Archive director talks about art behind Disney

Features

Published: 06 Jun. 2011, 20:33

Archive director talks about art behind Disney

Lella Smith, director of Walt Disney Animation Research Library, explains works of art on display at “Dreams Come True: The Art of Disney’s Classic Fairy Tales” at the Seoul Arts Center in Seocho District. Provided by Ode Inc.

What do the Walt Disney Company’s animated films have to do with fine art? In fact, many of its films have been influenced by fine art paintings, as evidenced in “Tangled” (2010), which was heavily inspired by the Baroque master Rembrandt. And some characters in “Fantasia” (1940) relied heavily on Victorian-era fairy paintings.

Many renowned illustrators such as Kay Nielsen - among the leaders of the so-called Golden Age of Illustration (late 19th to early 20th centuries) - participated in the Disney projects. Their work in the films, including Mary Blair’s concept art for “Cinderella” (1950) and Eyvind Earle’s background paintings for “Sleeping Beauty” (1959), has a beauty comparable to that of fine art paintings.

By showing these works, the exhibition “Dreams Come True: The Art of Disney’s Classic Fairy Tales” is helping viewers understand the artistic aspects of the 80-year-old entertainment giant’s animated films. On display at Hangaram Design Museum at the Seoul Arts Center in Seocho District are about 600 pieces of original concept works, sketches, storyboards, final frame cells, background paintings and movie clips from the Walt Disney Animation Research Library.

The exhibition, divided into nine sections, starts with Disney’s early short films including “Three Little Pigs” (1933) and ends with the 3-D film “Tangled” based on the fairy tale “Rapunzel.” It shows not only artworks behind the films’ scenes, but also how the films’ narratives, characters and visual effects evolved with the changes of social backgrounds and development of technology.

Eyvind Earle’s (1916-2000) background painting for “Sleeping Beauty” (1959). He was responsible for the film’s styling, background and colors.

Korean film experts might sigh at the exhibition, envious of Walt Disney ARL’s meticulous archiving. Many local classic films such as the 1966 film “Late Autumn” - which was so acclaimed as to spawn four remakes - are lost, as Koreans neglected archiving.

Lella Smith, the director of Walt Disney ARL, said that the library has approximately 60 million works of art, including sketches and cells. Most are not open to public viewing.

The Korea JoongAng Daily recently met Smith at the Seoul Arts Center, and talked about artists’ behind-the-scenes works on animated films and the evolution of film.

Q. The exhibition seems to prove that most villains in Disney animations from the first full-length film “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” to the latest hit “Tangled” come to an end by falling off a cliff, the rooftop, etc. Is it a tradition that will never change?

A. It is up to the storytellers. (Laugh) Maybe it’s time for another kind of ending. However, it is less scary than some endings.

Look at Snow White. The Evil Queen, in the Brothers Grimm’s tale, is forced to wear red-hot iron shoes and dance until she drops down dead, in the ending.

Walt Disney was in the business of making family films, a reflection of his love for children. Sometimes, he had to cut out parts of traditional fairy tales. As for “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” Disney chose to have the Evil Queen die earlier (by falling off a cliff) in the story to focus on the princess’ happy ending with the prince.

Some people complain about the “Disney-style” changes to traditional stories. What do you think?

Fairy tales change every time they are told, depending on the audience. Storytellers of Disney, turning a three- to four-page story into a feature film, develop characters and locations upon careful consideration.

“Beauty and the Beast” (1992) is a good example about how Disney storytellers change the original story. In the traditional story, Belle has some sisters that are very mean to her and are jealous of her. They are turned into stones in the end, because their heart cannot soften. Disney storytellers removed parts of the sisters to focus on Belle, who is able to see through people. She sees through Gaston, who is mean and empty despite his handsome appearance. He was not in the traditional story. He was put in the film for contrast with the Beast, who has inner beauty.

But I also hope that parents will read the traditional or original fairy tales to the children, so that they could know that Disney stories are only one version of the tales.

This exhibition shows that a lot of artists participate in the creation of a single character. How do they work together and reach an agreement?

Glen Keane’s concept art for “The Little Mermaid” (1989). Walt Disney ARL director Lella Smith said his concept art was so attractive that it was chosen for the final film without much correction. Provided by Disney ARL and Ode Inc.

There are concept artists who decide what characters look like and many other things. And there is another category of artists called story artists who settle on stories not by writing, but by drawing them on story boards. Sometimes, they draw stories based on concept artists’ character concepts, but sometimes they tell stories first.

And there are artists called animators who actually draw the characters. They work based on character concepts made by the concept artists but adjust the concepts, talking with concept artists, “I like that girl’s height but I don’t like her hair.”

So the process is pretty flexible?

Sometimes, as a rare case, one drawing is presented and everybody nods and that’s it. The sketch of Ariel for “The Little Mermaid“ by Glen Keane was such a case. He was not a concept artist, but was an animator for the film involved in concept art.

But in many cases, what a character looks like is not decided at one time. As for Mother Gothel in “Tangled,” the artists had to draw, draw and draw until they met the actress who would do the voice of the character. She read her lines like a Broadway diva and people said “We got it.”

Like this, the processes are flexible.

But the story and general concept always come first.

The exhibition shows that Disney films have been influenced by 19th century painters and children’s book illustrators of Europe. Can you go into detail about that?

Walt Disney actively collected hundreds of illustrated fairy tale books from Europe for reference and inspiration. They include those by Golden Age Illustrators such as Arthur Rackham of England. Some of the books are included in the exhibition. And the show also includes pastel concept art for Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty” by Kay Nielsen, also a Golden Age Illustrator.

The Walt Disney Company made the 2-D animated film “The Princess and the Frog” among a flood of 3-D films, but finally made the 3-D film “Tangled.” Has Disney committed to 3-D? Is there no future for 2-D animated films?

“Winnie the Pooh” coming out very soon (to be released on June 15 in the United States) is a traditional animated film. Its background looks like a watercolor painting but was drawn by computer. The artist, Lisa Keene, developed a technique of watercolor brush strokes that look so real. And characters are traditionally animated.

As for our great success “Tangled,” Glen Keane oversaw all the animation. Actually, Keane was given choice to make Tangled as a traditional film or CGI film. Keane chose CGI because of Rapunzel’s hair. It was so difficult to draw all the eight-meter-long hairs.

Artists in Disney are encouraged to develop the best technology and the best hand-drawing and make them work together. Traditional animation is not dead.

*The exhibition runs through Sept. 25. Hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends. Admission is 14,000 won ($12.88) for adults. Go to Nambu Bus Terminal Station, line No. 3, exit 5, and walk five minutes. Call (02) 795-2011 or go to dctexhibition.com for more information.

By Moon So-young [symoon@joongang.co.kr]

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월트디즈니 애니메이션 ‘백설공주와 일곱 난쟁이’는 동화책을 읽어주는 장면으로 시작된다. 이 영화의 원작이 동화라는 것을 관객에게 알려주기 위해서다. ‘라푼젤’에 나오는 플린은 디즈니 영화 주인공 중 CG로 디자인된 맨 처음 인물이다. 컴퓨터 작업으로 탄생한 플린을 ‘세상에 살고 있는 사람’처럼 만드는게 비주얼 아티스트들의 고민이었다.

　월트디즈니 애니메이션의 탄생과정을 한눈에 볼 수 있는 ‘월트디즈니 특별전-꿈과 환상의 스토리텔러’가 9월 25일까지 한가람디자인미술관에서 열린다. 월트디즈니 애니메이션 리서치 라이브러리(ARL)가 기획한 것으로 미국·호주에 이어 이번이 전 세계에서 세 번째 전시회다. 전시 기획사인 오드아이앤씨 김영균 대표는 “미국 전시가 기획되기 이전부터 ARL 측에 한국 전시를 요청했었다”며 “월트디즈니의 80년 흐름을 읽을 수 있는 기회가 될 것”이라고 밝혔다.

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