Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Paper Sculpture
Thursday, March 15, 2012
DUMBO Flying High Again!
![]() |
One of my panels, from pencil to paint. |
![]() |
A few of Bill Peet's Story Sketches |
The ride is of course based on the timeless classic film, "DUMBO" released by Walt Disney in 1941 which was a boon to the studio and the hit they needed to recoup box office losses from Fantasia. It was a simple and economically made feature with a running time of 64 minutes. When asked to lengthen the time Walt refused saying it was fine the way it was. Wish we had that kind of clear thinking these days. DUMBO was also one of the most heartfelt of the Disney classics and I defy anyone to sit through the "baby mine" lullaby sequence and not get misty eyed. I'll get into much more detail on the film in a later post but for now, this is about the ride.
![]() |
Original "Pink Elephants version |
The original plans had the 10 pink pachyderms which garnered the nickname "Pink Elephants on Parade". Walt decided he wasn't too keen on seeing guests flying formations on some intoxicated mammals and so ordered all of the elephant artwork grounded until they were painted blue-gray and to be on model to DUMBO.
![]() |
DUMBO evesdropping |
Originally the ears were hinged and would slowly flap up and down which I remember seemed to make them seem even more alive when I visited the park soon after it opened. This ear movement created a great effect, when it worked. Unfortunately it jammed frequently and DUMBO looked like he was trying to execute a barrel roll or listen in on Aunt Esther's secret recipe for apple pie crisps. The little fellows got plastic surgery on all the ears and they never flapped again.
![]() |
One of the many gilded sculptures that adorn the ride |
This week the park unveiled the ride to an appreciative audience. It is the first installation of what eventually will be two DUMBO carousels flying in opposite directions. It also has many new features such as fountains with corresponding LED light show that is best described by the fans as a mini version of the World of Color night show, so make sure to stop by and see it in the evening. It is also adorned with gilded sculptures of characters and props from the film from the Stork to Momma Jumbo to even peanut shells. The base is also trimmed with 8 story panels depicting the entire Film story of our favorite little flying fellow. I was honored when they contacted me to design those pieces not just because I deeply respect the amazing people they have at WDI but because DUMBO is easily on my short list of favorite Disney films.
![]() |
A few of the panels I did in various stages. |
The WDI crew was constantly improving each step of the process and one minor snag was hit when they changed the frame outline during the painting process. It was worth it as the new frame was a beautiful modification and only improved the settings for my illustrations. I chose what I felt were the key moments in DUMBO's journey and got marvelous input from my bosses at WDI. I had painted in a very black BG behind the "pink elephants" panel which although true to the film, was much too dark when surrounded by the other pieces and created a "hole" effect. Luckily again this was pointed out to me and I simply painted it over with a gradation of cobalt blue and I have to admit, it was much better.
The DUMBO ride is one of the few rides found at every Magic Kingdom park around the world. Even though it is basically a simple and classic amusement park design, there is a tremendous appeal for adults as well as children. It is in no short thanks to the little elephant who rose to the occasion many years ago.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Jim Henson Tribute
![]() |
Kermit croons a spellbinding theme called Rainbow Connection. |
![]() |
Frank Oz, but you can call him MA Otter |
As Frank was the voice for MA he took some time to help Patty out with her characterization of the little woman. Jim likewise gave me pointers on Emmet but also threw some real compliments my way concerning my muppeteering skills that I will always cherish. I actually felt guilty when I got my paycheck for doing what was truly a thrill for me. I did eventually cash the check, I mean come on, starving artist, remember? Like many people reading this blog, I have been a fan of Jim's work back when the muppets were more or less nameless monsters and were featured in black and white television commercials and on the Ed Sullivan Show. My brothers and I would squeal with laughter at the antics of a small lizard like creature, nameless at the time but after a few more design modifications like webbed feet, we would all know him eventually as Kermit the Frog. We also enjoyed Rowlf the Dog on the "Jimmy Dean Show". So when the Gallery came a' knocking for a tribute piece, I was thrilled at the opportunity to share my deep appreciation for Jim Henson and what he has done for me and so many other childhoods in sharing his love for life.
![]() |
"Soul Mates" basic blocking |
![]() |
"Soul Mates" adding washes |
![]() |
"Soul Mates" ready to ship |
![]() |
"Muppets and Mullions" |
It's an honor to be a part of something that says thanks to a man who has brought so much enjoyment all over the world. The exhibition will be from December 10, 2011 to January 2, 2012. Opening reception is December 10, 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM. If you get a chance, come on down to the Gallery and say hello, I'd love to meet you as we pay tribute to the "man behind the muppets, JIM HENSON."
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Mickey's Xmas Carol, PART 3
![]() |
Ghost of Christmas Past models Mike Peraza |
I worked with Disney Feature animator and model maker Dick Lucas
![]() |
Ken stops by Christmas Carol to check out my model sets |
Dick (and Muriel) lived two doors down from me, and Don (and wife Kay) were 2 streets over so I could bug them about these kinds of things which I did frequently. Besides using models as vehicles, we also referred to them for props. The Disney Lot Prop Master gave me one of the door knockers used in "Mary Poppins" (Bank of England set
![]() |
Patty Peraza live on Good Morning America Interview during Xmas Carol |
For "Mickey's Christmas Carol", I built various sets including the counting house, Mickey's desk, Scrooges' desk, the stairway and the bedroom. I also created sculptures, some even articulated versions of the key characters like Mickey along with cutouts of drawings to place them into the sets for study and discussion.
These model sets and sculptures were available for loan out to anyone on the crew to aid with staging their scenes. Since the pieces were primarily paper and balsa wood, when Patty and Ted wanted to borrow the Ghost of Christmas Past set to study light patterns they asked me, "Is it OK to light the candle?" "Sure" I answered. When Patty returned the candle stick with the rest of the set at the end of production I wondered if they had used it as the sole means of lighting and warmth for the effects department as there was a veritable mound of candle wax collected at the stem!
I was honored though when one of my setups with Jimminy on the candle stick was recently used by
![]() |
John Lasseter and Mike Peraza check scene on Ub Iwerks moviola |
As I mentioned earlier, we unfortunately didn't have the ability to create computer graphics in 3D at the time which is today considered mainstream for "animated" feature films. I was hoping to push the boundaries of 2D if not into 3D, than at least 2 1/2 D. One morning I found a scene depicting a quick flight through an alley and over some rooftops needing attention. Now you have to understand that this was a featurette and not a feature and although we all lavished every bit of quality we were allowed, deadlines and quotas had to be met. I had about an hour to think of a way to handle forward motion and while pondering the problem, John Lasseter, who was 2 rooms down came in to see what I was up to.
He was going to animate Scrooge hanging onto Jimminy with his tiny umbrella for the trip to the past and had just gone over the scene in storyboards next door with Burny. He was as excited as I was about various ways we might re-stage the scenes and after we brainstormed it for a bit, I roughed out some layouts and gave them to him to follow. I had really wanted to involve the audience in a roller-coaster ride over London rooftops. I did a few crazy tests that were kind of fun and full of potential but only one scene was actually cut into the reel and unfortunately what you see on film is our first only take of that action. John added some creative personality bits having Scrooge attempt to crawl ON TOP of the slippery umbrella during their flight which definitely added to the sequence. But oh, If we could only go back and redo it with the resources and experience we have now, ... sigh.
![]() |
Me at Bill Peet's old desk working away |
Animation production was directed in a very organized yet enjoyable manner by Burny with superb detailed model sheets constructed for animators to follow. I went down to the morgue to gather additional reference for characters we were "borrowing" from previous features like Willie the Giant, Ratty, Moley, etc.. On Mickey's Christmas Carol we used model sheets that demonstrated key poses as well as others that specifically detailed, scale, proportions and the final cleanup process notes.
Even with that kind of foresight to guide the production, pressure builds trying to create day after day. Gags both practical and drawn were always a great way to relieve that tension at Disney. We constantly exchanged gag drawings with each other lampooning everyone on the crew as well as the film itself, all in fun of course.
![]() |
The talented crew hanging out with "Santa" |
One gag resulted with an early snow in our hallways at Disney. Yes, I said SNOW, and IN our hallway. You see at the same time as Christmas Carol, the studio was working on a futuristic film called "TRON". Well that crew was working incredibly long hours at the end of its production and during one late night escapade, a few Tronites entered our dark and deserted Christmas Carol hallways and emptied studio fire extinguishers into a few rooms and covered the hallway. The stuff looked like snow, if you were a bit tipsy, which is most likely what the "volunteer firemen" from TRON were that evening. Unfortunately you just couldn't make a decent snowman out of that sticky goop (I tried) so it didn't endear itself to the unlucky victims. Luckily my door and Burny's were locked but they had a hell of a blizzard in Mark Henn's room as well as a couple of others. The studio management was definitely not laughing at our early White Christmas as evidenced by the interoffice mails we received (which I kept) but most thought it was pretty hilarious.
![]() |
Warm watercolor, wrinkled paper and ink - Mike Peraza |
Luckily a co-worker and utterly amazing story guy, Vance Gerry used to drop by my room to check up on me as he had requested me for the story department when I first came to the studio based on my reel at Cal Arts which was more story boards than animation. He got really excited about the little pencil sketches I had mocked up for the title sequence and the next day brought over some beautiful little ink sketches in the same vein he had done for some little Dicken's books to show me. Let me explain that Vance had his own printing press in those days and would hand out these beautiful little hand made books of selected works by Dickens for Christmas presents, of which I'm lucky to have a complete set courtesy of Vance. Vance then gave me a very special edition he had done that was reserved for retirees. I won't go into much detail about it here except to mention the long dark stairway and the small paper bag. Those of you who know what I'm talking about are probably cracking up right now. Anyway Burny could hear us laughing next door and came over to see what we were doing and in no time, with Vance's support, Burny consented to let me do the title art. The only trouble doing titles I now faced was that the crew got wind of it and started coming down to see the pieces.
![]() |
A Couple of Crickets |
She was a pro and took it like a er... woman, but there were more than a few very disenchanted crew members to put it mildly. Those kinds of things though unpleasant have always been and will always be a part of film production and is a very difficult decision for producers to contend with. You can't always tell what a person did of didn't do on a film or series by just reading the credits.
![]() |
One of my lost NBC "bumpers" drawings |
![]() |
Patty documented every aspect of the film |
Everyone was wearing their golden crew T-shirts and it was a warm reunion to celebrate what we had all achieved together, not to mention the food was mighty tasty too. In the end it was a very good experience made better by the talent and integrity of the entire crew and a supportive management team. "Mickey's Christmas Carol" was received enthusiastically at the box office when issued in movie theaters as a double bill in a re-release of "The Rescuers" which ironically also featured animation by then brand new "Mickey's Christmas Carol" alum animators Dale Baer, Ed Gombert and Randy Cartwright.
When the NBC network carried it in subsequent years, the studio contacted me through special Projects head Mark Sturdivant to create a dozen more title cards in the same sepia ink style I done for the original which was a treat for me. Mark was a pleasure to deal with as he was an unusual combination of creativity AND management. Yeah, you don't come across that animal often in what we laughingly refer to as the Entertainment Biz. I was in the middle of
![]() |
Mike (Santa) and Burny Christmas Eve |
I then sent them to Bill Brazner who supervised the Xerox Department in Ink and Paint and he would xerox them on cels to be shot over distressed warm watercolor boards I would sponge. They used these for what is referred to as "bumpers" in the business. These are the little title cards that in essence say to the home audience, "don't go away, we'll be right back after these messages
![]() |
The Release Poster |
Walt Disney Studios built up the fact that this was Mickey's first official return to the motion picture screen in 30 years. The Disney take on the Dicken's story was translated into comics, records, collectable figurines and if you happened to vists the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World last Christmas, simply gorgeous window displays.
After "The Black Cauldron", we were the last Disney animated film to actually enjoy complete production in the old original animation studio in Burbank that Walt Disney had built with the profits of his classic "Snow White" so in hindsite it was made even more special for those of us that toiled for old Ebenezer. Even though we had been told the move to Glendale would be temporary and that we'd soon return to the original animation building, it never came about.
The film went on to be nominated for an Academy Award as Best Animated Short (pretty long short ), the first nomination for our Mickey since "Mickey and the Seal" in 1948. What has made it even more special like so many films we have been fortunate to work on is the happy looks one sees when some one brings up "Mickey's Christmas Carol." Over the years it has become a perennial holiday favorite for families to gather around and enjoy with each new generation. To paraphrase Tiny Tim's last line, we were all blessed to have worked on this merry little ornament of a film, yes blessed every one.
Merry Christmas!
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Mickey's Xmas Carol, PART 2
![]() |
Burny, carefree Commander of Christmas Carol Capers |
Most of the film was storyboarded with little charcoal sketches by Burny. I mean these were really little jewels that clearly told the story but did it with simple yet beautifully clear imagery. There have been outstanding story board artists in Disney studio over the years, the likes of Bill Pete, Joe Rinaldi and Ken Anderson come immediately to my mind. Well, I believe Burny could have held his own with that allstar team. He tried to find the best way to stage a story point and executed those attempts in a very eye-pleasing manner. I had been working (and still do) in charcoal for years and helped Burny with a few pf my charcoal and pastel sketches sprinkled amongst the boards but in all honesty, he didn't need my help.
Although he might not have needed any assistance in this department, he got a great pair of helping hands anyhow when Ed Gombert was brought on as one of the early artists to form our small crew. Ed was one of those renaissance dynamos who could do character design, storyboard and then guess what else? ... yep eventually animate the sections he had previously boarded. His Ratty and Moley were animated in a fine fashion that pleased Frank and Ollie (the original animators from the 1949 feature film). We really were in awe of Ed's ability and he wasn't the only outstanding teammate to climb onboard our ship. Another accomplished cohort was Glenn Keane who hardly needs any introduction to anyone who has followed Disney animation during the past couple decades. He joined the ranks as part of our animation staff along with veteran animator Dale Baer another genius with a pencil who had luckily just returned to the Disney Studio in time for our project. The "dream team" was rapidly taking shape.
The list went on with Sylvia Mattinson overseeing all the assistants and the final cleanup. Character animation was by the likes of Matt O'Callaghan, Toby Shelton, John Lasseter, Dave Block portraying Ebenezer Scooge and Mark Henn and Terry Hamada who gave a stellar performance as Bob (Mickey) Cratchit . The effects department was in good force with Ted Kiersey, Patty Peraza, Jack Boyd and Jeff Howard helping with the magical honors. Don Griffith and Mike Peraza did concepts and layout, with the latter ably assisted by Sylvia Roemer. Jim Coleman headed the background department. The names I mentioned are only a few of the notable talents as the crew list goes on and on and one only has to watch the credits to see a "who's who" of future animation greats. I was like a little kid just chomping at the bit waiting for the animators to breathe life into the layout character drawings I left them with and they never disappointed as they delivered outstanding performances. As one animator turned in a scene with some fresh broad animation, the next guy would try to good naturally outdo it with ever broader stuff on his. This made for quite a change from the straighter toon we had all marched to on previous films.
Although he might not have needed any assistance in this department, he got a great pair of helping hands anyhow when Ed Gombert was brought on as one of the early artists to form our small crew. Ed was one of those renaissance dynamos who could do character design, storyboard and then guess what else? ... yep eventually animate the sections he had previously boarded. His Ratty and Moley were animated in a fine fashion that pleased Frank and Ollie (the original animators from the 1949 feature film). We really were in awe of Ed's ability and he wasn't the only outstanding teammate to climb onboard our ship. Another accomplished cohort was Glenn Keane who hardly needs any introduction to anyone who has followed Disney animation during the past couple decades. He joined the ranks as part of our animation staff along with veteran animator Dale Baer another genius with a pencil who had luckily just returned to the Disney Studio in time for our project. The "dream team" was rapidly taking shape.
![]() |
Mickey Magic, Pencil Test to Final Scene |
![]() |
Alan, the perfect voice for Scrooge |
![]() |
The Baers,1st day of Strike |
Don Griffith, who was my boss and best friend at the old studio would call us to see when Patty and I would be walking the picket line and join us. He even brought doughnuts! Now Don himself was part of management and as such was not on strike like we were but nevertheless wanted to show his support and close friendship to us. He had lived through the original strike at Disney Studios in 1941 and knew how violent it could become. He was not only like a father/big brother figure to me, when a house went for sale very close to his home, he made sure Patty and I knew about it. And yes, we live in that house to this very day!
During the making of an animated film there will invariably be time when someone thinks an action is too broad while another animator may think it hasn't gone far enough.
![]() |
Patty, Tim & Don hit the pavement during the strike |
Our "Ghost of Christmas Present" was realized by Willie, the giant who resided in Walt Disney's animated feature "Fun and Fancy Free". Glenn may have used the Giant as the basis of the form but he told me while animating him that he based the movement and lovable curiosity on his then 18 month old baby. (Must have been very big for his size ). Anyway studio animation had been limited in executing broad actions during Fox and Cauldron so with Carol, Glenn could flex his considerable animation talent for expressing expansive energized images.
![]() |
Glenn Keane, Talent Extraordinaire |
Glenn Keane's animation of the roof stretching and snapping like it was rubber as Willie steps out received a heated discussion from some who felt it was over the top and too broad and others who felt it was perfect for the business. Glenn did what animators should always do, plus what you are given. Of course in times like this, the director will act as referee and decide what is correct for the film. In addition to Glenn's expressive animation, Dale Baer was creating wonderfully dramatic animation with Pete in the graveyard. Here I was able to add a few story and staging ideas. I did some quick charcoal and pastel sketches where he started out as a silhouette and was then lit by the cigar to add some dramatic and creepy under lighting to his performance. Burney loved it and used the concept in his story boards. Even that piece of business came under scrutiny when objections were voiced from "upstairs" over having a Disney character smoke on screen. Seriously, it was almost cut! Shessh! I mean come on, hadn't they even watched Cruella De'Ville, or even Captain Hook take a puff for evil's sake?
![]() |
Concept art for "Ghost of Christmas Present" |
![]() |
Disney Theater Burbank Main Lot |
Part 3 on the way...
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Mickey's Xmas Carol, PART 1
![]() |
We "Dickenized" the iconic Mickey title |
Storyman Burny Mattinson happened to hear the record and liked the concept of taking the Dicken's classic tale and inserting the classic Disney characters into the celebrated roles. He took the incentive to send the record up to Studio head honcho Ron Miller but when he didn't hear back, was suddenly worried he might have over stepped his authority by doing so. He needn't have given it a second thought though.
At Disney Studios around that time there were a few of us that were just not satisfied with a prevailing lack of the classic quality and just good old fashioned entertainment that seemed to be filtering out of the current animation projects and were also especially not happy with the growing dark and uneven direction "Black Cauldron" seemed to be taking. Ron MIller had given quite a few people like Tim Burton and many others a chance to create their own projects at the Disney Studio of the 1970s and 80s. So he shared the potential of the Christmas Carol record and in that same spirit gave Burny the greenlight to develop the project into an animated featurette although the way Burny tells it, Ron scared the beegeebers out of him at the meeting before giving the nod. Now all that Captain Burny needed was a full crew to sign on, arrrgh.
Burny asked me down to meet with him and told me Don Griffith had mentioned that I would be a good fit for his new crew. So upon that wonderful recommendation I immediately moved into the large empty room adjoining his director's room down on the first floor and quickly started in doing concept art. Our crew at that point was Burny, his wife Slvia Mattinson, Don, Mark Henn, myself and Tim O'Donnel. We soon had two possible directions that were done as visual presentations.
One was Don Griffith's which used the xerox CL or "clean line". This technique incorprated a clean ink drawing that was xeroxed on a cel and at the same time printed onto Cresent 100 Heavy Weight board within a ziptone to break up the line slightly. The board was painted expertly with washes of guoache by background head Jim Coleman, which somewhat subdued the line until the overlaid xerox was placed directly above it in camera.
![]() |
Example of Disney team work to create concept art. |
![]() |
Beautiful color palette by Coleman |
ONE -We wanted pixie dust and candle flame animation (Patty Peraza animated the effects) to read well against the BG.
TWO - The characters needed to "pop" against the setting as they did in the old classic films.
THREE - This was Technicolor/RGB which not only boosted saturation and contrast but did little tricks with hues.
As I said there were two stylistic approaches. The other style was mine which was employed a colorful watercolor/guoache but was in the whimsical style more like Disney's "Alice in Wonderland" rendering meets UPA design
![]() |
An early Griffith/Peraza styling concept |
Don's approach was chosen which I believe was actually much better for this classic subject matter than what I had cobbled together. I'm not saying I thought my style would have been wrong, and I have to admit I was more than a little disappointed, but I truly loved what Don had done and more importantly so did Burny and since he was in charge, that is what counted. So we used Don's inspiring concepts to guide us throughout the entire pre-production of "Mickey's Christmas Carol". It was the right decision.
![]() |
The record that started it all |
Of course some roles from the record version just begged to be re-cast. I mean come on... using Fergy's Wicked Witch from "Snow White" and Milt's Merlin from "Sword in the Stone" as two of the spirits of Christmas? That's just a lot of Humbug! I liked those two in their own design domains, especially Milt's Merlin, however mixing those somewhat realistically contemplated characters with shorts types looked bad enough within the record album pages and one would only assume it might very well worsen in animation.
Thank goodness Burny was open to re-casting some of the roles including those two fish out of water. We discussed it and came up with characters more copacetic in personality and composition including JImminy Cricket from "Pinocchio" to villainous Pete. Yes I know "Pinocchio" was a feature but the older "rubber-hose" styling of Jimminy Cricket especially made use of rounder simpler shapes found abundantly in the realm of shorts character design and in addition Ward Kimball's animation of Pinoke's little conscience certainly set a standard for us to try to follow. In fact we all visited the "morgue" (now called Animation Research) frequently in those days to get inspiration whether from animation to original layouts and Background paintings. It was as easy back then as a simple call to Leroy Anderson to see almost anything that had ever been created from the golden past of Disney. Nowadays one needs to make an appointment far in advance and wear white gloves while handling the valuable material. With so much security, I'm sure the retina scan is on the horizon too. Though I remember taking the entire collection of "Snow White" BGs home on weekends to study the technique and composition and that is something you just won't be doing these days.
![]() |
A few snapshots from the Pete Family Album |
![]() |
Breakfast table lamp, Peraza kitchen |
![]() |
One of my favorite Christmas Confections |
Burny scheduled sweatbox room screenings so we could review Christmas films such as "Scrooge" as well as UPA's "Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol" and other films. Don Griffith, Eric Larson, myself and our tiny crew gathered to discuss and review how others had handled the same story in a musical format. During those screenings we discussed various versions at length, sharing what we thought was working in those films and the scenes or sequences we didn't like and why. Eric Larson and Don Griffith in particular offered delightful insights from their own long histories of Disney Feature experience. Eric at this time was sheparding a new group of talent into the studio.
Like most of the Disney veterans, he was a reassuring and warm voice that not only provided mentoring for the new kids on the block but offered advice to anyone who asked including Burny during production of Christmas Carol. Burny was Eric's assistant in recent years and so had access to Eric's counsel whenever needed. I would also sometimes seek out Eric's advice over a pose or even staging of a scene and like Don, he always took time out to help me. And before I forget, Disney Director Darrell Van Citters has published an excellent book on "Mister Maggo's Christmas Carol" that is an essential piece detailing animation history for anyone who is a fan of great animation entertainment and UPA artistry and no I don't get a kick-back for saying that.
![]() |
Donald's Christmas Carol 1949 |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)