Peter Moehrle Blogs!!!

Artist Peter Moehrle has started his own blog: happybrush.blogspot.com

His wonderful animation B/G art is just one small part of this gentleman's talent. Check it out at:

happybrush.blogspot.com

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: Gaston at the Pub

Tonight, two digitally recreated B/Gs from BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. There's a lot of taxidermy going on...

This second pan is another case of not being able to remove character art, but at least I could piece together the entire pan, which is still pretty fascinating to see...

Notice, the character entering on the right is also under Gaston's chair! (The pan starts to move in the very first frame, as he walks into the scene, thus no way to eliminate him...)

Shadow Begone!

Recently I posted a batch of B/G art from the 1946 Disney short CLOWN OF THE JUNGLE. There was a particular background in which I was able to remove the characters, but one shadow never went away.

Well, guess what?

I was delighted to receive by email that same background, with hand-painted retouching (I assume via Photoshop), shared by artist Peter Moehrle! He is a truly master at animation background art, with a dazzling style and a resume to match. Among his credits, he trained all the background artists on Disney Studio's LILO AND STITCH in the fine art of watercolor backgrounds. He also worked on MULAN. He is the real deal, a genuine animation background artist, with Disney studio credits (and others).

Here is a small version of what I was able to achieve, my "semi-original," coupled with Peter's beautifully retouched version.

Thank you Peter!

THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG (Disney, 2009)

I had the tremendous pleasure Thursday night of seeing a preview of Disney's new cartoon feature (and I use those words lovingly and respectfully).

"THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG" is PHENOMENAL!

It is everything Disney animation afficionados hoped for! The visuals are gorgeous and spectacular, the music is tremendous, and the storytelling is compelling - beautifully interplaying comedic, scary and heart-tugging elements with deft skill.

All the animation is brilliant, but in particular Eric Goldberg has outdone himself with his animation for "Louis," the trumpet-playing alligator!

I also loved "Ray," the cajun firefly.

Those of us who love traditional animation MUST support this effort with great enthusiasm. Plan a party, ask your friends to join you, and buy LOTS of tickets.

I am hoping this will get the box office sales it deserves - and become a blockbuster. It's definitely got the Disney magic... and might just become an instant classic!

CLOWN OF THE JUNGLE (Disney, 1946)

Walt Disney presents...

a cartoon starring Donald Duck!

CLOWN OF THE JUNGLE title card:

Credits, including layout by Yale Gracey and B/G art by Thelma Witner:

You can watch it on YouTube:

I couldn't figure out how to do the first, opening pan B/G because of the moving multiplane layers in the foreground.

But I managed to re-create the second pan B/G, and the nearly-infinite length of this pan B/G easily qualifies it as a contender for the longest piece I've ever digitally re-created...

Here's a closer look at the left side of the pan...

And the right side (birds are obviously cel overlays):

and more B/G art from this film:





I love the subtle and somewhat abstract design of this mid-tree leafy view:


Notice the brilliant angled horizon here:

I was able to digitally remove Donald and the Aracuan bird, but that shadow refused to budge!


This pan is a right-to-left shot, and as you can see the crazy Aracuan bird appears in very first frame (on the right)...

Here's a close-up view from another shot/segment:

and that's THE END!

yet more BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

3D BEAUTY AND THE BEAST - Coming in 2010!

Walt Disney Studios has announced that the only full-length animated feature film to ever be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture is being converted into Digital Disney 3D: The 1991 animated feature film Beauty and the Beast will be re-released in 2010.

Interested in reading more? Then just Google "3D BEAUTY AND THE BEAST" and you'll get a variety of fascinating articles about its re-invention. Disney is committed to delivery the original film in a new way. Very enthusiastic reviews after a Showest preview indicate it will be a phenomenal experience.

As the Peter Allen song says "everything old is new again!"

In keeping with this weekend's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST theme, the magnificent piece of background art above features the gated entrance to the Beast's estate.