Collaboration

Society, of any sort, cannot exist without collaboration. Every organization from a family unit to an international corporation, from city government to military services depend on collaboration. Any economy would disintegrate without collaboration. Collaboration is a given in our world—taken for granted usually, but is constantly forming and reforming.

Collaborations start with individuals, those willing to see the large picture and participate in it, knowing that they, too, will benefit from their efforts. Units then work together so that collectively they can achieve more than one individual can.

If you think of each entity as a circle, then we could show circles by the millions, overlapping other circles that overlap larger circles that continue to overlap to a world-wide scale.

One form of collaboration that presents itself in an obvious way is the end-credit scroll for modern movies. It is asTONishing to see how many individuals come together to make, oh, say, an Avengers movie, or Lord of the Rings. It is a small army in itself that has come together with a single mission to accomplish: to bring a movie to the screen, so that WE can collaborate and pay them for their time and effort, so they can go do it again and again.

Usually, such collaborations as movies are led by one individual, akin to a general, with a staff of other leaders, directing divisions, battalions, companies, platoons and squads—right down to the feller that sets out the napkins for the lunch trollies.

Movie auteurs, the ones with stars on their shoulders, pretty much started with Charlie Chaplin and expanded exponentially over the decades. Walt Disney was one that led his army of artists, storytellers, technicians and financial soldiers to battle again and again, gaining many milestones along the way.

Music has always been a part of the movies, but Disney's Fantasia made a star out of music by collaborating with the musical world in innovative and entertaining ways.

The Disney Studios also collaborated with the US military during WWII. The military more-or-less blitzkrieged the partnership by moving onto the studio lots the day after Pear Harbor. But Disney's people greatly aided the war effort with educational and propaganda films, as well as hundreds of insignia designed for troop morale. One of the films, starring Donald Duck, even went so far as to persuade citizens to pay their taxes in a timely manner, so that the war chest could maintain its flow.

Anonymous rendering of Walt Disney as he frequently looked

when his staff wasn't quite on the mark with what he wanted.

Disney Studios in 1930s, with Walt and Mickey flanked by his battalion. Of course the numbers would ultimately be an army.

Original program cover for Fantasia, one of the industry's

great collaborations, initial 'flop' that it was.

Uncle Walt in storyboard conference with Leopold Stokowsky

and Deems Taylor, collaborating between the arts.

General Disney in conference for a war-time movie with

Commander "Hutch" Hutchinson, USN and Ub Iwerks.

Insignia for Aviation Cadet Detachment, WWII.

Insignia for Commander Carrier Division 24, WWII

Isolated graphic from Victory Through Air Power,

demonstrating the value of strategic bombing, 1943.

In the midst of the Disney organization expanding its world, creative individuals evolved into an organization of Imagineers, an elite force that conceptualized and engineered most of the magic in the magical kingdoms of Disney. One definition of the Imagineers was 'when science collided with art'. Through their efforts, and the work force that followed their leads, major accomplishments in entertainment were made and are enjoyed by millions.

Imagine if we, those who look to the future, had imagineers of sorts to help design educational ways and means in imaginative ways—helping our kids to think and act in innovative ways . . . what might be accomplished?

More 'Centaurettes'

More 'Centaurette' concept studies for Disney's Fantasia:

Goodness of All Kinds

Gotta keep making a living. I am on major major major deadline again all this week, can't take time for blogging till the weekend. I'm sure you won't miss me.

But until then, here are a few of a number of 'centaurette' studies from Disney's Fantasia concept phase. When I wrap up the deadline I'll post some more. And please do come back, there's much more goodness of all kinds yet to come.

Elysian Waters

Spirit of the Waterfall

Fantasia concept of the spirit of the waterfall.

Idyllic

Idyllic art for idyllic concepts.

Crazy Idea

This is a beautiful book I just saw up for bid over at Heritage Auctions, published in 1940. I'm sure it's entirely wishful thinking on my part, but I have this crazy idea that the cover could maybe have been illustrated by . . . wait for it . . . Walt Kelly.

It's just the kind of parade of characters he would do; he worked on Fantasia, the film, especially that roly-poly god of the grape there in the middle; the cherubs and fauns are somewhat of his style—and what isn't in his style (such as the Fred Moore centaurette) may just have been his emulating the rest of the film's characters; and Kelly has made mention that he was an illustrator-for-hire before doing comic books. It was published by Simon and Shuster, Kelly's publisher for all his "three foot shelf of books".

Aaa, if you know differently, please let me know. It's really a nice cover, isn't it?

Fauntasia

Speaking of fauns and lyrebirds, a Fantasia concept drawing:

Fantasia Long Shot

A Fantasia concept long shot for panning, from grotto to far meadows and beyond. All these lovely ladies are "centaurettes". The lyre birds are lovely too.

If I can't live in this mythological world, I can certainly see it in my imagination.

Reminiscent

Fantasia concept drawing of water nixies, looking very reminiscent of a Waterhouse painting.

A Place Spirit

Fantasia Fauns and Nixies

Fauns are place spirits of untamed woodland and Nixies are the feminine spirits of fresh waters in sacred springs and rivers.

Mystery and Decadence

Fantasia's pastoral conceptual artists developed a sense of mythological mystery and beauty and decadence that was scrubbed clean in production. I understand somewhat, because of the times and the intended audience, that caution had to be exercised. But still, to think of what might have been created in some alternate universe where maturity of theme is tolerated and appreciated by the masses.

Mythology to Muse Upon

This is one of my favorite concept production sketches of all time. This is mythology to muse upon. This is the world I want to be in. This is Fantasia as it could have been.

Spirit of the Mountain Waterfall

Let's Dive Right In

I'm just gonna dive right in (so to speak), with no particular order, to pull up some of the pre-production art for various segments of Disney's Fantasia that I find amazing and inspirational.

The Pastoral Symphony sequence, based on Beethoven's masterpiece, was/is my favorite. With its mythological subjects and locale, its a time and a land I would like to visit—but even more so if the film had been more loyal to the prep drawings such as the one above.

Fantasia

When I was a young collector of images (yes, before Tumblr, before the internet, even before computers [can you imagine such a time]), I would come across various stills from Disney's 1940 Fantasia and I would be mesmerized, haunted by the desire to see this film. Remember too, this was before DVDs or even videos, I mean this was the stone age.

Then it was re-released in '69, and when I first saw it in the big theater by myself, I was electrified by the uniqueness of its concepts. I enjoyed it so much I went back half a dozen more times, each time taking a different date, gauging how much I liked the girl by how much she liked the film. The last segment, the Ave Maria scene, always put me to sleep. But so much of the rest was watchable again and again.

Now, years later, I have the DVD and have watched it a couple of times and have seen the flaws and it's all grown a bit stale. But now we all have access to so much of the pre-production material, and how exciting that stuff is. If only the film had followed the concept artists' visions more closely, it would have been an immortal masterpiece, instead of a dated so-so masterpiece.

But STILL. What an accomplishment for that day and age.

The Pastoral Symphony sequence caught my fancy over all the others, and the pre-production art is fascinating. Over the next number of posts I'm going to show some of those, one at a time, as they have been a source of inspiration for me, and may be for some of you who have not yet seen them.