Michael Sporn Animation – Splog

– I haven’t given a lot of attention to the animated epic now playing at the Film Forum in NY. A Town Called Panic is an oddity that I can’t quite figure out.

When I was 12 I’d bought my first movie camera – a regular 8mm camera (pre super-8mm days) with paralax viewfinder (meaning you could properly frame animation) that was able to shoot single frame images (so you could shoot animation.) I bagan filming my first drawn films – that usually lasted about 10 or 20 seconds apiece.

The challenge was that the roll of film was 100 ft long (3 minutes) and you had to do something with the rest of the roll of film before you could send it away to get it developed (via the local pharmacy.) So I filmed some pics of my siblings playing and quickly got bored with that number.

That’s when I started filming the massive collection of cowboys and indians that I owned. I’d set up the charge of the light brigade and animate it. I recreate the battles in a John Wayne (meaning John Ford) film I’d watched in animation. Hundreds of cowboys and Indians crashing into each other while galloping over my bedroom linoleum and recreated scenery.

I ultimately shot about a half hour of this stuff trying to fill up the rolls of film that incorporated the paper-drawn animation I was so desperate to see.

So now comes a movie out of France, “A Town Called Panic,” and I’m not sure what to make of it. From the YouTube trailer and short film called cake of these pieces, I’m hardly sold on it. It seems like little more than what I did when I was 12 with a snappy, loud, screaming voice track added on to it.

But then comes recvommendations by people I know (like Elliot Cowna and Mike Rauch) who’ve seen it as well as extremely positive newspaper reviews (NYTimes “Mr. Aubier and Mr. Patar are up to much more than pop-culture parody, though they do their share of that.” NYDaily News – 4 stars “. . . best saved for those who like to find surprises under their tree.”)

I guess my difficulty is that I don’t really think of it as animation – of course it is, just not very sophisticated animation. The telling is in the sound track, and I’m a bit tired of that type film. South Park did it and still does it best, while at the same time surprising you with infrequent bits of superb animation. With A Town Called Panic, I have no expectations of superb animation, but when A.O.Scott uses words like “lyricism” and “Michel Gondry” it has to pique my interest.

I know I’ll eventually see it, and should take all the positive comments as a reason to recommend others see it, but it’s still hard for me to get up the energy. The difficulty is that there’s only a limited window of time to see it. I have to get off my rocker.

The Film Forum is showing it
through Tuesday, December 29 with showtimes at: 1, 2:40, 4:15, 6, 8, and 10.

- Last night I went to a screening of AVATAR. This film promises a lot that I dislike in movies: 3D, science fantasy (full of weird names like Na’vi and Pandora etc.), fantastic “Art”, and MoCap, just to name a few. For me, it all blends together in one big word that I have trouble getting past – “FAKE”.

Surprise, surprise. I loved the movie. It’s borderline pretentious in some places but the rest! Not only was I pulled in by the 3D (despite my watering eyes through the last half of the film), but I had a hard time taking off my glasses. The story was absorbing enough that it was hard to feel the 2 hr. 40 min. running time. The acting was watchable (though a number of lines really popped out as laughable).

The big thing about it was the imagined world, that just seemed real. You get totally absorbed into Cameron’s animation that you buy it wholly. While watching it, a fleeting thought kept passing the front of my brain. This is what we’re going to get in the future. This is what movies will be like in another 3 or 4 years. Not real and not animated. Some kind of bastard child that will be poorly handled by most filmmakers, but will come alive in the hands of a James Cameron. It’s terrifyingly sad in some ways because I think we’re already there.

(Johnny Knoxville is already promising “AVATAR-like effects” with his 3rd installment of “Jackass” !)

Scott Tobias, in his review at the Onion’s AV Club, wrote a prophetic line: “As the film’s technical marvels grow commonplace, it will look like a clunky old theme-park attraction, a Captain EO for our time.”

Maybe that’s why I champion The Fantastic Mr. Fox – because it’s such a hand-made picture. Lovingly finger-touched heart winning animation. It’s the antithesis of Avatar and will probably remain more evergreen. Bite the bullet and see both of them – in a theater.

- We’re starting to wind down on this delightful book. It’s Tanya Usvayskaya‘s drawn diary while she worked for Yuri Norshtein‘s studio. This book caricartures the small family within the studio and Norshtein’s world during that period.

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 best, but it does capture the gist of the original Russian. I’m transcribing the book without alterations.

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

Here we continue with a chapter on “Pirat,” the studio’s dog:

49
Chapter 5: My Friend, Pirat!

50
“Run! Pirat let’s go bathing!”
Spring! On trees are first leaves.
Tanya says “Let’s go to the class. It is Nazarov today!
Norshtein is hurried to a lake,
while Tanya is not.

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“I wish he would give it to me.”
Norshtein is thoughtfully breakfasting dry “Hercules.”

52
“It’s wonderful!”
Nazarov brought cheese that smelled badly as a gift for Norshtein.
Everyone in the studio ran away to fetch gas masks.
So only Pirat shared the joy with Norshtein.
The director mumbled it
smacked it and muttered with opening his eyes.

53
“Goodbye, flea!”
Pirat washes himself
with shampoo against fleas.

54
“Yes, eh, I . . . have decided to cut my hair myself.”
Norshtein was observed in front of a mirror in a strange pose.
“Yuri Borisch, what is the matter with you?”

55
“Valya, I know you prefer a rabbit.”
Pirat, not Tanya, writes a report about the studio.
[Norshtein and Valya Olishvang are taking the rest from shooting the film.
Good night, children. They are swimming on the lake in the winter.]

56
“It is OK !”
Norshtein dislocated his leg and stretched the leg
in the corridor under the direction of Pirat all day.

57
“Good night, children !”
Norshtein says that at some moment,
characters start to live by themselves.

- For the past two weeks I’ve been posting the dummy of a book written and prepared by Bill Peckmann and Rowland B. Wilson. It didn’t find a publisher back in the 1980s when they were seeking one, but the book survives. And it’s a gem.

The first couple of pages were done in a color, as a sample, and the remaining were left as line drawings. The beautiful artwork of Rowland Wilson reads as clean and sharp as ever. This wordless book rips at a breakneck speed and tells a real animated story that would have made for a wonderful children’s book. Imagine a child sitting on a parent’s lap and the dialogue they could have had in developing this graphic story. (It also would have made a great animated short!)

I’ve really enjoyed posting this, and I thank Bill Peckmann for allowing me the opportunity of doing so. You can see Part 1 here.
You can see Part 2 here.

As with the past post, we start with the last drawing of Part 2.

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(Click any image to enlarge.)

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And just to put everything in proper perspective, here’s a letter they received from Houghton Mifflin rejecting the book. He was Rowland B. Wilson, for god’s sake!

Bill Peckmann added this background info: “The rejection slip from
Houghton Mifflen really hurt the most because our thinking at the time
was that since they were publishing Bill Peet’s books (my all time
favorites), we thought they would understand the concept of “Robert”
better than anyone else. Go figure”

– I’m sad to report that Roy Disney died this morning. He would have been 80 on January 10th. He was battling cancer. The obvious connection to the family of the founders is going to be missed in the boardroom. I suggest you read Nikki Finke‘s commentary on his backroom career at the Disney of Eisner.

- Monday night there was the tribute to UPA that was hosted by the Motion Picture Academy and moderated by John Canemaker. A number of UPA-NY alumni gathered for the occasion. If you go here you can see a group photo of those artists in attendance.

The 35mm film prints were brilliant beyond my expectation. I think this is the first time I’ve actually seen the extra-ordinary colors of The Tell Tale Heart or Rooty Toot Toot. There was a point in the latter film when a character dissolves from white on light gray to a pale blue color. There are unbelievable white on whites of the final section of the film. It becomes such an amazing and daring choice by John Hubley when you can see that it wasn’t just a deteriorated print – which is the way I’ve seen this film my entire life – but a decision. Every inch of this film is a masterwork that only grows with every screening I see.

Attandance at the show wasn’t as good as I’d expected, but the theater was half full. Very few younger people. I suppose it’s not easy to compete with YouTube’s degenerated copies of these films. They offer the luxury of no effort.

Going to the show I realized that this is probably the last time in my life I’ll see these films projected with such loving care with prints as rich as they were in the original. Certainly, this is the last time the group of ex-UPA workers will be assembled and honored. Howard Beckerman, Tissa David, Vinnie Cafarelli, Ruth Mane, Edna Jacobs have all been a part of my life. Emily Hubley and her husband, Will, were also there. It was fun talking with them throughout the dinner afterward.

Here are some quick snaps (meaning bad quality, my apologies) of some of the guests.

1 2
1. Ruth Mane and Tissa David. 2. Edna Jacobs and Ruth Mane.

3 4
3. Tissa David alongside Joe Kennedy, John C’s companion.
4. Howard Beckerman and his student.

5 6
5- Vinnie Cafarelli and Candy Kugel – partners.
6. John Canemaker once he’s taken the podium.

7
Patrick Harrison, the Academy leader for the NY chapter, introduces John Canemaker.

8
John Canemaker at the podium leads us into the films.

Here’s the program we received, front and back. Tissa mentioned that she would have liked to have seen some of the artists printed alongside the films.

F R
(Click any image to enlarge.)

_________________

- Yesterday, I posted something about The Brave Little Tailor. I received an email from Tim Hodge saing that he had an original drawing from the film going on auction in January.

“It’s part of a fundraiser to benefit my son who was in an auto vs train accident in August of this year. His recovery is ongoing, but slow. Being a self employed artist, our short term insurance was adequate for most things, but not quite something of this magnitude.”

You can check out his site here to get more information and to see other art for auction.

This is the drawing to be auctioned in January.
I think it’s a Frank Thomas drawing.

Bill Peckmann recently sent me another stash of model sheets, especially of Mickey, Donald and Goofy. Among them were four pages of Mickey from The Brave Little Tailor. This film, of course, is a gem, and I can’t help but admire the drawing on these model sheets.

Two of them are clippings from animation by Fred Moore. There are some clues as to the exposing of the scene, so I took the drawings apart and ran them through AfterEffects just for my own entertainment. Here are the results, below. First all four model sheets; then the QT movie I made of the actions.

1
(Click any image to enlarge.)

2

3

4

Mickey the Tailor

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

- Not too long ago, Cartoon Brew had an article about Gene Deitch and the short he directed, Howdy Doody and His Magic Hat. Apparently, the film was held back by Bob Smith and was never officially released.

An issue of Collier’s Magazine was mentioned which had printed an article about this UPA short. I recently picked up a copy of the magazine and am posting the two-page article. Interesting that the author of the article says that the short animates cut-outs rather than the “usual, costly multiple-drawing system.” It doesn’t look like cut-outs, but you can’t properly tell from the stills. They also state that the film had a budget of $15,000.

Hopefully, the short will someday show up on our radar, and Gene Deitch will have the pleasure of seeing his first bit of direction again. Until then, we can be grateful that Collier’s did a colorful article on the cartoon.

Here’s the full two page spread.”

a
Here are the two separate pages larger.

Here are all of the pictures separated and enlarged.

__________________

-Don’t forget that tonight there’ll be a show of some of the all-time finest UPA cartoons. This will take place at the Lighthouse, 111 East 59th Street, between Park and Lexington avenues. $5.00 admission ($3.00 for members).

The films include:
GERALD MCBOING BOING, MISTER MAGOO’S PUDDLE JUMPER
ROOTY TOOT TOOT, MADELINE, THE TELL-TALE HEART
THE UNICORN IN THE GARDEN, FUDGET’S BUDGET and
GEORGIE AND THE DRAGON

(Personally, I think ROOTY TOOT TOOT is one of the greatest short films ever created and deserves all the attention it can get.)

Pristine 35mm prints will be screened. Not an everyday occurrence.

- Last Tuesday, ASIFA East celebrated the work of one of New York’s finest, John Dilworth. It was a treat to be asked to speak for John about his earliest days. Since I was there, I took as many pics as possible. However, the place was pretty dark, so it took four times as many pics as I’d planned to get some that weren’t totally blurred out.

Here are a few which give an account of the show.

On entering, I was directed to a front/left row seat. Not the best
place to watch the show, but handy in making it to the podium.
As people assembled, up front, Elliot Cowan and Linda Beck covered a
table that was selling ASIFA-East calendars and Dilworth merchandise.
.

John D. checked out things at the podium before it started. You can
see that ASIFA operates out of a classroom at the School of Visual Arts.

ASIFA-East President Dave Levy started things off by making some
preliminary comments and introducing the first speaker . . .

It wasn’t Linda Simensky, who couldn’t make it. Elliot Cowan read a
letter she’d sent. Dave stood in the back trying to wrest our attention.

John stood off to the side grimacing at
every compliment or bad joke Linda offered.

Finally, the star of the hour came forward to make
his opening comments and introduce his first guest.

Howard Beckerman was one of John’s earliest teachers and
he’s now one of John’s best friends.

Howard introduced John’s Thesis short. After the short’s opening,
I was surprised at how great the timing was on this student film.
That’s usually something that takes a lot of time to get.
(Remember, also, this was in the pre-computer days.)

This was the view from my seat of part of the audience.
I was the next speaker (and there are no pics) and spoke about
John’s early days animating for me on Lyle Lyle Crocodile.

From the podium, you looked out into blackness.
You weren’t able to see any faces.

Fred Seibert followed me with a reminiscence of John’s pitch
for THE CHICKEN FROM OUTER SPACE.

That short became the series COURAGE THE COWARDLY DOG
after it got an Oscar nomination for John.

Jody Gray and Andy Ezrin came up to play the music live
for NOODLES AND NED (1997). However, the task couldn’t be
pulled off and they just played some themes before showing the film.

John brought on a live band to play a song written
in homage to his latest film, RINKY DINK.

They’d also come on at the night’s end to play another 15-20 mins.

While the audience watched THE CHICKEN FROM OUTER SPACE,
John changed into his signature space suit.

The idea, he told us, is to have a
blast while you’re making the films.

While John spoke, Courage the Cowardly Dog snuck into the room.

John had paid to ship the Cartoon Network costume to NY
so that his elusive character could be properly celebrated.

After the show, a bunch of us went out for beer and hamburgers.
The evening had been a lot of fun, and John Dilworth had pulled it
all together. A different kind of ASIFA-East event to end out 2009.

- Back to the book. Here’s the next chapter in Tanya Usvayskaya‘s wonderful book. She kept a drawn diary while working for Yuri Norshtein at his studio. This book compiles the drawings of the small family within the studio and Norshtein’s environs during that period.

A copy of this book was a gift from Richard O’connor, whose Asterisk Productions does wonderful animation of their own. What a treasure!

Note that the translation by the Japanese publisher isn’t always the best, but it does capture the gist of the original Russian. I’m transcribing the book without alterations.

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

This chapter, Norshtein and Tanya, is one of the shortest.

4-1
“Norstein and Tanya”
.
4-2
“Don’t Hesitate to use them.”
Norshtein, leaving to give lectures, gave us a
certain amount of money for the management of the studio.
.
4-3
“Pirat, please buy one covered with chocolate.”
While someone is “living luxuriously” on overseas master classes,
Tanya and Pirat “economized” on every kopeck.
.
4-4
“Now – you calculate quickly!
20 watermelon stones plus 3 bits? and . . .”
Because we bookkeepers failed to report to the master,
he recommended to us that we learn mathematics.
.
4-5
“Have this hat for just a moment.”
Work in the animation film studio provides us all
with a variety of returns.
.
4-6
“Ladies, please buy my flowers.”
As a result of squandering by Tanya and Pirat,
Yuri has become a flower seller on the street.
.
4-7
“Please pay for potatoes, sour cream and sugar!”
Tanya screams in front of a mountain of food to pay.
.
4-8
“Well, we all are ready to go to sleep.”
In the studio, taking of scene for “Good Night, Children!”
went all night. Tanya, Natasha and Pirat left this note.

________________________

Here’s the video of the title scene mentioned in the last cartoon, “Good Night, Children!”. Thanks to Niffiwan for adding it to YouTube.

- Today we continue with this magnificent, yet unpublished, book that was written by Bill Peckmann and illustrated by the late, great Rowland B. Wilson. The book almost reads like a dialogue-less storyboard.

Posted the way it is, the piece moves with all the speed of fast paced cartoon of the forties, and is drawn and composed with as much grace.
This is a treat to post, and I thank Bill Peckmann for the chance to do so. You can see Part 1 here.

I begin this entry with the last image from the last post.

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(Click any image to enlarge.)

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One more part to come, next week.

John Dilworth

- Tuesday night, ASIFA-East hosted a spectacular evening devoted to John R. Dilworth and his work. It was a lot of fun thanks to the crazy combinations John pulled out of his bag o’ tricks. Lots of surprises and laughs.

I took a bunch of pictures and will post some of them Sunday, if I can find any that are in focus. The live intros and music were a wonderful dressing for the carefully chosen body of films. It was a well orchestrated program. Congrats to John.

- Disney’s Prep and Landing landed on ABC on Tuesday night. If like me, you were unable to catch it on it’s scheduled broadcast, you can watch it on HULU complete with commercial interruptions (though probably fewer than ABC aired.) My thoughts? It was ok, not worth all the puffery that came in advance of the show. All this cgi stuff to me is getting to look alike. Lots of running in place and shouting with nicely modeled everything to get that little doll look. I also think the current crop of stories going into our features and specials is lacking charm and movie magic. This filled that bill.

The NYTimes posted the latest Bob Dylan christmas song video – The Little Drummer Boy. Surprise, it’s an animated video done by my friend, Jeff Scher. The visuals are inventive, as expected, but I miss the Shay Lynch score.

Jeff wrote this little note in an email he sent me:
“I made a music video for Bob Dylan’s Christmas Album: “The Little Drummer Boy”.
It went up yesterday on Amazon… All profits from the album go to charity.

It was neat, the only direction I got was “do what you do”.
So this is what I did.”

________________

Here’s another reminder to those in New York that there will be a glorious celebration of UPA’s short films at the Academy of MP Arts & Sciences next Monday, Dec. 14th.

John Canemaker will host the event which will feature eight rarely seen films to be screened in 35mm. Many of them new prints.

The titles will include:
_____GERALD MCBOING BOING
_____MISTER MAGOO’S PUDDLE JUMPER
_____ROOTY TOOT TOOT
_____MADELINE
_____THE TELL-TALE HEART
_____THE UNICORN IN THE GARDEN
_____FUDGET’S BUDGET
_____GEORGIE AND THE DRAGON

There are lots of Oscar winners and nominees among them. This show will be a treat.

At 7PM December 14, 2009 at the Lighthouse, 111 East 59th Street, between Park and Lexington avenues
$5.00 admission ($3.00 for members)