more bugs

about a year ago I posted the first recreated backgrounds from MR.BUGS GOES TO TOWN. this beautiful animated feature film was produced by the FLEISCHER STUDIOS in miami, florida, and released by PARAMOUNT on december 5, 1941 – two days before the attack on PEARL HARBOUR. that might have been the reason why it was a financial disaster at the box office with only $ 241.000 against costs of $ 713.500. here now a few more recreated backgrounds from the film.

© fleischer studios / paramount

NPR 2

digital anarchy TOONIT filters combined with manipulated color-combinations on black/white photographs and video-captures

ride

in 1990 DAAN JIPPES did this beautiful design for a TOONTOWN-RIDE in the disney parks. I guess it happened paralell to his amazing storyboard work for ALADDIN. more about that in a later post.

© disney enterprises, inc / daan jippes

regis loisel 4

now as promised more of REGIS LOISEL’S visual development designs for disney’s MULAN

© disney enterprises, inc / regis loisel

cloudy

some cloud-reference from paintings and photographs, you never know when you need some…

midnight 16

©bilderfabrik

olaf gulbransson 2

more from OLAF GULBRANSSON and the SIMPLICISSIMUS, all reproduced some years ago from JOE GRANT’S amazing collection.

© olaf gulbransson

Coppélia 4

6.66

this is post number 666 and it is about something that happened in june 1966. sometime in mid june that year I bought my first french comic strip magazine PILOTE, you can see the cover below. I was in strassburg with my class, an educational four day trip to the alsace. what caught my eye immediately was the cover of that magazine. up to that time I had never heard about the two comic characters featured on the cover. french comics were not available in germany, the market was very limited with MICKEY MOUSE and FIX+FOXY weekly publications, as well as some TARZAN, SIGURD and FANTASTIC FOUR series. in this french magazine there was a double page with ASTERIX AND OBELIX created by RENE GOSCINNY ( text ) and ALBERT UDERZO ( drawings ). the characters and backgrounds were beautifully drawn, the story funny. later I learned that ASTERIX was already a hit in france and belgium for some years and there were 8 albums on the market. another series in the same magazine stuck out by its drawing quality, created by the same artist UDERZO, but the style looked completely different, very realistic – MICHEL TANGUY and his companion LAVERDURE in their adventures as mirage-pilotes in the french airforce. I was hooked from that day on and whenever I went back to france or belgium I tried to get as many ‘bandes dessinees’ as possible from all different artists, especially UDERZO, FRANQUIN, HERGE, MEZIERES, WASTERLAIN and MORRIS. over the years that became a huge collection. but it all started with that one magazine.

© pilote / albert uderzo

wilhelm m.busch 21

HERMANN LOENS, 1866 – 1914, is well known in germany for his novels and poems about the people and nature of northern germany. in the mid sixties WILHELM M.BUSCH illustrated a collection of his nature and hunting novels AUF HEIMLICHER PIRSCH. below a selection of the beautiful pen and ink illustrations.

© wilhelm m.busch

neverland jungle

from disney’s PETER PAN more recreated backgrounds

© disney enterprises, inc

midnight 15

I know – the last ‘midnight’- post was sept.2009, time flies… but, here we go, another harbor study around midnight

© bilderfabrik

olaf gulbransson 1

recently I found this interesting article in a german magazine from the mid-fifties. it features caricatures created by OLAF LEONARD GULBRANSSON, 1873 – 1958, together with some rare photos of the master in his typical ‘work-outfit’. GULBRANSSON was born in norway but lived after his studies in paris in munic, germany. besides being professor at the art academy in munic he worked for the satirical magazine SIMPLICISSIMUS and contributed numerous caricatures. I will have some more of his work in one of my next posts.

© gulbransson

the gang

© bilderfabrik

snow white BG’s 2

a few more recreated backgrounds from disney’s SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS

© disney enterprises, inc

wilhelm m.busch 20

below is a selection of illustrations WILHELM M.BUSCH created in 1941 for the LEO NIKOLAYEVICH TOLSTOY novel – DER SILBERNE FUERST (knjaz sserebrjanyi).

© wilhelm m.busch / c.dressler verlag, berlin

regis loisel 3

before I am gonna show more of REGIS LOISEL’S designs he did for disney’s MULAN, some more of his stunning artwork in his comic strip series PETER PAN. he wrote the story, came up with the layout, did all the artwork (incl.lettering) and colored everything. the panels read like a film, the staging is flawless, not too talk about the composition and the use of textures in the backgrounds.

© regis loisel / editions vents d’ouest

Coppélia 3

ludwig richter

a while ago I posted some woodcuts of the german painter and etcher ADRIAN LUDWIG RICHTER, 1803 – 1884. he was very popular in his lifetime and is probably the most typical german illustrator of the romantic era. here now some of his paintings. you might notice how much his work influenced the art directors and background artists of the early disney films but as well later the style of SLEEPING BEAUTY.

© ludwig richter

german summer