IS THIS THE MOST POWERFUL ARTIST'S IMAGE EVER CREATED? CARTOONIST IN
ISRAEL FACES 24 YEARS IN JAIL FOR PROVOKING THE WORLD'S LARGEST PROTEST
OVER A WORK OF ART
Living in a land of tolerance and free speech it is hard to believe
that in Israel 30,000 people would gather to protest a tasteless drawing
showing a pig identified as the Muslim prophet Mohammed "stomping
on the Koran, the Muslim holy book." The Associated Press story (Chronicle,
Sat., July 5) said the head of the Palestinian group Hamas called for an
uprising and the blood of Jews. He called the cartoon "the humiliation
of our prophet." He warned that Hamas' response would be even deadlier
than their reaction to the 1996 assassination of their chief bomber when
4 suicide bombers killed 64 people including themselves.
There had already been several days of riots with fire bombs and stone
throwing before the mass rally was held. Since this report was published
news coverage of the incident had vanished from our local papers until
July 30 when 2 bombs went off in a busy Jerusalem market. The paper reported
"Hamas sources told Reuters that... carried out the attack to avenge
a Jewish woman's recent posting of flyers depicting the Muslim prophet...
They said it also was in retaliation for the publication in an Israeli
science magazine of a photomontage of the Virgin Mary with a cow's head.
The photo, to illustrate a story on cloning, angered Palestinian Christians."
The artist responsible for the pig image is Tatiana Susskin, described
as a 25 year old "Jewish extremist and art school dropout." Her
image was part of a leaflet or flyer "pasted on Arab shop doors in
the West Bank town of Hebron." The paper said, "Susskin has said
she believes that the Middle East is on the brink of a holy war that would
put an end to the current chaos."
While her act was stupid and offensive, I think the possibility of her
going to jail for up to 24 years is an outrageous form of punishment. In
Florida Mike Diana, a punk cartoonist, was found guilty of creating an
obscene comic book, Boiled Angel. The judge didn't send him to jail,
he banned his working as an artist for several years. I'm told it is quite
offensive and poorly drawn, but some people have come to his defense. A
group that supports the free speech rights of cartoonists is protesting
his punishment. I hope somebody finds a peaceful way to defuse the mess
Susskin has created, that she eventually gets out of jail and that she
is smart enough to move to a country where her life isn't in danger. Note:
We really do live in a very tolerant society. R. Crumb did a vile comic
about 1995 that is blatantly racist and anti-Semitic but there hasn't been
a public outcry over his work. KC
"24 FRAMES A SECOND: THE STORY OF ANIMATION" IS THE SPECIAL EXHIBIT AT THE INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM OF CARTOON ART IN BOCA RATON, FLORIDA
The exhibit consists of works from the Museum's permanent collection
and includes works recently donated by Mike and Jeanne Glad of Fremont,
California. Glad has an exceptional world class collection of animation
art.
The exhibit teaches how animated productions are made. It also covers the
historic development of the medium. All types of original art are included
- drawings, model sheets, storyboard drawings and cels. A wall of posters
for animated works adds a great deal of charm to the exhibit. The show
ends Sept. 14.
Also on display are editorial cartoons, gag cartoons, comic books and cartoon
strips. Each topic has its own exhibit hall. The museum also has a sculpture
garden, theatre, gift shop, classrooms, and a small international gallery.
The International Museum of Cartoon Art is located at 201 Plaza Real, Boca
Raton, Fl 33432 (516) 391-2200
KEN LIDSTER DIRECTED THE RAGING BULL STOP-MOTION AD FOR BRISK
ICED TEA
Lidster did the short The Balloon that was shown in the US by Spike and Mike in 1992 (it won the British BAFTA award in animation, their "Oscar"). The ad features foot high latex puppets of Sylvester Stallone and a manager in the boxing ring. Stallone did the voiceover and the manger's voice was done by Billy West who worked on Ren and Stimpy. The puppets were created by MacKinon and Saunders of Manchester, England and they have ball joint armatures under the latex. Glenn Holberton of London's Loose Moose produced and shot the stop-motion black and white ad in 2 weeks working 10 hour days. Soho 601 of London did the Henry and Flame effects.
DISNEY DEVELOPED NEW USES FOR THEIR CGI SYSTEMS FOR HERCULES
According to the July issue of Millimeter Disney used computers for the first time to create a completely digital 3D character that acts. The character was the complex 30-headed Hydra monster. Prior to this sequence the most complex use of computers at the studio was for the crowd scenes in Hunchback and a wild beast stampede in The Lion King. The man in charge of the Hydra project was Roger Gould, formerly of PDI. Another technical development for the production was the creation of a morphing system that was used to subtly move the 2D clouds that hover around Mt. Olympus. The effect was also used to create Hercules' cradle of clouds and Zeus' chair of clouds. The article mentioned that the characters were designed by Gerald Scarfe, a British newspaper and magazine caricaturist whose best known animation is a sequence in Pink Floyd's The Wall. Although the Hercules characters don't look like classical Greek figures, Gerald says his designs were inspired by the use of line on Greek vases. He designed them on three foot high sheets of paper. Apparently much of the animation was drawn on 18 field paper so Disney animators could retain some of Gerald's dynamic use of line.
"HIGH NOON FOR TOON BOON" SAYS VARIETY
The showdown, if there is one, will be between Disney and Fox and then Disney and DreamWorks. The July 14 front page story covers both the not so great box office performance of Hercules and the upcoming battle between Disney and the competition. The article discussed how Hercules failed to meet the expectations of Disney and the exhibitors. Variety was quick to point out that the film is going to be a financial hit for Disney, but will be their least successful animated released in 8 years. The magazine estimated Disney spent up to $85 million on the production and another $35 on the promotion of the film. They noted it should top $100 million in US ticket sales and that Disney films end-up earning between five and ten times the amount of domestic ticket sales through foreign and video sales plus merchandise income. One unusual comment in the article is that DreamWorks' film about the life of Moses will be a test to see if a film can be a success without merchandise tie-ins. Due to the holy nature of the film, no toys, McDonald's drinking cups, etc. are planned. Variety talked about Disney rereleasing Little Mermaid when Anastasia comes out and a similar release is planned when DreamWorks releases The Prince of Egypt late in 1998. While this is a nasty business decision on the part of Disney, things could get even uglier. Since the article appeared in Variety, the Examiner reported (Sunday, July 26) that Disney owned ABC-TV has refused to carry ads for Fox's Anastasia. I believe that action is called "restraint of trade" and is against the law. I'm not a lawyer, but I expect lawyers for both companies are discussing the matter. EDITOR'S NOTE: Whatever happened to the old axiom "Don't animate it if it can be done in live action." Why didn't Disney do Hercules or Pocahontas as live action films? Both the life of Moses and the life of the last Czar of Russia have been done in live action films and/or videos. With modern special effects there is no real need for DreamWorks, Fox and Disney to retell these stories in animation. The labors of their large staffs could be better spent doing something unique to the animated medium. When I interviewed Maurice Noble who worked at Disney in the 1930's and with Chuck Jones since the early 1950's, he complained that the big studios have lost track of what animation is. He complained about their hiring live action writers and producers who don't understand the medium. He, and a lot of other people I've interviewed recently have said they hate the "damn music" that executives believe is necessary to dress-up an animated feature. KC
JOHN R. DILWORTH'S DIRDY BIRDY IS ON MTV
Dilworth is delight that his work was purchased for the show Cartoon
Sushi. It aired in the first show of the series. He said "it's
great! It continues to live." (The film is available on tape in Vol.
3 of Spike and Mike's Festival of Animation and the bird appears
monthly as a comic strip in Animation World Magazine (www.awn.com)
Dilworth won a silver Broadcast Design Award in June for 3 IDS he created
for the Cartoon Network: "Farm ID," "Mondrian ID" and
"Rollercoaster ID."
MAUREEN SELWOOD
Best known as an independent animator, directed "Hair Raising Day," a commercial for El Torito Restaurants. It was produced at Duck Soup Produckions in LA.
CALIFORNIA MINISTER DESTROYS DISNEY CULTURE
A radio talk show host said a minister in California held an anti-Disney
event in July where members of the community brought in 100's of video
tapes and CD's produced by Disney to be destroyed. The remains were taken
to the town dump (the man on the radio may have said the event took place
in Marysville, but I'm not sure that is correct). They were protesting
"New Age" religious ideas in Disney products. For example there
is a baboon witch doctor in The Lion King and a mention of Allah
in Aladdin. I found no mention of the event in newspapers and nobody
I asked knew anything about it.
The belief that Disney is promoting pagan religious ideas isn't new. Last
year Wild Brain had a copy of the Paw Creek Ministries (North Carolina)
newspaper on their bulletin board. It discussed these dangers to our society.
It also offered a book for sale that "exposes the dangers of The
Lion King, Barney, Cabbage Patch Dolls, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers..."
I suppose they also object to Mickey Mouse's use of magic in Fantasia.
And how do they relate to the fact that Hercules wasn't a Christian? The
late great animator Preston Blair used to say, "It's only a cartoon
for Christ sake."
A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE ANGRY WITH DISNEY THIS SUMMER
On July 19 the Chronicle ran a story about Arab Americans being
upset that the Disney film Operation Condor included "the lazy
movie cliche of violent, unscrupulous and irrational Arabs." The article
also mentioned several other groups that are upset at Disney. A Catholic
anti-defamation group is demanding that Disney owned ABC cancel an upcoming
TV drama called "Nothing Sacred" that gives a "sick look"
at priests. The National Federation of the Blind has protested Disney making
a live action Mr. Magoo feature (Dec. release) as it makes fun of people
with poor eyesight. They asked Disney to end production of the film.
The National Hispanic Media Coalition is upset with Disney's alleged poor
hiring record of Hispanics. The article also mentioned the Southern Baptist
boycott of Disney. Want more? How about the July 23 news story about Concerned
Women for America joining the Southern Baptist boycott because they are
angered at seeing Pocahontas "clad in a Victoria's Secret little slip."
Gosh! That sounds like a line by Ladies Against Women, a comedy group that
was active in the Bay Area a few years ago. The group in the article was
also upset at Gay and Lesbian Day at Disneyworld.
THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT IS WORKING HARD TO DESTROY GOVERNMENT FUNDED CULTURE
Women Who Make Movies (WWMM) did a national mailing in June protesting their loss of NEA funds. They distribute films that contain material that upsets the Christian Right. The American Family Association has apparently attacked the group with false information, claiming that 14 films distributed by the group were made with federal dollars (only one of the films received direct funding from the Endowment). They name Republican Representative Pete Hoekstra from Michigan as a leader of the attack against their group and the NEA. A friend who knows the director of the WWMM says she was told someone made a video to stir up hatred of WWMM. The video uses footage pirated from films WWMM distributes. They didn't ask for permission to use copyrighted materials which is an illegal and immoral act. I guess these religious fundamentalists believe they are above the law. Women Who Make Movies asks people to send letters of support for the NEA to your representatives in Washington. Write your representatives in the US Senate and House (Washington, DC 20515). Ask for their continued support of public funding for the arts. Remind them that most of the money goes to well established groups like local symphony orchestras, ballet companies, etc. and that the right wing is hurting a great number of important culture institutions in order to end funding to a few groups they find objectionable.Write soon. In early July the Republicans in the House, with the help of a few Democrats, voted to end the National Endowment. It looks like the Senate and President Clinton may fight to save the NEA. The Senate needs to be reminded that a majority of Americans believe in federal support of our cultural institutions. I suspect that whatever the outcome, the present attack by fundamentalists will change the nature of funding of the arts in the 21st century. Meanwhile, in Canada April 26, 1997 was declared National Day Against Art Cuts (yes, they have problems up there). In some cities like Vancouver and Toronto there were recognizable protests, while in Calgary they held a party called "Cultural Emergency Cocktail Cabaret." KC
INFORMATION ABOUT ATTENDING THE STUDENT ANIMATION FESTIVAL OF OTTAWA
IS AVAILABLE
The event is Sept. 18-21 and the jury will select the winners from about 600 entries. The programs will include films in competition, retrospectives, a show called "Disney Unseen," workshops, panels, lectures, an animators' cafe where you can network, etc. Their 4 page flyer has ticket, travel and hotel information in it. Karl Cohen can send you a copy or call (613) 232-8769 in Ottawa for further information.
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