"Pinocchio" (1940)-Early Concept Work

In looking over some of the items in the Ingeborg Willy scrapbook, I noticed that there were two Production Number groups for "Pinocchio": F-3 and "2003." In communicating with Dave Smith at Disney, he noted that the "F-3" was an initial reference the "Feature-3."

I went through some of the items in the collection and pulled out early storyboard/concept items relating to "Pinocchio."

Here is a "Figaro" concept piece by Shamus Culhane. As you can see, Figaro has a more sinister look than the final Figaro. It is my understanding that Culhane's inability to come up with a "cute" Figaro was one reason he left Disney.

SeqID-0114

Here is a early Jiminy. The "look" is closer to some of the characters from "Woodland Cafe."

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Here is a Photostat of concepts for Gepetto's house.

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An interesting concept for Pinocchio. It has some of the same feel as the concepts for Jiminy.

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Another Photostat of Pinocchio.

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A great concept of the workbench. Highly detailed...

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While many of the concepts I've seen have to do with the lead characters, I thought this concept of the fish was interesting. [Note: this sheet is signed by Ken Anderson.]

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Ken Anderson (1909-1993) Artist; began his Disney career in 1934, contributing to many animated classics as art director beginning with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Since he had an architectural background, he came up with innovative perspective on such Silly Symphony cartoons as Goddess of Spring and Three Orphan Kittens. Specializing in character design in later years, he designed such characters as Shere Khan in The Jungle Book and Elliott in Pete’s Dragon. He was production designed on such films as Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmatians, and The Aristocats. He also designed many parts of Disneyland, including major portions of Fantasyland, the Storybook Land Canal Boats, and others. He retired in 1978, but continued to consult at WED Enterprises. He was honored with the Disney Legends award in 1991. [Smith, Dave. Disney A to Z. NY: Hyperion, 1998. ISBN: 0-7868-6391-9. Pages 26-27.]


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SeqID-0505. From “Pinocchio” (1940). A stat of the interior views of Gepetto’s house. Preliminary layout sheet. Notes: "F-3" "862-34" Circa 1938. Tear on upper left corner. [Item: 15"W X 12.25"H] Acquired 2000. SeqID-0505 Updated: 1/21/2000

SeqID-0506. From “Pinocchio” (1940). First generation Photostat. Notes: "Second revised model sheet"; "F-3"; "E 48 22"; "19-21-4"; "Battaglia"; "OK Joe Grant" Note: “Battaglia” in blue in on Photostat. Circa 1938. Back: AR 19-21-4 [Item: 15.5"W X 12.5"H] Acquired 2000. SeqID-0506 Updated: 1/21/2000.

SeqID-0507. From “Pinocchio” (1940). First-generation Photostat of Pinocchio. Mechanical construction of Pinocchio's head. The “F-3” is the Disney Production Number (according to Dave Smith, “Feature-3”) Notes: "Special poses E4720"; "F-3"; "19-21-1" Note: “19-21-1” in black ink on the page. Circa 1938. Fold/crease along horizontal center line. [Item: 12.5"W X 15.5"H] Acquired 1/21/2000. SeqID-0507. Updated: 5/18/2008

SeqID-0508. From “Pinocchio” (1940). A stat model sheet of Gepetto’s workbench. The “F-3” is the Disney Production Number (according to Dave Smith, “Feature-3”) Notes: "F3"; "Seq 1A"; "Okd by CEP"; "Number M79-A-"; "Date 9-26-38" [Item: 14"W x 11"H] Acquired 1/21/2000. SeqID-0508 Updated: 5/18/2008

SeqID-0509. From “Pinocchio” (1940). A stat model sheet of the fish. Mounted on cardboard. The “F-3” is the Disney Production Number (according to Dave Smith, “Feature-3”) Notes: "F-3"; "6-30-38"; Ink pen "7"; Pencil signed: "Ken Anderson" [Item: 14"W X 11"H] Acquired 2000. SeqID-0509 Updated: 1/21/2000

SeqID-0114. From “Pinocchio” (1940). A series of pencil Figaro concept poses done by Shamus Culhane. Note: “Shamus Culhane” The cat is more "evil" than the final version. [Image: 11.5"W x 9-5/8"H. Frame: 18-7/8"W x 17-3/8"H] Acquired 4/7/1987. SeqID-0114 Updated: 5/18/2008. Side notes: Shamus Culhane (1908-1996) was the lead animator on Snow White -- Heigh-Ho sequence, animated Woody Woodpecker’s Barber of Seville (1944) classic at Lantz, started his own production company in the late 1940’s and produced the first animated TV commercials. Animator on "Hoppity Goes to Town"

SeqID-0235. From “Pinocchio” (1940). Very early model of Jiminy Cricket with 7 full body images. Top left image is a thoughtful Jiminy. Good range of expressions. Possibly done by Ward Kimball. [Item: 12"W x 10"H] Acquired 6/8/1998. SeqID-0235 Updated: 7/17/2005

Seller's comments: "Early concept piece from the late 1930's. Probably done by Ward Kimball. Paper foxed at edges, but does not harm the artwork."

"Pinocchio" (1940)-Storyboard Movement Drawing

This storyboard image is a little different from most of the other storyboard panels I have in that it's primary purpose is to show perspective movement (a zoom). This panel combines two images showing the start and finish of the zoom. Just enough character detail to get the point across.

"Pinocchio" (1940)- Zoom Directions On Storyboard

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From “Pinocchio” (1940). A pencil concept of Figaro, Pinocchio and Gepetto showing the zoom move when Gepetto bends down to Pinocchio. Very unusual. [Image: 5-13/16"W x 5"H. Frame: 12-7/8"W x 12"H] Acquired 1992. SeqID-0119 Updated: 8/3/2005

"Pinocchio" (1930)-Concept Storyboard by Tenggren?

When I first saw these 3" x 2" drawings, I was really impressed. For such small drawings, the detail was amazing. [Be sure to click on the images to see the enlargements.]



The seller didn't have much additional information on these when I bought them. In doing some research, they style appears to be very similar to Tenggren's, but I don't have any real proof. At any rate, I thought you might enjoy these little gems.




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From “Pinocchio” (1940). A small series of 3 concept images for the meeting of Pinocchio, Honest John and Gideon. Very precise and well drawn. Where John & Gideon hide behind a tree and John bends over (takes off hat and cards fly out). Based on other sketches, this sequence may have been drawn by Gustaf Tenggren (1896-1970). [Image: Left: 3"W x 2-3/16"H, Center: 2-7/8"W x 2-1/8"H, Right: 3-1/16"W x 2-3/16"H. Frame: 17"W x x8-3/16"H.] Acquired 1990. SeqID-0116 Updated: 8/3/2005

"Pinocchio" (1940)-Pinocchio & Monstro Sequence

Collecting can be especially rewarding when you find a complete match of anything!

You might remember this sequence with Pinocchio and Monstro (from "Encyclopedia of Animation," page 197).

The first sheet ("DFX40") in the set we collected is a layout (Production 2003 Sequence 10.9, Scene 5.1) showing the positioning of several overlays...


The individual sheets start with "C-44," the Pinocchio...


Next comes the fish in the background, page "102"


Finally, the fish in the foreground on sheet "F-125."



Here is what the image looks like when overlayed in Photoshop...



While it's great to have this many items in the sequence, it does present a challenge to frame. Here is what we finally ended up doing...


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From “Pinocchio” (1940). Four pencil sketch images of Pinocchio swimming away from Monstro. One overall view (master layout), Pinocchio swimming and two fish sketches. All from same scene/sequence. Production 2003 Sequence 10.9 Scene 5.1. Individual notes: Fish F125, Pinocchio swimming C44, Fish & Monstro mouth 102, Layout match DXF40. [Image: Four sections of 11 15/16"W x 10"H. Total art area: 24-7/8"W x 31-3/8"H. Frame: 34-3/8"W x 40-3/4"H] Acquired 1987. SeqID-0117 Updated: 8/13/2005

Image of Pinocchio, fish and Monstro the Whale from "Pinocchio" from "Encyclopedia of Animation," page 197.

"Pinocchio" (1940)-Blue Fairy & Pinocchio Shop Sequence

Mark Sonntag had an interesting post of Lobby Cards from Pinocchio. There were a couple of images that came to mind...

"Pinocchio" (1940)-Blue Fairy & Pinocchio

[Note: sorry about the pink tint, I'm still trying to get the color correction figured out]

We started out with the Pinocchio item in 1988. I liked the expression on his face as the Blue Fairy talked to him.



The 1989 we came across this Blue Fairy item. On the reverse side of the page was a "sparkle" special effect around the wand. If the image was framed normally, you couldn't see the special effect. To highlight the effect, I had a deep frame made with room for a small bulb, batteries and a momentary-contact switch on the side of the frame. When the switch was pressed, the light would illuminate the effect.


We put these two items on the wall in such a way as to reinforce the eye contact between the two characters. The two items are fantastic when placed together! Frankly, it took me a while to figure out a way to show off the special effect on the back side of the Blue Fairy, but waiting paid off.

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From “Pinocchio” (1940). Pencil sketch of the Blue Fairy holding a wand. The wand has a sparkle special effect drawn on the back side of the Fairy image. Mounted in frame that has a light behind the paper to show off the effect. Switch on R side of frame. [Image: 8.25"W x 8.5"H. Frame: 18"W x 18"H x 2.25” deep] Acquired 1989. SeqID-0115 Updated: 8/3/2005

From “Pinocchio” (1940). Pencil sketch of Pinocchio sitting down and looking up. This is the scene where he is talking with the Blue Fairy. Attributed to Ollie Johnson. [Image: 7-3/16"W x 8-3/8"H. Frame: 15-5/16"W x 16-5/16"H] Acquired 1988. SeqID-0108 Updated: 8/6/2005

"Pinocchio" (1940)-Tenggren 2-Sided Concept

I was blown away by the image on the left, reached down, picked it up and noticed the sketch on the reverse! It was attributed to Gustaf Tenggren (1896-1970) and looked like something he might have drawn. A Swedish artist, Tenggren started working at Disney a few years earlier, worked as an art director on "Snow White" (1937) and is credited for creating the European village "look" of the film. I was really struck by the totally different presentations -- on one side a smooth and flowing rendition with massive weight and, on the other side, an image that looks like it just came off the drafting table! The person that sold it to me suggested just showing the image on the left (since they didn't care for the image on the right). But I just couldn't bring myself to do it -- both images were fantastic in their own way...

So, I bought it and it sat in a file drawer for about 8 years. After all, how do you frame something like this? After talking with a framer, I decided to put the sheet in a double-sided frame with hanging attachments on the top of the frame so I could suspend the frame in an area where people could walk around this great piece of art. As you can see from the top two images, the framing looks identical from either side. And its fun to watch people look at this neat piece of art for the first time -- to see that they feel some of the same wonder I felt when looking at Tenggren's concept art for the first time.

P.S. -- Some might remember Tenggren as the illustrator of Janette Sebring Lowrey's "The Poky Little Puppy" (Simon & Schuster; 1942) of the "Little Golden Books" series. (IMDB: Gustaf Tenggren). Frankly, the styles don't look anything alike, but what do I know...

Source: Overstock.com

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From “Pinocchio” (1940). An unusual two-sided pencil sketch attributed to Gustaf Tenggren (1896-1970). Pencil concept of village #1 shows a ground-up perspective on a building with a very dark feel. On the back side is another drawing -- more mechanical in nature -- of a church on a corner of a street with other houses. The darker image has a much better feel. Mounted in 2-sided open frame. [Item: 11-7/8"W x 16"H] Acquired 1998. SeqID-0345