A maquette, in animation terms, is a highly detailed sculpture of a character that will help the animators, modelers, and lighters understand the shapes and proportions of that character from every possible angle, typically in a dynamic pose showing the character’s personality, and can be rotated to understand how that character would move in a three-dimensional space. In stop-motion animation, the maquette is typically the final sculpt of a character.
One of the finest sculptors of maquettes, Kent Melton, passed away yesterday (February 22, 2023) at the age of 68, at his home in Missouri. His family has said he passed from Lewy body dementia.
Melton started at the Walt Disney Animation Studios, working on Aladdin, becoming a significant player in the Disney Animation Renaissance of the 90s. He shared on Instagram back in 2021: “For over two years I'd been filling out job applications in hopes of employment at [Walt Disney Animation Studios| without results. Finally, in 1989, I received a call from Disney requesting me to submit my portfolio. I'd never had any formal art education so naively I didn't know what they meant. After a moment of silence, they asked if I could bring some of my sculptures to a meeting with Production Designer Richard Vander Wende. I only had a few samples available and they weren't necessarily my best but I put them in a box and drove over to the meeting.”
“I was shown to a small room where I nervously placed my sculptures on display and hid the empty shabby box well beneath the table. Richard entered the room, introduced himself, and took a seat. We sat in silence while he examined my work. Finally, he looked over and asked if I'd mind waiting a moment and exited the room. He returned with the two directors John Musker and Ron Clements. I was told that Disney had been searching for sculptors to sculpt the tiger head entrance to the Cave of Wonders for their new film entitled Aladdin. This was to be the first computer-generated character with a speaking role in a Disney feature animated film. The sculptor would be hired to make two large-scale squash and stretch versions to be scanned for the final film animation. The three of them discussed it and had already decided that if I wanted the job I could start immediately.”
“Incidentally, I heard many years later that I didn't get that call from Disney by filling out all of those job applications. It turns out that it was the result of when my wife Martha and I had invited the students from my son Jordan's preschool to attend his 5th birthday party. Coincidentally the son of Disney artist Thom Enriquez happened to be among them. I was told that there had been a discussion at the studio about having difficulty finding a sculptor for Aladdin. Thom happened to overhear them and recommended me after having seen my sculptures sitting on the kitchen table at my son's party. Fortunately Thom still had our son's birthday invite with my phone number on it. And that's how I got invited to the incredible Disney party that lasted for 16 years.”
Afterward, he contributed his efforts to The Lion King, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Mulan, Tarzan, and Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Pixar Animation Studios also got Melton’s work on the 2004 hit, The Incredibles.
After Disney, Melton went on to the iconic stop-motion animation studio, Laika, where he sculpted characters for Coraline and ParaNorman among others. Dreamworks also utilized his talents for the production of Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, The Road to El Dorado, and The Prince of Egypt.
Some Disney fans likely even have some of Melton’s work in their own collection, as Melton also sculpted many of the fine works of art as part of the Walt Disney Classics Collection of porcelain sculptures.
He is survived by his wife, Martha, children Seth, Jordan, and Nellie, and grandchildren Persephone, Toby, Juliet, and Charlie.