Disney Studio Visit: Never-Before-Seen Cruella De Vil Animation Cells!

Posted by Kevin Carr (kevin@filmschoolrejects.com) on March 4, 2008

During an interview with Alice Davis, the widow of legendary Disney animator Marc Davis, she was kind enough to pull out a piece of Disney history. In addition to designing characters like Maleficent and Tinkerbell, Marc Davis was also in charge of designing the classic Disney villain Cruella De Vil for 101 Dalmatians.

Due to the fact that 101 Dalmatians used a new, innovative technology to strike the cells from the original artists’ renderings, Davis was in charge of animated the entire character for the film. Because of this, Davis did not need to create reference sheets of Cruella De Vil for other animators. However, he did a number of sketches and drawings for his own reference.

During the interview, Alice Davis pulled out four animation cells her late husband had produced, which showed Cruella De Vil in various poses and positions. Prior to this time, these images had never been released to the public.

Click below to take a look into Disney history and see the never-before-released cells from Marc Davis.

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