The Man Who Created a Beast

Glen Keane is one of Disney's greatest modern-day animators. He has been responsible most recently for much of the artwork that went into Rapunzel, and has worked on many hand-drawn animated features in the past. One of his most remarkable work is his animation of the transformation of the Beast in Beauty and the Beast. But what is most remarkable about this animator is that he draws his inspiration from his Christian faith.

I came across an old article (dated to 1992) which a friend posted on facebook where he speaks about his faith: http://www.aimeemajor.com/anim/terrywhalin.html

And here is the pencil test for the Transformation of the Beast sequence. It brings tears to my eyes. There is something in the charm of those rough pencils...



And here is Glen Keane sharing about it in his own words:

How Excellent Your Name

I'm currently working on more comic strips. Hopefully once there's enough material, they can be compiled into a collection or book. One of the things that continually inspires me is the same thing that inspired the many psalmists of old: Nature. In fact, one of my favourite psalms is Psalm 19. The first half of the psalm speaks of God's general revelation through nature.

The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.

- Psalm 19:1,2 ESV -

I've drawn illustrations and a comic on Psalm 19:1 before, so I didn't want to simply do another one. While this comic is partly inspired by Psalm 19, it also draws inspiration from Psalm 8, from which the title is derived:

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,

and the son of man that you care for him?

- Psalm 8:3,4 ESV -

O LORD, our Lord,
         How excellent is Your name in all the earth!
- Psalm 8:9 NKJV -

You can purchase a T-shirt with this comic here!

Copyright © Pix Artz Pte Ltd  June 2011
If you would like to license this comic, please contact us by leaving a comment on this post with your email address.

Why Does God?

Sometimes people ask "If God is good, why does He let bad things happen to good people?" or something along those lines. The trouble is none of us are good by God's standards: "Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins" (Eccl 7:20 ESV). In fact, being a holy God, He must punish sin. The real question is: "What kind of a God lets the sinner live?" Pastor John MacArthur replies, "A God who is a saviour by nature."


Copyright © Pix Artz Pte Ltd  May 2011
If you would like to license this comic, please contact us by leaving a comment on this post with your email address.


Update: Now you can wear this comic on a T-shirt! Visit our Zazzle shop here!

The Power of Comics to Impact Lives

About a month ago I picked up a book from the Library titled Security Blankets: How Peanuts Touched Our Lives. It is a collection of stories from all over the world about people whose lives have been touched by the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. The stories are amazing and many are deeply touching. There were stories of how Snoopy has been a comfort to people through difficult times, how Charlie Brown helped lonely people realise they were not alone in this world, how a personal encounter with Schulz himself touched hearts and showed the gracious soul behind those comic strips, and other stories of great joy and loss and how the Peanuts gang shared those special moments, and made them all the more special. One story even told about how Peanuts impacted the life of one young man so much that he eventually became a Christian author!

There are probably not many modern-day comic strip artists who are not indebted to Charles Schulz in one way or other. He was a pioneer in the field, and his endearing characters and astute observations inspired and influenced many who came after him in their craft. His comic strips transcended cultural boundaries and assured us that it was alright to be human.

The profound impact Schulz had on people's lives all around the world probably cannot be measured, and there are many more stories that are untold. However, as far as I know, Schulz - though clearly having some knowledge of the Bible, and enough to understand that Christmas was not about presents, but about the birth of Christ - was probably not a believer in the true Gospel and the exclusivity of Christ. I may be wrong, but this is from what I have been able to gather about his views on religion (please do correct me if I'm wrong). To me this speaks volumes: If a unbeliever can create something with so much truth and have such a deep and lasting influence on countless lives in a wholesome way, how much more can God use one of His own to impact multitudes for Christ through this same medium? Imagine what a good comic strip can do that is dedicated to God and committed to spreading His Word!

Wen's World may not exist as a daily comic strip like Peanuts, but nevertheless, Security Blankets has been deeply inspiring, and it makes me wonder what can be done to develop Wen's World to be a greater influence in people's lives for the sake of the Gospel.