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Animation Appreciation
- Thread starter Dangerous Duck
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After many indecisive rewrites, I have ultimately decided to split my analysis of Milt Kahl's art into three parts: one discussing the animator himself (Part 1), another detailing his many characters individually (Part 2), and finally a deeper look at his animation and design (Part 3).
I suggest you hold on to your hats, folks. This one and the upcoming posts are rather lengthy.
The Art of Milton Kahl
Part 1: Life and Career
One of the most influential animators to ever live, the late, great Milton Kahl was a Disney animator for over forty years, and a member of Walt Disney's legendary "Nine Old Men". He brought such characters as Pinocchio, Peter Pan, and many other beloved Disney characters to life during his time at the studio, becoming an incredibly well-respected figure among animators not only for his impressive resume, but an unsurpassable comprehension of caricature and acting. Contrary to the somewhat limited abilities of other animators-- for example, even one as talented as Ward Kimball had trouble with deep, emotional animation-- Milt could do anything. As such, many of the most difficult sequences were handed off to him, particularly anything involving realistic human animation (I'll touch on this more later).
According to Milt, Disney's "The Three Little Pigs" was the first time a piece of animation had genuinely "come alive" on the big screen; rightfully so, as the short film boasts some of the greatest personality animation at the time. Intrigued by the possibilities of animation and in desperate need of a job, Milt joined the ranks at the Walt Disney Animation Studios circa 1936, working as an in-betweener and apprentice on various shorts for many months. His very first assignment as an animator in "Mickey's Circus"-- by name, Mickey as the ringmaster-- exemplifies Milt's prowess for clear, striking poses that read easily for audiences what the character is thinking or expressing.
Milt's first breakthrough was being cast as the supervising animator of Pinocchio on the feature film-- you guessed it-- "Pinocchio". One of the greatest complications during the picture's production was the portrayal of the titular character, both in design and personality.
As one who's read Collodi's original story, I can state first hand that Pinocchio is quite an unpleasant protagonist, and a glaring contrast with the innocent Disney interpretation. Although Walt's Pinocchio does make many mistakes and wrong decisions, he remains a likable, endearing, and ultimately relatable character; an innocent with good intentions, in spite of the occasional mistake.
Collodi's Pinocchio is, as said before, a sarcastic, impatient, cynical boy, and thus a significantly less appealing character. As Walt and his team were struggling to land a design and personality with appeal, Milt had designed his very own take on the character, along with a pencil test of Pinocchio underwater during the Monstro sequence. Evidently, Walt was enamored with Milt's talents, instantly casting him as the head supervisor of the character. This was the beginning of Milt's career as a Disney animator, and merely the first of numerous incredible feats of character design.
Earlier, less appealing models and poses from various artists.
Milt Kahl's redesign of the character proposing multiple poses, many of which are seen in the final film.
His reputation as a master animator would continue to grow throughout the rest of The Golden Age and The Wartime Films (Thumper, Brom Bones and Johnny Appleseed are highlights), being cemented and immortalized as one of Walt's Nine Old Men. Walt himself had a peculiar relationship with Milt, the latter of which often creating disputes between the two. Many other animators have stated that he was the "only one who could argue with Walt", be it gripes with storytelling, gags, and in many cases, Milt's character assignment. Yes, he was often assigned by Walt to the most difficult characters, by name, realistic humans. Furthermore, males.
Animating realistic males was a terrifying prospect among the artists; the reasons why have never been fully elaborated upon, however, to my knowledge, it would seem that the "princes" were difficult due to the Disney staff being largely populated by men. Designing and animating realistic women was not quite as challenging, because men already have set-in-stone ideas and beliefs of what defines female beauty, where as creating life-like, beautiful males requires relying with greater reason on preconceptions.
Due to the extreme knowledge and comprehension of human anatomy required to animate them convincingly, it was all-too-common for Milt to be cast as supervising animator of these complex characters. Not only was Milt "stuck" with Prince Phillip in contrast to his colleagues' rich characters on Sleeping Beauty-- fortunately, he was allowed a bit of fun with one sequence featuring King Hubert and Stefan-- but with seemingly every picture from the studio throughout The Silver Age, Milt was cast with the "boring humans", such as Alice, the Darling family, Peter Pan, Anita, etc. He's proven himself quite envious of the other animators during this time, particularly, Marc Davis' masterpiece, Cruella de Vil; Milt would later create a "response" of sorts to Marc's character with Madame Medusa.
Milt Kahl (right) presenting a drawing of Alice.
Fortunately for the animator, he ultimately received the rich assignments he ever-so craved throughout his earlier years at the studio, starting with "The Sword in the Stone" in 1963. This feature was one of Milt's absolute favorite projects of his entire career, granting him permission to design significantly more caricatured, zany characters and animation. He worked on nearly every character in the film to some degree, most extensively on Madam Mim, Merlin, Wart, and the duo of Sir Ector and Kay; all of which are fantastic pieces of acting and character design. Milt's work on the film marked the first in a line of what I consider to be his greatest, coinciding with my argument as to why The Bronze Age features some of the greatest hand-drawn animation in the history of the medium, providing animators with a significantly greater sense of artistic freedom than ever before.
In spite of the respect his fellow artists bestow him, Milt's colleagues have often expressed concern and doubt over how invested he was in his assignments. The legendary duo of animators renowned for their remarkably emotionally resonant animation, Frank Thomas & Ollie Johnston, have criticized Milt of merely clinging to the "tried-and-tested" principles of animation instead of digging deep into his characters, and, as a result, creating formulaic, unfeeling animation with no soul. Even with the monumental respect I have for Frank & Ollie, I must respectfully disagree. Granted, myself, I didn't know him personally, but Milt was a passionate artist who crafted all of his work with extreme care and depth. Perhaps it doesn't reach the emotional heights of Frank & Ollie's animation, however, Milt's work most definitely boasts many other strengths; ones that other animators lack, such as impeccable and consistent draughtsmanship, utilization of simple yet rich geometrical shapes, and an incredibly complex understanding of human anatomy. The resulting piece of animation never fails to impress.
Needless to say, Frank & Ollie, Wolfgang Reitherman, Marc Davis, and the rest of Milt's fellow artists still respected him for lending a helping hand when needed or asked. Nigh constantly was he giving advice, pointers, and on occasion entire re-draws for his colleagues. And that - that was precisely what Milt Kahl lived by; perfection. Milt always knew what worked, striving for everyone on the production crew to provide only their best, and if their best wasn't substantial, he would very vocally express his dissatisfaction, further inspiring them to work efficiently. Only the best was good enough.
Part 2 of the retrospective will be completed soon.
By the by, for those of whom that might be interested, there's a fantastic interview with Milt here:
I suggest you hold on to your hats, folks. This one and the upcoming posts are rather lengthy.
The Art of Milton Kahl
Part 1: Life and Career
According to Milt, Disney's "The Three Little Pigs" was the first time a piece of animation had genuinely "come alive" on the big screen; rightfully so, as the short film boasts some of the greatest personality animation at the time. Intrigued by the possibilities of animation and in desperate need of a job, Milt joined the ranks at the Walt Disney Animation Studios circa 1936, working as an in-betweener and apprentice on various shorts for many months. His very first assignment as an animator in "Mickey's Circus"-- by name, Mickey as the ringmaster-- exemplifies Milt's prowess for clear, striking poses that read easily for audiences what the character is thinking or expressing.
Milt's first breakthrough was being cast as the supervising animator of Pinocchio on the feature film-- you guessed it-- "Pinocchio". One of the greatest complications during the picture's production was the portrayal of the titular character, both in design and personality.
As one who's read Collodi's original story, I can state first hand that Pinocchio is quite an unpleasant protagonist, and a glaring contrast with the innocent Disney interpretation. Although Walt's Pinocchio does make many mistakes and wrong decisions, he remains a likable, endearing, and ultimately relatable character; an innocent with good intentions, in spite of the occasional mistake.
Collodi's Pinocchio is, as said before, a sarcastic, impatient, cynical boy, and thus a significantly less appealing character. As Walt and his team were struggling to land a design and personality with appeal, Milt had designed his very own take on the character, along with a pencil test of Pinocchio underwater during the Monstro sequence. Evidently, Walt was enamored with Milt's talents, instantly casting him as the head supervisor of the character. This was the beginning of Milt's career as a Disney animator, and merely the first of numerous incredible feats of character design.
Earlier, less appealing models and poses from various artists.
Milt Kahl's redesign of the character proposing multiple poses, many of which are seen in the final film.
His reputation as a master animator would continue to grow throughout the rest of The Golden Age and The Wartime Films (Thumper, Brom Bones and Johnny Appleseed are highlights), being cemented and immortalized as one of Walt's Nine Old Men. Walt himself had a peculiar relationship with Milt, the latter of which often creating disputes between the two. Many other animators have stated that he was the "only one who could argue with Walt", be it gripes with storytelling, gags, and in many cases, Milt's character assignment. Yes, he was often assigned by Walt to the most difficult characters, by name, realistic humans. Furthermore, males.
Animating realistic males was a terrifying prospect among the artists; the reasons why have never been fully elaborated upon, however, to my knowledge, it would seem that the "princes" were difficult due to the Disney staff being largely populated by men. Designing and animating realistic women was not quite as challenging, because men already have set-in-stone ideas and beliefs of what defines female beauty, where as creating life-like, beautiful males requires relying with greater reason on preconceptions.
Due to the extreme knowledge and comprehension of human anatomy required to animate them convincingly, it was all-too-common for Milt to be cast as supervising animator of these complex characters. Not only was Milt "stuck" with Prince Phillip in contrast to his colleagues' rich characters on Sleeping Beauty-- fortunately, he was allowed a bit of fun with one sequence featuring King Hubert and Stefan-- but with seemingly every picture from the studio throughout The Silver Age, Milt was cast with the "boring humans", such as Alice, the Darling family, Peter Pan, Anita, etc. He's proven himself quite envious of the other animators during this time, particularly, Marc Davis' masterpiece, Cruella de Vil; Milt would later create a "response" of sorts to Marc's character with Madame Medusa.
Milt Kahl (right) presenting a drawing of Alice.
In spite of the respect his fellow artists bestow him, Milt's colleagues have often expressed concern and doubt over how invested he was in his assignments. The legendary duo of animators renowned for their remarkably emotionally resonant animation, Frank Thomas & Ollie Johnston, have criticized Milt of merely clinging to the "tried-and-tested" principles of animation instead of digging deep into his characters, and, as a result, creating formulaic, unfeeling animation with no soul. Even with the monumental respect I have for Frank & Ollie, I must respectfully disagree. Granted, myself, I didn't know him personally, but Milt was a passionate artist who crafted all of his work with extreme care and depth. Perhaps it doesn't reach the emotional heights of Frank & Ollie's animation, however, Milt's work most definitely boasts many other strengths; ones that other animators lack, such as impeccable and consistent draughtsmanship, utilization of simple yet rich geometrical shapes, and an incredibly complex understanding of human anatomy. The resulting piece of animation never fails to impress.
Needless to say, Frank & Ollie, Wolfgang Reitherman, Marc Davis, and the rest of Milt's fellow artists still respected him for lending a helping hand when needed or asked. Nigh constantly was he giving advice, pointers, and on occasion entire re-draws for his colleagues. And that - that was precisely what Milt Kahl lived by; perfection. Milt always knew what worked, striving for everyone on the production crew to provide only their best, and if their best wasn't substantial, he would very vocally express his dissatisfaction, further inspiring them to work efficiently. Only the best was good enough.
In 1978, Milt finally retired his long career at the Walt Disney Animation Studios, leaving
behind an utterly stunning line of work that, in my opinion, will never be topped.
behind an utterly stunning line of work that, in my opinion, will never be topped.
Part 2 of the retrospective will be completed soon.
By the by, for those of whom that might be interested, there's a fantastic interview with Milt here:
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Absolutely. In fact, it wasn't until recent years that us fans were granted such an incredible insight into the film's production, you know. For over 60 years, animation buffs' only source of information on Disney's features were a handful of books, most notably The Illusion of Life, a phenomenal guide for animators written by the aforementioned pair of Disney veterans, Frank & Ollie. Without a single doubt, it is the greatest piece of literature focusing on the art form in existence, and I very highly recommend it to everyone, be it one pursuing a career in animation, or simply a Disney fan.
Regrettably, no; the last living member of The Nine Old Men, Ollie Johnston, passed away in 2008 at the staggering age of 95. He, along with his colleague and best friend, lived a long, fruitful life, progressing the art form far beyond anyone's expectations and inspiring millions of artists. Truly an incredible legacy.
My favorite would be a bit of a toss-up between Honest John and Geppetto, for all of the reasons you described. I tend to lean more towards Geppetto, but...Gah, it's still a close call. Pinocchio possesses such a wonderfully varied, intriguing cast, completely unlike anything seen in Disney's other pictures, and easily my favorite.
Your mentioning of the Coachman's accent (I love that line, by the by) reminded me of one peculiar fact: did you know that the Coachman and Stromboli were voiced by the same actor? By name, Charles Judels, a relatively obscure but very talented Vaudevillian actor of the 30's. He's best remembered for his signature "whinnying" sound, often found peppered throughout his most comedic roles, including Stromboli briefly during one amusing scene.
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Ooh! What a distinctive concept that is. Certainly a breath of fresh breath of air from today's cynical sense of humor, found so prevalent on the internet. An animated show unquestionably holds monumental potential for audiences of all kinds; bare in mind that wide audience appeal is something many programs and series lack in this age, particularly online. I say, you have a true winner on your hands.
Nevertheless, as you stated yourself, it must be executed well. Even the most promising of proposals can run utterly wrong and off-course without proper direction. In spite of the potential in reviving a forgotten form of entertainment, there's equal potential and possibility for it to be a misguided, unappealing mess. I'm sure you're already well aware of that, and would go about pouring your heart and soul into the project should it ever be put into motion, however, dabbling in that which is unfamiliar to many in this day and age can very well be disastrous, depending both on your audience and the quality or entertainment value of the work itself. Again, that's not to discourage your concept by any stretch of the imagination, because, believe me, I'm enamored with the idea, and surely others will be, too, if executed cleverly.
I would comment more specifically on the video game concept as well, but this is an Animation Appreciation, after all!
Suppose you ever decide to pursue the concept, I'd be thoroughly delighted to contribute in some manner, especially if in animated form.
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For a weekly show Dragon Ball Super isn't all that bad, animation is pretty good though sloppy at times, not very noticeable. Overall its animation is pretty good.
I would say, in comparison to DBZ, DBS as well as most recent DB animation in general is consistently mediocre. It never gets as bad as DBZ's worst
It never really approaches DBZ's best,
Of course, these are only stills but even in motion the newer animation fails to really capitalize on the ability to create animation more easily awarded by newer technology.
Of course this is just nitpicking but even so, I am not alone in my opinions in regards to recent DB animation. Most people would blame the current animation director and character designer Tadayoshi Yamamuro for being too focused on homogeneity at the cost of fluidy and style.
Most people also consider his character designs for recent productions to be inferior and too rigid in comparison to the older designs.
A fanmade comparison of the current character design style and quality vs the style and quality that was seen in the 90s.
(90s on top, modern bottom.)
That being said, the few instances the animators are allowed more freedom we get some very nicely drawn shots with a lot of personality. Wish we could see more of it.
I get so nerdy over this wow lol.
It never really approaches DBZ's best,
Of course, these are only stills but even in motion the newer animation fails to really capitalize on the ability to create animation more easily awarded by newer technology.
Of course this is just nitpicking but even so, I am not alone in my opinions in regards to recent DB animation. Most people would blame the current animation director and character designer Tadayoshi Yamamuro for being too focused on homogeneity at the cost of fluidy and style.
Most people also consider his character designs for recent productions to be inferior and too rigid in comparison to the older designs.
A fanmade comparison of the current character design style and quality vs the style and quality that was seen in the 90s.
(90s on top, modern bottom.)
That being said, the few instances the animators are allowed more freedom we get some very nicely drawn shots with a lot of personality. Wish we could see more of it.
I get so nerdy over this wow lol.
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idle thought: Jeff Kline is one of the most underrated talent in the western cartoon industry. AMong other things, he was producer/creator/write whatever on
-Extreme Ghostbusters
-MIB: The Animated Series
-Godzilla: The Series
-Big Guy and Rusty The Boy Robot
-Jackie Chan Adventure
-GI Joe Renegades
-Transformers Prime
^this is a ridiculously good resume by any standards
-Extreme Ghostbusters
-MIB: The Animated Series
-Godzilla: The Series
-Big Guy and Rusty The Boy Robot
-Jackie Chan Adventure
-GI Joe Renegades
-Transformers Prime
^this is a ridiculously good resume by any standards
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this is my favorite work of his
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I can think less about the game and more on bubsy himself. his games have a reputation for being well (Excuse me for my language.) Uncontrollable piles of gaming bullshit. But if you think less About the games and more on bubsy you get something else, a good cartoon character. not perfect, but totally passable.
The first Bubsy video game was actually pretty well received upon release as were some of the others I believe. However, at some point a hive-mind developed that Bubsy was now completely horrible from the start with no redeeming qualities and something to be mocked.