Historically Accurate Milo

Being the history geek that I am, I guess it is kind of surprising that I haven't really done a "historically accurate" animation series before, but after seeing that awesome Buzzfeed Disney Princess video, and of course all the amazing art on here, I was inspired to make my own.  I guess it is better late than never!

As I've said before elsewhere, from an artistic standpoint, I'm not at all bothered by the animated designs of the characters in Disney and Dreamworks films. They weren't documentaries after all so in most cases they didn't need to be accurate, and in animation in particular, it is more important to convey character and style in the designs.  I am not trying to "fix" anything because I don't think there is anything to fix!  That being said, it can still be fun to learn how your favorite characters might have looked if they had existed in real life.    

For my series, I am trying to be as accurate as I possibly can.  I'm taking the country of origin, the social class, the culture, and the specific decade into mind (instead of just a general sweep of multiple decades), and also adapting the colors and styles to fit what was available and worn everyday.  I will try to keep the characters recognizable where I can, but I want to make my pictures realistic and so some elements of the original designs might be altered in the process.

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Wow, it is hard to believe it's been nearly 6 months since my last historically accurate drawing!  And who better to continue the series than our lovable nerd Milo Thatch from Atlantis: The Lost Empire, with some great turn-of-the-century fashion!

I’m assuming Milo originally comes from a somewhat wealthy family since he was able to go to Oxford and since his grandfather was a world traveler with millionaire friends. At the very least he would be upper middle class and as such, he would be a well-bred young man.  During this time your clothing and behavior was largely influenced by your social circle and upbringing, so Milo would never dress as sloppily as he does in the film, nerdy or otherwise.  After all, as a professor there’s really no reason to roll up your shirt sleeves and unbutton your vest, the way a hardworking manual laborer might do – in fact that would probably be like a modern teacher taking his shirt off in class!  At most Milo would need to take off his jacket while he was working, and when he is visiting Preston Whitmore he would remember his manners and wear his full suit.

In 1914, fashionable suits were starting to have longer lapels and lower cut vests.  But I imagine Milo is a bit of a lazy dresser, who would buy conservative suits and wear them for several years before bothering to get a new one.  So I decided to draw his suit as a slightly outdated version from the late 1900s instead, with a high collar and 5-button waistcoat.  Usually all three pieces of the suit were made from the same material, so I picked a greenish-gray color that is correct for the time period and which also mimics Milo’s color palette in the film.  Shirts stayed pretty much the same throughout the Edwardian period, with stiff high collars that could be removed for laundering.  I drew Milo wearing a bow tie like he does in the movie – and like Buster Keaton has here!  Interestingly, most of the “shoes” men wore during this time period were actually boots that helped fill the gap created by the somewhat short trousers.  Sometimes they buttoned up, but I drew Milo wearing a plain pair with laces, like these educators at Tuskegee University.  In most circumstances Milo would also wear gloves and a hat, probably a derby or Homburg considering his profession.

Milo’s hair is a bit more 1990s than 1910s, most Edwardian hairstyles were actually quite severe and men usually had short hair that was parted and slicked back with grease.  But when you watch silent movies from this period it seems like their hair becomes a bit more disheveled after some activity, and you sometimes see the same thing in photos.  So I let Milo be a little careless with some hair hanging down over his forehead – but he’ll need to slick it back before going to work in the morning! 

Of course Milo’s most distinguishing feature is his huge round glasses!  But no one would wear huge glasses in 1914.  During the 19^th and early 20^th centuries, bespectacled people were stereotyped as nerdy weaklings, so glasses were designed to look as invisible as possible.  Teddy Roosevelt started to change that stereotype since he was so active, but most frames in the 1900s-10s were still small, oval, and often rimless.  It seems that the pince-nez kind were the most popular, but the kind with armpieces were also worn, as you can see in these photos of a young Harry S. Truman.

Even though his everyday wear wasn’t very accurate, the clothing Milo wore on his expedition was actually pretty spot on WWI style military wear: www.usmilitariaforum.com/uploa…

– and check out their sweaters!

www.usmilitariaforum.com/forum…

www.usmilitariaforum.com/forum…

For that I have to give Disney thumbs up!