Again, we`re returning to the original purpose

Again, we're returning to the original purpose - emulating the transparency of broad, live
action blur movements. It's especially suitable with ~soft edge' loose drawings - where the outlines aren't sharp and enclosed like colouring book drawings.
Doing too much action in too short a space of time, i.e. too great arm and leg swings in a runo The
remedy: go twice as slow. Add in drawings to slow it down - take out drawings to speed it up.
Ken Harris told me that when Ben Washam was starting out at Warner's, he became famous in
the industry for ~Benny's Twelve Frame Yawn'. Ben drew well and made twelve elaborate drawings of someone going through the broad positions of a yawn - an action something like this:
Then he shot it on ones. Zip! It flashed through in half a second!
So then he shot it on twos. ZZZip! It went through in one second!
So then he inbetweened it (twenty-four drawings now) and shot it on twos. ZZZZZZ! It went
through in two seconds - almost right.
Then Ken showed him how to add sorne cushioning drawings at the beginning and end - and
bingo, Ben's on his way to being a fine animator.
Sorne animators want to save themselves a lot of the work so they draw very rough. CRuff' they don't even want to spend the time spelling ~rough'. Too many letters in it to waste our
valuable time ... ) And they leave lots and lots of work for the assistants.
I've never understood why sorne people in animation are so desperate to save work. If you want
to save work, what on earth are you doing in animation? It's nothing bui work!
99
In the early days at The Disney Studio, when animation was being transformed from its crude
beginnings into a sophisticated art form, they used to say, take at least a day to think about
what you're going to do - then do it.
One old animator, writing about the subject forty years later, advises that we should spend days
thinking about it. He's read up on Freud and Jung and the unconscious mind and he writes
seductively about how you should ruminate until the last minute and then explode into a
frenzy of flowing creativity.
He told me that in a week's work he'd spend Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
thinking about it and planning it in his mind. Then on Friday he'd do it. The only problem is that
it then takes three weeks for somebody else to make sense of it.
1 knew this guy pretty well - and he made it sound so creatively attractive that, though 1
felt it was artistic b.s., 1 thought 1 better try it out. 1 managed to ruminate, stewing and marinating my juices for about a day and a half and then couldn't stand it any more. 1exploded into
creative frenzy for a day, drawing into the night like a maniaco The result was pretty interesting,
but it really did take three weeks to straighten it all out afterwards. And 1don't think it was any
better than if 1 had worked normally - maybe just a bit different.
1think Milt Kahl has the correct approach: j,l do it a lot. 1think about it a lot, and 1do it a lot.'
Ken Harris worked intensely from 7.30 am till noon, relaxed at lunch, hung around doing bits
for a while, went home to watch TV (or play tennis when he was younger) and thought about
what he was going to do the next day - then came in early, avoided social contact and did it.
He worked carefully and thought very hard about his stuff. He said he was surprised when
he saw some of Ward Kimball's working drawings because they were exactly the same as his very neat - very carefully done - usually something on every drawing in the shot.
When 1first saw Milt's work on his desk 1was startled by how much work he did. His drawings
were finished, really. There was no jclean up' - just jtouch up', and completing details and
simple inbetweens or parts of them. Ditto Frank Thomas, ditto Ollie Johnston, ditto Art
Babbitt. The two exceptions to this were Cliff Nordberg, a marvellous jaction' animator who
worked with me for a while, and Grim Natwick. Cliff did work very roughly - so he was awfulIy dependent on having a good assistant and it always caused him a lot of concern. And Grim
was a law unto himself.
There's an animation myth about the assistant always being able to draw better than the animator. (1 never met one who did.) The myth is that the animator creates the jacting' and the fine
draftsperson improves the look of everything and nails it all down. Well, there aren't that many
fine draftspeople around and if they're good enough to nail all the details down and draw well,
they really should be animating - and probably are~ (An exception to this is the assistant jstylist' on commercials where the jlook' of the thing is it's raison d'etre. There are a few excellent
ones around.)
Rough drawings have lots of seductive vitality, blurs, pressure of line, etc. But when they're
polished and tidied up you usually find there wasn't that much there to begin with.
100
As we go along through this book iell be apparent how much work we have to do to get a really
interesting result. No matter how talented - the best guys are always the ones that work the
hardest. But hang the work, ies the unique result that we're after. Every time we do a scene,
we're doing something unique - something nobody else has ever done. It's a proper craft.
Milt Kahl's answer: '1 do enough to have iron ciad control
Ken Harris's answer: '1 draw anything which is not
ov~r
the scene.'
a simple inbetween.'
¡"~o
Milt again: '1 don't leave assis'tants very mucho How much can 1get away with leaving and still
control the scene? If it's fast action, 1do every drawing.'
The purpose of the assistant is to free the animator to get through more work by handling the
less important bits - but as we have seen, he/she can't be just a brainless drawing machine.
The computer produces perfect inbetweens, but obviously has to be programmed to put in the
eccentric bits that give it the life.
Here's my tip on saving work - my rule of thumb:
The long way turns out to be shorter.
Because: something usually goes wrong with some clever rabbit's idea for a short cut and
it turns out to take even longer trying to fix everything when it goes wrong.
I've found it's quicker to just do the work, and certainly more enjoyable because we're on solid
ground and not depending on some smart guy's probably half-baked scheme.
And again, if you don't want to do lots of work, what are you doing in animation?
One of the things 1lave about animation is that you have to be specific. If a drawing is out of
place it's just wrong - clearly wrong - as opposed to 'Art' or 'Fine Art' where everything these
days is amorphous and subjective.
For us, it's obvious whether our animation works or not, whether things have weight, or just
jerk about or float around wobbling amorphously.
We can't hide in all that 'unconscious mind' stuff. Of course, we can dress up and act like
temperamental prima donnas - but we can't kid anybody with the work. It's obvious whether
it's good or bad.
And there's nothing more satisfying than getting it right!
101
WALKS
Advice from Ken Harris:
'A walk is the first thing to learn. Learn walks of all kinds r 'cause walks are about the toughest
thing to do right. r
(
TH~R~~ A íFNDt=NGY
íD l-GAN tN A WALK.
1H~ >WWe:r<. Ir IS /
TH¡: MCfCf3. YOu'RE IN
fSAJ·ANq= ÁN D 1ít1f; FAS/~f2 1V1C)¡e,E alr OF
gAI--ANCf;:. .
Walking is a process of falling over and catching yourself just in time. We try to keep from
falling over as we move forward. If we donrt put our foot down r werll fall flat on our face. Werre
going through a series of controlled falls.
We lean forward with our upper bodies and throw out a leg just in time to catch ourselves. Stepr
catch. Stepr catch. Step catch.
102
Normally we lift our feet off the ground just the bare minimum. That's why it's so easy for us
to stub our toes and get tipped overo Just a small crack in the pavement can tip us overo
U~f;l.-es~( ? ) BL.fT IN~NG ~lt=NnFIC INfOf<MAT{ON ON WA(.f(S:
DID' yOU KNOW
W~ PUT
MI~()N PCX).~D~ (}f
A
\NFtGftf ON OJ«, FM !=ACl-I DAY?
GoING-
M~t>iAKí
DoWN
@)
@
AS W~ DIP POWN
\ W~
>lWD
j)P,.
Hr,¿~L-
FOWNÍlAt.. ~N~Y
ScMf- OF íCte v-cAA'.
OU R- A(¿¡~) A~!= Ar
TttJ;(}<. vv/t>1=ST fbl(\t'-;.
HaP VOtA MUC(1 Wffr;N
I
YOu~
AS«$ '10
OP ASAD BUr HAPPY 1'0. A: N ,-
Cf.0J
Gl.,ID~DQVlJN
\fi FIf'?F S1o/<.1t-G uP
s
{
Oc(fG fOOf
WF:;J,.OWTO·HN,
~u=ASh~ ÉJ'l~y:
GrRAV ITi I ])61~
D~Nr
@
Af w¡;: ;z.ISF uP
O/C
ANI/'AA~
PO~~
Fft<ST
f()¡2. A SOfT
!-A¡\)[)¡I'SIC,
TI-It: WAtK
Ir?
Al-/..
WALK$ ARe D/FFI:/3NT.
NO lWO PIDPi-~ IN THF WOefP WAU<.1H~ SAME:.
Acror<$'1f<.Y ro ~í HOf,D OF A CH-Af2AVréR
'BYFIGitR.I~OUT HDN H'SlsH~/IT WAJ-KS'"
~y 10 r1=1-1- -rtt¡;; WH-Ol.-f= ~y W/Ttl ~ WAL.K.
103
Why is it that we recognize our Uncle Charlie even though we havenrt seen him for ten yearswalking - back view - out of focus - far away? Because everyoners walk is as individual and
distinctive as their face. And one tiny detail will alter everything. There is a massive amount of
information in a walk and we read it instantly.
Art Babbitt taught us to look at someone walking in the street from the back view. Follow them
along and ask yourself:
- ARf¿THpY Of..,D?
- YoUNG?
- Wf-(AT~ TH~/r¿ FINANC/AL- POS.I7/DN?
- ~TAí~ OF I-ff;At...-rH ?
- ARfo il-l/tt STeI CT?
- PIERM 1Se IVG. ?
- D~P~~SD?
- ·HO~FUt...?
- &AD?
- /-IAPPY?
- PIGUNk?
Then run around to see the t"ront and check.
So what do we look for?
The big eye-opener for me happened like this. (Unfortunately it's a little politically incorrect r
but it's a great example r so here goes.)
I was in my parked car turning on the ignition r when out of my peripheral vision I semiconsciously noticed a manrs head walking behind a wall.
104
It passed through my mind that he was gayo A gay walk. Now I'm quite short-sighted - my eyes
were focused on the ignition key, and it was a busy street with lots of cars and people - and he
was about fifty yards away! Wow! How did I know that? This is crazy. AIII'd seen was his outof-focus head moving along behind a wall for a split second!
I started to drive away, then stopped. Wait a minute - rm supposed to be good at this. I'm supposed to know these things. I have to know why! I remembered Art's advice, re-parked, jumped
out and ran a block and a half to catch up with the fellow. I walked along behind him, copying
him. Sure enough, it was an effeminate walk. Then I got it. He was walking as if on a tightrope
and glídíng along.
__
~~
/,/
Now how could I have registered this with out-of-focus peripheral vision at fifty yards without
even seeing his body? Simple, really. There was no up and down actíon on the head. Try walking on an imaginary tightrope and your head stays level. No ups and downs.
ANO INA
CONV~N110NAJ..,
6~P ~e. FtOt>Y
1<IS~S UPONí1te
PAoSS/NG 'POs.rnON.
From then on the first thing I always look for is how much up and down action there is on the
head. The amount of up and down is the key!
WOM~N OfflN TAKE sHORrs.rEPS./N A BTRA/GI1T l..IN~ - L~GS C¡..o~E íoGFTHER :; /.../írtE UP a..td
••
AS
... -. -. .- -.
••
OPPóSED TO Mf&íER, MACH-Q:
••
-.
••
-.
•
tI'
••
••
•• ••
.-
-.
. ...
-.
DOWN C»I-rHeBODY
-. -.
~.
_9
105
-.
Women mostly walk with their legs close together, protecting the crotch, resulting in not much
up and down action on the head and body. 5kirts also restrict their movement.
Mr Macho, however, because of his equipment, has his legs well apart so there's lots of up and
down head and body action on each stride.
tM¡\() HE"g,¡;
1t==I\!DS
lb
COMe~ 1lIe.~xP~S
p'ROf~C1TOt.J
TR.AIN ....
w~ CAN 1u R.N A V~r<1
WAt.-K IN70
AN t=FFJ;;MINATG ONE
MA~Cl-l/...{N~
J~í gy C~/NG- ovt=R
( Gt=:íílNG
wr=.
mE
J
-t'k€
F"f;Eí Ac:nON .
Wt:=/GI/T
PONT Gff WFI6HT 'PY A ~O()TH j..~Vt=f-.. NOYí=Mf,N¡"
When we trace off a live action walk (the fancy word is rotoscoping), it doesn't work very well.
Obviously, it works in the live action - but when you trace it accurately, it floats. Nobody realIy knows why. 50 we increase the ups and the downs - accentuate or exaggerate the ups and
downs - and it works.
,1$ T~ UP AND fXJIIN.
POSITlCN a= y~MAS~~ ~ (i1Ve; y~ 11-lf= fFFJ-JNG Of Wt:(M.
~
f;SPP-C\AU,.-Y
WH~ {r~
ff$CEE:!>FP
EY A STRAlGl-fT
1
- Wff¡::l2E 1H~S
AND
w~ Grr
if$
'C-H-Af{6I== I
NOWFlGtfT
ONIT'
y~
C-o ~
IfS 1lfr:: OO/'iN. PoglTloN WH~f3 íH~ W:7~ A~ 8~NT AND1Hf E>OPlIY\A~> IS PONN"W~f<.~ W~ FGl:=¿...-rH¡: wa<::rf-tr:
106
Before we start building walks and jinventing' walks - here's what happens in a so-called
jnormal' walk:
F/I~ W~ 't-L--
IN A NOr<JMJ-,
CoN Vt:.NTi DNALWAJ..K¡
MAKt::.1H1=
2 WNTACT
'-m ~ ÁR/YfS APf:
POSf17 oNS -
AI-WAYS
o PPo~rTt=
ro Wf=I-EGS
'T o GIVIE
BA1-ANC!=
AtVD TI-{ R1J~T,
PASStNG FbS/nC#
N!=XT V\I¡-¿'I-IPlAT IN -rHt=
P~~~iNG POS,¡ífON-
- ,Hf MI DJ>t-~
POSITíON\
o¡¿.
/3RJ=AKDOWN I
e
$l-fGl1'11-'1 HIGI-/$)
THAN MJP·-fOJNr
~us~ '/Hl= L-tG
IS S,TRAIGHT rAP OH
TH¡:;:¡ PA&sING-~{TlON,
115' GOING 7ó I--/Fr
Tt+f= Pf=J-VI SI
-THf3
Hf\I-F-WAY
80DY tJ1Ad I-II=AD
PHA~t=.
HIGHFR .
NgxT COMfS 11-1~
DOWN Ft5srnoNWI-I~-tHF
f? FNT J-t=G
IAK~-rnE
W~IGHT
Gf-IGHít-Y
AND J4óTTO COMPliCATE
l-/FE" - IN A NORMAl- WAI-K
-rnF ARM SWfNG 15 AT
ITS WI ()J:ST
ON '11-/ ¡; DOWN ~ tTloN
í AN t> NOToN'íf¡e CON71Cr)
l f>Ck;ITION AS w¡;b PRt=Fi=R·
\WÉE. CAJ\1IGNa<¡;-rf!IS
AS IN¡;= PRCCf::¡;-D BuT 'lNt=
MIGHí AS WF-U- UN~íIWD
fHp NORM gF3.fC/<F WE
STARí M~/NG A«r)UNb.
107
' í1n~ Fro, PU.SJ-lING OFF
NI3<T W¡;¿ PUf IN
L-(FTS -rhe
íH~
UP Pos. fTfoN -THf; PU S/-f -OfF.
Pl3LV I S,
BOPY :3.Ytd f-lt=AD uP
,0 IT~ J-I(GH~~ Fl):SJ17cN
- 'TH~ 1Me I-t:=G ¡sí1-lRDWN
QLlí íO CAíCJ-t rAs; 0/'1
(Vie CONTAC, parfioN
- 80 Wf3 [x;t·.{, FA'-'IOIY out<- FAc.¡;.
9 -'.
VP
.. -~
O -.-,.-' U --- - ==.U
C ONíACT
f-~Ts S PRtEAD
Ir
our ANj)
FJ4,.S"2::. POs
POWN
-_._.
, CDNíl'Cf"
~-------
I
-----.
,
~XAGGFf2ATt=. ir
A L rr¡1-~t= M0f;-t=
so frs
CtEAF<.IE.R.n r
I
PA~S
Pt:XmaJ
(?o1/l{G-
LlP)
CoNiÁCí
:-......--------~~----____li:~----__zz.~
HP'~/íI5
A(;A-fN -
(m66tM1t=D)
108
Mt;DIANr- - - -
e
S/=TTHF
/he
T¡3:M"fjj)
FIR13T TH ING -ro fX) IN A WAI-K IS SJ:T A g~AT
G/¡=NfRAUY PtDM
WA1-K~N
/2-'r; - MAPCH
77¡t=
e!!#~~~~/f::O~)
1X>Nr J-./I<t= To '¡ ;O Ir cti /2-8.
up, YDU HÁV~ To USI= \'TI-IIRPS '-THtNK PAR-Tt-Y IN Tl-IIRDS .
!3UT I-Al-Y ANIMATQRS:
Jd;; HARj) -ro DIVJ.D~
WftF2!<F 1b W~ PUT 11l e. JbtNN oR ¿!P?
1;; G,¡;¡nNfí- HARO ~ f?~f~c.rALJ"Y
wf-liN w,; 6er INTD TH~ AfGM~ Af\(C? HIEA[), ArtD
'M11l\f5( ANO PM~ - MAYBt (H~E~ A-N
00 p<.;. - ¡\JOV{
í-f'j;\{ I 1H(~
I==ASJF-R WAY ?
-rtff3.1<J= ~ AN E=AS//E.R WAY - ~/AV~ HfM/I-I¡;¡¿., WAt-K OH /0S - 0/2- WAi-K oH g's ,
M UCH I~A~¡t:=R 'T(:) WAL.K ON IG ~ - ITS EA6Y 10 D/V/Df=. UP -~AJV/f3 TfírNG ON 8 18.
Cj;ÁCH SíFP := ~ s¡;G)
(3 S;¡;;PS PFt< SJ:=C)
I~ I"
.i
~
2. &
1
I
p¡.,;;s
p oSJ
wH~W I íf-fAí MAf(~<;
l-I~~ jE'A~ ·
N (CE ~V¡;:N PI V1> {ON~ NoW -
109
9
SOl WI:= SPf A BI=AT;
4
PRA/VlFS
b
8
r(CÁIYlt=.S
FI<AMf3S
FRAME~
IG F~AMF3&
12.-
-
A
Vt=R.Y FA8T ¡¿UN
(6 S1F~ A 8ECOND)
A ¡¿uN oe Vt=BY FA~I WAl-K
e4- s~ A ~GCOND)
e S,'*S
-
StO W [¿UN DI<. iCA(G-rCON I WAI-K
-
Eei&K I
-
7-0
F/GAM1ES
-
2-4
PRÁMpS
-
32. FF<AMt3~
-
€il8IN¡=S;S;--l--IIt(~
3
A Sf=CONf)")
WAI-K ·- 'NÁiU(2At-! WAt-K
e2- ~
SrroLJ-/NG WAt-K - MORE 1-:r=/-SUF2EI-Y (2~ OFA S1=COND ~&F-P)
e.I-D~Y De '{¡R/:2.D PF(2.80N CAUV\~ A [;;r:=CoND P~SffP )
St-OW ~T~P (ONE blFP PI=r¡¿&FCONb)
",~8 HQW ME íUe WAY""rO GO HOM¡;:r."
The best way to time a walk (or anything else) is to act it out and time yourself with a stopwatch. Also, acting it out with a metronome is a great help.
I naturally think in seconds - 'one Mississippi' or 'one little monkey' or 'a thousand and one,
a thousand and two' etc.
Ken Harris thought in feet, probably because he was so footage
conscious - having to produce thirty feet of animation a week. He'd
tap his upside-down pencil exactly every two thirds of a second as
we'd act things out.
Milt Kahl told me that on his first week at Disney's he bought a
stopwatch and went downtown in the lunch break and timed people
walking - normal walks, people just going somewhere. He said they
were invariably on twelve exposures - right on the nose. March time.
As a result, he used to beat off twelve exposures as his reference point. Anything he timed was
just so much more or so much less than that twelve exposures. He said he used to say 'Well,
ifs about 8s.' He said it made it easy for him - or easier anyway.
Chuck Jones said the Roadrunner films had a musical tempo built into them. He'd time the
whole film out, hitting things on a set beat so they had a musical, rhythmic integrity already
built in. Then the musician could hit the beat, ignore it or run the music against it.
Chuck told me that they used to have exposure sheets with a coloured line printed right across
the page for every sixteen frames and another one marking every twelve frames. He called them
'16 sheets' or '12 sheets' I guess '8 sheets' would be the normal sheets.
I mentioned once to Art Babbitt that Iliked the timing on the Tom and Jerrys. 'Oh yeah/ he said
dismissively, 'AII on 8s.'
That kind of tightly synchronized musical timing is rare today. They call it 'Mickey Mousing'
where you accent everything - ifs a derogatory term nowadays and considered corny. But it can
be extremely effective.
110
A S't=CoND)
In trying out walks, ies best to keep the figure simple. les quick to do and easy to fix - easy to
make changes.
e
D::lf<O r-R-Y rO WORK OUT A CYQ..¡=:
WA/..-KING IN PlACE WI11-{
/tte Fl=FT ~l-r[)rNG 15ACk,F1é ,
'TAAT AU- BpCOMf;:S ·looTl=~N lCAl- ,. Wr::= WANT OUR- B!2AIN P«¡;6 'TO CONCGNíRATe=.
ON AN INí~~NG WAU<. -PP:DG~S:ING P012-WARD,
W~ CAN WOf2J( OUT A CYCL-/3. fb~ 1?1e WAl-K L-Aí/3f2..
r-t=RHAP& Jucr fC>(G tzu¿ Ftf;,
OPiO 8ODY· Bur-rHrn HAVf3.ft1e AR.M:. c>w3'-ft1e. HI3AD P/3.RFORJY1/NG 'S,:=PARATEI-Y,
CNCL¡;S ARf M~ANJCA'- é)~ ~CXi<' JU~ 1-fK¡;:. WHÁT ,HttY AR./= - r::yCi-t=S
Ef,
>
JONf8,P!,LS ~ H(~~NY s YeAl2.aD G'RANDPJ1LlGH$FG SAYING(
I(
~GeANDADI Wf-/y 'DQf:S '1he SAM5 WAV~ K-f:1=P t-APPrN6' av1tte rs.!-AND?
CH~!a.<
Incidentally, if you are using colours as I am here, it works just fine when you film them. loften
have a lot of colours going at first, and you still see the action clearly.
Now we're going to start taking things out of the normal:
F/RST
W~ MAK~ OU/6
o
o
'7WO
CONíAC;r
f>O~JTlON~ -
111
PA~8 POS.
0 ° 0
IH~ PUf IN
'1h~ /l.{J PDL&: PO~¡170f(--
-rHts. íí M.¡;'
W¡:3.'t<I=. RA{SING' lí
1-11GH fR; íHAN
P~VIOUS¡"y.
({;¡e. PA~~/NQ P~/17crv­
W/:::'RÉ MÁKfNG IT
í+I~ UP POSITTON-
OR
f3R1=AK DOWN
-1Hf3 H(GH .
When we join these up with connecting drawings r the walk will still have a feeling of weight
because of the up and down. We can make tremendous use of this simple three drawing device.
J$UT 1-00K WffAr H,APPeN~ I F W~ GO roWN ON 1Ht PA&..s.JNG FOStTíoN J
tJow
W.E GE=í A
Vt;gy
1) IfFe~ T INAI-KA \ CAR.íOCNY' / WAL-K
11-1~ PA~~/NG
POSiTlON ¡s:.TH¡;
VJW AND THlE
CoN-rAC-rs. ACí
AS /HE HIGHt¡;TIf-1- G/VINGA
r-Ea-ING OF
Wf3fGHT
THt= Ct<LICIAl- TH
' ' 6 {r;
TI-I/~ 11/} I DDJ-f- POSt'noN AND
WHt::R¡; Wf3. PUl I r:
PA:$
o
SQUA~H
f
W{TH A f5r=ND?
I-IKr= A K(DN~Y?
112
o
OÜ
HOW
ABOVf
rH/~
ONp?
Fot
.
O
o
o
IN A &íOW SfF;P WJ; MtEiHTGO AS FAf< AS1HfG-
AI-MOST A SN¡;:AK.
Wf./Aí Ir- THf-. Fr=:f3í SWING OUT SjD~WAY'8
()JV 7Hr:= P~~/NG POSfTíON&?
ANO
MAYf3F
STRAfGHTtEN
-rúe 80DY
ONittePASS
PC6fTiO/'lS?
TH~
Kt:.Y· íH ING
'S WHF-Ri= IX:> W¡=
WAN'í íO Pur T{-f~
/\1/ C>Dl-J=
1:>O8¡ noN .-
Natío MWTioN
WHAT W/ECIW po
WITH Th-eHf;;AI)¡
HANlYS¡ ÁRJVl.S OR.
~¡Eí-
113
AND WHY SHO~\L-D W~ B~ ~rUCK W/fH íH';' GAM~ SHAPt=.?
1-10\N Al50Uí
¡NS/1:Af) OF 1GA1~(rG
-rhe WHO~ "BOPY
ON 1h. PA~ POS .,
STRfofct/
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To my knowledge, I think Art Babbitt may have been the first one to depart from the normal
walk or the cliché cartoon walks. Certainly he was a great exponent of the 'invented' walk. He
became famous for the eccentric walks he gave Goofy - which made Goofy into a star. He even
put the feet on backwards! He made it look perfectly acceptable and people didn't realize they
were backwards!
Art's whole credo was: 'Invent! Every rule in animation is there to be broken - if you have the
inventiveness and curiosity to look beyond what exists.' In other words, 'Learn the rules and
then learn how to break them.'
This opened up a whole Pandora's box of invention.
Art always said, 'The animation medium is very unusual. We can accomplish actions no human
could possibly do. And make it look convincing!'
This eccentric passing position idea is a terrifically useful device. We can put it anywhere and
where we put it has a huge effect on the action. And who says we can't put it anywhere we
want? There's nothing to stop uso
114
For that matter, we can
keep on
breaking things down into weird places - provided we allow
enough screen time to accommodate the movement.
PAS~
pos. ·
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-rJt /s,
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PR.tíTY
ST/L.L-
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-rey Ir?
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AND
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Pos
iH rs, WQUt-D g~
WH-tR:t= íH ¡::
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WAS- PUf
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WHER/E
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e
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.,- AND
BIEN.b THf; !-fu,
Anyway, back to the normal:
(jVlIAY'$;;-TO Pt-.AN A WAt-.K]
PASS, POs
¡q;V/~Wlf.l&
1Zte.'CoNTAc:r/
/VI¡zrHoD:
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I
TH¡;N W¡;;:
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PO&IT(c>N~
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srf2.AN~t-y
----
Vv¡=PurlN
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P~/770N
&~A!-)
115
I've found that this contad method is
the one that gets you through - takes you horneo It's espe-
cially suitable for natural adions - which is what we mostly have to do. I've found it to be the
best way to do most things.
Milt Kahl worked this way. 'In a walk, or anything, I make the contad positions first - where
the feet contad the ground with no weight on them yet. It's kind of a middle position for the
head and body parts - neither an up or down. I know where the highs and lows are and then I
break it down. Another reason I do it is because it makes a scene easy to plan.'
'1 always start off with that contact because it's a dynamic, moving thing. And it's much better
than starting with the weight already on the foot, which would be a very static pose!'*
* INHICH 18 ¡;XACTI-Y WHAr m[; .s'.t=COND ~'y'ST:-~M DOGS."
-rHfS 18. TH~ WAY AF<-T /5ABB¡'fí OFTm PJ-ANN~[) A WAl.f(-- AND ITHA~
A V[;¡<Y' CVNNING THINCt 7ó I 'I~ .
6fARfOFF
WITH THt=.
DOWN
DOWH
O
O
Z POWN PCB(T10NS
PoR WANTOFA )
gP1/F-R 'TtERM
.
WJ= '1-1- CAL.L 1,
itte. DOWN POS/TICfV
1\1¡:::;1HDD.
up
N6w PUf IN
íZte PA::;;'&JNG
pa;l1íoN - FoJ?.. NO'VV¡
I2JGHT IN 7H fE.
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qo
,
N· OW
I
W·f:.V/= Gor
BOTHIH~ UP
AND
-rH~ lXJWN
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IN \ft¡~ -3
PRAW¡Nc;g
M I.{)DI-.t:=.
AND ON~ OF OUtG
NE'Xf M{D-FO~JflONS; WIL-If$~ 1H1S CotrrACf.
{
A/.-THOUGH IT&
K/ND OP AWKVV,AR.D
/O Gf2íGCúP
CONTAcr PO~/TfONS'
,rllS, WAY'-
116
The cleverness of this approach is that we've already taken care of the up and down in the first
three drawings. Of course, we can put the passing position up, down or sideways - anywhere
we want. But having the downs already set helps us invent; it gives us a simple grid on which
to get complicated, if we want.
We know ifll already have weight and so we're free to mess around and invent eccentric
actions, or actions that couldn't happen in the real world.
Again, we're not stuck with one method or the other. Why not have both? Not only but also ...
I highly recommend the contact approach for general use, but starting with the down position
is very useful for unconventional invention.
From now on we'lI use both approaches.
,
I
ITrS KfND OF ACAD~MICI Sur IF Wf5. TAt<t= 80TH M/~THODS""
-
W~ GfEí AI-I- -rúe. IAP avJ DOWN A-IAf:;~S OF A NOI<MAL WAt-K,
11~ íhe: ~íHING-", W~'ef¿J{)sí STARJ7NG OFF ON&. PH~E ~ARUf;l<
De ONtE P/-IAf;E }--ATt=/<..
117