Top 20 Fantasia facts

#4

A Night in Dracula's Coffin

Live reference modeling isn't just for human characters, you know. 

Originally, Chernabog was supposed to be modeled after the well-known actor Bela Lugosi. 

Bela is best known for being the original Dracula, so a monster actor was a good choice to model for Chernabog. 

The story men actually based the entire character on Bela Lugosi's facial expressions, personality traits, and movements.

Every move Chernabog makes, including outstretching his arms or waving his hands, came from Bela Lugosi.

So in a nutshell, Chernabog would basically have been the Disney version of Bela Lugosi himself. 

However, when they showed the scenes to Chernabog's animator Bill Tytla, he didn't like it. 

Bill actually had another animator, Wilfred Jackson, pose for some screenshots.

When he saw the reference film with Wilfred, he liked it. 

So for the final film, Chernabog was modeled after Wilfred Jackson. 

But even so, Bela Lugosi was still the heart and soul model for Chernabog.