Prod. 2082 (Sleeping Beauty) - Seq. 19.0 Fight

Directed by Woolie Reitherman, laid out by Basil Davidovich.

Woolie was at first considered an action director, which becomes very obvious here. We also see more of his time-saving reuses, which became his hallmark, quite infamously at times. And where the previous sequence was brimming with star animators and "Old Men," this one seems to use what then was considered the second string, though of course still very accomplished artists. It is quite impossible to pinpoint exactly who did what, as some of the artists did a bit of every character, it seems!

Animation by Ambi Paliwoda and Dale Barnhart (Maleficent), Ken Hultgren and Dick Lucas (prince & horse), Bill Keil (prince, horse, fairies, dragon), George Goepper (prince, horse, fairies, Maleficent reuse), Ted Berman (prince), Eric Cleworth (dragon). Effects by Dan MacManus and thorns by Al Stetter.

This sequence has a slew of famous images - it has so much we all grew up on, as it was shown so often in Christmas shows and the like. At least now we can read that the famous scene of Maleficent growing into a dragon is by effects animator Dan MacManus. It is interesting to see that a sequence as ubiquitous as this was not considered "worthy" of even one scene here or there by Milt, Marc, Frank or Ollie. Yet it works - it does the job - and we know it so well.

This FINAL draft of 11/5/58...
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[Oh! I see I already posted this 7/6/06!]

Comments

  1. the clownninjaJuly 16, 2008 at 11:29 PM

    wow this is awesome stuff. I was totally surprised that these sequences at the end weren't milt and marc. I just watched this a few days ago, and only stumbled on your posts today. It was really nice to be able to study the shots those two did do with the other Old men in the sequence previous, gorgeous animation. I have a question though, if a shot says Davis and Bailey did it, Davis would have done Maleficent and Baily would have done the raven right? Was the split always based on characters? Thanks for publishing this, being able to go through these beautiful scenes and pick out the strengths and individuality of the animators adds to them immensely.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hans PerkJuly 16, 2008 at 11:39 PM

    Hi Clownninja, thanks for your comment. Yes, in most cases having two names means a split between two characters, but it can also be a split between characters and effects. In that case it is important to know if the animator was a character animator or an effects animator, and this CAN be tricky, as we simply do not know all animators. Also, read the disclaimer at the bottom of my first Sleeping Beauty draft post...

    ReplyDelete
  3. David NetheryJuly 18, 2008 at 9:53 AM

    "And where the previous sequence was brimming with star animators and "Old Men," this one seems to use what then was considered the second string, though of course still very accomplished artists."


    And yet for all the lack of "star" animators this sequence still turned out to be the best, most memorable part of the movie. The hair still stands up on the back of my neck when I watch the Maleficent-to-dragon transformation , and the fatal sword through the heart of the dragon "that evil die and good endure" . Epic stuff ! And the amazing fire effects animation. It's a great sequence.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Christopher HeiApril 23, 2013 at 2:42 PM

    Gary Mooney and Phil Roman were assisstant animators on this film. both later worked with famous animation studios on numerous films and tv shows. Mooney, later on, was best known for his animation in Underdog, Heavy Metal, animation on live action films such as Honey, I Blew Up The Kid!. and returned to Disney to work on Kronk's New Groove, Roman on the other hand, also later was know for animating on Dr. Seuss's first animated tv special "How The Grinch Stoe Christmas" which was produced by Daffy Duck director Chuck Jones. He then began freelancing for many different studios until he founded Film Roman which today produces the Emmy award winning animated series "The Simpsons".

    ReplyDelete
  5. Christopher HeiApril 26, 2013 at 2:14 PM

    which studio subcontracted on the Chipmunk Adventure?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hans PerkApril 26, 2013 at 2:34 PM

    Hi Christopher -
    You seem very interested in The Chipmunk Adventure. Have you checked out IMDb yet? That would give you a lot of info...

    But - and I didn't know this! - it IS very interesting to see credits for Glen Keane, Andy Gaskill, Dan Haskett, Tim Hauser, Ron Dias, Raul Garcia, Chuck Harvey, Sue Kroyer, Emily Jiuliano, Skip Jones, Dave Pruiksma, John Sparey, Will Finn and the (sadly) late Heidi Guedel/Ballreich/Garofalo - several of whom are my friends (whom I see all to little off, since I am stuck on the wrong continent)!

    So - I need to check out the film. That said, there are a L O T of names of folks with a lot less experience as the above! Thus, sadly, having been in this business for 37 years now, I fear the worst!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Christopher HeiApril 27, 2013 at 3:44 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hans PerkApril 27, 2013 at 3:54 PM

    Hi Christopher - I don't want to be rude, but why do you keep badgering me about that Chipmunk Adventure , when I told you I do not know ANYTHING about the film, I do not have the draft, I have never even seen the film yet, and this is not a public forum, but my personal blog...?

    ReplyDelete

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