Overview

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.

Full Product Details

9781452151939

Table of Contents

Reviews

This book tells the story of each of these artists - Eduardo Sola Franco, Johnny Walbridge, Jack Miller, Campbell Grant, James Bodrero and Martin Provensen - with ample examples of their artistry. The book also contains new facts and finds, uncovered by Ghez during the course of his research, including the only known photograph of Bela Lugosi posing as Chernabog for Fantasia, abandoned sequences for Dumbo, and a hilarious selection of unused screwball characters, created by Walbridge, for the Tulgy Wood sequence in Alice in Wonderland. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. These books are absolutely vital, visually delightful and masterfully written. Thank you, Didier, for all you do - and for this a series of incredible books. Long may they continue! -Cartoon Research

These books truly show some of the hidden artwork from Disney. It's amazing to see these lush illustrations and paintings, some of which are far from what you imagine as Disney animation. The stories of the artists are fascinating and, in some cases, heartbreaking. If you want to dive a little deeper into the history of Disney, these books are a great place to start. -Geek Dad offers a wonderful Disney History lesson on six artists who are mostly unknown to even the most well read Disney animation fans. Didier Ghez's research in creating this book is fantastic, with resources from the descendants of each artist and art collected from various institutions and private collectors. Not only does this volume make a great holiday gift, but Ghez is working on at least three more releases and this could become your gifting tradition to the Disney fan in your life. -The Laughing Place Holiday Gift Guide pick If you want to know about great animation, buy this book. You don't have to have the rest of the series (you should, if you can); it stands alone. If you want a gorgeous Disney art book, buy this book. If the world is terrible and you think there's no such thing as beauty, buy this book. -MiceChat The text is fascinating, offering a wonderful insight into the work and the period, and works well with the images. Any 'Art of' book (for most people anyway) stands or falls on the images included, and here the book is a triumph; digging deep into the rich history of a studio like Disney and managing to present us with both works that we haven't seen before and beautiful and interesting art. -Starburst Magazine The third in Didier Ghez's extensive survey of concept artwork for films from Disney's golden age is another treasure-trove of beautiful drawings, along with intimate profiles of six artists: Eduardo Sola Franco, Johnny Walbridge, Jack Miller, Campbell Grant, James Bodrero, and Martin Provensen. -Leonard Maltin, Film Critic and Historian showcases hundreds of illustrations of Disney characters, including ones that never made it to the screen -Wall Street Journal The histories alone are worth the price of admission for giving insight into these people but the sketches are something else and with a lot of sight gags as well. There are two more volumes in this collection and based on this one, I'm looking forward to an interesting read -SFCrowsnest If you're a Disney geek, this is a book you need. It's like the missing sketch in a notebook. It tells so much. -Sioux City Journal Not only do we get an excellent look, thanks to Disney Historian and author: Didier Ghez, at the history of the character model and development process, but he has also gathered together a fantastic collection of excerpts and descriptions from these artists' autobiographies, journals, and diaries. These first hand accounts paired with the artwork showcased in this volume make it a fantastic look back into the Disney Studios in the 1940s. -Journey Through the Magical Kingdom As someone who revels in the ability to peek behind the creative curtain, I loved diving into They Drew As They Pleased: The Hidden Art Of Disney's Late Golden Age - The 1940s Part Two. The third volume in what I hope continues to be an ongoing series, it deep dives into the Disney archives to unearth and present the artwork drawn by studio artists that served as inspiration for Disney's iconic films and shorts. -A Site Called Fred Author Didier Ghez...again displays formidable skill as a researcher and animation historian. His is an amazing, Sherlockian investigatory ability to sleuth out 'lost' Disneyana artworks, and info about its artists, in unexplored private collections, as well as the vast holdings of the Walt Disney Archives and Animation Research Library. The Animated Eye, John Canemaker This book tells the story of each of these artists - Eduardo Sola Franco, Johnny Walbridge, Jack Miller, Campbell Grant, James Bodrero and Martin Provensen - with ample examples of their artistry. The book also contains new facts and finds, uncovered by Ghez during the course of his research, including the only known photograph of Bela Lugosi posing as Chernabog for Fantasia, abandoned sequences for Dumbo, and a hilarious selection of unused screwball characters, created by Walbridge, for the Tulgy Wood sequence in Alice in Wonderland. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. These books are absolutely vital, visually delightful and masterfully written. Thank you, Didier, for all you do - and for this a series of incredible books. Long may they continue! -Cartoon Research

Author Information

Didier Ghez has conducted Disney research since he was a teenager in the mid '80s. His articles about the parks, animation, and vintage international Disneyana, as well as his many interviews with Disney artists, have appeared in such magazines as Disney twenty-three, Persistence of Vision, Tomart's Disneyana Update, Animation Journal, Animation Magazine, StoryboarD, and Fantasyline. He is the author and editor of numerous books about the Disney Studio and its artists.

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