Disney animation fans rejoice, now that there’s more Moore on the market

Jim Hill

15 years ago

He’s the Disney Legend who’s credited with changing the look of Mickey
Mouse. The self-taught artist who took that rubber armed, pie-eyed
rodent from the late 1920s / early 1930s and then turned him into the
corporate symbol that we know & love today.

He’s the man gave the Seven Dwarfs
their appeal, Lampwick from
“Pinocchio” his swagger, Timothy Mouse from “Dumbo” his Brooklyn verve,
and the Centaurettes from “Fantasia” their innocent-yet-obvious sex
appeal.

Who am I talking about? Freddy Moore. Who – at the tender age of 19 –
walked in the door at Walt Disney Studios and pretty much changed the
face of animation forever. “How’d he
do that?,” you ask. Through a drawing style that somehow seemed to
instantly create these characters that had immense charm and appeal.

No matter which Studio he worked for (Freddy stepped away from Disney
Studios for a few years after World War II. He worked for Walter Lantz
on shorts like “Pixie Picnic” …

Image courtesy of S/R Laboratories.
All Right Reserved

… before Moore then returned to the Mouse Factory in 1948. Where he
then worked happily for Disney ‘til November of 1952. When Freddy died
suddenly due to injuries he suffered while riding in the passenger seat
during a head-on auto collision), there were always a few fledgling
animators & artists hanging around. Trying to learn Moore’s secret
for designing instantly appealing characters like The Three Little Pigs
.

Mind you, there was another reason that animators used to hang around
Freddy Moore’s desk. And that’s because they hoped – if they asked nice
– these artists might then persuade this talented designer to draw them
one of his famous Freddy Moore girls.

Given that we now live in an age where we’re repeatedly warned that a
website and/or particular image is NSFW, it’s kind of hard to think
back to a time when this sort of mild cheesecake might have been
considered racy. But that being said, these drawings were in extremely
high demand around Walt Disney Studios.

And – over the years, during his infamous weekend walk-thrus of the
Studio – Walt himself must have seen more than his share of Freddy Moore
Girls and then approved of their design. Otherwise how do you explain
the rather distinctive look of the Centaurettes in “Fantasia,” the
bobbysoxers in the “All the Cats Join In” sequence from “Make Mine Music” and/or the mermaids
in “Peter Pan.”

But as for those really-for-real Freddy Moore Girls drawings …
They’re ridiculously highly prized by animation historians & artists
these days. And when these drawings do come on the market, they tend to
be snapped up immediately and for top dollar too.

But fear not, animation fans. If you’ve dreamed of someday owing your
very own Freddy Moore Girl drawing, have I got good news for you. For
the talented folks over at Electric Tiki Design have taken one of
Moore’s more beloved drawings …

… and then translated that image into three dimensions.

Kent Melton (who’s best known to animation professionals for all the
great reference maquettes that he’s sculpted for the Studios over the
years. Whereas members of the Disney collector community probably know
Ken best for the beautiful pieces that he’s created for the Walt Disney
Classics Collection over the 18 years) did the honors this time around.
Doing an amazing job of capturing all of the innocent sex appeal found
in Moore’s original drawing.

And then when you see the final paint job …

… it’s like Freddy’s drawing has literally popped off of the page.

Know this, though. Electric Tiki Design’s Freddy Moore Girl statue
(when it’s finally officially ready to order) is expected to go fast.
And while this 10“ piece will reportedly have a suggested retail price
of $124.99, you can anticipate that this limited edition reproduction
will then sell for a significantly higher price once it hits the
secondary market. So if you’re a Freddy Moore fan, you might to make a
point of dropping Electric Tiki on a regular basis. Just in case you
then need to move quickly in order to snap up a copy of this piece.

And speaking of moving quickly … Today is the last day of the Spring
2010 S/R Laboratories animation art auction. And if you’d like to get
your hands on something like that terrific “Pixie Picnic” piece that was
used to help illustrate today’s Freddy Moore article, then you’d best
head over to the official S/R Laboratories website ASAP.

Your thoughts?