Michael Sporn Animation – Splog

- Checking in with Steve Fisher, here are some of the recent photos he’s taken around New York.

Starting with the NY Botanical Garden in the Bronx:

Right out of Disney’s Alice in Wonderland.

The Easter Lily

The Easter Egg Tree

To remind us of the hard winter we’ve just gone through, the local trees haven’t bloomed as yet.

Then there are these interior images of the former Bowery Savings Bank on 42nd Street.

Then a bit down the block is Grand Central Station – inside and out.

Outside

Inside

Finally there’s this still life with color.

- Here’s a little tidbit I thought I’d share. It’s the top of a film can for a 16mm print of a William Tytla Productions studio commercial: Hostess Twinkies: Knight

side view of the can top.

Overhead view, including the studio address:
40 West 57th Street, NYC 19, NY

Back in the day (before video) 16mm prints of commercials were sent out to the tv stations to air the commercials. All studios had hundreds of these film cans in storage.

This artifact was given to me by John Canemaker.

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- Bill Plympton will have a book signing/party in New York for his book Independently Animated: Bill Plympton the Life and Art of the King of Independent Animation. The event will take place on April 27th at the NY Society of Illustrators, 128 East 63rd Street. There will be live music by Nicole Renaud, world premiere short films, and an illustrated talk by Bill Plympton.

TICKETS
$15 non-members, $10 members, $7 students
RSVP@societyillustrators.org or
call Katie Blocher 212 838 2560

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- And speaking of the Society of Illustrators, they’re currently hosting an exhibit retrospective of the art of R. Crumb. Entitled Lines Drawn on Paper, the show can be seen for free at 128 East 63rd Street and will run through April 30th.

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- John Schnall (Quality Schnallity) has another wonderful video on his site. I Trust You. Take a short trip via click and watch it; the man has a unique sense of humor.
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- Emily Hubley will host a showing of some of her films this coming Monday eventing, April 11th, at the Big Screen Project, 6th Avenue between 29th and 30th. (Look for the “Food Parc” on the west side of the street. Enter and keep going back until you hit the bar/with seats. Look up and outside.)
Admission is free.

The films to be screened include:
One Self: Fish/Girl
Enough
The Tower (made w Georgia Hubley)
Set Set Spike
Delivery Man
Octave
Blake Ball

The films of Jeff Scher will follow at the same venue, same location on Wednesday, April 13th.

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The ASIFA East Animation Festival will be held on Sunday, May 1st.
Tishman Auditorium, The New School. 66 West 12th Street.

As always, admission is free. So is the party after the show.

On posting some of Grant Wood‘s illustrations last weeik, Eddie Fitzgerald commented that:”‘Death on the Ridge Road’ might have been the inspiration for one of my favotite Bill Peet illustrations in (I think) ‘Chester the Worldly Pig.’” Bill Peckmann pointed out that the book is probably not “Chester the Worldly Pig” but “Jennifer and Josephine.”

Bill’s scanned a good half of the book’s illustrations leading up to the point where the Wood painting and the Peet illustrations come close to matching. It’s good to see what was so obviously Peet’s influences.

Grant Wood’s DEATH ON RIDGE ROW.

Cover of the book.

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Thanks go to Eddie Fitzgerald for the reference in the comments.
A bigger thanks goes out to Bill Peckmann for the search and the scans.

- – Here’s the last half of Whitney Darrow Jr.s book, The Unidentified Flying Elephant. (To view Part 1, go here.)

The book is a gem from Darrow who was a longtime cartoonist for The New Yorker Magazine. Perhaps in an upcoming post I should showcase some of those cartoons. I have a number of them lying about the studio. His brilliant laine work makes it a learning lesson just to view them.

This book comes courtesy of Bill Peckmann, and I’m most grateful.

Hope you enjoy it.

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As a bonus, here’s a clip from The Saturday Evening Post circa 1960.
Part of an ad done by Whitney Darrow Jr. for an insurance company.

- On to the next section of the Dancing Llama animated by Milt Kahl for Saludos Amigos. Much has been made of this comedic scene by Milt Kahl, who was known for his animation of dramatic characters (Prince Philip, Peter Pan, Alice etc.). Kahl says in the recently posted interview with Mike Barrier that he was “outmaneuvered”.

Barrier: In your own animation, you frequently were given difficult human characters, as opposed to the funnier characters …

Kahl: Yes, I was. I got stuck with Pinocchio—well, I don’t feel I got stuck with Pinocchio, because it was an opportunity for me. But on Alice in Wonderland, who did Alice; on Peter Pan, who did Peter Pan and Wendy and John and Michael. I don’t think it was because I was better at doing that sort of thing, I think it was because I was outmaneuvered. I would have given my eye teeth to do the Cheshire Cat or the Queen of Hearts …

Barrier: … the mad tea party …

Kahl: Well, yes. But some of these things were more fun, let’s put it that way. I didn’t mind Alice—I wouldn’t have minded Alice so much if I could have done all of Alice. But I didn’t, and there’s so much terrible stuff in the picture, where live-action was used and it wasn’t used well. Some of these people weren’t even up to doing stuff from live action.

It’s obvious Kahl was having fun when he did this character. The first drawing here is the last drawing given on Part 3.

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The following is a QT of this part of the scene with all the drawings posted here.

Thanks to John Canemaker for the loan of the scene to post.

- Bill Peet‘s Capyboppy was published in 1962. It’s one of the best examples of his book illustrations. The images are all B&W and are strong drawings, all.

The book feels like a close relative to Bill Peet: An Autobiography. (For those of you in animation, you ought to have a copy of this book on your bookshelf. It’s one of the finest biographical books by an animation veteran, and it’s completely illustrated by him. It’s an original.)

Once again, I don’t post Peet’s writing; you’ll have to get the book for that (and it’s worth it.) I do, however, summarize the story under each illustration so that they make sense.

To view the other parts of this post: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

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We worried about Capy’s depression. He just sat there
doing nothing and couldn’t be pulled out of it.

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The same continued the next day. Steve was already there feeding him and
giving him water, but Capy didn’t move. We only knew he was alive by the breathing.

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On the second morning, things remained the same. we heard from Tommy.
His head was better and he wasn’t mad at Capy for hurting him.

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By the third day, Capy had gotten better. He sat up and was
drinking water and eating a little food. He seemed to be happy.

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Meanwhile Tommy had become a local celebrity. His scar from Capy’s scratch
was a hit and every kid wanted to see. We were afraid other children would
want to be scratched by Capy and we began to think how we could avoid this.

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I suggested donating Capy to the Los Angeles Zoo.
Margaret said that’d be like sending him to prison. Why not send him
back to South America with a note that he should be released into the jungle?
Then she suggested we bring him there, ourselves.

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We agreed. But we worried that Capy wouldn’t survive in the jungle.
He’d want to play with the other animals, and they’d want to eat him.

At this point, Bill, our son, returned from Mexico.

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We discussed the problem with Bill and we tossed and turned
over the decision for many days. Finally, one day Bill picked up
Capy and put him into his jeep. He drove him to the Zoo.

Margaret cried, but aI reminded her that the Zoo was only a half-hour’s
drive away and we could visit him any time we wanted.
On the third visit, Capy shared his pen with a pair of huge hippos.

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The zookeeper told us it wasn’t a mistake, and
Capy even rode around on their backs.

We watched as Capy and a hippo fought over some grass to eat.
The hippo won and we worried that Capy would go hungry in this pen.

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So we sat across the way on a park bench until feeding time.
The hippos were playing in the pool and Capy was having a feast.
We should have known the ultimately Capy would have his way.
If anyone was to have his way in the pen it’d be our Capyboppy.

This posting concludes Capyboppy. Many thanks to Bill Peckmann for introducing the book to me and sharing it with all of us.

-In 1967, there was the Montreal World Exhibition of Animation Cinema. This was an historic event that brought together many of the world’s most famous animators. Ararwe occasion when Walt Disney and Max Fleischer would attend the same event. You can read more about it here.

At this event, an important document was sold. It was a large poster delineating the early history of animation through the Golden Age. The chart was developed by André Martin. Anyone who was anyone, back then, owned this poster. Mike Barrier and I recently discussed how long this thing lasted in our hands. Mine was taped to a wall, then moved, then moved again. Bit by bit, move by move, it started to tear and crumble. Eventually it was only a piece of its former self, and it didn’t make it through another move.

Recently, Tissa David gave me a bunch of posters she had in a tube in her apartment. Believe it or not, this poster was among them; so I decided to post the poster. The trouble is it’s so big – roughly 36×48. It meant scanning it in many many parts and trying to reassemble it in photoshop. It took a lot of time and had to be adjusted a lot in photoshop. Even sizing it so it could be posted was a pain in the butt. However, here it is in two versions.

- I scanned it full size for you to see.
- Then I scanned 8 parts of it so they would be larger and more readable in the thumbnail.
These 8 thumbnails are still small, but I couldn’t get them much larger without going to 12 or 16 parts. You’d lose all sense of continuity the original chart has.

You’ll have to spend some time with it if you want to get through it carefully, but you’re welcome to it. I hope my effort was worth the trouble.

Full sized, click it to enlarge and read it as is.

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Upper left – part A

B
Upper Middle left – part
(There’s slight overlap to help you get continuity.)

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Upper Middle Right – part C

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Upper Right – Part D

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Lower Left – part E

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Lower Middle Left – part F

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Lower Middle Right – part G

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Lower Right – part H

- I was recently thinking about Grant Wood. This came out of my reading the biography of Maurice Noble by Robert McKinnon. And from Maurice Noble I thought about Paul Julian‘s great background work. Julian, and for that matter Noble, both look as though they were greatly influenced by Grant Wood..

So it was a surprise to receive a number of scans of work by Grant Wood from Bill Peckmann. We seem to be on the same wavelength. So I’m devoting today’s blog to this book of images from Wood. I think he influenced quite a few of the animation designers of the 40s and 50s.

The cover of the catalogue.

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Spring Turning 1936

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New Road 1939

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Haying 1939

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Stone City, Iowa 1930

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Death on the Ridge Road 1935

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Midnight Ride of Paul Revere 1931

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Fall Plowing 1931

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Autumn Oaks 1932

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The birthplace of Herbert Hoover 1931

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Iowa Landscape 1941

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Plowing 1936

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American Gothic 1936

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Self Portrait 1932

Many thanks to Bill Peckmann for sharing these works with us.

The Dirty Birdy

- Last night was John Dilworth night at the Big Screen Project. As you can see from the above photo, this is a 30 foot video screen plunked mid block off Sixth Avenue between 29th & 30th Streets. John invited lots of friends for the two screenings. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate, and we had a cool, windy, rainy night.

The event, however, wasn’t spoiled because there was an enclosure into the building, and we were able to look out at the monitor. They hand out closed circuit radios (with earplugs – you take home with you) to hear the sound track (in stereo) while watching from the warm comfort of the building. It’s a food court so there’s plenty of food to purchase or you can have a drink, since the area we watched from was a pub. It made for a fun and interesting experience.

The program was well organized and coordinated by Jaime Ekkens for Big Screen Project.

Looking out to the screen from the bar.

The films absolutely seemed to glow on the crystal clear monitor.

The Oscar nominated CHICKEN FROM OUTER SPACE.

There are plenty of other animators up this April to showcase their films. Go here to see the April schedule. Emily Hubley‘s films are up next on April 11th.

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- This past week I received a book in the mail, 100 Animated Feature Films. When the book arrived, I was so taken by the cover design (an image from Lotte Reiniger‘s Prince Achmed, the first full length animated feature) that I immediately opened and started into the book.

I was curious about the taste of the author, Andrew Osmond. Would it be another list that would be more studio oriented or more, perhaps, something a bit more siding with the Independent studio. Would his taste run more to the current films or the Golden Age? He’s written a number of articles about Satoshi Kon and Miyazaki for Britain’s The Guardian, so one has a good idea of his preferences.

In fact, I found myself pretty well pleased with a lot of the listings. It’s a bit more Anime than I would have gone toward, but I can easily understand the choice. However, there are many expected and deserved choices within the book. I’m glad to see Reininger’s Prince Achmed listed, as, of course, is Snow White. Other Disney titles include: Pinocchio, Bambi, Fantasia, Dumbo, Beauty and the Beast. There are also a bunch of Pixar films, some of which are: only one Toy Story (the original), The Incredibles, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo and Up.

Surprises were finding some titles such as:

The Thief and the Cobbler. The final film version of Richard Williams’ feature, on the market, is horrible. The one in the works for 30 years was visually stunning. This is listed here for what it might have been.
Sita Sings the Blues. This is the only Flash animated feature included. A truly solo work, Nina Paley, created a thinking film with a lot of glorious sections.
Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. This is a spin-off the television series, and doesn’t have the weight that any title in such a book deserves.
A Scanner Darkly. I might have chosen Waking Life over this title, but I suppose this has a more coherent story. Regardless, I’m glad to see one of Richard Linklater’s films included.
Avatar. Jim Cameron fought to make sure people didn’t consider this animation. I guess, he’s lost. Animation or Live Action, it’s not a very good film.
Both of Sylvain Chomet‘s films: The Illusionist and The Triplettes of Belleville. They both belong here.

Surprises not found in the book:

Gulliver’s Travels. Osmond includes Hoppity Goes to Town, but leaves Gulliver out. Excuse me, but Batman Beyond OVER the beautiful Fleischer gem? Something doesn’t smell so good.
Ratatouille. This is certainly one of the best of Pixar’s films. To include Finding Nemo and not this excellent feature by Brad Bird is just crazy. I suppose he had Bird’s The Incredibles and he wanted to write about Andrew Stanton.
And if you’re going to include films for the sake of the director, wouldn’t Chuck Jones‘ only feature, The Phantom Tollbooth, be included?
Neither UPA feature: Magoo’s 1001 Arabian Nights and Gay Purr-ee were both left out of the book. Given the heavy number of Japanese features, I would have found one to keep out to include a UPA example.

However despite any gripes, I have to say the book is solidly written and intelligently put together with a lot of thought going into the choices. It’s expected I’d have opposing thoughts on the titles included, but I admit to being intelligently challenged by the author. Andrew Osmond did a fine job, and the book is graphically attractive. I do wish, though, that the type were a bit larger. It looks like it’s about 8pt. and it’s too small for my aging eyes. The book was published by BFI Screen Guides.

The images above can be found in the book.
1) Animal Farm
2) 101 Dalmatians
3) The Yellow Submarine
4) Ivan and His Magic Pony
5) The Tale of the Fox

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I saw this film on line last Tuesday. Cartoon Brew posted it on Wedneday. If you saw it there, I’m pleased; if not this is for you. Matthias Hoegg‘s BAFTA nominated short, Thursday, can be seen online here. It’s an excellent film with a lot of the character necessarily developed through the animation. At the same website, there’s also an interview with Matthias about the making of the short. Take the 7 minutes to watch the film. A good use of cgi and 2D.

He’s represented by Beakus. Their site also showcases a number of his films.

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- Last week I posted samples from half of the Bill Peet books in Bill Peckmann‘s collection. Here, I give you a sampler of the other half. They add up to 26 books. Not bad considering 34 of them were published by Peet. This puts him just behind Maurice Sendak and Dr. Seuss as the third most prolific American children’s book author/illustrator.

As with the other Peet postings, I’ve eliminated the text from the illustrations. I hope this will encourage many of you to buy some of these books. Personally, I’d start with Bill Peet: An Autobiography.

Many thanks to Bill Peckmann, of course, for sharing.

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The Caboose Who Got Loose – 1971

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The Spooky Tail of Prewitt Peacock – 1973

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Merle the High Flying Squirrel – 1974

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The Gnats of Knotty Pine” – 1975

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Cyrus the Unsinkable Sea Serpent – 1975

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Big Bad Bruce – 1977

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Eli – 1978

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Cowardly Clyde – 1979

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No Such Things – 1983

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Pamela Camel – 1984

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The Kweeks of Kookatumdee – 1985

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Bill Peet – An Autobiography – 1989 #1

Bill Peet – An Autobiography – 1989 #2

Bill Peet – An Autobiography – 1989 #3

Bill Peet – An Autobiography – 1989 #4

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Cock-a-doodle Dudley – 1990