Bambi 2 Field Trip

To celebrate the release of "Bambi 2" (or "Bambi and the Great Prince of the Forest" as it should have been known) I'm posting some photo's from our field trip to a deer farm in Mudgee, western NSW to study deer in action in preparation for work on the film. Master animator Andreas Deja worked with us in Sydney on this project, he was an inspiration for all of us to work with.
Andreas and Animator Donald Walker.
Animator Tom Caulfield getting in touch with his character.
Andreas, Aust Unit Director Alexs Stadermann, and Dirctor Brian Pimental.
The Animators have the deer surrounded.
A segment from this trip appeared on the special features in the release of the "Bambi" DVD including a shot over my shoulder of me sketching.

Moose scene

This was my first scene on "Brother Bear 2" on the Rutt and Tuke team. This was a fun but tough assignment. They were both very expressive and had great dialogue to chew through, but quota was a constant battle. They were both on screen quite regularly, and while both moose - they were drawn and moved quite differently from one another. Plus there was the sheer volume of linework. Nonetheless, they are still, like the first film, the highlight of the show.

Stitch:"Touching Me"

A toss up here between this and my "Bam bam bam" scene of Stitch on "Dr Lilo's" couch, for my favourite scene from "Lilo and Stitch 2". Stitch was a tough but very enjoyable character to work on and I got to do some nice, and varied scenes. This was one that just clicked. It just felt so natural, I love those scenes-you have a very clear vision of what to do and everyone loves it. The rough loose pass hardly varied from the end product. It makes quota at lot more endurable.
Wow, I did this scene just before Madi was born. Time has chugged along.

Australia Day Holiday

What a poser, not at all camera-shy is our little girl. On the Australia Day holiday we went to Newport beach for lunch. Of course we couldn't go past the playground. She wasn't too keen on the beach this day, still a bit wary of the crashing waves-much more interested in playing with the big kids.
Now this is a cute smile that's worth coming home from work to, and it's such a nice greeting at the end of the day.........and mummy too of course.

Me at work

Me by fellow animator Kevin Wotton. I must have been more interesting to draw than the pose being offered by the model. A great pic tho', nice one Kev.

Life Drawings

Not much to comment on here. I like life drawing, there's always something to test you.

My Work Space

Here's my current workspace (altho' I've since moved on to the next show, but still retained my spot and all my grime). I find it interesting what we all have on our desks, if there was a fire there'd be one giant blob of melted plastic.
You'll notice the mandatory model sheet collection (altho' I was on the Moose team, I was asked to help out on the Kenai Team toward the end of the production), essential coffee pot, non-Disney coffee mug, fish (I kept killing the plants), non-Disney toy collection (apart from the "Runaway Brain" Mickey), photo's of my baby daughter and wife, and my favourite toy - my iPod.

Welcome to my first post. I am an Animator at DisneyToon Studios in Sydney, currently working on "Cinderella 3". I'm one of many about to lose our jobs as part of Disney's closedown of 2D animation. Animation as we know it has seven weeks of production to go before we join the unemployment lines and become known as "ex-Disney Animators". In spite of the shock of losing a regular pay cheque, it'll be very interesting to see what pops up on the Australian animation scene over the next couple of years.