I just recently moved from NY to LA, to live my dream of working at Walt Disney Animation. This is blog is meant to chronicle the people, places, and things I encounter here.
Oh no need to envy! There are a ton of Milt stuff available, especially on Andreas's blog! This period of Milt's design aesthetic is interesting to me. They come off so graphic, which you think would come off flat. But he's able to turn these shapes, squash and stretch them and they come off full and organic.
Thanks for posting that great pic Bobby! I'm the son of John Culhane whom Milt used as the model for Mr. Snoops (so named because as an animation historian and journalist he used to "snoop" around the Disney studios in the 70s getting stories from the 9 old men!). Ironically I was able to use your drawing in the Environmental Psychology courses I teach at Mercy College Manhattan (where we have the Roy Disney Animation Studio, since Roy was a friend of my Dad's and endowed the school); I used it, however to talk about nutrition and physical and mental health and how my Dad, when he gave up smoking in the 60s, turned to wheat, corn, rice and sugar products to compensate and ballooned out into the shape Milt and the others used in caricature so that Dad, as Snoops in real life and on screen ended up a fat man. When Dad went in to do the character photographs and films from which the animators created the character in the movie he did a lot of different emotions. You captured in this one I remember well as a child -- when he hadn't had his sugar high or caffeine high he would become irascible and sometimes go beyond irritation into losing control. I thought of him at those times as "cookie jar John" who couldn't keep his hand out of the cookie jar and always needed that sugar fix. That's the personality trait that led Disney story people to create a snoops character who is easily seduced by his desires and will generally do as Medusa says. Of course Dad was never a villain by any stretch of the imagination -- in real life he has been a wonderful incredible father to have who is among the most loving, generous and strong willed men in the world -- strong willed except when it comes to sugar and pasta and wheat addictions. Unfortunately he ended up a diabetic and is now in the hospital with disorders related to diabetes and wheat flour allergic reactions including progressive dementia, so the story isn't so happy there. So I used your drawing to show my class what a bad nutritional environment can do to the health and psychology of even the greatest men and women, and pointed out in our face book group "FAFB: Fattened Americans Fight Back" that the real villains in our real life stories are those who, for increased market share, have helped create the obesity and diabetes epidemic now plaguing us. I just hope that Dad, like so many others, can do the Mr. Snoops thing and escape the Devil's Bayou that our junk and processed food society has thrown people into. Again, thanks for the great artwork and Blog. Just thought you might like to know that story!
Man, that is looking like a ton of fun to study! I envy you, good sir, but in a good way:)
ReplyDeleteOh no need to envy! There are a ton of Milt stuff available, especially on Andreas's blog! This period of Milt's design aesthetic is interesting to me. They come off so graphic, which you think would come off flat. But he's able to turn these shapes, squash and stretch them and they come off full and organic.
ReplyDeleteOh, I know there is a ton of work, but being able to see the original stuff - that's something many of us do not have the privilege of:P
ReplyDeleteWow, that is great! I wish I could draw like that. Please, keep posting your studies.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting that great pic Bobby! I'm the son of John Culhane whom Milt used as the model for Mr. Snoops (so named because as an animation historian and journalist he used to "snoop" around the Disney studios in the 70s getting stories from the 9 old men!). Ironically I was able to use your drawing in the Environmental Psychology courses I teach at Mercy College Manhattan (where we have the Roy Disney Animation Studio, since Roy was a friend of my Dad's and endowed the school); I used it, however to talk about nutrition and physical and mental health and how my Dad, when he gave up smoking in the 60s, turned to wheat, corn, rice and sugar products to compensate and ballooned out into the shape Milt and the others used in caricature so that Dad, as Snoops in real life and on screen ended up a fat man. When Dad went in to do the character photographs and films from which the animators created the character in the movie he did a lot of different emotions. You captured in this one I remember well as a child -- when he hadn't had his sugar high or caffeine high he would become irascible and sometimes go beyond irritation into losing control. I thought of him at those times as "cookie jar John" who couldn't keep his hand out of the cookie jar and always needed that sugar fix. That's the personality trait that led Disney story people to create a snoops character who is easily seduced by his desires and will generally do as Medusa says. Of course Dad was never a villain by any stretch of the imagination -- in real life he has been a wonderful incredible father to have who is among the most loving, generous and strong willed men in the world -- strong willed except when it comes to sugar and pasta and wheat addictions. Unfortunately he ended up a diabetic and is now in the hospital with disorders related to diabetes and wheat flour allergic reactions including progressive dementia, so the story isn't so happy there. So I used your drawing to show my class what a bad nutritional environment can do to the health and psychology of even the greatest men and women, and pointed out in our face book group "FAFB: Fattened Americans Fight Back" that the real villains in our real life stories are those who, for increased market share, have helped create the obesity and diabetes epidemic now plaguing us. I just hope that Dad, like so many others, can do the Mr. Snoops thing and escape the Devil's Bayou that our junk and processed food society has thrown people into. Again, thanks for the great artwork and Blog. Just thought you might like to know that story!
ReplyDelete