I consider Fred Moore to be one of my favorite Disney animators. I'm lucky enough to have one of Moore's original drawings in my collection. And it remains a treasure to this day.
This was a gift given to me by another Freddy. And he, not Mr. Moore, is the subject of this particular reminiscence. Freddy Hellmich was our crew leader on "Sleeping Beauty." He was my mentor and my friend. So I thought this might be a good time to share my thoughts about ... The Other Freddy.
Back in the fifties, I was a young animation artist who had managed to make the jump from television & short cartoons to the feature crew. For those not familiar with the Disney animation department of the 1950s, the feature unit was considered Disney's elite. Not everyone was qualified to work on the Disney features, or so the story goes. The feature required a high level of draftsmanship and a good deal of patience. Indeed, it was no joke that some artists completed only one usable drawing a day. […]
