This month, The Walt Disney Family Museum celebrates Walt Disney’s brilliant and timeless 1942 animated feature, Bambi. In this column, Anel Muller and Harvey Newman recap our special event of Saturday, June 11, which focused on the art of Bambi and how it forever shaped animation—and continues to influence many of our favorite films.
On June 11, 2011, The Walt Disney Family Museum had the great privilege of hosting not only Charles Solomon, noted author and animation historian; Paul Felix, art director at Walt Disney Animation Studios; and Ralph Eggleston, animator, storyboard artist, and production designer at Pixar Animation Studios, but also the incredibly humble and astounding inspirational artist, Tyrus Wong. The lecture unveiled how Tyrus Wong’s vision for Bambi departed from the traditional storybook feel of previous films like Snow White and Pinocchio and how his legacy continues to influence animation artists today.
Tyrus Wong was born in Taishan, Guangdong, China on October 25, 1910. After immigrating to the United States in 1920 with is father, he went on to attend the Otis Art Institute. Tyrus came to the Disney Studio in 1938. He got his start in animation doing the work of an inbetweener, which required him to clean up the rough animation drawings that were done by the lead animator, as well draw the missing images between key poses. Charles Solomon noted that Tyrus had once remarked that his eyes felt like "ping-pong balls on strings" while doing this work. But his work as an inbetweener would be short-lived. As the Studio started to work on Bambi, he saw this as his opportunity to leave the doldrums of inbetweening work. He started creating concept paintings that illustrated his vision for the film. He presented his work to Tom Codrick, and that ultimately led to Tyrus being assigned as a visual designer for Bambi.
Tyrus's art subtly influenced the viewer’s emotions throughout Bambi. The speakers at the lecture referred to his backgrounds as a "caricature of nature." His moody and minimal depictions of the landscape were influenced by his childhood in China, where he would practice calligraphy with his father. When he was out of ink, he would use water on newspaper to improve his brushwork. The classical style of Sung Dynasty landscapes is a direct correlation to Tyrus's depictions of the landscape. For Tyrus and other artists influenced by the Sung Dynasty landscapes, nature is more important than humans, which is why nature is another character in Bambi. He was a master of detail placement and knew how to give the viewer just enough information to subconsciously react to the scene, allowing the backgrounds to enhance the characters and the constant emotional shifts throughout the film. Ralph Eggleston described Bambi as a narrative version of Fantasia.
Tyrus's ability to "perfect the skill of imperfection" has even influenced the digital animation world. Today, most animation is done on a computer and Eggleston spoke of Tyrus's ability to blur and distort the environment in ways that had been overlooked in the beginning of the digital age. He aspired to the talent of Tyrus. During the making of Finding Nemo, he covered his office walls with reproductions of Tyrus's art as inspiration and study for his work. The method, which Tyrus used with the fog and glimmers of light in the forest of Bambi to manipulate the colors and mood, influenced Eggleston stylistic decisions when animating the water in Finding Nemo.
Paul Felix also spoke of the Tyrus's influence when he was working on Lilo and Stitch. With Lilo and Stitch, the Disney Studio abandoned the traditional shape-driven look and feel of the films, and returned to the tone set by Wong in Bambi. Once again, the look of the film was softer, subtler, and more heavily focused on abstract shapes and fields of color to help evoke the emotions of the scene. Felix, like Wong, looked at the scenery as a way to enhance emotions and visually persuade the emotion of the story. He spoke to the fact that sharp, crisp backgrounds can distract the viewer and end up competing with the intended focus of the film.
Other recent films, such as The Princess and the Frog and Tangled have used the shape language and compositional influences of Bambi in their designs as well. With the influence of Tyrus and his beautiful depiction of the landscape, animators and artists can use him as a source of inspiration to create and depict emotionally significant works of art.
The lecture concluded with a standing ovation for Tyrus. Although Bambi was the only animated feature on which Tyrus so significantly contributed as a designer, his immense influence in the visual communication of the animated art form continues to reverberate in the industry.
Images above: 1) From the Collection of the Walt Disney Family Foundation. ©Disney. 2) (From L to R): Paul Felix, Tyrus Wong and Ralph Eggleston. Photo by Joseph Driste, courtesy of The Walt Disney Family Museum. 2) From the Collection of the Walt Disney Family Foundation. ©Disney.
Walt Disney's Bambi is screening every day in June at 1:00pm and 4:00pm (except June 25 & 28) in the state-of-the-art digital theatre at The Walt Disney Family Museum. Tickets are available at the Reception and Member Service Desk at the Museum, or online at www.waltdisney.org.