Michael Sporn Animation – Splog

GLASSWERKS, The Writer and Man, Evemore is a useful commentary abut the author and plagiarism in the 19th Century. He writes fitfully of living again. It must have been difficult to create while all those around the author created their versions of his dreams. All right, after all it is a tall order to put all of the pieces back together again. Little girls are complicated – as are all little boys. The King’s objects would have been as complex as the work of fiction; those little boys and little girls and flowers, if you will.

I have been working on an animated bio of POE‘s life and find it more and, ever more, so dense. Mind you, I’m involved more in the bio than the stories (though some of the stories are of an integral nature to the biographies)

I stupidly should have tried researching there to start with, and I’ll go to the short tales the next moment I can attend. I see all there in front of me. What a fool I can be; I found all of the material independent of the rest and forced it like a giant jigsaw into the whole I have.

Edgar Allan Poe: Terror of the soul
Runs through January 26th at the Morgan Library Museum
25 Madison Avenue
(2120 749 6g00/Morgan Library and Museum

This is a major display at the Morgan Library and know I’ll have plenty of time to absorb all the in formation they’ll offer. I’ll have my weekend’s work cut out for me.

Aside from formulating the inventors of the storyboard for animation, the Disney studio had some amazing talent in their group of “funnymen.” Most of the “gag writers” that took over the animation industry, came fresh from the Disney Bros. studio. You can start with Dick Huemer who virtually invented the form. There was Tedd Pierce who brought his own style and a rich sense of humor. Between him and Bill Peet there were a wild row of styles and intelligence from the Urbane to the Hayseed.

Here I’d like to show two of the richest and most colorful artists.

First we have one of the better “dwarf” writers – Roy Williams, Many of us know him as the oversized and goofy “Mousketeer,” Uncle Roy. This is a small piece done for Snow White, trying to get a gag out while giving some personality to Dopey.

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From “Unca Roy,” we can go to one of the most identifiable artists from the studio. Just take a look at the last two images posted here. If you don’t recognize the gag as one from the pen of foremost Donald cartoonist, Carl Barks. If not for some of the gags, here, the drawing style is dead giveaway. One can only sit back gawking at how great it is.

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I will show off the work of a couple more of these great artists before I’m done. They keep me laughing all the while admiring them.

All material thanks to John Canemaker whose brilliant book, Paper Dreams, supplied just about everything for this post.

“But Only God can make a tree.” when I was a little kid those lines hit me hard. It took a while before I read anything else by Hillaire Belloc, but I was hooked once I did. Here’s a post dedcated to his writing.

- I have two books of chilldren’s verse written by Hilaire Belloc. I’ve been a fan of these poems and have prized the books. I thought it worth sharing.

After graduating from Oxford, Hilaire Belloc served in Parliament. After two terms, thoroughly disatisfied with public office, he left the House of Commons. He wrote extensive commentaries during the first World War. His first son was killed in that conflict; his second son during the second World War.

He was a very opinionated political writer, which didn’t help his reputation during his life. He also refused to be pigeon-holed writing in many different styles and forms. Hence he was barely accepted by the cogniscenti of the time. Many of his children’s poems are whimsical but quite dark. Victoriana lives on in his mood and attitude. His poems are all on line (none of the illustrations are there).

B.T.B. was properly named Basil Templeton Blackwood, the third son of the Marquess of Dufferin. He met Belloc when they were both students at Oxford. He became a Lieutenant in the Grenadier Guards in WW I and was killed in action in 1917.

Blackwood became a solicitor, but he illustrated several of Belloc’s books. These include:
The Bad Child’s Book of Beasts (1896)
More Beasts (1897)
The Modern Traveller (1898)
A Moral Alphabet (1899)
Cautionary Tales for Children (1907)
More Peers (1911).

Here we have selected pages from the first two of these books which were combined into one volume I own. It was last published by Duckworth in 1971. A “Bestiary”, of course, is an alphabetical listing of animal poems originally designed to teach children the alphabet. (Sorry that I post these pages out of alphabetical order.)

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Producer – David Heyman

Producer – David Heyman and
co-writer – Jonás Cuarón

stars – Sandra Bullock & George Clooney

star, co-writer,
producer – George Clooney

director, co-writer,
producer – Alfonso Cuarón

star, co-writer – George Clooney

Alfonso Cuarón, David Heyman,
Sandra Bullock, Jonas Cuarón

star, Sandra Bullock

star, Sandra Bullock

The images above are the celebrities that came a’visiting to the Academy Q&A talk back for its members after their film, GRAVITY, was screened on Wednesday.

The film, itself, was very reminiscent of the original ALIEN, except that the only Alien in this film is Outer Space. Fifteen minutes into the film keeping the audience in a breathless state,and not much really was happening.

Amid Amdi at Cartoon Brew suggested that there might be no live action in the film and that it was all just photo-realistic animation. This could easily have been the case for the 90 min film, though it would have been something of a disappointment regardless. We pay for the stars, here, not the animation.

Currently on display at the NY Pierpont Morgan Library is an exhibit of artwork, letters, and artifacts from the life of Edgar A. Poe. This is more of an interest to me than it is you, but I encourage you to go just the same. He was one.of NY’s geniuses and what better way to celebrate his life.

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- Here, from Walt Disney Comics, April 1945 edition is a wacky story mixing the Seven Dwarfs with Dumbo to fight the Wicked Prince.
I couldn’t help but post it. These comic books often seem to mix up the characters from different films to create unbelievable stories.

This comic comes from Bill Peckmann‘s enormous collection, and I thank him for sharing, yet again.

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And here from a post I did in November 2006m there is James Stevenson‘s brilliant cartoon about a comic strip artist who was losing it. The piece appeared in his book, Something Marvelous Is About To Happen. It’s a great take on comic strip cartoonists and the relationship they have to their strips.
Here it is, The Last Days of Tootie and Fred.

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And do you believe it! They closed the government. Only Chris Matthews can handle it from here upon out!

Tweedledee and Tweedledum

Tweedlededum, can you please introduce yourselves to the court?

Tweedledee
That’s just the problem.

Court
Gasp!

Tweedledum
That’s just the problem; we can’t.
We don’t know who we are anymore!

Believe it or not. They shut down the government.

This coming Friday, Oct. 4th, the MP Academy will hold a special screening featuring Richard Williams. Williams will discuss the work that has inspired him and the people who have influenced him. Some of his favorite clips will be shown to illustrate the artistic and emotional range of the medium. From the charm of Snow White and the imagination of Fantasia to the stylization of Rooty Toot Toot and the “subtlety of expression of Toy Story W illiams will also enlighten audiences about his own work through clips from The Little Island, The Charge of the Light Brigade a Christmas Carol and The Thief and the Cobbler (inlcuding its first theatrical trailer, as well as a preview of his work-in-progress, Circus Drawings.

Tickets are $5 for Gen’l Admission and $3 for Academy members. (I’ve just learned that the event is, of course, sold out.

From Oct 4th thru Dec 22nd there will be a gallery showing at the Academy theater, and that can be seen when your schedule permits.

Go here to see three of these vids. Very entertaining.