This must be watched over and over and over again. The timing, the control over volumes, the spacing. Sigh. A much needed bout of animation inspiration early on in this week.
The Disney Animation building in 1959 - the era of Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmatians and The Sword in the Stone. From a 50-year old time capsule that was recently raised from the Magnolia Bridge.
(via jerry)
Disney Animation Reveals Brand New Site
August 9, 2008
Sporting the retro Mickey and a slick and simple interface, Walt Disney Animation Studios unleashed their brand new site yesterday (at least, it looks brand new to me - I’ve never seen it before!).
I love how wonderfully simple the site is - no extraneous garbage and no ads. A clear well-designed site like this not only is easier and more enjoyable to navigate but also speaks of a conscious effort to communicate effectively with their intended audience (in this case, anyone looking for information on what Disney Animation is all about). Hopefully this is a reflection of their new direction—something perhaps we can expect from the stories they plan on telling.
There’s plenty of information on submitting reels, studio life, and future projects. Unfortunately there isn’t any information on taking tours:
We are very busy making our next films, and cannot accommodate tours at this time.
I hope this doesn’t offend anybody who’s worked there the past 10 years…but it sure is nice to have Disney Animation back again.
Saludos Amigos Concept Sketches
August 6, 2008
Found. An English translation of a French blog:
...devoted exclusively to artistic research of the Disney’s animation feature films. Creating an animation feature film is an art.
So far the blog seems to focus mainly on concept sketches like the one above (Pedro’s story being my favorite from Saludos Amigos). But there is the requisite post on Glen Keane and some great story sketches from Dumbo.
Walt Disney Animation Studios The Archive Series: Story
August 1, 2008
Didier has the info on some new Disney Animation books coming out in the Fall.
While the Alice In Wonderland book doesn’t do that much for me (Yes, Mary Blair is wonderful), the Archive Series book on Story looks somewhat intriguing. I wasn’t too enthralled by Canemaker’s Paper Dreams book on storyboard art; hopefully this one is a bit more inspiring.
The cover alone is worth the price.
Besides at 200+ pages you can’t go wrong - especially when 101 Dalmatians is one of the featured films. Finally we’ll have some real world editions of these.
(via Didier Ghez)
Bill Tytla Speaks!
July 23, 2008
Didier Ghez has posted a clip of an interview with the famous Disney animator, Bill Tytla.
Personally I never really thought Tytla was all that great - the devil in Fantasia didn’t do much for me, but Stromboli was pretty cool. I appreciate the “strength” and “force” with which he animated, but I was never really a Tytla fan-boy.
Still, this clip is a rare find and an excellent gift to the world of character animation.
(via The Disney Blog)
If there is any one thing I can point to as inciting my interest in character animation it would have to be the above special from 1981. I remember clearly sitting in Ms. Guho’s Art Class at Hart High (c. 1988) when she turned down the lights and started this video. I’m pretty sure I was the only one who sat enthralled for all 45 minutes or so, but when the lights came up I immediately knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.
The high point, of course, was Glen flipping through his scene from The Fox and the Hound. I asked my teacher if I could dub it (you know, with two VCR decks - old school style) and she was gracious enough to let me. I must’ve watched this show 500 times over that summer. It was also the reason why I decided to drop out of football 4 days into Hell Week. Why get pummeled into the ground on a regular basis when I could be home still-framing through the classics and deciding which I liked better - top pegs or bottom pegs?
Thanks so much to whoever posted this. It was on my long list of things to digitize and publish (I still have the tape), but unfortunately never seemed to get around to.
Assistant animators Al Stetter and Chuck Williams take time out for coffee during the 1960s. Probably complaining about what a pain-in-the-ass Milt was to work with.
Must have been awesome.
(via floyd norman)
Great look at the use of shadows in Alice in Wonderland. This has always been one of my favorite things about the old Disney features - the subtle and artistic use of depth in certain shots. It reminds me of another shot in Ichabod Crane where he’s reading in bed. I love that shot!
(via michael sporn)
Ollie on the Next Generation of Animators
June 30, 2008
Some time ago, Pete Emslie posted a wonderful tribute to Ollie Johnston. In his post he uploaded a scanned image of a letter he received from Ollie. The text of that letter is so priceless that, in an effort to make it available in digital form, I’ve gone ahead and transcribed it. Of course, nothing can replace the original (the letter or the man behind it).
