Back in 2002, Disney Animation Studios began to develop a film about lawn ornaments based on William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet called Gnomeo & Juliet. It only had a few people doing some visual development and storyboards as they tried to explore this idea that I heard had been brought to Disney by Elton “Lion King” John.
Gnomeo seemed to be one of those pictures that was a little under the radar with not many in the studio showing interest in working on it yet. I saw it as a possibility for a lot of comedy which was right up my alley! Maybe it would be a way for a young eager Disney employee to get his foot in the door of actual production work. So, with the encouragement of the acting producer in those early days, I started submitting some gag drawings hoping to get on the film.
The idea of lawn ornaments from rival yards in a feud with each other just rang a bell in my head for some reason. I knew yards that had been chock full of ridiculous sculptures and whirly-bobs. So much humor could be derived from the drama of warring “families” combined with the crazy decorative contraptions coming to life.
With Gnomeo & Juliet opening Friday, February 11, I thought I’d share a few of my 2002 gag proposals with you that still make me smile. I’ll post something new each day this week up to Friday. I never did get invited to work on the film, but then again, Disney didn’t actually end up making it in-house either. It was shelved for a few years, then resurrected up in a studio in Canada.
This is the first of many pieces I submitted (created with pencil and Photoshop). It was also the first piece of art I did that was hung on a development board in the hallways of Disney. That alone was unbelievably encouraging.
Remember those lawn ornaments that looked like a girl bending over? Thought it was ripe for comedy with these nervous garden gnomes.
Come back again tomorrow to see another of my Gnomeo & Juliet submissions!
The cast from Steve Czarnecki’s entry in the Walt Disney Studio’s employee LOST video contest held in May of 2010. Click on image to enlarge it.
While most of my posts here on my blog have to do with my drawings and paintings, once in awhile I get to play in other genres of the creative arts. This past spring provided just such an opportunity through my good friend Steve Czarnecki when he called me to see if I’d lend him a hand with a video contest his employer was hosting. His employer was Disney, and they were asking their employees to submit 30 second homemade videos pertaining to the end of their hit television series LOST on ABC. Today, the final season of LOST is released on DVD, so I thought it was a good day to show some of my behind-the-scenes photos of the LOST Series Finalè Event Promo Shoot culminating in showing you the final winning video!
When Steve called me, I could hear the hesitation in his voice. “Hey Chad, um, I………want you to play ‘Hurley’ in my video.” “Why the hesitation?” I thought. Was it because I had won the lottery and then was abandoned on an uncharted island? Nope, haven’t done that. Perhaps because I say “Duuude” a lot? Nope, I don’t say that (much). Perhaps because he knew I had a collection of plaid shirts? Nah. Perhaps we’ll never know.
The backyard was literally littered with airplane parts for “LOST” atmosphere.The director (at left) surveying his set.Some details could ruin your appetite.
Steve’s shoot took place all day on a beautiful Saturday. My call time was early in the morning when my speaking part would be filmed. When I arrived, you could see that Steve pulled out all the stops. He had borrowed airplane parts from a salvage yard and had strewn them across his backyard. He had borrowed costumes (I – ahem – brought my own wardrobe), had made props, fog machines, a quality camera, and folks who knew how to use them! This was going to be quite a production!
Not only was the set looking mighty fine – Steve had arranged for some other surprises as well. The reason for my early call time was so that I could work with Daniel Roebuck who actually played Dr. Leslie Arzt on the actual show. Danny was a good sport about coming out and reprising his character for Steve’s short film. Without giving it away, his involvement really made the contest entry sparkle!
Daniel Roebuck (on the right) known for his various roles from “Matlock”, “The Fugitive” and many other shows and movies.Director of Photography Josh Turchetta shooting a scene with Steve Czarnecki, Daniel Roebuck, and another friend playing a Dharma Initiative worker.Dr. Leslie Arzt (Daniel Roebuck) and Hugo ‘Hurley’ Reyes (Chad Frye) with a bucket of Mr. Cluck’s Chicken.
After our morning shoot, I was able to take off for a couple of hours while the guys worked on some special effects shots, then I came back for the party scene. And what a scene! Other folks imitating characters from the show were there, along with three more performers who had small parts on the actual LOST show. Instead of babbling on about it here, I’ll let the pictures tell the story….
Inside the house, Steve Czarnecki is seen here directing his cast on how they should act when a steady cam will roam around them.Many details were a part of the set such as food items with Dharma Initiative labels, and this drawing of “LOST” producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse with a polar bear.Sterling Beaumon who played the young Ben Linus on “LOST” was a part of the contest shoot.Yes, we even had Dharma Initiative scientists – some with battle damage!The real Nadia (Sayid’s doomed love on “LOST”) came out to play with us – Andrea Gabriel. And no, that’s not my real hair, though I do think that is Andrea’s real hair.
We even had Walt’s dog in our shoot. I had charge of him in some shots. He was very easy to control since I was holding that bucket of chicken all the time. That’s also his real hair.
Erin Cottrell, known for her role of Missie LaHaye in movie adaptations of Janette Oke books.
Our fearless director’s daughter, Lindalee Czarnecki.Neil Hopkins, who played “Liam Pace”, Charlie’s brother and co-founder of the band “Driveshaft”.And our final parting shot of my friend Doug Engalla on the left, our version of John Locke, and then yours truly.
As I mentioned above, Steve Czarnecki did win the grand prize in the studio contest for his work. You can watch the video below. My only complaint is that with all the great stuff and talent at our disposal – the video is too short. But contest rules are contest rules, so 30 seconds it is! (Complete with voiceover at the end by Bill Rogers, the official announcer of Disneyland!)
A couple of days ago I shared with you the step-by-steps of a little piece I did of Disney’s Captain Hook with a caricature of yours truly in the place of Hook’s first mate Mr. Smee (CLICK HERE to see that post). When I created that little watercolor sketch this past winter, it was only one of two pieces on that theme. While that was a close-up, perhaps you’d like to see the second piece, this time full-bodied poses.
Since I went into some detail on each step in the last post, I’ll post these three stages with minimal comment and just let you enjoy the visual progression. So, without further ado, Captain Hook and Chad Frye as Mr. Smee! Peter Pan would certainly not be the same movie had it been done this way!
This is a colored pencil line drawing on nice textured watercolor paper.The purple watercolor paint will take care of all the shading in the painting.And here is the final Capt. Hook with Mr. Shmad – or is it Mr. Chee? Well, while “Chad” and “Smee” don’t mix well verbally, pictorially they go together fine.
I thought I’d share with you a couple of paintings I did this past winter. I got into a Disney’s Peter Pan mode of thinking and envisioned myself as Captain Hook’s first mate, Smee.
Well, while they are technically paintings, I tend to call these “watercolor sketches”. Each of these took maybe an hour or two to do from start to finish, so they aren’t my typical full-blown watercolor illustrations. This is what I do if I’m making a card for a friend, or doing quickie pieces for fans. There is a certain spontaneity to them that gives them a real energy. Everything is fast and loose and hopefully pure fun.
I’d like to show them to you step-by-step, which is something I haven’t done in awhile. Since there will be a few images for each, I’ll show you one of these today, and I’ll post the second one on Thursday.
So, as with any art I do, it all starts with a rough sketch. I don’t have to please anyone but myself, so it can be as rough as I want it to be. As you can see, the rough sketch for this one started with blue pencil, then I finalized my lines with regular lead. Captain Hook is always fun to draw, and it just seemed with my own body type that I was a shoo-in for Smee.
This is the initial rough sketch of the pirates!
Next, I took that rough and put it on my light table and created my final line with colored pencil onto a rough textured watercolor paper. I didn’t want to get too tight with the drawing, so you can see even in this phase the line work is sketchy in places, and not all the shapes are closed.
This is the final pencil line drawing of Capt. Hook and Chad Smee.
Next will be the tones. I often like putting the tones in purple. It looks nice when working with bright colors, which I will be for this piece. The purple seems too bright and dark right now, but later when the final paint is placed on top of it, the purple will get muted a little, and even somewhat blend in to the wet medium. And so that all my shadows don’t have a hard edge, I was careful to have it fade off in certain places like on Captain Hook’s face, and even his hat.
Hook and “Smee” get the purple tone treatment in watercolor.
Then lastly, I painted in the final colors. You can see that some of the purple shadows got absorbed into the final colors, while in other areas it served as an enhancement. Then I ended with flicking some blue specks on with a toothbrush (preferably NOT the one you brush your teeth with).
The final piece bringing Hook and “Smee” to life.
Come back on Thursday to see the second Captain Hook and Chee (or is it Shmad – thanks to my friend Jennifer Hobson-Plattner for the name) full-bodied watercolor sketch!
Back in 1999, I was working for Disney Feature Animation. Tarzan had recently come out to great success, and the studio was busy with more films such as Home on the Range, Atlantis, The Emperor’s New Groove, Fantasia 2000, Dinosaur, and the ultimately unproduced Wild Life. So much was going on, and it was a swell place to be employed.
In my early days as an illustrator, I did a few “Where’s Waldo” style books about the Bible. I thought, “wouldn’t it be neat to do a ‘Where’s Waldo’-type painting of the main Feature Animation building?” I just wanted to capture a snapshot of the whole place – kind of a day-in-the-life sort of thing. So, I set out to work on this self-induced project, little knowing that it would take up four solid months of nights and weekends to pull off.
The completed Disney Feature Animation Southside “Where’s Waldo” style print featuring over 800 employees and characters.
To start with, I was able to acquire maps of each floor of the Disney Animation Southside building (the “hat” building) in Burbank, CA. (We had another 4-story building over by the Burbank airport called “Northside” where Fantasia 2000, Dinosaur, and visual effects for live-action movies were being done.) These floor maps were great because they outlined every cubical and office with the names of each employee who worked in that space.
Secondly, I needed to know what everyone looked like. Sure, I worked with these folks, but I don’t have a photographic memory. They had an online database used internally called TIMMY where you could type in any animation employee’s name, and their photo and a short profile would pop up. I printed out many such profiles for reference.
A detail of the top right corner. Originally I had “Disney” above that title, but that was the one thing the Disney lawyers would not allow for the print since it wasn’t published by the company.
To illustrate four floors, and the 800+ people who worked in the building, the original art had to be large. I worked on a 30″ x 40″ piece of illustration board, painstakingly pencilling the entire piece, then inking it all with Rapidograph pens and waterproof ink, then painting in every little detail. It was so large that I often laid it on the floor and worked on it there. And it took so long that I even shipped it to myself on vacation so I could work on it then, too. Why? Because I had a deadline.
The studio would allow employees to sign up for personal art shows. The waiting list was two years, but I knew mine was coming up. I wanted to do this for the show knowing it would be well-received by my colleagues. It got finished in time, and was displayed with four 11″ x 17″ charts of each face with the employee’s name next to it so they could see what they looked like, then go find themselves in the painting. It went over so well that many asked for copies.
Details like Marc & Alice Davis giving a talk in the theater, Mickey Mouse entering with his security team, and even Eartha Kitt signing in at the receptionist’s desk.Roy Disney standing in his “show office” in the Hat, and the area where many of the supervising animators worked.The piano room shows a moment with John Lasseter and Randy Newman. At the time, John and other Pixar folk would come down to the studio for meetings. Now, of course, John runs the joint.
So, after getting permission from Disney’s lawyers, I had 27″ x 40″ prints made and sold them at the studio complete with a 10-page list of who was in it and a Certificate of Authenticity. Many people purchased them, and seemed to enjoy them. The ultimate compliment came when one day I had cause to go visit Roy E. Disney at his office on the lot. Roy’s office was in the old office suite of his uncle Walt. As I started down his hallway, there was a poster for Pinocchio, one for Fantasia 2000, and then this one.
I recently donated one of these limited edition prints (#153 of 850) to the Help the Hodges charity art auction run by the National Cartoonists Society Foundation (NCSF). It has gone live on eBay TODAY, and will be available for bids until March 14, 2010. If you are interested in going for it here is a link to the auction: Chad Frye’s Disney Southside Print
The lower right corner shows a cryogenically frozen Walt Disney. My office was right next door to that room. I always heard mechanical sounds and steam hissing from in there, and imagined this scene. (Walt is actually buried in Glendale, CA by the way.)This is the cover of the 10-page list that comes with the poster. Each colleague’s head is listed with their name next to it for identification purposes in the large print.The COA is hand-numbered and signed to match the print.
Thank you to those of you who have been eBay bidding on the wonderful art items that I have been selling for the National Cartoonists Society Foundation to Help the Hodges! Fifty items ended last weekend with GREAT results. Combined with another 71 things ending THIS SUNDAY, the total has reached $40,000 in our efforts to send a little love and financial ease to the Hodge family of Tennesse whose teenaged son has been in a coma since last August.
For those of you who enjoy my art, my watercolor painting based on Mickey Mouse and the gang comes to an end this Sunday as well. Bidding is still fairly conservative on it. You may get yourself a deal (I sell them for $250-300).
This painting will be available on eBay until February 7th. CLICK ON IMAGE to be taken directly to see it on eBay!
We still have over 100 great things to sell in the coming weeks. We just added sixty-one items on eBay yesterday in fact. Things by comic strip artists, comic book artists, and GREAT things from Pixar such as a Toy Story 3 poster signed by Woody and Buzz themselves – TOM HANKS and TIM ALLEN!!!!
This Toy Story 3 poster signed by Tom Hanks and Tim Allen will be available on eBay until February 14. CLICK ON IMAGE to go to eBay.
So, we hope you will come take a look at our goods and bid. To make it easy for you, here’s a link to all we are selling on eBay right this minute.
If you haven’t visited the Help the Hodges auctions on eBay yet, yesterday I posted another 71 reasons you should check it out. We currently have 122 items of original cartoon art, fine art, prints, posters, sculptures and books all for sale to help the family of Matthew Hodge, the teen who is presently in a coma from a car accident with a train in the Franklin, Tennesse area.
Yesterday’s posts include art by the great movie poster illustrator Drew Struzan, Wallace & Gromit creator Nick Park, Lilo & Stitch creator Chris Sanders, Glen Keane animation art, drawings from Princess & the Frog animators, so much art from former Disney artists, and even art from classic Disney films including a Mickey Mouse drawing by Frank Thomas, one of Disney’s Nine Old Men.
Towards the end of the Mickey art is a painting I did based on when I worked on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. So, if you’ve been itchin’ for something by me, CLICK HERE to go right to the piece on eBay!
To see all the art Help the Hodges has on eBay, CLICK HERE!
This painting will be available on eBay until February 7th.
Last year when I was working at Disney Television Animation on My Friends Tigger & Pooh, a colleague of mine on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse asked if I’d be willing to do a drawing of Captain Hook for her. I love the design of the characters from Disney’s Peter Pan, so I thought it might be a fun project. It was. I hope I have the chance to do more with Captain Hook in the future.
Thought it was about time I shared the resulting watercolor sketch with you here. Enjoy!
A watercolor sketch of Disney’s Captain Hook. Click on the image to see it larger.
