The Other Genie

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.

The show is mostly live action, but it did feature a few animated segments. 

The discovery of atomic energy is compared to a fable, in which a fisherman finds a bottle. He opens it, and a giant Genie appears. 

Cliff Nordberg animated the fisherman, and as mentioned Lounsbery did the scenes with the Genie, this time portrayed in purple.

Below are a few key drawings (clean up over the roughs) from a scene where the Genie threatens the fisherman: "Know that presently thou will have to die!" 

At least that's what I think he says, it is a bit hard to understand from the DVD.

The drawing style of the animation is 50ies graphic, but Lounsbery is able to get a nice sense of scale and dimension in this up shot.

A couple of pages from the book Our Friend the Atom, which was published around the time of the TV show.

Frédéric Back

© Musee des Beaux-Arts de Montreal

Frédéric Back is one of the greatest artists of our time.

His drawings, paintings and his animated films are so full of humanity, it is quite humbling to look at this great man's life work. I had the chance to meet him at the opening of the the exhibition "Once upon a Time, Walt Disney" in 2007 in Montreal.

There have been many celebrations and tributes to his films including one at the Academy in LA, and more recently a major retrospective and exhibition opened in Japan.

Back has been nominated for an Academy Award numerous times, he won twice for his films Crac! in 1982 and The Man Who Planted Trees in 1987.

He said once: "There can be more to animation than entertainment." Personally I find his films not only entertaining, but they also enlighten and touch audiences in a profound way with themes that center around the preservation of the natural world. 

I highly recommend the 4 DVDs, The Man Who Planted Trees Deluxe Edition, which features many of his films. You can find it occasionally on Amazon or Ebay. 

Below are a few of Frédéric Back's magnificent animation illustrations published in the book version of The Man Who Planted Trees. 

If Marc Chagall had been an animator, this is what his films might have looked like.

© Frédéric Back/Les Enterprises Radio-Canada/Gallimard-Lacombe     

Mathurin Méheut

Mathurin Méheut (1882-1958) was a French painter, who became known for his drawings and paintings depicting everyday life in Brittany.

They are lovingly observed, and they communicate a feeling of being "of the moment" to the viewer.

Méheut also loved drawing animals. I found a book with some of his animal studies a few years ago, and was very impressed with his skills as a draughtsman.

As you cash see in the following pages, his approach is very academic here, and he doesn't always get it right. The facial proportions in some of the tiger illustrations seem a bit odd to me, but the overall effect is that through Méheut's robust and solid sketches you somehow come closer to understanding the animal's anatomy.

Méheut also taught art at the École des Beaux-Arts de Rennes, and I believe that's where he met and had a big influence on one of his students, Frédéric Back, who is known for his stunning animated films like Crac!, The Man Who Planted Trees and The Mighty River. 

More on the amazing Mr. Back in the next post.

Milt Kahl Talks Casting on Peter Pan

This rare TV footage was filmed when Milt had already finished Madame Medusa for The Rescuers.

It was his last assignment at Disney, he left the studio soon after.

At that time he felt that the "post Walt" animated features weren't nearly as good as when his boss was around. Milt was very critical of the story as well as the craftsmanship that had gone into Rescuers.

Within this frame of mind he talks about animator casting on Peter Pan, many years earlier.

This is vintage Milt Kahl, listen to not only what he says, but how he says it.

You'll agree that Milt was a pretty entertaining character himself…and perhaps that's an understatement!

Wilhelm M. Busch 1960

These glorious Busch illustrations from 1960 were published in the German book "Ein Mensch", humorous verses by Eugen Roth.

I picked out just a few, the ones that show rich attitudes. They remind me of great animation key drawings, when you can tell what the character is thinking and how he is feeling.

Just look at the first one. How could you depict a simple situation like this one any better?

A restaurant guest is being served a meal. The waiter's pose says: Here you are, mein Herr!
Perfect pose! The guest looks like he might have been waiting for a little while, he is so looking forward to this meal. Human behavior beautifully observed in real life.

Another favorite is the scene in the shoe store. The way the customer straightens out, then looks down on to this new pair of shoes. The sales person's attitude is typical and priceless.

This stuff is graphic gold!

Granny Squirrel

As most of you know Frank Thomas animated the squirrel sequence in The Sword in the Stone.

Bill Peet's storyboards provided rich situations for Wart as well as Merlin, who go through great lengths to fend off female admirers. 

At first Merlin advises Wart on how to deal with the love struck girl squirrel, then he finds himself in the same predicament with Granny.

Contrasting attitudes, fantastic acting business and of course masterful animation made this one of Disney Animation's most entertaining sequences.

Even the ever so critical Milt Kahl was impressed. "Wasn't that a rich thing Frank did?" he confessed enthusiastically to me, when we were talking about Sword in the Stone.

I want to briefly stress the importance of animation business here. This sequence has tons of it.

If there are any secrets about Disney Animation, this is one of them.

When you have personalities interacting like this, the animation benefits so much when a character doesn't succeed the first time around in his or her intended action. Simple example:

Merlin pushes Granny Squirrel away, but her weight causes her to bounce right back. So Merlin pushes her again, trying a little harder or just doing it differently. 

Another one: 

Merlin explaines to Wart how to prepare before jumping safely from one branch to another. Then he fails and almost falls down. 

FAILING in character animation is a good thing, because it gives the acting a human touch.

An example not from the movie: a character jumps over an obstacle. He doesn't land firmly on his feet like a gymnast, he might fall and then get up. Or at least after the big jump he needs to take a few small steps to regain balance. Stuff like that adds life!

If all your animated actions always suceed, you might be serving the storyboard but not the character.

Remember Chuck Jones' One Froggy Evening? When the frog lands after a leap, one leg slips down, because it missed the right contact to the ground.

Below are some of Frank's beautiful design sketches for Granny.

A rare workbook sheet. Frank plans out scene continuity and acting business.

This is an animation rough from that very section. Merlin thinks he can avoid this uncomfortable situation by just walking away. Fat chance!

The search for animatable facial forms and shapes.