Halls remembers watching such early Disney films, “which had unsettling scenes, and were more pointed, drawing on the darkness of the original Grimms' stories.” Influenced by European illustrations of traditional fairy tales, Hurter brought a more adult feel and realistic approach to these animations. It was Swiss artist Albert Hurter whom Disney next brought in to work on the world's first full-length animated film ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' (1937). Known for making up to 700 drawings a day, it was Iwerks who sketched the face of the Walt Disney Company. Walt perpetuated the narrative that he was the only man behind Mickey Mouse, when it was his close friend and chief animator, Ub Iwerks, “who was doing most of the behind-the-scenes work,”*3 as author Jeff Ryan says. He did, undoubtedly, also like to take the credit. Walt undoubtedly recognised, and embraced, the genius when he saw it, and gave individual artists a great deal of creative authority inside the studio. Inspiration clearly flowed both ways between these men, as Roy Disney has pointed out, “I believe they influenced one another.”*2 Chronos, the personification of time, and a woman called Dahlia seek each other out across surreal landscapes, reflecting Walt and Dalí's shared interest in transformation. This project, which remained unfinished for decades due to money problems, was finally completed and released in 2003. Early on, Salvador Dalí, who saw Walt as “a great American surrealist,”*1 produced fifteen paintings and 135 sketches for the short film, Destino. In fact, Disney has not just collaborated with, but depended upon creative talent, to continually modernise its motion pictures.įrom the very start, Walt Disney was a king of collaboration - befriending many contemporary artists, he was interested in art as a broader subject, beyond the realms of animation, and needed creative partners with whom he could push the boundaries of experimentation. Her commission for the studios proves that Disney takes inspiration from artists, too. Centrepieces in the house's ‘Stretching Room' are four uncanny, 5-foot-high paintings, created by Halls, that come to life. However, two years ago she was invited to create a series of paintings for 2023's Haunted Mansion remake. Like many artists, leading British figurative painter Roxana Halls remembers watching these films as a child: “Disney offered a world of imagination, which I could step into as a child, and it's no doubt part of my visual vocabulary.” Since then, she has been heavily influenced by art-house and avant-garde cinema, frequently painting portraits of characterful women caught in moments of action - laughing, running, holding onto secrets her theatrical scenes appear as stills from films.Īlthough somewhat inspired by Disney, Halls “never thought” that she'd see her own work in one of their films. Written by Ruth Millingtonįor 100 years, The Walt Disney Company has been telling stories on screen to entertain, enchant and, at times, scare its audiences. Without the labour of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movies being covered here wouldn't exist. This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
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