Disney cartoon drawings are rounder than many illustrated movies. There are usually different color themes for each movie, and these themes should be kept in mind when doing Disney cartoon drawings. |
 Rounded Characters:
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Disney cartoon drawings are usually very round and smooth. This gives the company a very distinguished look that most artists can pick out a mile away.
The movie Lilo and Stitch took this a step farther. When they created the movie, the director of the movie drew a story book of what he wanted the basic “feel” of the movie to be.
The artists then did their best to copy his style.
His Disney cartoon drawings were just as rounded as any others, but they were also weighed down at the bottom.
What that means is this:
- The characters had fatter lower arms, fingers, lower legs, and feet.
- Even the male characters were rounded off more, had less angles.
This gave the characters a look of being overweight on first glance, but after a moment it is apparent that the characters were not overweight. Rather, the Disney cartoon drawings were more “homely” because of this, but just as thin as any surfing girl or guy would be.
Over the years, Disney cartoon drawings have progressed from very realistic proportions to this rounder, safer look.
Consider the movie Sleeping Beauty. Remember the castles, the thorn bushes, and the pointed hats? They were all very hard, and angled. Now, “pointed” hats have the more rounded ends seen on Mickey Mouse in Fantasia.
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When doing your own Disney cartoon drawings, keep this roundness in mind.
Remember to take out any straight lines, replacing them with slight curves.
Colors:
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Another thing to keep in mind are the colors.
Disney cartoon drawings should be done in bright, cheerful colors.
Depending on the movie you are working with, the colors may have a common theme of:
For example, Lilo and Stitch has two main color themes: blue and tan. Everything from clothing, to skin, to landscapes are done in variations of these colors. Whatever movie you are creating the Disney cartoon drawing for, find out the color scheme and stick to it. Branching out into other colors will drastically change the appearance of your pictures.
Also, always remember that Disney owns the characters that you are drawing.
Do not create Disney cartoon drawings without giving credit to them for the creation of the original characters.
If you are really interested in this subject, there are many books, such as
Learn to Draw Your Favorite Disney/Pixar Characters
, written teaching Disney cartoon drawings.
