Aaron Blaise is a prolific animator with a ton of Disney credits to his name; he was the co-director of Disney’s Brother Bear (for which he was nominated for an Oscar) and worked on The Rescuers Down Under, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Mulan, and The Lion King. As an animal lover, Blaise specialized in drawing all kinds of animals and after hearing about Cecil the lion, he couldn’t help but create a tribute to him.
The result is this beautiful digital painting depicting Cecil’s form in the clouds, the way Mufasa appeared after his death in The Lion King. Blaise put together a timelapse video of his progress and is selling prints of the final image. Even more awesome: 100 percent of the money he makes from the prints as well as his How to Draw Big Cats instructional book will go to WildCRU, an animal conservation organization.
I don’t know what it is about The Lion King that always yanks my heartstrings, but this video yanked them hard.
(Source: Entertain This!)
