Here is a sampling of background art from Disney's THE LION KING. The artists did a wonderful job expressing mood with color, as well as capturing the majesty of the African landscapes.
The rain effects are of course embedded in this moody masterpiece:
The proverbial lion's den looks a bit foreboding...
I managed to digitally eliminate Simba but Zazu refused to budge!
This re-created pan was time consuming but well worth the effort. It's quite unlike any other B/G art I've ever seen. I love the dried texture of the rust-colored red dirt, against the olive and gold hues of the sparse African foliage.
What a magnificent gorge. And that sky!
Next some towering rock formations:
Sunset... incredibly lovely!
This breathtaking landscape is a digitally reassembled pan background. Gorgeous!
Friday, May 23, 2008
THE LION KING part two
Anyone interested in Health & Wellness?
Hello bloggers!
You may or may not know I'm a fitness enthusiast. As a baby boomer, I have no intentions of aging gracefully!
I have a personal trainer, and work out 4 hours a week. I eat very consciously, work hard and also take time to smell the roses.
I have just begun an incredible program with one of the country's leading anti-aging and wellness physicians at his clinic in Beverly Hills.
I am documenting the entire process on a new blog, "The Wellness Journey."
http://thewellnessjourney.blogspot.com/
It has nothing to do with cartoons, but it's a fascinating process. It's so important I thought I'd document every step of the way.
I hope you'll join me, and please share the blog with friends who are into wellness and health. Thanks!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
HYDE AND HARE (Warner Bros., 1955)
Watch the cartoon:
Now, the great backgrounds by Irv Wyner. Lots of 1950s modern style here. Fantastic!
Hmmm, a rabbit hole!
Very jazzy color styling in the next two B/Gs:
This is a digitally recreated vertical pan:
Terrific use of perspective:
Dr. Jekyll's lab:
I love a piano! Victorian goes modern, what a great stylization:
This music manuscript was painted note by note. Incredible! While not entirely accurate in comparison with the original composition, it's still remarkable.
The lab. Aren't those colorful potions intriguing?
A Liberace shot, complete with candelabra!
The music room (digitally re-created pan B/G):
A very modern B/G with floor lamp cel overlay:
Store room, door open:
Same room, door closed:
Three laboratory images:
Two final B/Gs from the ending, in the park:
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
SPIRIT (Dreamworks)
This is a remarkable film... powerful, heartfelt, dramatic, even spiritual at times. It is also filled to overflowing with beauty and a technical brilliance, seamlessly integrating traditional animation with computer effects.
If you've not seen it, I can't recommend it strongly enough. Sadly, it's rather neglected. In truth, it's a modern animation classic.
Digitally assembling backgrounds from this movie was not easy. Nearly every frame is filled with special effects overlays and animation.
Underneath it all, it has truly breathtaking background art. The images shared here are just the tip of the iceberg.
Enjoy a very small sampling of the art from SPIRIT...
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
MERMOUSE Part Two
Here's another digitally re-assembled Tom and Jerry pan background from MGM's animation art studio. Great stuff!
