They Drew as They Pleased Vol. 3: The Hidden Art of Disney's Late Golden Age (The 1940s - Part Two) (Art of Disney, Cartoon Illustrations, Books about Movies) (Disney x Chronicle Books)

This is another gorgeous entry in the They Drew As They Pleased series, this time looking at the Character Modeling Department at the Disney Studios, which officially existed from 1938-1942, though the artists may have been with the company before or after that span.As with the other volumes, Didier Ghez presents an introduction to the artists' group at the studio and what their general focus was, followed by brief biographies of a half dozen artists and examples of their work. From what I understand, the Character Modeling Department was tasked primarily with inventing characters and creating artistic inspiration that would be distilled into animation-friendly drawings. This is in contrast with the Story Department concept artists profiled in volume 2 of the series (1940s - Part One), who worked with a lot of mood pieces, background art, and more general character inspiration. I felt like the introduction to what exactly the Modeling Department was supposed to do was a little confusing, and like I was missing some vital background information on the politics and organizational structure of the Disney Studios, which is not something I felt when reading the other volumes, and feels a bit strange because I'm not unfamiliar with the topic. I think, though, this is at least partly because the department itself wasn't entirely set on a single task, as is demonstrated in the biographies for how the artists were hired in. That the lack of clear purpose is historical and not a lack in Ghez's writing is supported by the artwork included. It is primarily character studies, with occasional further concept art to develop the characters.I was a little disappointed that there are only a couple photos of the maquette sculptures that were created, even though one artist's profile specifically calls him out as being a sculptor, and the maquettes were something of an invention by the group. I was also disappointed that none of the women in the department were featured, even though there were at least two explicitly named and included in the men's profiles, but that could be explained by space constraints and their relatively shorter time or smaller repository of work in the archives. Three or four of the artists were very close friends, they even shared a house together for a while, and it was nice to read about each of them, but that does take space away from Fini and Sheila.I love this series for the quality of the books, for the interesting look at how artists' unique skills and styles fit into an animation studio's needs, and also for the wonderful artwork. It is as much an art book about artists and their paying-the-bills jobs as it is about Disney history. In fact, I forgot that I had won a copy through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program and bought my own when I happened to see it was newly released, because I found the previous installments to be such excellent work. Despite I would have liked to see a more expanded look at the Character Modeling Department artists and role, this third volume continues to be excellent, and I hope that Ghez will continue with a fourth volume that picks up after the mass layoff that ended most of these artists' careers at the Studio.

Next to the Story Department, The Character Model Department was also the heart of creativity at the Disney Studio. John Canemaker wrote a chapter in his book "Before The Animation Begins" about the inner workings of the department and the key personnel. A book on this topic really needed to be written and Didier Ghez was just the person to do it. Didier had told us that this would be the best entry in the series and for good reason.In addition to giving more in depth insight and understanding to the origins, functions, and personnel who worked in the Character Model Department, we're also treated to some insight on the development of features that were shelved for several years. Many dedicated fans know that most of the Disney features released in the late 40's and 50's were actually in production by the start of the 40's, but shelved due to economic setbacks and WWII. There are many model sheets and story sketches from those features and the features released during that timeframe. Chief among them are character model sheets for Peter Pan that are dated 1940. Michael Sporn posted those on his blog over ten years ago, but its nice to have them in published form. One of my favorite pieces is for a proposed Goofy short "How To Become Hep", in which Goofy learns the then current dance trends. Complete with Goofy in a zoot suit. That surely would have been an interesting period piece from Disney.What would have been cool to see in this volume, is previously unpublished art from Joe Grant, one of the most creative and inspired artists and storytellers ever. As the head of this department, his contributions are especially worth noting.This series has gathered lots of concept art from the Disney studio, several unseen by the public. What would be cool to see is an additional series, which shows concept art by film and even give further insight on unproduced films.This volume covers a wide array of feature films and unproduced films. This and the new information presented make it a must have for the Disney connoisseur.

Excellent book!Inspired by the 1948 book “He drew as he pleased” about concept art by Disney artist Albert Hurter, Didier Ghez expanded and developed the original idea that originated that book into a series of books about inspirational art produced at Disney Studios and concept artists who created it. Thanks to the author’s deep and passionate work of research, each volume of this astonishing series is full of never-before-published informations, illustrations and photos. Not only the best known animated shorts and full-length features are covered, but also the unproduced Disney-That-Never-Was projects ; so this books represent a sort of sequels to the Charles Solomon seminal books about disney abandoned concepts.The third volume ““They Drew as They Pleased – The Hidden Art of Disney’s Late Golden Age – The 1940’s - Part Two” features biographies, artistic profiles and drawings by Eduardo Sola Franco, Johnny Walbridge, Jack Miller, Campbell Grant, James Bodrero, Martin Provensen, an history of Character Model Department and insights about “Don Quixote” abandoned concept.

Als Geschenk, das dann auch sehr gut ankam

I've been collecting "making off" for a lifetime, I thought I'd seen it all,this series of books collects thousands of images never seen, taken from the disney archives,80% illustrations, 20% descriptionsOne of my best purchases ever ! ! !

A great addition to my Disney collection, as are all the volumes in the series!

Terzo volume della serie scritto in inglese in modo eccellente. Indicato per chi è appassionato della Disney e vuole approfondire le produzioni degli ultimi anni ‘40. Illustrazioni definite, a colori, molto belle. Ricco di aneddoti interessanti e frutto di uno studio accurato da parte di Didier Ghez.

Ottimo prezzo per questa bellissima edizione e consegna velocissima!