Will Finn - Cogsworth

A self-confessed love of the 'British deadpan character' (hehheh), Finn was perfectly suited to Cogsworth, as was David Ogden-Stiers, who provided the supercilious character with the ideal voice. As with all the 'enchanted objects', it was a problem to make the animation look natural - as if the characters really could move in the way they did. (One trick I'm glad they didn't use was 'Hell, we can't draw that. Just make 'em fly or something.') The model sheets in The Art of Animation show how the anatomies of all the objects were carefully analysed and their capabilities for movement defined - much inspiration was also drawn from earlier Disney work on animating the inanimate; Pinocchio, for one, but also the Doorknob character from Alice In Wonderland. As Finn explains, the goal with Cogsworth was to 'keep him from looking like just a man in a clock costume.' Finn's previous work includes the crusty Brit in The Little Mermaid - Grimsby, the mentor of Prince Eric, plus work on The Fox and the Hound, Oliver and Company and The Rescuers Down Under.