Michael Sporn Animation – Splog

-I’m currently researching the art of Covarrubias. An exhibit at New York’s Public Library at 42nd Street in 1998 was one of the best I’ve ever seen. It was a program of “Celebrity Caricature” mostly from the 20′s & 30′s. Covarrubias, the developing Hirschfield, and a number of other brilliant artists were all represented well. In among the art was a small section on animated caricature. Drawings by Tee Hee and Joe Morgan were on display with a couple of cel set-ups. There were also a couple of WB model sheets (without artist names.)

From the book of that exhibit I’m posting some of the animation art represented. Again no names are given.

(cel – Charlie McCarthy & W.C. Fields in “Mother Goose Goes Hollywood”)

(Click on any image to enlarge)
(Joe E. Brown and Martha Raye from “Autograph Hound”)

(Garbo & Mickey – animation drawing for Mickey’s Gala Premiere)

(Greta Garbo model sheet for Warner Bros.)

A small sampling of this show can be found on the National Portrait Gallery website. Non-animation caricatures are on view there, and the beautiful book/catalogue can be purchased there.
Credits for the above stills goes to:
1. “Mother Goose Goes Hollywood” from the collection of Jeff & Therese Lotman
2-5. “Autograph Hound” National Portrait Gallery, Wash.D.C.
6. “Mickey’s Gala Premiere” WDFeature Animation Research Library
7. The Steve Schneider Collection

- Actor, Barnard Hughes died yesterday at age 90. I worked with him several times and found him hilariously subtle in his sense of humor. He was the perfect actor in a couple of my films. In What’s Under My Bed? he told a nightmarish story in my adaptation of James Stevenson‘s book. In The Emperor’s New Clothes, he was one of five narrators telling the tale. I’ll miss his talent. This is the NY Times obituary.

- In case Cartoon Brew‘s link to Jim Hill Media hasn’t enouraged you, let me give you the link to the Floyd Norman article there about life in the “Bullpen” at Disney in the ’50s. Floyd’s book, How The Grinch Stole Disney, is on sale at Afrokids, and I encourage you to look into it. The man has a real wit and it comes across well in all of his books.

-Tonight on PBS there will be a documentary on Tin Tin creator, Herge. The show has gotten some attention. This is today’s NYTimes review.

– Currently I’ve been reading Didier Ghez‘ three volume set of books Walt’s People: Talking Disney with the Animators Who Knew Him. There’s a lot of good information in these interviews. There are inaccuracies galore in the animators’ memories – as is expected from all interviews -, but the editors correct the information at the end of each interview. Presently, I’ve been reading Ward Kimball’s comments about the Disney strike. He seems very defensive as if he wants to make sure he’s on both sides of the fence.

One bit he said was that John Hubley and John McLeish were making a documentary about the strike and were disappointed to have not been able to screen it. As Kimball says, “. . .they agreed we shouldn’t open old wounds.” This could have been possible. I knew, while I was working for him, that Hubley had a lot of 16mm footage of the strike, and I saw a lot of still photos. I hadn’t heard, till reading this book, that they were trying to make a professional documentary. Still, given the many inaccuracies in Kimball’s comments, I’m not sure that it was real.

Art Babbitt’s view of the strike is much more engaging. There is no doubt that a reality is behind his memories. They’re all so exact and detailed. It makes for a captivating read.

I’m looking forward to Tom Sito‘s book, Drawing the Line. This is an informed history of the unionization of the artists in animation. I’d read parts of this in an advance manuscript Tom had shown me and found a lot of new material. I suspect I’ll find a lot more in the final book when it hits the market in October. An excellent piece of history from a dedicated historian.

- Last night Pee Wee’s Playhouse invaded Adult Swim/Cartoon Network. It’ll air Mon-Thurs at 11pm. I love this show; I love Pee Wee Herman; I love that it was done in NYC (the first and best season). I doubt I’ll watch the reruns.

I could complain about live action on the
C – A – R – T – O – O – N NETWORK , but the whole notion of such a complaint seems tiresome at this point.
(And I did that already.)

At least Pee Wee’s Playhouse had some funny animation wrapped into each show and it was done (in NY) by Broadcast Arts, a good animation studio that ultimately became Curious Pictures.

And it’s not Saved By The Bell.

– I’m going to continue to defend Richard Linklater’s film A Scanner Darkly (at least until I see it next week.)

The director made one of my two favorite films of the last couple of years with Before Sunset. The rotoscoping technique will not make or break this film.

Like cgi or 2D animation, it’s just a technique. If it’s used to good effect, it’ll help the film; if it’s used to bad effect, it’ll hurt.

I read a letter on Animation Nation yesterday in which the writer was crazed over the idea of seeing a film in which they copy live-action. I wonder if he had the same problem with King Kong where a live action actor did all the principal motion for the gorilla. Motion Capture, to me, veers too far from animation to make it interesting solely as a technique. When the movie studio is trying to get an Oscar nomination for the live actor, I have to wonder if I should even call that technique animation. Yet, if it’s used in as good a way as those GEICO ads, where incredibly subtle motion just about makes the spots brilliant, then the technique is excellent.

Yes, I had many more problems with King Kong than the Motion Capture. The technique didn’t help or hurt my feelings for the film. The length, the direction, the script: these made me not enjoy the movie.

The same is true for A Scanner Darkly. I was totally mesmerized with Waking Life and found myself watching it several times in its repeat showings on television. What’s the film saying and how is it doing that. This is all I really want to know.

- At the box office the film did respectably well with $7700 per theater at only 17 theaters. Pirates of the Caribbean made $7600 per theater at over 4000 theaters.

- I doubt there will be a large outcry for the posts that were lost in my site’s glitch (The Letterman comics, the pages from my John Gardner illustrations), so I probably won’t rush to put them back up. Maybe when things get quiet.

- As a Yankee fan, I kinda enjoyed the Red Sox fighting against Chicago’s White Sox for 19 exhausting innings yesterday. Too bad they get a four day break after that game.

– We’ve had an enormous number of problems with our server, Shield Host. It’s been more than annoying. The site has had enormous problems over the past six months, losing a number of postings and a lot of work. It’s still not operating properly, so I’m not sure if we’ll go down again.

I apologize for those of you that haven’t had access to the site this past weekend. With any luck we’ll be operating normally now.

- For those who are looking for some imaginative art sites to view stunning images, take a look at the Fantastic In Art & Fiction site from the Cornell library. There’s a large range of pictures of devils, and monsters, and angels, and freaks. It’s a nice way to spend a few minutes if you’re searching for some medieval inspiration.

- Another site with some interesting imagery is designed for the person who loves comics or Roy Lichtenstein, or just would like to see where Roy Lichtenstein ripped-off those comic images, go to the Lichtenstein Project. There you’ll see side-by-side pairings of the artist’s paintings and the comic artists’ strip images. Decide which you like best.

David Barsalou, who put this site together, also has complete reference material for each of the strip artists at his flickr place.

- A Scanner Darkly opened to mixed reviews. Most animators seem dead-set against this rotoscoped-type animation. However, it still is animation (just as we call “motion-capture” animation), and a lot of work went into it. Since I’m a big fan of Richard Linklater, I’ll gladly take his brand of “animation” rather than none. There are a number of articles about the making of. One interesting one is at the NYTimes on-line site; it’s a narrated slide show with a lot of models displayed. Worth the three-minute tour.

- I also still like Manohla Dargis’ review best of all those I’ve read. Her last paragraph covers anything anyone has to say about this movie.

– Monsters Inc. will be screened at the Museum of Modern Art tomorrow, Sunday, July 2 at 2:00 and Monday, July 3 at 4:30.

It’ll give you a chance to compare this film full of bipedal creatures to the rubber-tired ones in Cars. Technically, Monsters Inc. introduced delicately flowing hair to computer animation; Cars introduced full-wheel traction (not to mention Larry the Cable Guy).

This is part of a program of preserved films from the Museum’s archives. The list of recent films to be screened is an impressive one. A good way to spend some of these rainy days in NYC. The Straight Story, The Man Who Laughs, and Avalon are among those to be presented over the next couple of weeks.

- Also a reminder that the end of July brings more screenings of their CalArts in Moving Picturesprogram. Keep your datebook handy. Films by Eric Darnell, Stephen Hillenburg, Doug Vitarelli and Craig McCracken can be seen on July 30th. Many other interesting films are also on the schedule including those by: Steve Subotnick, Joanna Priestly and Maureen Selwood. A lot of talent went through that school.

– Grendel, the opera, directed and adapted by Julie Taymor from John Gardner‘s novel recently opened in San Francisco to good reviews. There’s an excellent review on the site The Lemmings Were Here, and there’s another by animation composer, Ross Care, at Music From The Movies. (You’ll remember Ross’ commentary on the Bambi dvd.)

The opera is set to open July 11th at Lincoln Center as part of its Lincoln Center Festival.
(Click on any image to enlarge.)

For those long-hearted animation afficionados, you’ll remember that there was an animated feature based on this same book. Grendel Grendel Grendel was an Australian film directed by Alexander Stitt. Stitt was a commercial director/producer down under. He put all his chips into this film and gave it a dynamic style. As a matter of fact, his house style seemed to be limited animation without outlines on his characters. Unfortunately, the script and the direction was bland, and the dynamic book died as a film. It also wasn’t distributed widely, nor was it marketed well.

At the bottom of this page, I’ve included a saved copy of the NYDaily News review, in case you’re interested.
I have some interest in this opera and animated film because of my connection to the book.

Back in 1976, when I’d first started working at Raggedy Ann & Andy, I was thoroughly grabbed by the book and felt that it would make a wonderful animated feature. I did the unconscionable move of the innocent; I wrote to the author, John Gardner, c/o his publisher. I told him that we could make a great film and would somehow raise the money. It wasn’t the greatest concern. (I said I was innocent.)

Believe it or not, John Garder wrote back and said he was interested. The fact that I’d worked on one of his favorite animated shorts, Cockaboody, gave him a bit more interest in me. We eventually hooked up, and he gave me a couple of stories to tell just with that first evening when we met at his home in Bennington, Vermont. It was a real trial of an evening which ended with an all night bout of martini drinking and conversation.

I ended up with the rights to the book, and John Gardner, himself, would write the screenplay. The problem was that I was that innocence I spoke of. A real neophyte, I didn’t raise the money, and the project stagnated in my hands.
I came close when an executive at United Artists was sold on it, and wanted to go. She was a real mover in the company and had clout. Unfortunately, UA collapsed in scandal, and MGM bought the company outright eliminating all execs, including my contact. I came close in selling it to Cinema V, who had just had a good hit in Terry Gilliam’s Jabberwocky.

I have no doubt that I would be able to sell it today if I went out with the materials I had in hand and that selling point, John Gardner’s name. I’d also found a couple of celebrities who were willing to connect to it – including Paul McCartney. But it wasn’t to happen.

Gardner had a hard divorce, came down with cancer (which he overcame), and owed a lot of back taxes. He had to sell the project to an Australian filmmaker who offered cash. My last ditch effort before he sold it was to call Roger Corman. Corman took my call (the magic of John Gardner’s name) and tried to think how we could raise, at least, the $25,000 to secure the rights. He asked me to give him a week. At the end of the week, Corman decided to let it go, and I had to surrender.

I did get invited to the Alexander Stitt film when it played in NYC. It only stayed at that one theater for a couple of weeks, then it too disappeared. But I got an interesting lesson in life. I also have some incredible memories of John Gardner; I illustrated a couple of his books.

I look forward to Julie Taymor’s opera.

(Click on either image to enlarge.)

– Back in August 1990, a crowd of animation folk gathered to celebrate Grim Natwick‘s 100th birthday. At one point, during the celebration, a photo was taken of many of the elder statesmen positioned on the stage.

It was a blast being there; events like this probably occur in LA often enough, but they’re truly rare in NYC. I spent a good part of the evening talking with Bob Little, who had painted BG’s for many – if not – most of the Paramount cartoons, and I had a great time doing so. I thought it funny that we both had to fly out to LA to meet.

I recently located this photo that Tom Sito sent me, and thought it’d be fun to post it. Below the original, I’ve posted a key to identify those on stage. I’m not sure why Walter Lantz didn’t make it to the photo, but he was most certainly there. Only one person remains unknown in the picture. (Please let me know if you recognize the gentleman in the back row.)

Spunky and Tadpole is a dark spot in my unconscious memory of bad animation that I
somehow have an affection for.
Jerry Beck listed it as one of the ten worst animated series ever created. (I don’t agree with that, certainly not with all those abominable Hanna-Barbera/Filmation/ Ruby-Spears shows that were so godawful and unwatchable. At least Spunky and Tadpole had a bit of style; perhaps because it stands out, it can be recognized as bad. It was bad; just not among the very worst. But I’m splitting hairs; bad is bad.)

There seems to be very little recorded about the production of the show. A couple of vhs copies of the series exists in the remainder bins of the internet and can be bought for little. The only credit listed anywhere on-line is that of a director, Art Moore, whoever he may be. I haven’t been able to locate any information about him either. (Someone on a chat room thinks he may be the producer of The Regis Philbin show.)

The show went into distribution via syndication in 1958 and was virtually knocked out of business by the rise and popularity of Hanna-Barbera’s product, Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear. Spunky & Tadpole were featured on local programs that had local hosts introducing shorts. I was surprised to find out that as many as 150 episodes of the serialized cartoon series were produced.

The cast included: Joan Gardner as Spunky, Don Messick as Tadpole. Ed Janis replaced Don Messick in the last episodes.
This cast means the show was probably done in LA.

(Click on images to enlarge and properly view the excellent inking.)

Some time ago, I still couldn’t resist buying a couple of cels which were selling on Ebay for just about nothing. They still amuse me.

- Speaking of good animation acting, Mark Mayerson has another chapter in his provocative series on Acting in Animation. I enjoy these posts; they get my mind working on a sore subject. (Sore subject because Bad Acting is pretty much all I see these days. Lots of jerking from pose to pose animation.)

– Magazines are very important to me. The most treasured, unfortunately, do not publish anymore. There are these two that have given me such amazing information and insight that I will always treasure them.

- I have about half a dozen issues of Michael Barrier’s Funnyworld magazine, and I hoard them all preciously. The magazine was the first I’d found to value animation as a real art and give critical information about the films and the form.

Fortunately, Michael Barrier continues to post articles, reviews and invaluable information on his website. I can also reread Funnyworld articles. I value his writing and insight.

– Right in line with Funnyworld was the British publication Film Dope. This magazine printed an alphabetical listing of film makers, and people important to films. Actors, cinematographers, directors, costume designers, musicians and cartoonists all were blended together in alphabetical order, and one-by-one their careers were offered and analyzed. A formidable chronology of their work was detailed and a short critical commentary was printed.

Until 1996, the magazine was published on poor paper in a lackluster printing method, but the material was always spectacular. Wonderful scholarship and solid information was the norm. (Only once did I locate an error or oversight in their catalogue. Not that I’m the greatest arbiter.) Their opinions were often a bit ascerbic, but they usually had significant points to make, and I always enjoyed the writing style.

To give an indication of the magazine, I’m posting the entry for Ub Iwerks. About the only place to find back issues is on Ebay.

(Click on any image to enlarge and make it readable.)

The magazine was packed from inside cover to inside cover with such material. No ads.

Current magazines that I love are few, too. I have a hard time getting through a week without The New Yorker magazine. I also love Amid Amidi’s Animation Blast and wait patiently for each issue knowing there will be a payoff. Both thankfully still exist.

A Scanner Darkly opens on July 11. This is the animated film adapted by Richard Linklater from the Philip K. Dick story. It’s done in the same rotoscoped style (or whatever computer folk call it) used in Waking Life.

There’s an unusual side story to the opening of this film. I caught this article in Saturday’s NY Times: A Strange Loss of Face, More Than Embarrassing.

The “Face” in the headline is really the head of a robot designed by “computer whiz, David Hanson”. This was an android version of the late author, P.K. Dick. The robot would sit and answer questions in a presumably lifelike manner.

Hanson enroute to LA accidentally left the head on his plane in an American Tourister rollaway bag. When he called the airline, they’d located the head, put the bag in a box (so they said) and shipped it to the owner. Unfortunately, the head never arrived .

Gone was the interview between Letterman and the robot-P.K. Dick. Gone were the personal appearances. How did it affect the publicity plan for A Scanner Darkly? My favorite line in the article comes at the end. A studio exec said, “He was perfect for the film. Now he’s disappeared — and that’s perfect for the film too.”
(The robot-head.)

Real life.

- Mark Kennedy has been posting some beautiful thumbnails by Bill Peet on his blog, Temple of the Seven Golden Camels. These drawings from Sword In The Stone are an inspiration. By the way, if you don’t own Bill Peet’s autobiography, you’re missing out on one of the great books available.