Michael Sporn Animation – Splog

- Back in the late ’70s, there was a local newspaper that competed with the Village Voice for the alternative audience. The Soho News was smaller and thinner, but had its own treasures. Some good writing and listings, and many excellent alternative comic strips. (Bill Plympton had a weekly strip in this paper before he started animating.)

I fell in love with one comic strip called Gertrude’s Follies to the point where I waited each week for the new issue and the new strip to hit to market. It was about Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas and all the crazies that came into their lives – particularly Picasso, Hemingway and other iconic art types. It didn’t matter that Matisse and Capote didn’t meet; they were both available for the strip – as was everyone else.

Finally, after enjoying it for so long, I decided to locate the cartoonist behind it, and see whether he was interested in developing a storyboard and script for a feature. Maybe we could get some low-budget financing.

Tom Hachtman was the cartoonist, and he was a brilliant artist. His wife, Joey Epstein, was another fine artist. The two entered my life at this point, and some interesting things developed.

Gertrude’s Follies was an ongoing project. Tom worked with Maxine Fisher, who has been my writing partner through all the years of my studio. The two of them developed a couple of themes from the mass of strips that had been done and started to weave a storyboard. Tom left 4 or 5 panels of each 6 panel page empty, and I constructed and reconstructed story around them. Sometimes I would draw more material, sometimes I would take some away. It was real fun.

The Soho News folded, and no one really picked up the strip. It ran for a short time in The Advocate. Tom was able to publish a collected book (see the cover above.) You can still locate a rare copy on line.

Some newer, color copies of the strip can be found on line here.
Tom also does some political cartoons for the site here.

The movie never went into production. I couldn’t raise the funds – my inexperience. We did make one short segment – a two minute piece that was the most hilarious strip. Sheldon Cohen, an animator I met at the Ottawa 76 festival, came to NY when I offered him a job on Raggedy Ann. Sheldon, ultimately, did a number of films for the National Film Board which you can watch on-line if you click on his name.

Sheldon animated this particularly funny strip. It took a while for him to animate it, and by the time he was finished, the feature had died and I had lost some interest. Years later I inked and painted it and had it shot. The short piece was never finished, though I still think about doing that.

Tom also recently gave me a funny strip about Pablo Picasso sculpture for which I’ve finished a storyboard and animatic. Hopefully, I’ll get the energy to animate it.

Aside from Gertrude, both Tom & Joey worked on a number of my films and still infrequently do. The two have painted many murals on the Jersey Coast, where they currently live. Tom has been a political cartoonist for the NY Daily News, has done lots of airbrush work for Bob Blechman when the Ink Tank was in operation. He also has done quite a few cartoons for The New Yorker magazine.

Here are a few of the strips to give you the flavor. Perhaps next week I’ll give a sample of our storyboard, comparing it with some of the actual strips. Enjoy.

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(Click on any image to enlarge so that you can read the strips.)

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– The current issue of The New Yorker, the Cartoon Issue (Nov. 27) features four different covers by Chris Ware. See the covers here.

Each image depicts a Thanksgiving scene, two of them are set in 1942 and two in 2006. The stories in these images become intertwined in a comic strip that appears on the magazine’s Web site.

It is the first time The New Yorker has published four covers at once on the newsstand. Mr. Ware is a graphic novelist whose “Acme Novelty Library” series and “Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth,” display a wry sense of humor and fine draftsmanship.

He had a solo show at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago this past summer.

You’ll remember that for Sept 11th edition, The New Yorker published an issue with two versions of the same cover.

You can also listen to illustrator, Chris Ware, discuss the covers here.

- Also in the magazine and on-line is Seymour Hersh‘s article on the Bush administration’s next moves. The Next Act. (Iran, anyone?) Worth reading. The administration is already denying the contents of this article, so you know it’s true.

- Back in October, I posted a lecture by Phil Dike on my site. Two of the pages were damaged.

Now, Hans Perk on his site A Film LA has posted those two pages corrected. What a resource Hans offers us!
Thank you, Hans. For the first time I can read the entire lecture.

- A note of thanks to Jake Friedman, who chose to interview me for the current ASIFA-East bulletin (found on-line here or here). Jake did a good last-minute job of editing a very long, rambling interview into something readable.

And then having finished the interview, he continues to promote it here. Thanks, Jake.

Jake also has a lot of other interviews & articles available on his site. While there, check out his film work.

– In a bit of self-promotion, let me point out another award won by my film, The Man Who Walked Between The Towers. Best 2D film at the 2D or Not 2D Festival run by animator, Tony White. This was the first version of this festival, and I’m pleased about taking home the first “Golden Pencil” award. (Or at least Tony promised to send it on to me.) I’ll display it proudly.

- I’d like to post a piece by James Stevenson that 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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(Click any image to enlarge.)

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- I’m a fan of the New Yorker magazine and many of its cartoonists.
Over the years, there have been three who have resonated most sharply with me: Steinberg, Steig and Stevenson. I’ve always felt that these three guys have gone beyond cartoonist to fine artist.

I’ve done films adapted from the work of William Steig and James Stevenson and love both equally.

Stevenson is less abstract than either Steinberg or Steig. He’s as much a journalist as an illustrator and has written excellent pieces for both the New Yorker and the New York Times, as well.

I love his many children’s books, but the two books which were compiled from his odd cartoon/essays are among the treasures I own and cherish most. Something Marvelous Is About To Happen and Uptown Local Downtown Express can only be called gems.
(Click on any image to enlarge.)

The page above illustrates “The Case Against Prof. Lamberti,” an attempt to disprove the existence of Prof. Lamberti.
Below is a sample essay, I found in Uptown Local, which shows an animator’s sense of observation in depicting body language. This one seems appropriate today since it’s raining in NYC as I write this.

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- For those of you who haven’t found it yet, may I suggest you go to the Op Ed section of the NYTimes where Maira Kalman has her column, The Principles of Uncertainty. It’s an extended, illustrated observation that is well worth visiting.

- Also in today’s NYTimes is a Op Art piece by Jules Feiffer. Another excellent piece from this great artist.

– I’m a bit in love with and a bit angry at John Mavroudis & Owen Smith‘s New Yorker cover(s) for Monday, September 11th.

There are two covers: Philippe Petit walks against a white BG. No tightrope, no World Trade Center. Nothing. This white one is the real cover.

That overlays pg. 3 of the magazine – the painted version. Philippe Petit walks on air with a lot of buildings below him and the residue of 2006′s marker where the Twin Towers stood. No tightrope, no World Trade Center, a cityscape from the air.

It’s a great idea. Philippe Petit walking on nothing – the buildings are gone. There’s a bit of shock factor there. It strikes hard, especially for New Yorkers who lived through the tightrope walk and then experienced the collapse of the buildings.

Now, of course, I’ve done a film version of Mordicai Gerstein’s book, The Man Who Walked Between The Towers. And I have a real attachment to that book and the art from it. We used it to shape a film I’m proud to have made.

Seeing these covers, after getting over my first surprise at the jolt of the political picture it painted, I wondered if the artists had seen the book or the film. I had to believe they had. It’s a good idea, but it looks so much like Mordicai’s work.

Yet, it is such a good idea – how mad can you get!

I think Art Spiegelman‘s cover back in September 2001 was much stronger.
It was the one piece of art that I’d seen which really captured the mood of the city. At first, it looked like an all black cover, but looking long enough, you slowly realized the twin towers were there – black on black. It was stunning.

The feeling could never be captured on a computer. (Go here to see an online version using blue & black inks. It doesn’t work.) You had to have the hard copy in your hands with the ink almost blending into the reflection of the black cover.

It was so appropriate. The emotions at the time were raw; the subject was sensitive; the cover had to have the jolt and the sensitivity. Spiegelman captured it exactly. It was the feeling we all were having. He expressed it and drew us into his fold. A perfect political cartoon. He had something to say; said it, and gave us a flag to salute.

This year’s cover is appropriate for 2006, but I have to wonder if Mordicai Gerstein’s book didn’t influence them.

(By the way, there’s a good conversation in the online edition with some of the New Yorker’s political editors including Seymour M. Hersh, Jon Lee Anderson, and George Packer discussing the aftermath of the event.)

Hendrik Hertzberg also has an excellent commentary in this issue on the event and its residue and exploitation.

- Speaking of exploitation, I have to get a tad political. On Sunday and Monday, ABC-TV will broadcast a two part program entitled The Path to 9/11. This program was created by right-wing conservative writers and relies on the old GOP playbook of using terrorism to scare Americans. It is out-and-out exploitation of an important event, and ABC has become their mouthpiece. I’d encourage anyone out there to voice against it and preserve the 9/11 event as a non-political event. Go here to sign a petition to Robert Iger, the head of Disney which controls ABC.

– Time to perk things up. Let’s draw faces!

These pages are taken from a book I have, published in 1940, called How To Make Faces. The author, Frank Webb, was a comic strip cartoonist who drew the cartoon panel ‘Kartoon Kollege’ from 1940-41. When this strip ended, he created the comic strip ‘Raising Kane’, which ran until 1944.

Other than that, I haven’t been able to learn much about him. I find it interesting that he signed each page of his book almost as if he expected it to run in a newspaper on a daily, one-page-at-a-time basis.

His approach was to use the alphabet and build up from there. When he runs out of the alphabet, he just turns to shapes then just asks you to copy his picture or finish the page.

Every other page is a blank “Practice Page.” A nice way to fill up a book.
(Click on any image to enlarge)

-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.

– 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.

Fantasy fans are in mourning today with the news of the death of Tim Hildebrandt. He was, of course, one the famous Hildebrandt Brothers whose artwork was at the peak of fantasy illustrators.

Here is his official obit:

From the Hildebrandt Family – June 11th, 2006

Tim Hildebrandt has passed away. And, with him, so has an era.

Tim, 67, died today from complications due to diabetes. He is survived by his mother Germaine, twin brother Greg, sister Janie, wife Rita, son Charles, nieces Mary and Laura, and nephew Gregory.

Tim was an otherworldly artist. For 47 years, his captivating work fostered the dreams and fantasies of millions of fans, young and old.

Best known as part of the Brothers Hildebrandt team, Tim’s career transported him to—and through—many worlds. Technically speaking, Tim and Greg worked side by side. But their work together on such masterpieces as the original Star Wars poster and 70’s J.R.R. Tolkien calendars proved that their individual talents could coalesce seamlessly into one.

Tim was a wonderful man with a great sense of humor. While he loved and appreciated all forms of art, he had a particular passion for animation and illustration.

While he will be greatly missed by all of us who love him, we take comfort knowing that he will live on in the art that he created.

Anyone wishing to express condolences to Greg Hildebrandt can send them to:

The Spiderwebart Gallery,
5 Waterloo Rd.
Hopatcong, NJ 07843

Looking at a number of sites out there, I found a couple of postings I thought worth sharing.

- Who is the boy that is filled with pep and joy?
He’s Rootie Kazootie.
Who is the lad who’ll make you feel so glad?
He’s Rootie Kazootie.

The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive gives us a complete look at the Little Golden Book, Rootie Kazootie Joins The Circus.

For those of you who don’t know, or remember, Rootie Kazootie was a puppet who, with his sister Polka Dottie worked to foil the evil plots of Poison Zoomac on early 1950′s television. The puppet show was a craze that took hold of the entire country for a few years. Other similar shows included Bob Clampett’s Time for Beany, and Burr Tillstrom’s Kukla, Fran and Ollie. There was also the original superstar puppet show: Howdy Doody.

So devoted were many of the Baby Boomer fans, that all of these shows still have active websites. It’s hard to think of them as cancelled. (Personally I think these shows were a diversion; a way of avoiding the ills foisted on the unsuspecting Americans fighting off the dull McCarthy-HUAC hearings. Oh, and fighting communists, too.)

How the dim, gray, constricted show, Rootie Kazootie, was able to inspire this brilliantly colored gem of a book is something only Mel Crawford can tell us. He was the illustrator of the book who now works out of New England. An ex-Disney artist, Mr. Crawford has a number of other successful books to his credit including Gerald McBoing Boing.

- Emru Townsend at FPS has an insightful commentary on the presentation and marketing of animated features in our dull, gray, constricted world.

- There’s a short interview with the Quay Brothers at AWN.com which I found interesting.

- The publicity machine’s in play. Yet another article about the Robert Smigel‘s animated pieces for Saturday Night Live. This one appeared in yesterday’s NYTimes. At least the two studios that do the work got mentioned: J.J. Sedelmaier and Wachtenheim/Marianetti.

- At Jim Hill Media, we learn why Gnomeo & Juliet has moved off the defunkt list of Disney animated features (canned by John Lasseter and other incoming execs) and onto the Miramax release plans. Move over Hoodwinked II & III.

Jim Hill also lets us in on a plan expected for the distribution of Song of the South to computer/download fodder in a couple of years. Of course, we’d heard not-too-long-ago that this feature would be revived for dvd release, that is until Robert Iger came into power and canned it. The poor little feature-that-could has been the story of many soap-opera endings over a short time. Too bad I didn’t buy a vhs copy when it was in release years ago. (Though there are enough sites on google that’ll lead you to relatively inexpensive, illegal dvd’s.)