Michael Sporn Animation – Splog

Halloween’s just about here, so it’s time to revisit this wonderful Carl Barks’ story. Many thanks, once again, to the great Bill Peckmann.

- I remember as a kid seeing the annual Halloween show on the Wonderful World of Color. Featured was the Donald cartoon wherein Hazel the Witch was introduced, Trick or Treat. Carl Barks went wild with this character and the premise, and it was a treat every year to get the new Donald story featuring the great character. (All that was missing was June Foray’s great voice. But I could play that in my head when I read the comic book. t was her first voice for Disney and her big break into animation voices. She started with a homerun; a classic the first time out of the box.)

Bill Peckmann has forwarded scans of the following story. Here’s his introductory words to the piece.

In 1952 Carl Barks did a ‘Donald Duck’ comic book titled ‘Trick or Treat‘. It was a rare instance where a Barks story had its origins in a Disney Duck short. (Geoff Blum‘s excellent essay/history of the story at the end post will explain how the ‘Trick or Treat’ book came about.)

Here, with no tricks and all treats is Carl at the top of his game, this is the cover of the original 1952 Dell comic book.

Comic book cover

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

Here’s the article by Geof Blum writing about the genesis of this comic book story adapted from the animated short.

There’s a good post about the color of this strip for the Gladstone publishing version of Trick or Treat. Posted are a number of color guides for that version.

Finally, here’s Carl Barks’ oil painting based on the artwork for his classic comic book.

To be honest, I think this is the best of this series of oil paintings that Barks has done. It doesn’t feel like something overworked and trying too hard. It just captures the spirit of the original magazine as well as the spirit of the animated short from which it was adapted. Not only a Barks gem, but a Disney gem as well.

.
- Here, from Walt Disney Comics, April 1945 edition is a wacky story mixing the Seven Dwarfs with Dumbo to fight the Wicked Prince.
I couldn’t help but post it. These comic books often seem to mix up the characters from different films to create unbelievable stories.

This comic comes from Bill Peckmann‘s enormous collection, and I thank him for sharing, yet again.

.

.

1
(Click any image to enlarge.)

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

And here from a post I did in November 2006m there is James Stevenson‘s brilliant cartoon about a comic strip artist who was losing it. The piece appeared in his book, Something Marvelous Is About To Happen. It’s a great take on comic strip cartoonists and the relationship they have to their strips.
Here it is, The Last Days of Tootie and Fred.

1 2
______(Click any image to enlarge.)

3 4

5 6

7 8

9 10

1112

In the past couple of weeks I’ve taken advantage of the new marvelous book by Tod Polson, a stunning publication for Chronicle Books on the design work done for animation. The Noble Approach, Maurice Noble and the Zen of Animation Design.

I gave some of the book’s many illustrations center stage and have enjoyed doing that. One day, I even posted art that came from J. B. Kaufman‘s two books on Snow White, The Fairest of them all and The Creation of Snow White and the 7 Dwarves. Can there be two more beautiful works of animation art than the throne on which the wicked Queen sits?

In the up coming week I hope to continue on through the Noble book, to take a deeper look at the book while more thoroughly giving critical attention to the films. I’ve barely touched on the work he did for WB, bypassing the tentative approach to the dominating final work. At the same time, I hope to look at Chuck Jones’ artwork and his dependence on others while allowing himself to break through a number of strong animation barriers. It will be fun for me – that is, until it isn’t.

Once we get to MGM and Tower 12 Productions things have changed and Noble spent a lot of time bringing those films to life. The two did dominate a wing of the studio with the Road Runner films making some of them among the great films of history.

I’d also started a series of posts on others. There’s one ongoing series featuring Ralph Steadman and over-sized material in his book. Steadman has such a large output of brilliant work it was purely by chance that we went to Alice. My wife, Heidi, is currently directing a theatrical production of Alice in Wonderland. Her research has forced open quite a few books on Dodgson’s thinking process. Top of the heap, open to a sublime image, I found myself an acolyte standing in a master’s garden wholly helpless in improving to match this genius of an artist.

So, I did start to post Alice images from that one book (and that’s the only well from which I’ll draw from. There’s a lot there, all in the raw waiting to be seen by you.

The Chronical book, Sketchbook of the Independents Animators it is also entirely encouraging and improvisational. However, I’m not sure that meets my needs for animation art. I see it more as a way of getting back to the drawing board. Unfortunately, I don’t find these artists as great as many others though there is brilliance among the mundane, I will try not to miss any if that great work.

I had started to write about The Quay Brothers. These twins come from Philadelphia and have worked out of Europe. There life’s work is on display at the Museum of Modern Art, and it is greatness desplayed in all its glory.

Finally, there is Sassek. Bill Peckmann sent me a book he did, and then another. Both were overloaded children’s which made for some fin multi-post selections. I loved Paris and had to reveal some wonderful pieces. What a treat. It feels as though Sassek was inspired by the earnest, brilliant artist, Ben Shahn. Recently, critics have taken apart Shahn’s work – he’s suddenly too political. That, to me, is the backbone and cause célèbre of Shahn’s paintings. Someone not demanding, along the whims of many others all fits together and helps create the 20th Century in Art.

Perhaps a couple of small posts I can offer will give some indication of that art. I hope it all will work as a schema. I think it will. Starting with some of the work I’ve already offered. Now to the meat.

- It’s time to take another look at some of Rowland B. Wilson’s great cartoons. I’ve chosen one that’s more color than not to viw again. Here it is.

I’ve dedicated a number of posts to the artwork and cartoons of Rowland B. Wilson.
I have been a fan of his work for a very long time. Years before I had the opportunity of inbetweening on his Scholastic Rock designs at Phil Kimmelman & Associates which was back in the early ’70s.

Bill Peckmann and I seem to share a lot in appreciating a number of artists and their artwork. Rowland is high on the list. Bill has loaned many works for posting, and I’m certainly indebted to him for contributing all of these RBWilson pieces.

Here are more of the cartoons of Rowland B. Wilson, starting with a news article written about him for the Westport News.

(Click any image to enlarge.)

Let’s start with the New England Life advertisements. RBW did quite a few of them:

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

We finish this post with some more Playboy cartoons:

It must have been a treat for Bill to see his name in this cartoon.

1

2

3

4

5
Personalized, no less.

6

7

- Back in the innocent years, the joke was that one read Playboy for the articles, not the pictures. In my case (and I’m sure it was true for many others), that wasn’t much of a joke. I did thumb through Playboy and it was for the pictures – the pictures by Rowland B. Wilson, Gahan Wilson and a couple of other of the great cartoonists of that magazine.

Bill Peckmann has saved a number of Rowland Wilson’s cartoons, and I’m eager to post them. It’s my pleasure that Bill has a small archive of Rowland’s material. He was an enormous source of inspiration for me, and it’s my joy to see a lot of these again. It’s amazing how many I still remember after all these years.

1
(Click any image to enlarge.)

2 3

4 5

6 7

8 9

10

11 12

13

14 15

16

17 18

19

Let’s focus on some of the early and brilliant art of Walt Kelly.

- Bill Peckmann had forwarded some of the covers from Walt Kelly‘s Dell comic books, the “Our Gang” series, dated 1946 & 1947. Also included in this stash are a couple of the interior stories.

Bill writes:

I certainly wish I had more than these 7 issues of Walt Kelly’s “Our Gang” comic books published by Dell, but looking at these covers, they will give you a sense of what Kelly was up to.

Each issue contained a 14 to 16 page “Our Gang” story done by Kelly, a “Tom and Jerry” story, a “Flip and Dip”, a Carl Barks “Barney Bear and Benny Burro” piece and ended with an appearance by “Wuff the Prairie Dog”.

I’ll include one “Our Gang” story and one “Barney Bear” to round out the post and save the “Pogo” comics for a post by themselves.

1
August 1946

2
September 1946

3
December 1946

4
January 1947

5
February 1947

6

7
June 1947

8
back cover
All the back covers have basically the same subscription ad,
but I thought I’d send one along for the “currency” shock of it.

What happens when you pour deceptively simple and totally charming into a bottle and shake ‘em up? Why out pours Walt Kelly’s “Our Gang” comics of course! What a touch he had for combining “cartoony” and “straight” in those stories, not an easy thing to pull off, he and Roy Crane were masters of it! Norman Maurer of “Boy” and “Daredevil” comics also had that wonderful ability.

I enjoyed posting Sasek’s illustrated book to Rome last week, and Bill Peckmann followed the cue of his sending me scans of “This is D.C.“, the artist’s follow-up to the U.S. Capital. I hope you enjoy, because I have “This is NY” developing sitting in the wings. look forward to it.

The book’s cover

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

Bill Peckmann sent scans of this glorious and beautiful children’s book by Martin Provenson. There really, as far as I’m concerned, is no reason necessary. The illustrations are just beautiful, and I find myself staring at them for long periods of time. It’s a great book.

Bill writes the accompanying note:

The reason I have this book is because when George Cannata Jr. was our Animation Design teacher at Visual Arts in 1960, he recommended that his students buy it because it was known as the “animation designers bible” in those days.

The oversized book cover

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

I apologize for any problems you’re having with the Splog just now. Verizon is a tough foe who cannot do their job correctly despite the high prices. They promise everything will be in order by Sunday July, 7th. I can only hope and keep trying.

Michael

A couple of days ago I posted some attractive designs that were done in the late thirties/early forties in preparation for the making of the animated feature, Bambi. The drawings were quite beautiful, and they led, without a moment to spare, to Bill Peckmann‘s forwarding some amazing comic strip pages. The Disney studio published an accompanying comic strip for the newspapers.

- Suppose we had a comic book version of The 3 Caballeros; wouldn’t that be fun to see? What if the artwork were done completely by Walt Kelly; would that make it a treasure? I think it does. Bill Peckmann made my week when he sent me the scans to the following comic book. As Bill wrote to me: “Beautiful stuff, like Barks’ art, it’s timeless, looks like it was done yesterday.”

However there’s some residue floating about. Sorry about that, but it is Kelly’s residue.

Not only is the artwork out of this world, but the quality of the printing is brilliant. And the quality of the book, itself, is wonderfully well preserved. You only have to look below to read it. Take your time; this is great.

1

2 3

4 5

6

7 8

9 10

11

1213

1415

16

1718

19

2021

2223

24

Many thanks to Bill Peckmann for sharing this gorgeous material with us.

I’ve always loved the extraordinary work of Chuck Saxon and have watched it closely. I do have one cel from a commercial done in his style, thanks to a good friend, Jim Logan who acted as an assistant on the spot. Unfortunately, it’s currently in storage or I’d post it.

Bill Peckmann sent me a number of pieces,and I’m glad to share them. Here’s Bill:

Exquisite and scrumptious are two words that describe the work of New Yorker artist Charles “Chuck” Saxon to a fair thee well. The cover below which I had clipped, was one of my favorites because of his animals in it. The human condition was always Saxon’s main concern, but one can still wish that he could have included more critters, stuffed or otherwise in his incredible art.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24