Michael Sporn Animation – Splog

- Beowulf has created an enormous stir in the animation community – or, at least, one would think so given the number of comments on blogs like Mark Mayerson‘s or Cartoon Brew‘s. Lots of angry animators are venting against the computer fans who don’t seem to understand their complaints.

I have a bunch of random thoughts and questions I’d like to add to this topic:

- Why weren’t people as irritated by the MoCap of Monster House? Was that film any more animated than Beowulf that it should have been given a pass, nevermind an Oscar nomination?

- There was a film competing for the Short Animated Oscar called Once Upon A Christmas Village. This was the only MoCap short in competition this year. Aside from its vulgar humor, I was admittedly biased against it for its lack of real animation. The question is: if MoCap films are denied competing in the animated feature race, should the same be true for shorts?

- The Pearce Sisters is an excellent use of cgi to create 2D animation. It’s done well, and leads the way for such modes of production. The question is what happens when MoCap is used to create 2D animation? Will it offend as many people?

- Why has there been a large number of people comparing MoCap to rotoscoping? One is drawn and redrawn, timed and retimed. The other is touched up live action. Why do I see a difference and others argue against that point? I’m confused. Animation is frame by frame filmmaking. Nothing else. Even rotoscoping fits into the form. MoCap is shooting live action which is transposed via computer into something else and then touched up. I realize this is a simplification of the process, but it took some of the animators who animated Snow White, using their rotoscoped drawings, many years to get to the point where they could properly handle their scenes.

- Obviously, Disney has invested heavily into Zemeckis‘ MoCap operations. The Christmas Carol will be up next with Jim Carrey – the human cartoon – gesticulating wildly as Scrooge. How long will it be before the Pixars of the world are proclaimed obsolete and replaced by MoCap?

- If the cost of Beowulf was $150 million – more than Ratatouille and more than Shrek 3 – why was it done in MoCap rather than key frame? What was the saving? I doubt it was for artistic expression. Perhaps it’s the only way Zemeckis was able to maintain control of an “animated” film.___________________________________________The future of the animator?

Am I the only one who doesn’t think I am an alarmist? The rest of my life is set; it’s the future of animation I worry about. Really, I’m just an observer at this point.

- Yesterday, I felt like I’d committed heresy when I wrote about Aleksandr Petrov‘s film My Love and my feelings about this filmmaker’s work. (Go here to see a short clip.)

I have a definite problem with Petrov’s painting style. It’s a semi-realistic, style, remniscent of some of the megre Russian impressionists like Chegodar. V.P. Krants or Krokholev. Though I respect the form, it doesn’t move me. The same is true of Petrov‘s work.

He’s a talented draftsman who has taken Caroline Leaf‘s painterly style, created for The Street, and developed it to a new level of meticulousness. He manipulates the wet paint on glass in a dissolve style and ties the transitions of scenes together with animated pans and zooms. It’s all rather fluid and impressionist almost to the point of muddy. One can’t help but admire the technique and give him countless awards for it.

The beautiful and expressive animation of Caroline Leaf, in my opinion, enormously surpasses the feeling of the literal and live-action bound animation of Petrov. Many people admire him, and I can understand that. I just feel differently.

However, if I do have to select one of his films as a favorite, I would have to choose The Cow, his first. You can watch it on YouTube. My least favorite is the Oscar winner, The Old Man and The Sea.

Though, actually, my real favorite is the work he did for United Airlines. I think his style is enormously commercial, and the George Gershwin music really works with it to give the film a 20th Century feel.

Since seeing My Love, I’ve been searching for a short bit I’d seen wherein Yurij Norstein gives his thoughts on the film. With some searching I was able to locate the video interview. Go here to see it. (Thanks to Animatsiya In English for posting it.)

Anyway, here’s the segment of the Norstein interview about Petrov:

Question: … well, let’s begin with Petrov’s film ["My Love"]. Unfortunately the name “Petrov”, I think, the rest of the world probably knows better than we do? The winner of…

Norstein: No, he’s also known over here, of course.

…winner of the Cannes festival…

..No, not Cannes, he received an Oscar for the film “The Old Man and the Sea”. Which incidentally was made in Canada, not here.

There’s an unusual technique, as I understand.

The technique is something. He has an unusual technique – I can’t say that he invented it, animating with paint on glass, I think it was invented by Caroline Leaf. She made the first film, in 1978. It was called “The Street”, and it was a wonderful film in its time. Some story by a Jewish writer [Mordecai Richler], I don’t remember now, I don’t know… this was an event then. Sasha was certainly aware of this film. He wonderfully… I think that in animated filmmaking today few draw like him, and maybe nobody does. He’s a complete virtuoso in this respect. And his first film “The Cow” was an immediate phenomenon. It was a diploma work and a full-fledged film at the same time, and incidentally was nominated for an Oscar. What’s surprising is that it DIDN’T win. Now that was one film which should have won, because it was in all respects a NEW film. Of a new psychology. Well, it’s sufficient to say that it was an adaptation of Platonov, you see? This already speaks of the quality of the animation. The film which he has just made – it received the Grand Prix, and I think won another two categories… but… I should really speak with Sasha about it, because the virtuosity is the same. The same glamour. But I think there are things in cinema more important than certain moments, than a simple showcase of mastery…

So basically… you wished for depth?

I wished for depth. I wished for… economy. I wished for, on some occasions, humility, when virtuosity gives way to something more deep, psychologically more important.

Those last lines are the key to everything I believe in animation. Let me repeat them:

I wished for depth. I wished for… economy. I wished for, on some occasions, humility, when virtuosity gives way to something more deep, psychologically more important.

Is this the difference between Art and Illustration?

These are the titles of the films which have been accepted to compete in the Best Animated Short competition for the Oscar. New York members of the Academy (which included quite a few people who traveled from Canada) were assembled to watch the films and vote their choices for the shortlist which will be immediately assembled. From that shortlist of about 10 films, five will be selected as the nominees to be announced in late January.

_1. EL Dia De Los Muertos (The Day Of The Dead)
_2. A Gathering Of Elephants
_3. The Day My Soul Became A Star
_4. Tales Of The Old Piano, Beethoven
_5. Art’s Desire
_6. Fission
_7. Jeu
_8. Printed Rainbow
_9. Mortel
10. Madame Tutli-Putli
11. My Love (Moya Lyubov)
12. Peter And The Wolf
13. Verschlossen (Closed)
14. Shuteye Hotel
15. Anna And The Moods
16. Ark
17. Blind Man’s Eye
18. Boog And Elliot’s Midnight Bun Run
19. The Chestnut Tree
20. The ChubbChubbs Save Xmas
21. How To Hook Up Your Home Theater
22. I Met The Walrus
23. Map Of The Underground
24. Meme Les Pigeons Vont Au Paradis
_____(Even Pigeons Go To Heaven)
25. Mirage
26. Mr. Schwartz, Mr. Hazen & Mr. Horlocker
27. My Date From Hell
28. The Needful Head
29. Once Upon A Christmas Village
30. The Order
31. The Pearce Sisters
32. Sleeping Betty (Isabelle Au Bois Dormant)
33. Yours Truly

I don’t intend to review these shorts.
After my certainty last year that the best film. Joanna Quinn‘s, Dreams and Desires: Family Ties, would win the Oscar – only to be shocked that she wouldn’t even get a nomination, I’ve learned my lesson. You can’t predict these things, so I won’t.

I would like to talk about the most known of these shorts. I was glad to have seen a number of films I’ve heard about for the past year, and I feel I can finally comment – without giving much of an in-depth criticism. You should think for yourself on these.

The Pearce Sisters was remarkable in its use of cgi animation to animate a rather dark story. It was quite attractive, and, I have to say, did quite a fine job of animating the illustration style. However, it made me think of Caroline Leaf’s Two Sisters. That’s a very different and lovelier film with a similar subject.

For almost a year now, I’ve seen clips from Peter And The Wolf and have read about it. I’m glad to have finally seen it. The film is a daring alteration of the Prokofiev story written for his musical piece. The use of the silence at the open is quite stark and interesting in its approach. It’s an extraordinarily good film with very fine puppet animation. However, I was a bit surprised at the ending; there was no anticlimax. I also felt the credits in silence was a mistake. Sort of the animated version of The Sopranos with less justification than David Chase had.

Just as often, I’ve heard about and read about My Love (Moya Lyubov) by Aleksandr Petrov. Like his other films, this is an elaborate and romantically painted piece. It was a well told story, done with extraordinary skill. I wish I were a fan of Mr. Petrov’s work, but I must admit a prejudice against the style of painting he uses. However I completely respect the complex animation work he’s done.

I have to say I’ve never liked Goofy. From the first, when I’d heard how they were making How To Hook Up Your Home Theater, a continuation of the endless series of unfunny shorts produced in the forties and fifties, there seemed little for me to cheer about. The new regime at Disney was actively trying to recreate one of those mediocre Goofy shorts from that period. Then I’d read a number of reviews after the screening at Ottawa. When Michael Barrier spoke so highly of it, I certainly looked forward to seeing it for myself. And you know what? They succeeded in imitating the feel of those films. (However, I can’t understand why the outlines are so thin. Goofy never had such a thin line in those shorts.) But, really, what difference does that make? It’s a Goofy movie. Not for me. I suppose Donald & Chip n Dale are next. I guess I’m glad they’re training young directors and animators to do 2D work.

This is the fourth time I’ve seen Bill Plympton’s most recent short, Shuteye Hotel. It’s a wholly new look for Bill; the use of cg artwork almost disorients you at the start. You don’t feel as if you’re in PlymptonWorld until the police vehicle pulls up. I quite like this change; it feels right. The film takes Bill’s style to other levels.

Finally I’ve seen Madame Tutli-Putli. This, for me, was the best film on the program. Amazingly sensitive puppet animation which recaptures some dark period in our history (or maybe it’s our future.) I found the live-action eyes extraordinarily distracting and wish they were able to have done the film without them, but, regardless, I felt moved by these characters and the complex story told. It’s a beautiful film.

A final note: I must admit my disappointment in not seeing Koji Yamamura‘s film, Franz Kafka’s A Country Doctor, on the list. I’m such a big fan of Mr. Yamamura’s work that I would have liked to have seen it as part of this event. Maybe next year.

The NY Times has 2 articles about the Performance Capture in the weekend’s #1 film, Beowulf. (UGH! And, no, I do not think it’s a positive that so many people are going to see this animated film.) #1 & #2

There are a lot of animation events around my world today.

- The MP Academy is holding their screening for the animated shorts that are eligible for __nomination. The program starts at 11:30 today and will go for the length of the films (with
__a break for lunch.) I’m assuming I won’t be done with that until 7PM. I expect that the
__films will be as they usually are:
____There are the great ones that undeniably should be nominated.
____There are those that are just good and do not stand up.
____There are those that you can’t wait to get on with it. The dull.
__Since I don’t know how many films, nor any of the titles to be screened, I’ll report on this
__screening after the fact.

- In LA, there’s the Raggedy Ann reunion. Jim Hill has a great article on this in case you’d
__like to know more about it. They will show a 35mm print of the film (thanks to Mark
__Kausler) and will chat about the experience of working on the film. It was intended that
__we would have a NY version of the event at the same time so that the Raggedy people
__in NY could feel as though they were a part of it. However, given the long
__Academy screening scheduled for us, given the lack of a suitable copy of the film to
__screen, and given the lack of a space to hold the event, it’s obvious we weren’t able to
__have it here. The timing isn’t right, I guess. Raggedy Ann, the film, always did suffer the
__fate of being an “also ran.”

__If you’re in LA, go to it. The film has moments worth seeing, and the chat should be fun.
_______Raggedy Ann & Andy Reunion
_______November 17th at 3pm
_______Mark Goodsen Auditorium
_______American Film Institute
_______2021 N. Western Bl
_______Hollywood, CA

– Nina Paley will hold a preview screening of her
__82 mins. feature film, Sita Sings The Blues.
__Nina says:”We’ll screen the whole 82-minute
__feature on DVD, then the 3-minute 35mm film
__test of “Battle of Lanka,” so you can see just how
__gorgeous it looks on film.”

__Saturday, November 17, 7:00 pm and 9:00pm
__NYU Tisch School of the Arts
__room 006, (lower level)
__721 Broadway
____between Waverly Place and Washington Place
__New York City
__Free!

__If you want to attend the New York screening,
__please RSVP with “Sita NY” in the subject, to:
_______Nina_Paley@Yahoo.com.

__Space is limited, and priority will be given to
__those with names on the list. This is just a sneak preview;
__“the bigger and better genuine premiere will happen in 2008.”

__The 7pm show is full, so you probably should expect to go to the 9pm show if you’d like
__to see it.

Finally, I’d like to direct you to the monthly column in today’s NYTimes by cartoonist, James Stevenson. His work is just about my favorite these days, and this piece is excellent. It’s called “Balloons Over Broadway” and tells the story of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

- Before I get into my wail over Beowulf, let me express my sadness over the loss of
Hans Bacher‘s multiple blogs. The artwork he created and/or recreated for his blogs Animation Treasures 1,2,3 was too rich to have been lost so quickly. Apparently, Hans was having problems with “Blogspot” re the number of images he could support on his sites. Hans has decided to eliminate all of his blogs, and that’s an enormous loss for us all. I checked in at least once a week just to look at the Snow White treasures he’d recreated, and now they’re gone. I should have saved copies, ____The Art they once painted and
but I wanted to support the blogs by going there. ______Hans once recreated & posted.
Ah well, time moves on, and nothing lasts forever.
They were among the very best sites out there, like all the work Hans has done.
It’s our loss. I still wait for a copy of his book, Dream Worlds, from Amazon.

- Beowulf likes to lay claim to being “animated”, while at the same time issuing statements from those who worked on the film that it’s something other than animation. “Beowulf” director Robert Zemeckis’ longtime producer Steve Starkey calls the method ‘digitally enhanced live action.’” (quote from a NYPost article.) Yet the distributor, Paramount, is pushing for that Oscar in the animated feature category.

The critics seem a bit confused. However, they all have the same criticism: “Beowulf” can be a lot of fun to watch – at least in the 3-D IMAX version I saw – but it’s hard to forget for long that you’re stranded in a waxworks netherworld between live action and animation.
This quote from Lou Leminick‘s three *** star review in the NY Post. The review is generally positive and puts its focus on Angelina Jolie‘s beautiful body
(Wait! Isn’t this an animated film?).

I’ve made no bones about saying that it’s a travesty to equate this film with other animated features and allow it to compete in an Oscar “animation” category. It’s just a different sort of beast. For a hundred years now, Live Action people have persistently considered animation to be little more than “Special Effect.” Now they’ve proven it and have taken the reins of their “Effx” films out to one-up the animators. The Academy is allowing them to do it if they include this film in their Best Animated Feature category.

I know I’m an old fart with outdated principles, but I think of it as a voice crying in a desperate attempt to keep real animation alive. I think too much of the medium in which I work to let it be so easily sideswiped..

Clips from other reviews:

Mr. Zemeckis throws a lot of stuff at us in “Beowulf” besides Ms. Jolie, including spears, swords, pools of gore, dribbles of mucous and images with extremely forced perspectives, which direct your vision toward the center of the frame, goosing the 3-D effect. Mostly he throws technology at us. The main characters in the movie were created through performance capture, a system that allows filmmakers to map an actor’s expressions and gestures onto a computer-generated model, which is then further tweaked. (Eye movements are captured separately.) Neither wholly animation nor live action, it is a sophisticated visual technique, and true believers see it as the future of movies, though really the most interesting thing about it is that it’s not intrinsically interesting.

To be honest, I don’t yet see the point of performance capture, particularly given how ugly it renders realistic-looking human forms. Although the human faces and especially the eyes in “Beowulf” look somewhat less creepy than they did in “The Polar Express,” Mr. Zemeckis’s first experiment with performance capture, they still have neither the spark of true life nor that of an artist’s unfettered imagination.
- NY Times Manohla Dargis

. . . director Robert Zemeckis delivers a muscular, sometimes stirring but ultimately soulless reinterpretation of “Beowulf.” For all its visual sweep and propulsively violent action, this bloodthirsty rendition of the Old English epic can’t overcome the disadvantage of being enacted by digital waxworks rather than flesh-and-blood Danes and demons.
- Variety

. . . Despite the story’s new bridge, there’s still no middle to it. After Beowulf is compromised and inherits the kingdom from Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins), we simply fast-forward a few decades, barely alluding to the guilt that has estranged the hero from his queen (Robin Wright Penn), also inherited from Hrothgar.

An even greater problem is that while the performance-capture process gives “Beowulf’s” world a mythic quality, it drains the characters of nuance. The movie may be three-dimensional, but the people in it are not.

For those Beowulf scholars already groaning out there, there’s even worse news: The movie sets up a sequel.
- NY Daily News Jim Mathews

Go directly now to Mark Mayerson‘s site to read his commentary on this film. A big BRAVO for Mark.

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- To add to the detritus filling the blogosphere, I’m going to post this brochure that was distributed during the Lincoln Center celebration of all things Disney. It took place back in 1972, and I guess this brochure helped to keep the would-be animators from charging the stage to show their wares to Ken Anderson, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston or Woolie Reitherman, who were all there to promote Disney and Robin Hood.

There were a number of other handouts, and it was great to walk away with something, anything that had the Disney look.
Things were much more innocent back then. With such material it’s surprising that I stayed in New York instead of rushing to Hollywood. (I guess working for John Hubley, at the time, meant a lot more to me.)

This document may have appeared elsewhere, but I don’t remember it.

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- Last night concluded the Michael Sporn weekend at the Museum of Modern Art. What a treat for me to renew my acquaintance with some of the many films I’d done over the years and to find out how many of them still hold up. Others I would have liked to have trimmed down for the occasion. As the wolf says in The Amazing bone: I can’t help being who I am; I didn’t make the world.

Last night it was a treat for me to gab on the stage of the Titus 2 theater within the museum and to casually answer some intelligent questions put to me by both John Canemaker and Josh Siegal. It really was a somewhat controlled conversation; they didn’t seem to have a list of prepared questions that I was required to answer. (Maybe they did, but it didn’t feel that way from my vantage point.) We just talked.

And talk I did. It was planned for the event to last an hour, and we went to two hours – almost exactly. I’d prepared 44 mins of video clips, and we strolled across those clips hitting some key spots in my career. It was fun, and the audience seemed to enjoy it. The theater was about 90% filled. At first it seemed like only close friends were coming, but at the last five minutes the place filled up. It turns out that only close friends did come. The audience was so supportive. I still can’t believe Michael and Phyllis Barrier came so far to be there. The same is true of John and Cathy Celestri. But it was also a long trek for a lot of others to come out on a rainy evening to watch ME talk. I can’t tell you how touching it all is.

My primary goal here was to thank some of those individuals that were so important to me over the years. Tissa David, Maxine Fisher, Christine O’Neill, Bridget Thorne and most importantly Heidi Stallings. So I did. To top it all, I’ll have it on tape when the museum gives me a copy of the video record they made of the program.

Afterward the museum offered us cocktails next door at their restaurant. A relaxed, enjoyable way to end the evening and to sit back with some of those who came. Many thanks to John Canemaker and Josh Siegel for taking the time to put this together. It meant a lot. Now it’s back to business.

- Today is the last day of the MOMA show. I’ll be chatting with John Canemaker and Josh Siegel on stage. We haven’t really gone through it; we do have a program of clips that skip across the horizon of my studio’s history, but we haven’t really discussed the conversation. Anything goes, I guess. The problem they’ll have is stopping my talking.

Among the films to be shown tonight are a lot of clips from the half hours, the titles to Garbo Talks (which hasn’t come out in dvd). I’ll talk about this piece maybe later this week. We’re going to show two versions with two different music tracks. Bob James, a great jazz pianist (he did the music for TV’s Taxi) did the original.
I have his temp track against a pencil test to screen.
He was stupidly replaced after a test screening.
Cy Coleman did the final version, a more lush and romantic track. Different. It didn’t hit the spots, just glossed over them.

We’ll also show a couple of new pieces. Pab’s First Burger was finished this past July. It’ll start the show. Gertrude On The Beach was finished a month ago. It’s a film I did with Rick Litvin to a song sung by his wife, Lucy Kaplansky‘s excellent recording. That’ll screen toward the end of the program. We’ll end with a clip from the animatic of POE. It’s a section done by Tissa that features Hugh Dancy’s voice.

___

- Yesterday, I went to the last two shows which were repeated from Saturday. I have to say that each program was wholly unlike the others. Just a completely different tone. The audiences for both shows on Sunday were about half full. Dave Levy and Ray Kosarin were there, and we sat together. They stayed for both shows. I was told that Saturday’s shows were packed, and I know of about a dozen or more animation people who showed up. I assume there were more since I was told they applauded whenever my name came on screen and did the same for Tissa David with The Marzipan Pig. That also happened a couple of times on Sunday. Ok, maybe I was the one who started applauding, and the rest of the audience followed.

Yesterday morning, Tissa and I had a good conversation about these two programs. We went through them all and talked about what worked and what didn’t, what held up and what seemd to have dated. Of course, we also talked about the fun of making some of them.

Tissa has never liked the backgrounds for The Marzipan Pig (though I do). She was sad when Bridget Thorne wasn’t available to do them since she loves Bridget’s work. (Bridget was having her second child during the course of that production and had bigger things to do.) Tissa would have preferred a delicate watercolor style rather than the oil pastel style I chose.

Watching that film again after all these years was every bit as enjoyable. It’s a really fine movie. Tim Curry‘s voice performance has to be one of the best I’ve heard in animation. He’s such an excellent actor but gets so much trash to do in animated films. I take pleasure in knowing that his first was for me in Abel’s Island.

Mike and Phyllis Barrier, with Bill Benzon, arrived in time for the final program. It was great seeing them again, and we completed the day by going out for drinks afterward. Sardi’s seemed appropriate given the theater strike in progress.

Since I’m a bit tired of all this self-promotion, I’ve decided to dress up this post with paintings I photographed in the museum yesterday.

- Yesterday, the NY Post had an interesting article about BEOWULF. Not the animation vs MoCap issue, but MoCap vs live actors. This is not animation. I repeat: this is not animation. However, there’s a nice chance that studio money could help it get the Best Animated Feature Oscar. This is definitely the time for the Academy to start writing new rules.

Theres an article in today’s NYTimes telling us why it took a year to make the Spongebob Squarepants special which airs tonight. Maybe they’ll be able to switch to MoCap if they do one next year.

Yesterday, I wasn’t able to make it to any of the three screenings. They repeated the first one from Friday night and screened the next two. I was told that they went well and were filled. I’ll make up for it today by seeing the 2nd and 3rd screenings this afternoon.

Last night, we did have a party for the event, and we had a great group. Lots of schmoozing, eating and drinking. Thankfully, the drizzling rain stopped early in the day. I took a number of photos late in the party. They were rushed and I didn’t get most of the people there. I’m sorry I don’t have a picture of everyone there.

(Click any image to enlarge.)
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(L) Irina Margolina, Signe Bauman and Biljana Labovic
(R) Matt Clinton, Jason McDonald and Paul Carrillo

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Dave Levy and Debbie mug for the camera while Ray Kosarin looks on.

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Lisa Crafts and Howard Beckerman ________ George Griffin and John Canemaker

>_
(L) Jason McDonald, Masako Kanayama, Adrian Urquidez and Janet Benn
(R) Ray Kosarin, Ken Brown, Cathy and John Celestri

_
All that’s left.
_____________________________________________

– Today is the final day of the film screenings at the Museum of Modern Art. Program II will screen at 2:45 and Program III will be screened at 4:45.

Program II:A Peaceable Kingdom includes the following films: Goodnight Moon, The Marzipan Pig, The Amazing Bone, Ira Sleeps Over, and The Story of The Dancing Frog.

This selection is somewhat dear to my heart. The Marzipan Pig and The Hunting of the Snark are my two favorites of the films. I purposefully separated them in the programs. Both are enormously different from each other, but both are similar. The metaphysical lies just on the surface as characters in animated films try to move forward with their lives. Only the important things matter to them. In the Snark they’re trying to rid the world of its demons. In the Pig they’re trying to find “love”, or, at least, connection.

The Marzipan Pig sits while all the sweetness runs out of him.

I love all of these films, and look forward to seeing them again on a big screen. The great artists who helped put these films together include the following:

___________Julie Allen___________John Aller___________Ed Askinazi
___________Debbie Baber________Dante Barbetta______.Gary Becker
___________Quentin Blake________Bob Bushell_________Laura Bryson
___________Charlotte Cary-Booth__Doug Compton______Tim Curry
___________Billy Crystal_________.Tissa David_________John R. Dilworth
___________Rodolfo Damaggio____.Steven Dovas_______Ray Feldman
___________Wolf Ferro__________. William Finn_________Maxine Fisher
___________Danny Gerard_____-__Stephen Gambello____Eddie Gomez
___________Edna Harris_________.Xiaogang He_________Jonathan Hill
___________Russell Hoban_______.Grace Johnston______.Masako Kanayama
___________Yvette Kaplan________Carol Kilbanks_______Sophie Kittredge
___________Michael Klein________.Ray Kosarin_________James Laev
___________Stephen MacQuignon__Robert Marianetti_____Miguel Martinez
___________Mark Mayerson______.George McClements___Jason McDonald
___________Giuliana Nicodemi____.Christine O’Neill______Gregory Perler
___________Sue Perrotto_________Amanda Plummer____.Caleb Sampson
___________Susan Sarandon______Morton Schindel______Elizabeth Seidman
___________Theresa Smythe______Jarrod Specter_______Heidi Stallings
___________Michael Starobin______Jeremy Steig________William Steig
___________Tape House Toons____Ian Thomson________Bridget Thorne
___________Mary Thorne_________Bernard Waber______Mo Willems
___________Michael Wisniewski

Many thanks to all of these people for all your help in getting these films completed so beautifully.

Goodnight Moon: Duplicating a book with cg and hiding that fact.

Ira Sleeps Over at Reggie’s.