Sci Fi Goofy

Recent digital painting I did of Goofy in space.

When You're the Best of Friends - Disney Challenge #5

   So, I never knew this, but The Fox and the Hound was actually based on a book. From what it sounds like, Disney, as usual, took a lot of liberties with the material. For instance, in the book Copper is the older dog and Chief is the new, young dog that starts to take his place, Tod is raised by one of the hunters who killed his mother rather than a kindly old woman, Tod and Copper are never friends, and there is no happy ending.

Personally I like the happier stories that Disney comes up with. What about you? If you've read the book how did you like it compared to what Disney created?

Sing Sweet Nightingale - Disney Challenge #4

Number four of the Disney Song Challenge! 

So, when I looked up reference for Cinderella I stumbled upon an article that said Carly Rae Jepsen, the singer of Call Me Maybe, has been playing Cinderella in the Broadway musical. I know that big names help bring in the crowds, and the crowds are what keep Broadway going, but it always saddens me a bit when stage trained actors/singers are passed up for the sake of big names.. Not that Carly Rae Jepsen is bad, but she's not Laura Osnes (the last actress to play Cinderella)

In other news I found out that Anastasia the musical is still going to happen! If you haven't seen the 1997 film that it's going to be based on, I highly recommend it!

Anyway, back to Disney. Cinderella was released in 1950, this was shortly after World War II had ended. During the WWII Walt Disney had been creating propaganda for the the American war effort and had not created a full length movie since 1942. To keep costs down in the animation department they used live references for about 90% of the film.

Pictured below is Helene Stanley, the live action model for Cinderella, as well as Aurora in Sleeping Beauty and Anita in 101 Dalmatians.

©Disney

I always think it's fun to see behind the scenes pictures and footage from movies.

The next Disney challenge is Best of Friends from The Fox and the Hound. If you decide to do the Disney Song Challenge along with me, let me know! I'd love to follow along with your work.

A Star Is Born - Disney Challenge

Number three of the Disney Song Challenge! I had to watch the movie while I was drawing this, and I gotta tell you, I have always loved Susan Egan as Megara. She plays sassy really well. She also was the first actress to play Belle in the Broadway musical of Beauty and the Beast ^_^ but I digress, I felt Hades needed a good punch in the face, so I made it happen.

100 Disney Song Challenge

  Years ago I came across a challenge called 75 Disney Song Theme Challenge on deviantArt where you create a drawing based on each of the Disney songs in the list. I got through all of two songs before starting college and having all sorts of other projects to do. Today I was thinking about what to draw and remembered this challenge from long ago. I have decided to try to do it again! I may only get another two done... but at least I'll have fun doing it.

One of the original drawings I did for the challenge. I created it with a mouse because I did not yet have a tablet

  I have changed up the challenge a bit. It is now 100 songs, most of which are from the original challenge, but I've added quite a few and taken out some that I wasn't interested in. If you would like to join in, you are more than welcome to! If you would like to see the original challenge the link is here. 

1. Painting the Roses Red - Alice in Wonderland
2. Great Spirits - Brother Bear
3. A Star is Born - Hercules
4. Sing, Sweet Nightingale - Cinderella
5. Best of Friends - The Fox and the Hound
6. Pink Elephants on Parade - Dumbo
7. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious – Mary Poppins
8. Do You Want to Build a Snowman – Frozen 
9. I've Got No Strings - Pinocchio
10. I'm Wishing/One Song - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
11. All in the Golden Afternoon - Alice in Wonderland
12. Oo Da Lally – Robin Hood 
13. Mother Knows Best – Rapunzel 
14. Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride - Lilo and Stitch
15. The Unbirthday Song - Alice in Wonderland
16. Strangers Like Me- Tarzan
17. Zero to Hero - Hercules
18. Ev'rybody Wants to Be a Cat – Aristocats
19. Little Wooden Head – Pinocchio 
20. Bella Notte - Lady and the Tramp
21. Humphrey Hop – In the Bag 
22. Be Prepared - The Lion King
23. That's the Life for Me – James and the Giant Peach
24. Why Should I Worry - Oliver And Company
25. For the First Time in Forever – Frozen 
26. Poor Unfortunate Souls- The Little Mermaid
27. Whistle While You Work - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
28. After Today – A Goofy Movie 
29. So This Is Love- Cinderella
30. Arabian Nights- Aladdin
31. He Mele No Lilo – Lilo And Stitch 
32. I Wonder- Sleeping Beauty
33. Sally's Song - Nightmare Before Christmas 
34. The Second Star To The Right - Peter Pan
35. Out There- The Hunchback of Notre Dame
36. Rumbly in My Tumbly Song – Winnie the Pooh 
37. Just Around the Riverbend- Pocahontas
38. The Sorcerer's Apprentice – Fantasia 
39. I'll Make A Man Out Of You – Mulan
40. Goodbye So Soon – The Great Mouse Detective 
41. One Jump Ahead- Aladdin
42. Something There- Beauty And The Beast
43. Friend Like Me- Aladdin
44. You Can Fly! You Can Fly! You Can Fly! - Peter Pan
45. Go the Distance - Hercules
46. I Wan'na Be Like You - The Jungle Book
47. Love Goes On – Robin Hood 
48. I Wont Say (I'm in Love) – Hercules
49. Sugar Rush – Wreck-It-Ralph 
50. I Just Cant Wait to Be King- The Lion King
51. Never Smile at a Crocodile – Peter Pan 
52. The Bare Necessities - The Jungle Book
53. Hakuna Matata- The Lion King
54. Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee – Pinocchio 
55. A Whole New World- Aladdin
56. Someday My Prince Will Come- Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs
57. Beauty and the Beast - Beauty And The Beast
58. Yo Ho (A Pirate's Life For Me) – Pirates Of The Caribbean Ride 
59. Goodbye May Seem Forever - Fox And The Hound
60. 121 – A Goofy Movie
61. Baby Mine – Dumbo
62. R-E-S-C-U-E – The Rescuers
63. Almost There - Princess and the Frog
64. Long Ago - Hercules
65. A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes- Cinderella
66. When We're Human – Princess and the Frog 
67. Circle of Life - The Lion King
68. Perfect Isn't Easy – Oliver and Company 
69. Mine, Mine, Mine – Pocahontas 
70. God Help The Outcasts - Hunch Back of Notredame
71. That's How You Know- Enchanted
72. Hellfire - Hunch Back of Notre Dame
73. I See the Light – Rapunzel 
74. Little April Shower- Bambi
75. When You Wish Upon a Star - Pinocchio
76. True Love's Kiss – Enchanted
77. Lester's Possum Park – A Goofy Movie 
78. Under the Sea - The Little Mermaid
79. Reflection - Mulan
80. When Will My Life Begin – Rapunzel
81. Let It Go – Frozen
82. Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo- Cinderella
83. Les Poissons - The Little Mermaid
84. The Hula Song – The Lion King
85. Part of Your World- The Little Mermaid
86. Grim Grinning Ghosts – Haunted Mansion Ride
87. You'll Be in My Heart - Tarzan
88. Tomorrow Is Another Day- Rescuers
89. Love Is a Song - Bambi
90. Can You Feel the Love Tonight? - The Lion King.
91. He's a Tramp – Lady and the Tramp 
92. Cruella De Vil - 101 Dalmatians
93. Be Our Guest - Beauty And The Beast
94. How Do You Do – Splash Mountain Ride 
95. Once Upon a Dream- Sleeping Beauty
96. Someone's Waiting for You - Rescuers
97. Kiss the Girl- The Little Mermaid
98. Dig a Little Deeper – Princess and the Frog 
99. Colors of the Wind - Pocahontas
100. Who Will Rescue Me? - Rescuers

Disney's Nine Old Men: Marc Davis

I have been enjoying studying up on Marc Davis. He did a lot of design and animation for leading ladies in the Disney's earlier days which included Cruella De Ville, Alice, Cinderella, and Maleficent. I was more impressed with the designs he did for Disneyland though.  He designed many characters for rides like Pirates of the Caribbean, The Jungle Cruise, It's a Small World, and, one of my favorites, The Carousel of Progress. 

Here are some of his beautiful designs (I didn't draw anything from him this week because I'm a lazy bum... sorry :P)

Disney's Nine Old Men: Milt Kahl

As an animation major I feel like I should more about Disney's Nine Old Men than I actually do at the moment, so for the next few months I'll, hopefully, be sketching from their work and learning more about each of their specific talents. This weeks man is Milt Kahl.

Milt Kahl was able to give such fantastic life to his characters which included Peter Pan, Alice, Cinderella's fairy godmother, Edgar from The Aristocats, and Madame Medusa from The Rescuers. Just look at this pencil test he did of Roger from 101 Dalmations! He was able to make such a simple action as putting a coat on interesting.

Milt Kahl was so talented that other animators would bring him their work to touch up or have him make a drawing that they would then continue their animation off of to make it better. I will definitely be studying his work more in the future.

Here are some sketches I did to study his work:

Mystery revealed!

I didn't do any drawings today because I was pretty worn out after going to comic con which, by the way, was a lot of fun. I got to see William Shatner, Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), Dee Bradley Baker, and Colin Baker who played the 6th Doctor in Doctor Who. They were all fantastic, but now I want to talk about my last drawings!

Those cute little drawings were from some of Disney's old cartoons Silly Symphonies. If you've never seen one of these delightful shorts you should. They were a series of cartoons where the character's movements were timed to match a musical score; Walt Disney used it as a way to experiment and further what his studio was able to accomplish in animation. These cartoons are also where characters such as Pluto and Donald Duck were first introduced. If you really haven't seen one I'd recommend The Three Little Pigs. Pay attention to how the animators made the pigs and wolf move to the music, and let me know what you think!


P.S. You all should check out Katie Cook at katiecandraw.com I discovered her at comic con and I think her work is fantastic.

Pinocchio Sketches

     So, I've been watching a bunch of the classic Disney movies lately, Fox and the Hound, Mulan, Hercules, Dumbo, and I've got to say... Pinocchio is by far one of the craziest stories out there. A blue fairy comes out of nowhere magically turning a puppet alive, the puppet is stopped by a talking fox on it's way to school and convinced to become an actor and is locked away by a mad puppeteer. When he lies to the blue fairy about it his nose starts to grow (with no explanation about how and why), he goes to Pleasure Island which is full of shadowy creatures and boys who turn into donkeys (again with no explanation as to how and why). After escaping he goes home where a glowing dove comes out of nowhere with a glowing message about how his father was swallowed by a whale (oh, and there's no explanation about who sends that message), and then he goes out and gets swallowed by the whale, escapes, and turns into a real boy by the random fairy.

If you look up summaries about the actual book it was based off, you'll see that the Disney movie is actually pretty mellow compared to the book, but as crazy and random as it is I still have to say that Pinocchio is an absolutely fantastic movie. If you haven't watched it in awhile go watch it now:

And I'm not a huge fan of cats, but Figaro is so darn cute! I want him :)