Disney movies were a huge part of my childhood — and even to this day, I'm still a giant fan!
Now that I'm older, I love learning new and interesting facts about the classics we've come to cherish — like the fact that Disney animators used to recycle frames from other movies to meet their deadlines.
So when this hard-kept Disney secret was revealed, I was totally blown away!
In the early days of Disney, animators had to create these iconic movies without the use of computers, and they did so by tracing over live-action footage, frame by frame, using a technique called "rotoscoping."
As you can imagine, this process was extraordinarily difficult and time-consuming: artists could only produce up to 24 seconds of animation per week! What's more, these character models had to recreate every scene in the movie, almost like a play.
Scroll through below for a look at the incredible animation process behind some of these favorite Disney hits!
Are you as impressed as I am by this classic drawing technique? Let us know in the comments.
The most famous rotoscoping star was Kathryn Beaumont - who voiced both Alice from "Alice in Wonderland" and Wendy from "Peter Pan."
Walt Disney chose Beaumont to be the voice of Alice when she was just 10 years old. He also thought she had the right look, so he cast her as the model, too. Here she is recreating the iconic "tea party" scene.
You can really see the likeness between the real-life "Alice" and her animated counterpart, which speaks to the incredible talents of the animators.
Here, Walt Disney himself shares the rotoscoping process with a bright-eyed Beaumont.
Beaumont really had to push herself physically in order to recreate Alice's many complicated movements.
Rotoscoping is still used today on computers with motion-tracking software instead.
And Kathryn Beaumont? She's had a 30-year-long career as an English teacher and voiceover actress, but still keeps a huge place in her heart for her former Disney roles. In fact, she was named a “Disney Legend” by the Walt Disney Company in 1998!
But "Alice In Wonderland" wasn't the only Disney classic to use this technique. By having actors perch upon stage boxes, artists were able to capture Wendy and Peter Pan flying through the air!
It's amazing to see how a few actors on a bare set can transform into the beautiful animation we've come to know and love!
And it's truly incredible to see the live-action stars next to their cartoon counterparts.
These films greatly relied on actors' expressions and physicality to fully bring characters to life.
Considering how time-consuming this rotoscoping process was, our favorite Disney films often took years to create, with animators working at a frenzied pace.
But when Disney artists began to move away from the rotoscoping process, their lovely ladies began to look much less realistic. Instead of creators basing their drawings off of real women's dimensions, they began to draw free-form. "Snow White" remains one of the few characters that looks balanced in her physical proportions.
The picture really captures the unbridled joy of getting to work on one of Disney's films! Below is Snow White dancing with her favorite dwarf.
This final shot super-imposes the cartoons over the live action. Imagination (and a devoted crew of filmmakers and animators) made these classic films truly come to life.
These historic images of the actors behind some of our favorite Disney characters are surprising and incredible. Their expressions and performances have had a profound impact upon the history of animated films.
Did you know that these Disney movies were drawn from real people? Let us know in the comments.
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