Abstract art snuck into Disney film? [closed]

I remember reading an article about one of the animators or layout artists on a Disney animated film sneaking in one of their own original abstract paintings into a frame.

I thought it was Bill Tytla, but Google is coming up empty. I also thought the film was Dumbo, but again, Google doesn't have any real hints. I am 99% sure it was a classic era film, so pre-Jungle Book and most likely pre-Cinderella.

Does anyone else remember reading something about this? Can you identify the artist and the film?

disney identify-this-movie

Best Answer

Here's a similar article from the NYTimes. It's not Disney related (it's about Woody Woodpecker) and he's using short video art not stills. But, the era and the art style are what you're looking for.

For potential link death, the article is titled That Noisy Woodpecker Had an Animated Secret and was written by Michael Cieply. It was published in the New York Times Art & Design section on April 10th, 2011. It is about an article by Tom Klein about animation director Shamus Culhane's addition of his own animated micro-length experimental art films to various Woody the Woodpecker cartoons.

On a note, glad I was able to find it for you! I used more general search terms and, fortunately, the word "Disney" was in the article, so it did come up in the search. I almost didn't post the comment because it was so different but this is a poster child for answering even if it's not quite what the OP is looking for.