From Mickey Mouse to Hercules

From Mickey Mouse to Beauty and the Beast

Think of your favourite moments and characters in Disney films from the thirties to the seventies and chances are most were animated by one of Walt Disney's 'Nine Old Men'. Through the span of their careers, these nine highly skilled animators, with widely differing artistic gifts, viewpoints, personalities and ambitions, exhibited an unparalleled loyalty to their employer. In this book, noted film historian John Canemaker brings to life the team whose combined individual genius defined the art of character animation. Illustrated in full-colour throughout.

From Mickey Mouse to Beauty and the Beast

Walt Disney always envisioned the studios that bear his name remaining 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. This latest volume from famed Disney historian Didier Ghez profiles six remarkable artists from that department, sharing uncommon and never-before-seen images of their influential work behind the scenes. With vivid descriptions and passages from the artists' journals, this visually rich collection offers a rare view of the Disney artists whose work gave rise to many classic Disney characters, and who ultimately rewrote the future of character creation in animation.

Presents the story of Walt Disney and his creation of Mickey Mouse and numerous other animated characters, his feature films, and theme parks, and contains over eight hundred illustrations.

Disney artists worked on many projects, both shorts and feature-length films, and their rich and varied work - whether in the form of concept art, animation drawings, storyboards, or gags - is a testament to the quality and innovation the studio achieved, even on unfinished projects. After a brief Introduction examining how the studio operated during Walt Disney's day, Solomon surveys the many categories of uncompleted film, illustrating each with beautiful examples of work by the staff artists: Mickey, Donald, and Goofy shorts; Fairy Tale Projects like Hans Christian Andersen tales and the ambitious feature Chanticleer and Reynard; wartime propaganda films; early versions of Fantasia, and later efforts to expand elements of the film; and projects ranging from Hiawatha to Destino, a fantastic and unlikely collaboration between Disney and Salvador Dali.