ABSTRACT
Charles Philipon, editor of the French satirical magazines La Caricature and Le Charivari, commissioned the first maquettes, or three-dimensional models of a fanciful or imaginary figure. Maquettes were first produced at the Walt Disney Studio in the 1930s to enable the animators to draw animated characters from any angle. Maquette production starts as character turnarounds, and construction models are being finalized. The maquette drawing must be large enough to allow a wire armature to fit inside it and also leave room for the aluminum foil padding and clay or polymer "skin" that will be placed over the sculpture's wire "bones". Maquettes are used at several stages in hand-drawn animated film production. Animators use them to scale and distort characters. Art directors and background artists use them to determine how the quality of the light in the painted settings affects the characters.
