Since "Beauty & the Beast" is going to hit theaters again this weekend, this time in 3D, I thought it might be interesting to show you a few pencil tests of my character Gaston.
He was challenging as far as animation assignments are concerned, because
Jeffrey Katzenberg insisted that this villain needed to be handsome. He was right, of course, because the overall theme of the film was: Don't judge a book by its cover. So, Gaston had to be good looking, but we find out he is not only full of himself, he is also a murderer.
There were scenes where I used live action reference, in other shots I acted out the motion myself.
This character was a "toughie" because he had to be handled with realism.
I sure wished I could do certain scenes over again, but for all its worth, here is a selection of Gaston rough pencil animation.
Image quality is not the best because the source material comes from very old tapes.
By the way, if you do plan on seeing "Beauty & the Beast" in a theater, be sure to stay for the end credits. You will see some of the animators rough drawings transformed into three dimensions. Very cool.