Real Life Models for Famous Disney Characters

I didn't understand how animators came up with their drawings (outside of their own wild imaginations) until I watched the extras on a Pixar film once (I don't remember which it was) and learned about all of their super-intensive research expeditions they go on to discover how to best articulate their characters and scenery. The FW's Models article is the same idea, as applied to hand-drawn animation (which did, after all, come first).

I think my favorite is the Tramp.

He is one of my all-time favorite characters, and I so wanted a puppy who looked just like him when I was a kid. I re-watched the movie last week, (by accident, it was on TV) and was so struck by the emotional attachment I have to the animation itself in that film - the way the Tramp's ears bounce, the way the fabric moves, the way the Scottie's entire body shakes when he's growling or barking, the way the mud flings as the carriages drive by. I've said it before and I'll say it again, in another life, I'd be an animator.

[via Mental Floss]