I love Disney's gag outlines because I believe gags were inherently integral to Walt's success. Due to the importance Walt placed on gags, he solicited from all studio employees to get the greatest potential, and this is an early gag solicitation example. Interestingly, this very early document has the Dopey... read more →
Feb
11
Feb
04
Sometime, in the yet to come... The Apparatus copyright 2020 Sky Danley Productions
Jan
28
A very brief document from a sound stage meeting on November 16, 1934. Contrast is an important element of holding attention, and there is a suggestion to contrast Grumpy against Happy. They settled on final names for the dwarfs, only to later change "Baldy" back to "Bashful."
Jan
21
Just like former commercial pilot Gene Roddenberry (the writer and creator of Star Trek), Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was also a writer and creator, creating my all time favorite children's book, "The Little Price." And as I pointed out in my post two weeks ago, Roddenberry's writing career and subsequent imaginative... read more →
Jan
14
This Disney story document contains both the latest Snow White synopsis and solicits gag suggestions. Interestingly, the document not just solicits general gags, which was quite common by this time, but it solicits specific gags that develop character and action, and are therefore more funny because they fit a character's... read more →
Jan
07
Most people, including most pilots I've ever flown with, don't know that the FINAL FRONTIER was created by an Airline Pilot. Gene Roddenberry (Eugene Wesley Roddenberry), creator of the iconic STAR TREK franchise, was initially trained as a US Army Air Corps Pilot during WW2, flying B-17 missions over the... read more →
Dec
31
It seems unusual that this meeting took place both in the evening and on a sound stage, which is a rather large room. All earlier meetings took place during the day in Walt's much smaller office. It makes me think there were a lot of people present, and possibly, this... read more →
Dec
25
To keep my nose in aeronautics, one of my two passions (the other being story), I still fly part time and this is my Christmas Morning crew getting ready to board and deliver the most precious of all presents. It's always such a wonderful sight to see holiday passengers meeting... read more →
Dec
17
This is the second part of the October 22, 1934 Snow White Tentative Outline, the part that solicits gags for various scenes. At this early date, my guess is this solicitation is only directed toward story department employees and some animators. As time progresses, though, gag solicitations are definitely expanded... read more →
Dec
10
The Grand Canyon National Park turned 100 years old this year, and this past week, I finally fulfilled a lifetime ambition to hike all the way down to the Colorado River and stay overnight at Teddy Roosevelt's old hunting camp, where he hunted lions. Sky Danley hiking in the Grand... read more →