Michael Sporn Animation – Splog

– Last night, I saw the Dreamworks/Seinfeld concoction of an animated feature. Bee movie. The title is meant as a pun on “B” movie; unfortunately, that’s what this really is – a second rate film.

I should keep my opinion to myself, but I can’t. I have no intention of putting down any of the excellent artists, designers, or animators that worked on this film. They did what they could given the circumstances.
Let’s talk about what I see as “the circumstances” given the fact that I know NOTHING about the making of this film other than what Jerry Seinfeld said on Charlie Rose or that I was able to guess from the movie, itself.

The story is pathetic. If it had been just a mass of uproarious, funny jokes, I’d have been happy. In fact, I didn’t hear too much laughter in the theater, and I wasn’t brought to smile even once. It wasn’t funny. In fact, about midway through the film, I felt that I was watching some kind of bastardized Industrial or Educational film about bee pollination. The only problem was that the information was so simple that I knew that wasn’t the case. Jerry Seinfeld should be ashamed of his role in this product, and I believe that was probably the problem.

Now, the problem with the “craft” of the film. It was all at the top.

For some reason, the actors were directed to push their performances way – I mean WAY over the top. Renee Zellwegger has given many fine performances during her career – including King of the Hill and Shark Tale. Her acting in Miss Potter was extraordinarily subtle and nuanced. However in Bee Movie, she shouts her lines, overperforms every word and telegraphs every simple sentence. Yet, alongside John Goodman, she’s the maestro. His performance as a prosecuting attorney allows him to don a Southern accent and pretend he’s doing Inherit The Wind in some regional dinner theater where he’s trying to shout over the clinking tableware and devour all of the scenery. It’s an embarrassing performance. Even Patrick Warburton, not the greatest actor is fine in many other animated films including The Emperor’s New Groove, yet here he’s required to scream his every line. I don’t get it; it’s as if they were all forced to give heightened performances to try to make the poor writing funnier. It didn’t work.

The poor animators, saddled with these readings, animated what they got. Hence, the shouted lines were overanimated – that’s the only way they could work – with an aggression that I haven’t seen in quite some time.

The film was dreadful. I’m sorry, I don’t mean to offend anyone out there who’s worked on it, but I did not enjoy the experience. Of course, it’s only my take on the thing, and my opinion is just that.

By the way, why is it that these animated features consistently rob the insects of two of their appendages? Bug’s Life and Bee Movie choose to illustrate bugs as having two arms and two legs, unlike real insects which have six. At one time, the Jerry Seinfeld character comments on the eight legs of spiders, making us even more aware of the shortchanged bees in this movie. For Pete’s sake, even the ugly Nasonex bee has six legs, though for some reason he has an hispanic accent. Who’s making these choices?

- Now let’s talk about ART in animation.
The ASIFA Hollywood Animation Archives is currently displaying an exhibit of early Grim Natwick art. There are photos of the exhibit at their site and a couple of excellent scans of Grim’s early animation drawings. If you haven’t seen these, you ought to visit their site – or the archive, itself.

GRIM NATWICK’S SCRAPBOOK
An Exhibit Presented By The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive
2114 W Burbank Blvd
Burbank, CA 91506
Tuesday through Friday 1pm to 9pm

- This month, Jeff Scher reworks a 1945 musical film, Yours, for the NYTimes. Kudos to Jeff for another fine piece. One a month for The NY Times. Would that other newspapers would take it on to support a bit of animated art. Support it by adding your hit to their post.

Today’s NYTimes also includes a review of a number of animated DVDs including: “Ratatouille,” “Pixar Short Films Collection: Volume 1,” “Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 5,” “Chuck Jones Collection,” and “Fantastic Planet.”

If they’re animated, they must be connected.

- It’s election day. Lots of local issues and representatives have their fates in your hands. How more appropriate than to post my continued appreciation of The Gumps. Here are more of the collected strips.

This is the start of a story about Andy Gump running for Congress. The writing in the strip starts to catch fire, and the characters have really developed their personalities.

(Click any of the strips to enlarge them.)

_

_

_

This comes from an excellent book that was edited in 1974 by Herb Gallewitz and
published by Scribners called Sidney Smith’s The Gumps.
It’s still available and worth the price.

– This is the second of two posts on the Bill Peet storyboards for the Disney film, Ben and Me. This section, loaned to me by John Canemaker, comes in a xeroxed form – lots of grays – and taped together in a long sheet. I’ve split it up a bit to make it easier to post. I’ve also worked with it a bit to make it more visible thanks to Photoshop.

Bill Peet offered great drawings in his storyboards, and I’m sure he brought a lot of inspiration to the animators.

This is an excedingly long pan (30 inches), and is almost invisible in this minimal thumbnail. Rather than break it up into shorter bits, I’m posting it as is and hope it won’t be too much of a problem for you to follow in its enlarged state. You have to click on it to see it.

The image below is a recreation of this pan from the final film done using multiple frame grabs.

(Click any image to enlarge.)

There’s an excellent article about the making of Ben and Me by Wade Sampson at Jim Hill Media. It gives quite a bit of information about this odd short and is well worth reading as a companion to these boards.

Yesterday
- An art exhibit of William Steig’s work opened yesterday at the Jewish Museum. It’s nice to note that Steig’s original art for Doctor DeSoto, The Amazing Bone and Abel’s Island will be on display at the same time that my films of his books will be shown at the Museum of Modern Art.

Note that art from his beautiful book, Shrek, will also be displayed. (Looking at Steig’s stunning illustrations, it’s hard to understand how such an ugly solution evolved into the films’ style.)

“The Art of William Steig” runs through March 16 at the Jewish Museum, 1109 Fifth Ave., at 92nd Street; (212) 423-3200.

Next Weekend
- It was a kick getting my regular email from MOMA – I’m a member. Labeled MoMA Film E-News, November 2-16, 2007 I expected some small mention but was surprised to find the following:

Michael Sporn
November 9–12

Michael Sporn has been a vital creative force in New York animation for thirty-five years. Prior to opening his independent studio in 1980, the Oscar-nominated and Emmy Award–winning producer/director worked closely with many legendary animation artists on commercials, shorts, and feature-length films. Sporn has produced a remarkably diverse range of animation, including feature film titles (Sidney Lumet’s Prince of the City), television specials (HBO’s Lyle, Lyle Crocodile), and even visuals for the Broadway stage (the 1981 musical Woman of the Year). A sensitive interpreter _____________Doctor De Soto. 1984. USA.
of children’s stories for the screen, Sporn has ____________Directed by Michael Sporn
carefully adapted to animation the unique styles
of storybook illustrators like William Steig, Russell Hoban, Bernard Waber, and Mordicai Gerstein. Sporn’s own production design distinguishes his adaptations of such classic tales as The Red Shoes and The Hunting of the Snark, as well as socially conscious films like Champagne.

I guess I just didn’t expect as much attention. I have to admit I love it; who wouldn’t? What I most look forward to is giving some of these films a small bit of attention. There are a few films that I do cherish, and I’m glad they’ll be projected on a big screen. Mike and Phyllis Barrier will be in town as will John and Cathy Celestri. It’s been some time, and I will be happy to see them again.

Here, again, is the complete breakdown of the shows appearing in MOMA‘s catalogue:

Friday, November 9, 6:30; Repeated Saturday, November 10, 1:30. T2
Michael Sporn Program 1: New York Stories

Mona Mon Amour. 2001. Humorist Patti Stren looks for love in all the wrong places in this comical monologue of modern-day neuroses. 9 min.
Champagne. 1996. A moving animated documentary portrait of Champagne Saltes, a bright and sassy fourteen-year-old who lived in a convent school while her drug-addicted mother was in prison for murder. 13 min.
The Man Who Walked Between the Towers. 2005. On an iconic moment in New York history, the day in 1974 when French aerialist Philippe Petit made his death-defying tightrope walk across the towers of the not-yet-finished World Trade Center. Based on Mordicai Gerstein’s Caldecott Award-winning book and narrated by Jake Gyllenhaal. 10 min.
Lyle, Lyle Crocodile. 1987. The comic misadventures of Bernard Waber’s beloved neighborhood reptile (in the classic children’s book The House on East 88th Street) are narrated by Tony Randall with songs by Charles Strouse (Annie). 26 min.
The Little Match Girl. 1991. Abandoned to the wintry streets of New York, a little girl inspires compassion for the homeless in this lovely rendition of the Hans Christian Andersen tale. Narrated by F. Murray Abraham. 26 min. Program 84 min.

Saturday, November 10, 3:30; Repeated Sunday, November 11, 2:45. T2
Michael Sporn Program 2: Fables

Doctor DeSoto. 1984. An Oscar-nominated adaptation of William Steig’s classic story about a clever mouse-dentist who outwits a conniving fox. 10 min.
Abel’s Island. 1988. A sudden gale storm whisks William Steig’s Edwardian mouse, Abelard Hassam di Chirico Flint, away from his wife and home, depositing him on a primitive, deserted island. With the voices of Tim Curry and others. 26 min.
The Red Shoes. 1990. Using a vibrant palette, Sporn transposes Hans Christian Andersen’s touching tale to contemporary Harlem. Narrated by Ossie Davis. 26 min.
The Hunting of the Snark. 1989. Lewis Carroll’s wondrously nonsensical poem, narrated by James Earl Jones, is brought to life through a range of visual conceits and animation techniques. 19 min. Program 81 min.

Saturday, November 10, 5:30; Repeated Sunday, November 11, 4:45. T2
Michael Sporn Program 3: A Peaceable Kingdom

Goodnight Moon. 1999. Margaret Wise Brown’s sixty-year-old book, with illustrations by Clement Hurd, has pride of place in every American child’s bedroom, and is joyously brought to the screen in this award-winning adaptation. Narrated by Susan Sarandon. 4 min.
The Marzipan Pig. 1990. Based on Russell Hoban’s deeply touching fable of unrequited love involving a marzipan pig, a bee, a taxi meter, a flower, a mouse, and a clock. Narrated by Tim Curry. 26 min.
The Amazing Bone. 1985. Dark adventures await Pearl, William Steig’s sweet-natured piglet, when she discovers a magical talking bone that has fallen out of a witch’s basket. 12 min.
Ira Sleeps Over. 1992. A delightful adaptation of Bernard Waber’s story about a momentous sleepover, with songs by Tony Award-winning composer William Finn. 26 min.
The Story of the Dancing Frog. 1989. A sophisticated British widow becomes the stage manager to a debonair frog, who dazzles crowds the world over with his cakewalk, polka and tap dance routines. Based on the book by Quentin Blake, narrated by Amanda Plummer. 26 min. Program 94 min.

Monday, November 12, 7:00. T2
An Evening with Michael Sporn.

The artist in conversation with animation historian/filmmaker John Canemaker and MoMA assistant curator Joshua Siegel, illustrated with clips from his award-winning animated films, including a new short, Pab’s First Burger, and an excerpt from his feature-length work-in-progress about the life and work of Edgar Allan Poe. Sporn’s career is also traced through his commercials, public service announcements, title sequences, and visuals for the Broadway stage. Program 90 min.

– I’ve been a fan of Jirí Trnka‘s work since I first saw it back in the 60′s. I’ve bought every publication I’ve ever found which discusses or displays his films or illustration. These days I can also own a number of his films.

His puppet films were always the gold standard of that medium. However, since I’ve studied his illustrations for many years, I’m always interested in the 2D work he’s done.

The dvd titled The Puppet Films of Jirí Trnka includes one of these 2D films. It’s cut-out animation, so it really borders the world between 2D and 3D. Trnka exploits the shadows on his constructed cardboard backgrounds to great effect. The style purposefully hides the three dimensions of the constructions, but it uses it when it needs to. The film is a delicate piece which just shows a number of acts in a local circus setting.

It’s a sweet film with a quiet pace. I’m not sure it could be done in today’s world of snap and speed. No one seems to want to take time to enjoy quiet works of art.

I’m posting a number of frame grabs from this short so as to highlight the piece.

(Click any image to enlarge.)

Note the real shadows on the background.
These were obviously animated on glass levels in a multiplane setup.

Again, note the excellent use of shadows. It’s very
effective in these long shots of the trapeze artists.

- While working on Raggedy Ann and being somewhat close with Richard Williams when he was in town, I was amused by something that happened early on.

Dick was in and out often recording and editing the voice track. A lot of time was spent in the rehearsal studios in the Broadway/theatrical of town. (That was about three blocks away from the studio.) In an elevator ride up to the rehearsal space, Dick overheard a large black man in the elevator. I believe he was a delivery guy, maybe a messenger.

Dick popped up in a flash. He immediately asked the guy if he had ever done any acting. No? Well, Dick hired him on the spot to be the voice of the leader of the One Eyes. His voice was incredibly deep and dark.

Within the week, Dick had rerecorded the lines. (Another actor had done him in England, and Dick was looking for something better.) To be honest, I’m not sure if this was actually the final voice used in the film (it could be), but the story was so entertaining to some fly-on-the-wall like me, that I remember it well.

After recording the piece, Dick did a thank you drawing for the guy. I made a xerox. This is that copy done with drying magic markers.

___________(Click image to enlarge.)

Sites to point to:

- Hans Bacher has created a new addition to his Animation Treasures. We now have Animation Treasures III. Look forward to more of Hans’ beautiful background reconstructions taken from the films themselves. He’s opened a wonder in his displays. I still go back often to view the many of the backgrounds (specifically Mr. Bug) that he’s revealed to us.

- Once again, Rob Richards continues similar work on a variety of films on his site, Animation Backgrounds. The many Alice In Wonderland backgrounds are enormously attractive on their own.

- As if you haven’t already heard about it, let me point you in the direction of Bob Jaques‘ new site Popeye Animator ID. Bob is enlightening us on the world of a lot of unfamilair animators. We know their names from the many credits we’ve read, but Bob is analyzing and detailing scenes that these artists have created. Names like Frank Endres, George Germanetti and Lillian Friedman become real as Bob gives us a lot of information that doesn’t seem to be located anywhere else. I’m also looking forward to Bob’s writing about Johnny Gentilella. This was the first real animator I met in the business and someone who helped me along the way. I’m always ready to hear more about Johnny Gent.

For this post alone (take a real good look at the tree) I’m grateful to Bob and his new site.

– Bee Movie opened today, and received mixed reviews in New York. The reviews I’ve read paint a brash, colorful, jokey sort of film, which makes it sound not unlike many animated films we’ve seen in the recent past. Who would have expected otherwise? The film gets a 50% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I guess I’d call that mixed reviews. The feature in this film, I guess, is Jerry Seinfeld’s sardonic sense of humor. Perfect for the child in all of us.

Jack Mathews of the NYDaily News said:

If the movie proves anything, it’s that computers have gone past the ability to simply reproduce hues and tints and can now give the entire spectrum previously unperceived depth.

Kids are going to adore looking at this movie, living in it, flying through and above its brilliant landscape. It’s an animated joyride over a relief map of Manhattan.

I just wish the script was as good as the paint.

A.O.Scott in the NY Times writes a generally positive review with these few lines I’d like to point out:

The DreamWorks Animation formula, exemplified in the mighty “Shrek” franchise (and imitated by would-be rivals at Sony and Fox), is to charm the children with cute creatures and slapstick action while jabbing at the grown-ups with soft, pseudosophisticated pop- cultural satire. “Bee Movie,” directed by Simon J. Smith and Steve Hickner and animated by several hundred industrious drones, pushes this strategy almost to the point of dispensing with the kid stuff altogether.

There are a few splendid cartoon set pieces … that show off the latest computer animation techniques. But most of the film’s creative energy is verbal rather than visual, and semimature rather than strictly juvenile.

There was an ASIFA East screening of this film on Tuesday. However, I chose to see another mediocre movie, American Gangster, on that date. I won’t get to see Bee Movie until next Tuesday, and maybe I’ll comment on it on Wednesday next.

– Recently, I posted artwork from the first half of Errol LeCain‘s book illustrations for Mr. Mistoffelees with Mungojerrie and Rumpeltealzer. These are two of the poems by T.S. Eliot from his Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats .

Of course, these poems became the source for the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, CATS. The poems were turned into songs by Lloyd Webber and director, Trevor Nunn.
(Sadly, Universal and Spielberg have tied up the rights to this project which seems to be dead. It was once on the road to becoming an animated feature with a script by esteemed playwright, Tom Stoppard. Lloyd Webber would like to go forward with the film, but it’s held up by the new rights holders.

(Once again, let me point you to some of the preliminary art from that aborted film on Hans Bacher‘s older, yet brilliant Animation Treasure I site. More here.)

Here are the illustrations for Mungojerry and Rumpleteazer by the brilliant Errol Le Cain.

(Click any image to enlarge.)

Other posts I’ve made featuring Le Cain’s artwork:

Go to Mr. Mistoffelees

____Puffin Books
____Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
____The Snow Queen_______________-____Aladdin
____Growltiger_________________________Thorn Rose
____Pied Piper of Hamelin_______________12 Dancing Princesses
____Have You Seen My Sister____________Hiawatha’s Childhood

Today’s Ollie Johnston‘s 95th Birthday. Happy Birthday, Ollie. Let’s celebrate with the first feature Ollie worked on.

- I’m a Snow White fan. If there’s one feature I look to for that chill of inspiration to hit me, it’s Snow White. There’s something about it that screams out great drawings all done by hand on paper. There’s something about those incredible watercolor backgrounds, the beautiful animation by the young masters. All the daring, all the pride in their work, all the challenges met by these excellent animators; it’s all on display in every frame of this film. I love it.

I have an extraordinary book that displays a lot of artwork from this film. It was published for American Express and released by them in a limited edition. To my knowledge it never hit the bookstores. So, because I love the film, because I get a kick out of this book, and because it’s Halloween, I thought it a good time to post some images of the Witch preparing her apple and delivering it.

Most of the images are obviously storyboard drawings, though a few beautiful animation drawings and Layouts slip in there. I’m not sure if any or all of these have made it to the dvd or other books, but it doesn’t quite matter to me.

Here they are.

___(Click any image to enlarge.)

_

_

_

_

– Here’s a good example of something you won’t see animated in cgi. This is an ice skating cycle out of a Popeye cartoon, Seasin’s Greetinks!. It’s, of course, on the Popeye dvd just out, and is animated by Roland Crandall and Seymour Kneitel.

These Fleischer cartoons are so original in their jokes that there’s always a surprise or ten in every scene. The twists and turns are designed only to get laughs; I can give you a dozen examples from this short alone, but I’ll just recommend you watch the film.

It’s not just the stories that take odd spins, it’s the animation as well. There are bits that move in their own idiosyncratic way that are designed purely for laughs. Eccentric movements that would rarely show up in a Disney film dominate these Fleischer shorts.

Check out this cycle. Every eighth drawing is completely off the book. It gives the cycle a hilarious turn and completely dominates the move. It’s probably not the best way to build character (unless, perhaps, only one character moves like this), but it sure makes for some funny animation.

The thing about these Fleischer films is that it moves this way all the time. There’s always something about to take you for an odd turn, and while you’re looking for the big move, you’re just buying these small ones. The effect is cumulative, and the animation in these Fleischer films is just plain wacky.

A cgi animator doesn’t look for the odd twist in every frame. They can, but it wouldn’t make sense to be doing it that way, especially when the goal is to make the animation fluid in the final. The animation is too based on real life, and the individual frames don’t exist in the same way they do in 2D paper animation. There’s more risk in the 2D mode, but the reward can also be more ingenious and gratifying.

But what do I know? I don’t animate with cgi, and I’m just making a supposition based on what I’ve seen so far. Everything’s possible, but it sure doesn’t seem probable from my seat.

Having said that, let me also say that there aren’t too many animators doing 2D animation like this anymore. Maybe that’s the complaint I really have. Invention and daring in our medium seems to be a thing of the past.

1 2
(Click any image to enlarge.)

3 4

5 6

7 8

9 10

1112

1314

1516

- Bill Peet was one of the prime artists who shaped many of the Disney features. He has been an enormous influence on me and thans to John Canemaker, who has loaned me the following storyboard, I’m pleased to post some of Mr. Peet’s excellent artwork.

Ben and Me was a 20 min short produced in 1953. It’s an oddity in the Disney canon. The story of a mouse who influences Benjamin Franklin through many of his most famous moments was originally a book by Robert Lawson and was adapted by Bill Peet for the studio.

The photostats of the storyboard, like others I’ve posted, is extremely long. Hence, I’m posting them as large as I possibly can so that you’ll be able to read them once you’ve enlarged the images.

These three panels are followed by a couple more revisions. The revisions I only have as xeroxes – lesser quality. I’ll post those tomorrow.

(Click any image to enlarge.)

This image is a recreation of the extraordinary pan as seen in the first row of the storyboard posted above. It’ll enlarge to a size where you can properly see it. A couple of the objects were on secondary overlays creating a minimal multiplane effect.