There’s history to American animation, and I don’t just mean
the cutesy stuff. Behind every Disney classic were hundreds of artists,
photographers, costume designers, cameramen, and cell painters, all laboring to
make Technicolor fantasies come to life. If you’re a film student and you
wonder if it might’ve been fun to work for Walt Disney in the 40’s, then you’re
right, it would’ve been fun. But it wouldn’t have been rewarding. The pay was
low, the hours were long, and deadlines were strict, and you’re name wouldn’t
live on forever. That was where Herman Schultheis came in.
Schultheis’ name
is forgotten to history. He was just another guy hired by Disney, originally an
electrical engineer and amateur photographer in German, who found work as a
light and sound technician, moving through different departments in his career.
He would photograph the production drawings for animated movies like Bambi, Pinocchio,
Fantasia, and others. The drawings for the movies went through many changes,
and different styles were explored for all the characters and backgrounds. The
various stages would all be forgotten if not for the scrapbook that Schultheis
kept; it’s a treasure trove of beautiful artwork.
One of the most
beautiful pieces in the collection is the concept art for the Rite of Spring
sequence in Fantasia. The drawings are simple, just colored pencil and
watercolor, but the artwork is wonderful. Schultheis also saved the space
photographs from local observatories which were used for the (scrapped) galaxy
sequences in the movie. The drawings from Night On Bald Mountain are here as
well, with the skeleton horses, demons, and flying witches. It’s both beautiful
and creepy to see.
One of the most
unique things about the Disney studio is the type of work performed by the
women there. While the drawings and production art were all done by men, the
cell painters were all women. They colored in the animation cells, spending all
day painting in the traced draw
ings. A lot of the model makers were women too. I wonder if they were paid the same as the men?
ings. A lot of the model makers were women too. I wonder if they were paid the same as the men?
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