Milt Kahl Animation

[@PikaPetey]

ahhh the Milt Kahl Head shake.

[@ikederp6910]

you´re some heavy duty traditional animation researcher, I appreciate that

[@batwolfy7044]

Hah. Didn't see it until I saw your comment.

[@nadianadia4867]

Did you mean... Miltshake? I'll leave now

[@RachelDeRosier010894]

I couldn't read that without picturing you shaking your head while saying that. 😂

[@dawgweazle6988]

Also known as the Milt Kahl Head Swaggle.

[@HugoJunstrand]

I can't even begin to fathom how it must be like to animate all the stripes on Shere Khan

[@TonyWhiteArchive]

I always say to my students who are working in traditional 2D for the first time... Time yourself when doing one character design drawing, then multiply that by 12 or 24 for every second of good animation you want to put up there on the screen. It's a sobering thought, especiually when they all try to do too much too soon with their designs! :)

[@elizabethalvarado8698]

Or Kaa's "walking" away, after getting a knot in his tail.

[@Shadywolf09]

I literally just received the book "The Illusion of Life" by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. I skimmed through it a little and I saw Milt's walk cycle for Shere Khan being animated throughout one page. It says as followed: Animator: Milt Kahl The Jungle Book: "The stripes on the tiger, which ordinarily would be time-consuming decoration, were used here to describe the form of Shere Khan. Because of years spend studying animal movements, the animator was able to do this scene without help from any live action film."

[@Ardhamon5000]

I can honestly see why Richard Williams admired him so much.

[@tgumedia3091]

yes, this is absolutely amazing.

[@connorcaddy5661]

I think he's one of the greatest animators.

[@sirdangie1332]

Both can rest in peace now.

[@RachelDeRosier010894]

And Andreas Deja and James Baxter.

[@ClearwaterMK2]

He even inadvertently disturbed Milt Kahl's work by asking him whether he listens to classical music or not.

[@fitzhugh7463]

that snake animation where he's uncurling himself just blows my mind. where do you even start with that??

[@ЗорницаЯнкова]

Y'all won't believe how many times we repeated that scene when we were little. I didn't know it was hard to animate but my brother and I for some reason thought it was the best thing to happen to animations

[@rysiusiu]

2:55

[@northshore1000]

Of the different brilliant animation moments, I was most in awe of the snake uncurling part as well. Such gargantuan talent!!!

[@farley576]

well you start by drawing a snake

[@fitzhugh7463]

@@farley576 or do you shoot reference first?

[@kiwi__1011]

Love how the shot at 2:59 looks CG even though it's not.

[@Antifearn]

The sound effects added to it later makes it even better! 😂

[@colemanbubar5098]

I think that animation was reused in Disney’s Robin Hood movie

[@Antifearn]

Coleman Bubar I think it was just the hypnosis scene. Sir Hiss was much smaller than Kaa

[@sirhighroller9036]

@@colemanbubar5098 yeah it was😅😅 but they still utilized it in a good way

[@sirhighroller9036]

@@JD-el9eo yeah I used to love when he'd use his body as arms and when he used his tale as a propeller while he was flying

[@madderandmadder]

Milt Kahl was exceptional. It's a shame traditional animators will rarely get to express themselves like this anymore unless it's on their own dime. This was a beautiful artform and I'm sad it's all but dead. Yeah, we still have "traditional" TV shows but they have to rely heavily on tweening or using less frames in order to make something within the budget they're given. I hope this makes a revival. It sounds weird, but the upcoming Cuphead TV show is very promising because the animation in the game was done in this same fashion. I hope it lives up and shows studios there's still profit in doing this type of animation.

[@BlueBirdMasquerade9]

Randy I honestly think that Disney and other major studios are mistaken if they think traditional 2D and hand drawn animation wouldn’t be successful anymore. I think kids are still drawn to the dynamics of 2D animation. I couldn’t get my 6 year old campers to sit through movies like toy story, frozen and zootopia. Then I put on the old Disney classics like artistocats and Peter Pan and their eyes just lit up! 2D and hand drawn animation doesn’t give this perfect, uniform, realistic looking picture of today’s 3D animation and I think that’s precisely why i have found that so many kids today still like it.

[@titaniumapple1]

@@BlueBirdMasquerade9 Exactly - I think the main issue is time, budget and frankly skill. If they made an animation with the level of mastery that those original Disney movies were made with then they'd definitely sell but I think people underestimate the level of skill needed for such subtle, weighty, emotional animation - it's on another level and how many people are able to do that now?

[@SuperTigger1999]

@@titaniumapple1 yuuup 100% there's only so little people that can do that since there weren't as many distractions as there are now no internet and all that people would just spend more time doing stuff like this of course its not all bad but thats one of the things l've observed

[@spooksiewooksie1947]

The Nekomancer well at least Japan’s still at it, and I suppose now with the news of Don Bluth’s new studio and the recent distaste in the Disney live action remakes, hopefully Don Bluth’s new films will be killer at the box office. We can only hope.

[@illusrin]

Unfortunately the Cuphead show isn't going to have the same crisp hand-animated look as the video game, from the trailers it's clear they're using tweening and other time-saving measures. Maybe someday these methods'll make a return in TV or movies.

[@amiefortman7220]

What makes the Milt Kahl Head Swaggle so cool is that he deliberately did it to show off--notice how the characters always do it *while the rest of their body is moving at the same time.* Probably the best example is of the Lion in "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" doing the Head Swaggle while twirling the medallion around his neck. It's a sight to behold. XD

[@reginaldforthright805]

Seems rather pointless

[@reginaldforthright805]

The best examples are in sword in the stone. He did it because he didn’t know what else to do.

[@nthgth]

I did always wonder why these characters shook their heads so much. As a kid I just assumed it was something old-timey people did to try to look smarter or something.

[@geministrial950]

The kinda bragging i can get behind

[@abdullahibouraleh6919]

Wow, I had no idea a Disney animator could be so wacky and creative, yet realistic! Milt Kahl is amazing!

[@Scroteydada]

?

[@RachelDeRosier010894]

Dude your icon pic. Somebody needs to animate The Ugly Barnacle sequence like Milt Kahl.

[@FlynnAlek]

Have you ever seen a Disney movie?

[@colorbar.s]

@DeludedDesktopAlien you're mad delusional that's not true in the slightest

[@navelpicker]

I'm 7 years down the line from your comment, but hopefully by now you'd have at least been made aware of Disney's 9 Old Men, and "The Illusion of Life" by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. If not- should you still be interested- it's well worth a look.

[@guytorie]

"We need someone to animate this character rifling through closets and drawers and throwing everything around the room trying to find something." *_"I'M ON IT"_*

[@sirhighroller9036]

😅😅😅😅😅that's so sword in the stone

[@guytorie]

@@sirhighroller9036 oh god you're right

[@elizabethalvarado8698]

"What about a sequence involving a character with a bouncy walk?" "Consider it done."

[@stevenwilliams6374]

6:43 Dude, that made my eye water.

[@wonderblockstalks3049]

Eww

[@heystella8611]

I always loved how she peels her eyelashes off and her skin stretches with it.

[@gulorful8488]

There’s something so satisfying about Jiminy’s run cycle I don’t think enough people are talking about.

[@elizabethalvarado8698]

"A fine conscience I turned out to be, late, the first day! Oh well, he can't get into much trouble, from here, to school."

[@Shadywolf09]

The way Milt made him run, but change the character's direction with the camera is astounding. I replayed that scene so many times just to study the change in direction..like the character is moving to step into the page only to run off of it in the end and away from the camera.

[@aaronharris1092]

2:29 somehow synched up perfectly to the music

[@ClearwaterMK2]

Same can be said for 1:25.

[@scaleythedino49]

Lol

[@anisomniac5931]

Also 6:25

[@TylerMcNamer]

Milt was born an animator! So passionate that when he's interrupted or not drawing, he gets extremely cranky. Richard Williams loved that about him; his craft always came first.

[@TylerMcNamer]

Well, next to family and heath of course, but you get the message.

[@anisomniac5931]

I have to do the same thing for the same reason, but Milt is obviously a lot better at his craft. I admire that, he's a massive inspiration to me.

[@maniacaldude]

Milt Kahl's animation is incredible. It makes me wish Song Of The South didn't have the infamous reputation it has, because it has some amazing animation in it, particularly from Milt Kahl, according to those who have seen the movie. If they just issued the animated segments as a standalone release, that'd be fine with me.

[@williampalkow5108]

I wish the entire film was animated because the live action parts bored me to death.

[@zerotodona1495]

Landon Kemp honest song of the south isn’t that racist. The black man was a good story teller and warned the children to obey their mother or bad things can happen. They only call it racist because it’s a black man near white kids. Princess and the frog and the Jim Crow gang from dumbo were far more racist. Though I really loved the crows.

[@DoppelgangerJ]

Zero Todona "they only call it racist because it’s a black man near white kids." This is horseshit. People have a problem with Song of the South over its jovial portrayal of the time period and the presumed slaves in it, not for the incredibly ignorant reason you stated. Also, the thing about racism is that it's not a matter of degree - racism is still racism regardless of what you are willing to be dismissive of or apathetic to as a matter of your personal convenience.

[@thewindshecriesmary]

@@zerotodona1495 ????? are you brainless?????

[@snapplewapple4887]

@@zerotodona1495 get a load of this brainlet. bitch when song of the south came out in 1946 people fucking PROTESTED it because it was so insanely racist. to say its not racist is so insanely blind to the point you're either a brainwashed kid with racist parents who doesnt know better yet or you live under a rock so deep you cant see daylight

[@frickinfrick8488]

2:56 this scene never ceases to impress me. That is such a complicated movement it looks so good

[@laotasurfs1110]

The clips of Brer Fox reminded me of that book, "The Illusion of Life". It said that James Baskett's delivery of the Fox's dialog was so rapid-fire they had to invent a new way of animating just to get the lipsync.

[@Evening.Cicada]

Honestly when u think about it, Disney movies are a huge MAP. Because different people animate which is put together to create a whole film

[@MasterHappychipmunk]

That’s pretty much animated movies as a whole.

[@spinningpeanut]

The difference is everyone must stick to even more strict rules, the character sheets tell you a lot of don'ts like don't make tail have more than two fluffs or don't give so and so a certain line pattern on his wrinkled smile. The maps that came closest to professional was ready as I'll ever be, little fang, and man on the moon. I want to see a map that uses strict rules and character designs more than anything. Hell I've had an idea for one for years that requires everyone to follow strict character design rules where they aren't allowed to use their own design and style at all, just their individual animation techniques should be visible to the discerning eye. I've been tweaking the script on and off for three years.

[@thecrookedanimator]

@@spinningpeanut storyboard MAPs.

[@coriolis07]

spinningpeanut I mean there’s a storyboarded Mapleshade and Crookedpaw map coming up which requires people to stay on model so that’s something to look forward to.

[@Legoluigi26]

I thought you were talking about something else and I got really scared for a sec.

[@Figgy]

Didn't he also do Tigger? If I recall correctly he has a trait called the Milt Kahl head swoggle in which his characters would show confidence by rattling their head side to side, I believe Tigger did this along with Robin Hood characters, the Lion and Tiger from Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Jungle Book respectively. I may be wrong though.

[@ibcf]

+Figgy - Yes, Milt Kahl is known for his head swoggles. There's a Tigger scene at 5:59.

[@Figgy]

Ah, sorry, not sure how i missed that.

[@sirhighroller9036]

Yeah pongo did that alot in dalmatians 😄😄😄

[@Yensid951927]

7:22 Bair Bear Is mad at Bair Fox, but also feels sorry for him, goes easy on him, but still hits him hard, then leaves to sulk in defeat.

[@AtlasBlizzard]

I love that! That hesitation on his part and that half-hearted bonk made me laugh.

[@lancerutt9936]

@@AtlasBlizzard His animation gives those characters more depth than the actual movie does

[@guiga678]

O love this detail.

[@spinningpeanut]

I love this. All the motion has such build up to make it larger than what it actually is. Everything feels much heavier than it how others do it, but in a floaty way if that makes sense, like they really lift themselves before dropping into the motion like a rollercoaster. He really knows how to make motion circular.

[@LovCrimson]

My fav animator of Disney. How I wish this reel would last longer.

[@ultrae4628]

If you blink you miss, like, a few hours of work

[@user-oi5hc6pv9k]

Just a few?

[@TomBrienProfessional]

Wow these are SO complicated!! Disney must've known that as long as they had Milt Kahl, their movies would've looked like nobody else's.

[@mobi8046]

all disney animators are awesome i cant tell their style apart

[@sofialaya596]

It's very hard for the artists to unify the styles, they work on that a lot before starting the actual project

[@KokoroKatsura]

a n i m e n i m e

[@joaquinfernandez3977]

@@KokoroKatsura your point being? most anime characters share a lot of similarities.

[@jonathanwells223]

Kotonoha Katsura no, they’re cartoons

[@ZeeZeeBun]

An absolute legend.. His characters had such weight and presence, and such an amazing body of work for a single career.

[@MrJohnffrey87]

I never would've guessed Milt animated 00:13-19 he usually didn't do crazy faces like that, and there's a great inbetween at 2:25.

[@Shadywolf09]

I notice that even with the xerox era, Milt's lines on his pencil drawings were incredibly clean. There are barely any pencil marks that disappear or reappear as the animation goes on, it's almost as clean as before the xerox era happened.

[@Haiibaī]

The subtle, natural ways the animals move astound me, not to mention the more exaggerated movements and facial expression... that just fit. Literally I appreciate Shere Khan's stalking through the grass so much.

[@samuellayton3539]

I acquired a production drawing from Mickey's Circus some months back, one of Mickey during the opening scenes of the short. Amazing how something as delicate and disposable as production drawings managed to survive for over 80 years. Even cooler to know that Milt himself drew that. Happy to own a piece of Milt's Disney history.

[@Cringo03]

Milt Kahl a master of animation

[@ibcf]

Special thanks to Michael Barrier and Hans Perk for making this video possible by posting the animator drafts. Please send them some comments of appreciation! www.michaelbarrier.com/ afilmla.blogspot.com/

[@JessePorkman]

I love how fluid his animation is! Beautiful!

[@alcyonae]

7:20 is what it feels like to discover that the best of Disney is Milt Kahl.

[@MoonGhostDoodles]

I love how in some areas the animation looks static but it makes up with having flow and smoothness in other, making for a unique combination that oozes with expression and personality

[@DatDude_]

Dude is basically the godfather of character animation

[@Tombola1993]

His works is absolutely wonderful and legendary beyond belief.

[@Berdimaticus]

Animators like this are crazy talented

[@MrAaaaazzzzz00009999]

when I watch this stuff on its own all I see is the characters moving, but when you assign a name to it and say that this was made by a person it suddenly becomes magical. like I cant believe how animators do what they do.

[@somethingtwice2297]

Wow, the Tigger animation at 6:00 always impressed me way before I even knew who the hell Milt was.

[@bluesox2762]

probably one of the most recognizable animators of his time

[@katef96]

Br’er Fox has to be one of the most fun characters to watch

[@ToshisGarden]

Man, I LOVE his Brer character animations. No matter how many times I see the movie, or even just clips of the animated segments, I never get tired of them!!

[@alskndlaskndal]

Great compilation! I wish Disney would chop out the animated sequences from Song of the South and release them. The animation is fantastic, and it's a shame American audiences haven't been able to see it "officially" for so long.

[@WereDictionary]

"A top-notch draftsman, he was often assigned the most difficult scenes *and realistic characters* [...]" > cue a cowgirl in a skirt doing lasso tricks riding a giant bucking fish

[@dreamwithinadreamfilms]

I love his work! His style is so fluid, but spontaneous, and recognizable!

[@anlexaify]

Reading through Richard Williams' animators book and how he talks about Milt Kahl with such esteem and respect. And how Kahl successfully managed to shut up each and every one of his critics.

[@junelaananke7138]

It seems like eyes were a specialty. I noticed a lot of shots that make use of really round or wide eyes constantly moving. It's interesting to see what different animators value in their works.

[@hpotter29]

Those little hops there at the end of Jiminy's run are so great: you can just feel the mass of his body trying to compensate for the quick stop.

[@Iyana]

The head shakes he gives his characters are so distinct

[@Kazooples]

Bizarre music choice but ok, absolutely love this animation style

[@zarfdragon]

The expressiveness he brought to each of these characters is really incredible, an absolute work of art... I'll never get tired of it

[@dorothytheuyfanatic5118]

Quite possibly my favorite Disney animator, and one of my favorite animators in general! His style is so fluid, and worked with such difficult frame by frame scenes, even if he preferred doing animation that’s more cartoony.

[@tarponpet]

Wow I actually remember a lot of these scenes sticking out to me.

[@Peacepov]

dank hit @4:20

[@isaywhateveriwantandyougot7421]

This is the man that made Pinocchio how we recognise him as today.

[@rrothenberg123]

Wasn’t this the same man who was famed for the head waggle while speaking in his animation? You see it a lot like on Sher Khan and Edgar in the Aristocats. I’d heard he made a point to use that because it was notoriously difficult to animate the smoothness of someone talking while the head moved like that, so he did it often as a kind of ‘top that’ move. Or am I mis-crediting?

[@Joy6168]

No, you’re not, Milt Kahl was famous for his characters head waggle when talking, which is a very hard head move to pull off.

[@TonyTylerDraws]

I always felt like legendary animators must see the world different than the rest of us.

[@IMDWT]

This is the most esoteric AMV I have ever seen.

[@selenopheria]

An absolute master of his craft. What a man, Mr. Kahl was.

[@Sweetumskitty1789]

I think the best way to describe his animation style is utterly delightful.

[@alternateaccess9565]

One of the most influential, talented animators to exist. I love Milt's art

[@GeorgeBuzinkai]

Excellent compilation. Thanks for this!

[@titanae30435px1]

What a legacy. Thanks for posting 😍

[@aortaplatinum]

Dude was a genius with facial expressions

[@ThuyCawlEemThaBlaydRunna]

I don't know what it is about that music but it physically prevented me from clicking away early. Damn near hypnotic.

[@gavin9254]

milt really was that generations james baxter, seriously it's some of the best shit outta the golden ages and it REALLLLLY showed when he animated on ones, it's so so so so sOOOOO fucking godlike i love him

[@superdaveozy7863]

This stuff is still better than the cartoon animation of today.

[@eliw772]

To be fair, he had a larger budget, more time, and possibly better resources to finish his animations

[@jestrel]

And it is all traditional which will always be smoother.

[@GreyWolfLeaderTW]

Milt was the master of expressive body language, facial expressions, and artistic poses for his subjects. Some of his characters have so much dimensionality (like Sher Khan) that they almost look like CGI. Also, that head waggle is the stuff of legends.

[@mollycblaeser]

That first scene with Tramp is honestly my favorite.

[@cristobalgarces1675]

Old man at 1:00 looks like the toy repairman from Toy Story 2.

[@theinvisi-verseandotherstuff]

Agreed

[@markkoetsier6475]

And the old man from Geri's Game.

[@SH-kg9lh]

these are absolutely not just smooth sequences, he really brought them alive

[@markusgp]

Nice reel. I was missing some stuff but a lot of less known masterpieces in this compilation.

[@Drachendrac]

it is so satisfying to analyze these animations

[@Jm-ki4su]

the three caballeros will always be a prime childhood memory, as well as one hell of a surreal trip of cinema

[@Zeagods-CyberShadow]

Its insane to think of the process they had go through back in those days

[@JordanVanRyn]

I gotta say his animation is so expressive and realistic. I guess that's why he's respected as an animation giant.

[@wheatherd]

Gosh, I knew him by his silver age work, but seeing the golden era stuff really struck me on how integral he was to the Disney style.

[@SouthJerseySam]

"I'm not smart enough to think of more than one thing at a time!" - Milt Kahl

[@tomasiobermudez2588]

Okay at about 0:59 , that isn’t Snow White anymore , that’s the Aristocats

[@wiwaxiasilver827]

Wow, the level of fluidity and motion truly is amazing ❤️

[@IronFreakV]

Every frame is expressive and dynamic, the animation is truly impressive to this day. If only they would put this effort into their more recent movies. LOOKING AT YOU, LION KING REMAKE. YOU ABOMINATION.

[@justincarawan-carawanco.pu1639]

So many eras of animation! This man was a legend!

[@gamgazie]

Is no one going to mention how 2:35 goes with the music?

[@ArahabakinoKami]

What a legend. I sure do miss gorgeous 2D animations like these.

[@ItsYaGirlAvacado]

Milt Kahl had incredible talent. It’s such a shame he wasn’t the kindest and had quite the temper, but that definitely doesn’t overshadow his natural skill when it came to animation.

[@AstalThe9]

I had no idea he did this many of the old movies. Amazing!

[@CEIVE4EVER]

My favourite always will be Earle, but it's fascinating to see how his style was changing with every movie.

[@DonutToast]

OHHHH he's the head shake guy!

[@yusufalasmi8923]

Just watching in sheer amazement

[@bigannouncement6441]

Some animation inspires me to do better but this animation is so good I feel like giving up...

[@biromanstudios7073]

If it can make you feel better remember you don't have to be the best, perfection doesn't exist and even if some people seemingly got close to it it's always not total perfection. Wanting to improve is a good thing, inspiring to this skill level is a good thing, but if you don't make it there it's not a big deal, sometimes not caring about becoming the best can make you go a long way. Every art form has some virtuoso figures, take for example the music, you can compare classical music to grunge, they're two totally different genres but both have their reason and they still express the artist. Remember, no matter what skill you have don't care about "i'm worse than others" but say "I can try to get close to this". Recognizing your current limits is the first thing to do.

[@ploonette222]

It's insane how lifelike his animations are

[@aktwothetplhater5568]

He was credited as "Milton Kahl" in Pinocchio.

[@cesspools0up985]

wow, he is the source of my entire childhood...amazing

[@aaronmehaffey6251]

That classic Milt Kahl Head Waggle!

[@benitolopez2639]

I could watch this all day

[@Rexog90]

Ah, the bouncy animations and head shakes are inconfundible!

[@PenParody]

The Best Reel ever

[@MilesDeighton1]

That last one is my response to so many people

[@victorguerrero4461]

Looks so bouncy and strechy :3

[@TyroClint]

The times when they drew more frames of animation per second. Quality