In his 55-year career, R.O. Blechman has created hundreds of unforgettable images and several novels told in pictures. His signature style has come to life in numerous commercials and other animated works. All images © R.O. Blechman.

No matter what their subject matter, R.O. Blechman's drawings are instantly recognizable: the squiggly, seemingly hesitant lines that know exactly where they're going, defining minimalist characters who face their dilemmas head-on with quiet self-assurance.

They're not unlike their creator, a modest, soft-spoken gentleman who nonetheless possesses many strong opinions, usually couched in the politest of terms. In his 55-year career, R.O. Blechman has created hundreds of unforgettable images and several novels told in pictures; his signature style has come to life in numerous commercials and in a pair of PBS specials that deserve much wider distribution than they currently enjoy. From 1978 through 2004 Blechman headed up The Ink Tank, a New York studio that transformed the work of high-profile illustrators (himself included) into animated commercials.

Since closing the Ink Tank, Blechman has moved his base of operations to upstate New York's Hudson Valley. He still maintains a modest NYC pied-à-terre where he can keep tabs on his ongoing projects while in town. It was here I had the pleasure of conducting an early-April interview with R.O. (who, as it turns out, preceded me as an AWN contributor by several years). My first question of course was...

Joe Strike: What does the 'R.O.' stand for?

R.O. Blechman: Actually, my real name is Oscar. I just decided to have a pen name and R.O. provided a little interest -- an aura of mystery. I just inverted my two names -- instead of Oscar Robert, I thought, "hey why not R.O.?" It has no significance at all -- call me Bob, my friends all do. For many years I was called R.O. but it seemed a little stuffy. I hate Robert.

JS: Would you mind giving me a quick overview of your career?

ROB: My very first staff job was in an animation studio. I was 22 years old and I'd just gotten out of the army. I'd published a book [1953's The Juggler of Our Lady], which bought me to the attention of a wonderful animator named John Hubley. He took me to a fancy-shmancy place for lunch and asked me if I'd be willing to join his organization [Storyboard Studios]. What 22-year-old would say no? For the first year of his New York operation I did storyboards. My stuff was understandably considered un-animatable, because it's damned difficult to animate what is both a broken and a squiggly line.

Not only that but at that time UPA's look was the current style, so all my storyboards were given to other "designers" as they were then called. That was my first real introduction to animation. I do remember when I was a 19-year-old in college it suddenly occurred to me like a thunderclap that the next great art form would be animation.

Blechman's very first staff job was with John Hubley who asked him to join Storyboard Studios. UPA's look was the current style, so all of Blechman's storyboards were given to other "designers."

JS: Where did that come from?

ROB: I don't know, because I hadn't seen anything. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I was always interested in doing picture stories, which are now called graphic novels, and I always loved the idea of combining words and images. And I also loved film, who didn't love film?

I suppose it was the conjunction of my two interests, which made me think animation was the wave of the future, and boy was I wrong. I don't think animation is anywhere near where it should be.

For many years I freelanced. Then I thought, "Hey, why don't I actually work with the animator directly and give the studio my animated work rather than just give them the drawings? That way I can supervise the stuff a little more closely."

JS: Juggler of Our Lady was animated in 1958; was it done by Hubley?

ROB: No. In 1958 CBS bought Terrytoons. Gene Deitch, with whom I worked at Storyboard, became the director there. He then persuaded me to lend my material to his operation to animate. I didn't direct it, I was the creative director. Al Kouzel directed it. There were some nice things about it. There were some things I was unhappy about, but so be it. No film anybody has ever created that doesn't have aspects that they would rather redo.

[In How to Succeed in Animation Deitch describes working on the film:

... Blechman was well aware of the Terrytoons product, and was terrified we would convert his little juggler into Mighty Mouse. I was literally on the phone with Bob every night for nearly a year before he finally relented. I assured him over and over again, that we would be absolutely true to his story and faithful to his graphic style. My ace card was Al Kouzel, one of the finest artists who ever worked with me. I knew that I could rely on Al to perfectly get Bob Blechman's images unscathed onto the big screen. Al was a talented and dedicated artist who worked with me for many years in many locations, even in Prague. He was able to get Bob's confidence. It was a prodigious undertaking, and Bob himself came into the studio to work with Al on the layouts. I monitored and guided the visual staging development each day. I knew this had to work and bring us needed prestige, or I would be finished immediately."]