Will Stop For Watercolor Backgrounds - Best in Watercolor Background Art (I sort of got on a Lilo and Stitch rant near the end....)

Will Stop For Watercolor Backgrounds.

(all photos property of Disney)

I've got a soft spot for the use of watercolor paints in background art.  My favorites are Dumbo, Pinocchio, and of course Lilo and Stitch.  
What Disney movie's background art do you like best? 

Background Art from Bambi by Tyrus Wong 1942

Background Art from Bambi by Tyrus Wong 1942

Screenshot for Dumbo 1941

Screenshot from Dumbo 1941

Screenshot from Dumbo 1941

Background from Pinocchio 1940 

Background from Pinocchio 1940 

Screenshot from Pinocchio 1940

Screenshot from Pinocchio 1940

If you like background art, I recommend you pick up Layout and Background Design by The Disney Book Group.  It's a steal right now for $30-40 on Amazon.  The list price for these books are $50-$60 at Disney.com and they are giant in size.  This one is my favorite of the of 4 in the series simply because I'm a total junkie for background art in general and of course it does features a decent amount of work by Eyvind Earle.  The content and price tag make this a perfect Eyvind Earle starter book.   All 4 of the books in this set are worth owning in my opinion but this one especially so.  The only thing that drives me nuts about this book series is how often artwork seems to go uncredited.   I don't understand why things have gotten so lazy and they don't put the effort into making sure they acknowledge artists by name in Disney books like the use to.

Layout and Background Design 

Finally, I have got some images from Lilo and Stitch (2002).  This was the epic return of watercolor backgrounds for Disney and I think animation historians years and years from now will be writing books about the background art in the movie alone.  These backgrounds are simply breathtaking and should be formally celebrated.  Lilo and Stitch doesn't seem to get the recognition it deserves within the studio in general.  For those that don't know, Chris Sanders (director and creator of Lilo and Stitch) had some kind of falling out with John Lasseter in 2006 over the movie American Dog (later renamed Bolt) and Chris Sanders ended up leaving not only the project but Disney Studios all together because of these creative disagreements with John Lasseter.  There is an article about it in The Disney Blog and you can read if you want to see the few details yourself.

The Disney Blog - Former Disney Animator Speaks Out Against Management

It doesn't feel right to me when it sort of looks like maybe this 2008 dispute has influenced how the studio manages the Lilo and Stitch franchise today.  It's unbelievable that Chronicle Books hasn't put out a "The Art of..." book for Lilo and Stitch already and it does upset me in a way that makes me think of Kanye West's VMA outburst.  I temporarily took this entire post offline because I don't have anything nice to say about how Disney has managed the legacy of Lilo and Stitch.  It's not just the art book, it is also how they have handled DVD releases and merchandise. When you consider that Stitch is one of Disney's best selling characters, you know an art book would sell like crazy if Disney wanted to take the horse blinders off and give credit where credit is due.  I know that Stitch doesn't really fit neatly into his designated "Disney Era" but a single anomaly on the Disney Studios timeline of films isn't the worst thing to happen in the history of animation.  It is a classic and I don't care if John Lasseter and Chris Sanders couldn't make American Dog work 15 years ago.  The movie Lilo and Stitch deserves a better art book and some sort of Anniversary edition DVD release at the very least.  The artists deserve it.  The fans deserve it.  The animation historians and Disney Bloggers of tomorrow deserve it.  I actually do love Pixar very much and John Lasseter, Imma let you finish, but Chris Sanders had one of the best videos of all time.  

To see more backgrounds from Lilo and Stitch visit Geraldine Kovat's Blog www.kovatsart.com

The Weirdest Musical Moments In Disney Animation

The Weirdest Musical Moments In Disney Animation

The Disney song catalog is a massive one and I probably should be putting a list together that highlights the best of the bunch but I think those lists have already been made a 100 times over.   Most of us know already which songs have been influential over the years and making a list of the classic Disney songs I like best isn't something I feel like doing here.  Instead I thought I'd focus on some of the more unusual songs that Disney has to offer.  Each one of these special in it's own strange way.  There is only one video I hesitated to include on this list because it doesn't really fall into the same category with the rest of the songs but I did want in on this list for a very specific reason, and I'll go over that reason later on when it comes up.  I'm going to try and cover the videos in chronological order. I'm starting with a song from 1941's Dumbo titled "Pink Elephants on Parade".

"Pink Elephants on Parade" 1941 Dumbo

Everyone I know has some strange childhood memory that involves this scene in Dumbo. The musical sequence basically provided a "welcome to tonight's nightmare" moment for all children  everywhere the first time they saw these psychedelic dancing elephants.  As an adult I realize how unique this scene is and believe it or not, I throughly enjoy the animation here.  Who knew a baby elephant could experience such bizarre hallucinations?  

"Pink Elephants on Parade" on Youtube

      "The Walrus and The Carpenter" 1951 Alice inWonderland

This one has always been unsettling for me to watch.  I don't know why the artists at Disney thought it would be ok to style the oysters as babies.  Seriously, WHY?!  The oysters in Lewis Carroll's original book were never babies.  Also the way the Walrus lures the little children in for supper Pied Piper style takes which instantly takes the whole thing up to a new level of creepy.  

"The Walrus and The Carpenter" on YouTube

"What Makes The Red Man Red" 1953 Peter Pan

Next up is "What Makes The Red Man Red?" from 1953's Peter Pan.  I don't think I have to explain why this song is listed here.  The title itself is shocking. Everything about this song and how it's animated here makes me uncomfortable.  It's just racist.  I'm surprised Disney hasn't scrubbed it from the film.  It's not even a good song.  The Disney Elite basically summed it up perfectly a while back on Tumblr by saying the song was "Possibly the most controversial and ill-conceived Disney song ever".

He also wrote an intriguing post titled "Was Ward Kimball's 'Big Chief' Racist?" that is worth checking out. 

"What Makes The Red Man Red" on YouTube

"Trust Me" 1976 The Jungle Book

I'm at a loss for words in what to even say about this one but it scared the heck out of me as a child and still makes me a little uncomfortable as an adult.  

"Trust Me" on YouTube

                       "Be Prepared" 1994 The Lion King

Next up on my list is the song I mentioned earlier that was the one song on my lineup that wasn't quite like the others.  I'm adding "Be Prepared" from The Lion King to this list even though it doesn't really belong here because I think it's a great song that is animated in a way that is close to technical perfection but still the fact that it is still so eerie is why I'm including it now.  I would give Jeremy Irons performance for this song an A+/100% if I were handing out grades in voice acting because he leaves nothing to be desired here in my opinion.  

The only reason I included it within this post is because I don't want to deny that parts of the animation are not totally inspired by Nazi imagery.  I understand how it is used here and why but one the other hand if I'm writing a post about unsettling musical moments in Disney films, I'd be failing something somehow if I were to leave out the only musical sequence in the history of the studio where the artwork could be described as "Nazi Inspired".  

"Be Prepared" on YouTube

"Hellfire" 1996 The Hunchback of Notre Dame

The song "Hellfire" is shockingly dark for a Disney film.  Themes of lust and damnation are a little much in a children's film if you ask me.  If you are not familiar with this song, I encourage you to read the lyrics carefully for more insight into what exactly makes this Disney song so very strange.

"Hellfire" on YouTube

"Yodel-adle-eedle-idle-oo" 2003 Home on The Range

I'm finishing up this list now with another trippy musical sequence that is truly the stuff of nightmares.  It isn't quite on the same level as "Pink Elephants on Parade" is when it comes to psychological torture for children but it does have a similar mesmerizing effect.  No matter how hard you fight it, you won't be able to look away from the colors on the screen when you watch this piece of animation.  

"Yodel-adle-eedle-idle-oo" on YouTube

So what Disney songs do you find especially strange or creepy?  Did I miss something on this list that you think should be included?  Let me know what Disney moments scared you as a child by leaving a comment below or sending me a tweet on Twitter.  I can also be contacted via Instagram and of course at houseofsummersville@gmail.com if you prefer email.  Thanks so much for stopping by! 

Eyvind Earle's Close Up PART TWO - Sleeping Beauty Concept Art Like You've Never Seen It Before! It's All About The Details.

Eyvind Earle's Close Up - PART TWO 

Sleeping Beauty Concept Art Like You've Never Seen It Before!

 It's All About The Details.

The Background Art For Disney's Aladdin 1992

Some Background Artwork From Aladdin (1992)

I'm going to embrace my recent Eyvind Earle trend even more by taking a moment to focus on MORE great background art that came out of Walt Disney Studios.  I decided to kick things off with films from the era that I grew up in.  Aladdin was released in November of 1992 in those early years of Disney Renaissance.  It was the highest grossing animated film for 2 years until The Lion King came along and took the title.  The Lion King held a strong reign for over 15 years until 2010's Toy Story 3.  The background art for Aladdin is nearly flawless and was inspired by the layout supervisor Rasoul Azadani's home town in Isfahan, Iran.  These pictures bring my childhood right back.