Pencil animation of a shot from Peter Pan (1953), dir. Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson and Hamilton Luske, Walt Disney Productions

Key animation by Frank Thomas

Concept art by Hans Bacher for Aladdin (1992), dir. Ron Clements and John Musker, Walt Disney Feature Animation

The iconic Ghost in the Shell was financed in part by a Western company -- and it was intended to be a success outside Japan.

This was a bold plan, but it worked. We explore how it happened in our latest issue:
─➤animationobsessive.substack.com/p/selling-ghos…

Concept art by Gustaf Tenggren for Pinocchio (1940), dir. Ben Sharpsteen and Hamilton Luske, Walt Disney Productions

From: New Moon (1972), dir. Vakhtang Bakhtadze, Georgia Film

Concept art by Errol Le Cain for The Thief and the Cobbler (1992), dir. Richard Williams, Richard Williams Productions

Concept art by Takashi Nakamura for Catnapped! (1995), dir. Takashi Nakamura, Triangle Staff

Stop motion is truly such an underappreciated art form

Jiří Trnka is one of the greatest artists ever to work in stop motion. But he's nearly unknown today.

So, our latest issue is a brief introduction to his career, with links to watch key films and scenes along the way:
─➤animationobsessive.substack.com/p/the-grandmas…

The battle winds to an end in Old Czech Legends (1953), dir. Jiří Trnka, Loutkový Film Praha

Layout drawings by Satoshi Kon for Patlabor 2 (1993), dir. Mamoru Oshii, Production I.G

Background paintings from The Secret of NIMH (1982), dir. Don Bluth, Don Bluth Productions

From: Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade (1999), dir. Hiroyuki Okiura, Production I.G

Mamoru Oshii wrote this film, but Okiura revised his screenplay -- getting little-known and uncredited help from Satoshi Kon along the way

Great story about a great film

I loved NIMH as a kid, yet I know little about its production, so this was a great read. I didn't know the animators drew scenes instead of characters! Really wish more U.S. animation did this (Iron Giant almost did, but Bird had to nix that idea).

twitter.com/ani_obsessive/…

One of the main things that gives me comfort in these weird industry times is looking at parallels in history. This article by Animation Obsessive documenting the hopes & 'failures' behind The Secret of Nihm made me feel a lot better this morning - animationobsessive.substack.com/p/the-process-…

In our latest issue, we're looking into the making of Don Bluth's classic, The Secret of NIMH:
─➤animationobsessive.substack.com/p/the-process-…

A selection of shots animated by Giulia Landi for The Red Turtle (2016), dir. Michaël Dudok de Wit, Studio Ghibli/Wild Bunch

Concept art by Paul Felix for The Snow Queen (unreleased), Walt Disney Feature Animation

Felix created these for one of Disney's pre-Frozen attempts to adapt The Snow Queen

From: Hen, His Wife (1989), dir. Igor Kovalyov, Pilot