Foreword: AHerculeanVisionary
ByThomasSchumacher
Aboq:fhonlnSchllmidwr.
Oppo&l..:0neof�$1rongiffla9111"'1nm110 n!preSfflllhemcrritofPinlrflord;TMW,I.Thls palnlin;wasuHdInmuchofihri'advenlsingIOO on�millnpo$1f<.
WI-IENISPEAKOilWRITEaboutmytenureat Disney
Animation, I remindmy audiencesthatit wasalways,and remains,allaboutthepeople.Disneyanimatedfo;iturcsarcso full of'l{fe, itisoftenhardtorc<:oncilc thatthosearcjustmpidly movingdrawings-24persecond-thatcrcutc .theillusionof life."TheMlifc'comesfromtheremarkablept.'Oplcwhocreate the images. Andthats nc,·cr been truer than with Gerald Scarfcon our 199ifilm Hercules.
Gerald'sartisticimpactonthefilmcan'theO\'crstatcd,so muchsothathewentfroman initial assignmentasan"inspiration artist�tocredited"productiondcsigncr.'That'stheonlytime Ican rememberthathappcningm·crthc21animat<..xlrcaturcsonwhich Iworked.
WhenDisneyanimatorJoe1-iaidarpitchedthei<lcaorHerculeJJ asthesubjectorafilm,itseemedlikethemostabsurd idea we·d heard. Ahistoricaldramaaboutabigstrongguy?Hutitwas directorsJohnMuskcrandRon Clements whowereable to imaboinethe screwball eomedy/action-ad,·enture/musicalwe made. Alan Menken andDavid Zippcl's Gospel-inspiredsongscore has countlessplaysonallplatforms,and theirOscar.,-nominah.xlsong �Gothe Distance�hasbecomeanAmerican standard. E\·enso,itisthe/oo/ orthefilmthat mostsep:iratesilfom thefield. Theboldnessortheillustrath·c style pushesthe look or the film beyondwhatcriticsand audiencesalikethought�Disnef shouldlooklike. Andthatwillill!,'llesstobeboldsetastandan:1for severalgorgeousfilmsto follow.
ButGeraldScarfo?Theiconoclasticpoliticalcaricaturist, ,isualizerorPinkFloyd's'/11e IVall;c:u1oonistfor/'1111c/1:the£tYJ11i11g Slam/arc/; 171eDailyS/,t1c/1,andtheSunduy Time.<1;Timemagazine co,·erartist,sculptor,designerofsetsforoperaticproductions'?
(Thisrenownedmaestroofthepenhasevencreatedasetof commcmorafo·cBritishposta!,'l!stamps!) Howdidheendupin Burbank?Likecve111hinggreatat Disney Animation.itstarted withthequestion,'"Whatifr
Thatpm1icularquestionwasposedby,·isualdevelopment artistRickfl.fakitoJohn Musker,who,alongwithhisdirecting partnerRonClements,hadalreadydclightl.xlthe Disneyfandom "ithboth'/7ielittlelHermuitl(1989)andA/mMi11(1992). Maki thoughtGerald'sstylewouldbeagoodcom1>lementtothe,isual developmentteam.Legendarycaricaturist AlHirschfeldhadcome toDisney Animationduringtheearlydaysorde,·clopmenton AladdinandMinspirccrthelookofthecharacterdesigns.Perhaps somethingcouldbeworkedoutto bringScmfconboard?Itturned outthatsincehisyouthin Chicago,Muskerhadbeenahuge
GeraldScaife fan-andsohejumpedattheidea.
Itwasaneasyselltomeandto PeterSchneider,whowere runningthejointatthe time.Theboldb'l'Sturc\111.Sjustwhatthefilm mightneLxl.\-Vhatwedidn'tknowishowbigGerald's contribution wouldbecome. Everyhumancharacte1; fantasy character, monster andwhat-han�yo11inthefilmhasbeentouchedorinflucnl.-cdby Gerald.I-leworkeddiredly withtheanimators(workingonlx,th hand-draWJ1andcomputerimab'Cf)')topa11ncronthestyle. Geraldworked,t:n>ically inink andwatercolor,on lal}.'C-fonnat sheets,about23by33inchesinsi1.c,andoneormyassignments duringthec-arlydaysorhisworkwastoswingbyhishomestudio on mywaytotheairportforafli!,.fltbackto theStates.afteraweek orworkonanotherprojectin London.
