Report of the Milt Kahl Tribute

Having just returned from the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills where the tribute event Milt Kahl: "The Animation Michelangelo" took place, I would like to show the program for those less fortunate who were not able to attend. First the cover: since it was in negative, next to it is an inverted version.
The program was a wonderful mix of panel discussion, film clips of Milt's work, clips of interviews with Milt including of the master while drawing, a five minute video message from Richard Williams and my favorite section: nearly an hour of Andreas Deja showing a very large stack of (copies of) drawings and discussing their virtues. Especially the (never before seen) drawings that Milt did for other animators to help them with drawing problems or start them out with a scene were amazing, and showed the level of simplicity that Milt had reached through many years of observation and hard work. Andreas Deja's exuberant enthusiasm was a large part of what made this wonderful 3¼ hour event an evening to remember!
In the lobby during the reception before the show, and afterwards as well, there was the opportunity to study some of the the many original works of art created by Milt, on loan from the Animation Research Library, my favorite being the model sheet of the squirrel from Sleeping Beauty, from which I have a Disney photostat - this was the original pencil version! As with so much of Milt's art, it looks deceptively simple. I guess one could say that Milt drew as Fred Astaire danced: after a lot of hard work, it looks effortless and beautiful - graceful, simple and timeless.

The audience in this sold-out event was a veritable who-is-who of animation, with not only many Disney alumni, but folks from across all studios paying homage to Milt Kahl, the Animation Michelangelo.

[For those of you studying animation, remember to check out the many Action Analysis Classes, animator drafts and other documents you can find on this blog! Find out how they timed the short films at Disney, and download my free animation timing metronome!]