Goofy's Back!

The beginning of this blog was a sad time for traditional hand drawn animation at Disney. I had just learned that their animation studio at MGM Orlando had closed and everything was moving to 3D. However, recently I had a chance to actually see a new cartoon in the theater, starring their best and most cartoony character - the Goof!

http://mag.awn.com/index.php?ltype=pageone&article_no=3454&page=1
(follow the link and click the cartoon of Goofy for a clip)

What a great way to start off a new shorts program. If only other studios would follow their lead (hint Warner Bros) and revive the concept of cartoons on the big screen, going out to the movies could be extra fun. Ironically, the subject of the cartoon was hooking up a home theater.

If they're still out, go see National Treasure 2 or Enchanted for a chance to see this funny short.

Night of the Living Chiller

Fans of Chiller Theater will recognize some of these faces. I did videos for both political parties. The hero in both is John Buriak, creator of the great website where I found the pics: Chiller Theater Memories See if you can identify the actors reprising their roles from the original movie.



Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!

Red Hot Nutz is Up!

FINALLY, the video is finished and posted. Many thanks to fellow animator Vincent Rogers, director Lemeul Muniz of Moon and Stars Studio Oh yea, and Uncle Paulie. More info on the animation process coming soon.

TriumphantI drew these guys a year earlier when they sang at my Mom's church but this time I had forgotten my trusty Flair napkin pen. Fortunately, I had an Ebony pencil and got a chance to do some shading. Next time maybe I'll break out my waterpen and capture them in color.

Anyway, they were great ... though I'm still looking for my art on their website: www.triumphantquartet.com/

John Johns Mural

Back in December, I posted a remembrance of my favorite super human caricaturist, John Johns: http://cartoonsteve.blogspot.com/2006/12/remembering-jj-one-year-ago-today-my.html

His bio copy, from a 1978 Fantrasy Convention program, revealed that he had painted a mural in the "2nd Federal Bank" building in Monroeville, PA. I did some checking and learned that the building (now National City Bank) and mural still exist - in an employee conference room.

Not having a chance to easily view it in person, I sought out the help of Louis Chandler, archivist from the Monroeville Historical Society. www.monroevillehistorical.org
Louis wrote the bank and was given clearance to take some detailed photos of the mural which he described at about 5'x15'.


Thanks for your help, Louis!
Now here a few more of those great TV Graphic covers:

I remember Mr. Johns displaying some of these at his caricature workshops back at AIP: Said that his rendering method was dictated by the number of days notice he would get from the editor. Some of the most detailed paintings were known as "five day" jobs, while others would be done in a just a few days or less. Notice the brilliant way he effectively uses color (or lack of it) to help capture the mood and personality of Hitchcock.

I see theres a John A. Johns Retrospective exhibit at the Art Institute gallery through August 15. More info to come.

Bo Diddley Get Well Card

Bo Diddly has been going through a tough time. Earlier in May, he was hospitalized after a stroke affected his speech. The latest is that he is recovering - although still not able to speak, he hums while listening to country music. I saw Bo perform in Murrells Inlet, SC about a decade ago and wanted to send him a card of support.

Originally I wanted to do it more cartoony, but decided to challenge myself and basically try to remember how to use those pesky gouache paints. Not my forte as much as the loose, spontaneous napkin cartoons but, hey, its the thought that counts, right?

I recall struggling with that stuff back in architectural rendering class in art school. We would have to mix all these different values and eyedrop the paint in a ruling pen, just to painstakingly make shadows on endless rows of windows. It was maddening... until I learned to cheat by using a gray marker. That was almost as sly as getting the cutest girl in class... to do my perspective homework. Oops, this post was supposed to be about Bo.

Anyway, I wrote David, his webmaster about where to send get well wishes:

Please write to him in c/o his Management at the following address:

Bo Diddley
c/o Talent Consultants International Ltd.
105 Shad Row, 2nd Floor
Piermont, NY 10968

Thank you so much.

Regards,

David Blakey, Webmaster,
BO DIDDLEY-The Originator
http://members.tripod.com/~Originator_2/index.html
A Celebration of his unique contribution to Popular Music.

Maybe you'd like to send him something too. Get better Bo!

Remembering JJ

One year ago today, my mentor, John Johns passed away. With much awe and respect, I'd like to display some of his great color work from the Pittsburgh Press TV Graphic covers.


These date back to the early 60s and the bio pic above from the late 70's when I knew him.

Later I'll post his work from Mad - and other samples as I find them. I'm blessed to have learned many things from JJ and was heavily influenced since my art school days. Most admirable was his willingness to share his talent with others of all ages. I'll relate a story about a five hour drive Mr. Johns and I took to a caricature job and how the experience and long talk still inspires me to this day.


Happy New Year!

Young and Cute ...

... versus wrinkled and fun.

This fall I had the pleasure of drawing at the Mannington Senior Center and was able to bask in the glory of great elderly faces. Not only the wrinkles were fun to explore, but the stories the oldsters told... the short snippets of life experience they shared were what made it much more than a mere drawing assignment.

People often comment how I'm able to draw the young "cutsie" faces with such ease - and they are fun as well - but sometimes just that - more easy than fun... non challenging. At the senior center I noticed the contrast and effect of drawing seasoned adults and how quickly I peaked and "hit the wall" becoming noticably fatigued - compared to the marathon sessions at festivals when I've been able to draw toddlers for countless hours on end.

So I must conclude that it's either drawing those extra lines and wrinkles that can tire me out... or is it the extra fun I have drawing them? On the other hand, there is something to be said for drawing a variety of ethnic faces... but that's another post.


Pictured are cute kids at the Mountain State Forest Festival and a sketch of the legendary Paul Long from WTAE.

John Johns's Birthday

I thought this would be a fitting day to share his work with the world. Currently in the process of collecting some of his masterful color caricatures from the Pittsburgh Press TV Graphic covers (which I'll post soon). There will also be book illustrations and a mural for a Monroeville, PA bank. More samples, info and progress of my search may be found Here.

WVU Hospital Picnic

Arthur's Missing Pal?
Good question... Oh heres one...
getting a caricature at the Shadyside, PA
Giant Eagle Market District. and heres the famous aardvark himself, making a personal appearance
to promote his new film for Lionsgate Home Video:

Yet more roughs

Dancing Bush
The text link below will be the link to the color Flash animated file (which runs smoother than the slower animated gifs and allow you to zoom in with the right mouse button). http://cartoons.50webs.com/bush2.html

New (old) roughs!

Holy Hot Nuts! Here are some rough concept sketches and thumbnails... Just scroll down for more and click the images for a larger view.







The "Byrd" is a planned interactive animation. Users will be able to click and paint the egg as Byrd makes cantankerous comments.

Disney Abandons Traditional Animation??

That statement seems unthinkable but after reading the inside story, I can only conclude that it's already happened! The only hope would be to remove Michael Eisner and do a complete 180 of his policies - i.e. rehire an army of laid off artists. Read on and you'll see what I mean.

Last year, Disney/Pixar released "The Incredibles", a great action/adventure comedy that was originally planned as a 2d animated film. Not being a huge fan of 3d computer animation, I didn't run to see it right away - but when I finally did - WOW! It was terrific! I later read of the many traditional 2d techniques that were applied to the characters' creation and movements. The film even included a cameo of Frank & Ollie, legendary animators and writers of one of my favorite books: Illusion of Life - a virtual textbook of Disney animation.

The Incredibles simply looked terrific in 3d and most is certainly earning tons of money, just like it's predicesors Finding Nemo and Shrek I & II. Thus bringing us to the sole motivating factor behind Disney's decisions: money.

Two years after the fact, it finally came to my attention that they had closed the doors on their Orlando Animation Unit at MGM as well as their Feature Animation departments in Burbank and all over the world!

Ever since the Florida studio first opened back in 1989, I had wondered what it would be like working on staff as a feature animator - but then imagined it might be somewhat awkward, considering that the artists were continually being watched by tourists behind the glass at the theme park. That would have been a minor concern as I later learned.

I finally had a chance to tour the studio in 2002 and was impressed by the quality of work being produced there (Lilo and Stitch, Brother Bear). Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad being an artist in a fishbowl afterall. It was however noticably quiet, with only a few artists walking about in the mostly empty studio. The tour guides simply said that most of the staff was on "hiatus". I later learned the true story of what had been happening there with nearly 260 artists put out to pasture in favor of cutting back on feature production.

It seems that the overwhelming success of 3d computer animated features caused the Disney suits to rethink their commitment to the standard medium. A handful of the misplaced Orlando artists were moved to other studios. Some have been incorporated into 3d projects but most were just plain sent packing.

During my visit, I spent a little time talking to one of the artists in the cel-art shop as he drew Jessica Rabbit for me. I asked if he'd ever considered working in the animation department. He recoiled with a decisive "No way!" followed by horror stories of Eisner and his massive layoffs. No wonder Walt's nephew Roy quit in protest. What the Mouse corporation intends to do from now on remains to be seen but the sad, undeniable truth is that there are currently no 2d animated features in production ... or even being planned.

Recently during the Rose Bowl, a commercial aired featuring 3d versions of all the classic Disney characters (Mickey, Goofy Donald, Dumbo) making their way to Disneyland for its 50th Anniversary Celebration. It looked ok but I couldn't help but shudder as I watched the blobby floating genie and comtemplated the evident death of Disney cel animation as we know it.

Now you can imagine how I choose to answer when I'm asked that age old question: "Why don't you work for Disney?" -SJS

Here, are some links so you can read the whole story for yourself:
http://www.jimhillmedia.com/mb/articles/showarticle.php?ID=214
http://www.savedisney.com/archives/ani_archive.asp
http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/571/571987p1.html?fromint=1
http://www.dreamonsillydreamer.com/

What I learned at the Cartoon Workshop:

This month's workshops have wrapped up and now its time to post some reflections. The students were great and work was inspiring. Some of them even chose to return for all the classes. The first weekend's sessions introduced basic cartooning and the second delt with comic strips, a more specialized subject that may be refined or reserved for elective projects or promoted to libraries or art schools in the future. The list below, derived from personal notes, will hopefully contain some useful tidbits for artists, teachers or anyone having to give a presentation or promote group participation and collaboration.

1: Worksheets!!!
Have lots of worksheets on hand to guide along the script and avoid getting off track, out of sync with what needs to be learned. Mini-assignments help guide anarchistic minds that would otherwise disrupt the class with confusion. Giving everyone something to ponder provides nice quiet pauses for soaking in new ideas.

2. Questions:
Find new ways and fun exercises to encourage participation and rewards for creative thinking and asking good questions. When interruptions and pointless questions do come up, take time to turn things around by asking them back in different ways, one-on-on. Use parables: "When you first learned to tie your shoes..." Identify and nurture the most important renaissance word: Attitude: "Your brilliant super-positive mental attitude is very important when you are learning a new skill in life, especially drawing in 3-D!" -Mark Kistler.

3: Visual stimuli vs visual distraction:
Have samples and reference nearby but choose what you let students see and avoid displaying too quickly. Keep some items out of sight until needed. "Can I see that Spiderman Comic?, Spongebob toy, etc."

4: Video:
Using video is fine but don't allow it to be the guide. Mute sound, narrate and follow your own script. Have it edited and timed. Do "shape search sketches" or pause and have a specific exercise for each point.

5. Breathers and Self Animation:
Sometimes you need to enforce breaks. "Stand up and stretch.." Consider a "walk and draw" or "cartoon scavenger hunt" exercise where everyone must get up and move around the room. (small notepad or sketchbook required) Demonstrate this early by walking around as everyone does shape warm ups.

Artistic concentration resists being broken but is easy to regain if planned and done correctly. Have a short exercise to get everyone back in gear and pumped. The brain-toss word exercise is a good example: students toss a beanbag to each other and speak out a random word when caught - each word is written in the worksheet for story inspiration.

6. Accomplishment:
Self satisfaction comes through attainable assignments. Get students to create their own reference (action page, model sheet, splash panel, mini comic) step-by-step, all the while making something they'll want to keep. Start small and they may work their way up to something really worthwhile.

Walt Disney wrote this about animation in 1940 and it still rings true today:

"How very fortunate we are as artists to have a medium whos potential limits are still far off in the future; a medium of entertainment where, theoretically at least, the only limit is the imagination of the artist. As far as the past, the only important conclusion that I can draw from it is that the public will pay for quality, and the unseen future will take care of itself if one just keeps growing up a little every day."

John K's Jetsons, Cartoon Research and Animation Blast

While watching John Kricfalusi's version of the Jetsons on Cartoon Network (very twisted), I noticed a listing of 'Flash Animators' in the credits and decided to do a name search and found a couple of great and huge animation sites.

Cartoon Research is put together by Jerry Beck, author of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies : A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. The site is packed with fascinating cartoon history and current animation news.

Animation Blast is a blog-style magazine site with some good insider info and great interviews. Caution: be prepared to get out the Visine and spend countless hours delving into these sites.

Pluto and The Big Cartoon Database.

When I was 5 years old, Pluto was my favorite cartoon character. This memory came to me last Saturday when I took the neighbor kids to see Snow Dogs. We heard they were showing a classic Pluto short before Peter Pan, so we decided to sneak over and watch Pluto's Fledgeling. It was the first time since I was little that I had seen a Disney short on the big screen.

A few years back, the cable channel Toon Disney debuted. Wow, 24 hours of classic shorts and features, right? Wrong. To catch any, you have to be up at 6am or midnight and watch Quack Attack - a half hour containing 3 shorts - surrounded by hours of their standard programming: Pepper Ann, Care Bears, Doug.. uugh! (However Teacher's Pet is funny and worth watching at 4 and 10pm).

Back to the classics: I decided to do a google search on one of the Pluto shorts and came across this site: The Big Cartoon Database complete with director, voice talent and animator credits. It makes you wonder how many of the old timers are still alive.