Animation Artifacts &Story & Storyboards 16 Mar 2007 08:09 am
Pinocchio Board #2
- Here’s the continuation of some of the Pinocchio storyboards which were loaned to me by John Canemaker. As Eddie Fitgerald and Floyd Norman pointed out in comments, these probably aren’t continuation boards; certainly they wouldn’t title one “Pinocchio Comes To Life.” My guess is that these were photographed for publicity, or else perhaps they’re early versions (except that the characters are obviously on model.)
The two boards here seem to be two versions of the same sequence but different. The first one is compressed with lots of captions underneath the images; the second board is more spread out, more in the flow of the other boards.
(Click any image to enlarge.)
Regardless of why these boards were constructed, they contain images and thoughts that are good to see. Here they are; Gepetto discovers a real boy that was once a puppet:
Addendum: the images have been rearranged per comments of “the spectre” below. Now 1a goes to the left of 1b. 2a goes to the left of 2b.
on 16 Mar 2007 at 8:57 am 1.Rudy Agresta said …
A lot of criticism directed toward Norm Ferguson’s “inability to draw” should be laid to rest with your posting photo of him analyzing the drawing (I’m assuming his work) of the fox from Pinocchio. It sure looks well-drawn to me!
on 16 Mar 2007 at 11:19 am 2.Michael said …
I assume that isn’t Norm Ferguson’s drawing. The photo was taken for publicity purposes and they probably would have used a clean-up – Norm’s assistant’s work. To see what his drawings look like take a look at the Robert Field book The Art of Walt Disney (1942).
There’s a Disney Animation Analysis class (I’d have to search for it) about drawing with primary, secondary and tertiary forces of movement. I’ve always assumed that this was how Ferguson drew after reading that lecture. The images in the Field book suggest that he drew these forces in different colors and concerned himself only with these motions in a skeletal form. I’d actually be interested in knowing if I’m right about this. I’ll try to post these notes within the next week and maybe hypothesize a bit more about it.
on 16 Mar 2007 at 12:34 pm 3.Rudy Agresta said …
Interesting points, Michael. I’m going to look at the Field book now.
Thanks!
on 16 Mar 2007 at 5:32 pm 4.The Spectre said …
Wow… again, a facinating look at an earlier version of the story. There are some subtle differences… nothing as big as the alternative introduction to Jiminy posted last time, but still interesting… explains some of the weird numbering on the drafts. I’m looking forward to seeing more of these!
on 16 Mar 2007 at 5:36 pm 5.The Spectre said …
The first one is compressed with lots of captions underneath the images; the second board is more spread out, more in the flow of the other boards.
Actually, the storyboards are just in the wrong order. The one you call 2a is supposed to be positioned to the right of 1a, and the same with 2b and 1b. You can follow the story along the top row of 1a, then continue to the top row of 2a… then carry on to the second row of 1a, then the second row of 2a, and so on. It’s the same with the boards you posted up last time, they’re split vertically down the middle so you have to move between them to get the story in the right order.
on 16 Mar 2007 at 8:01 pm 6.Rudy Agresta said …
Mike, I checked in the Field book. Are you referring to the “Animator’s Scribbles” of the Fox leading Pinoke astray (p 235 in my text)? I’ve seen a few of what are reported to be Fergy’s drawings – more stick like – and unlike these. Could these be the work of Shamus Culhane?
We may never really know, but it’s good food for thought
on 16 Mar 2007 at 10:32 pm 7.Michael said …
The storyboards are in the correct order. They read from left to right then down to the next column. I’ve cut them in half laterally so that 1a sits on top of 1b and 2a on top of 2b. They’re in the order they were photographed.
If they were in the order you suggested 1a then 2a, 1b then 2b there would be repetition of actions. Gepetto gets out of bed on the top line of 1a then he’s back in bed top of 2a. It doesn’t make sense.
Rudy, I don’t have access to the Field book just now, but I remember a very rough looking blue and red drawing of the fox attributed to Norm Ferguson. It doesn’t look like a Shamus Culhane drawing whose work was not quite as crisp as this. I believed the different colors of the drawing to represent those “forces” I mentioned. I apologize that I’m working completely from memory now since the materials are in storage.
on 17 Mar 2007 at 12:14 pm 8.The Spectre said …
If they were in the order you suggested 1a then 2a, 1b then 2b there would be repetition of actions. Gepetto gets out of bed on the top line of 1a then he’s back in bed top of 2a. It doesn’t make sense.
*looks at the boards* My mistake… in this case I think they’re the other way around – 2a belongs to the *left* of 1a. The top row of 2a gives up scenes 1, 1 (cont’d), 2, 4, 5 and 6. Then the top row of 1a has 6 (cont’d?), 7, 7A, 8, 8 (cont’d), 9. Then the second row of 2a has 10, 10, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14. And the second row of 1a has 15, 15A, 15B… and so on. Furthermore, if you place 2a to the left of 1a you get a caption along the top reading “F3 SEQ. 1-7 – PINOCCHIO COMES TO LIFE”. I’m not questioning the order you got these boards in, but I do think this is how they *originally* were.
on 17 Mar 2007 at 12:34 pm 9.Michael said …
Looking at the boards you’re probably right. 2a 1a 2b 1b. I’m rearranging them in that order. It’s too much of a difficulty for me to rearrange the photos I got in terms of line 1/photo 2a then line 1/photo 1. Then line 2 photo 2a; then line 1/photo 1a etc. This was not the order the boards came to me. Perhaps the photographer cut them in two before I got to see them. I suggest everyone print them out, as I have them and then reorder them for yourselves.
The photographs I have of the boards were probably presentation boards for a possible publication – magazine or book – that probably didn’t happen. I don’t think the relevance of the display here has much to do with how the final film came out. I’d posted them as I got them. 1 and 2. I cut them in half laterally to display them as large as possible.
They’re obviously two versions of the same scene (as I originally stated in the post), and there’s obvious repetition that would be happening. Some of the same storyboard drawings are reused in #2.
on 13 Jun 2019 at 12:16 am 10.Sage said …
These are so delightful! It’s really interesting seeing the little changes that were made. They did a good job of cleaning up the shots and dialogue for the final version, in my opinion.
I thought the piece where Gepetto comments on Pinocchio being made of wood was kind of nice, though? (With the comment about the grandfather tree!) All of his interactions with Pinocchio are very fond from the very onset, even in these early versions, and I think that’s sweet.