I cannot think of a single unique and expressive character that has so much style, facial expressions and wit like Pecos Bill. He's truly an amazing and fascinating hidden gem of a protagonist.
What makes him special is that he only appears in one overlooked movie. He was one of the best parts of that movie alongside Blame It On The Samba.
When I ranked all the war-time era Disney movies, I didn't give enough credit to his scenes. Coming back to them now I was instantly influenced by them. They are quick, sharp and well drawn like most Disney films and other classic animation studios.
I love this close-up shot of the horse and Pecos himself.
Most of these scenes were animated by Ward Kimball who is easily the best of the 9 old men at the Disney headquarters back then. The rubbery and playful antics in these is truly unforgotten and appealing to the max.
I really miss when Disney made original stories even smaller ones so seeing stuff like this made back in the 40s feels dreamy and calm even though some of the moments feel challenging at times.
Notice how his expression is the same for a few seconds.
Disney is known for being less cartoony than the other animation studios, but I really like it that way. Now Warner Bros, MGM and especially Fleischers made amazing and timeless films but you can't beat Disney with it's impact. The scenery, the style, the amount of things happening, even in movies I dislike they still have something to like about them.
Look at this drawing. That's stellar.
The late 40s was full of distinctive moments in particular. All of the elements felt natural, understandable and logical. It wasn't too keen on repetitiveness, and too simple character designs.
I love all of these animated frames of Pecos Bill especially with his single eye closed to be doing something rowdy.
This seems so hard to animate in particular, but it looks so clean and confident. There's alot of realism and personality for each of the characters.
Animation is also a useful tool for observation. My favorite tool for animating something is to have some fun animated characters and visually pleasing backgrounds. Also I'm not too keen on too much dialogue so having a straightforward and simple story is always key even if your starting out animating like me.
Almost every Disney character especially from the golden age has memorable and interesting designs that fit the movie very well. While Melody Time is a package film, it still has a ton of unique variety to those short films especially the ones that feel more abstract.
I want to closely observe this singular scene of Pecos Bill silently minding his business with his lasso. It's a perfect 5 seconds of your time.
It's really expressive and neatly drawn.
Then after all that he shows us another facial expression.
I love when people have different interests on characters they feel drawn to the best.
Pecos Bill might not be one of my favorite characters, but he's definitely got alot of fascinating qualities to him. I'm always on the go exploring new characters and stories. That's why I buy DVDs and explore the media of art. Heck you all are probably doing it too with my entire blog.
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