Disney Animator Gag Drawings for Joe Magro, 1937

• Gag drawing by Disney art director Hugh Hennesy. Animator Joe Magro goes nose to nose with the Old Hag. Mixed media.

Who was Joe Magro? The good folks over at Cartoon Brew give us the answer...

Italian-American artist Joe Magro was hired at Disney in 1936 during the studio’s expansion to produce Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Originally from Rochester, New York, Magro was attending Mechanics Institute (now Rochester Institute of Technology) when his teacher Fritz Trautmann suggested that he apply to the Disney studio.

Magro left Disney in 1937 and returned to the East Coast. He apparently stayed long enough at the studio to make friends with the other artists. We know that because when Magro left, his Disney colleagues presented him with a “good luck” book filled with gag drawings. The drawings from that book are currently being auctioned by Heritage Auctions and include pieces by Fred Moore, Ward Kimball, Bill Tytla, Grim Natwick and Marc Davis, among others.

Since Joe was at the Studio during the height of the Snow White production, the majority of drawings within the “good luck” book included some kind of reference to the film. All the pieces were created on 12-field 5-peghole sheets of animation paper (12" x 10").

• Gag drawing by Marc Davis. Snow White thinks Joe is "chicken". Mixed media.

• Gag drawing by Vladimir "Bill" Tytla. Note Mickey Mouse on the blackboard and Dopey as one of the students. Graphite and colored pencil.

• Gag drawing by animator Dave Rose. Original layout drawing of the poison apple antidote has been collaged with another piece of art. Graphite and colored pencil.

• Gag drawing by Grim Natwick. The fairest on the beach meets animator Joe Magro. Rendered in colored pencil.

• Gag drawing by Fred Moore. Snow's red bow in hair. Tongue-in-cheek caption reads: "But -- what could you possibly do with me in New York?" Mixed media.

• Gag drawing by animator, Jack Larsen. Joe Magro in the lap of luxury. Colored pencil.

• Gag drawing by Marc Davis and Charles "Nick" Nichols. Another humorously cheeky piece. Mixed media.

• Gag drawing by Charles "Nick" Nichols. Grumpy says goodbye. Graphite and colored pencil.

Images via Heritage Auctions.

The rest of the (non-Snow White) drawings can be seen at Cartoon Brew. Learn more about Heritage's Animation Art Signature Auction in the previous archive entry.

Marc Davis - Disney's Nine Old Men

Marc Davis (March 30, 1913 - January 12, 2000) was the very last of the "nine old men" to join the Disney studio, December 2, 1935. As with all new recruits, he started out as an in-betweener, but his first assignment was to attend two-weeks of intensive life-drawing classes under Don Graham.

Marc Davis

By late spring of 1936, Marc was made assistant to Grim Natwick, the original animator of Betty Boop. Although Davis' background experience was more in line with drawing animals, he would soon be helping to create the star of Walt Disney's first feature.

Grim Natwick

Natwick had a team which consisted of three assistants, Davis being the principle of these, and three in-betweeners. Their sole purpose during production? Animate the Snow White character. Supervising animator Hamilton Luske also had a Snow White team, and it was not uncommon for conflicts to arise between the two heads. In a nutshell, Natwick saw the princess as being older, more mature, Luske as more childlike.

According to Michael Barrier...

As Davis became aware of the hostility between Luske and Natwick, he gradually took it upon himself to make the necessary changes in Natwick's drawings. Those changes went beyond the character's proportions to what Davis called a "kind of feeling of the character"; Natwick, he said, wanted the girl to have "a vitality," more than simple cuteness, and it was this vitality that Davis had to tame. Hollywood Cartoons, p.198

Production Drawing via Collectors Paradise Galleries

Animator and assistant worked well together. Grim would say about the help that Marc provided during Snow White, it "was like having two right arms."

"During the three and one-half years that Marc and I worked together at Disney's," wrote Natwick in 1979, "twenty months or nearly six hundred days were spent drawing Snow White herself in scene after scene for the picture that carries her name in the title." Source: John Canemaker's Nine Old Men p.274

Snow White with broom. Rendered and initialed by Davis in graphite and red pencil on a 12 field sheet of animation paper (12" x 10"). Includes Disney studio stamps. Sold in May 2007 for $597.50 (USD). Heritage Auctions...

Snow White with bird. Drawing on animation paper (9.5 x12"), lead pencil with colored pencil accents. Marc Davis initialed bottom right-hand corner. Sold in June 2008 for $747.50. Hake's Americana and Collectibles...

Snow White collage, each head has been trimmed from an original animation production sketch and mounted to another piece of paper. All drawn by Davis. Image area 7.25" x 9.5". Sold in February 2011 for $1314.50. Heritage Auctions...

Marc had fond memories of those early days at the Disney Studio when the push to learn was immense...

At one time, Walt rented a studio up in North Hollywood and every Wednesday night we would see a selection of films--anything from Chaplin to unusual subjects. Anything that might produce growth, that might be stimulating--the cutting of the scenes, the staging, how a group of scenes was put together...

Everybody here was studying constantly. we had models at the Studio and we'd go over and draw every night. We weren't making much, because the Studio didn't have much, but it was a perfect time of many things coming together into one orbit. Walt was the lodestone. Nine Old Men p.273

As Natwick's assistant, Marc had to attend the "sweatbox" projection room meetings with the directors and Walt. But "the boss" hardly knew who he was. It wasn't until Davis started doing story sketches for Bambi that Walt "got excited" about his drawings.

Davis would go on to animate key characters in many of the classic features from the 1940s and 50s including both Maleficent and Aurora in Sleeping Beauty.

Video posted by TheBunnyHD

His contributions to the Disney empire, however, weren't restricted to just the animated motion picture. His visionary work as an Imagineer is the stuff of Disneyland legend.

Marc pictured below in 1987 at a Snow White 50th anniversary celebration...

 Marc Davis and Grim Natwick photo via John Canemaker's Walt Disney's Nine Old Men and the Art of Animation, 2001.

Snow White image scans copyright Disney.

Further reading:

• Andreas Deja remembers Marc: Deja View
• Mouse Clubhouse interview
• Memories of Marc Davis at the Laughing Place
• Disney Legends: Bio
• 50 Most Influential Disney Animators: Marc Davis

The Nine Old Men

1958 Photo: left to right, Kimball, Larson, Thomas, Davis, Johnston, Clark, Kahl, Lounsbery, Reitherman

Much has been written about the Nine Old Men and their larger-than-life animation achievements. These were not the first talented artists to work for the Disney Studio, yet they certainly became it's creative core for more than 40 years.

Probably the most definitive work on these 'conquistadors' of the Golden Age is John Canemaker's book, Walt Disney's Nine Old Men and the Art of Animation (Disney Editions, 2001, ISBN-10: 0786864966).

Front Cover

Canemaker recounts how Walt jokingly nicknamed this dream team after President Roosevelt's description of his contentious 1937 Supreme Court, "nine old men, all too aged to recognize a new idea."

Newspaper Cartoon, February 9, 1937, Brooklyn Citizen via New Deal Network.

Of course, the animators were neither old nor afraid of new ideas. Quite the opposite, they would be the leaders, taking the art of animation to new heights.

The Nine Old Men were:

• Les Clark (joined Disney February 23, 1927)
• Wolfgang Reitherman (May 21, 1933)
• Eric Larson (June 1, 1933)
• Ward Kimball (April 2, 1934)
• Milt Kahl (June 25, 1934)
• Frank Thomas (September 24, 1934)
• Ollie Johnston (January 21, 1935)
• John Lounsbery (July 2, 1935)
• Marc Davis (December 2, 1935)

1972 Photo: left to right, Kahl, Reitherman, Davis, Clark, Thomas, Kimball, Larson, Lounsbery, Johnston

Animator Les Clark was the first to be hired in early 1927. The rest of the group came in between 1933-35, just as things were heating up for the making of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. From 1935-37, all nine of the very young "old men" would be involved.

Throughout this month, we'll take a closer look at what each contributed to the film and in what capacity they served the animation factory that was the Disney Studio of the late 1930s.

Further reading:

• "2002 Interview with John Canemaker" at The Laughing Place
• "Walt's Nine Old Men" from A Day in Disney History

"An Art in Its Making" - The Book

Front Cover and Spine

Stephen Ison's animation art collection is beautifully reproduced in the 1994 Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: An Art in Its Making. The 192-page hardcover features loads of stunning full-color images of the artwork along with an introduction written by Steve and text by Martin Krause and Linda Witkowski.


Synopsis by Gordon Flagg of Booklist magazine...

Krause provides a critically incisive account of making the film, from its inception through its three years in production to its wildly enthusiastic reception by audiences and critics. Witkowski supplies a detailed, fairly technical explanation of the animation process as well as a guide to the preservation and handling of animation art designed to appeal to serious students of the genre. The heart of the volume is a retelling of the famous story scene-by-scene by means of cel reproductions, pencil drawings, and other production art.

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From an email correspondence with Steve earlier this year...

Filmic Light: How did the Snow White...An Art in Its Making book come about?

Stephen Ison: It started out to only be a catalogue for the exhibition. I kept pounding on the museum “powers that be” that it needed to be a book. I won...especially after Hyperion Press wanted to publish it.

FL: Did you know authors Martin Krause or Linda Witkowski before the book?

SI: Yes. Linda Witkowski was the person I had known who helped/taught me about conservation and preservation of animation art. She had actually done her college Masters thesis on cel restoration and conservation. Linda introduced me to Marty who helped me convince the IMA that an exhibition of art from Snow White could be successful.

FL: How much were you involved with it?

SI: Pretty much, every aspect, whether they always welcomed it or not.

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The opening of the 1994 Indianapolis Museum of Art exhibit featuring Steve's collection was quite an event. Diane Disney Miller attended along with animator greats Ward Kimball (along with his wife Betty), Marc Davis, Joe Grant, Ken O'Connor, Maurice Noble, and Bill Justice. What an opportunity it was for the attendees to meet and chat with these legends...and to get autographs.

The title page from the book below comes from the Phil Sears Collection. It features the signatures of all of the animators mentioned above. In addition, it's signed by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston who could not attend the Indianapolis event due to an illness that Ollie’s wife was suffering from.

Signed Title Page. Book sold for $499 (USD) on August 30, 2010. Image via Phil Sears Collectibles.

[CLICK IMAGES FOR A BETTER VIEW]

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Steve's collection encompassed a wide range of animation art including "master backgrounds, concept art, cels, drawings, studio notes, character models, and various other items associated with the film." Here's a just a few of the dynamic images found within this handsome book.

Layouts and storyboard drawings...

Backgrounds and watercolors...

Cel set-ups...

Images copyright Disney/Hyperion Press/Stephen Ison

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In 1995, a "Disney Miniature Edition" was published. Same book, same number of pages, just smaller in size.

Front Cover, miniature edition

While both the original and miniature versions are no longer found via new bookstore channels, they are available from online resellers, often for a decent price. On a side note, it was about a decade ago that I stumbled upon a stack of 15 to 20 brand new shrink-wrapped copies of the full-size original, all dramatically reduced in price at a Barnes and Noble. I couldn't resist...I bought them all.

Original Edition:
Hardcover, 192 pages
Published by Hyperion Press (September 23, 1994)
ISBN-10: 0786861444
ISBN-13: 978-0786861446
Measures 10.9" x 9.6"

Miniature Edition:
Hardcover, 192 pages
Published by Hyperion Press (November 3, 1995)
ISBN-10: 0786861878
ISBN-13: 978-0786861873
Measures 5.5" x 4.7"

Interview with Collector Stephen Ison

It was on a trip to Walt Disney World back in 1973 that a young college kid named Stephen Ison saw his first piece of animation art. Decades later, he would become the owner of the largest collection on the planet of original animation art from Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. In 1994, Steve's passion would give rise to Snow White...An Art in Its Making, both a museum exhibit and a hardcover book which featured his collection.

In the Fall 1993 issue of Disney News magazine (p. 55-56) an article appeared entitled A Suitor for Snow White or... Memoirs of a Devoted Collector.  It was written by and about Steve and his "hobby".

A Suitor for Snow White... Magazine image scans courtesy of the Dan Alexander Collection.
See his blog at Dan Alexander Dizmentia.

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Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to correspond with Steve via email. I asked him how he got started collecting, where he acquired his pieces, and what's become of the artwork today. Here's what he had to say...

Filmic Light: Who are you Steve and how did you come to be a collector of animation art?

Stephen Ison: Like most kids growing up in the 50s, I watched The Mickey Mouse Club and was always fascinated by Roy Williams (The Big Mouseketeer) whenever he would draw the various characters on the show. That’s what got me interested in drawing and my earliest exposure to all things Disney. As a kid, I was also bitten by the collector bug...baseball cards, stamps, coins, and other assorted “stuff”. I’ve always been a collector of something. I saw my first piece of animation art in 1973 at Walt Disney World and was shocked that you could actually own a piece of art used in a Disney film! Well, the price of the cel was the same as my monthly car payment...so, as a poor college kid, I had to pass, but that’s what planted the seed. I knew someday, if I ever could afford it, I’d start a collection of Disney animation art. It really was that simple. Many years later...after attending an auction of Disney animation art in New York, I started down a road to what would become more than just a hobby.

FL: How did you find this animation art? And where/who did get it from?

SI: When I first started, I found art in the usual places...auctions, antique toy shows, and Disneyana conventions. Later, I became as interested in meeting and knowing many of the artists who worked on the classic Disney films as collecting myself. That’s what kept me motivated to learn more and acquire (preserve) more vintage pieces. Many of my pieces came from the artists themselves.

FL: Why Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs?

SI: When you have the “collector bug”, you have a tendency to “want it all”, so to speak. Well, animation art began to get popular, that I felt I had to make a compromise.  Which film was my favorite in style and quality?  Which one was the first?  Which one did Walt Disney put his heart and soul into?  Snow White.

FL: What did the collection consist of, how large, what forms of art, favorite pieces?

SI: By the time I had been collecting only from Snow White, I believe I had around 700 plus pieces. Those pieces consisted of master backgrounds, concept art, cels, drawings, studio notes, character models, and various other items associated with the film.  My favorite piece...that’s a hard one...guess it would have to be a panorama master watercolor background of the exterior of the Dwarfs cottage by Sam Armstrong. The Disney Art program ended up creating a limited edition of the piece.

FL: Since most drawings, paintings and cels from Snow White were not signed, did you know who the actual artists were for your pieces?

SI: I was always able to identify most of the drawings, concept art, and backgrounds since I got to know most of the artists who were still around while I was seriously collecting. I don’t think any of them are around anymore. It was an honor and a privilege to know many of them and be able to call them “friend”. I’d have to say one of my best friends in world was Maurice Noble; a background painter on Snow White, who later worked at Warner Brothers with Chuck Jones on hundreds of the classic shorts in the late 40s and 50s. He was one of the most talented and creative people I’ve ever know. He taught me about the classic animation process. I miss him.

FL: How did you house your collection and where is it today?

SI: As my collection grew, I had to learn how to preserve the art. I consulted with the Indianapolis Museum of Art about preservation and conservation, and designed a home gallery that was built to actual museum specs...and, OK...I understand this is a bit much...but, it was designed to look like the interior of the Dwarfs cottage! Yeah, I know... I actually did this three times over a 20 plus year time span, but finally decided my Snow White days should/would come to an end when I retired and built a home in the mountains of North Carolina...not a location conducive to “home galleries”. That was about the time I was approached by Disney Feature Films to see if I’d be interested in letting Snow White come back home to where she started. Today, my collection is under the watchful and protective eye of The Disney Animation Research Library in Los Angeles. A decision I’ve never regretted.

Photos of Steve's home gallery when it housed the Snow White collection:

Home Gallery images courtesy of Stephen Ison.

FL: Has your "hobby" of collecting Snow White cels opened doors for you? That is, have you met many other SW collectors? Other people associated with the making of the film or other later Disney personalities? Any anecdotal stories you'd like to share?

SI: Yes, many wonderful doors have opened, as a result of collecting from Snow White...exhibitions throughout the world, books, lectures, lifetime friendships... One of my favorite memories is the night I received a phone call from a woman who said her name was Diane Disney Miller, that she had read the forward of my Snow White book and it made her cry. She then asked if she could come to my exhibit at the Indianapolis Museum of Art...that person, of course, was Walt Disney’s daughter, Diane. She has always been so supportive. What an honor. That was the ultimate for me at the time. Recently, Diane asked me to curate an exhibit of Snow White animation art for the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. A must see. An amazing facility and tribute to her father. It opens December 2012 in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the release of Snow White.  We’re pulling Snow White art from every source I’ve ever known for the last 25 years. It will be an extensive exhibit.

FL: Have you seen other Snow White collections? When you're with other similar collectors, what's the conversation like?

SI: As far as I know, there are, nor ever were, any serious collectors of “Snow White only” animation art. Most of the high-end collectors had art from all of the classic Disney films. That was always tough for me, and at times, took a lot of discipline for me not to do the same. I really loved it all.

FL: Are you collecting today?

SI: Well, once bitten, as they say. Yes, I’m still picking up choice pieces, but not just from one film. I especially enjoy concept art from Fantasia. Some of those pieces are amazing and are truly works of art.

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The Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: An Art in Its Making exhibition ran for two months at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, from December 4, 1994 until February 5, 1995. A newspaper article dated December 18, 1994 in the Louisville Courier-Journal highlights Steve and his museum exhibit.

Newspaper images courtesy of the Dan Alexander Collection. Used with permission.

Read Dan's Dizmentia post about his 1994 visit to this Snow White exhibit.

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A couple photos from the IMA exhibit:

Exhibit images courtesy of Stephen Ison.

FL: How did the An Art in Its Making exhibit come about at the Indianapolis Museum of Art?

SI: It took me about four years to convince the Indianapolis Museum of Art to sponsor an exhibit of art from Snow White. Many people at the museum didn’t consider it art. In the end, it broke all attendance records for the museum’s 150 year history! Take that nay sayers!

FL: Was it your entire Snow White collection?

SI: Yes. However, after the exhibition, my collection almost tripled in size over the next 12 years.

FL: Did you attend the opening?

SI: Yes. We also flew out several of the original artists who worked on Snow White...Joe Grant, Marc Davis, Ken O’Connor, Ward Kimball, Betty Kimball, Maurice Noble, and Bill Justice. Great weekend. People lined up for hours to meet them and have books signed.

Signing books at the museum event, from left to right, Betty Kimball, Ward Kimball, Marc Davis, and Joe Grant:

Now from right to left, Ken O’Connor, Maurice Noble, Joe Grant, Marc Davis:

Book Signing images courtesy of Stephen Ison.

FL: Finally, any special memory or anecdote from the event?

SI: To see these people honored in this way was one of the most satisfying events I’ve ever witnessed. And, to see so many people respond to these wonderful pieces of art was the true pay off of years of collecting. Also, personally touring groups of young school children and watching them react as they learned and asked “real” questions.

 

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I, for one, can't wait to see the Snow White art exhibit Steve is assisting with for the Walt Disney Family Museum. Hopefully we'll get more details on it as we get closer to its opening in December 2012. In the upcoming posts, we'll have a look at the 1994 book featuring Steve's collection as well as the guide booklet from the IMA exhibit.