Sketchbook in Africa by Ken Anderson

Lavalle Lee · June 26, 2019

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Ken Anderson was one of the greatest artists at Walt Disney Studios. Many of his character designs are the actual designs of the characters we love from the Golden, Silver and Bronze Age of Disney Animation. Ken was known for going on trips around the world and bringing his sketchbook and finding inspiration from what he saw all around him. Ken would publish these sketchbooks books in very small runs to give to his friends and family.

The following is taken from the 1970 magazine “Wonderful World of Disney” that featured some Kens sketchbook drawings from his Africa trip. The “Wonderful World of Disney” were magazines found in most Gulf Gas Stations around the country.

Wonderful World of Disney - Cover — Wonderful World of Disney – Cover

Wonderful World of Disney - Ken Anderson Sketchbook Pg 1 & 2 — Wonderful World of Disney – Ken Anderson Sketchbook Pg 1 & 2

Wonderful World of Disney - Ken Anderson Sketchbook Pg 3 & 4 — Wonderful World of Disney – Ken Anderson Sketchbook Pg 3 & 4

Wonderful World of Disney - Ken Anderson Sketchbook Pg 5 & 6 — Wonderful World of Disney – Ken Anderson Sketchbook Pg 5 & 6

Ken Anderson Bio (Via: Wikipedia)

Kenneth B. (Ken) Anderson (March 17, 1909 – December 13, 1993) was an art director and writer at Walt Disney Animation Studios for 44 years.

Anderson studied architecture at the University of Washington, graduating with a B.Arch. in 1934. He was particularly influenced by faculty member Lionel Pries.

With the delineation skills he learned in architecture school, he soon secured a position at Disney. Anderson was a key player in some of the studio’s most well-known animated films such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, and The Jungle Book. He also worked on the development of Disneyland. Ken is a 1991 winner of the Disney Legends award for Animation & Imagineering.

Tags:disney Ken Anderson Sketchbook

The Author

Lavalle Lee

Lavalle Lee has been creating animated cartoons online since 1999/2000 for his website flashcartoons.org. Many cartoons on the site have gained viral video status reaching millions of viewers online. In 2009, Lavalle started learning hand drawn animation from Don Bluth in his animation classes, as well as attending his Masterclasses in Arizona. He has also personally studied animation and visual effects from Veteran Disney animators in Orlando, FL.

Lavalle is widely known in the animation industry as the creator of the TraditionalAnimation.com website. After seeing that most animation sites were about all types of animation, not any specific to classical hand drawn animation, Lavalle knew Traditional Animation needed to be represented online. TraditionalAnimation.com has become the leading website and social media account for all things 2D. The website served as inspiration for “The Traditional Animation Show” in which Lavalle was both producer and host.

His partnership with Don Bluth began when he championed the Dragon's Lair Indiegogo campaign as lead project manager, editor, voice actor and in-betweener. The campaign reached $730,000 dollars to produce a 7-minute pitch video. In 2017, Lavalle brought the idea of creating a school to Don Bluth, and Don Bluth University was born. After a decade of learning from Don Bluth and working together on multiple pitches and business ventures, Lavalle accepted the position as Vice President of Don Bluth's new company Don Bluth Studios.