I can’t remember the production number of any Disney or Pixar movie I’ve ever worked on — except one.
“Sleeping Beauty’s production number was 2082. I’ve never forgotten that number and probably never will. It was a number I had to write on every production slip, folder and drawing. And you better believe it — “Sleeping Beauty” had its share of drawings. It was not unusual for a scene in the film to be redrawn three separate times. Ouch!
I was lucky enough to work on this classic Disney movie many years ago. It was my first feature film, and my induction into an animation “boot camp” of sorts as I learned the ropes of film production with a talented group of Disney veterans. Oddly enough, it all began with a magazine.
Here’s a scan of that Cosmopolitan magazine where I saw my first sketch of Briar Rose.
Below is Jon Whitcomb’s sketch of Mary Costa, the voice of Sleeping Beauty
I opened the new issue of Cosmopolitan magazine to find a beautiful drawing of a new character for the upcoming Disney film, “Sleeping Beauty.” The line drawing was by Tom Oreb, one of Disney’s top character designers. This was the fifties, and I was still a student at the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. I loved the drawing. But I knew there was little chance of my ever working on this new Disney animated motion picture … Or so I thought.
As luck would have it, a phone call interrupted my third year at school and I instantly became a “drop out.” Disney had invited me to join their new group of animation apprentices. And with that, I began my career in the cartoon business.
It wasn’t called Feature Animation back then. Animation meant everything from TV animation, shorts, features, featurettes and special projects all under one roof. However, most young Disney artists angled for a position on the feature film currently in production if for no other reason than the bragging rights.
Like most young artists, I earned my stripes by working on “The Mickey Mouse Club,” “Disneyland,” and several short cartoons then in production. In time, I began to appreciate the fine work being done by Disney’s “B Team” on these second-tier projects. Though lacking the cachet of the Disney Feature unit, the artists and animators were still doing some pretty impressive work. Some artists in our group preferred the shorts work because the animation had more energy and vitality. Unlike the rather subdued, and often labored, feature film work.
Animator Fred Hellmich was our boss. Freddy made sure that our drawings were on
model and up to the Disney standard on “Sleeping Beauty.” Freddy also ran
interference for us with the Nine Old Men
Photo by Floyd Norman
For those familiar with the history of “Sleeping Beauty,” you’ll probably remember that this particular animated film suffered from Walt Disney’s lack of attention throughout the course of development. As you might imagine, the Old Maestro was preoccupied with his new theme park in Anaheim. Though Walt attended story meetings on occasion, more important issues at Disneyland continually diverted his attention. Key artists like Ken Anderson were often borrowed from the feature because Walt wanted him to remedy some situation at the park. This was 1956, and even though the movie had a release date of 1959, only one sequence had been moved into production.
Eventually, the lack of progress on “Sleeping Beauty” began to annoy the Old Maestro. Over time, it became clear that the movie was not exactly thrilling Walt Disney, and he was anxious to move things along. One day, Walt was heard to exclaim “Just finish the darn thing!” And suddenly, the film was put on the fast track.
Even with the lack of progress on the film, the animators had cranked out a considerable amount of rough animation. This footage would have to be “cleaned-up” before advancing to the next stage of production. Our finished pencils would move to Ink & Paint where hundreds of talented young women would ink and paint the drawings by hand. If you’ve ever seen a “Sleeping Beauty” finished cel, you’ll note that each cel had inks in multiple colors. Every individual cel in the movie was a mini masterpiece.
Animation production bosses Ken Peterson and Andy Engman set up what were then known as clean-up units. These units were the animation equivalent of shock troops. Small, efficient teams capable of churning out reams of finished footage in order to complete the picture on schedule. Each unit was assigned a character or series of characters in the movie that would be their specialty. Most teams would consist of a Key Clean-Up Artist (often a former animator), two additional assistant animators, two break-down artists, and finally two or three inbetweeners. With this system in place, Disney’s master animators would move their scenes through this artistic pipeline.
Crew member Rick Gonzales takes a break to study paintings
by “Sleeping Beauty” color stylist Eyvind Earle
Photo by Floyd Norman
I was assigned to the “Fairy Unit.” No, it’s not what you think. Our job was cleaning up all the footage on the three fairies, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather — the magical sprites that take the princess Aurora into hiding in the forest. Freddy Hellmich headed up our unit. Freddy was a former Disney animator pressed into service as Key Clean-up. Veterans Chuck Williams and Jim Fletcher assisted him. Finally, the kids in the group were Bob Reese, Rick Gonzales, and myself. Our jobs were to finalize the footage coming from the multiple animators assigned to the three fairies. All this was done under the watchful eye of Directing Animator Frank Thomas.
Quality control was our utmost concern, and all unit leaders gave their crews continual drawing lessons throughout the production. It was the best animation training any young Disney artist could have received because no drawing escaped the scrutiny of the Directing Animators. Milt Kahl, Frank Thomas, Marc Davis, Ollie Johnston and others cut you no slack. I do not exaggerate when I say we caught hell for an off model drawing, the shape of an eye, or the width of an eyelash.
As the deadline for “Sleeping Beauty” approached, all crews were put on overtime. I confess, unlike recent animation backbreaking schedules, our overtime assignment was almost leisurely. Free meals were provided by the Disney commissary, and all were encouraged to work no later than nine PM. Walt Disney was not about to “burn out” his talent pool, and unlike today’s often insane production schedules, the studio kept their production demands in check. This is something today’s studio managers could learn from — but that’s the subject of another column.
If you were a young bachelor like most of us, the Disney studio was our second home anyway. We would wander the hallways at night, and talk with the Disney veterans. On occasion, some “old guy” would set us down and tell us tales of the early days on Hyperion. We also heard the war stories and the military occupation of Walt’s cartoon factory. Finally, we heard fascinating tales about the Old Maestro himself. Hard work had never been so much fun.
Jim Fletcher was another member of our crew. Jim attended the Chicago
Art institute before coming to Disney in the 1950s.
Photo by Floyd Norman
Production 2082 — Walt Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty” — opened in 1959 to lukewarm reviews. Those of us who worked on the animated masterpiece were taken aback by the public’s rejection of our labor of love. However, over the years the movie has found new life and garnered a dedicated legion of fans. “Sleeping Beauty” in many ways was the end of an era. It was the last feature film inked and painted by hand, and six hundred artists labored for over five years to create a hand drawn animated classic that would continue to delight audiences for years.
With “Sleeping Beauty” wrapped, Walt Disney was suddenly excited about an idea for another feature film. It would be called “The One Hundred and One Dalmatians.” But for the life of me, I can’t remember that film’s production number.
Did you enjoy today’s look back at the creation of “Sleeping Beauty” ? Well, that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the many animation-related tales that Floyd Norman has to tell. Many of which you’ll find in the three books Floyd currently has the market. Each of which take an affectionate look back at the time that Mr. Norman has spent in Toontown.
These include Floyd’s original collection of cartoons and stories — “Faster! Cheaper! The Flip Side of the Art of Animation” (which is available for sale over at John Cawley’s cataroo.com) as well as two follow-ups to that book, “Son of Faster, Cheaper” & “How the Grinch Stole Disney.” Which you can purchase by heading over to Afrokids.com.