one of my favorite disney books was and still is OUR FRIEND THE ATOM, written by HEINZ HABER and art-directed by PAUL HARTLEY. it was published paralell to the release of the film-special in 1956. in those days the illustrations, additionally printed in the MICKEY MOUSE MAGAZINE, were magical for me, for the longest time I tried to figure out the stipple-brush technique that was used in some of the illustrations. the elite of disney’s BG- and layout artists contributed their work for the book, legends like CLAUDE COATS, JOHN HENCH, FRANK ARMITAGE, COLLIN CAMPBELL, ALBERT WHITLOCK and a lot more. following is a small selection of the artwork in the book.
© disney enterprises, inc
my name is hans bacher, – I work as production designer in the animation film industry. for the last 40 years I lived and worked in duesseldorf, london, paris, los angeles, manila and tokyo. now I am professor for film-design at the nanyang techn. university in singapore.
Hi !
Great post, I love the illos !!!
As you were mentioning a few names, I wonder if you could indicate me who is the artist for atom011.jpg, Demokritos.
It’s just sooo beautiful, I’d like to know more about that guy…
PS : any chance any other greek philosopher is represented in this book ? I guess not, but thought I could always ask…
Thanks again for the great blog !!!
from hans -
I am sorry, I wish I could identify the illustrators of every single piece of art.
there are some more greek philosophers in the disney short – DONALD IN MATHMATIC LAND,
and as far as I remember in one of the ‘outer space’ shorts, ward kimball directed.
Thanks VERY MUCH !
Take care.
Hello Hans,
First I want to say how much I enjoy your site and your wonderful book, Dream Worlds.
I managed to get a copy of Our Friend the Atom off of ebay last year. It is one of my favorites as are all of the Disney classics published by Golden Press. I love the brushwork in the illustrations – today, truly a waning art form.
Much success and a BIG thank you for the time and effort you devote to your weblog!
Sincerely,
Rudy Agresta
what a rich gouache(?) technique.I regret we never learned that at the artschool.