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Glen Keane “Pocahontas” studies.

Disney Animators Study Their Reflections in Mirrors to Draw Classic Characters’ Facial Expressions

For decades, professional animators have relied on mirrors and their own facial expressions to be able to produce the dynamic, expressive characters that audiences know and love. Using themselves as models, the artists leer, grin, and grimace at their own reflections so that they can recreate the right nuances of each look on paper.

In this charming set of photos, legendary animators from the 1940s to the 1960s can be seen making hilarious faces at themselves as they sketch beloved characters like Bugs Bunny, Donald Duck, and Fred Flintstone. Working in famed studios like Walt Disney Production, Warner Bros, and Hanna-Barbera Productions, these artists brought to life many of the creations that defined the golden age of American animation, from Tom and Jerry to Lady and the Tramp.

scurviesdisneyblog

Pinocchio concept art (x)

Sup

#doodle

2dtraditionalanimation

Jane - Ken Duncan

pbcbstudios-deactivated20200417

FEAST - Part 4 - Boy falls in love with girl / Dog hates Food / Boy loses Girl

Right after Frozen and before Big Hero 6 I jumped on to help Patrick Osborne with his amazing short called Feast. These are just some quick rough thumbnails with me just playing around trying to visualize from an outline. I think Patrick did an amazing job of refocusing the short so that food is always front and center - it got back to what his original pitch was for the short. Very honored to have helped out on this project.

mickeyandcompany

Glen Keane drawing Rapunzel

yartschool

Glenn Vilppu

framexframe

Disney’s Robin Hood

disneyconceptsandstuff

betobertran

Character Designs from 101 Dalmatians by Milt Kahl

mickeyandcompany

The making of Sleeping Beauty (x)

artbooksnat

Ronja the Robber’s Daughter (山賊の娘ローニャ) image board art illustrated by director Goro Miyazaki (宮崎吾朗) in the NHK Anime Guide Sanzoku no Musume Ronja First Volume (Amazon Japan).