The Nutcracker Prince (1990)

Today it's our pleasure to enjoy some more wonderful artwork painted by artist Peter Moehrle. He sent them to me to share with you. How cool is it that the artist shared his own production art with us??!!!

These come from an animated film on which Peter worked: "The Nutcracker Prince" (1990).

It was made in Ottawa and Peter did visual development, layouts and backgrounds. Mediums used were watercolor inks on paper, and gouache.

He very modestly wrote: "if you feel they are good enough to post on your site you can."

This is truly beautiful work, Peter! Readers, notice the luxurious texture of his art... the wonderful color palettes (icy blues!) and the overall excellence of his concepts and execution. All the elements combined are expressive and full of feeling.

If seeing these beautiful B/Gs makes you curious about the DVD, (I know it did me!), it's available at Amazon for a whopping $5.98! Copy and paste this link:

http://www.amazon.com/Nutcracker-Prince-Kiefer-Sutherland/dp/B0002VEP08

Seeing these little masterpieces gives us another blessing to count. Thanks again for sharing, Peter. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Peter Moehrle Blogs!!!

Artist Peter Moehrle has started his own blog: happybrush.blogspot.com

His wonderful animation B/G art is just one small part of this gentleman's talent. Check it out at:

happybrush.blogspot.com

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: Gaston at the Pub

Tonight, two digitally recreated B/Gs from BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. There's a lot of taxidermy going on...

This second pan is another case of not being able to remove character art, but at least I could piece together the entire pan, which is still pretty fascinating to see...

Notice, the character entering on the right is also under Gaston's chair! (The pan starts to move in the very first frame, as he walks into the scene, thus no way to eliminate him...)

Shadow Begone!

Recently I posted a batch of B/G art from the 1946 Disney short CLOWN OF THE JUNGLE. There was a particular background in which I was able to remove the characters, but one shadow never went away.

Well, guess what?

I was delighted to receive by email that same background, with hand-painted retouching (I assume via Photoshop), shared by artist Peter Moehrle! He is a truly master at animation background art, with a dazzling style and a resume to match. Among his credits, he trained all the background artists on Disney Studio's LILO AND STITCH in the fine art of watercolor backgrounds. He also worked on MULAN. He is the real deal, a genuine animation background artist, with Disney studio credits (and others).

Here is a small version of what I was able to achieve, my "semi-original," coupled with Peter's beautifully retouched version.

Thank you Peter!

THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG (Disney, 2009)

I had the tremendous pleasure Thursday night of seeing a preview of Disney's new cartoon feature (and I use those words lovingly and respectfully).

"THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG" is PHENOMENAL!

It is everything Disney animation afficionados hoped for! The visuals are gorgeous and spectacular, the music is tremendous, and the storytelling is compelling - beautifully interplaying comedic, scary and heart-tugging elements with deft skill.

All the animation is brilliant, but in particular Eric Goldberg has outdone himself with his animation for "Louis," the trumpet-playing alligator!

I also loved "Ray," the cajun firefly.

Those of us who love traditional animation MUST support this effort with great enthusiasm. Plan a party, ask your friends to join you, and buy LOTS of tickets.

I am hoping this will get the box office sales it deserves - and become a blockbuster. It's definitely got the Disney magic... and might just become an instant classic!