Tuesday, July 11, 2017

Whose Pinocchio is this?



There have been a lot of drawings up for auction lately featuring drawings from an early Pinocchio scene. This is what the character looked like before Walt Disney voiced his displeasure over his design. Then, of course, Milt Kahl came on board and re-drew Pinocchio for the final appearance in the film.
These four drawings are from a very long scene (hundreds of frames). Unfortunately the whole scene was broken up (which breaks my heart) into small groupings before being sold. How great it would have been to scan all drawings in order to create a pencil test!! But with multipole owners now, that won't happen.
I have been messing with the question of who the animator might have been. Either Frank Thomas or Ollie Johnston. After taking a closer look I am now sure that this is Frank's work. The overall line quality is vintage F. Thomas. The way he drew hands and feet reminds me of his animation of Mickey Mouse in shorts like The Brave Little Taylor and The Pointer.

Here is the link to a rough Thomas Mickey drawing from The Pointer:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_DSa1aC02NU/Tf2FQyS1nRI/AAAAAAAAAIs/QgWvmuCg4oo/s1600/F_4.jpg

Images Heritage Auctions