50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on July 22, 2011

One common misconception people have is thinking that animators are the only ones responsible for the character development and conception in the Disney films.  Although the animators are the actors in an animated film they are far from being the sole contributors to them. In fact animators rely hea   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on July 14, 2011

            There’s a difference between an animator who can get a small portion of an audience to intellectually appreciate their draftsmanship and technique and an animator who is able to suck in a whole audience to a believable performance that gets the viewers involved with the character. The s   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on July 12, 2011

  Part of what I love about animators is that they come from so many different backgrounds yet they have so many things in common. All of them love the medium and work very hard to do the best work they can but all of them have a different approach....   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on July 7, 2011

     Many animators try to obtain realism in their animation and it doesn’t always work that well. Many others try to make their animation cartoony and it oftentimes turns out pointless and unfocused. However very few try to use caricature to show how something really feels and the animation looks   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on July 5, 2011

It seems that in every creative endeavor or cultural phenomenon there is always a person or piece that just essentially needed to be present to make it work. However this person’s vision and artistry oftentimes doesn’t have a significance in how things turn on out after that vital role is...   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on June 24, 2011

     In the 1950s the seats of the top animators had been pretty much filled and none of them had any interest in adding anymore. Walt was now too focused on making theme parks and being on television to remember that the animation board was supposed to rotate not stay...   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on June 21, 2011

Just lettin you all now. Someone put in the search “Dale Baer Animator Oibtuary.” Well Dale Baer’s still alive so you must have made a mistake. Sincerely, Grayson Ponti This entry was posted on June 21, 2011 at 1:22 am and is filed under Uncategorized . You can fo   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on June 16, 2011

     Anthony “Tony” de Rosa has been for two decades one of Disney’s best kept and most valuable secrets. He has a higher level of versatility and draftsmanship than almost anyone working at Disney today. De Rosa can easily be described as a modern day John Lounsbery: he shares the...   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on June 13, 2011

      James Baxter became the youngest supervising animator of a major role in Disney history when he animated Belle in Beauty and the Beast. Very few people in the history of the medium have grown artistically and propelled to the top as quickly and successfully as he did during his...   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on June 10, 2011

      Will Finn is one of the wackiest and most comic animators in Disney history. He was one of the first animators in the second generation to follow the lead of Duncan Marjoribanks by using completely original acting skills and animating in a completely unique caricature style. Before I tell...   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on June 8, 2011

     For number 29 in our countdown the honoree has one of the longest and most diverse careers in Disney history. He animated on both features and shorts, directed shorts in both hand-drawn and stop-motion, and then worked as an imaginer. He also lived longer than all the other old...   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on June 7, 2011

Recently Michael Barrier has posted excellent interviews on his site with Robert Mckimson, Milt Kahl, John Hubley, and as of today Fred Kopietz. This reminded me of Barrier’s great research and spectacular books, which I can tell you he worked very hard and passionately on for decades. The post als   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on June 7, 2011

Yesterday a real treat occurred: Andreas Deja launched a blog called Deja View. It talks mainly about the work of the great Disney animators he hung out with for many years and posts never-before released artwork they did. He also will posts work from other artists such as T.S. Sullivant...   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on June 3, 2011

In a scene in an animated film communication of the story is essential. An animator must find the key drawing(s) that clearly show the feeling and thought process of the character in that particular sequence. These poses are called storytelling drawings because through a pose they tell the audience   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on May 30, 2011

The jobof an animator is by many regarded as a job unappealing towards women. It’s probably a combination of sexism, tradition, and lack of history that makes people feel this way. Hopefully this is on the rise of change as many animation schools around the country are starting to have...   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on May 29, 2011

      Oftentimes it is at least somewhat predictable what animators will eventually become supervisors. A typical “rookie” supervising animator at Disney has usually either been a top animator at other studios for quite sometime(Eric Goldberg, Duncan Marjoribanks, Bruce Smith, Dale Baer), has worke   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on May 27, 2011

Disney Florida has always been a very interesting subject to me. My interest in animation came just a little too late for me to be aware of it before it closed down. However it has always fascinated me that there once was Disney magic being made not far from where I live. Today’s post is abou   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on May 26, 2011

The Disney studio in the 1940s and 50s was filled with talent but unfortunately in that time period there was no interest in changing things: whether if it was getting young artists, rehiring veterans, or promoting people. It was hard enough to be promoted to the position of an animator...   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on May 25, 2011

  There has been a share of brother pairs working in animation in the history of the medium. Robert Mckimson’s brothers Thomas and Charles worked for a time at Warner Brothers when their very talented brother was animating and directing (I know he’s not Disney but I tell you Robert...   read more

50 Most Influential Disney Animators Posted by Grayson on May 24, 2011

      Bruce W. Smith is one of the coolest, hippest personalities you’ll find in animation today. He’s got great taste and really knows how to make his animation interest and connect with people who aren’t usually normal Disney movie audience fare. Smith also is one of the greatest African-American   read more