Michael Sporn Animation – Splog

- John Canemaker contributed a two part article on J.P. Miller to Cartoons, the International Journal of Animation published by ASIFA Int’l. The two part article appeared in the Winter 2006 and Spring 2007 issues.

John Parr Miller was a designer who worked at the Disney studio from 1934 to 1942 as part of Joe Grant’s elite Character Model Department. After his service in WWII, he became a children’s book designer and author remaining in that field for the remainder of his life.

J.P. Miller’s career at Disney’s is not something we often hear about, and I think the information in John’s extended article is so valuable that it has to get out there even further and be shared more openly. Consequently, with John’s permission, I’m posting both parts.

This is part 1:

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- Months ago, I posted a scene Frank Thomas animated for The Jungle Book. The scene involved the boy, Mowgli, and Kaa, the snake.

Here is another, companion scene with the same two characters. (It comes in the film with only a closeup of Kaa separating the two.)

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There are 103 drawings to the scene, so I can’t possibly get them all into the one post. Consequently, I’ll try to do it in three.

Once again, many thanks go to John Canemaker for sharing these on line.

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The Following QT movie is of the complete scene.
I love how he shakes his head and mouths the word “No”
just prior to wrenching his hand from Kaa’s grip.

Click left side of the black bar to play.
Right side to watch single frame.

- I was just reminiscing about the steam rising in front of the Raggedy Ann studio and how irritated it seemed to make Dick Williams. Remembering that I’d written about this already, I searched out the piece and think it worth recapping. Here it is.

- Steam is the secret energy that runs my city. There’s an article in a local paper called The Gotham Gazette which describes the system in full detail. It’s a good read, so I urge you to go there if you’re interested in further understanding the system.

Atop ground we get to see steam leaking out of sewers, see giant pipes spewing steam into the air, and read about exploding steam pipes that cause damage. (There was a recent explosion at 42nd Street near Grand Central Station. Another in Murray Hill, a couple of years back, destroyed a building and closed a city block for several weeks.)

We pass by these steampipes and stewing manhole covers without thinking about it. It’s like some primeval force out of the Rite of Spring hiding underground.
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(Click any image to enlarge.)

For the times Con Edison is working on the system at specific locations, they construct barber-pole colored pipes which emit large bursts of steam into the air. That wonderful scent you get when walking into a dry cleaners often surounds these pipes.

Back when Raggedy Ann started, there was a very large construction and similar pipe steaming up the entire front of the Brill Building in which we were located. I seem to remember we were originally on the fourth floor, so any offices that faced the front of the building saw nothing more than steam flowing all day long.

Dick Williams had one such office; the conference room was another.

The steam would make a very loud SHUSSSHHH-ing sound as it flowed out. This was often accompanied by workers jackhammering their way underground.

There was a Saturday rush to complete the art for the rough animatic. Dick and Gerry Potterton and I were in the conference room for at least 8 hours madly coloring storyboard drawings with colored pencils. We had a great time laughing and joking and gossipping about everyone under the sun. I was a lowly Asst. Animator, but they treated me like an equal. It was fun, needless to say.

All day long that incessant SHUSSSHHH; all day long that steam flowing up and pass our large bank of windows. It was crazy-making.

Dick finally broke from a conversation we were having to scream out at the steam and the workers. He was sure that New York was ready to burst out and blow up underneath us. Gerry and I had a good laugh at the rant.
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Obviously, not all of these pipes are striped in the Con Edison orange and white. I found
this black, short pipe.

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You can see it coming out the sewer caps. Sometimes heavy, as in the left; sometimes
light, as in the right.

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Often close to invisible. I had to go closer to see the steam coming out of this cap.

This truck trailer has been parked on Fifth Avenue and 8th Street for a while. Apparently Con Edison isn’t supplying all the steam needs for the city.

I found this guide to where things are underground. It gives a good, informative view of what’s flowing underneath us in this town. Maybe it will blow up someday.

- This is the final chapter of the book I’ve been posting these last five weeks. It is a drawn diary kept by Tanya Usvayskaya while she worked for Yuri Norshtein‘s studio. The close-knit and personal relationship of all the members of the studio comes through, and we get to share some intimate moments with the animation master, Yurij Norshtein.

Richard O’connor, whose Asterisk Productions does wonderful animation of their own, gave the book to me as a gift, and I’m pleased to share it with you.

Note that the translation by the Japanese publisher isn’t always the clearest, yet something of the original Russian seems to come through. I’m transcribing the book without changing anything.

The first five parts of the book can be found here:
Norshtein Comics – 1
Norshtein Comics – 2
Norshtein Comics – 3
Norshtein Comics – 4
Norshtein Comics – 5

Here we continue with a chapter on “The Artist”:

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“Artist”

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“I am the leader of the art!”
Yurij Borisovich, with his wife, is dancing Flamenco.
“Yes,” agreed Francheska looking at him affectionately.

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“Please tie me on the chair!”
For the film, “The Overcoat,” it is necessary to shoot a scene
where Arkaky is tied to a chair by his colleagues.
So he says, and sketches himself as Arkaky in front of a large mirror.

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“It is better to tie a fool! Ha-ha-ha!”
While sketching
Norshtein slipped off the chair
and burst into a roar of laughter.

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“I never realized that
woman’s breasts wave like waves,
and in it – there is a small ship!”
Norshtein, as with all artists,
loves to admire ladies forms.

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Yurij searches for
wonderful expression on the TV.

He did not find “wonderful expression” and was offended.
He says: “What is the value of television?”

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“It is outrageous! You understand nothing!”
Borisch in trousers of kimono (jinbei)
and in socks (not at all fearful)
scolds studio members.

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“Absent heroes.”
Opening of exhibition of laureates of “Triumph” award
Yarbusova and Norshtein in Paris in 1998.
They were so tired of hanging sketches by themselves
that they were no more interested in the opening itself.

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“What we call poetry is reality for children.”
Yurij told Nataliya Nikolaevna Abramova (his permanent heroic editor)
“Animation film is not a criterion. In art
it does not occupy any positions. I know about it.
Natasha, I am always thinking about it.”

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“Animation – it is a continent without a support!”
Torture of Creation – Norshtein shouted to Natasha Abramova on the phone.
Any average entertainment films are much more meaningful than
what I currently am engaged with.
“I only wish that the bed will not be broken,” Tanya muttered.

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In spite of all this
Norshtein continues working in animation films.

Drawing with a model – Norshtein looks into the eye piece of movie camera.

Norshtein, himself, wrote a short piece in the back of his student’s book:

About Tanya

Tatiana Usvayskaya is very unique artist. She has quite rear combination of very keen sense for fun and skill of sharp drawing at the same time. Her visual memory serves her fantastically!

For the very first time I was surprised by her talent seeing her drawing where I was portrayed as a giant with running line of cheering like birds students behind me. Figures on the drawing were not bigger than a finger’s nail, but all that 15 or 20 characters were with incredible resemblance. I can’t understand how she could catch the resemblance in such a miniature size! Any scene from everyday life is transfered by her fantasy.

Her beloved dog with nickname Pirat is a kind of superhero on her drawings. He is a gentleman, a doctor, a cook, her gallant cavalier and her taxi-driver.

Gratefully to her kindness the dog became one of the heros on introduction and ending of TV programme ‘Good night, children!’

A short movie can be done by any of her drawings. She doesn’t keep her drawings preciously. She scatters them everywhere, many of them are lost forever. Whenever I ask about some of her drawings, she answers: ‘I think, I have lost it… I’ll draw a new one!’

She has a Mozart’s scale talent, that’s why so easy she can part with things done already and not be saddened by lost one. For Mozart was quite easier to compose a new piece than to look for something lost already.

Tanya never corrects her drawings. If she has dislike of something, she redraws it again. She doesn’t think much of her talent, considering that to draw is very simple thing.

I hope that publishing of this book with her drawings will help her to understand that to raise a people’s laugh over your drawings is quite tough job.

Yuri Norshtein

- Steve Fisher sent me two ways to celebrate Christmas. Here are his photos:

1. The commercial

(Click any image to enlarge.)

2. The Non-commercial (though safety-proofed)

The funny thing about that last photo is that I shot a picture of it
a couple of days before they actually installed the creche.

By the way, they’ve added the baby Jesus today,
Christmas Day.

Merry Christmas

- I’ve been rereading Pogo lately. It’s always a good well to return to when you’re looking for a light. This is a small passage – a couple of pages of Walt Kelly strips dating back to 1955. This book, Deck Us All with Boston Charlie was published in 1963.

(Click any image to enlarge.)

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- Jeff Scher has the perfect Yule Log for you this Christmas. It was posted by the NYTimes and only takes a minute. More great work from Jeff and composer, Shay Lynch.

- You’ll remember that I did a couple of pieces on the illustrator Vernon Grant. He was the original designer of Snap, Crackle and Pop for the Kelloggs Corp. back in the late ’30s, and I featured a post on the history of those characters.

I followed that with one on his Mother Goose book. There, I posted some of his uniquely styled illustrations for that book of Mother Goose rhymes.

Both those posts were heavily dependent on some great material loaned me by Bill Peckmann from his remarkable collection.

Vernon Grant was also drew Santa Claus. He seemed to love drawing St. Nick in many different incarnations. This is something we share. Whereas I confine myself to many varied Christmas cards, he has a perennial best selling picture book, Vernon Grant’s Santa Claus, that’s been on the market for many years. Bill Peckman recently sent me a copy of the book to scan and post, but I’d already had my own copy. I’ve decided, here, to post about half of the book. I’m particularly interested in Grant’s illustrations prior to the ’50s. Conseqeuntly, I’ve chosen to select only those illustrations that were done in 1953 or earlier, and I’ve placed them in chronological order.

Not all of the images are of Santa Claus. Hence in organizing them by date, we have to start off with a beauty but one that doesn’t feature Santa.

Hi-Ho! For a Merry Christmas – 1932

I got your letter – 1934

Empty pockets – 1936

How sad! The Depression hit Santa, too.

Merrie Minstrels – 1937

Santa’s Special Delivery – 1940

Season’s Greetings – 1942

Untitled – 1946

This one is untitled, but it’s far and away my favorite.

Is It My Turn Yet? – 1946

These last two are too Norman Rockwell for my taste.
But it shows the direction Vernon Grant and America were taking.

Mommy Kissing Santa Claus – 1953

The song “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” written by Tommy Connor
was a smash hit in 1952. The smash singer was Jimmy Boyd (who later
grew into the role of “Jimmy” on the original Mickey Mouse Club.

Vernon Grant obviously built on the song title.
It looks like a Coca Cola ad of the period.

- I just learned the sad news of Arnold Stang‘s passing.

He played a bird on my film, Lyle, Lyle Crocodile. During the session, which included a song number, that Arnold participated in, Charles Strouse, the composer, jumped in to attack Arnold for not sounding enough like a bird. There was a back-and-forth fight between the two of them as to what an animated bird would sound like, as compared to a human being. Arnold pointed out that he was many animals in animation but had never been criticized for sounding human.

Recognizing the inherent problems in the discussion, outside of the booth I asked Charles to keep quiet and allow me to direct. I then told Arnold he was doing a great job – which he was – and to finish the piece in the same direction. He did, and the track ended well.

After the session, I privately spoke with Charles and resolved any problems. (He ultimately did this to me several times in several different sessions over the course of different films. In every case, I had to firmly stick to my guns.)

Arnold and I exchanged Christmas cards up until this year. Several times he called to ask if I had anything brewing for him. Unfortunately, we never worked together again. I’m glad for the bittersweet memories I do have, and I’m sad that he’s gone. He was an extraordinary and unique talent.

- Nina Paley’s Sita Sings the Blues will, at long last, make its New York City premiere on Christmas Day. The film will open at the IFC Center on Dec 25th and play through Dec 31st, New Year’s Eve. This will be the first official screening of the movie.

On Dec 25th Nina will appear for a Q&A session at the theater and may make other appearances at the theater during the week. These will be announced at a later date.

If you haven’t seen the movie projected on a screen, you ought to. It takes on new dimensions, and you owe it to yourself. The film has played at over 200 International film festivals and has won many prestigious awards including at Berlin, Annecy and Ottawa.

- You’ll remember that I did a couple of posts on Bert and Jennifer Klein and their film, Pups of Liberty. I’m pleased to say that this film has been nominated for an Annie Award for best animated short. (The only other film in that category that I’ve seen is Bill Plympton’s Santa, the Fascist Years. I suppose I can also guess what Robot Chicken: Star Wars 2.5 is. A Cartoon Network tv show. Honestly, it’s not the best selection of shorts I’ve seen. Pups of Liberty has a good chance, and I congratulate the Kleins.)

Bert Klein recently contacted me to say that he’s produced a feature film, with Jennifer Klein, – a live action documentary about his father, David Klein, the inventor of the Jelly Belly. It’s called Candyman and is directed by Costa Botes, who directed Forgotten Silver with Peter Jackson in New Zealand.

You can view a trailer on their film’s site, Candyman.

The film, Candyman was just accepted into the 2010 Slamdance Film Festival. It’s going to be an exciting January at the Klein household.

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- Recently Jonathan Giles approaached me at an ASIFAEast program. He gave me a card for a website comic strip he’s been drawing/posting for the past couple of years.

Anecdote is a strip that features a lot of kids with timely/often political subject matter. It’s a well-drawn, entertaining read and I highly recommend it. Apparently, new strips are posted Wednesdays at 5:30pm, but plenty of strips remain on line.

I encourage you to check it out.
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- The brilliantly talented Rowland B Wilson, certainly paid his dues at a number of animation studios. We’ve seen his work with Richard Williams’ Soho Square studio and with Don Bluth’s Ireland studio.

Today, I have some sketches and designs he did for Walt Disney studio while working on The Little Mermaid. Not all of this material made it to the film, but the incredible wealth it brought the directors had to have affected the overall production. This invaluable material comes courtesy of Bill Peckmann.

The first group to view are Production Designs that he did for various sequences throughout the film.

The following are character designs Wilson did for The Little Mermaid for a character that never made it into the movie. Though, I think “Ink the Squid” may have developed into “Sebastian the Crab”.

Then there are some of the creatures seen above land at the Glaciar Tray which apparently was designed to be part of the film.

The migrating Caribou

There are pelicans and geese as well as mountain goats.

Then there is this short seqeunce of interaction between two fish:

All art displayed © Walt Disney Prods.

This material is a treasure. I want to thank Bill Peckmann for sharing it with us.
Rowland B. Wilson was an artist of the highest standard, and I can’t get enough of his work. True inspiration.

- Last night it snowed heavily and has continued through to this morning (and is still at it.)

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Looking up and down Park Ave at 30th Street.
Lots of plowing has already been done by 6:30am.

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The view as I exit the West 4th Street subway station at 7am.
Not as much shoveling done on the sidewalk. Time to walk in the street.

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Approaching my studio on Bedford Street.

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Down the stairs and through the tunnel. This is my view.
I’ll have to shovel it later. For now, I’ll trudge through the snow about a foot deep.

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There are a couple of steps as you get to the door of my studio.
Before stepping into it. Then looking back from the POV of the door.

Steve Fisher gets us back to Christmas with these photos
he took last night while the snow fell at it’s greatest.

And here’s one he took a few minutes ago.

Rather than posting more shots of snow, I thought it more in the spirit of the season to show the decorated trees of NY. I did this post in 2007, and since time and Christmas often stand still, those same trees are identically lit this year (but now covered with snow.) So I’ve decided to recap this past post.

– I thought for one edition of these sunday photo trips, I’d post images I’ve taken of some of the Christmas trees decorated around New York.

So, of course, we have to start with Rockefeller Center.
This is the most famous one we have. Since NBC is centrally located around this tree and skating rink, it’s been featured on TV forever. Saturday Night Live ice skating after one of the shows around the tree; Keith Olberman doing his news with the tree behind him, or even David Letterman telling viewers, for years, to go home there are just too many tourists there. The tree gets its annual plow of plugs.

My first REAL incident with this tree came a million years ago when I was still in the Navy, on home for Christmas leave. I was on a double date with a friend. The four of us at 2AM came upon the rink empty on not completely dark – just dimmer. There was the tree; there was the ice skating rink; there we were.

The four of us skating around the tree late night (without skates) brings back a fun memory. The security guard chased us away after ten minutes of our play. I suspect that I might be in Guantanomo Bay if I tried that today.

I was told that Rockefeller Center had installed some solar panels atop one of these buildings which would cover the electricity for the lights. This would make sense of all the additional lights this year. I don’t remember all the white lights, but I do remember that the tree was lit differently. This year it’s quite blue. In the past, it felt less color coordinated.

For those who haven’t seen it in person, the way to the tree is this alley lined with stores. The centerpiece has a lot of over illuminated angels blowing horns. This leads to the skating rink with the tree dominating the space.

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Looking 180 degrees from the tree, you see a wall of Saks Fifth Avenue. They’ve lit their wall with snowflakes, and it’s attractive as a backstop
for all the Rockefeller Center decorations.

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Don’t ask me why, but I’m a sucker for the tiny tree in Madison Square Park. I’ve posted images of this tree several times, and I’ll probably do it again.

This was historically the firsts lit public tree in the City. 1925 was the first ceremony, and
it was broadcast on radio.

Of course, any of us in the City looking to bring a real tree into our homes go to the local supermarket where groups of brigands have settled in for the season to make as much money as possible from trees they’ve brought to our local CTown, Food Fair or Gristedes.