Monthly ArchiveAugust 2013
Daily post 22 Aug 2013 06:04 am
Animators’ Sketchbooks – pt.1
Animation Sketchbook, cover
Back in the 60′sm when I first saw Richard Williams‘ work and then when I went to work for Williams, I noticed there was something new and wonderful afoot. Williams did a lot of the storyboard work himself, and these were often sequences that he he, himself animated. The same, mind you, was true of sections of the storyboard that Ralph Bakshi took great pride in doing. Even Don Bluth put qte a bit into his storyboard work and took great pride in what sections he’d done. Like Williams, he espoused the urgency of the great of animation, but he seem to take more personal pleasure from those storyboard sequences he did on is own.
Chronicle Books recently sent me a beauty of a book to take a look at. Called Animation Sketches, there’s no doubt this book was done to be sold at the current San Diego Comic-con. It’s a virtual feast of art by new, young animation film makers. In the old days, ou’d have a collection of artworks which were made to piece together some scene from Dumbo, Bambi or the like. Nowadays, because the artwork is built on original free-form work, each artist’s sketches are designed to stand on their own, and they do.
I’d like to present a fair share of the many drawings and sketches in this book, but it’ll take time, so expect more than the one post I offer here. This book offers a new tye of stlizing which formidabl attempts to chnage the look of animation. It is certainly not designed for two dozen people to be working on the same show, but for now, at least, this method seems to to be working.
Most board artists who were doing long sequences, did their omplete boards. When a key short was in process, that one board artist did it all. From Lambert the Sheepish Lion to Eric Goldberg’s Genie in Aladdin or his Nutcracker Suite short for Fantasia 2000 there can be no denying that the individual was leading the way through some of these very personal films.
This book of art edited and collected by Laura Heit shows the other – the most personal of film work. Here’s some of it.
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Daily post 22 Aug 2013 02:01 am
This past May there was an art exhibit of R.O. Blechman’s work.
R.O.Blechmnan: The Inquiring Line.
The first half of the show included a talk by Nicholas Blechman called,:My Son the Art Director.”
The follow-up talk was My dad the illustrator, R.O.Blechmnan.
Here’s the cover art for the entire show
And here’s the double sided pull out for the extra long inviteL
Action Analysis &Animation &Animation Artifacts &Disney &John Canemaker 21 Aug 2013 04:54 am
Mowgli & Kaa – repost
Today I’m going to re-post this scene between Mowgli and Kann. It was loaned to me by John Canemaker and stands out like the gem it is. THere are”75 drawings in all, and I’m going to post this whole right here, thoug I’ve put in two short breaks. Enjoy.
I’m not a fan of this film, however, I can’t deny the animation is mostly excellent and sometimes brilliant. Needless to say, Frank Thomas delivered some beautiful work. This scene is a typical example of his work even though it’s not one that calls attention to itself.
In studying the scene you might pay attention to what is on one’s (1-12) as opposed to what is on two’s (13-27) and figure out why.
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More to follow next Monday.
Here’s the QT of all the drawings from this scene.
Mowgli & Kaa
Click left side of the black bar to play.
Right side to watch single frame.
Here is another, companion scene with the same two characters. (It comes in the film with only a closeup of Kaa separating the two.)
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There are 103 drawings to the scene, so I can’t possibly get them all into the one post. Consequently, I’ll try to do it in three.
Once again, many thanks go to John Canemaker for sharing these on line.
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The Following QT movie is of the complete scene.
I love how he shakes his head and mouths the word “No”
just prior to wrenching his hand from Kaa’s grip.
Right side to watch single frame.
- Last week, I posted the first part of a scene Frank Thomas animated for The Jungle Book. This is the second scene offered that involved the boy, Mowgli, and Kaa, the snake.
This scene follows one I posted several months back. (The two come in the film with only a closeup of Kaa separating them.)
The 103 drawings in the scene will have to be broken into three parts, so you can expect the last third next week.
Once again, many thanks go to John Canemaker for allowing me to share these on line.
I begin with the last of the drawings up last week, #33:
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The Following QT movie is of the complete scene.
Click left side of the black bar to play.
Right side to watch single frame.
Animation &Books &Commentary &Puppet Animation &Trnka 20 Aug 2013 02:32 pm
Trnka’s “Bayaya” repost
– Early in the history of this blog, I wrote quite a bit about Jiri Trnka. This man’s artwork has long been a source of great inspiration to me. His illustrations for the fairy tales of Grimm and Andersen are stunning and the two books are of inestimable value to me. His puppet films are so brilliantly strong and lyrically beautiful that I was overwhelmed when I first saw them, even though his reputation preceded them. I’d read enough about him and owned a magnificent biographical account of his work, that I was confident I would be a bit disappointed when I finally saw the films. I wasn’t.
The Hand was magnificent and remains one of my favorite films, to this day.
The Archangel Gabriel and Mother Goose is a beautiful animated puppet film about Venice during the late Middle Ages.
The Midsummer Night’s Dream is a feature-length masterwork that has to be seen for any lover of animation – nevermind puppet animation.
The film, Bayaya was a mystery to me for many years. It was not an easy film to view. Back in the 70s, there was no video, and seeing Trnka’s films meant trips to the NYPublic Library in NY to visit their collection of 16mm films. There you could watch any of the collection or borrow them to watch at home. These films were often littered with many bad splices where the films had broken. The quality of the colors deteriorated over the years. It made for tough viewing, but it also made it possible to see some of the Trnka canon.
Bayaya was not part of this collection. In fact, I’ve only seen part of the film once. John Gati, a NY puppet animator who was a good friend, located a copy of a 20 min excerpt (in Czechoslovakian) for an ASIFA-East screening and showed it to a small audience in a classroom at NYU. The print was black and white, but since I’d only seen B&W illustrations, this made sense.
This film represented a strong change for Trnka. He had previously done a number of cel animated films. These shorts were remarkable in that they were a strong step away from the Disney mold. This was a bold step to take in the animation community in Europe circa 1947.
The film was purely lyrical, and the story accented the folk tales quality of these legends of Prince Bayaya and The Magic Sword. Consolidating the two, he named the film after the hero and made him the embodiment of courage, morality and honor.
Trnka considered Bayaya a turning point in his career. He realized that the puppet film had taken on new strength and he had to follow through with every film thereafter.
Here are a couple of scenes from the Trnka book I treasure, Jiri Trnka: Artist & Puppet Master.
There are two parts of a documentary on Trnka available via YouTube. They’re worth the watch. Part 1, Part 2.
Daily post 18 Aug 2013 04:54 pm
Sounds in the Stone
- Here are a number of photos that concentrate on the sound work done for THE SWORD IN THE STONE. Actors’ stills, recording images and sound effects production. The Sword and the Stone. =None of the people are identified in these photos, and I recognize too few of the people to ID them.
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_________________Here’s Bill Peet at the storyboard he drew.
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______________Bill Peet (left) and Woolie Reitherman work with the actors.
______________Karl Swensen (Merlin) is far right next to Woolie. I think that’s
______________Barbara Wentworth (Mim) talking to Peet.
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_______A Bg LO artist (anyone recognize her? Sylvia Cobb, perhaps?) at work.
___________________________The final BG.
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(Amid Amidi posted this in the comments section:The left hand photo below the painted bg is in Blast 9. I don’t have a copy handy but the two guys sitting are Woolie Reitherman and John Sibley. I think the two guys on the left are Basil Davidovich and Don Griffith but I don’t remember. If anybody has the issue, perhaps they can post the correct idents.)
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______________The Multiplane camera with only a couple of levels in use.
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______________The horizontal Multiplane camera and the final scene.
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___________Left: cameramen shoot at the Multiplane Camera.
_____________________Right: Jim MacDonald creates a sound effect.
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_______Xeroxing a drawing onto cel. This is not something often photographed.
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________A Painter and a Checker in action (Sorry, I don’t know their names.)
Commentary 17 Aug 2013 06:40 am
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Today’s the day for Lou’s funeral. A nice crisp day, no rain. I’m sad enough about his passing, but on top of that I know in my bones that I wouldn’t make it there and back on NYC Transit. I can’t attend without being conspicuous. I’m sad.
We flew into St. Louis on a Friday afternoon prepared to attend a screening of some favorite films chosen from those done in my studio.
The Festival was to present me with an award for being he greatest living animator since Walt Disney (I think that’s what it said), which I planned to accept with all humility.
The one quirk noted, before going to the screening, was that I knew I wasn’t feeling all-too-well. I assumed it’d pass.
Cliff Froehlich, the festival’s director presented the award which highlighted my all-enveloping passion for Edgar Allan Poe, or at least the animated biography I’ve been trying to put together. For the award, an artist had drawn Poe as the likeness of Vincent Price. The connection, in reality, is remote, but it was a funny idea.
For the four hour workshop on Saturday, we broke down all the elements of animated film: storyboard, animation, planning and construction. The kids worked off a Jules Feiffer character we’d animated and took it in whatever direction they wanted. However, we sought a completed walk cycle in the end. I’m taking their drawings and transposing it an animated dvd so they have a souvenier of the day in the end.
A full day on Saturday and a fun evening on Saturday night wasn’t the surprise. Other plans, other events and a rush back to a hospital in NY were a surprise. All a very dramatic way to end that Festival program but, ultimately, the ending was a happy one, and here I am writing about the visit.
Thanks St. Louis. You were a good host, and I was made to feel special. I’m just sorry I had to short change the weekend with a nasty health issue. In the end, all really didn’t go that poorly. I’m sorry it caused a lot of people some consternation. It would have been nicer had it been more as planned. I hope I didn’t disappoint too many.
Thanks to all those behind or even in front of the curtain, including Cliff Froehlich, and Sherri Williams, Chris Clark and Kat Touscher and Brian Spath.
Bugs’ Sahara Tale
Thad Komorowski‘s What About Thad? blog s by far one of the best to visit. He just currently put up a large part of Freleng and Warren Foster‘s storyboard for the Freleng cartoon, As Thad says at one point, “comparing these boards to the final product is very revealing of how well-crafted and executed even the lesser Warner shorts could be.” A Sahara Tale works as a gem of a board yet is dull as a film.
Despite the beautiful artwork on display, (taken from DVD extras) you’ll find no love of words for that very same art as Thad pointedly criticizes the cartoon and, therefore, the storyboard. This takes something of a strong constitution, especially when you can view such material up close.
I, of course, see no fault in what Thad’s written, so have to agree with him. However it still doesn’t make it easy to view without slobbering over the art.
These images remind me of the great collection of Alex Lovy drawings Thad posted from Woody’s Ace in the Hole. There was a posting I won’t soon get past. I loved it, loved it, loved it.
These Foster images are beauties, too, it’s just that the short is so damned mediocre. At the very least these imges remind us ow great the art of cartooning how reached at WB< Disney's et. al. during that period. Breathtaking, really.
A-Rod and not Me
An animated film called Henry and Me is in the final stages for the NYYankees. It stars the voices of many of the star-studded team, but changes may be underfoot. Given the negative press Alexander Rodgriguez has brought to his off-the-field drug use, it looks like the producers are going to can his voice over.
- The embattled Yankee third baseman, who voices the animated version of himself in the children’s film “Henry & Me,†will likely find his character on the cutting-room floor because of his involvement in one of baseball’s biggest drug scandals.
The film’s investors will “make a move to get another character†to replace Rodriguez’s, according to executive producer Ray Negron, a long-time adviser to the Yankees, although “they still haven’t pulled the plug yet.â€
During a screening of “Henry & Me†in midtown Wednesday, Rodriguez’s character was still part of the film and its narrative — which chronicles the moving journey of a young boy named Jack, who is battling cancer and who ends up meeting many of the Yankees’ legendary players, as well as the late owner, George Steinbrenner.
Rodriguez comes up to bat during a crucial sequence — sound familiar? — and needs a clutch hit to send the Bombers into the playoffs. The film is based upon Negron’s children’s books. “Win or lose, kid, these are the opportunities we live for,†A-Rod says to Jack before his at-bat.
Rodriguez’s character later visits Jack in the hospital while he is recovering from cancer treatment. The final version of the film will edit out the animated Alex Rodriguez. But despite the animated A-Rod’s positive message and actions during the film, in reality Rodriguez is enmeshed in a performance-enhancing drug scandal, one that has resulted in a 211-game suspension by Major League Baseball. Rodriguez has appealed, and is playing for the
Yankees as the process unfolds.
The “Henry & Me†investors are concerned with Rodriguez’s off-field woes impacting the marketability and image of the film for his character to remain.
Two movies: like all the rest
This week, like most weeks, I saw a number of movies. Most of them in the video format, one film on the big screen.
The film I saw on the big screen, Thursday evening, was Elysium. The film stars Matt Damon, who I have to tell you, has become one of my favorite screen actors. He’s usually convincing in all those run movie/movie parts he takes. He’s a thinking actor and looks brilliant in films like the Bourne series – which he well keeps alive even turning them down. His best films are the thinking films, the small ones that have something to say like his last, Promised Land, a film that narrows in on the problems of gas production, fracking and all. One really leaves the theater discussing the problem Damon wants to present.
But then there’s Elysium. This is a film about the future where there are the haves and the have nots, those who fight for their daily existence while the others fight to keep the average Joes from their sightlines. No real discussion of real problems. The director, Neill Blomkamp, is a South African who gave us the unpleasant futuristic=Alien movie. called District Nine. I hated the first, but only disliked the second film I’d seen by him. (Damon had to have added something.)
But the problem, to me, is something happening to a lot of big budget films. You don’t care about any of the characters on the screen, who don’t seem to really care about each other. I mean, why would we be interested in characters that don’t interrelatel they move at super sonic speeds trying to kill each other. It’s just so exhausting, and makes it difficult to sit there through two hours of noise. You gotta care.
The film I saw on tv – a copy too contrasty on AMC, too many repetitive commercials and about the 12th time I’ve seen the movie – was The Godfather Part 1.
You know, there’s nothing else to say. I just can’t understand why they’ve stopped making films like this – about people (admittedly artificial characters), people you can relate to. They may be thugs and killers and black sheep and awfully artificial with cotton in their mouths, but believe it or not, you can believe them – the characters. It’s story telling of the most basic type, uet it’s ignored for billion dollar chases in robo suits with synthetic music bombarding the annoying soundtrack. I know, it must be that I’m getting old.
I do have to start thinking about what films I’m going to view.
The one to see this year is Blue Jasmine. Now that’s great storytelling. I’ve seen it and plan to see it again next week. Great performances, great characters, great everything else. We go into the heart of Tennessee Williams and deconstruct his great play before realizing we’ve also reconstructed it for the cynical days of now. A great movie that gets to your heart.
Books &Errol Le Cain &Illustration 16 Aug 2013 07:08 am
A School Bewitched by Errol le Cain
- As you know, I am an enormous fan of Errol Le Cain’s work. I’ve been posting quite a few of his illustrations for children’s books. (You can see the past posts, if you’re interested, here.)
Today, I’m showcasing a book written by Naomi Lewis from a story by E. Nesbit.
The book was adapted to a film on the BBC, narrated by Nigel Havers. She also adapted The Snow Queen which Le Cain illustrated.
The book contains 30 pages, and every page includes an illustration. I’ve decided to break this into two parts since I don’t want to post tiny thumbnails of the pictures.
I’m not highlighting the text; you’ll have to buy the book for that. I am posting all the great illustrations and hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
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A School Bewitched is a small picture book with a full page illustration on every other page. The remainder have spots which decorate around the type.
We started showing off the illustrations yesterdayl here are more. I’m not concerned with telling the story. I’d urge you to buy the book if you’re interested in that.
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Daily post 15 Aug 2013 05:32 am
Rowland Wilson rerun Gags – color
- It’s time to take another look at some of Rowland B. Wilson’s great cartoons. I’ve chosen one that’s more color than not to viw again. Here it is.
I’ve dedicated a number of posts to the artwork and cartoons of Rowland B. Wilson.
I have been a fan of his work for a very long time. Years before I had the opportunity of inbetweening on his Scholastic Rock designs at Phil Kimmelman & Associates which was back in the early ’70s.
Bill Peckmann and I seem to share a lot in appreciating a number of artists and their artwork. Rowland is high on the list. Bill has loaned many works for posting, and I’m certainly indebted to him for contributing all of these RBWilson pieces.
Here are more of the cartoons of Rowland B. Wilson, starting with a news article written about him for the Westport News.
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Let’s start with the New England Life advertisements. RBW did quite a few of them:
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We finish this post with some more Playboy cartoons:
It must have been a treat for Bill to see his name in this cartoon.
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- Back in the innocent years, the joke was that one read Playboy for the articles, not the pictures. In my case (and I’m sure it was true for many others), that wasn’t much of a joke. I did thumb through Playboy and it was for the pictures – the pictures by Rowland B. Wilson, Gahan Wilson and a couple of other of the great cartoonists of that magazine.
Bill Peckmann has saved a number of Rowland Wilson’s cartoons, and I’m eager to post them. It’s my pleasure that Bill has a small archive of Rowland’s material. He was an enormous source of inspiration for me, and it’s my joy to see a lot of these again. It’s amazing how many I still remember after all these years.
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Daily post 14 Aug 2013 05:13 am
Fe Fi Fo Fum
Sorry for the overprotracted shutdown of the blog the last few weeks or days – however long it went on. I was sick.
I returned from an Award ceremony in St. Louis which I had to cut short to rush into my home hospital. The hospital stay ended up taking much longer than I expected, and in the end I have a lotta blog writing to do to make up. I hope to be able to catch up somewhat without too much difficulty.
I have to go back to see what I’ve already posted and what I can add to it to make it better. Part of my problem is that I have a newer version of WordPress that has so botched up my mind – it’s gotten hard to tell what’s new and and what’s not; what’s published and what should be published.
But I’ll get it worked out. Sorry you have to sit through it with me.
The Academy of MPArts created a new division. The art of casting design. It’s something we needed; For now we have to give them a run for their money. It’s all about competition. Cheryl Boone Isaacs the new President of the MPAcademy had this to say:
- “Their inclusion on our board will only broaden our perspective and help ensure that the Academy continues to accurately reflect the state of filmmaking today.”
The Casting Director’s Branch brings the Academy to 17 branches, with three members representing each branch on the Board of Governors. The Academy will hold special elections this fall to select the three governors of the newest branch.
And we have to keep our eyes open for the latest video from and our good friend, the hand-drawing artist, (and foot-walking artist). Hi brilliant partner, Shay Lynch, takes re sounds a f Jeff Scher. He’s a hand playing composer. Jeff’s a realio trulio artist and deserves all the attention we can give him. Ogether with the brilliat Way Shay Lynch is the equal of Jeff and together I really give these two guys credit. Artists they are. They just got over the wreaking damage Sandy brought them now they make art.
The two did the pieces for the New York Times – just about a free bee. Go hear and watch and listen to them make art.
While I was out, my dear friend, Lou Scarborough, passed away. Tom Sito left an email with the most explicit message, which I just repost. I’ll miss Lou dearly.
9:00 am at:
JANE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
660 MONROE ST.
BROOKLYN, NY 11221 718-453-2316
The funeral will follow the viewing at 10:00 am
If you are unable to attened, please send your condolences to:
THE SCARBOROUGH FAMILY…
C/O JANES UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
660 MONROE ST
BROOKLYN, NY 11221
Read Jerry Beck‘s great coverage of Lou’s last days and the report of his Obit.
Animation &Animation Artifacts &Art Art &Articles on Animation 05 Aug 2013 11:35 pm
King of the Woild
I received an extraordinary award from the The St. Louis Film Festival. This is proof positive that I am the world’s greatest animator. Bill Plympton received the only other one of these awards some three years ago. My current one makes me a true original. (Somehow I ended up as Vincent Price, but I don’t mind so much. It’s an attractive and large – the key word being large = award. When the award makes it to New York, I’ll post it so you can get a look.
Sorry for the delay in some of the new and recent posts. I’m afraid there will be more to come before everything actually gets new.
