Curio: Eyvinde Earle's Centennial
Tuesday, April 26, 2016 at 1:00PM Today marks the 100th birthday of famed illustrator Eyvinde Earle (1916-2000) who has a special connection to the cinema having logged time with Walt Disney Studios, most famously helping to shape the aesthetic of the studio's greatest looking traditional classic, Sleeping Beauty (1959). The artist passed away sixteen years ago but his work lives on. Take a look...
When he joined Disney in 1951 he was already a name artist after multiple sold out exhibitions and greeting card success as well. His move into movies (which lasted only about a decade) wasn't surprising. His father Ferdinand P Earle was an artist on many silent films. Eyvind's aesthetic starting showing up in Disney animation by 1953. He was painting backgrounds for numerous shorts and features.
He was instrumental in the look of the joyful educational Toot, Whistle Plunk and Boom which won the Oscar for Best Animated Short, beating the much darker Tell Tale Heart.
His strong interest in geometrical shapes and stylized color is noticeable in Peter Pan...
Peter Pan backgrounds via "Animated Backdrops"And he did their Golden Book too.
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SLEEPING BEAUTY
His pinnacle achievement in cinema and I'd argue the best of Disney's golden age altogether was Sleeping Beauty (1959).
When you look at his personal painting, not for Disney, its altogether obvious that his personal aesthetic was informing the picture.
"A Tree Poem"
"Ancient Forest"
"After Rain"You can see a lot more examples of his work at his official website. These paintings and silkscreens are all with museums or personal collections.
Sadly, you don't see Sleeping Beauty's brand of personalized art which shifts from project to project in Hollywood animation anymore. Even the best of Disney and Pixar and Dreamworks films share quite a lot of "look" as it were in terms of character design, increasingly photorealistic backgrounds, and even color palette. And that's not the fault of computers because computers are taking their instructions from real artists. You have to leave Hollywood for animated films with noticeably distinct visual personalities now.
Eyvind Earle's work will live forever thanks to Disney's cultural dominance and it's still influencing artists. There was a video game just a couple of years back "The Banner Saga: Factions" which used his work as inspirational lift off point. You can see it all over that trailer.
You can see a lot of his influence, though thankfully not imitative, in Tomm Moore's great animation work in Ireland, too, in Oscar nominated features like The Secret of Kels and Song of the Sea.
What's your favorite set or look in Sleeping Beauty?
Reader Comments (5)
When I saw Earle's work here, particularly "A Tree Poem," I thought immediately of Song of the Sea, which I happened to watch last night. I love that it was Oscar-nominated -- such beautiful visuals.
"Sleeping Beauty" is one my earliest movie memories and still one of my favorite Disney films of all time.
Sleeping Beauty is one of my top 5 favorite Disney movies, and its animation really stands out among the rest. I love the forest and cottage settings the most, but everything in the film is just magnificent.
keisha -- yay! glad to hear it. it's totally my #1 of the early pictures but i find it difficult to compare them with anything Little Mermaid or later. just of a different time.
I remember reading that the look they were going for in Sleeping Beauty was like the Book of Hours of the Duc de Barry. You know, the medieval kind of manuscript look. The paintings are really beautiful.
I also find on re-watching that the Tchaikovsky music sets a different pace for the movie. More breathing spaces and a relaxed sweep. Because it's a ballet, and based on the rhythm of actual people moving. So many of the other features have an insistent rushed hurry-hurry pace.
And in Sleeping Beauty, it's lovely to have those dreamy moments to just admire how lovely it is.