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Walt Disney's vision for the studios that bore his name was to stay relevant by consistently taking creative risks and doing the unexpected. Heading into the 1940s, he crafted an entirely new division of the studio called the Character Model Department, which focused solely on the details of character development. In this latest volume from famed Disney historian Didier Ghez, he profiles six remarkable artists from that department, sharing uncommon and never-before-seen images of their influential work behind the scenes. With rich descriptions and passages from the artists' journals, this gorgeous collection offers a glimpse at the Disney artists whose work gave rise to many classic Disney characters, and ultimately rewrote the future of character creation in animation.… (more)
User reviews
As with the other volumes,
I was a little disappointed that there are only a couple photos of the maquette sculptures that were created, even though one artist's profile specifically calls him out as being a sculptor, and the maquettes were something of an invention by the group. I was also disappointed that none of the women in the department were featured, even though there were at least two explicitly named and included in the men's profiles, but that could be explained by space constraints and their relatively shorter time or smaller repository of work in the archives. Three or four of the artists were very close friends, they even shared a house together for a while, and it was nice to read about each of them, but that does take space away from Fini and Sheila.
I love this series for the quality of the books, for the interesting look at how artists' unique skills and styles fit into an animation studio's needs, and also for the wonderful artwork. In fact, I forgot that I won the book through Early Reviewers and bought my own copy when I happened to be reminded of it. Despite I would have liked to see a more expanded look at the Character Modeling Department artists and role, this third volume continues to be excellent, and I hope that Ghez will continue with a fourth volume that picks up after the mass layoff that ended most of these artists' careers at the Studio.
I have only read this volume of the The Drew as They Pleased series, but, based on the content, this volume and the others are a must-read for all fans of Disney. The collection of production artwork alone is a delight for those interested in the process of designing characters and animating films. The stories that Ghez managed to uncover are all the more interesting and a treat for those who study film history.
What you'd hope to find here, finished illustrations from Disney films in full color, is almost entirely lacking. These are mostly black and white early sketches showing facial expressions. But the individuals responsible for this or that favorite classic character are given credit, and that's rare. This is the third in a series, and would be a nice gift for the Disney fan.
Didier Ghez’s They Drew As They Pleased: The Hidden Art of Disney’s Late Golden Age is an enchanting document of the most important studio in animation history up to that time. In the third volume of his continuing series, The 1940s - Part Two, Ghez profiles six artist who worked in the Story Research and Character Model Department. The brilliant Ecuadorian artist, Eduardo Sola Franco, put his soul into work on Don Quixote, a feature the was ahead of it's time and would never see the light of day.
Johnny Walbridge used humor to good effect, creating model sheets for Dumbo, Pinocchio and other early Disney classics. The brilliant character designer Jack Miller put life into his designs for Pinocchio, Dumbo, Saludos Amigos and just about all the characters that ended up in Peter Pan. Campbell Grant worked on The Wind in the Willows and added wonderful sequences to Fantasia, including Night on Bald Mountain. James Bodero's work is completely brilliant! His Toad character sketches from Wind in the Willows are hysterical. Bodero's pages of drawings for the Centaur sequence in Fantasia are wonderful to see. His work is incredibly inspiring! Finally Martin Provensen, among other projects, created a sequence of compelling sketches for the Peter and the Wolf sequence of Make Mine Music from 1949.
All of these artists arrived at Disney with their individual genius, some lasted longer and were more successful than others, but they all contributed to some of the most successful and artistic animated films that have ever been brought to the big screen. This wonderful volume helps to make sure that history is remembered.
The books in the series follow a similar format, with separate chapters focusing on individual animators ... in this case six men whose names were unfamiliar to me, but whose work strongly evinced the charming and poignant Disney studio character of the era. I'm a fan of that period of animation, and I recognized some of the characters and drawings, but nowhere near all of them, since the book shows in-progress drawings to illustrate the creative process, and includes images that never made it onto a Disney cel. Enlightening stuff to a film historian, and thoroughly engrossing to a fan of classic Disney animation.
The volume itself is well-researched, beautifully laid out, and well printed. Page composition is lovely, allowing the art to shine without interference from the text, but keeping the words handy. I really can't find much of anything to criticize about this handsome and fascinating book. The artwork is a treat to experience, and narrative gives it an added depth and context that for me, was extremely rewarding.
Very highly recommended.