Friday, April 15, 2016

Colonel Hathi



I had the chance to watch the new live action/cg version of The Jungle Book last night.
Really liked it. Great script, and the jungle they created for the film is pretty spectacular. For the most part the animal motion looks pretty good. The one thing I could have brought to the film is an improvement in all the dialogue scenes. The animators seemed to have been a little timid in defining mouth shapes that reflect the actor's voice reading within the realistic mouth configuration of each animal.
That being said, I recommend the movie highly, it's epic.

As a reminder if the 1967 animated version, I want to post keys from a scene by one of Disney's unsung heroes, Eric Cleworth. His work on The Jungle Book as well as other films is every bit as good as that of the supervising animators. Here Colonel Hathi brags in front of the herd about his past military glory: "It was then I received the Victoria Cross for bravery above and beyond the call of duty!"
Cleworth mimicked the walk of a human drill sergeant, pompous and very pleased with himself.
What can I tell you...I LOVE this scene. The way Hathi slowly puts one foot in front of the other, before clicking his heels together at the end. Putting his bamboo stick behind his ear adds a nice acting touch.
Everything is applied here, the massive weight of an elephant, perspective and character attitude.
The end result looks entertaining and utterly believable. Brilliant!!



























To revisit the film's great cast of animal characters, go here:

http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com/2011/07/cast-of-jungle-book.html


12 comments:

  1. Eric Cleworth...I've heard of and seen that name...the same man who scared us with the dragon animation from "Sleeping Beauty".

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  2. Before the animators had a lot of talent

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  3. Eric Cleworth animated this bit? Funny, I would have imagined it was John Lounsbery, since he was the lead animator of the elephants...

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    1. Louns, Clerworth, John Ewing, and Fred Hellmich all animate scenes of the Elephants.

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  4. I suppose it is difficult to make those mouth movements work on animals as realistically rendered as they appear.

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  5. I only saw the trailer for the new movie, but I thought it looked weird having photo-real creatures talk like that. I think that's something that drawn animation can do better than photoreal CG. I think drawn animation suspends disbelief better because it's NOT real, and it makes a relationship between the artists and the audience. Even the most realistically drawn animation still looks like drawings (Richard Williams type stuff).
    I didn't know about Eric Cleworth, though, fantastic weighty animation!

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    1. I am with you on that! I saw that so-called tribute to the 1967 Jungle Book yesterday and left the theater with a headache! Count me as one of - obviously - few people who don't care for this new version, which is certainly closer to the Kipling's book. Walt's version had charm and witt. I would not take a young child to the new one; way too scary and charmless, even with the silly warbling over the end crédits by Miss Scarlett! ;-) And .. such a wordy film! May I also say that the kid is not a very convincing Mowgli to me! Well, I know it's making big money (They did spend some big money on it too!) but does that make it a "goog" movie?! Most say : "Walt would like it!" ... How do we know, really?!? This new work makes me think of the silly motto used some years ago for the Disney Parks: "Ride the movies!" This film is not a film; it's a roller-coaster ride! To me, noisy and thrilling but without a heart!

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  6. I'm not a fan of hyperrealistic design;prefer the animated version; much more fun

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  8. I love the 1967 version and also the book. The themes of the jungle always fascinated me. I'm really excited to see this new adaptation!

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  9. much respect. great acting on top of the task of animating him coming forward straight on to camera.

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