Hockey Homicide

There have been quite a few great Disney animators who brought the character of Goofy to life.Art Babbitt developed him during the mid 1930ies as a type who thought long and hard about something, and then did it wrong (Art's own words).Other animators followed, John Sibley did outstanding work on shorts like Olympic Champ, and Woolie Reitherman's performances in Saludos Amigos are incredible.In 1945 Milt Kahl worked on a couple of Goofy shorts, the...

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Cruella in Curlers

What an incredible visual development piece from 101 Dalmatians.Cruella de Vil is reading the papers about the dognapping. This experimental cel set up shows her in a round bed with a snake motif. Red, mauve and black are the only colors used here.I love the "real" lace curtain! The Disney artists were trying anything to achieve a new revolutionary look for this film.Marc Davis animated every single scene of Cruella. The one I am showing here is...

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Behind the Scenes of "Pinocchio"

How about a little time travel to the late 1930ies? The Disney artists are finishing up their work on Disney's second animated feature Pinocchio.Joe Grant's character model department produced small sculptures like the one above for the title character.Sequence director T.Hee is being filmed acting out scenes as the villain Stromboli.Animator Bill Tytla will take this footage and go to town with it.The layout department is busy with a sequence...

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Vance Gerry & Ollie Johnston

Story artist Vance Gerry came up with these beautiful sketches in which he explored the bond between Penny and Rufus from The Rescuers. Vance always drew from the insight out, meaning that what motivated him were things like atmosphere, personality relationships and clear staging within storytelling. A sentimental sequence like this one where Rufus tries to cheer Penny up could become saccharine very easily if in the hands of lesser artists. It...

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