Feb 24, 2023

The Anime That Changed Me: Bruce Smith on "Dalmatian, King of the Hundred Beasts"

It's been a while, but a new installment of "The Animation that Changed Me" has begun. [In this installment, we spoke with Bruce Smith, a feature film character animator, director, and television producer best known as the creator and executive producer of the Disney Channel's hit shows "The Proud Family" and "The Proud Family:" Also known as He is best known as supervising animator of the villainous Dr. Facilier in The Princess and the Frog. [The Proud Family, which ran from 2001-2005, became a Disney hit and was rebooted in 2022 as The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder. Season 2 of the revival began earlier this month.

For his contribution to the ongoing series, Smith chose Disney's 1961 classic One Hundred and One Dalmatians. The film was directed by the team of Clyde Geronimi Hamilton Rathke and Wolfgang Reitherman, but it is the work of animator Milt Kahl that has stayed with Smith over the years and still influences his style today.

Bruce Smith: I was about eight years old when I first saw "Dalmatian, King of the Hundred Animals. I am from Los Angeles, so I took a bus from South Central Los Angeles to Inglewood to go see it at the theater. I remember the animation was unlike anything I had ever seen before. I grew up in the era of "The Flintstones," "The Jetsons," etc. All of Hanna-Barbera's work was like that.

I saw Roger and Anita dancing together, and I saw the humans walking their dog at the beginning of the film, and I was immediately convinced. Then when Cruella de Vil came out, I knew I had to do whatever I could to get a fur coat like hers. After the movie I went home and painted as many pictures as I could remember. That movie turned my imagination inside out, because at the time all I had was my imagination.

My first impression was that animation was a magical medium. I wished I could do something like that when I grew up.

I really liked the way Roger drew. Roger was the first character I tried to hand-draw after returning to Japan. Cruella also left a great impression on me, and I remember trying to draw her driving around in a drop-top Rolls Royce or whatever car she was driving. It was the first time I had ever seen a car animated like that.

My eyes were overwhelmed by what I saw. I wanted to see it again, so I went back to the screening several times. The dogs were so well drawn and so well animated. Designed by ...... I later learned that the genius Milt Kahl had done most of the design work, and I remember that it all made sense and made sense to me.

My opinion of this film will never change. It is one of the most well put together films in the entire Disney oeuvre. The entire film is exactly as I remember it. The animation is still great and the humor is still really funny. I thought, and still do, that everything about the film was top-notch. [19] [20] Thankfully, late in my career, I got to work with one of the layout people on "101 Doggies" on "Happily Ever After." He showed me what they had done on "The Dalmatian" and it was great line work, very graphic and monochrome in style. He also told me some great Walt stories, which was a big plus, and working with someone who was involved with "101 Doggies" will always stay with me.

"101 Doggies" taught me that animation is a tool, and that I needed to learn how to move and entertain people. The first thing you learn as an animator is to move things. The next thing you learn is how to move them in the most entertaining way, in the most entertaining way.

For me, Milt Kahl, Frank Thomas, and Ollie Johnson were the kings of being able to inject magic into a character. That was difficult to do from a live-action standpoint, and Milt's animation always surpassed anything a live-action actor could come up with. I am still amazed by Milt's work. He is truly the GOAT.

Today I work in a different medium, producing animation for streaming and television, but I strive to apply the same design aesthetic that people like Milt and Tom Oreb use in their films. I try to apply the same design aesthetic that people like Milt and Tom Oreb used in their films. Design is the application of the basic mechanics of animation, and any animator can appreciate that. I love Milt as an animator and designer, and I try to remember his tricks and traits in any project.