Michael Sporn Animation – Splog

- For some reason I have always loved the simple structure of a brick wall. I’ve often included them in the paintings I’ve done, and I’ve been fascinated by the many and varied differences you see in every structure made of brick. It was wonderful to hear Eyvind Earle discuss the architect’s tricks he used in Sleeping Beauty to detail all the brickwork in the castle backgrounds. Just another reason I enjoyed his artwork in that film.

Here are some bits I’d like to point out.

- The NYTimes has posted the most recent of Jeff Scher’s monthly videos for them. The piece, entitled You Won’t Remember This Either, is a followup to one he posted a year ago, You Won’t Remember This. The first film was a portrait of his son, Buster, from the first week of life to the time he was a couple of years old. The second film chronicles Oscar, his second son’s toddler life. Both present excellent capsules.

This idea (following the early years of an animator’s child) has been done a number of times – usually with excellent results. I think, immediately, of Al Jarnow ‘s study of the first year in his child’s life. That child, Jesse, is now grown up, is an artist in his own right, and has his own blog which features some of his dad’s films.

I also have to comment that the music for Jeff Scher’s films is by Shay Lynch, and it’s extraordinary. I think I listened to the new piece at least a dozen times for the music alone.

- In 2001, I did the film Mona Mon Amour with illustrator/designer Patti Stren. Now she has her own blog established with the help of designer Santiago Cohen. There you can see glimpses of many of the books she’s written and illustrated. You can also see the film Mona Mon Amour in its entirety.

While making this film I thought this was very funny material we were animating. I was surprised at the local screenings (of mostly animation-types) who didn’t laugh at all. I shrugged my shoulders and accepted that what I found funny didn’t work with others. Then, years later, it screened at MOMA as part of my retrospective. The audience – of mostly people I didn’t know – laughed loudly enough that it was hard to hear some of the jokes. You never can tell.

This same thing happened with Doctor Desoto. When I finished that film, I was sure it was a gem and people would laugh. A small screening I arranged didn’t bring a smile. I accepted the fact that I’d misgauged the humor. I put the film away from my view and sent it off to some festivals. The first time I saw it on a big screen was at the Toronto Animation Festival (the Ottawa Fest had briefly moved to Toronto). The audience laughed loud and long. The film won a lot of awards. You just can’t tell.

- A blog I happened to view, this week, was Lorelei Pepi‘s blog about the making of her film, Happy & Gay. There she offers some pencil test, some finished film and a lot of information about the making of. The bits I’ve seen make me interested in seeing the final. It seems to be a bit of The Whoopee Party, with a 2009 bent.

- A film maker whose work I’ve always loved is Karen Aqua. I am always reminded of this whenever I come across one of her films. The joy of the internet comes in tripping across a website like hers – one I happened to thanks to Lorelei’s blog. Karen’s an attractive site which really gives a good view of her film work. I have to say it was a real disappointment at the last couple of festivals I attended when I didn’t see her film. I’m sure she enters them into all of the fests, but there seems to be a limited perspective these days. Anyting that doesn’t wreak of bawdy, childish humor doesn’t make it. This is one of the positives of the ASIFA East festival. Many films you’d not see in other festivals get screened there. That’s the last time I’d seen one of Karen’s films projected, and we had the chance to talk at the after-party.

Speaking of the ASIFA-East festival, there was a time when their festival used to be held on the last Thursday of every January. Many times we had to trudge through snow to get to the screening/party. It was finally decided to move the date to May – usually Mother’s Day – to allow us to have better weather. Unfotunately, I miss that animation party in January. The holidays are over and we’re back to normalcy. For me, there’s a hole left in the end of January.

GOMotion Magazine is offering a free PDF download of the articles in their first issue.

This is a new animation magazine with lots of material to view and read. The focus is primarily cg animation, but if you’re a Kung Fu Panda fan, there’s lots to read.

There’s also other material to explore on their site. One assumes as they produce more issues the site, alone, will grow. Worth checking out.

Hopefully, they’ll also put a little focus on some Independent animators.

- Finally, let me direct you to Hans Perk‘s site A Film LA, in case you’ve grown out of the habit of checking it out. Having posted many drafts and documents for us already, Hans is now posting the draft to The Sword In The Stone.

This, to me, is one of the under rated features done in the late-Disney period. There’s a liveliness, an energy racing through the film that is just exciting. Most animation geeks point to the Wizard’s Duel as the highlight, but the opening sequence in which Wart meets Merlin is magical to me, and the squirrel sequence is so wholly original and beautifully animated that it should be on everyone’s study list. The film offers a lot.

Now with the drafts, the study becomes easy. Thanks, Hans.

- Paul Glabicki is an artist who started out as an animator and has moved away from the moving picture to the framed image. He’s written to me about an upcoming art show opening in Chelsea this coming weekend.

From the gallery’s publicity release:Paul Glabicki transcribes each page of a 1930s Japanese accounting ledger as a foundation and underlying structure to create new images. Layered over each transcribed page are maps, calendars, counting systems, etc. – bits of incoming daily information.

Paul’s letter to me tells about his transition from animation to the gallery world:

A break from animation a few years ago evolved into several drawing projects. The new work doesn’t move, but has clearly evolved from all that has come before. The ACCOUNTING FOR series is an ongoing transcription of a 1930s Japanese accounting ledger, layered (or continued) with new entries/information of my own (I should have
30 works in the solo show, with 3 ledger pieces in the January-Feb group exhibit). Things may be set in motion again at some future point, but for now, I’m enjoying hand and pencil/pen on paper.

The show will open Saturday at the KIM FOSTER GALLERY
(529 West 2Oth Street / New York, NY 1OO11 / tel/fax 212.229.OO44)

Hours: Tuesday thru Saturday, 11am — 6pm

I’ve long been a fan of Paul’s films, so I’m excited about viewing his artwork, and I’d encourage you to take a look as well.

Here are two more of the drawings on exhibit:

Accounting #4 | Accounting #18

Christmas officially passed last Tuesday, Jan. 6th – sometimes called “Little Christmas”, the feast of the Epiphany and the 12th day of Christmas. I took down the decorations in the studio today and as with past years spent a bit of time treviewing the many cards that were sent to me. (Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get out a card this year. There were pressured deadlines at work, and a health crisis for my mother at home. My time was so limited, Christmas became an after thought.)

However, I received so many beautiful and original cards that it’s probably imprudent for me to select any for display. Just the same, I would like to point out a couple of them.

I’d received a card from a good friend which was printed by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It’s an Eyvind Earle painting of Santa in Central Park. It’s a gem, as might be expected.

Dick and Harriet Rauh have sent their annual linoleum block print of floral patterns.
It’s always a treat to get their card.

Patrick McDonnell sent a card that was virtually green. Seeds were implanted in the paper, and I’ve already planted the card in soil for the Spring blossoms.

Finally, John Canemaker & Joe Kennedy sent us an original painting of the ocean,
bubbling and forcing its way toward us.

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.- Here’s the conclusion to the storyboard by Bill Peet that I began yesterday. It’s the Tar Baby sequence from Song of the South.

I first posted this in October 2007, but I hadn’t broken up the board so that it could be enlarged enough. I’ve done that.

Many thanks go to John Canemaker for initially lending this material for me to post.

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This picture comes from the Bill Peet website, worth a visit.

Here are the two remaining original boards:

5
(Click images to enlarge.)

6

And here are the same two boards broken down by rows:

51

52

53

54

55

61a

61b

62a

62b

63a

63b

64a

64b

65a

65b

- Back in Oct 2007, I posted Bill Peet‘s excellent storyboard for the Tar Baby sequence from Song of the South.

Given yesterday’s post of color sketches and storyboard drawings from this film, and given that the original posting of these boards was done relatively small, I thought it time to put them up again, but I’ve taken the time to break them down and post them in a slightly larger form, making them a bit more legible.

As with other recent boards loaned me by John Canemaker, I first display them in the original size of the stats as they came to me.

1
(Click to enlarge images so you can read them.)

4

Here is my breakdown of the boards:

1a

1b

2a

2b

3a

3b

4a

4b

5a

5b

21a

21b

22a

22b

23a

23b

24a

24b

25a

25b

31a

31b

32a

32b

33a

33b

34a

34b

35a

35b

41a

41b

42a
I just love the drawings from this section.

42b

43a
There are another two pages of the storyboard
which I’ll break down and post tomorrow.

John Canemaker‘s beautiful book, Treasures of Disney Animation Art, is chock-a-block full of stunning artwork and examples of preproduction work for the Disney features. Every one of them worth studying.

Song of the South is represented by a large selection of art direction sketches and storyboard artwork. All of it beautiful. I’m lifiting these images to showcase some of the great work for this feature. It deserves more attention from the Disney archives, but since they just about disown the film, I’m thankful for these images selected by John.

(Click any image to enlarge.)

John leaves the artwork as uncredited but they remind me of Art Riley or
Al Dempster‘s style. They could be images from a Little Golden Book, and
Dempster & Bill Justice did books associated with that film.

I suppose they’re actually the work of a number of different people.

And here’s the board segment:

- There’s a lot of material, much of it very amusing, on the Snow White dvd. On disc 1 of the two disc set, there’s a documentary about the hostory and making of the film. In it the images make a lot of sense as they detail the history of the first Hollywood feature-length cartoon, but some of those images are just too precious for me to allow them to slip by without my singling them out and giving my two cents.

_____(Click any image to enlarge.) ________Here are frame grabs from this documentary.
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Walt is presented as a bumpkin in the early days.
I suppose he was directing if not filming this material,
so that’s the image he sought to create as well.

This has got to be one of the wackiest pictures in their archives.
The popularity of Mickey Mouse in the early 30′s.

Snow White brings a change to the studio,
which you can well understand.

Though there’s still the problem about what to do with Mickey.

Disney was supposedly inspired by a silent filmed version
of Snow White he saw in his younger days.

One wonders if there was also an eerie creepiness to the performance
that Walt gave to all of his animators one night as he acted out the film.

I’m curious about the pose of Snow White with her head back
and her hands behind the head.

Here, Walt tries to get his animators to bite into an invisible apple -
the future of animation – as they thoughtfully smoke their pipes.

The bed building and the soup eating scenes weren’t the only ones that were
excised from the finished film. It seems the prince, initially had a larger role.

The path into the castle was a bit more difficult. First you had to
get past the moat with the help of your horse. Here the prince looks
a bit like Robert Benchley.

“Romeo, Romeo, Wherefore art thou, Romeo?”

Getting caught. Obviously, the Queen and Snow White didn’t live in that
castle by themselves. There were henchmen we didn’t know about.

This almost looks like an early version of the seven dwarfs
carried the prince to prison.

They had big rats in that prison. Scary.

This is an obvious precursor of Malificent going to visit Prince Phillip some
20 years later in Sleeping Beauty. Both wicked Queens got more attractive.

Lots of stars showed up to the grand premiere.
These actors in costume were there, too.

In all seriousness, the film was a masterpiece. I’m still studying it some
70 years later. Walt had reason to be proud and happy. He also had enough
money to move onto other challenging films, and he took the challenge as
opposed to making Snow White 2 or 3 (as they probably would do today.)

- Christmas isn’t officially over; I think that occurs on Jan 6th, Tuesday. But for all intent and purposes, it’s over. We’re into the New Year, and it’s back to work and school.

I was amused a bit to have seen this sign signifying the decorative Christmas festivities happening in Madison Square Park, as I entered yesterday at the rear of the park. (I walk uptown to downtown, entering at the rear, exiting at the entrance.)

I guess I read it a bit fast (it was cold out and I was moving quickly), and I misunderstood somewhat. I went to the Shake Shack expecting to see an elaborate display. This is a small eatery in the South-western side of the park. There’s always an extended line here for the hot dogs, hamburgers and other foods they serve. There was a display, but it hadn’t changed in the past weeks.

The Shake Shack is actually recognized – I think by New York Magazine -
to have some of the best snacks in New York.

However, the nearby fountain did catch my eye.

The water was artificially created with some clear plastic strips.
The encircling fountains were dressed with shiny, colorful egg-like balls.

There were about six of these around the centered fountain.

Leaving the park through the main exit at 23rd Street and Fifth Ave. is always
impressive. That Flatiron Building dominates the statue of William H. Seward.
From outside the park, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of decorative display within.
Only a Christmas wreath and a couple of colored eggs rest beneath Seward’s feet.

I’m curious to see how long before these are down and gone.
I guess that’ll be the end of Christmas.

- For years, I did a number of half-hour shows for HBO which often were musicals. I was able to hire some of Broadway’s best composers and talent and work with a great staff of artists to turn out a number of these films. They’ve become perennials on HBO Family and have cycled there for some time now.

For those with HBO, let me point out that a number of these films will be shown tomorrow, Sunday January 4th, as sort of a Michael Sporn Block. Two of them, The Red Shoes and The Dancing Frog, are included in the 6 disc dvd set that just came out, but some are still owned by HBO and haven’t been released. (I’ve linked all of the titles to a credit list for each film.) Here’s the schedule:

LYLE LYLE CROCODILE
2:00 PM HBO Family – EAST
5:00 PM HBO Family – WEST

THE STORY OF THE DANCING FROG
2:30 PM HBO Family – EAST
5:30 PM HBO Family – WEST

THE RED SHOES
3:00 PM HBO Family – EAST
6:00 PM HBO Family – WEST

EARTHDAY BIRTHDAY
3:30 PM HBO Family – EAST
6:30 PM HBO Family – WEST

MIKE MULLIGAN & HIS STEAMSHOVEL
4:00 PM HBO Family – EAST
7:00 PM HBO Family – WEST

Here are a couple of stills from some of these films:

“There were evergreens shining like jewels high on a tower rooftop; dazzling window displays;
Central Park, looking magical and majestic.”

These are the lines of narration that greeted me when I initially read the “Narration Script” Maxine Fisher had written for The Red Shoes.

Ossie Davis did a wonderful reading for us.

This is a picture of the real star in front of Trump Tower on 57th St.

This is a strong transitional moment in Lyle Lyle Crocodile. They’ve just discovered a crocodile living in their house, and Mrs. Primm sings a narrative song telling all that’s happened since they’ve moved in to share the house with Lyle.
I’ve loved this set up by Bridget Thorne since first seeing it.

John Dilworth animated a very strong scene exactly right.

It grew out of a conversation with Bridget talking about something her son did. It was so right to place the two characters, about to be separated, on opposite sides of a door, while the boy sang about separation.

It also gave me the opportunity for split screens – for some reason this is a cinematic device I just love.

The illustrations in the book of Mike Mulligan and His Steamshovel include a lot of white and odd framing. It also had very tiny people throughout. There was never a close up of Mike Mulligan or any of the humans in the story. Even MaryAnn, the steamshovel, was often small in her surroundings.

This meant devising the entire film around some odd framing. It also meant a complicated design of the characters so that they would look as though they’d popped from the book, but, in reality, were wholly new designs.

Liz Seidman did a superb job of accomplishing both of these problems even as she supervised the entire production for me.

- After posting my copy of the book, Mr. Bug Goes To Town, Robert Cowan sent me another gem from his unbelievable collection of animation art. This is a background from the film’s start. Hoppity’s just arrived and is trying to separate the cigar from the Honeyhouse.

Do they make them more beautiful than this? You can scrape through many of the current features and come up empty handed in comparison. Of course one expects the wonderfully imagined things about the Fleischer backgrounds – the heart shaped sign stuck with a hat pin, the clothespin reaching from the honeycomb – but the densities in that watercolor. There’s something vulnerable and glorious about good watercolors.

Bob Little OK’d the background. I wonder how much he, personally, contributed to it. I met him briefly at Grim Natwick’s 100th birthday party August, 1990.

(Click on either image to enlarge.)

Robert Little is in the upper right just in front of Bill Littlejohn.

In situations like this party, I tend to become a bit shy and anchor myself in a comfortable place. This, as it turns out, was near Bob Little who I met for the first time. The entire evening was a jaw dropper for animation fans, but meeting Mr. Little was certainly a highlight for me. We talked for at least a good half hour, and I was in animation heaven.

It was also a pleasure to see Tissa in the same room with Grim. She’d assisted him for a couple dozen years, and they were quite close with each other in all the years since they stopped working together. I’ve always felt an odd connection to Grim. He passed everything on to Tissa who took it and ran with it. She passed some of what she knows on to me.