Production art from to the 1932 Disney cartoon, Flowers and Trees.

Production art from to the 1932 Disney cartoon, Flowers and Trees. It was the first Technicolor cartoon, and went on to win the first ever Academy Award for Animated Short Film.

Model sheets for Uncle Scrooge, the Three Little Pigs, Chip 'n' Dale, and Clarabelle Cow.

A few more in the 1971 Disney Publications series: model sheets for Uncle Scrooge, Three Little Pigs, Chip & Dale, and Clarabelle Cow. “A single tooth in the center of her mouth enhances her smile”, now where do you get tips like that?

It’s true though. These model sheets are all small character design masterclasses.

For more like these, just go to my Tumblr page and search for “Disney Publications 1971″.

How to draw Maggie Simpson: more Simpsons model sheets.

Model sheets of Maggie Simpson: construction models, a turnaround model, action poses, and so forth. These were, and perhaps still are, used during production of The Simpsons.

Models for Bart can be found HERE. Models for Homer can be found HERE; that will also lead you to Marge and Lisa.

Lastly, production drawings of a (deleted) Marge/Homer scene from Season 15′s My Big Fat Geek Wedding, can be seen HERE. I always find such production drawings fascinating: it’s like seeing how a magician does it. And you can see how well drawn the series really was, which wasn’t always obvious because of the sloppy coloring.

Model sheets for Briar Rose/Princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty (1959).

Intricately drawn model sheets and construction models for Briar Rose/Princess Aurora from Disney’s Sleeping Beauty (1959). They contain practical tips on how to draw her hair and clothing.

Disney model sheets for Peg Leg Pete, the Beagle Boys, Mortimer Mouse, and Chief O'Hara.

talesfromweirdland 

More model sheets from the 1971 Disney Publications stack. Villains this time–Peg Leg Pete, the Beagle Boys, Mortimer Mouse, and the man who has to catch them all: Chief O’Hara.

Models for Uncle Scrooge, Grandma Duck, and others can be found HERE. That’ll also direct you to even more from the same series: Mickey, Donald, Daisy, et cetera.

Betty Boop: model sheets, a mouth chart, and a walk cycle.

Model sheets, a mouth chart, and a walk cycle, for Betty Boop.

Her early Fleischer shorts (1932-1935) are masterpieces of delightful surrealism; they probably are my favorite cartoons. The characters are all casually deranged, happily bonkers, just going about their business, like lunatics in an open asylum. Betty is the one sane element–she’s the asylum’s nurse–so everyone is drawn towards her, swinging and bopping along whenever she starts to sing and dance. But the shorts could have eerie elements too, as one like “Snow-White” (1933) shows.

The draconian Motion Picture Production Code (or “Hays Code”) put an end to all that, unfortunately.

Original pencil drawings from Disney’s 1936 Mickey Mouse cartoon, Mickey’s Rival.

Original pencil drawings from Disney’s 1936 Mickey Mouse cartoon, Mickey’s Rival. It was directed by Wilfred Jackson, the animation was handled by Les Clark, Frenchy de Tremaudan and Gerry Geronomi.

Look at those fine, gently flowing pencil lines.

How to draw Bart Simpson: model sheets and action poses.

talesfromweirdland 

How to draw Bart Simpson: model sheets and action poses. These handouts were used by the animators during production of the animated series, The Simpsons.

Models for Homer can be found HERE. That will also lead you to Marge and Lisa.

Roger Rabbit production art and animation cels.

Some Roger Rabbit art and animation cels. The first image (by Todd Kurosawa and Ron Dias) graced the cover of a comic, the second one of a tied-up Jessica Rabbit is from the short Roller Coaster Rabbit. The other two are from the film’s finale, of course.