Michael Sporn Animation – Splog

- As I noted in a recent post, Frank Thomas/Ollie Johnston’s book, Bambi: the Story and the Film, came with a flipbook of four animated bits from Bambi. It was an extra added attraction and somewhat better than the flipbook corners of their previous books. The images were larger and more readable. I’m posting the drawings of Thumper laughing and a QT movie at the bottom. The images were exposed on two’s.

This is an excellent laugh and should be studied by anyone interested in animation. It’s hard not to use any of the obvious approaches to animate a laugh, but here Frank Thomas not only uses those obvious choices, but he exploits them. There can be no doubt that it’s a child laughing – just a little too hard. It’s a real character choice, and it’s brilliantly and intelligently done. You can also FEEL the softness of the rabbit. Like any great piece of animation, so much more shows up when it’s in motion.

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– At the start of Disney’s production of Bambi, Rico LeBrun, an established Italian artist, who was teaching at Chouinard Institute, was employed to help teach the studio’s artists to learn how to draw animals. He created some intense classes where animators concentrated on the anatomy of deer and other animals. The story goes that LeBrun went so far as to cut open a deer’s corpse and slowly peel away parts of the animal for drawing and study. Over days, as the smell grew more putrid, fewer and fewer people attended.

LeBrun prepared a book of some 40 or so pages of the skeletal system of deer for the artists to use as reference in learning to manipulate the animal characters. His art was copied onto animation paper with typed notes added.

I had posted one of these pages which I located on ebay (reposted above right) and am quite pleased with this original piece. Presumably the others are all, also, on animation paper.

Sky-David had contacted me after a recent item I had posted about the Tyrus Wong drawings on Bambi. Sky
told me that he had a copy of all of the pages of LeBrun’s study. Furthermore, he shared it with me and I’m sharing it with you. At least, here are the first 18 pages. I can post more at a future time.

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Rico LeBrun (standing), in his class, advising Eric Larsen.

Animators in LeBrun’s drawing class. (Left to Right) Louie Schmitt, Ollie Johnston,
Milt Kahl, Bill Shull, and Jack Bradbury.

For futher information on Rico LeBrun’s biography, go here.

- Last Saturday, I was able to post some images of Mickey in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice taken from Robert Cowan‘s excellent collection.

This led me to search down some old xerox copies I have of animation keys from one of the great scenes from this sequence. It was animated by Disney legend, Les Clark.

These drawings are probably all over the net; I haven’t looked. Part of this sequence was printed (rather small) in Frank Thomas/Ollie Johnston‘s book, Illusions of Life. I do know that Hans Perk posted the drafts for this film on his site back in 2006. However, I thought it worth posting just in case.

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I’ve also made a QT copy of the the extremes (assuming that the drawing number represented the frame number – as was usually done at Disney.) Here it is, below.

- I have an advanced board for the sequence in 101 Dalmatians wherein Pongo goes to the kitchen to comfort Perdita who’s worrying about Cruella’s threat to buy up all her pups.

This relates to Bill Peet‘s original board (posted here on April 1), but is composed of BG layouts and animation dwng cutouts. I’m posting the new board and juxtaposing it with the Peet original so you can see how it’s changed.

I also suggest you check out Mark Mayerson‘s invaluable Mosaics for this film and sequence.

This was Ollie Johnston‘s sequence, and he probably drew the dogs.
This is how the full LO board looks:

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This is Bill Peet’s version of the sequence:

This is a breakdown of both to keep the images as large as I can:

Johnston

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- I’m overwhelmed by the wealth of artwork that Robert Cowan continues to send me from his collection for use on this site. He’s put together a number of pieces from The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and given me the opportunity of, not only viewing them, but sharing them.

Take a look, and be prepared for a couple of gems. Don’t forget to click any of them for a larger view.

Here’s a storyboard drawing used in a LEICA assembly reel. This is a beauty. What a great bit of art.

This is a stunning cel setup of Mickey trying to bail water out the window. Beautiful EFFX work rarely seen, I think, in these setups.

Above and below are two animation drawings of Mickey from the sequence. They look like cleanups to me, though I’m not certain of the one above.

Here’s a framed cel setup of Mickey and the original broom, loading up.
Also framed is a note from Walt Disney to Irene Kanelstein. This is a great story. Irene was a 13 year old student who won an essay prize and the reward was this cel.

Below is the newspaper report and the winning essay. These three pieces are a treasure. Mr. Cowan wrote about the three pieces:
____ I was really amazed with the Kanelstein pieces. Frankly, the only item described
____ in the auction was of the cel and Walt’s signature. The other stuff was in an
____ envelope on the back and I was amazed to read it. It was so unique that I had
____ the items framed and they sit next to the Mickey/Walt piece.

It doesn’t get any better than this if you ask me.

I must remind you about The Ingeborg Willy Scrapbook a publication that uses extensive material from the Cowan Collection and, given how fabulous the images I’ve been posting are, it’s obvious that this book has to be a gem.

Hans Perk also verifies, on his site, that the reproductions and the images are all extraordinary. I’m salivating already.

– The release of the dvd for The Jungle Book inspired my posting of these animation drawings by the brilliant, Milt Kahl.

These are some of the animation drawings by Kahl from a sequence featuring King Louie doing a dance. It’s interesting that I think immediately of Shere Kahn as Milt Kahl’s work, and I don’t think of Louie. Yet I’ve had these copies for the past 25 years.

Somewhere – I have to find it – I remember Walt Disney being quoted as having said the one thing you should never animate is a monkey. They’re funny enough in real life; animation can’t improve on them. I remember thinking of that quote the day I first saw this film. I also wondered how Louis Prima felt knowing that they were representing him as an orangutan. I suppose that’s not a monkey.

The copies of these drawings I have are xeroxes. I’m posting them for the magnificent drawing alone; I don’t have timing sheets to be able to work out the movement. Honestly, with Milt Kahl’s work, looking at the images alone should be enough. I apologize if these are at all fuzzy or grey; that’s the quality of the images I have. They’re also not full sheets of animation paper. I copied only the peg holes and drawings.

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Talk about breaking of joints,
_______________this scene couldn’t be a greater lesson in animation for you.

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I know I don’t have to say, but I will; these drawings are extraordinary.
#100, here on the left, is a masterpiece in weight, balance, forshortening and sheer brilliance. And it’s only one frame from a scene.

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A large thank you to the inestimable Robert Cowan sent me the cel setup, pictured above, from his amazing collection of animation art. It consist of three cels over a master background: Baloo, Louie & 4 monkeys.

- With the Frank Thoomas/Ollie Johnston book, Bambi: the Story and the Film, an elaborate flipbook came as an extra added attraction. This owl sequence, animated by Eric Larsen, was part of that flipbook. I’ve exposed it on “two’s” for the QT movie at the bottom.

This is the centerpiece for the “twitterpated” sequence which I wrote about in a post last week. It’s quite clever animation; it just feels like it belongs in another film.

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Robert Cowan, a major collector of animation art and materials, has sent some images from Bambi, which come from his collection, to add to the theme of the art I’ve been posting.

The first is a cel setup from the “twitterpated” sequence. It’s a beauty of Thumper after he first finds love. Take a look at that stunning background, the beautiful, multicolored crowquill inking around the characters, and the refined airbrushing of the artwork. It’s a stunning cel. To think there were thousands just like it. There’s nothing comparable today.

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The following storyboard drawing shows Bambi when he first sees Faline’s reflection in the water. “Twitterpated!”

This storyboard drawing shows Bambi, the young doe, being led to the meadow, for the first time, by his mother. A great drawing.

Here’s another beautiful concept painting from Bambi.

To be honest, I think these images are better than some that are printed in the Frank Thomas & Ollie Johnston book, Bambi: The Story and the Film. It’s obviously an enormous and important collection Mr. Cowan has gathered, and I thank him for sharing these images.

Mr. Cowan has recently released the book, Working for Disney: 1936-1937 – The Ingeborg Willy Scrapbook, which looks interesting in itself.

- Given the article that appeared in yesterday’s NYTimes re Disney’s nature films, including and highlighting Bambi, I have to say that it’s the naturalistic sections of that film that I most love. Of course, it’s not because of the “nature” part but because of the poetic approach that was designed and overseen by Tyrus Wong.

- On Monday, I posted some color sketches from Disney’s Bambi by Ty Wong, and I’d like to continue with some attractive sketches that appear in the Bambi Sketchbook and/or Frank Thomas & Ollie Johnston’s Bambi: The Story and the Film.

These sketches are very informative. How wide the gulf between storyboard and animator. I find Bambi a somewhat schizophric film. It has the absolute finest Disney has to offer, and it also has some of the most obvious and cloying work. I find most of the owl sequences fall into the latter category.

The owl is quite nice at the film’s start, but once we get to the “twitterpatin’” sequence things turn dreadfully cute and, for me, it’s a real let down. Preston Blair’s animation is good of a sort, but I think it belongs in another film. I can’t say I’ve ever spoken about this, so I don’t know if anyone else feels the same or is now convinced that I’m an idiot.

Here are some owl design sketches; they are beautiful. It’s a shame the underlying beauty of these drawings didn’t make it to the screen, just the surfaces.

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And here’s the board for the owl’s “twitterpatin’” sequence. It leads out of and into two of the great sequences of this film – the death of Bambi’s mother, and the battle of the stags.

Today’s Wall Street Journal includes an excellent piece by John Canemaker about Ollie Johnston.

- I’ve been enjoying analyzing the walk cycles in 101 Dalmatians. I particularly liked the last one I posted “girl with french poodle.”
Here’s the young child with her puppy. She not only walks, but she licks her lollipop. The pup is just an absolute innocent. It’s another great walk by Blaine Gibson.

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The piece, in the film, includes a zoom into the cycle. I’ve tried to adjust for it but don’t think I was wholly successful. There’s a marginal enlargement of the drawings as it goes on – noticeable only in motion. It’s actually interesting in the walk.