Michael Sporn Animation – Splog

- When you post every day, there are gems that just don’t get long enough exposure. Bill Peckmann, at one time, had sent some preliminary artwork that Rowland B. WIlson did for a number of Disney and Bluth features. The wealth of material was enormous and it went too quickly into the past.

Given the new book coming onto the market, Rowland B. Wilson’s Trade Secrets: Notes for Cartooning and Animation, I thought it appropriate to take a fresh look at some of his brilliant art for the animated film.

This is a book that was put together by Suzanne Lemieux Wilson, and it looks to be as much about animation as about cartooning. Certainly, I think it appropriate to bring back some of this great pictorial material. NOW.

Here is the incredible cache of photostats that Bill Peckmann had sent me showing some watercolor paintings Rowland B. Wilson did while working for Disney. There are two groups of paintings: one for The Hunchback of Notre Dame, one for Hercules. These are the Hunchback images; Hercules will come next week.

These were all inspirational sketches, and they’re all extremely long. Consequently, I’m posting them in batches. The first comes from Hunchback, and I’ll post the full sized image, then break each down into a couple of parts so that you can appreciate the incredible detail Rowland did in these things.

I hope you enjoy them.

1
(Click any image to enlarge.)

1A

1B

2

2A

2B

3

3A

3B

4

4A

4B

5

5A

5B

5C

The following group of images is labelled, “The Siege” and concerns itself with the climax of the film where the people storm Notre Dame Cathedral and Quasimodo pours oil on them. These pictures are so beautiful (and large) that I can’t help but split them up so you can see some of the closeup detail.

11
(Click any image to enlarge.

11a

11b

11c

11d

12
Now this is a Hunchback I could love.

12a
These two character designs look like they were influenced
by Richard Williams’ “Cobbler & the Thief.” Since Rowland worked
with Dick in London, it’s possible.

12b
Errol Le Cain by way of Rowland B. Wilson. Beautiful.

13
At first I wasn’t sure which end was up on this image.
It might be correctly viewed counter-clockwise.
However, the label in the lower left should be the lower left.

13A

14

14a

15

16

16a

16b

Here are a couple of additions, a few sketches contributed by Suzanne Wilson.

Many thanks to Bill Peckmann for the generous loan of this material.

- It’s animation drawing Wednesday, and I have a few more scenes by Milt Kahl of Roger from 101 Dalmatians. However, I want to take a short break from those scenes which are large and difficult to scan in.

I have a number of scenes of Mickey from The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. They all came with nothing. No exposure sheets, no registration marks or pegs, no anything, So, basically, I’m just showing off some drawings, trying to register them as best I can and then giving a guess of an exposure to hint at their motion. But I think there’s something to be gained, or I wouldn’t be doing it.

Since there’s no indication of a repeated step from Mickey, and knowing it’s in the scene, I doubled it in the QT movie to see how it works. It’s all fun and variations for me here.

This is Seq 7 Scene 4 animated by Les Clark. Mickey is instructing the newly livened broom to march step and follow him.

1A

1Z

483

520

601

680

714

723

______________________

The following QT includes all the drawings posted above.

The registration is a bit loose. Sorry but, these are obviously
copies of copies and there’s plenty of shrinkage and distortion.

Click on the right side of the lower bar to watch it one frame at a time.

- For a while I was posting the Action Analysis Notes from the Disney Studio’s after/hours classes back in 1937. For some reason I was distracted from that mission and stopped with the April of ’37 notes. Well, I’m back with more and will continue with what notes I have.

The following lecture took place on May 3, 1937.

It’s an analysis of a film clip starring Patsy Kelly as she angrily strides over obstacles and is finally stopped by a man and calmed down.

The participants of the class include: Joe Magro, Bill Shull, Jacques Roberts, Izzie Klein, Aurelius Battaglia, David Rose, Ken Petersen, and Robert Carlson.

Cover page

1 2

3 4

5 6

7 8

9 10

11 12

13 14

15

.

- You’ll find past posted notes here if you’re looking for them, but you’ll also have to scroll through some animation art to get to them.

- When Disney released 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, there was a curious and opportune time for some cross promotion with Disney doing a “Tomorrowland” show for his Disneyland program. Our Friend the Atom talks about atomic energy driving the Nautilus submarine in the Jules Verne film that Disney was pushing. (Of course, Verne wrote of an “electric ship,” but Disney in the mid-fifties had to be thinking nuclear.)

Ham Luske directed the
show, and I have to say some of the animation is spectacular. I really love the look of this stuff. I feel like the representation of the Genie is magnificent. There’s a feeling that they capture which really invokes the Arabian Nights figure that I read. (I was a bit turned off by the WB feel of the Robin Williams Genie in Aladdin, though I am in awe with what Eric Goldberg did with it. I guess I’m too much of a purist with some of these folk/fairy tales.)

I had always given Ward Kimball credit for the show until looking at it again. Whereas all the shows Kimball did had a light approach toward the science, trying to make it as much fun as possible, Our Friend the Atom is dead serious with very little humor underneath it. Somehow, I loved this show more and was very impressed with the strength of that Genie.

I’ve taken some frame grabs of the first segment to give an idea of it. The show is available in one of those Walt Disney Treasures – Tomorrow Land: Disney in Space and Beyond

1

2

3

4
Note how they keep the type in the book illustration as they did
in the Winnie the Pooh adaptations which were done years later.

5

6
Just pure fine visual storytelling in this section.
It really is very well done in its conservative editing.

7

8

9

10

11
The Genie is going to take advantage of the fisherman
who has released the demon into the world.

12

13

14

15

16
But the fisherman gets an idea.

17

18

19
He says he doesn’t believe that the Genie
could not have fit into so tiny a lamp.

20

21
He challenges the Genie to prove that he can fit into the lamp.

22

23
The Genie goes back in . . .

24
. . . the fisherman stops him in there.

25

26

27
The Genie makes a magnificent deal
if the fisherman will let him out again.

28

29
The fisherman lets him out . . .

30

31
. . . and the Genie is now at the beck and call of Man.

.

The program then goes into the history of the discovery of radiation and the atom and control of atomic energy.
.

32
We pick things up with the splitting of the atom.

33

34
A chain reaction gets things going.

35

36

37

38
Until it explodes . . .

39
. . . into an atomic bomb.

40

41

42

43
The Genie is out of the bottle.

Credits 1

Credits 2

Credits 3

- Here I complete Seq. 02 Sc. 15, animated by Milt Kahl for 101 Dalmatians. This is the song Roger has just completed and playfully sings as Cruella de Vil exits. I have several more scenes from this sequence and will probably continue on with them next week.

They’ve all been animated, for the most part, on twos by Kahl, and it shows that not every drawing has to be on ones, which is the current fashion. Kahl knew what he was doing mechanically.

We start with the last drawing from Part 1.

101

111

121

131

141

151

161

171

181

191

201

207

______________________

The following QT includes all the drawings from the scene.
Including Part 1.
The registration is a bit loose. Sorry but, these are copies of
copies and there’s plenty of shrinkage.

If you click on the right side of the lower bar
you can watch it one frame at a time.

You can find the drafts for this film on Hans Perk‘s invaluable site, A Film LA. You’ll find this particular scene on page 30.

Mark Mayerson has also devised a helpful mosaic for this film and written some extraordinary commentary about the scenes. You’ll find this mosaic page here.

- In 101 Dalmatians, Roger sings the song, “Cruella de Vil,” immediately after Cruella leaves the house. I have three of Milt Kahl‘s scenes from this song, and I’ll post all three. We start with Roger on the stairs coming down from his upstairs studio. You’ll remember that he actually started the song upstairs, making a racket, to force Cruella to leave. Here we go with Seq. 02 Sc. 15, animated by Milt Kahl.

01

11

17
Missing an inbetween

21

33
Misssing an inbetween

39

45

51

61

69
Missing an inbetween

71

81

91

101

______________________

The following QT includes the drawings posted above.

The registration is a bit loose. Sorry but, these are copies of
copies and there’s plenty of shrinkage.

If you click on the right side of the lower bar
you can watch it one frame at a time.

- Here is the final part of Scene 45 from 101 Dalmatians as animated by Milt Kahl. When this scene was loaned to me, it took less than a mezzo second for me to recognize it. I love it and have studied it frame-by-frame off the video (first a VHS then the DVD) many times. It’s a seminal scene for me. Just gorgeous.

I’ve always loved the first fifteen to twenty minutes of Disney features (at least up
through Sword in the Stone.) Their intelligent introductions of principal characters usually comes in those first few minutes, and it’s always done with class. I think of Pinocchio, Gepetto, and Jiminy Cricket or Dumbo’s birth or Lady as a puppy or Bambi’s birth and discovering the world of the forest or Peter and Tink meeting the Darling children and “Off to Neverland.” These moments are thrilling to me, and usually the rest of the film doesn’t hold up to this.
101 Dalmatians doesn’t fail to deliver in this respect. Exposition and introduction are done so beautifully.

The animation is, for the most part, on twos. There are a couple of ones at the very end ot the scene as Roger shakes his wrist. If you want to visit the first two parts go here for Part 1 or here for Part 2.

We start today with the last drawing from the second post.

187

201

211

213H
The legs move to their own level at this point.

221

231

241

251

A drawing is skipped here (to be inbetweened.)

263

273

A drawing is skipped, needs inbetweening.

283

______________________

The following QT includes the entire sequence
which includes all drawings posted.

The registration is a bit loose. Sorry but, these are copies of
copies and there’s plenty of shrinkage.

If you click on the right side of the lower bar
you can watch it one frame at a time.

.
For more on 101 Dalmatians check out the animator drafts on Hans Perk‘s great and resourceful site, A Film LA. Hans has also posted Bill Peet‘s story treatment for the film several years ago. See it here.
For a look at the art direction of the film including some beautiful reconstructions of the BGs as well as some of the BG layouts go to Hans Bacher‘s great site One1More2Time3.
Andreas Deja has one of the more extraordinary blogs to visit. He just posted some beautiful drawings by some of the key animators on 101 Dalmatians as they set about to find the characters. See them here as well as a comparison of Milt Kahl‘s characters against Bill Peet‘s version. here

For those who own Fraser MacLean‘s excellent book, Setting the Scene, you’ll know that on pages 182-188 there’s an extensive discussion of this opening sequence from the film with plenty of beautiful images of the set.

- Here is the second part of this scene from 101 Dalmatians. Roger is at the piano; Pongo has moved the mantle clock ahead by a ½ hour. Roger turns, yawns and checks his watch against the clock.

Milt Kahl animated Roger. Bill Peet did the storyboard drawing to the right. (In fact, he did the entire storyboard by himself.) This is the first of four scenes, I’ll post here – Sequence 1 Scene 45. The animation is, for the most part, on twos. There are a couple of ones at the very end ot the scene as Roger shakes his wrist. (Much of the rest of that will come with the conclusion, next week.

We start today with the last drawing from the first post.

95

101

111

121

131

141

151

161

171

175
An inbetween is missing from this part.

181

186
The goes on ones for a few frames as Roger shakes his wrist.

187

______________________

The following QT incorporates all the drawings from
this post and those in Part 1 as well.
All posts will be combined in the final piece.

All drawings were exposed on twos unless indicated otherwise.

The registration is a bit loose. Sorry but, these are copies of
copies and there’s plenty of shrinkage.

Completion of the scene will come next week.

.
For more on 101 Dalmatians check out the animator drafts on Hans Perk‘s great and resourceful site, A Film LA. Hans has also posted Bill Peet‘s story treatment for the film several years ago. See it here.
For a look at the art direction of the film including some beautiful reconstructions of the BGs as well as some of the BG layouts go to Hans Bacher‘s great site One1More2Time3.
Andreas Deja has one of the more extraordinary blogs to visit. He just posted some beautiful drawings by some of the key animators on 101 Dalmatians as they set about to find the characters. See them here as well as a comparison of Milt Kahl‘s characters against Bill Peet‘s version. here

For those who own Fraser MacLean‘s excellent book, Setting the Scene, you’ll know that on pages 182-188 there’s an extensive discussion of this opening sequence from the film with plenty of beautiful images of the set.

Ken Anderson’s sketch of the room.

- Did I ever tell you that I love 101 Dalmatians? This film hit me hard at just the right time in my life; I was susceptible. Here was a new way of animating humans, almost a caricature but not quite. Those opening scenes of Roger playing the piano and Pongo looking out the window in search of two mates (one for him; one for Roger) are just first rate.

Milt Kahl did Roger, the human, and I have four scenes all used within the first fifteen minutes. They’re good. This is the first of them, Sequence 1 Scene 45. He’s turned to look at the clock, yawns and checks his watch. We’ll take it up to the yawn today. The animation is all on twos. The assistants were told to leave the line a bit rough, so some of Milt’s scratches were left to be xeroxed onto the cels.

1

5

9

11

15

19

21

25

29

31

35

35H
The chair pops to its own level behind Roger.

39

41

45

49

51

55

59

61

65

69

71

75

79

81

85

89

93

95

______________________

The following QT incorporates all the drawings from this post
All posts will be combined in the final piece.

All drawings were exposed on twos as indicated by the numbers.

The registration is a bit loose. Sorry but, these are
copies of copies and there’s some shrinkage.

More of the scene will come next week.

.
For more on 101 Dalmatians check out the animator drafts on Hans Perk‘s great and resourceful site, A Film LA. Hans also noted, in the comments section below, that he had posted Bill Peet’s story treatment for the film several years ago. See it here.
For a look at the art direction of the film including some beautiful reconstructions of the BGs as well as some of the BG layouts go to Hans Bacher‘s great site One1More2Time3.
Andreas Deja has one of the more extraordinary blogs to visit. He just posted some beautiful drawings by some of the key animators on 101 Dalmatians as they set about to find the characters. See them here.

An oldie but goodie worth revisiting.
.
- When I was young, as I’ve pointed out many times, there were few books available about animation and as few illustrations and photos which ellicited the art of animation. Hence, it was always a treat when a Disney feature was released. The adjoining publicity would provide a trove of material, some worth saving. An encyclopedia my parents bought at about the time of release of 101 Dalmatians included several key images of Pongo running. One of those photos of many cels overlayed to detail the cycle. I loved that picture and frequently looked at that encyclopedia under “Cartoons, Animated” to study the photo of the cels.

At the very beginning of 101 Dalmatians, Pongo looks out onto the street to search for a good mate for both himself and Roger, his owner. At this point we’re treated to a number of walk cycles that I think are brilliant. A number of women are perfectly matched to the dogs that they walk.

Now with DVDs available to us, we can see that the characters originated in the storyboard drawings, and we can study these walk cycles. I’m determined to take these animated bits apart to watch them a bit closer.

Art Student Walk

The first of these is the “girl art student” as described in the drafts (which can be found on Hans Perks’ excellent site A Film LA.) Oddly, from my very first viewing of this film back in 1961, I identified her as a “beatnik,” which was the fashionable joke back then. Now I find out she was an “art student.” I guess that makes sense.

Here’s the pan BG that this scene employs.

(Click any image to enlarge.)

And here is the walk cycle animated by Frank Thomas and Blaine Gibson.
Gibson handled the following scene which pans across the bodies of the pair as they walk.

1 2

3 4

5 6

7 8

910

1112

The “Art student” walks her dog on threes.

Animation note: The two separate feet are divided by a short space. The left foot is on one plane, and the right foot is on another. This is a BASIC precept for animators to follow, and it’s something that is not appearing in a lot of the recent walk cycles I’ve been seeing. It’s annoying.

French Girl Walks French Poodle

Here’s scene 21 “French girl walks French poodle” animated by Blaine Gibson. It employs the same BG as scene 14, the art student (posted Apr 3), but it extends, beyond what we’ve seen before, to include a telephone booth.

______________(Click any image to enlarge.)

This is a slightly faster walk than others, and I’ve been able to grab all of the drawings. It’s animated on “ones.”

1 2

3 4

5 6

7 8

910

1112

1314

The “French girl” walks her French poodle on “ones.”

This walk is an absolute gem !

Once again, check out Hans Perk‘s excellent site A Film LA to get the drafts for this film to be able to identify who was behind what. Then go to see Mark Mayerson‘s arduously constructed and informative mosaics as well as his detailed commentary about the film and its animators.

Check out Floyd Norman‘s story about Blaine Gibson on Jim Hill Media.

Young Child With Puppy

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.

1 2
_______(Click any image to enlarge.)

3 4

5 6

7 8

910

1112

1314

1516

1718

The “little girl with puppy” walks on ones.

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.

Buxom Girl and Bulldog

Here’s Blaine Gibson’s animation for what is labelled in the drafts “Buxom Girl and Bulldog”. I left the backgrounds in this one for you to get an idea of the BG movement.

1 2

3 4

5 6

7 8

910

1112

1314

1516

1718

1920

The “Buxom Girl and Bulldog” walk on ones.