Michael Sporn Animation – Splog

- Today I’m posting a special issue of Top Cel, the NY animation guild’s newspaper. Dated August 1967, it celebrates the Montreal Expo animation conference and exhibition held that summer. Obviously, this was the place to be that year if you were an animation lover.

Just take a look at that list of signatures of attendees. Some of them are:
Chuck Jones, Peter Foldes, Manuel Otero, Edith Vernick, Abe Levitow, Don Bajus, Bill & Fini Littlejohn, John Halas, Ward Kimball, Ken Peterson, Shamus Culhane, Carl Bell, Pete Burness, Ub Iwerks, Gerald Baldwin, I. Klein, Gene Plotnick, Ian Popesco-Gopo, Carmen d’Avino, Bill Mathews, Len Lye, June Foray, Bill Hurtz, Spence Peel, Paul Frees, Steve Bosustow, Dave Hilberman, Stan Van der Beek, Les Goldman, Jimmy Murakami, Mike Lah, Robert Breer, Tom Roth, Art Babbitt, Feodor Khitruk, Fred Wolf, Ivan Ivanov-Vano, Paul Terry, J.R. Bray, Walter Lantz, Otto Messmer, Dave Fleischer, Ruth Kneitel, Bruno Bozzetto, Bob Clampett, Karel Zeman, Dusn Vukotic, Bretislav Pojar, Jean Image, Grim Natwick, Tissa David, Barrie Nelson, Andre Martin, Ed Smith, Dick Rauh, and John Whitney.

I guess they don’t make Festivals like they used to. There doesn’t seem to be much written about this event, and I wish some of those in attendance would write about it.

From the Wikepedia entry for Bill Tytla, there’s the John Culhane quote: On August 13, 1967, the opening night of the Montreal Expo’s World Exhibition of Animation Cinema, featured a screening of Dumbo as part of an Hommage Aux Pionniers. Tytla was invited, but worried if anyone would remember him. When the film finished, they announced the presence of “The Great Animator.” When the spotlight finally found him, the audience erupted in “a huge outpouring of love. It may have been one of the great moments of his life,” recalled John Culhane. I’m sure there were many such moments.

Just to make it all personal, let me tell you a story, although this has nothing to do with Montreal’s Exhibit.

Pepe Ruiz was the u-nion’s business manager. In 1966 – the year prior to this expo – I was a junior in college, determined to break into the animation industry. Of course, I knew the military was coming as soon as I graduated, but I called the u-nion to have a meeting with Pepe. I wanted to see what the likelihood of a “part time job” would be in animation. This took a lot of courage on my part to see what the u-nion was about. I pretty well knew part time jobs didn’t exist. There was no such thing as interns back then.

Pepe was an odd guy who kept calling me “sweetheart” and “darling” and he told me that it was unlikely that I could get something part time in an animation studio.

However he did send me to Terrytoons to check it out.
I met with the production manager, at the time, Nick Alberti. It was obvious I was holding up Mr. Alberti’s exit for a game of golf, but he was kind and said that part time work wasn’t something they did. (He moved on to Technicolor film lab as an expediter after Terry‘s closed. I had contact with him frequently for years later, though I never brought up our meeting and doubt he would have remembered it.) Ultimately, I was pleased to have been inside Terrytoons‘ studio before it shut down shortly thereafter. A little adventure that let me feel as though I was getting closer to the world of animation.

The photos of the Expo are worth a good look. I’ve singled out those above to place around my text. The picture of Tissa and Grim is a nice one of the two of them together.

Ed Smith was the Top Cel editor at the time, and he put together a creative publication.

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(Click on any image to enlarge.)

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– Yesterday, I noticed on-line a toy that I had as a kid. It was a praxinoscope that was designed to play on your phonograph. You placed a record on the turntable (called a hi-fi back then) and over the spindle went this mirrored object. As the childrens record played, you watched the animation play out in the mirrors.

Of course, I made my own animations, too. They didn’t work as fluently, but they gave an indication of what was possible.

Somehow, back then, all our toys seemed more designed to develop and exploit our imaginations.

As a matter of fact, that goes for movies too. These days everything is told to us, nothing is designed to use our imaginations. Take a look at Flags Of Our Fathers. Every simple idea in that film is driven home a dozen times. The message at the end of the film is told us by a VoiceOver narrator. There’s nothing left for us to think about. Animated films are the same; any substance is on the surface.

Where are the terror of Snow White, or the desperation in Pinocchio, or the tears of Dumbo in modern animation?

Open Season, Over The Hedge, Cars, The Ant Bully, Monster House, Hoodwinked. Do any of them leave anything to the imagination for the children in any of us? (The only animated film I remember from this year that left anything for me to expand on was A Scanner Darkly with the veil of invisibility the characters wore.) The last 2D film that gave me something more was The Iron Giant. That’s a long time.

Don’t get me wrong; it’s not just an animation thing. It’s a sign of our times where every move by a child is plotted out in some video game. Everything is black and white. There’s the Axis of Evil, the Good Guys, and the French. There don’t seem to be any shades of gray anymore.

- I was sad to learn that Jan Svochak passed away yesterday at the age of 80. He was a gifted animator. There’s a nice notice on Cartoon Brew written by J.J.Sedelmaier. Most people initially connect him with the Hawaiian Punch commercials he animated, but I immediately think of the Electric Company spot he did for John Hubley: Milt’s Guilt.

“I’m Milt, and I’m filled with guilt.”

I’m Milt, and I’m filled with guilt.” . . . I’m Milt, and I’m filled with guilt.”

I’m Walt, and it’s not your fault.” . . . I’m Walt, and it’s not your fault.”

. . . I’m Walt, and it is not your fault.

. . . It’s his fault.” (Pan image to innocent looking puppy.)

- Charles Solomon discusses some of the Oskar Fischinger films on NPR. This can be viewed (and heard) here. There are also a couple of excerpts from the films Allegretto, an excerpt from Fantasia and Spiritual Constructions. The silent film, Spiritual Constructions, uses the Liquid Liquid tune, Cavern, as background music. This is an interesting choice. I once did a music video to this tune way back in 1983. Richard McGuire, a member of Liquid Liquid is now co-directing Fears of the Dark, an animated feature in France.

- Jim Hill Media posts some “concept art” for Meet The Robinsons. It looks like another pastel-colored cgi film using a little-doll “concept” for the characters that bend and shape oddly. Maybe the script is good.

- For some real concept art, turn once again to the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive. Stephen Worth has another gem of a posting – this site shows up almost daily with some new treasure!

Some beautiful model sheets from Pinocchio and Hiawatha have been posted. These are the work of Albert Hurter and Charles Thorson.

- By the way, this site also led me to a book, Cartoon Charlie: The Life and Art of Animation Pioneer Charles Thorson by author, Gene Walz. I hadn’t heard about this and will certainly try to get a look. Thorson was responsible for a number of Disney model sheets as well as some early WB models of Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd.

There’s a critical look at the book and an extended version of Thorson’s bio on Take One, the film journal. There’s also a review of the book on AWN by Fred Patten. The book, of course, is available on Amazon.

- Didier Ghez‘ site, Disney History, also has some great info by Jim Korkis about the uncredited backup singing by the Hall Johnson Choir in Song of the South and Dumbo.

– Dumbo was on Toon Disney last night. Since there was little on TV other than the non-News about another terrorist attack, I chose to watch it (for about the 200th time) again.

What a little gem that film is. There will never be anything comparable in my lifetime. It’s so beautifully animated, designed and constructed.

The Tytla scene of Jumbo Jr. running about under his mother’s legs, after his bath, is far and away my favorite animated scene. So simple; so beautiful.
Oliver Wallace’s musical theme for the baby is introduced here; it’s perfect.

But then, they cut to commercials. Tarzan is on tonight. What a jolt to cut from Dumbo to the flatter animation in Tarzan. I enjoyed parts of that film, but the animation is too often jerking from extreme to extreme without really developing character. It didn’t hold up in the sudden comparison. How could it? But then, that was better than the flash animated series Toon Disney is also promoting.

Then there were ads for an insurance company! Over and Over and Over again. In the middle of the afternoon, cutting through Dumbo? That media buyer had better be looking for a new job.

I couldn’t watch anymore and had to leave the film. I’ll watch the dvd again soon. (The commentary track featuring John Canemaker – alone – has to be the best commentary track of any Disney film. A first rate job by John.)

Who Let The Dogs Out?
- As a post script to the note I had the other day about the MTV flash-animated show “Where My Dogs At?”, a response has come from MTV about the future of the show. Here’s the AP link. MTV is not supporting their show. No one there seemed to notice the sexist/racist overtones prior to the press’ comments, and now they’re distancing themselves from the blame.

Jim Hill Media has given a lot of space to a three part article on The Ant Bully. Somehow I haven’t had the patience to get into this film. It was done by the Jimmy Neutron/Olive the Reideer people, DNA Productions.

The pluses for this show come with Tom Hanks, the producer. He has a good nose for a script and probably pulled the most from the material. The cast includes Meryl Streep, whose voice is probably the only element that would get me to watch.

The minuses are in the graphics. Everything I’ve seen of this film is ugly. The design is just not good. These look like ants out of ANTZ, and they didn’t look like ants. I’ve also not seen anything by DNA Productions that’s gotten me to sit through an entire film. Their art direction usually seems so flat to me.

I know; I’m unfair. I should be forced to at least see it before I judge. I think the problem is that I don’t have the patience for these talk down to/soup up the kids films anymore. Shouldn’t there be some room for something other than Monster Houses, and Ant Bullies? I just saw an ad for Barnyard – another one. They’re all looking alike to me: little rubbery dolls that float around little rubbery settings. Cars had great graphics, but the script was a retread, and the soundtrack was screaming LOUD.

Where is the gentle side? The one we saw in Dumbo and Pinocchio and Lady & The Tramp. Iron Giant had it; so did Toy Story. The first half of The Incredibles did, too.

You know, I’m even starting to bore myself; ignore this post and come back tomorrow.

- Today’s NYTimes includes an extensive article about Tom Hanks and his production company, Playtone.

– For no good reason, I thought I’d post these beautiful drawings by Ward Kimball. I have a bunch more and will post those eventually. I’m not sure how many made it into books since I’ve had these photostats for so long that they’re very familiar to me.

It’s great to see this quality of draftsmanship in animation; Kimball had an original style on top of his amazing ability to draw. This, of course, doesn’t even mention the fact that he was a brilliant animator with a unique animation style.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

Now, no one needs me to give my thoughts on Kimball’s work, but I think it is valuable to be reminded of his brilliance.

If we only had the crow dance in Dumbo, or Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio we would have had to classify him as a master. Take a look the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland or his direction on Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom, and you have proof positive. His Tomorrowland episodes for the Disneyland TV show (“Man in Space,” “Man and the Moon”, “Mars and Beyond” or “Our Friend the Atom”) were intelligent attempts to explain science of the day.

There are some pieces he did that I out and out don’t like (Bacchus in Fantasia or It’s Tough To Be A Bird), but I’ll say that those are just not my taste – too overdone, too broad, too cute. However, Kimball was something of a genius who stood out from the others at Disney. Just l0oking at his drawings make you smile; they’re so smooth.

Note: Thanks and regards to John Canemaker who reminded me that he gave me these drawings/photostats. The first appears in his Nine Old Men book and is just a small part of what makes that book such a gem.

- Making good children’s films is difficult business – especially in feature films.

I’m not talking about the typically American way of doing business – all activity and loud, screaming nonsense for what feels like hours. It’s easy to take a children’s book classic that’s been treasured by generations of children; update and alter the artwork so it looks brighter and more in-your-face, get celebrity voices to ensure the cache of their names, then add a couple of fart jokes. It’s hard to make a good, intelligent children’s film.

Dumbo is a great children’s film; Spirited Away is a great children’s film. Bambi, Toy Story and My Life As A Dog are all exceptionally good children’s films.

Last night, I got to see Michel Ocelot’s Kirikou and the Wild Beasts. Michel’s first Kirikou feature, Kirikou and the Sorceress, was exceptionally well received in France. It has played continuously in France for the past seven years.

Michel was pushed into this sequel, which plays like an original. The film tells four stories of tiny Kirikou, an African child living in a small village and the difficulties he overcomes in the ever present struggle with a sorceress who tries to destroy his village. She represents natural disasters, and Kirikou, using his intelligence, fights back with things available to him. No loud violence, no screaming noises, no guns, no farts. Just humanity and intelligence.

And stunningly beautiful graphics remniscent of Matisse’s Ethiopian paintings. in other words, the art is inspired by the art of the film’s subject – African painting. The excellent musical tracks by Manu Dibango and songs by Youssou N’Dour are also inspired by African music.

Michel Ocelot has delivered a film that should be seen. Because of the nudity in the film, breasts in particular, it is doubtful that the film will receive proper distribution in America. It has played in every other country, though, and will undoubtedly be on dvd here. Please look for it. If you can see it on a big screen so much the better. It’s a beautiful children’s film, and that’s saying a lot for me.

– In a move aimed at nurturing their local animators, China has banned the import of foreign cartoons that combine live action and animation. Blue’s Clues and Roger Rabbit are out! China would like their animators to develop their own product rather than do only outsource work. Read full news article here.

- The NYTimes today has a review of the Oscar nominee showcase from Magnolia Pictures. John Canemaker wins this review hands down; sorry PIXAR.

- No reviews for Doogal yet. I guess they avoided giving a copy to reviewers; I wonder why.

More rambling:

The illustration to the left is by Jiri Trnka.

- Speaking of Dumbo, this is by far my favorite of the Disney dvd releases. Aside from the fact that it’s probably my favorite of the Disney features, John Canemaker does a solo addition of a commentary through the entire film.

It reminds me a bit of the pieces the NY Times used to do. They would have a celebrity watch an older film of their choice, and the writer and star would talk through the film. We’d get to read what the writer quoted from the viewing. Here we actually are watching the film with Canemaker and get to enjoy all his knowledge of this film at the same time. It’s informative, casual and enjoyable.

Would that the Disney studio would do more of the same. Oh, wait. No. They don’t give us commentary tracks anymore, at least not on their “Treasure” series, but they do add more games and puzzles for the children.

- I’m still traveling through the most recent WB collection – vol. III. I like about half of the films on this collection. My preference is for the earlier films. I wouldn’t mind seeing some of the m a n y black and white shorts that were made. All those great Porky films – as long as they don’t force the colorized ones on us – with costar Gabby. I love them and would certainly buy up any dvd’s.

I’ve gone through all of the commentary tracks and have enjoyed some of them. The Michael Barrier commentaries are a treasure of information; it’s almost like he can’t get it all in (and I’m sure he can’t) before the film ends. His audio highlights from some past interviews, add an original touch to the experience. Likewise Milt Gray. His is a new voice that I’d like to hear more from: lots to say and articulates it well. I’ve also gotten to enjoy the amiable style of Greg Ford‘s comments. He gives us a hell of a lot of information while at the same time absolutely loving every second of every short he views with us.

The stills above come from the Jiri Trnka film, The Archangel Gabriel and Ms Goose. It’s a remarkably beautiful film in which puppets play out a story from Boccaccio’s Decameron. The film takes place in Venice (are there any other animated films set in Venice?)

- Cartoon Brew Amid Amidi has a scathing and absolutely astute response to Cory Edwards’ whining on Animation Nation that his film, Hoodwinked, has been disrespected by animators. I wonder when Edwards or his brother, Todd Edwards, will complain about the treatment the critics have given his film. Go Amid, go.

Ramblings:

- I am an ardent fan of the work of Jiri Trnka, the brilliant puppet animator who died in 1969. His work was intelligent, artful and adult. He worked in a period before computer assistance or instant playback. There’s a wonderful book published by Artia, Jiri Trnka Artist & Puppet Master that is long out of print. If you can locate a copy anywhere, buy it. The book’s a gem.

I am particularly in love with Trnka’s 2D art: the storyboards, the preproduction drawings, the paintings and illustrations. To that end, I’ll post a couple of his pieces today.

- Unless things change this weekend, Hoodwinked seems to have celebrated its 15 minutes. The box office reports now put the film in 7th place.

Making any animated feature is an unbelieveable task. I have to give credit to Cory and Todd Edwards. They got the job done and competed with the big guns. And there’ll be a sequel to boot. We can hope that they’ll put some art into the craft.

- Michael Barrier has some good comments on his site today regarding Miyazaki‘s oeuvre. I do agree with much of what he has to say. Effects animation in the films generally serves as the climaxes of the films. This is particularly true of his earlier films, and I think it’s also endemic of most Anime.

Barrier‘s thoughts on the character animation are astute, but I find myself sucked into some of the human movement. Small moments like the girl going down all those stairs in Spirited Away make the experience exciting. The biggest problem I have with the animation is that I can’t personalize it – I don’t know who did what animation, and it’s doubtful I could find out even in doing enormous research. These sections that I love may all be done by the same person, but I don’t think I’ll ever know. Hence, I have to give credit only to the director, Miyazaki and focus on the elements that are unique to his work, and there’s a lot of it.

– One thing I can credit his films for is the movement of the children. Unfortunately, American animation usually features children who are either terminally cute or act like babies with all the characteristics of 15 year old boys. This has become the cliché, and I’d like to see us get past it.

One of the greatest animated scenes ever done is Bill Tytla‘s scene in which Dumbo runs playfully around the legs of his mother. It’s joyous, honest, and brilliant. Tytla studied his child and animated what he saw. He didn’t study other cartoons, and regurgitate that on the drawing board. But maybe that part of the art is lost. Isn’t it time to start charicaturing life instead of trying to recreate other cartoons. Enough with the animated homage.

Oberon from A Midsummer Night’s Dream