm to the drawing. Milt just had a way of creating the ultimate appeal for Disney characters. Disney's Michelangelo? You bet!
I have always loved this introduction to Shere Khan. His controlled, withheld power and strength are breathtaking. And the draftsmanship is -as usual- awe inspiring as well as intimidating.
The movement of the tiger's shoulders in the second scene is sort of a cycle. Milt animated that move once, then timed it a couple of different ways, slow and a bit faster. That's the only time I have seen him do this. Careful trace backs of the parts of the body that don't move give the scene so much life. If you'd use a partial hold for that, it wouldn't look this great.
This is some of the most amazing animation ever drawn!
I was laughing when I saw Andreas Deja's face when he pretended putting a knife in his chest. I'm sure Shere Khan would've wanted to do the same.
This image of Shere Khan and Kaa 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.
A fantastic example of outstanding draftsmanship with focused arrangements of shapes and lines. Milt drew this image from The Aristocats, perfect for studying staging. Madame Bonfamille is offering Frou Frou a sugar cube.
There are plenty of lines which connect the two characters visually. Madame's reach is supported by the coat folds in her upper arm. And what beautiful hands, the open one, but also the one holding the package. Those bars from the coach ending at the horse's neck and the reigns guide you toward Frou Frou's head, which is tilted downward toward the hand.
A graphic masterpiece.
Milt Kahl set Duchess' basic design based on Ken Anderson's drawings. Below is a beautiful exploratory sheet by Milt. As always it's great to see his mind at work in this drawing, he is trying hard to avoid formulas and to find unique arrangements of shapes that bring out her personality.
There is so much knowledge of feline anatomy here, after all, Milt had just finished animation on Shere Khan.
Tigger first showed up in the 1968 featurette Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day. He represents a mixture of real tiger, stuffed toy and a Picasso-esque drawing style. His high energy contrasts the other low key personalities beautifully. When I look at these drawings I realize that Tigger was created to entertain kids, but at the same time his design and motion reach the animation stratosphere.
Most of you know that Milt and many other Disney animators produced a number of thumbnail sketches in preparation for the actual animation. This research can center around finding certain expressions, an acting pattern or -like in this case- a simple pose.
Robin is stirring the soup while daydreaming about Maid Marian.
Check out how much work Milt put into finding this one pose. He came up with a ton of variations, until he sold himself on one position that looked natural to him.
I think that Milt actually struggled a little to get to a satisfying result. But remember what he said one time: “I actually don’t draw that well, I have to work like hell to make a drawing look good!” (At the same time he thought that he drew better than anybody else at the studio.)
It’s fascinating to see his mind in action, 'exploring the possibilities.' Milt Kahl used those words when he tried to explain his process for starting a new scene.
Milt Kahl's work method always included precise planning. Before animating, Milt spent a lot of time exploring all possibilities for a scene. He often would stare at a blank sheet of paper for a long time before coming up with small pen or pencil sketches that helped him analyze various ideas. Milt insisted that you need to think about where you are going with the scene before animation begins. These thumbnail sketches show Milt's brain at work, trying to figure out the best way for Medusa to put on her coat. Wonderful stuff!
This is the wedding scene with Robin Hood and Maid Marian. It was difficult to make these foxes humanized and fall in love in a believable way.
"Madame Medusa's Pawn Shop Boutique!" Milt Kahl animated this line of dialogue, as Medusa is sitting down on her desk while she answers the phone. Initially upset at this late phone call, she then fakes a friendly attitude toward the caller.
The rough drawing below is unfinished and was retrieved from Milt's trash bin (Crazy...I know).
I LOVE the composition of this this pose! Just-look-at-this-drawing!
It is a graphic masterpiece, full of personality. Her right hand is still leaning on the chair's back, before settling on her hip. Medusa's body type is utterly unconventional in Disney Animation and it shows how Milt Kahl constantly challenged himself by inventing new, sophisticated designs.
By many moviegoers and critics Disney Animation during the 1970s wasn’t hailed as the pioneering medium it once was. But there were still groundbreaking achievements in character animation being made, and this sequence is on one of them.
Medusa is pulling off her fake eyelashes and she looks gross while doing it yet drawn so beautifully.
How on earth would you as an animator even dare to draw scenes in which a villainess takes off her make up during a conversation with a little girl?! This kind of business would seem too subtle for animation, and much more suitable for live action.
But if you are Milt Kahl, you live for challenges like this. He said he got a kick out of working out these scenes, partly because he had never seen anything like this done in animation before.
“I wanted to push the contrast between her eyes with the false eyelashes, and then without them. When she removes an eyelash there isn’t any hair left at all. On the cels they had the inkers use a skin-tone outline (instead of black) around the eye, which gave a certain pale, vacant look.”
I consider Medusa's pivotal sequence as amazing and inventive as anything that was done during Disney’s Golden Age. What a statement in character acting!!
He also animated background characters in a sequence from "Rescuers", it was the section where Bernard and Bianca are at the airport on their way to find Orville.
The human crowd scenes are not particularly well drawn or animated here, but all of a sudden a young couple moving up the escalator. It was just one held drawing, yet those two were drawn exceptionally well.
I knew this was a Milt Kahl drawing, but what was it doing here amongst all the other human characters, who were handled by a lesser animator?
This is what probably happened:
Milt saw the scene in a sweatbox screening and "objected" to the original drawing of the couple. So he re drew them....beautifully!
It is a solid illustration, done with a lot of care. Both seem lost in their own thoughts, probably thinking about the flight ahead. I just love the way her right hand holds on to his arm, it's sooo nicely staged. Her whole figure looks simple and elegant, with the weight on her right leg. And look at how heavy her hand bag feels. His pose is equally balanced, the body weight is on his left leg. There is a nice feeling of thick fabric for his jacket and thin fabric for his pants. I could go on....
Yep, I do love Milt Kahl drawings, and I know you do, too.
This is one of the last design drawings Milt Kahl ever did for Disney.
He had already left the studio and moved to Marin County in Northern California.
The film The Fox and the Hound was being produced without any input from Kahl, but the management team that would head up the next animated project The Black Cauldron felt, it couldn't hurt to ask the old virtuoso to help out with a few character designs.
So they sent him the Lloyd Alexander books and told him that the movie would be based on story elements from these fantasy novels. Milt liked the material and went to work.
There is one problem with this scenario:
The studio neglected to also send along any rough design sketches that would stimulate Milt's imagination. When designing characters Milt had always relied on Vis Dev sketches from artists like Bill Peet, Ken Anderson, Tom Oreb and others.
Milt himself admitted that he sees himself more of a polisher and refiner when it comes to setting the look of Disney characters for a new film.
So by not having any fresh visual material in front of him, they didn't challenge him and Milt couldn't help but recycle some of his own design elements from earlier movies.
This is a BEAUTIFUL drawing, but ...Taran looks like a mix of Peter Pan and Mowgli and Princess Eilonwy resembles Alice and Tigerlilly.
The costume designs lack spark as well. All of this would look so much more inspired, had the studio supplied Milt with inspirational sketches from Disney artists like Mel Shaw, Vance Gerry or Pete Young, who all worked on Cauldron.
In the end the animation team did change some of these character concepts, except for Taran and Eilonwy. They were asked to basically use Milt's models, but they sure weren't ready to take on that kind of realism.
On Disney Family Albums, he talks about how Walt Disney was a great storyteller and Milt himself was the voice of Ferdinand the bull, yet he only had one line. He would only draw unless he had to and, as an animator, you had to be more of a performer than a draftsman.
Frank Thomas (1912-2004) used some of Walt's own gestures when animating Mickey in "The Pointer". For the 1939 short film, Frank animated Mickey facing off with a bear during a hunt. By now the famous Disney character had been given eyes with pupils, which allowed for even greater subtleties and emotional range. The comedic high point is Mickey's attempt to explain his fame to the bear in an effort to be spared.
Very few artists were assigned to starting development and early animation for Bambi.
Frank Thomas' talents were perfectly suited for a film whose character movements needed to be based on realism, to a degree never attempted before. These deer had to be drawn with real anatomy combined with tasteful caricature. Walt asked the animators to produce test footage; it seems like he was not entirely sure if he would get the results he was hoping for.
While working on Bambi, Frank was looking forward to animating the very important sequence featuring Bambi having trouble moving on ice and keeps falling over and over again, while Thumper moved and performed like a professional skater, and Thumper's instructions aren't helpful at all. The contrast alone between the two characters couldn't be greater. Then word got around that Walt Disney was almost thinking about cutting this section from the film as it was considered extraneous. Frank argued and fought to keep this section in the movie, knowing full well that this story material offered rich entertainment possibilities for personality animation. To prove this Frank quickly drew a series of sketches and had them put on to film. Frank animated the comedic antics of these two in a completely believable way. Whether the movement is subtle or broad, these is always weight, and therefore the characters look like real creatures. The result convinced Walt that these character rich situations needed to be part of the movie. Today it is difficult to imagine the film without this highly entertaining sequence.
The Ichabod Crane section offered Frank a sequence with an opportunity for all-out tour de force acting. Toward the end of the film, after attending Katrina's party, Ichabod rides home through a dark forest. It is nighttime, and the Headless Horseman is very much on his mind thanks to Brom Bones' impersonation of this legendary figure at the party. The sights and sounds of the forest bring out fear and eventually horror in Ichabod's mind, but there is always the element of comedy in the way he reacts to the intimidating surroundings. He swallows nervously, covers his head with his lanky arms, and hangs on to his horse tightly.
This is not easy footage to animate - whatever Ichabod's action might be has to be coordinated with the horse's swaggering walk. Frank did this brilliantly, and it is astounding to find out that he animated this sequence at the super-fast rate of about forty to fifty feet per week. Incredible.
"Boy, I thought, that's a tough assignment for some poor guy. I wonder who's going to get it?"
Frank Thomas was reflecting in an interview on what he had thought about the character of Cinderella's stepmother. Little did he know that Walt Disney surprisingly had assigned Frank in mind to bring the villainous Lady Tremaine to life.
"The Stepmother was one of the toughest characters I did" he added.
In the end Frank did enjoy animating her, and he got very strong performances on the screen. I think some of his best ever. "I had been known for cute, appealing characters. This was a very different kind of personality." Frank knew a character that doesn't move much at all is a challenge for any animator. The acting becomes all about subtleties, and the quality of your drawing is even more important. In order to be convincing, she had to be handled realistically. There needs to be some motion within the longer held key poses or the character won't look alive.
Frank got some help from actress Eleanor Audley, who voiced the Stepmother in a way that sends chills up your spine. Her voice performance inspired him a great deal. She also provided strong live action reference, and Frank incorporated some of her nuanced acting into his animation.
What I love about her character concept is the fact that she never lays a hand on Cinderella (she never slaps her in the face), but her vicious verbal abuse makes her one of the most evil villains of all time.
Whenever the Stepmother is on the screen she is powerful, commanding and completely convincing as a real personality. She is animated Hitchcock!
Frank Thomas animated a less realistic and much more comedic villainess for the next feature film Alice in Wonderland from 1951. The Queen of Hearts presented an interesting problem to the animator. How do you balance menace and comedy within her personality? Both were needed, and Frank struggled originally with these opposing qualities.
After a long search, he eventually found inspiration from a live version of this character while playing the piano with the Disney-Dixieland-Band Firehouse Five Plus Two. The group was performing on Catalina Island when Frank watched a heavyset lady in the audience, who acted both, brash when talking to her husband and dainty when drinking a cup of tea. Frank all of a sudden had a person to base his new character on. Severe mood swings from one second to the next became a trademark for Frank's brilliant animation. When the Queen gets angry, she loses all control and gestures wildly. During her composed moments, she usually shows a fake, smirky smile.
There was more than one animator who wanted to draw Captain Hook, the villain in the 1953 film Peter Pan. Milt Kahl desperately lobbied for the assignment. But Walt Disney had Frank Thomas in mind, an animator with outstanding acting skills. Again there were two different character qualities that needed to work in unison. Some story artists had developed sequences showing Hook as a snobbish connoisseur of fine things, others showed him as a rough pirate.
Frank combined both approaches to create an entertaining villain, who could also be a real threat.
He used live action reference for a number of his characters. In this case it was character actor Hans Conried who provided the voice and Hook's acting reference for the animators.
Frank was very critical about the way other animators used live action. To him the acting ideas were all you needed, but you still had to pass judgement on the footage and interpret what the actor gave you. His animation never has that roto, floaty feel to it or feels like it is based on live-action reference. For one thing Frank was way too talented and smart to let that happen, the final acting choices were made by the animator.
Frank used some of this reference carefully, starting with the introduction of Captain Hook. The pencil test is the tied down version. He is studying a map trying to figure out Pan's hiding place. The gestures are broad when he is frustrated; they become more subtle as certain ideas come to his mind.
It's......incredible!
For the film Lady and the Tramp, Frank Thomas was the supervising animator of Jock and animated important acting scenes with the other leading dog characters. Frank had already observed dog anatomy and behavior at home before he started on this assignment.
Frank Thomas also animated this section, just before the famous spaghetti dinner.
"Settle down with This One?" Lady asks. Tramp is caught off guard by Tony's remark, he explains this is a misunderstanding because of the cook's bad English.
There is embarrassment, a clearing of his throat and a sigh of relief, when he feels Lady sort of buys his explanation.
So much stuff going on in that one Tramp close up. Frank Thomas is AMAZING!
After Lady and the Tramp, he animated the three fairies with Ollie Johnston.
The Sword in the Stone gave Frank Thomas the opportunity to work on a variety of characters, like animating Madam Mim.
At one point Merlin magically turns himself and young Wart into squirrels. He wants the boy to find out what life is like for a small creature of the forest. Things become complicated when a young girl squirrel shows her affection for Wart. Merlin finds a female admirer as well, and both of them do their best to escape these love-struck females. The whole sequence is about love, which can be passionate, silly, or disappointing. Frank later commented that the squirrel section was one of his favorite assignments at Disney.
It is a bitter sweet moment in the movie, when the girl squirrel falls in love with somebody who turns out to be a human. After she flirts with Wart as a squirrel, her disappointment is so devastating when she finds out he is a human. It breaks your heart.
This kind of emotional material is what Frank handled so well, in many films.
Bill Peet storyboarded this sequence, and with Frank's acting it became another animated masterpiece.
Frank was excellent at animating dances, and he had the chance to show this skill in the 1964 film Mary Poppins, where four penguins were paired with actor Dick Van Dyke. Since the live-action footage was filmed first, Frank needed to be very careful in his animation to avoid collisions between a penguin and Dick Van Dyke. When the actor's leg would swing sideways, the nearest penguin had to duck or jump over the leg to get out of the way. Dick Van Dyke's legs were constanty in the way of his penguin's choreography. One might think that this could result awkwardly, but Frank actually took advantage of this challenge, and these little missteps added a wonderful and natural quality to the overall dance. Frank Thomas knew he needed to dig a little deeper as far as animatable penguin anatomy and range of motion. He also found beautiful graphic solutions for how the wings are attached to the body. Great observation of real penguin behavior! Just wonderful stuff!!
For the film The Jungle Book Frank Thomas took over animation for both characters from Ollie Johnston's introduction scene of Baloo and his first encounter with Mowgli, the man cub.
Mowgli has just ran away from Bagheera, and all he wants right now is to be left alone.
But Baloo is too interested in getting to know this unusual jungle creature. He wants to have some fun and challenges Mowgli to a boxing match. After a while he lets the kid hit him in the jaw and pretends to be on the loosing end of this game.
This sequence is beautifully written and brilliantly animated by Frank. Since there is a lot of motion involved (broad as well as subtle) with both characters as they circle each other in this mock fight, Frank ended up doing ALL of the rough drawings himself. There are no in-betweens.
This is actually not that unusual, since Frank usually contributed most or all of the drawings for any of his scenes. Other animators would often use a moving hold for calm moments, which involved only two key drawings with lots of in-betweens provided by the assistant. But Frank seems to always have something going on, even in the most subtle acting patterns. Something is always moving, things don’t come to a stop.
As a result of producing so many drawings for a given scene, Frank could not focus on gorgeously designed poses or expressions. So his drawings by themselves might not look too intimidating to an animation student or professional, but watching them in motion is a whole other potato. The characters come to life in such a believable way, they breath, they move with weight, and they have real thoughts.
In other words, they have a soul.
Here is a moment from Frank’s scenes, in which Baloo tries to cheer up Mowgli and win his affection.
Here is the link to Frank Thomas' episode in Disney Family Albums where he talks about Bambi and Thumper's ice skating scene: https://youtu.be/mCdSB-JAGDk?t=6m38s
Link to Part 2: http://jasonwarp-cartoonarmada1993.blogspot.com/2015/11/disneys-nine-old-men-part-1-legacy-for_24.html
