It was at least a month since I've been to the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco, but Saturday two weeks ago was another glorious day that I won't forget. Andreas Deja, master animator and apprentice to the Nine Old Men, discussed the techniques and fundamentals that defined the group. This is the first in a series of programs designed to explore in-depth the lives and achievements of the nine men whose extraordinary work in the field of animation has inspired countless others.
Known affectionately by Walt as his Nine Old Men, this group of early Disney animators is credited with creating many of the most famous Disney films in history and with refining the basic principles of animation.
Hired by The Walt Disney Studios in 1980 and mentored by several of the Nine Old Men, Andreas Deja worked as a supervising animator during the new Golden Age of Disney and is best known for guiding the creation of three of the most memorable Disney villains: Scar from The Lion King, Jafar from Aladdin, Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. Since leaving Disney, he has worked on personal pencil animated projects and contributes regularly to his popular blog for animation enthusiasts, Deja View. Andreas’ latest book, The Nine Old Men: Lessons, Techniques, and Inspiration from Disney's Great Animators, will soon be released and available for purchase this fall.
After he saw The Jungle Book, he wrote to Disney at age 11 about a portfolio review. He graduated from Folkwang University of Arts in Essen, Germany. He is currently directing Mushka. When he was asked by Focal Press to write a book about the Nine Old Men, he mentioned there was already a book about them by John Canemaker, which is a fascinating book. However, the publishing company suggested that this one could be less about where they went to school and more about their approach to animation techniques and studying some of their scenes. He didn't consider himself a writer, but he took the job. He luckily had the opportunity to know seven of the Nine Old Men. When he started at the studio, the good news was he got a job at Disney, but the bad news was the old animators had retired. John Lounsbery and Les Clark had passed away, but Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston were working on the second floor of the animation building, writing their book The Illusion of Life, and the other animators were in town. So, he looked them up and developed friendships with them, usually seeing them once a year.
Les Clark animated all of the important scenes with Mickey in his first color short film The Band Concert in 1935. Not only were Mickey's movements in sync with the music at all times, Clark added greater appeal and range to Mickey's performances. He also added volume to his body, which helped break away from the rubber hose-type animation.
He and Art Babbitt both animated Abner the mouse for the film The Country Cousin. Both artists pushed the boundaries of elasticity when it came to exaggerate expressions. Clark animated a series of scenes in which the country mouse, looking at mountains of human food, can't help himself but stuff his mouth in the broadest way possible. Abner grabs a piece of cheese bigger than his head, and shoves it into his mouth. As he chews, his full hamster-like cheeks squash and stretch severely in a demonstration of his enormous appetite. It is astounding to see how far Clark goes with volume shifts.
He worked on two Fantasia segments, the first being the Nutcracker's Suite sequence, drawing a variety of some nature fairies. Not easy to portray a nude character with such innocent charm. Les Clark drew these delicate fairies with somewhat androgynous faces, sizable moth-wings and long legs, which helped to define charming feminine poses.
The other Fantasia segment that he also worked on was The Sorcerer's Apprentice. Working under Fred Moore, he animated this important part of Mickey Mouse bringing the broomstick to life. When Mickey Mouse commands the broom, he does so with gusto. While his body is stretched in a strong forward arch, his fingers flutter fiercely. This convulsion-like movement heightens the scene's tension and makes us believe that there are real magical powers at play. This is an extraordinary piece of animation, dramatically staged and perfectly timed. It also shows that Clark gave an intensity in Mickey's emotions that had not been seen before. The movement is made interesting by the addition of complex overlapping action in Mickey's oversized coat. Realistic designs of the fabric's folds perfectly enhance the character's bouncy motion.
A nice animation key drawing of Wendy at the nursery sewing Peter's shadow to his foot from Peter Pan, a scene based on live action.
Clark animated the bumble bee on the Bumble Boogie section of Melody Time. A jazzed up version of Rimsky-Korsakov's composition "The Flight of The Bumble Bee," this bee character flies through a "musical nightmare." In his animation, Les Clark needed to keep up with the score's high energy and rhythm. Appealing design and energetic timing helped make this tiny character come to life. The visuals are among the most surreal scenes ever animated at Disney. Similar to Salvador Dali, who visited the studios during that time. The bee is being pursued and attacked by unfriendly flowers, musical instruments, and abstract lines. At one point during the chase he decides to fight back and brings this horrid dream to an end.
Woolie Reitherman (1909-1985) died in 1985 from a car accident. When Deja started working at Disney, Wolfgang Reitherman was working with Mel Shaw on ideas for a couple of animated features, particularly The Little Broomstick and Musicana. Musicana was sort of going to be a follow up-sequel to "Fantasia." It used some classical music for its story segments, but there was also world music from all over the globe ranging from American jazz to Greek. The other one was called "The Little Broomstick," based on a book by Mary Stewart, which at one point was going to be part of the Musicana project. Mel Shaw was developing incredible pastel sketches, but sadly both projects got shelved after Disney changed management.
Since Woolie said he was born in Munich, he offered to take Andreas Deja to come to his house for dinner sometime, whenever he wanted, since they both come from a German background. Unfortunately, Woolie passed away before he had the nerve or courage to ask him. To this day, he looks back and can't believe he missed an opportunity for a German dinner with Woolie Reitherman....darn it !!
One of his earlier animation works is animating Goofy in "Goofy and Wilbur" from 1939. Woolie would continue animating him in the How-To shorts, taking over from Art Babbitt. Goofy goes on a fishing expedition, and uses his grasshopper friend Wilbur as bait. His animation is so gutsy.
Since Woolie said he was born in Munich, he offered to take Andreas Deja to come to his house for dinner sometime, whenever he wanted, since they both come from a German background. Unfortunately, Woolie passed away before he had the nerve or courage to ask him. To this day, he looks back and can't believe he missed an opportunity for a German dinner with Woolie Reitherman....darn it !!
One of his earlier animation works is animating Goofy in "Goofy and Wilbur" from 1939. Woolie would continue animating him in the How-To shorts, taking over from Art Babbitt. Goofy goes on a fishing expedition, and uses his grasshopper friend Wilbur as bait. His animation is so gutsy.
This is another one of his earlier efforts, Gus Goose in "Donald's Cousin Gus" from the same year. The film opens with the arrival of Gus at Donald's home, and right away his screen presence is utterly captivating. Woolie sets up this odd, but fun-loving character right from the start. From his unconventional, bouncy walk to the way he comes to a stop in an off-balanced pose, this character's pantomime performance is inventive and entertaining. Woolie again drew certain moves using exaggerated perspective, as Gus makes a sweeping turn to face the entrance of Donald's home. Gus anticipates his little stroll by first lifting one of his feet way up high before swinging it close to the camera, followed by his arm holding his travel bag doing the same foreshortening motion as his upper body turns around. Woolie's animation drawings move within real space. This whole rotation adds believability as well as comedy to the performance. The strong use of squash and stretch during his walk away from the viewer turns this scene into a comical masterpiece. I just love this character. The animation has great comedy (reminds me of Charlie Chaplin), awesome timing and fantastic WEIGHT. It is fun to study, whether you are doing 2D or CG animation. Weight is always a big issue, as you know.
He animated the super dramatic and epic dinosaur battle between a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a Stegosaur in Fantasia's The Rite of Spring sequence. Stravinsky's music set the tone for this ferocious fight to the death. The problem was, how do you bring to life creatures that are extinct? The place to study prehistoric creatures like these was the Los Angeles National History Museum. Skeletons of dinosaurs gave Reitherman useful information about how the ancient animals were built on the inside. How this knowledge would translate into graphic motion became the animator's judgment call. It took tremendous analysis to achieve natural-looking movements for this monumental fight. On top of that, the animation needed to be in sync with the intense music.
On the next feature, Dumbo, he went back to comedy, working as one of the directing animators for Timothy Mouse. Important introductory scenes of Timothy Mouse were assigned to Woolie. Timothy is an anthropomorphic mouse, he wears clothes, walks on two legs, and gestures like a human. What is interesting to see is that he maintains mouse-like qualities. Woolie's animation shows quick moves and appealing poses that communicate what sort of character he is: a buddy, who is there for you.
For Peter Pan, his colleague Frank Thomas supervised the animation of Captain Hook, but Woolie handled him when encountering the Crocodile. Applying broad action combined with brilliant comedy, Woolie Reitherman turned this surreal moment into the most thrilling section of the film. Nothing seemed to be off limits. The Crocodile swallows the Captain whole, before re-emerging from inside intact. Other animators criticized the scene at the time for its irrational quality. Woolie did not care; he had too much fun making the impossible come off as believable. Audiences turned out to be on his side; they bought the bizarre animation, because it was entertaining. And what kept it from looking like a Goofy short was the fact that Woolie always drew Hook with accurate human anatomy. This broad sequence actually added to the range of Hook's personality. He is definitely a menace to Peter Pan, but in this instance he almost gets consumed by an oversized crocodile. Even villains live in fear. Reitherman said, "Nobody is going to worry about a gag's logic, if it's funny."
All I can say is...works for me! And you couldn't portray Hook's scream for Smee any better.
Woolie Reitherman was an expert in animating action sequences such as fights and chases. In Lady and the Tramp he drew the street dogs as they threaten Lady before getting into a brawl with Tramp. But Woolie also animated the rat toward the end of the film. He once said in an interview about animating aggressive confrontations that he felt that among all the action involved there should be a moment or two of pause. The opponents freeze for a second to catch their breath or re-evaluate the tense situation. Woolie timed this fight as dramatically as he could. Rat and dog face each other, moving ever so slightly, then in a flash their movements become fast and jerky... and suddenly they freeze again. Tramp ends the sequence with one quick bite. I see this kind of stuff over and over again in wildlife films, where two lions battle furiously, then stop as they stare at each other. Then all of a sudden the altercation starts over again. This is one of the reasons why good old Disney Animation feels so believable and engaging, the best footage is always based on observation of real life. By now Woolie had become a true master at dramatic action. He was a hell of an animator!
Apparently, Woolie also animated Boris, the philosopher. Notice how his eyelids have a fold over his eyeball.
In this clip, he was profiled for an episode for the 1980s series Disney Family Albums. Here, he talks about directing The Jungle Book.
All I can say is...works for me! And you couldn't portray Hook's scream for Smee any better.
Great owl studies that are starting to show personality. The animation of Friend Owl was done by Eric Larson and Preston Blair.
In February of 1945 Disney Studios released the feature "The Three Caballeros".
The most charming sequence in the film is probably The Flying Gauchito. The star of the short was Burrito, a donkey with wings, and Eric ended up drawing a Pegasus-like creature. Eric researched a range of facial expressions as well as simplified horse and partial bird anatomy.
When Milt Kahl years later was asked by a reporter to comment on the film, he said: "Well, the best thing in it is Eric's dog Peg" - a high compliment from the studio's top draftsman. Eric himself always blushed a little when he related the fact that he based Peg's provocative moves after singer Peggy Lee, who voiced the character. The film features many great dog personalities, but Peg's performance is simply outstanding. Her character was a novelty in a Disney film, and Eric took full advantage of this new kind of material.
Drawing, movement, timing, and appeal are perfect. Eric had become very comfortable animating all sorts of animals, and all that know-how helped turn Peg into an unexpected star of the film.
His last character that he supervised was Roquefort the mouse from The Aristocats, voiced by Sterling Holloway.
In this YouTube video clip, he was profiled in an episode of Disney Family Album. Here, he talks about his experience in the Disney Studios and explains he felt teamwork was the key to making great work. Link: https://youtu.be/-EMZrbS7N_k?t=1m25s
Drawing, movement, timing, and appeal are perfect. Eric had become very comfortable animating all sorts of animals, and all that know-how helped turn Peg into an unexpected star of the film.
In this YouTube video clip, he was profiled in an episode of Disney Family Album. Here, he talks about his experience in the Disney Studios and explains he felt teamwork was the key to making great work. Link: https://youtu.be/-EMZrbS7N_k?t=1m25s
No comments:
Post a Comment