Michael Sporn Animation – Splog

- It’s Christmastime, and I feel like talking about one of the many Christmas programs I’ve done. The one that has gotten short shrift, to me, is The Poky Little Puppy’s First Christmas.

This show came to me when I was told by Nancy Steingard, who was running Western Publishing, that they were interested in doing a show around Poky, and they wanted a Christmas program that could run on Showtime. I’ve been a fan of Gustaf Tenggren‘s work forever, so I didn’t hesitate to say yes.

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They came to me with a spec script by Ron Kidd, which told the story of
Santa losing one of his reindeer and the search for him so that Christmas
wouldn’t be stalled. Of course, Poky found him and saved the day.
Uh-uh, this wouldn’t do. I wasn’t interested.

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I worked with Ron to come up with another idea. It’s never too soon
to talk to kids about ethics, so I made it about a someone different Poky
finds in the woods, a skunk, whose home has been destroyed by Poky’s
family as they cut down a Christmas tree in the woods. Poky adopts the
skunk and brings him home, much to his mother’s chagrin. The next day
the family helps to find the skunk a new home of his own.

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Ron ran with that treatment and gave me a fine script. I went back to
William Finn to get a couple of musical numbers.
Finn had done a brilliant job for me when he scored Ira Sleeps Over
a couple of years earlier. He had Falsettos on Broadway,
and agreed to do Poky for me. I’d also work with arranger/orchestra
Michael Starobin again to write the incidental score and arrange the songs.

However, I wasn’t prepared for the unexpected.

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I went to Bill’s apartment and heard the songs as he played them on the piano
and shouted out the lyrics with me listening inches away sitting on his bed.
I was happy that things were moving so quickly and well.

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However, after that, there was a marked slowdown. The title song was brilliant,
as expected, but I wasn’t crazy about one of the next two he offered me, and
he wanted to rewrite them.

The problem was, I couldn’t get him on the phone after that.
Something was up.

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After about a month of delay, I brought Michael Starobin in to try to
work with Mr. Finn. Nothing had progressed past that initial sing-out.

Michael said everything was ok and brought me small changes a little at a time.

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Eventually all the songs were completed, and things progressed.

I found out years later that Bill Finn had had a brain aneurism and was hospitalized
for most of the production time of The Poky Little Puppy’s First Christmas.

I found this out when he’d written a theatrical musical called “THE NEW BRAIN.”
This was about a song writer for a children’s show who had an aneurism and wasn’t
able to complete his job. In fact, he realizes in the hospital that he isn’t creating the
art he’d hoped for. The show’s composer starts writing art songs in the hospital
bed and comes out of a long sterile period of writer’s block.

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I saw the show at Lincoln Center and was moved by it.

The artwork for the show moved ahead wonderfully. Liz Seidman was in charge of it all. She had supervised Mike Mulligan and His Steamshovel when that was in production, and she had brilliantly maneuvered from book and storyboard to a great look for the final film.

We decided that a similar look would work well with Poky. By allowing the outside lines of the drawings to be evident throughout the show, we were pointedly saying that this is an adaptation of a beautifully illustrated book, and we’re trying to keep the look of the book’s author.

We did our best to keep the look of Poky and the other characters in the series of books. We watched the first book most closely, although the character had changed some over the years. We did give a nod to those changes, but I loved the original more than any other and stayed closest to that.

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When we called kids in for voice casting, a ton of 10-12 year olds showed up. There
was only one boy, Chris Seifert, who was closer to 5. He was shy, and he was brilliant
(though my editor wasn’t crazy about all the time we’d have to work with him.)

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The boy couldn’t read, and I asked his mother not to have him memorize the lines.
When we recorded, I sat in the booth and fed him the lines – one at a time. The
brilliant lad, repeated the words but put his own spin on them. Sometimes I’d push
him to give me a little more, but I knew he was going to work wonderfully as Poky.

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As for the teen-aged owner of the pups, Grace Johnston was my only choice.
I’d been working with her for years on a number of other projects, and I was in love with
her talent. She’d been Barbara Hershey’s daughter in the film, “BEACHES” and she was a
pro and was every bit as good in Poky as she’d been for me in so many other films.

Now she’s a young, talented beauty out in Hollywood about to take over that town.

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For Poky’s mother, I immediately went to Heidi Stallings. She’s a great
actress who always surprises me in the recording booth. I love when I
hear the readings in my head and get something completely different from
the actor. 99% of the time that new reading is the perfect one.
This always gets me to laugh in the studio; I love these surprises.

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Heidi also sings beautifully, and I knew she’d nail the title song:
“My Poky Littly Puppy”. As a matter of fact she sang a version of it
for me, before Michael Starobin had arranged the song. I still hear
that version and wish I had been able to talk Michael into changing
it. Heidi’d sang the song in almost a whisper, and it sounded like a
music box of a song. Beautiful. I like what’s in the final; I just think
there were other possibilities.

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In animation, I had a great staff for this film. Rodolfo Damaggio led the way.
Years earlier he had arrived at my doorstep with no introduction looking for a job.
Boy could he draw. I put him to work immediately assisting one of my favorite
staff animators, Ray Kosarin.

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Ray came to me a week later a bit intimidated. He felt that Rodolfo could
animate better than he, and it was tough having such an assistant.
I didn’t agree that he could animate better; he could do the Disney thing
better, but there wasn’t as much heart in Rodolfo’s work.
Just fine, smooth, well-drawn animation.

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Rodolfo was perfect for all those four-legged animals.
Dante Barbetta, the great Paramount animator, was also on staff doing some
excellent work. He took whold sequences and made them his own.
Likewise Sue Perrotto who always graced my films with her animation.

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The rest of the animation staff on this one included:
Eileen Claffy, Ray Kosarin, George McClements, and Tony Kluck.
2 on staff: Ray and George. 2 free-lance: Eileen and Tony.

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The I&Pt rendering was superbly done by:
Lisa Cupery, Ikuko Tanaka, Stephen MacQuignon, Masako Kanayama,
Christine O’Neill, Michael Klein, Stephen Gambello, Denise Gonzalez, &
Jason McDonald (who also did some inbetweening.)

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The rendering was somewhat difficult trying to match Tenggren’s tempera colors.

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My staff used markers, prismacolor pencils on off-white paper. The animation
line served as the outline (the pencil would pick up as a dark grey on camera.)
These drawings were cut out and pasted to the cels before they were sent
to be photographed on film.

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Liz Seidman did all the backgrounds, herself while
supervising the I&Pt with the help of Masako Kanayama.

A pan home as the family destroys the skunk’s home for the Christmas tree.

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Somehow for years I’ve recessed this film. I think I’m shy of all the
films I’ve done which were made for toddlers. It’s a gorgeous film
(despite the look of these soft frame-grabs), and I have nothing to
be embarrassed about. Perhaps that’s why I’m showcasing it here.

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I apologize for the soft frame grabs. I pulled them from a VHS copy of the film and wish I had had a higher res version to lift from. Alas.

Unfortunately, as I’ve said it’s still not available in DVD. You can find VHS copies of it on Amazon, but that’s really not good enough, if you ask me. Western should get their act together; it’s a good Christmas film.

A couple of weeks ago, Steve Fisher contributed a bunch of photos taken in Maspeth, Queens of some depressed, balloony Christmas lawn ddecorations. He’s since revisited those lawns and found them all blowed up. The new pictures were taken at night, and make the poor decorations seem more exciting.

Before . . .

. . . After.

Before . . .

. . . After

Bearfore . . .

. . . Bearfter

Before . . .

. . . After.

The whole depressed balcony . . .

. . . blown up real good.

Here’s the front of the house.

It’s Balloony-land!

Let’s add two more pictures that aren’t balloonimals but are just as crazy:

Check out flagpole Mickey.

And we couldn’t end without a religious front-yard.

- Back in 1981, Richard Williams had a small apartment on East 32nd Street. This, I used as my animation studio for months. (Don’t ask.) The studio was half a block and across the street from Pushpin Studios. Passing this building daily reminded me of my frequent trips to the site when I worked with R.O. Blechman and Seymour Chwast, who was designing for Blechman. I knew what the building held. Designers and their assistants (especially their assistants) doing the daily dose of artwork. It had nothing to do with the building, and all to do with the people within the building.

Seymour was a quiet man who had helped found Pushpin Graphics in the ’60s. He developed a style that has held him well for many many years.

I’d recently read on the Huffington Post about his adaptation of Dante’s Divine Comedy in a graphic novel form. I was surprised to find it in my apartment recently. Heidi had brought it home, captivated by the idea and the illustrations. I have to admit I was, as well, the moment I picked it up. So, last week, I shared a bit, and I promised to offer more this week.

Here’s a sample of Book II – Purgatory and Book III – Paradise.

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After half a book of “Hell”, we enter Purgatory.

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(Click any image to enlarge.)

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Later, we enter Paradise.

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This is how the book ends. A high.

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- Last month I posted some Part 1 of strips of Alice In Wonderland taken from from the excellent book Bill Peckmann owns: Animated Features and Silly Symphonies.

The strips are dated 1951, and each page contains 2 Sunday strips. I believe the artwork is by Manuel Gonzales, penciler, and Dick Moores, inker. Gorgeous stuff.

Here we continue with the next 8 strips of the series to conclude the story.
Many thanks go out to Bill Peckmann for the scans and loan of the material.

Enjoy.

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(Click any image to enlarge.)

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Polly and Her Pals: the Complete Sunday Comics 1925-1927 has finally arrived. Dean Mullaney has written what may be the finest book on Polly and Her Pals, gathering many many examples of the Sunday strips and adding some excellent essays at the head of the book. It’s a gem and should adorn any collector’s shelf.

Dean sent me a copy of the uncorrected proofs a while ago, and I’ve been so embedded in the strips that I haven’t written a word about it, as yet. I hope to correct that delay.

Until now, we’ve had the fine books edited by Rick Marschall: The Complete Color Polly & Her Pals 1926-1927 and 1927-1929. Both provide beautiful reproductions of the Sunday strips for those years, but offer only short essays as introduction. This new book edited by Dean Mullaney provides an extended and extensive essay with a lot of solid information about Sterrett and the strip by Jeet Heer. It’s an important document, in its own right, but then the wealth of material in the book beyond that is enormous. What a job! A delight for any lover of the strip.

The essays include:
AN ARTIST’S ARTIST by P. Craig Russell and
THE MOST MUSICAL OF CARTOONISTS, CLIFF STERRETT by Jeet Heer.

There are plenty of ads, trivia and the earliest examples of the strip, giving us a full picture of the birth of Sterrett’s comic and the popularity in its day.

This book is magnificent and deserves all of your attention if you love comic art and especially if you have any fondness for Cliff Sterret’s Polly and Her Pals.

(Click any image to enlarge.)
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The original strip.
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Polly appears.
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I’m always blown away by the incredible graphics in the strips. I didn’t want to give away too many (though there are plenty in this book) so I’ve pulled some panels from a few other strips to give you an idea of what I mean.
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June 8, 1917
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Even early on there’s a lot of black with the tree silhouetted.
The rain takes over right from the start even with all the black.
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December 14, 1924
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This strip seems to use a lot of white space. This is just
the opposite of most of the Polly strips. Black and black
silhouettes usually take over . . .
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December 13, 1925
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. . . like this strip where the silhouette of the desk takes stage center.
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June 20, 1926
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Here’s a strip that uses black for the night sky
as well as the car being driven. Very effective.

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Take a look at this book. It’d make a great Christmas present for yourself.

- Woolie Reitherman animated one of the best scenes in Peter Pan. Hook climbs a rope ladder out to battle Peter in the sails of the ship. He climbs getting ever closer to the camera (and, obviously, Peter.)

The scene is all on ones, but the inbetweens I have are only in this last half of the scene, so the QT movie has that stop-go look at the start.

As with all such posts we start with the last drawing from part 1.

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(Click any image to enlarge.)

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Here’s a QT movie of the complete action from the scene, including Part 1.
Since the scene has been inbetweened, it’s exposed, for the most part, on ones.

- John Canemaker’s latest column for Print Magazine is now posted on the website. Called Fred Astaire, the Human Mickey Mouse, the title was taken from a review of Follow the Fleet written by Graham Greene in 1936. John elaborates on the theme and gives video examples such as Thru the Mirror and Top Hat or Cock o’ the Walk and Flying Down to Rio or many others to back up his piece. Worth the read.

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- Brad Bird’s The Iron Giant, The director’s feature debut, will have a Holiday Week Engagement at the
Film Forum, December 22-28.

From the Press Release

Released at a time when digital animation, musical numbers and abundant pop-culture references were in vogue, the elegantly hand-drawn, filmed in Scope, IRON GIANT met with critical praise but underwhelming returns at the box office. The film so impressed Pixar they hired Bird for his next project, THE INCREDIBLES. Bird’s subsequent successes have aroused new interest in THE IRON GIANT, though it has rarely been revived in theaters.

Anyone who loves animation should see this rerelease, even if ou’ve seen it before. It’s an important film marking the start of the director’s career. It’s only playing for one week, so schedule it now.
December 22 – 28 at Film Forum, 209 W. Houston St. (W. of 6th Av.)
with screenings daily at 1:00, 2:50, 4:40, 6:30, 8:20 and 1010.

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- William Benzon‘s fine blog, New Savannah, has an excellent piece on Miyazaki‘s My Neighbor Tototoro. Bill wrote me about the article:

While the film is quite different from Porco Rosso or Spirited Away, I¹m pursuing the same conceptual thread, how Miyazaki deploys fantasy characters. In this case it¹s the Totoro. Despite that fact that they¹re the title characters, they don¹t appear until 29 minutes into the film, just over a third of the way through. And the way Miyazaki brings them in ‹ from acorns, to soot sprites, to Totoro ‹ is astonishing in its deft detail. And I didn¹t even mention Miyazaki¹s use of tunnel views (which starts early in the film, even before the camphor tree), though you can see it in the screen shots.

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- A reminder for all those living in NY and LA: The Illusionist will open on Christmas Day, Dec. 25th and will follow soon, thereafter, in other cities.

I’m sure there won’t be a lot of advertising behind it, but I suggest you see it. It’s my favorite animated film of the last year. Actually, it may be my favorite film of the year.

I’ve seen it once and have arranged to see it again and can’t wait to share it with Heidi. I’ll certainly write about it again, so you’ll have to put up with that or click to another blog.

- Having posted some story sketches from Mickey’s Orphans, I feel bound to post frame grabs from the finished film, for comparison. Thanks to Hans Perk‘s post of the animator draft on his blog AFilmLA, I’m also able to identify each scene’s animators.

Starting to get into the Christmas spirit with this odd little film.

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Let’s look at the wacky size relationships.
A human leaves a kitten at the doorstep.
The human is the same size as Mickey MOUSE.

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The kittens are tiny in comparison to the mice, Mickey & Minnie.
The dog, Pluto, is also smaller than Mickey and Minnie.

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Mickey, as Santa, brings loud musical instument for the Orphan Kittens.

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He also brought them hammers . . .

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. . . guns . . .

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. . . and saws!

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- Here’s a piece I posted in December 2007. Since the crèches are popping up all about town, and since I’m such a fan of Eyvind Earle’s work, I love repeating it. The video would make a good Christmas purchase and can be bought here.

- Here’s a celebration of the animated segments Eyvind Earle did for The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show.

“The Story of Christmas” is a piece which is about ten minutes long set within this half hour special. (Remember when they called them “Specials”?)

The entire show is a Christian sing-along featuring the Roger Wagner Chorale singing around Tennessee Ernie’s gospel read.

The whole is a very reverent piece with no attempt at lightness and comes off as very religious. This would certainly not work on television today, never mind ABC TV which is where it premiered as one episode of the Tennessee Ernie Ford series. Some of you may remember the animated Hubley titles for the show which can be found in John Halas‘ Technique of Film Animation.

Three segments feature the animated graphics with the group singing. The only real narrative tells the birth of Christ in animation. Otherwise the Roger Wagner Chorale, dressed in Dickensian outfits, gather around varied sets looking like the early 19th Century England.

(Click any image to enlarge.)

Earle’s animation was done immediately after Sleeping Beauty was completed. He’d left the studio (or was more probably left by the studio during their massive layoff at the time) and formed his own small independent studio to do work like this. I think this was probably his largest job, and it seems perfectly suited to his style.

Lots of pans and flare effects are built around sliding cells trying to imitate the look of the multiplane camera. There really is no animation here, just the sliding cels of the characters over the pans. It’s still quite attractive for what it is and holds the attention. The piece is well planned and shows off everything Earle had learned at Disney’s studio.

The following are frame grabs from many of the scenes:

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- In 1991, I’d started a small booklet publication, called Sporn-O-Graphics, that I sent out to about a thousand people on my mailing list. Basically, we were promoting ourselves by giving brief interviews and articles about the people in animation who had touched our films in some way. We focused on the films just about to air or were recently completed.

In a lot of ways, it was more fun having a hard copy magazine rather than a blog. It seemed a bit more permanent to have something in your hands, that stayed there until you were done with it.

The third issue, July 1992, concentrated on two specific films, NIGHTINGALE and THE POKY LITTLE PUPPY’S FIRST CHRISTMAS. Denise Gonzalez had just taken over editing the magazine and she conducted many of the interviews and articles for the issue. Her interview with art director/designer, Bridget Thorne, was the key piece, for me, in this issue. She also wrote a bit about voice acting for animation, concentrating on Heidi Stallings who had done the principal adult part for THE POKY PUPPY film.

I’ve posted these two pieces, here, to represent that issue.

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(Click any image to enlarge.)

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Here are links to issue #1 and issue #4