The Inspiration For
The Walt Disney Classics Collection
WDCC

Walt's desire to create real characters and stories that would "ring true" was the impetus behind every technical and creative breakthrough in Disney animation. It is the reason why Disney animated films have the power to move us. To achieve his goals, Walt pushed every possible technical and artistic boundary, developing techniques that eventually became major principles of animation art. Today, those same principles have given direction and inspiration to the Walt Disney Classics Collection.

Disney Animation has a history of remarkable artistic and technical achievement. But the achievements have never been an end in themselves. They have always had one purpose: to tell a story with believable, emotionally compelling characters.Two things make characters believable: physical and psychological reality. Disney artists developed more physically believable characters by moving away from the "rubber hose animation and showing the effects of gravity and physics on them instead.

Where early cartoon characters had "floated" across the screen, Disney characters became subject to natural physical laws. Ironically, greater attention to the real effects of gravity and weight on the characters' movements and shapes made their actions' funnier than ever. Early "rubber hose animation" achieved crude comic effects by twisting and tugging characters like pieces of tubing without changing their basic shapes. Disney animators replaced this technique with they termed "squash and stretch". "Squash and stretch" meant, simply that if a character was pulled, pushed, squeezed, or moved in any way, his shape changed accordingly. (For instance, if Mickey is stretched he becomes thinner. If a box falls on Donald's head, his face and body flatten and widen.)

Action also became more realistic with the use of such techniques as "anticipation" -movement leading up to a main gesture (like a weight shift before taking a leap), "secondary action" - more subtle movements (batting eyelashes) and "follow through" - the continued movement of limbs or clothing after the main action is done (the flap of a scarf or a tummy's jiggle).

The search for greater believability soon led Walt to experiment with color in Flowers and Trees (1931. And a hit song, Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf, from the 1933 cartoon, Three Little Pigs, added another dimension to Disney storytelling. The award winning cartoon is also noteworthy for its successful portrayal of distinct personalities.

To give characters psychological reality, Walt insisted that their personalities and reactions remain consistent. Donald's behavior may not be sensible - but it always makes sense in terms of who he is. To keep stories and personalities on track, Walt and his artists used storyboards to lay out the story in sketches. By revising, adding, or deleting sketches, the artists refined the story and characters until they meshed perfectly.

To aid in character and story development, Walt introduced the use of storyboards which are still a key tool in animation today. On storyboards, character sketches and story ideas are pinned up for discussion and refinement, with animators and storymen always asking: "Would this character really behave, move, or act this way? Does the pose show how the character feels? Can it be cleaner, sharper, funnier, or sadder?"

The use of three dimensional models (maquettes) was introduced as well, providing valuable reference for artists striving to convey rounded, dimensional shapes in space. Character voices have also always been an integral part of the process, sparking fresh insights and ideas for action, altering characterizations and inspiring new ones. Where would Donald be without his raspy quack? And who can imagine Thumper without his impish, little-boy giggle?

By 1934, Walt and his group were ready to tackle their biggest challenge to date: the creation of a full length animated film with human characters. To capture the essence of human movement, the animators studied films and worked with dancers and actors, while a small menagerie provided animal models for Snow White's forest friends. When Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiered on December 21, 1937, it proved Walt's belief that cartoon characters could have physical and emotional reality - an "illusion of life".

Over the years, Disney animation has created this "illusion of life" many times. Whether a cute little mouse, a beautiful princess, or an angry duck, Disney characters seem alive and real when we watch them. We feel Cinderella's moment of despair in the garden. We understand Donald's fury when things don't work, and share Mickey's panic when his best laid plans go awry.

It was in this spirit of pushing the limit of what could be done that the Walt Disney Classics Collection was born. Capturing that reality in sculptures is a natural extension of everything that Disney animation stands for. As one animator mused, "after all, we were always thinking in 3-D".

At its most basic, animation is simply line and color. Yet Disney animation transforms those lines and colors into thousands of drawings that make up believable worlds and characters. The ultimate brilliance of Disney animation lies in its ability to create this "illusion of life" - an illusion that has become a real important part of our lives.