They drew as they pleased The Hidden Art of Disney’s Golden Age the 1930s by Didier Ghez foreword by Pete Docter CHRONICLE BOOKS SAN FRANCISCO Copyright © 2015 by Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available. ISBN: 978-1-4521-3743-8 (hc) ISBN: 978-1-4521-5860-0 (epub, mobi) Written by Didier Ghez Design by Cat Grishaver Chronicle Books LLC 680 Second Street San Francisco, California 94107 www.chroniclebooks.com Chronicle books and gifts are available at special quantity discounts to corporations, professional associations, literacy programs, and other organizations. For details and discount information, please contact our corporate/premiums department at [email protected] or at 1-800-759-0190. FRONT COVER IMAGE: Gustaf Tenggren ABOVE AND OPPOSITE: Character studies for Alice in Wonderland. Courtesy: Matt Crandall. To the three fairies who gave birth to my golden age: my grandmother, Simone Naman; my mother, Yvette Naman-Ghez; and my wife, Rita Holanda Ghez CONTENTS Foreword by Pete Docter 9 Preface 10 Inspired! 13 1. Albert Hurter 18 2. Ferdinand Horvath 72 3. Gustaf Tenggren 128 4. Bianca Majolie 174 Acknowledgments 203 Notes 204 Index 206 Character studies for The Fox Hunt (1938), by Ferdinand Horvath. 8 FOREWORD FOREWORD A concept artist at Disney in the 1940s. It seems like a dream job, doesn’t it? No rules, no preexisting styles to follow, working alongside some of the best artists in the world. Just sit all day in a comfortable office . . . and draw. Yet most who achieved this enviable position only In addition, it takes a quiet and reflective person to pick up lasted a few years. They got frustrated, anxious, insecure, and on the nuances and subtleties of human behavior; someone who burned out. Why? What made this dream job so difficult? is sensitive and deeply attuned to the world around them. Often For starters, there is that blank piece of paper staring up at these people are shy introverts, content to sit outside the party you. What at first seems like freedom can end up overwhelming and observe rather than be an active part of it. in its infinite possibilities. Inspiration doesn’t always arrive on a Imagine what happens when you put this unique, sensi- schedule, but the deadlines don’t change. Then too, consider the tive, independent person into a factory setting—for that largely audience for whom you’re producing: whatever you produce has describes an animation studio. The days are regimented, the hours to surprise, delight, and inspire the world’s best artists and story- long, and the deadlines never stop. And of course, one’s work is tellers—including Walt Disney himself. No pressure, right? always under scrutiny, subject to others’ tastes and opinion. Walt Given all these requirements, there were but a small number was not known for his soft-handed approach, and he wasn’t shy of artists up to this task. Few made it to this position directly; about speaking up when something didn’t please him. (He was, they were usually brought up through the ranks, hand-selected by after all, paying the bills.) Walt. What was he looking for? What qualities did it take to be a Ironically, in many ways the Disney Studio system may successful concept artist?0 have unwittingly squashed the very qualities it looked for in the They must draw well, of course. But an artist is more than concept artist to begin with. Being some of the very first art- a talented draftsman. Concept artists must be independent and ists to be placed in this newly minted “concept artist” position, unique, more interested in blazing their own trail than following Albert Hurter, Ferdinand Horvarth, Gustaf Tenggren, and Bianca others. Their visual style should be distinctive. They need to be Majolie were to find out first-hand how difficult the position able to observe thousands of details from life around them, filter, could be. In many ways, the real surprise is that they lasted at the interpret, and then commit these ideas to paper in a way that Studio as long as they did. would make others laugh or cry. Their work reflected the mind Concept artists are unlikely mercenaries. Hired to discover of the artist who made it, showing their personality and taste. ideas, jokes, characters, and environments, their trailblazing work It’s surprising how often a drawing will look like the artist—even is never seen directly by the film-going audience. Unexpectedly, when the drawing isn’t of a person. Their artwork is a reflection thanks to this volume, the art of four exemplary members of the of the individual and their life experiences. If you want unique art, Walt Disney Studio in the 1930s has a second chance to do what you’ll find it takes a unique person to produce it. it was designed to do: inspire. —PETE DOCTER 9 FOREWORD Preface TThe 1930s was the decade off the Walt Diisney SStudiio’’s GGolden AAge. TThey were also the decade of the Great Depression. Unemployed artists flocked to the Disney Studio and the animation jobs that were among the only reliable openings at the time. Walt had the opportunity to pick the best among them. As a result, many of the most gifted American and foreign unique and highly creative individuals who had a major impact artists joined Disney in the ’30s to work on story, design, layouts, on the second decade of the Disney Studio. Their stories and art backgrounds, and animation. The most original, the most creative, showcase the incredible explosion of inspiration and ideas that the most imaginative of them were challenged by Walt to create was occurring in animation at that time, as well as the conse- imaginative works of art, to establish character and scene designs, quences of working in such a competitive, high-pressure environ- to inspire their fellow artists. By their very nature those pieces of ment. In future volumes I will also mostly shy away from artists preproduction art never made it to the screen, though the char- like Joe Grant and Mary Blair, who have been widely discussed, acters and scenes that audiences have come to love sprang to life in order to focus on the likes of Johnny Walbridge, Walt Scott, from these early ideas and designs. and John Parr Miller, whose concept sketches are particularly I first became aware of the beauty and endless creativity striking but have been almost completely overlooked. of Disney’s concept artwork through the books He Drew as He As much as possible, my plan is to include in these books Pleased (1948) by Albert Hurter and the seminal Before the Ani- artwork that has never been released before. There is so much mation Begins (1996) by John Canemaker. Looking at concept art from these artists—and many others—that lies in the files and allowed me to become aware of the thousands of creative ideas boxes of Disney’s Animation Research Library and the Walt and designs that the Disney artists explored before settling on the Disney Archives. These institutions preserve close to sixty-five ones that made it to the screen. It revealed a critical, and often million pieces of art. Needless to say, this is both exhilarating and hidden, part of Disney history whose richness was almost over- daunting. The present volume contains countless new discoveries: whelming. I was hooked, and I knew I needed to try to unearth from early Jiminy Cricket designs by Albert Hurter to drawings much more of this art for myself and others to enjoy. More spe- by Gustaf Tenggren for “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” and the cifically, I wanted to delve into the lives and work of artists who, abandoned Silly Symphony Ballet des Fleurs. The search for these while they played key roles in Disney’s productions, have been treasures was not always smooth. To make matters more difficult, largely overlooked in the more popular histories and art books. artists working at Disney mostly did not sign their creations, and For this volume, I chose to include Albert Hurter, Ferdinand it is often difficult to attribute pieces of art to a specific indi- Horvath, Gustaf Tenggren, and Bianca Majolie. These are each vidual. In addition, some of the most beautiful concept sketches 10 PREFACE