How you spent Gobelins in Paris Walt Disney Feature Animation? Already he has spent some years in between! I spent two years at CFT Gobelins, I was 18-19 years. At that time the studio was required by Montreuil Brizzi brothers and they were about to produce films like DuckTales and Goofy and Max. For my part, I'm a fan of the classics as these characters. And most importantly, I did not feel ready. I was born with the gift of drawing. I liked Disney, of course, but there was not that. I wanted to touch a little bit of everything, including the comics. So at that time, Disney turned to us, the Gobelins, and some of us, at the end of their two or three years have passed and there ... but not me! I then started doing my first steps in the animation in France, at Saban. I made the design of secondary characters on the series Achilles heel. Meanwhile, the studios began to take Montreuil the importance and as soon as I knew they were working on The Hunchback of Notre Dame, I was interested. I started training with a view to joining the department put in net facilitation (Clean-up) because there was no department of visual development in France. I filed my case. At that time, they worked on Hercules. It took a while because they received a lot of files. From there he took a test-I have been lucky because I came across a test of Ariel, I knew at your fingertips! - Then shortly after I was told it was good!
was in April 1997. They were on pre-production of Tarzan. Glen Keane was there and they were testing animation. There were four newcomers and we spent several months in training. We were all affiliated to a person in the Department Clean-up, which gave us shots from various Disney characters to train. And later, in September-October, we had to go! I became a tweener. In fact, it is divided into mini-teams with a chief assistant who retrieves a plan and will do the poses key and distributes all drawings to be made between the different intervals and breakdowners (which poses keys and ranges to unify the animation). One of my first plans for clean-up I had was the infamous scene of Tarzan who surfs the trees. This is the scene that was used in all the trailers. We knew it was important because of the Deep Canvas process that was revolutionary at the time. It was a very long plane, while the studio has had little bits to make, and I have been the end.
and I stayed for almost two years at the studio, rubbing shoulders with great leaders, people I knew Gobelins and people who worked there for years, long before we will make Disney productions. It has worked on adult Tarzan and Sabor. I had a lot of scenes with Tarzan and Jane, a lot of big shots, lots of things quite subtle and very complicated because it does not let that trembles at the cinema. It was pretty hard sometimes, indeed, and we had to redo the plans several times.
That is only two years of my life, but I think it was one of the most important of my career already that this was one of my dreams -Work at least once in my life on a Disney feature film, but also because it was a great school. I learned a lot in a short time: by hanging out with artists, animators very talented, but also take courses in intensive English, model nude, anatomy, sculpture, etc.. There were also many external interventions of artists like cartoonists or artists from other animation studios. Besides the famous response of Glen Keane. A bit like the recent masterclass he gave recently in Paris for about Arludik of Rapunzel, he took his papers and pencils and told us how to draw Tarzan.
How was your meeting with Glen Keane?
In fact, I knew a bit before returning to Disney. I was at the Gobelins. The school has a tradition to make the trailers of the Annecy Festival and as it was my year, I proposed a project-Little Red Riding Hood which was incorporated and became an iconic movie trailers School! We went to the Festival, where Disney was represented, including Glen Keane. He had been spotted and my friends pushed me towards him because I was the only one to get by in English. But Glen was with his wife, Linda, and I dared not disturb him. Seeing my hesitation, we have lost sight and I got killed by my friends! However, at this time, Glen and his wife were just behind us and realized we were talking about them! So it was he who came to us, and we spontaneously gave appointment the next morning in the same place for breakfast. We're not back! The next day he was there and we talked about everything and nothing with him but especially his passion. And he has not changed since he is still as passionate! And so humble! ...
At the time he was researching Pocahontas, and as I have always been a big fan of Disney heroines, he drew me Pocahontas. It was my great memory, and it is always framed home. And when I arrived at Montreuil, he recognized me! I have many memories with him during production of Tarzan. It must be said that during the first months, we are over the moon! And after is the work, the daily ... "Hello Glen! "Hi David! "
I remember his daughter, Claire, who has made beautiful drawings for Rapunzel, headed at the time to study fashion design, and it was that in my portfolio, there was a drawing which was similar to the styling and Glen remembered ... He came to my office, almost embarrassed, wondering if it was possible to borrow this picture to show it to her daughter!
How did complete your experience in Montreuil studio?
should know at the time, Disney has just blown the budget by hiring thousands of new talent and investing in new equipment. The result was that in the end, they might go into the wall, and all those who were IDUs knew they had to leave the studio at the end of Tarzan, including me. It was not easy because it was at this time that he had put a big push. The three-four months, it was not uncommon to finish at 9-10 hours with cramps in the wrist and fingers. It was a bit sad when everyone had to say goodbye. I do not expect a career at Disney, but I would gladly have continued over two or three films. At the end, I was really intervals. I attended over the plans, what I liked and suited me more. Some of us were called back later to lend a hand and Kuzco Atlantis, but not me because I'm a little perfectionist, and not fast enough. You should know that, to work at Disney, it must be quality and speed. Moreover, at the end of production, we received a newsletter where we were rated on all sorts of criteria and disciplines relating to animation, but also the behavior and involvement.
So I left the studio in late January 1999, but as we had noticed that I was gifted to the design and character creation, I was advised to send my portfolio in a U.S. studio. I waited a while and then came back in my file saying that I had the level, but given that this was the crisis they did not hire foreigners. And even I was not sure if I wanted to go to work there. But meanwhile, I made my merry way to Magic! ...
Click to enlarge Can you Now tell us about your experience in the world of French animation?
I worked in various animation studios French either as a character designer on the creation of characters on projects being squarely on production. I would say that France is a country of some particular point of view, a bit messy. One project the green light thanks to a producer today, mostly the television, which was not the case a few years ago. So they have their say and may well require any change. It's a bit unfair to the artists in that these people know the targets and marketing, but not necessarily the best advisers in the artistic point of view. That said, from the moment the green light is given, all rushes. Bibles are carried graphic ... upstream Bibles literature, when in fact it should clearly define the history and the universe and develop visually from there. This is problematic because it encourages the production of people and afterwards, we must discard because we realize that there are problems and we are forced to stop production and recall more later. But as these are the entertainment, they are no longer available because they are moved elsewhere. It is a particular problem in France. The result is that by comparison, Japanese and American productions appear to be much better designed, with real stories and real emotions, while it is rare to be touched or taken by a French series, despite the multitude of talented writers and artists. That's why I decided to stop and start my own freelance because it is a medium which is very frustrating. To have made many developments Bibles graphics projects that never see the day, in the end it was just the feeling of being used for anything and when you really love drawing, it feels like to miss something and waste time.
One of your major projects was Magic!
I was chief of the characters, to lead a small team. Basically, the graphic was Arthur de Pins and as I was told that sometimes my style is closer to his, I was hired following the departure of a cartoonist who had abandoned. There was a lot of pressure because there was a young director, Charles Vaucelles, who was with Xilam for a while, which was the directorial debut and was pretty demanding. The designers have thus succeeded, including my team. But thanks to this requirement, I learned a lot, especially in terms of design, to be more concise or more graphic, and by necessity, I became chief of the characters. I created a lot of minor characters, main characters and refined, leading to another, I made the storyboard clean. Indeed, it was a very intense but very interesting in that it must immediately take the attitude and expression of character, and as the expression is one of my strengths, I enjoyed it not bad! I also worked on the designs of marketing. I loved this series, but in the end, I was worn out. In many studios, working conditions are often difficult. There is much conflict of ego and it is not easy to place. Imagine that it happens that some studios do not warn us when the series is broadcast! Over the years I've realized that this medium less suited me and now I have no desire to try my luck in the comics or artwork.
As Rapunzel , for which you have illustrated several books from the movie.
must say that I have very good friendships within the Disney studio, including Byron Howard, one of the directors of Rapunzel and Volt. We've known for some years. We have much the same approach to the design, the universe, humor, spontaneity and freshness, things that we take to heart. He's a very positive and lovely. We got along so well on an artistic level, and we realized it was the same on many other things in our lives. A friendship is born, a sincere friendship. So, I followed the adventure of Volt and I was able to get to know John Lasseter. I lived almost directly on his appointment Rapunzel, following his excellent work on Volt, which was a production that was also in danger before. Inevitably, as a fan of Disney heroines and especially Rapunzel, I waited for ten years, I could not believe it! Filmmaker Byron, it was amazing for me! And so I followed at the ready all the vagaries of the film. Imagine then my wanted to work for Disney, especially since I learned that some foreign artists such as Harald Sieperman (character designer on Tarzan, Brother Bear, or Enchanted) could be recruited by the visual department without leaving their country. But Byron said it was very difficult and in the meantime, Disney proceeded less and less like that. He therefore advised me to go more by the back door, namely, the illustration and merchandising. He put me in contact with Disney Consumer Products. Since the production was made somewhat in the emergency (two years instead of the usual four years) it was a bit complicated, but a year ago, I was contacted to participate in the novelization of the film. It made me do a test ... for a month! It was a little tricky because there were very few references, but at the same time, the next interesting thing is that some of my corrections were made by Glen Keane ...! Meanwhile, I also went to see the film production in Burbank in September last year, where I met Glen, who remembered me! He made two drawings of Rapunzel with a Tarzan surfing taking Rapunzel's hair ! It was great! It was the first time I came in true Disney studio and amazed that I discovered that Rapunzel would become a year later. Back, so I did this test and I was also contacted by the company Leapfrog, which publishes interactive books for children, which was preparing to write a book about Rapunzel. This was both very organized and very long. There are steps. It works, it makes the work, he passes by them, by Disney and it comes back and passes to the next step by including all the corrections. It begins with a line drawing (rough), we stop, they correct, then passes the drawing to the net, he goes, there is color and it starts again, and all this over several months. It was very interesting. Finally, there was a project with Disney Europe, based in London, on the childhood of Rapunzel, but unfortunately did not come into being for financial reasons since he had to make small interactive dolls in China and this has been a problem. Finally, there are two books from a complete set of books coming out around the movie, but I was delighted because it allowed me to go back to Disney and to make my small contribution modest in this film that I have so much to heart.
What were your references for these drawings?
I had everything, and even more! For example, I have everything that is in the tower, all the little details of decoration and furniture. It's incredible! I keep it all very carefully, but I signed many brothels privacy before I embark on this adventure! That said, for the characters, it was a little tricky because the production of books had to be done before the film, so it is a lot of errors in the books that came out. The characters are not the model, either in terms of clothing details, proportions of faces and eye colors. It should be understood that, given the time of production, the filmmakers have made changes regularly. I think the latest changes were made to figures in May-June. So that I did not have the characters in 3D before late April or early May, and they were frozen. Fortunately, Byron was able to explain and direct me. He said the details would still be changed, whether the shape of the mouth or the reasons for the dress, etc.. and full details on the story as scenes that were to be removed. So I was very lucky because I could refine my work better, even being ahead of Leapfrog!
It provides the distance traveled since the first tests presented to the public, including the squirrel instead of Pascal.
Already at the outset, Pascal had to be blue, then turned green. They have been testing for it is not laced too visually because it is very small and that we had to identify it right away on the shoulder of Rapunzel with her hair and purple dress. Like a chameleon, it allowed them to pass it by different colors throughout the film, but without abusing it. Indeed, this is very pleasant Rapunzel is we did not omnipresent sidekick who spoils the story. It should be noted that initially, when Byron arrived at the controls, there were more than sidekick at all. But we started to convince many to give one. We passed by several animals, a raven, an owl, a ferret, a lot of things like that. Finally, Pascal has become his Jiminy qu'ne all of her friends and colleagues has a true chameleon named Pascal! That said, I liked the squirrel Rapunzel Unbraided. The idea was to have two teenagers of our changing world, one in Rapunzel, the other bastion. In fact, in the excerpt presented to the public, the girl is the girl and the squirrel is true Rapunzel transformed. As for the original version of Glen Keane, it was even darker and closer to the tale, and very visually inspired by Rembrandt. And to make these visual influences from painting by Rembrandt and other Fragonard, attempts have been made in developing the Deep Canvas of Tarzan, but this proved harder than expected I think. The result was very good on still images, but less conclusive in animation. Maybe in a few years on another film. And most importantly, Glen Keane has had health problems and had to leave his post as director. He was thrilled to no longer be a director, relieved. Moreover, from the perspective of the spirit of the film, the time has changed. Now quand on pense dessin-animé, on pense Age de Glace, pas quelque chose de sombre. A l’époque, y compris à l’intérieur du studio, on comparait beaucoup Rapunzel au Bossu de Notre-Dame. Je pense qu’avec le film final, le studio a vraiment trouvé le ton juste.
Il y a quelques années, j’ai eu de gros doutes sur ce film en apprenant qu’il allait être tourné en CGI car, comme beaucoup, je préfère l’animation 2D (même si, depuis Ratatouille, on a vu qu’on pouvait faire des choses intéressantes en animation par ordinateur), tout en l’attendant forward because I knew that Glen Keane was the head of this project. I knew he would lead a new heroine, and it was very long as he had not done. Rapunzel waiting foremost because I love the female characters at Disney. When The Little Mermaid was released in the cinema, I had 16-17 years, I was in college and I wanted to make comics and I went to the Goblins to do animation because Ariel has for me was the trigger. Today, I can see the film, scriptwriting and other mistakes, and yet I'm still far attached to the main character because it was the first time there was a Disney heroine who moved, which was expressive and had personality, which turned in volume, and who had beautiful hair, and I love hair! And then, even if the film turned me less, it was not serious, there was always a heroine. That's why I waited Rapunzel: because there was Glen Keane, I was sure it would be strong and more, which characterizes it, is his hair! Then there was Byron! And the result fully satisfied me. It recognizes the leg of Glen Keane, and hair are remarkably animated (which allows the CGI). The colors I like a lot (it is also passed from green to purple to her dress color as I particularly like).
Today it seems that the studio aims to explore other worlds, which is a good thing, but I'll always particularly attached to Rapunzel ...
