HAWAIIAN HOLIDAY (1937) Part Three

Here's another re-created pan background from HAWAIIAN HOLIDAY. Pluto chases a crab across this polynesian landscape. I've included left and right sections as well as the full pan so you can see all the details.

HAWAIIAN HOLIDAY (1937) Part Two

There's a lot of activity over this lush tropical background. I could have airbrushed over the shadow in the pool, but decided to leave it intact. Note the lovely composition, and the tropical plants behind the pond.

THE ARISTOCATS: Edgar's Apartment

What THE ARISTOCATS lacked in story and character appeal was balanced in some measure by beautiful xerographic background designs. Here is a dandy - the butler Edgar's room, filled with sumptuous detail, richly embellished.

Tor Podcasting

Our Ultraman obsessed web guy has posted the first of Tor's Nippon World Con podcasts. I've just started listening but it seems to be Patrick Nielsen Hayden and Tom Doherty giving a quick overview of World Cons in general and what's coming up at this year’s convention. I believe there will be a new podcast each day at noon (NY time), including an interview with George Takei.

As someone who spent the week getting, “off to Japan -- wsh you were going” emails all week, I’m looking forward to getting a small taste of the goings-on.

Joy Ang, Tomer Hanuka, and Sam Weber

I often wish there was more room on our list to bring in more artists that I’ve never worked with before. One problem is the amount of series titles we do. Another issue can be timing – if I'm pressed for time I feel more comfortable working with someone I already have an established relationship with. And then there is simply the fact that the group I am working with is really good and appropriate for much of our list. Still, it is fun to bring in new voices so I was happy that this week saw a convergence of three projects that called for new-to-me artists.

Joy Ang (whose work was amazing even when still in school) will be working on a young adult novel for us.

Tomer Hanuka (who I’ve admired about for years and am very excited to finally get a chance to work with) has taken on an anthology of mystery/superhero stories.

And Sam Weber (who I just discovered from Cathie Bleck’s blog and instantly fell in love with) is starting a contemporary fantasy series with Chinese themes.

I'm looking forward to the next bunch of weeks and seeing what these guys come up with.

TRUANT OFFICER DONALD (1941)

Jeff Pepper, our great friend and Disney blogger extraordinaire (http://2719hyperion.blogspot.com/) has re-created another classic Disney B/G to share with our readers.

Jeff wrote: "I was taking a look at Truant Officer Donald... and couldn't resist putting together this composite. Donald ultimately pops up out of the impromptu grave on the right end."

Jeff, thanks for sharing this beautifully crafted re-construction with us. Fantastic!

PLUTO'S MUSICAL PLAYGROUND

Here's another rarity! Pluto scampered around these drums in his short featured segment during the opening of THE MICKEY MOUSE CLUB. Love the confetti!

LIFE IS BUT A STAGE...

Here's a view you've never seen... the MICKEY MOUSE CLUB stage, no piano, and no Mickey!

ISN'T MICKEY GRAND?

Here is the terrific background from the "Fun With Music Day," (Monday) opening sequence of THE MICKEY MOUSE CLUB.

Spectrum 15 Call for Entries

Spectrum is showing off their 15th annual Call for Entries. Artwork by Marc Gabbana. Posters will be mailed out in October.

On a more personal note, the Fenners and I have started very (and I mean very) preliminary talks about the second Spectrum Exhibition to be held at the Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators in September 2009. This exhibit will be a selection of 150-200 original artworks chosen from Spectrums 12 through 15. Preliminary talks basically consist of me saying, "It'll be easier this time, I swear!" over and over and over again. Unfortunately I haven't convinced anyone yet...least of all myself. And yet, somehow it seems exciting all over again.

101 DALMATIANS part four

Once again we re-visit artwork from 101 DALMATIANS. First is a street scene, around the corner from the Darling brownstone. The second and third pieces are re-created pan backgrounds, interiors of the Darling living room.

PETER AND THE WOLF (1946)

PETER AND THE WOLF was part of the compilation feature MAKE MINE MUSIC. The composer Prokofiev wrote the music with a Disney animated feature in mind! At the end of this hot summer, I thought everyone might enjoy some cool, wintery backgrounds.

A Day for Back Patting

At Norman Partridge dot com:
“I just received my copies of Dark Harvest, and I’ve got to say: WOW! As much as I loved seeing that great Jon Foster cover online, and as good as it looked when I received a package of cover flats from my editor, Paul Stevens…well, WOW! Getting the finished product is even better.”

Jay Lake on Neth Space:
NS: Why should Mainspring be the next book that everyone reads?
JL: Because of the incredibly cool cover with the airship and the feral angel! In fact, I think everyone should carry copies of the book with them at all times, faced outward so that we all might know one another by this sign. Also, it would make my publisher happy.

Also on Neth Space:
“I’m really looking forward to [Pirate Freedom], and the cover art underscores this anticipation.”

Hang Fire Books

I had lunch today with one of my favorite exTorids, Will Smith. (No one ever really leaves the Tor family.) Will has been running an online book store called Hang Fire Books. He has also has a huge array of vintage book covers displayed in various Flickr sets. If you are not careful, you can spend much more time than you mean to poking around there.

Sarah

THE BRAVE LITTLE TAILOR (1938)

Here's the re-constructed B/G from THE BRAVE LITTLE TAILOR.

The Little Red Lighthouse

For as many times as I've ridden my bike to the Little Red Lighthouse (and the great gray bridge) I never knew you could climb up it until yesterday.

THE JUNGLE BOOK: Mowgli's View

Here are two views of the tree from which Mowgli gets his first, birds-eye view of the pretty girl from the "man village." Love the Jungle Book art!

HOW TO RIDE A HORSE (1950)

Many of the backgrounds in HOW TO RIDE A HORSE were minimalistic. This was one of the few "full-blown" Disney B/Gs.

101 DALMATIANS:The Dilapidated DeVil Mansion

Readers are familiar with my enthusiasm for the groundbreaking style in 101 DALMATIANS. The advent of the xerox drawing-to-cel process (which replaced hand inking) was exploited to great advantage, creating a fresh, modern look.

Shown first is the wonderfully moody rendering of the DeVil mansion exterior.

Next, the upstairs hallway. Love the stylish pen-and-ink design with color wash, typical of this film.

Perhaps my favorite background in the whole film is the blue bedroom. This re-created pan B/G is fairly bursting with detail and extravagant, imaginative design.

Woof!

PETER PAN

Here are the three opening shots from PETER PAN. Pan backgrounds one and two, now re-created, are incredibly atmospheric. The clouds in both were animated in the forefront via the multiplane camera. The third piece is an aerial view of the Darling house and neighborhood.

THE RELUCTANT DRAGON (1941)

This is the digitally re-created pan background from the opening shot of THE RELUCTANT DRAGON.

Spineage

The dirty secret of book design: Almost all books are only seen by their spines. It's true. We spend hours choosing artists, getting pictures painted, working on layouts, going to meetings, debating the merits of each cover and starting all over again, and then...they get shelved and typically all anyone sees is an inch or so of spine. (Unless it's fantasy, in which case that spine will be about three inches, but still...) It's not a lot of room to make a statement but hopefully we can put something together that will encourage a reader to pull a book out and look at the rest of the cover.

MICKEY'S TRAILER (1938)

Here are several backgrounds from MICKEY'S TRAILER, including a re-created pan background. Enjoy the trip!

King Tut

As a kid I used to like to draw from my brother’s Dungeons and Dragons book, Deities and Demigods, and my mom’s copy of The Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology. (Which I still have.) One of my favorite images was this carving of Akhenaten seen in Larousse. I suppose it was because the linear forms were easy to draw, but I also remember enjoying the sun-rays-as-hands. So, how cool was it to run into this very piece of stone at the Franklin Institute’s King Tut exhibit? Pretty freakin’ cool, would be the answer. Sorry, Tut, my strongest memory of this show will be of daddy Akhenaten.

It's a great show for those of us too young to have caught Tut in the mid 70s, although the signature golden mask was a notably missing. I have to say, though, as an art experience, this small Harry Burton photography exhibit at the Met struck a deeper cord in me. [Better online gallery here.]

Burton cataloged all the items in the tomb and documented the excavation – often using natural sunlight via a system of mirrors throughout the corridors. The photos are just breathtaking. Equal parts science and art, the artifacts are presented simply and without pretension. There is a clarity and calmness to them that will stay with me for a long, long time. I just happened on this exhibit on my way out of some larger show at the Met....Funny, I can't remember what that other show was.

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As an aside – Tony DiTerllizi, of Spiderwick fame, has a couple of very sweet posts were he shows his boyhood drawings from D&D Monster Manual on his MySpace page. Very cute.

It seems it’ll never be sunny in NY again...Even the flowers know it.

THE MICKEY MOUSE CLUB:Fun With Music Day

Now here's something different: the stage of the Mickey Mouse Club without its star! It's a beautifully conceived B/G. Love the antique upright piano!

While not the most significant piece of B/G art ever created at the Disney studios, it is decidedly historic and incredibly nostalgic. Hope you enjoy the view!

Rick Berry

Rick Berry is working on a new Judy Tarr book cover for us. He just sent a really nice sketch in and it reminded me of receiving these sketches for Queen of the Amazons a few years back. I remember getting very excited right at the beginning when Rick said something like, “I’ve been thinking about Leon Baskt.”

Sly Mongoose

Tobias Buckell has posted a progression of Todd Lockwood’s painting for Sly Mongoose, the sequel to Crystal Rain and Ragamuffin.