CHUCK JONES EXHIBITS HIS DRAWINGS, WATERCOLORS, ANIMATION CELS AND RARE ARCHIVAL WORK
The writer of the press release for the gallery said; "Although Chuck Jones is best known as the 'father' of Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd and Daffy Duck,the Academy-Award winning animator has another side as the creator of fine art life drawings.Both sides will be on exhibit at The Studio Gallery San Francisco at 654 Mission Street." The gallery is open from 10 to 6 daily.I hope you noticed the false statement - Tex Avery directed the first Daffy Duck cartoon, Ben Hardaway directed the first Bugs Bunny cartoon and Tex Avery created the first Bugs to display his well known character traits. Avery is generally called the father of Bugs and Daffy.
Jones had a minor hand in the creation of Elmer. The name Elmer Fudd first appears in the Tex Avery short A Feud There Was. That Elmer was based on Avery's Egghead and it didn't look like the Elmer we know. Avery redesigned the character for Dangerous Dan McFoo (1939). He looks more like Elmer and he was called Elmer Fudd. Elmer next appears in Jones' Elmer's Candid Camera (1940). This is the first time Elmer is paired with Bugs and now Elmer looks and acts almost like the one we know. Elmer is refined further in Tex Avery's A Wild Hare (1940) and in later works by Jones, Avery and other directors. Why bother to correct a press release from a gallery? Years ago Tex Avery and Chuck Jones wrote a letter that was sent to their fans, friends and scholars to correct false statements made by Bob Clampett about who created which character at Warner Bros. Clampett, in an interview that was published in Funnyworld, claimed to have created Bugs, Daffy, Sniffles and a few other characters that he didn't create. Since Jones tried to be honest and set the record straight, I think we need to honor his belief that people should know the true history of animation and not some made-up stuff that sound good in a press release. Jones created several fine characters at Warner Bros. including Sniffles, Road Runner, Coyote, Michigan J. Frog and Pepe Le Pew. They could have been mentioned in the release. Why not let people know that Jones has won 14 Oscar nominations and 3 Oscars. That too is quite impressive. There wouldn't have been anything wrong saying Jones directed some of the most famous Warner Bros. stars including Bugs, Daffy, etc. but don't get him involved in another paternity suit.
THE ROBERT, MAXON AND CHARLES CRUMB EXHIBIT AT THE CARTOON ART MUSEUM IS QUITE IMPRESSIVE Most of the show is the work of R. Crumb and there are more than enough examples to keep you looking and reading for quite a while. Crumb's drawings seem to be full of life. Most are large works that were reduced to fit the standard comic book page. As a result he is able to create complex details. Fans will remember some of the images on display. Even if you have never seen R. Crumbs work, you should be impressed. His brothers' works are impressive and an added bonus to this show. Together there are over 80 works on exhibit. They fill two rooms of the museum. The show ends July 19. There is a nice selection of work from the museum's collections, including a dozen or more works from animated productions. There is also a show of watercolor paintings by Charles Vese. The paintings were made as illustrations for a book titled Stardust. They depict an enchanted land with unicorns and fair maidens. The museum welcomes Rod Gilchrist as the new Executive Director. He has had experience in non-profit management and business. The museum is over its financial crisis and hope to begin to grow again under Gilchrist's directorship. Gilchrist has considerable experience with kids' programs and has begun to develop new programs for the museum. Anyone with a teaching background who would like to work with him as a volunteer or for low pay should contact him soon. The Cartoon Art Museum is located at 814 Mission, Second Floor (near 4th - low cost parking across the street in a big city owned parking garage). (415) CAR-TOON for details.
LOCAL SCREENINGS SPIKE AND MIKE'S CLASSIC FESTIVAL OF ANIMATION CONTINUES TO BE SEEN IN THE BAY AREA It will be at the Palace of Fine Arts until May 9, at the Towne in San Jose till May 14, at the Lark in Larkspur from May 15 - 28, at Stanford Univ. from May 14 - 23 and at the Lakeside in Santa Rosa from May 29 - June 4.
If you talk to people about the show or read reviews about it, everybody has a different opinion about what the best films are in the program. People who appreciate animation as a fine art loved T.R.A.N.S.I.T., but two of the three local reviews that I read failed to mention it. I seem to stand alone in my opinion of Lily and Jim which contains a minimal amount of animation (like South Park, which I find funny). It seems most people love the soundtrack including the reviewers. Opinions were very mixed about Stage Fright from Aardman and Fruhling, a computer work from Germany. The films almost everybody rates as excellent are Geri's Game and Shock.
Don't trust reviewers' opinions (including mine). See this fine show for yourself and make up your own mind about which are the hits.
THE 38TH ANNUAL SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY FILM FINALS will probably include a mix of animation, documentary, experimental and dramatic short films. You can attend the big event at S.F. State in McKenna Theatre on Friday, May 22 at 7:30 PM, or see the 2 hour program at the Red Vic, 1727 Haight St., Thursday, May 28 at 7 & 9:30 PM. The program will also be shown at the U.C. Theatre, 2036 University Ave. in Berkeley on Tuesday, June 2 at 4:30, 7 and 9:30. Some of the filmmakers will at the evening shows in Berkeley.
SF STATE'S ANIMATION/DIGITAL CINEMA FILM SCREENING PARTY is a chance to see work done in the animation and cgi classes. Both completed projects and work-in-progress will be shown. This is a chance to see what goes on in the studios. Past events have been entertaining and full of nice surprises. If you are a talent scout, be there. Friday, May 22, 3 PM, August Coppola Theatre (Arts and Industry Building room 101), free.
HEAVY METAL will play at the Red Vic on Monday, June 8 at 7:15 & 9:15.
NIK PHELP'S IDEAS IN ANIMATION will be at the Roxie Theatre Thursday, May 21 at 7 & 9:30 PM. Scrumbly Koldewyn will perform with Phelp's group. The show will include works by Jason Shiga, Sara Petty, Nina Paley, Rock Ross, Michael Rudnick & Joe Davis.
NIK PHELPS ON WEST COAST LIVE May 16 at 10 AM on KALW radio, 91.7 FM.
BILL PLYMPTON WILL BE HERE IN JUNE AT THE CASTRO FOR ONE SHOWING OF I MARRIED A STRANGE PERSON. The film will be shown on a Saturday night in the Dockers sponsored film festival. Plympton says he is very close to signing a theatrical distribution deal with Lions Gate. It will provide a healthy advance. He is also developing ideas for a possible TV series and has a network interested in the project.
OUR NEXT 35MM SHOW OF ANIMATION BY BAY AREA ARTISTS WILL BE ON SAT., JUNE 20, AT THE RED VIC The program isn't complete and all works are not confirmed, but we expect to see work by Richard C. Zimmerman, Tim Hittle, David Andrews, Jenn Emberly, Julia Learie, Steve Rawlin, Terrance Masson, plus a few films from members of the staffs of Pixar and PDI. We also expect to show The Face, a film by people at ILM that includes some amazing cgi work in it. If time permits one or more classics will be included to round out the show.
If you have a work in 35mm and we have forgotten to include you, please call to be in the final program. Contact Karl Cohen (415) 386-1004
LOCAL CONFERENCES/FESTIVALSFREE PASSES TO THE 3D DESIGN EXHIBITION MAY 20-21, PART OF THE 3D CONFERENCE AT THE MOSCONE CENTER MAY 19-22 Passes to the trade show are available from Rene Boisvert, marketing specialist on behalf of Miller Freeman, at (510) 444-7469. Send him a business card at 484 Lake Park Ave. #246, Oakland, CA 94610 and your name will be put in a drawing for a free conference pass which includes the classes. You can also register online at www.3dshow.com
The exhibitors at the event include IBM, Accel Graphics, ITU Research, Kinetix, Lightscape, Microplus, Quantum 3D and dozens of other companies. Tom Turpin, president and CEO of Will Vinton Studios will give the keynote address and a general session will include Larry Guterman and Eric Darnell of PDI, the co-directors of Antz. SF Siggraph will have a chapter meeting at the event on May 20 at 7:30 PM. Dozens of high and low tech cgi classes will be offered with teachers including Tim Cheung, Raman Hui and Patrick Kenney of PDI, Fred Lewis of Moving Media, Betsy de Fries and Jerry van de Beek of Little Fluffy Clouds, James Dyer of Autodesk, and dozens of other people. Classes range from Pat Johnson teaching "Drawing and Storyboarding for Animators," to Michele Bousquet presenting "Easy Tricks that Look Hard: Techniques in 3D Studio MAX R2."
Miller Freeman puts on large scale trade shows and classes around the country. For example they are also the producers of the Computer Game Developers Conference that is being held May 4-8 in Long Beach at the Convention Center. Their offices are at 525 Market Street, Suite 500 in SF. (415) 278-5314.
NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL MEDIA NETWORK MEDIA MARKET IS MAY 27-29 AND THEIR APPLE AWARDS FILM AND VIDEO FESTIVAL IS MAY 29-31 IN OAKLAND The events will be at the Marriott Hotel and Convention Center. The producers have been great at sending out entry forms, but we haven't been sent information about attending, keynote speakers, etc. For information call (510) 465-6885.
SUMMER CLASSES JANE VEEDER TO TEACH 3D COMPUTER ANIMATION AND A LECTURE CLASS ON CONTEMPORARY ANIMATION WITH A FOCUS ON COMPUTER ANIMATION AT S.F. STATE The intensive hands-on production class in 3D cgi is for students with a basic knowledge of the Macintosh system. Sessions are Mon. through Thursday from 9 AM to 4 PM from 7/13 to 7/30. The class is Cine 660.
The history and current developments in computer animation class does not have any prerequisites. It is Cine 465 and it meets from 2 - 5 PM Monday through Thursday 7/13 - 7/30. The course includes lots of screenings and discussions of computer animated works, non-digital antecedent and parallel works, exposition and virtual demonstration of computer animation production techniques and technology, readings and live demonstration of interactive animated works.
For further information call SFSU College of Extended Learning (415) 338-1377 or (415) 904-7700
Veeder has been teaching computer animation classes at SF State for several years. In the Fall she will be teaching in the Design and Industry program in conjunction with their new major in Visual/Graphic Communications. She will teach interactive multimedia and 3D computer animation with a focus on basic 3D graphics and animation followed by a class on interactive 3D worlds.
KARL COHEN WILL TEACH A WEEKEND CLASS ON FORBIDDEN ANIMATION AT SF STATE June 12 & 13 (Fri. 4 - 10 PM and Sat. 9 to 5). The course covers the material in his book and a large number of animated films that are mentioned in the book will be screened. The book is available at State in the text book department of the school store. Copies are also available from Limelight Books on Market Street and at the University Art Museum Book Store (or from the Whole Toons Catalog, from Amazon.con or from the publisher {800} 253-2187). The class is identified as CINE 0325-02 and you get 1 unit of credit (credit/no credit only). No test is given unless you insist upon taking one.
