A Stitch in Time....Graduation Time!

Lilo & Stitch
Released:  June 21, 2002
Worldwide Box Office:  $273,000,000

Well I thought it would be appropriate to honor my niece Marissa in this post with a collection of drawings from one of her favorite movies, Lilo & Stitch.  This cute story about an alien who lands on "E'arth" did very well at the box office.  Based upon a story by Chris Sanders and styled in the manner reminiscent of classic watercolor techniques from Disney's golden era, this film was entertaining on many fronts.  I can understand why my niece like the film from its weird and funny characters, heart-warming story and memorable musical score.  After all it is based on one of my favorite places on the planet, Hawaii!

So, in honor of my niece and in recognition of her High School graduation on the coming June 2, I thought I would share some wonderful drawings of Stitch.  I remember when she was much younger and fell in love with this little guy and she even nailed down how to perform his voice.  I wonder if she can still do this today?!!!

Anyhow, these rough animation drawings are from a cute little sequence where he becomes exasperated with Lilo set to a classic Elvis song.

                              Original Production Drawing(s), colored pencil and graphite 

                               on 16 field animation paper

                              Acquired:  January 23, 2004

                              Artist:  Alex Kuperschmidt

                              

This sequence was animated by Alex Kuperschmidt who was the supervisor animator for Stitch.  What do you think?

Congratulations, Marissa!

Is there really a window on Notre Dame?

The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Released:  June 21, 1996
Worldwide Box Office:  $325,000,000

While the story of Quasimodo was certainly not the blockbuster compared to Lion King, the overall story had many compelling and entertaining themes woven into a classic story.  This version by Disney while most certainly wasn't the same book as envisioned by Victor Hugo, still brought to the screen key themes about respect, love and social class to a new audience.

What was interesting about this film for me was the classical music score and the rich styling of the film.  The production backgrounds were characterized by evocative palettes matched to the mood in each sequence of the film, all the while rich in detail similar to backgrounds from Sleeping Beauty yet different from Eyvind Earle's style clearly.  As mentioned in one of my earlier posts, Disney originally sold key setups from the film at Sotheby's in June 1997.   With the average lot selling for over $3,100 each, the auction was very much a success.  

Anytime you attend a live animation auction, it is a wonderful event much like viewing a special exhibition at museum.  The interesting part about this experience is that you might be lucky enough to walk away with a piece of the magic.  I remember viewing all of the lots in Sotheby's York Avenue showroom in New York that summer and one piece in particular caught my attention.  The cover piece for the catalog showcased the only real significant view of Notre Dame, a character in the film in its own-right.  This production background was a key shot in the opening sequence for the Festival of Fools sequence.  The shot is comprised of nine separate background elements, seven underlays with a single character cel over a painted background of the sky on crescent board.  If you watch the film, Disney did a masterful job of bringing us into the heart of the festival with this deep camera shot flying from the Palace of Justice toward the heart of the Cathedral.  

The interesting thing about the cover lot is the piece was framed and displayed without a view of the Cathedral's stained glass rose window.  So considering that I had read in Stephen Rebello's book how Disney actually created the window utilizing CGI, I was curious as to whether it was painted or if it was just blank.  This was the big mystery in the auction catalog.  I questioned Sotheby's at the time, but unfortunately no one knew as the piece was framed by Disney before Sotheby's could examine the piece.  As framed, the piece suggested there was a blank space for integration with a computer image.  Why else would Disney arrange the production overlay in this arrangement?

As Frollo leads Phoebus out onto a balcony of the Palace of Justice, the background appears for the first time as Frollo states, "for twenty years I have been taking care of the Gypsies...."  All production elements are visible, but arranged slightly stretched across on the horizontal field.   The very next scene is where Frollo expresses in a sinister tone, "one by one!"  The flying camera shot is sequenced a few scenes later where Frollo remarks as he hears the beginning of the musical number Festival of Fools, "Duty Calls."  Phoebus looks back at Frollo as the camera flies into the scene over the village toward the Cathedral.  

Fast forward eight years later, the Cathedral background comes up for sale at auction.  Considering that I love to find key scenes that represent the essence of an animated feature that stand on their own without character animation, I could not resist the piece.  I was finally able to solve this long standing mystery.  As you can see below, the Cathedral is all there!

                              Key Master Setup, gouache on celluloid and board

                              Acquired:  June 16, 2008

                              Background Painter:  Unknown

                              Sequence 5, Scenes 19, 27

After some careful work taking the piece apart, I was able to separate and scan the layers to reveal more of the detail in the setup.  As I worked this, the art revealed the much more of the Cathedral than what the Disney presentation had shown.  This is so much better!  Additional notations indicated that the Cathedral was to be digitally scaled in the camera shot (around 200%).  

There a lot of fun details in the piece which include the colonnade on the roof of the Cathedral, the rose window of course and overturned stone by Frollo.   I plan to eventually frame the piece in a multi-plane effect to really make the 3D effect come alive.  What do you think?

Breaking out!

Released:  October 1994

Hello Everyone!  After a "longer than I would have liked" hiatus due to a number of competing issues for my time, I am back to writing about Disney animation again.  A true passion of mine and something that I have sorely missed over the past year.  I plan to pick up where I left off and include a story a week to share my thoughts on the subject and the journey I have had with animation art over the last 27 years!  It is hard to believe that I have been collecting animation art that long already.

So to begin, I wanted to share a short story on my first visit to a live animation auction which ultimately led to the creation of my Animation Artshop website.  It has never been the same since.  The piece that I am sharing today includes multiple cel setups (in progression) and drawings of Goliath from Disney's Gargoyles.  Originally produced as a movie with very limited release in theaters, Gargoyles was the pretext for Disney's foray into a dramatic animated television series.   The cel setup below is fitting for how I feel about getting back into sharing my animation journey.  Sort of a visual for breaking the bonds that binded me over the last year.

Here are the cel setups that show the progression of Goliath turning from stone into a live Gargoyle.  With multiple cel levels in some shots, the colorful background plays against the neutral grey-tones for Goliath's character to make him stand out.

           Original production cel setups, gouache on celluloid

                Artist:  Studio Artist, Unknown

                Acquired:  June, 1999

And to add more, later..... I was able to find some of the in-between drawings from the sequence.

           Original production drawings, graphite and colored pencil on 16 field animation paper

                Artist:  Studio Artist, Unknown

                Acquired:  June, 1999

The television series aired from October 1994 through February 1997 and was moderately successful.  My first exposure to the series came through a chance encounter during my first attendance to a live animation auction at Sotheby's in New York in the summer of 1995.  Up to that point in my collecting adventure, I had never attended a live animation auction before and it just so happened that Disney had selected 42 key master setups most with matching production drawings and layouts to be sold by Sotheby's.   It was an exciting show to see and it was a first for the Disney Television unit to sell artwork through this channel.   All of the pieces were very colorful and large and were displayed at Sotheby's York Avenue headquarters without really very much fanfare.  I was not interested in picking up these pieces as I had my eye some vintage drawings of Goofy instead (more on this in another post).  But I found them interesting.  Overall the auction did okay with the majority of lots selling (37 out of 42) and the choice lots selling for a premium.  Total proceeds from the sold lots equaled approximately $45,000 (over $1200 per lot).  

Later when I returned to my family home in Ohio on the way back to Alaska, it wasn't until my oldest nephew clued me in on the interesting nature of the Gargoyles.  He was in love with the series and being all of 5 years old he WAS the expert.  I learned that his favorite character was Brooklyn and about how cool it must be to be a Gargoyle that was stone by day and would come alive at night.  He filled me in on the what this was all about and piqued my interest about acquiring one of the better lots that did not sell.  As luck would have it I called Sotheby's on the phone and purchased lot 558 which included a number of the main characters including Cameron's favorite, Brooklyn.  It is amazing what you can learn from a 5 year old!

           Original key master setup, gouache on crescent board, gouache on celluloid, 16 field setup

                Artist:  Studio Artist, Unknown

                Acquired:  June, 1999

This lot was large, colorful and came with all of the drawings that were used to create the camera shot.  I remember it being very cool to open up an "official" Disney file folder to discover additional art not listed in the catalog that showed the production process.

Overall, I had a great trip.  I was successful with acquiring some new vintage artwork, learned something new about Disney animation and had an incredible time in New York City for the first time.