lost

a colorscript page from the dec.1995 released BALTO, directed by SIMON WELLS, produced by STEVEN SPIELBERG’S AMBLIMATION in london. the storyboard drawings for these color sketches were done by simon wells.

© universal/AMBLIN

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more ducks…

all artwork from the comic strip series THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF THE DUCK ALFRED J.KWAK

© van veen, siepermann, bacher

lush

these two beautiful very long recreated pan backgrounds are from disney’s march 1936 SILLY SYMPHONY ELMER ELEPHANT. the BG-artists on LILO AND STITCH used especially the watercolor backgrounds from that short as a reference for their work.

© disney enterprises, inc

soon

usually I am not advertising films outside of the animation field here on my blog. but this time I have too. I would have loved to work on that documantary – CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY.

Capitalism: A Love Story, Michael Moore’s new documentary, will be released by Overture Films on October 2, 2009. Capitalism will explore the root causes of the global economic meltdown and take a comical look at the corporate and political shenanigans that culminated in what Moore described as “the biggest robbery in the history of this country” – the massive transfer of U.S. taxpayer money to private financial institutions.

sounds like fun…

12 midnight

regents park

going back to the sixties – here are a few recreated pan backgrounds from the opening of disney’s 1961 released 101 DALMATIANS.

© disney enterprises, inc

wet

© bilderfabrik

waking sleeping beauty 1

DON HAHN sent me some information about a documentary he directed – WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY, the renaissance of animation during the so called ‘golden nineties’. can’t wait to see the film, since it covers a creative period of time I had a chance to be a small part of.

Waking Sleeping Beauty, will be screened at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) next month, and will be released theatrically in the spring of 2010.

here is a synopsis –

WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY
From 1984 to 1994 a perfect storm of people and circumstances changed the face of animation forever

Directed by Don Hahn
Produced by Peter Schneider and Don Hahn

By the mid-1980s, the fabled animation studios of Walt Disney had fallen on hard times.  The artists were polarized between newcomers hungry to innovate and old timers not yet ready to relinquish control.  The conditions produced a series of box office flops and pessimistic forecasts: maybe the best days of animation were over. Maybe the public didn’t care. Only a miracle or a magic spell could produce a happy ending.

Waking Sleeping Beauty is no fairy tale.  It’s the true story of how Disney regained its magic with a staggering output of hits – “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Aladdin,” “The Lion King,” and more – over a ten-year period.

Director Don Hahn and producer Peter Schneider bring their insider knowledge to “WSB”. Hahn was one of the Young Turks at Disney who produced some of its biggest sensations.  Schneider led the animation group during this amazing renaissance and later became studio chairman. Their film offers a fascinating and candid perspective of what happened in the creative ranks set against the dynamic tensions among the top leadership, Michael Eisner, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Roy Disney (the nephew of Walt).

The process wasn’t always pretty.  The filmmakers bring a refreshing candor in describing ego battles, cost overruns, and failed experiments that others might prefer to forget. During times of tension, the animators’ favorite form of release was to draw scathing caricatures of themselves and their bosses.  Director Hahn puts several memorable ones on display and marshals a vast array of interviews, home movies, internal memos and unseen footage.

© disney enterprises, inc

you can see some clips here

map

the recreated opening pan background from disney’s 1949 THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW or ICHABOD CRANE.

© disney enterprises, inc

ducks + moles

the artwork below is from 1986, from my collaboration with HARALD SIEPERMANN on our comic strip series THE STRANGE ADVENTURES OF THE DUCK ALFRED J.KWAK. it started just for fun and became an adventure with three comic books, published in germany, netherlands, belgium and france, and a 52 episodes TV-series on the air in about 20 countries.
harald developed the characters based on a story of HERMAN VAN VEEN and did the pencil sketches. I inked them and added the color and the environment. it is all feltpen and some gouache.

© van veen, siepermann, bacher

liverpool

the following captured frames are from a commercial DICK PURDUM animated in the late eighties for the liverpool TATE gallery. during the whole length of thirty seconds the presenter talks about art and changes inclusive his surroundings in the style of the most famous painters of the last century, like chagall, matisse, picasso, grosz, warhol… it is a masterpiece!

© richard purdum animation/tate gallery liverpool

orchard

young masters 2

richard vanderwende

chen yi cheng

nicolas marlet

sai ping lok after an alex nino drawing

daan jippes

ric sluiter

robh ruppel

colin stimpson

buck lewis

john watkiss

paul felix

harald siepermann

© disney enterprises, inc
© universal/amblin
© van veen/siepermann/bacher

street

some more recreated streetscenes from disney’s PINOCCHIO

© disney enterprises, inc

actress

let’s stay in asia, – the following images are from another japanese ANIME film I quite like, the 2001 released MILLENNIUM ACTRESS, directed by SATOSHI KON and animated by the STUDIO MADHOUSE. the story is about a documentary filmmaker who investigates the life of an older actress. through her memories reality and her films get more and more blurred. it is classic anime, very detailed backgrounds covering a time of several decades, including the worldwar two era.

© bandai visual company/chiyoko commitee/genco/studio madhouse/
kadokawa shoten publ.co/wowow

poetic

last time in singapore one of my students showed me an overzized book he had bought cheap some years ago. it was from china and had the most beautiful chinese art I have seen so far. obviously it was a story told in about sixty big illustrations. unfortunately chinese is not a language I understand, so I don’t even know the name of the artist. he or she is a master! the following three pages should give you an idea…

© Hua, San Chuan (华三川)

I got this information from ARASHI eragee@yahoo.com
‘Beautiful!!!
 I looked around and found out some info: his name is Hua, San Chuan (华三川), a self taught artist. His beauty paintings had once been published in English. But he seems better known, in China, for his comic books for children (remakes of famous stories).
Hope this’s useful! XD’

blood

as you might have noticed I am not a big fan of ANIME films. but, I have to admit that a few are well designed. one of these few ones is BLOOD: THE LAST VAMPIRE. this animated horrorfilm premiered in japan nov. 2000. directed by HIROYUKI KITAKUBO the film offers some unusual compositions, as you can see in the following screen captures. a live action adaptation was released this year.

© production I.G / aniplex

alex nino 5

some more of ALEX NINO’S designs during the visual development of disney’s MULAN.

© disney enterprises, inc

august mood

© bilderfabrik

amazing!