...From Walt Disney and Staff

Walt Disney Productions' Christmas cards were often very beautiful. The artwork was produced by the studio's animators, designers and background artists. Usually the main illustration showed what production played in movie theaters that season, or what could be expected in the following year.
The card above with a great Small World image on the inside was sent out in 1966, Walt had just passed away.

A few favorites covering one decade.

More Bambi Art

Bambi is one of those films that might have ended up mediocre if it wasn't for the fact that everybody involved in this production was a top notch artist. All that realism Walt Disney called for could have resulted in a boring, stilted movie. Yet it turned out to be one of Disney's most elegant, poetic and best animated films.
Just look at Mar Davis' quick sketches of real deer! That anatomical knowledge enabled him to produce story sketches with the right degree of caricature and personality.

A beautiful study, possibly by Tyrus Wong. Image Heritage Auctions.

Layout and background artists became experts in staging and lighting scenes.

A publicity sketch, possibly by Frank Thomas.

Just like in Jungle Book decades later, the film's story is extremely simple. That meant that art direction and the personality animation needed to be extraordinary to keep audiences involved and spellbound.

The Disney Style

It is interesting to see how the visual approach in Walt Disney's animated films changed over the years. From Snow White's romantic realism to graphic sophistication in Sword in the Stone.
As you might know, Disney himself preferred the soft, rounded representation of his characters. But he also knew that his artists wanted to experiment, so he "tolerated" short films like Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom. Marc Davis told me once that he believes Walt didn't care much for experimental films like Pigs is Pigs or Paul Bunyan, but he knew his artists needed to get this modern stuff out of their system.
As far as character styling, Milt Kahl said, he believes there WAS NO Disney style. "We drew eyes and hands a certain way that was the most effective, that got the best results." At the same time Milt would also state that he WAS the Disney style, as it changed over the years. "I had more to do with that than anybody at the studio." Art directors like Eyvind Earle, Ken Anderson and Walt Peregoy backed up Milt's drive for graphic change.
Personally, I am fond of both styles. And I think that my film Mushka is influenced by one and the other.

Images, Heritage Auctions

Dalmatians Mix

 

Here is a small selection of various art from 101 Dalmatians. This was Disney's first animated feature set in a modern, contemporary setting, and you can see a sense of excitement and experimentation in the artists' work. The image above from the film's opening sequence shows what animation does best,
a terrific personality idea presented in clear, fresh graphic form.

Ken Anderson came up with these character two doodles.

A few examples of Bill Peet's extraordinary story sketches, beautifully staged and full of personality.

These illustrations appeared in a children's book that was published around the film's release.
I love the restricted two-tone approach to the paintings.

Some of Frank Thomas' early studies which show his attempt at giving human emotions to a Dalmatian.

The official studio stationary which announced the arrival of a whole new (and different) Disney animated film. One of the best motion pictures ever made, in my opinion.

Hawaiian Warrior Princess tames African Lion

I was recently invited to speak and draw in front of a D23 group. The event took place in the Hyperion building on the Disney Studio lot. I also created a special drawing with a couple of characters I had animated. Above you see my first rough pass of an idea involving Lilo and Scar.

Below is the final version which was printed as a handout to the invited guests. It's fun to goof around sometimes by combining different universes.

Here is the link to another illustration, which combines Lilo and Scar:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oKZSVbJgR1s/Usj6OyZeNlI/AAAAAAAAIrw/Iozg8Ln_dtQ/s1600/LSAB+7.jpeg

Wilhelm M. Busch 1965

In the mid 1960s Busch illustrated a little book with short poems and one-liners by Georg Opitz.

Here are a few drawings from this edition.

I am still crazy about Busch's economy of line, he leaves out a lot of stuff  to get to the essence of a situation. His characters' attitudes are always contrasting and interesting. So brilliant! 

The line to go with the image above is: Cheerfulness is God's benefaction.

Sleeping Beauty Eye Candy

A few glorious stills (though not in widescreen) from Disney's classic Sleeping Beauty.
The film was a gutsy experiment in art direction, it disappointed at the box office when first released in 1959, but is now considered to be one of the most beautiful animated films ever made.

An article from McCall's magazine to promote the release of the film.

The Truth about Mother Goose

What a great color sketch by Eyvind Earle for the Disney featurette film The Truth about Mother Goose. Disney Wiki says this about the film:

The Truth about Mother Goose was an animated short, released on August 28, 1957.

It explained the historical backgrounds of three popular nursery rhymes, "Little Jack Horner", which is based on a story about a servant who stole the deed for an estate intended for King Henry VIII of England. "Mary, Mary Quite Contrary", which is about Mary, Queen of Scots, and "London Bridge", which concerns the history of the real bridge, which "fell down" and was rebuilt.

The film was directed by Woolie Reitherman and Bill Justice. I love the art direction, starting with Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom from 1953 Disney Modern was in full swing in a variety of short films and eventually the feature film Sleeping Beauty.

A group of animators headed up by Cliff Nordberg was responsible for the mostly limited, but beautiful  style of movement.

From the Desk of...

All supervising animators at Disney had personalized note pads, like this one by Milt Kahl.
The sheets were small size, just enough to put down a note, the animator might leave at someone's desk, or send through interoffice mail.
I was delighted when Milt's daughter Sybil recently sent me a note written on her dad's "Disney stationary".
Below is a key drawing from one of Milt's many extraordinary scenes for The Jungle Book.
I have spent a long time studying these vultures interacting in this shot. One of them, Ziggy, is determined to investigate the man cub Mowgli, who happenes to pass through their surroundings.
All four birds are lined up in a tree, when Ziggy starts pushing Dizzy, who then puts Buzzie out of balance and so on. In the end all four buzzards plunge down toward Mowgli.
The scene is on one's and incredibly involved as far as one character's actions affecting another, it is beautifully animated and proves that Milt Kahl is one of the hardest working animators of all time.

I will have more key drawings from this remarkable scene in the near future. It should have been featured in the Milt Kahl chapter of my book!

Fred Moore Pin Up

Had a fantastic weekend at CTN. Met some terrific people from all over the world, and it's always great running into artists I used to work with.
A little short on time, here is a great Fred Moore pen and ink/watercolor illustration, featuring his usual subjects.

Image Heritage Auctions