June 1998
SILENT AUCTION OF OUTSTANDING ANIMATION ART & SIGNED BOOKS, A BENEFIT FOR SARA PETTY, FRIDAY, JUNE 19, 7 pm at the Warner Bros. Studios, Gate #4, Screening Room 12, 4000 Warner Blvd.. (Olive and Barham) in Burbank. The invitation reads "Occasionally the animation family unites to help one of it's own. Famed animator Sara Petty has suffered a series of misfortunes climaxed by a terrible auto accident. Some of the greatest names in animation answered the call of a colleague in distress providing you with the once in a lifetime opportunity of taking home original artwork from their Oscar winning films."
Artwork by Frederic Back, Borge Ring, Oscar Fischinger, Faith Hubley, Paul Dreissen, Janet Perlman, Bill Plympton, David Silverman, Andreas Deja, Eric Goldberg, Joe Grant and others will be auctioned off along with signed books by John Canemaker and Charles Solomon. The screening will include Sara Petty's Furies, Oscar Fischinger's Motion Painting, John Canemaker's Bridgehampton and other works.
Petty is a wonderful animator who moved from Santa Cruz to Los Angeles a few years ago to work as the 4th director of the "Fifth Symphony" sequence for Fantasia 2000. According to Charles Solomon, the L.A. Times animation critic who organized the benefit with Tom Sito, president of the Motion Pictures Screen Cartoonists local 839, Petty would have done a fantastic job if Disney had the sense to give her a box of pastels and had told her to come back in a year with a finished masterpiece. Instead she had to deal with administrators who can make things difficult for creative artists. The sequence now is on its 5th director. By-the-way, she has recovered from the accident, but was left with a lot of unpaid bills.
Solomon said the next Fantasia will be one of the most expensive animated features ever made due to all the changes that have gone into it over the years. He thinks the Disney computer generated dinosaur project will become Disney's most expensive film when it is released. He called it a "run-away production" that lacked a clear vision when it was begun. Test footage and completed sequences for the film are said to be outstanding.
For further information call Tom Sito (818) 695-6425
SALLY CRUIKSHANK'S WORK, INCLUDING CELS, BACKGROUNDS AND TAPES, IS AVAILABLE FROM ANIMATION WORLD NETWORK You can buy original cels from her classics (Quasi at the Quackadero, Make Me Psychic, Face Like a Frog and Quasi's Trailer) via the Internet. Almost all the cels are $200 each and you can see what they look like in both thumbnail and full screen size at the web site. She also has a video available of the 3 works that star Quasi for $35. Face Like a Frog and her other works may be available on tape soon. For details see www.awn.com/awnstore/cruikshank/
JOHN CANEMAKER HAS ILLUSTRATED A NEW CHILDREN'S BOOK, HAS TWO MORE DISNEY BOOKS IN THE WORKS AND WILL BE HONORED BY THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART IN NY Canemaker is an amazing person who writes scholarly books, creates animated films, and heads the animation department at New York University. His latest book is Lucy Goes to the Country, written by Joseph Kennedy and illustrated by Canemaker. It comes out this month and it is being published by Alyson Wonderland. Lucy is a cat that travels from her city home to the countryside for an adventure-filled weekend with her "two big guys."
This entertaining book has a gentle message that love has many faces and that within the diversity of modern life there is a shared humanity. It is a subtle tale of feline naughtiness in the daily life of a non-traditional family - a subtle reflection of a new generation's awareness and understanding of gay life in America.
On November 6, 1998 the Museum of Modern Art in New York City will present an evening of John Canemaker's animated films. They will present a 20-year retrospective of his work. His titles include Confessions of a Stardreamer, Confessions of a Stand-Up, Bottom's Dream and Bridgehampton, a semi-abstract film that was in this year's ASIFA-East Festival. He will also show John Lennon Sketchbook. It was made with permission of Yoko Ono, who later decided not to let him distribute it... Also in the program will be his animation for the feature The World According to Garp, the Peabody Award-winning Break The Silence: Kids Against Child Abuse, and the Academy Award-winning documentary about children and cancer, You Don't Have to Die.
Finally, for those of you that love to read about the production of animated features and shorts, his next book will be Hangin' Out The Wash: The Art and Artists of Disney Storyboards. It will be published by Hyperion Press in Fall, 1999. It explores the work of story artists Bill Peet, Ted Sears, Pinto Colvig, Roy Williams, Dick Huemer, T. Hee, Bill Cottrell, Harry Reeves, Homer Brightman, Carl Barks, Earl Hurd and others including current storyboard artists at Disney.
Coming from Hyperion in the year 2001 will be Disney's Nine Old Men and the Art of Animation. He is presently doing research on that book.
SPIKE AND MIKE RUN INTO CENSORSHIP PROBLEMS IN TORONTO - 3 WORKS WERE BANNED IN ONTARIO The offensive works banned are Baby's New Formula by Aaron Springer, Sloaches Fun House by Steve Margolis and Mike Grimshaw's Little Rude Riding Hood. The first hasn't been shown in SF yet, the other two were in the 1997 Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation.
The ban resulted from the rule that all films have to be passed by the Ontario Board of Censors before they can be shown in Toronto. At first the board wanted to ban the entire Sick and Twisted show, but after considerable debate they agreed to let the program play if the three titles were removed from the package.
The final decision of the censors wasn't made in time for the opening night. That night a woman with a badge showed up and made sure nothing was shown at the Paradise Theatre. A large crowd was turned away.
Spike and Mike have not had trouble with censorship in Canada until now. They regularly play their programs in Vancouver. This is the first time in several years that they have booked a show in Toronto.
A Canadian who works with Mike Grimshaw told me the animator is amused and that Toronto is actually known as a conservative town. If a film can play in "Toronto the Good" it can play anywhere else in Canada without censorship problems. (Years ago I had a film distributed in Canada that had to be cut before it would be approved by the censors in Ontario. My distributor was really mad at having to make cuts in a 5 minute experimental short.)
Grimshaw, who lives in Vancouver, has already been interviewed 3 times by the press about his work being banned. One interview was by his local Vancouver paper and another was by Canadian national radio.
As for Spike, a woman who works with him say he was disgusted, but not surprised by the incident. KC
WANT TO SEE LISTS OF WHAT HAS BEEN CENSORED FROM WARNER BROS., MGM & DISNEY CARTOONS ON TV? A really dedicated group of animation fans has a fine web site with lots of information about the cuts to MGM and WB cartoons on TV at www.megalink.net~cooke/looney
A similar list concerning cuts to Disney cartoons on TV is available from a web site called Persistence of Vision, Paul Anderson, Editor. A link to it is on the Rainbo Animation Art site at www.hooked.net/~rainboo
CENSORSHIP PRESSURE IS BUILDING IN THE USA The demise of Joe Camel in ads that promote smoking has inspired some pressure groups to go after new targets. The S.F. Chronicle reports (Sat. May 23, Business Section), "Berkeley's Center on Alcohol Advertising and the Marin Institute for Prevention of Alcohol and Other Drug Problems have become regulars at Anheuser-Bush shareholder meetings, where their requests to halt the use of animals and animated characters in ads are routinely rebuffed. The groups, along with Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the American Academy of Pediatrics, have run newspaper ads calling for an end to Bud spokes-animals."
The article goes on to say how those wonderful "Bud-Wei-Ser" frogs are becoming a major target for the politically correct hunters. Is nothing sacred?
Frankly, I love those computer animated frogs and lizards. I haven't purchased a Bud in years as I hate its bland taste. I feel the ad people who do these spots should be thanked for support animators and for creating entertaining TV moments. These ads are much easier to watch than ones for toilet bowl cleaners or the loud promotions for dumb, unfunny sit-coms.
PRE-MADE INTERCHANGEABLE STOP-MOTION ARMATURE PARTS are available from Armaverse. The human armature kit is $50 and the dinosaur kit is $70. Buy them both for $110. Paul Nass, who found information on the company, believes parts from both kits are interchangeable and are easy to assemble. He also notes the company isn't well known (only 700 hits on their web site at www.armaverse.com) so spread the word.
Nass also found a new construction-type toy called Zoob that is made with a series of ball-and-socket joints. Since there are lots of configurations possible you can build different objects. The toy is probably too large for normal stop-motion puppets, but they might be handy for teaching concepts or for use in other kinds of projects. He found a set of 120 pieces selling for $40 at the Nature Company in Valley Fair (San Jose).
FOX WILL ADD MORE ANIMATION TO ITS LINE-UP The network plans to add three new series early in 1999. "Futurama" is being created by Matt Groenig. "The PJs" will be a stop-motion series created by Eddie Murphy and Will Vinton Studios. "Family Guy" is a series being developed by Seth McFarlane, a 24-year-old recent graduate of Rhode Island School of Design. McFarlane created two shorts for a Hanna-Barbera competition before being picked-up by Fox. The network will continue to air their two animated hits, King of the Hill and The Simpsons.
MTV IS RUNNING AN EASY TO ENTER ANIMATION "CHARACTER SCREEN TEST" COMPETITION The deadline is Aug. 30, 1998. All you need to do is make a rough sketch of the character and produce a voice tape that demonstrates the special qualities of the character. The top 3 prizes are worth $2,000, $1,500 and $1000. For details contact Julie Kellman, MTV Animation - Character Screen Test Competition, 1633 Broadway 31st floor, New York, NY 10019 or fax Character Screen Test (212) 654-4701
ASIFA-EAST HONORS CLARE KITSON with a program of works she has commissioned for Channel 4 in the UK. If all goes well we will show the program later this year. The program includes excerpts from Sarah Ann Kennedy's Crapston Villas and Candy Guard's Pond Life.
LINWOOD DUNN DIES AT THE AGE OF 94. He was one of the great optical printing special effects pioneers. He headed the photographic effects department at RKO from 1928-'56. His credits include work with Willis O'Brien on King Kong, and a long list of other features including Citizen Kane, Mighty Joe Young, The Thing and Flying Down to Rio. He also worked on the original "Star Trek" TV series, West Side Story and The Great Race. He won his first Oscar during WWII for the design of special effects photographic equipment that was used by the military. He won a second award in 1984 for his continued contributions to the technology.
WORLD ANIMATION CELEBRATION IS RETHINKING THEIR PLANS Animation Flash on the Internet has announced Leslie Sullivan, WAC's director, and Marisa Materna, the festival's coordinator, have left the festival. Materna now works as a recruiter for Klasky Csupo, a company headed by Terry Thoren, WAC's founder.
Another indication that all is not well is the statement from Animation Flash that there is no firm date for the 1999 event. I was told Thoren announced at the 1998 event that he had firm plans for the 1999 festival including a confirmed date for the Pasadena site. Apparently those plans have changed.
I hope Thoren continues with WAC under the guidance of someone who can make WAC 1999 a financial and artistic success. WAC is an important event for the industry and it takes a lot of money to make it happen. Thoren should be congratulated for taking risks over the years to make the Los Angeles Animation Celebration and then the World Animation Celebration major events.
Thoren has done a great deal to help animation become as popular as it is today. He founded and owns Animation Magazine and Expanded Entertainment. Among the tapes from Expanded that can be found in better video stores are past Tournee packages, Outrageous Animation, British Animation Celebration, Animation Celebration, The World's Greatest Animation and other titles. He has also worked hard to get independent animation shown on TV. Thoren has been a great friend of animation and I wish him all the best with his future projects. KC
ASIFA HOLLYWOOD EXPANDS THE ANNIE AWARDS They will now have 4 categories that honor male and female voice actors in features and television, and new categories that split the awards in storyboarding, production design, directing and writing between television and feature films/home video. The competition will now have 26 categories.
VINTON STUDIOS is behind the cool Nissan ad with toy people similar to Ken and Barbie in the front seat. Mark Gustafson was the director and Chuck Duke, Jeff Mulcaster, Si Tran and Jerold Howard were the cgi artists and animators.
DVD PRODUCTION 98 PRODUCER'S CONFERENCE is Aug. 12-13 at the Universal City Hilton Hotel and Towers, Universal City, CA. Registration rates are only $695 per person. For details (818) 506-2500
DIGITAL LIVING ROOM CONFERENCE is June 21 - 24 at Ritz Carlton, Laguna Niguel, Dana Point, CA Registration is only $2,495 (includes a few meals) plus transportation and hotel ($260 a night) (888) 33-UPSIDE
