Mickey Mouse Model Sheet

Does anyone else find drawing Mickey as hard as I do? It seems like if one little line is wrong he ends up looking nothing like Mickey. He's built on simple shapes but I just never seem to really get it right. Oh well, I guess that's what practice is for. Here's a couple of model sheets of Mickey. Check out Mark Mayerson's post that he did back in June for some great Fred Moore models from "The Little Whirlwind". Then check out Hans Perk's animation drafts from the same cartoon.

How Uninteresting Was This Year's World Series?

I couldn't even bother to watch the Series this year. How dull are the Tigers and Cardinals? Maybe it's just the letdown of watching the Yankees bow out early and then seeing the Mets blow it, I really thought they were gonna take that last game. Can someone tell me when Jeff Weaver learned to pitch again? Why couldn't he have pitched the way he did in the playoffs when he was with the Yankees. Anyway, here's a model sheet from "Baseball Bugs".

Cartoons and Timing to Music

The timing of cartoons to music is a subject I've been spending a lot of my time on. I should really be drawing instead, but it's something I really want to learn and be able to put into practice. Here's some short scenes that I particularly like and have been studying closely, along with many others. I didn't include any Tom and Jerry clips only because I'm going to do a separate post on Bill Hanna, who is really one of the best at timing to music, at least in my eyes he is.

This first clip is Shamus Culhane's animation from the Disney short "Hawaiian Holiday". Culhane, to me is one the best at timing to music. I think a lot of his cartoons at Lantz Studios really stand out because of his feel for music. Watch this scene with the sound off and then with it on to see how effective his animation was.

Culhane-Hawaiian Holiday

Uploaded by klangley

This clip from Dick Lundy's short "Banquet Busters" is more subtle. The rhythym is used to accent actions. Watch when Wally Walrus first starts walking with the platter, even the steam puffs out on the beat. I wonder if Lundy indicated that on his bar sheets or of the animator worked that out on his own?

Banquet Busters

Uploaded by klangley

This dance from Milt Gross' "Jitterbug Follies" is just great. (Is this not one of the funniest cartoons ever?)

Jitterbug Follies

Uploaded by klangley

Another one from Dick Lundy, this one's from "Apple Andy". I could watch these apple cores dance all day without ever tiring of it. Even when they first scramble around and about is right on the beat. Could anyone tell my why every Culhane and Lundy short from Lantz isn't out on DVD!?!? I love them.

Apple Andy

Uploaded by klangley

This dance from "Mickey's Birthday Party", animated by Ken Muse (ID by Thad) just floors me. I think it's perfect, so entertaining. It actually made me like Mickey, who I disliked for many years.

Mickey's Birthday Party

Uploaded by klangley

I don't have to say anything about any scene from "Coal Black", it's just pure entertainment. Clampett certainly had a feel for jazz.

Coal Black

Uploaded by klangley

More Slap Happy Lion

Here's the rest of the pics I promised from "Slap Happy Lion". Each one is a really funny and cartoony drawing.

Slap Happy Lion

It's been about a week since my last post so I figured I'd start up again with some pics from Tex Avery's hilarious short "Slap Happy Lion". This cartoon is packed with some really great and wild animation, definetly some of my favorite of all time. The model sheet was drawn by Irv Spence but I'm not sure who drew the different animation drawings. I've also uploaded the scene that corresponds with these animation drawings, sorry for the crappy quality though. Check back later this week for the rest of the stuff I scanned from "Slap Happy Lion"

Slap Happy Lion scene

Uploaded by klangley

Milt Gross Reviews The News

I ran across these hilarious Milt Gross pages while combing the newsgroups and I just had to share. As always Milt's drawings are really cartoony and funny.

I'm taking a road trip to North Carolina with the family this week so I probably won't be posting anything until some time next week, but maybe I'll bring some cartoons down to upload.

Zoot Cat

I was going to do a post yesterday about one of my favorite Tom and Jerry cartoons "Zoot Cat" but I was too tired last night to stay up and upload a clip of Irv Spence's dance scene. I went to check out Thad's blog this morning and he beat me to it, even the same model sheet plus some others. This cartoon has some of my favorite animation from Irv Spence. Here's some animation drawings plus a different scene by Irv Spence. Sorry for the copycat post Thad.

Pete Burness

Irv Spence

Pete Burness

Ken Muse

Irv Spence-Zoot Cat

Uploaded by klangley