April, 2001 Newsletter
Intorduction by John Canemaker | Local Screenings and Events | National News | Festivals
|
KEVIN COFFEY'S TV SHOW "CARTOONLAND PRESENTS" IS NOW ON THE AIR - IT FEATURES OLD TIME CARTOONS AND A HOST GOOFIER THAN DAVID LETTERMAN This homegrown cable 29 show in San Francisco could become an underground hit. Coffey is great at off-the-wall introductions to the ancient public domain cartoons that he shows. Paul Etchevery, his guest on the advanced copies of the show sent to the press, rises to the occasion and acts like a spaced-out cartoon nut. Neither Coffey or Etchevery take themselves too seriously, so it is a refreshing change from commercial TV. To add to the fun Coffey created a great original 1 minute animated opening. For a set he has created an old tug boat on the Bay. This local cartoon show for adults airs every first and third Tuesday night at 10:30 PM (April 3, 17 May 1, 15) on cable 29 in San Francisco.
BECKY WELLS HAS COMPLETED HER WORK CREATING OUR WELL-DESIGNED WEB SITE AND IS STEPPING DOWN AS OUR WEBMASTER Wells heads up the Nature Conservancy's design department and undertook our web site as a labor of love. She made enormous contributions to both the design of the site and by serving as our first webmaster. She spent hundred of hours making the site something we're all proud of. Thank you, Becky! WE WELCOME MIKE NOLAN AS OUR NEW WEBMASTER. Mike will be registering the site with the major search engines and will expand the site's capabilities and data base. Hillary Van Austen and Samia Afra will be working together to check and annotate the links. John Grimes will stay on as the editor. Over the next year, the web team will make other upgrades. THEY WELCOME YOUR SUGGESTIONS. editor@asifa-sf.org Members, we are seeking submissions for our Member Gallery (free links and thumbnails of members' work). We also can also post your suggested animation-related links, jobs/training information and calendar listings. Submit material to: editor@asifa-sf.org U.C. THEATER MAY BE CLOSED BY ITS PRESENT OWNERS BY THE TIME YOU READ THIS, THEY WERE GIVING THE STAFF A WEEK'S NOTICE March 29 was to be the final day of operation according to an e-mail sent by Gary Meyer on 3/23. The UC was the beginnings of the Landmark Theater chain and has been a great supporter of animation over the years. Meyer and his partners eventually sold the chain to Goldwyn to get the money to expand. Landmark. Goldwyn sold it to Metromedia, a big corporation, who subsequently sold it to the Silver group.. Meyer now operates the Balboa. He is looking into ways to save the UC, but times have changed I hate the idea of writing an obit for a theater before the projectors have been turned off for the last time. I hope it is saved, restored and remains a great film facility well into the 22nd Century. Why? Because until recently it was the only place left offering daily changes of double bills of classics and second run features. Because they cared about their local film community and would go out of their way to put on special programs. I have fond memories of meeting a young Leonard Maltin who was there to autograph a new book, Of Mice and Magic. I remember meeting another young author there at another book signing/rare cartoon show. It was Jerry Beck. Our lifelong friendship is reflected in a couple of references to him elsewhere in this issue. The UC is where I discovered the work of many animators and met other talented artists and writers. It was where I was invited to screen some of the unusual programs I created including my doing a book signing when Forbidden Animation was published. The UC was a good friend to animation long before the current popularity of the medium began. If it closes for good in a few days the Bay Area will have lost an important asset. THROUGH THE MAGIC OF E-MAIL GARY MEYER WAS ABLE TO READ AN ADVANCED COPY OF THE ABOVE AND RESPOND He wrote, "Beautifully said. Thanks Karl for remembering those wonderful and special nights. Of course we did so many Tournees too, plus numerous classic animation multi-week programs. And the tributes to Pixar, Skellington and others with many animators in person. God, I'd forgotten and you are bringing back the memories. Thanks, Gary" JOHN ATKINSON WAS FEATURED ON THE TV SERIES "DASH'S ANIMATION HOUSE" The Tech TV program aired several times last month. It showed his short Aspire, clips from his work-in-progress, Daydreamer, and examined what it takes to be an independent animator in today's digital society. Atkinson says he was trying to finish Daydreamer in time for the SIGGRAPH 2001 deadline. It is 3D animation, but it looks quite different from Aspire as he is using new software. DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING RELATED TO ANIMATION TO SELL AT OUR FIRST BOOK FAIR ON WEDNESDAY, MAY 30? SPEAKERS WILL BE ED HOOKS, AUTHOR OF "ACTING FOR ANIMATORS," AND NIK PHELPS, CREATOR OF THE NEW CD "FETCH" Ed Hooks has been teaching acting to animator at numerous places around the world and his book is getting excellent reviews. Nik Phelps heads The Sprocket Ensemble, a group that has just released a CD of their music for animated shorts. We have also invited a few other people to bring things to sell. You can expect to meet and talk with Nina Paley (original art), Michaela Pavlatova (possibly making available some cutouts from Forever and Forever), Russell Merritt (author of Walt in Wonderland), Karl Cohen (author of Forbidden Animation), Chris Lanier (author/illustrator of the graphic novel Combustion) plus Ed Hooks and Nik Phelps. If you have an animation related book, product or original art for sale, give Karl Cohen a call by April 22nd (415)386-1004 or karlcohen@earthlink.net Your name and product will be mentioned on the flyer for the May event and in press releases. If the event is a hit it could become an annual event. Mark you calendars now for Wed. May 30. LARRY CUBA AND THE IOTA CENTER IN LOS ANGELES TO PRESERVE THE WORK OF JORDAN BELSON, A BAY AREA VISIONARY ARTIST -ANIMATOR. They will save and restore Jordan Belson's work on 16mm film. In February, Cuba picked up 38 cans of material from Belson's North Beach apartment for deposit into The Iota Center archive. Most of the cans contained the original film and sound elements of works produced between 1960 and 1990. A third of them are preliminary versions as Belson is a perfectionist and would remake a film 7 or 8 times before releasing a final version. They hope that in the future there will be a way for the Iota Center to make some of those versions available for scholars at their study center. Present plans call for restoring the original printing materials and making new release prints. Currently in the works are the titles, Allures (1961), World (1970), Momentum (1968), and Light (1973). The Anthology Film Archive in New York will screen the new prints of World and Light in their upcoming traveling film series, Galaxy. The Iota Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and promoting the art of sound, light and movement in all its many forms. Their research library houses the world's largest collection of materials devoted to abstraction in film, video, performance, installation and computer-animated art. For more information: 3765 Cardiff Ave.#305, LA, CA 90034 www.iotaCenter.org (310) 842-8704 SIX FOOT TW0 AND GRACECOM WIN A GOLD AURORA AWARD for best campaign. Gracecom and Six Foot Two produced a series of 15-second public service announcements last year. The 14 psa's were aimed at "fallen away Christians." (415) 925-9909 OUR FEBRUARY EVENT OFFERED SEVERAL IMPRESSIVE SURPRISES INCLUDING THE WORK OF A NEW LOCAL COMPANY, LABOY ENTERTAINMENT At our annual open screening for commercial studios the large audience enjoyed the expected exceptional commercial work by PDI/DreamWorks, ILM, Mondo Media and Wild Brain. What took us by surprise were some of the new works for the Internet, including some footage that was pulled from the web because it was too hot. (Sorry, no details as the artist didn't want any publicity. If you were not there you missed an eyeful.) Another unexpected treat was an episode of Graveyard by Michaela Pavlatova. It is being produced by Wild Brain.com It has her Eastern European sensibility and stands out as a unique approach to web entertainment. It is a series of short, really humorous segments, that explain how the people under the tombstones died. Graveyard isn't on the Internet yet, so seeing this preview was a delightful surprise. Mondo Media showed the expected web material, but they surprised us with a new 3D animation project called Gone Bad. It was directed by Marco Bertoldo and animated by Goose. It has a strong dark atmosphere and the human animation is remarkably realistic. It stands alone as a short, but it has also been presented as a pilot for a proposed feature. Mark West and Barbara Bayne, who animated numerous segments of Thugs on Film at Mondo Media, showed us a humorous reel of clips that they had created for Mondo and other companies. We were also treated to a clip from Poyi and Ubu, an animated half-hour children's show by director Arnaldo Laboy. His colorful work bounced along at a fast pace and was beautifully animated on cels. Laboy uses full animation that moves smoothly instead of a limited computer animation style common to some TV work. His company LaBoy Entertainment can be reached at (415) 337-6313 or laboy@ poly.com or visit them at www.poly.com Amy Pryor gave a nice introduction to the PDI/Dreamworks reel, Michael Lipman represented Mondo and Victoria Livingstone introduced the 2 tapes from ILM. There was also a realistic looking reel of 3D animation of NASA's next space station. It was presented by Dan of e-motion. SF INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (APRIL 19-MAY 3) TO PRESENT LOTS OF NEW ANIMATION BY SVANKMAJER, HUBLEY, OCELOT & OTHERS The following animated works will be shown: Feats of Hercules, Sergei Ovcharov (short) Russia; Hedwig and the Angry Inch, John Cameron Mitchell (animation by Emily Hubley), USA; Otes?nek, Jan Svankmajer Czech Republic; Our Spirited Earth, Faith Hubley (short), USA; Pharaoh, Sergei Ovcharov (short) Russia; Princes and Princesses, Michel Ocelot, France; Russian Fantasy, Sergei Ovcharov (short) Russia. TOON IN, TURN ON, DROP OUT, a shorts program, includes 1300cc, Eoin Clark, England; Metropopular, Jonah Hall, USA. Moschops, Jim Trainor, USA; Race Speedster, Scott Rosann USA; Ramblin' Man, Aaron Augenblick USA; Ring Of Fire, Andreas Hykade Germany; Still Life With Animated Dogs, Paul Fierlinger USA; Tongues and Taxis, Michael Overbeck USA WEE WORRIES AND WISE GUYS, a shorts program includes: 55 Queensberry, Ed Howe USA and Hilltop Hospital, Pascal Le Notre, Wales/France. YOUTH OR CONSEQUENCES shorts program includes Mr. Porcupine's Predicament, Reshpal Sandhu, USA -Check the festival program guide for times, dates, locations- PDI/DREAMWORKS IS EXPANDING THEIR COMMERCIAL AND FEATURE EFFECTS DIVISION As work ends on Shrek they are moving several staff members over to this division. They include producers Laura Lockwood and Michael Garner. Garner, who headed the character development department on Shrek, began work a few months ago on 3 Kool-Aid ads that combine animation and live action footage shot in Australia. The ads begin to air in April. He has been on PDI's staff for 4 years. Laura Lockwood joined the company in 1998. She is presently working on a computer animated Visa spot and she recently produced a six minute cgi film that won an honorable mention at Sundance. PDI'S "SHREK" GETS A GOOD REVIEW FROM A MEMBER WHO SAW A WORK-IN-PROGRESS SCREENING One of our members sent an e-mail "Shrek is a lot of fun, with tons of spoofs and digs on Disney animation. Computer animated and appeals to all ages not all sequences were finished. A few story-boards with voices, and numerous without final coloring and shading." A production trailer for Shrek was shown at our open screening in February. It got laughs and was applauded by our audience. STORY ANIMATION HAS EXPANDED TO INCLUDE FLASH ANIMATION The company is run by Robert Story who once worked for Colossal. Now he offers traditional animation, cgi and Flash in San Francisco and Laguna Beach. (949) 497-1901 (no local phone or mailing address on his ad) www.storyanimation.com TIPPETT STUDIO PURCHASES 35 SGI WORK-STATIONS Phil Tippett's studio in Berkeley has purchased 10 Silicon Graphics Octane2 workstations, 25 Silicon Graphics 230 and Silicon Graphics 330 Windows NT OS-based and Linux OS-based workstations, an SGI 2100 visualization server and a 2TB SGI TP9400 storage system. TIPPETT STUDIOS IS LOOKING FOR A CGI 3D CHARACTER ANIMATOR for film work.
LOCAL SCREENINGS AND EVENTSSun. & Mon. April 1 & 2 Gamera 3, a Japanese monster film full of special effects. "One of the best monster movies to date!" Subtitled, 7:15 & 9:35 + 2 & 4:20 on Sun. Red Vic on Haight St. Thurs. April 5, Jeremy Solterbeck's Moving Illustrations of Machines is included in a program with George Kuchar's Slippage in the Garden of Udon at 111 Minna Street Gallery, 7:30 (reception starts at 6:30). Presented by FAF Friday, April 20, RENT PARTY FOR CARTOON ART MUSEUM. The Sprockets Ensemble will play and there will be food, drinks and good times provided. Wonder Con guest artist are invited (convention in Oakland) so this might be an interesting crowd to mix with. At 814 Mission, 2nd floor. Call 546-3922 for time, cost, etc. Sunday, April 22, 1 PM. ASIFA-SF presents CAREERS IN ANIMATION. Meet representatives from local companies who will discuss the kinds of work they do, who gets hired, what training you need to get a job and other basics. At San Francisco State, August Coppola Auditorium (Fine Arts 101, south of the student union).
NATIONAL NEWSSTAN LEE MEDIA CO-FOUNDER FLEES THE COUNTRY Insiders within Stan Lee Media have confirmed that co-founder Peter Paul has fled the country to avoid possible charges related to stock manipulation. According to sources within SLM, Paul left in December for Brazil. In the late 1970s, Paul served three years in a federal prison for cocaine possession and attempting to extort millions from the Cuban government. Stan Lee Media filed for bankruptcy on February 16 and on February 20, the first of three class action suits were issued by SLM investors. All allege that SLM officers and directors issued "materially false and misleading statements regarding the nature of Stan Lee Media's revenues, earnings and financial condition." To compound the problems, SLM is also currently appealing a Nasdaq ruling to delist the firm's stock from the exchange. The Securities and Exchange Commission is also engaged in an investigation probing the company's stock fallout just prior ! to its halting of operations on December 15, 2000 after unsuccessfully securing financing due to the company's stock dipping lower than $1. In November, over a two-day stretch, SLM shares fell from 6 3/16 to 1 3/4. During that time, PFP Family Holdings, the organization that controls Peter Paul's shares, sold off large chunks of stock. Paul is claiming he used his shares in SLM as collateral in other investments and thus sold them when payment was due on those other investments. Item courtesy of Animation World Magazine's Flash (weekly news service). For further details on the demise of SLM read coverage at www.awn.com. The Industry Standard's top story of the 2nd week of March was on Stan Lee's problems. They confirm the above and added that Paul is a disbarred attorney. The Cuban swindle had Paul setting up a phony coffee company. He was going to sink an empty ship, but was going to claim it was loaded with coffee. He was also involved with heroin at the time of his cocaine bust. They had several other nasty stories to tell about Paul. "INDUSTRY STANDARD" IS SYMPATHETIC TO STAN LEE AND HIS TROUBLES They say Lee let Paul run his business and that Paul came up with the idea for their hit 7th Portal. Lee is described as a really sweet 78 year old man who has limited knowledge of how to use a computer and not much interest in running a business. Apparently he put full trust in Paul and even lent him $250,000 (not paid back). Lee didn't know that Paul had been sued by several celebrities for past schemes that proved questionable. The magazine describes Lee as an "easy mark." One of our members, Lee Marrs, recalls a moment with Stan Lee years ago that may or may not confirm he was not always concerned about understanding everything going on around him. She said, "Stan was chief editor at Marvel when I was writing and drawing a feature series, "Crazy Lady" for Crazy Magazine, Marvel's clone of Mad Magazine. It was a popular series, about growing up female. Stan could NOT understand it. Why would the trials of buying your first bra be funny? He asked me to explain to him WHY this was funny. Ever try to explain why something is funny?" IWERKS ENTERTAINMENT, INC. AND SIMEX INC. HAVE SIGNED A LETTER OF INTENT TO MERGE Iwerks is a leading provider of special venue entertainment theaters that show films in the 8 perf. 70mm format (IMAX is in 15/70). SimEx in Toronto is a dominant player in the special venue entertainment market. The letter says SimEx plans to purchase Iwerks Entertainment. If the two companies combine, it is expected that Iwerks will retain its name and identity and will continue operations in Burbank, California under the existing Iwerks management team. "The combined companies can serve a wider segment of the market," says Michael Needham, SimEx CEO. "Together, we can meet the objective of becoming a worldwide dominant player in the special venue attraction market. In addition, the combined companies and our valued customers will be able to take advantage of greater cost efficiencies in terms of service and support, film production, film distribution, manufacturing and world-wide marketing." If the merger is completed the company will be in a better position to compete with IMAX. Hopefully that means more animated product for everybody to enjoy and greater employment for animators. (I'm told one reason IMAX uses a lot of animation is their inability to record lip synch with their giant camera system.) Hopefully the combined company will showcase gems like Petrov's unseen Oscar winner, The Old Man and the Sea. The Iwerks/SimEx network will consist of nearly 120 simulation theatres and a network of 250 Large Format theatres worldwide. Iwerks Entertainment Inc., founded in 1986 by a son of Ub Iwerks, is the number one provider of 8/70 Large Format Theater systems worldwide and the industry leader in ride simulation. Iwerks has nearly 200 installations in 38 countries worldwide at entertainment centers, amusement parks, movie theatres, museums, etc. Iwerks has received two Academy Awards for Scientific and Technical Achievements. SimEx attractions can be found worldwide in theme parks, science centers, museums, shopping centers, family entertainment centers, location based entertainment centers and world expos. For more information visit www.iwerks.com and www.simex.ca/ NEW VIRGIN ISLANDS ANIMATED FILM FESTIVAL HAS SOLID FUNDING AND AN OUTREACH PROGRAM The festival is offering $50,000 in prize money and no entry fee (see festival section for more details). They also have invited David Ehrlich to present a Children's Workshop in September to 140 kids on the islands. The films that the kids make will be shown in December at the festival. INKWELL IMAGES DISCOVERS NEGATIVES AND SOUNDTRACKS TO 10 FLEISHER SOUND CARTOONS MADE BEFORE DISNEY MADE HIS FIRST SOUND CARTOON AWN's Flash reports Inkwell Images has purchased the only existing picture and sound negatives to a series of early Max Fleischer Bouncing Ball Song Cartunes from New York-based Movietronics film library. In My Old Kentucky Home, 1924, a black dog says, "Follow the ball and join in, everybody!" The Library of Congress' Film Archive has prints without soundtracks. Ray Pointer, Inkwell's president, says he will work with the library to restore their prints. At present Inkwell sells 3 tapes of rare silent cartoons. Jerry Beck (www.AnimationResearch.com) writes"Video Producer/Animation historian Ray Pointer has sent me two of his video tapes. These are the first freebies I've ever received for doing this website and, heck, why not solicit for more? Especially if they are as good as this! The print quality is the best you can get on these titles and the transfers are excellent. I particularly liked his Max Fleischer's Famous Out of the Inkwell 1919-1922 (Vol. 1), which features 6 of the earliest Koko The Clown comedies - the ones with Dave Fleischer being rotoscoped as Koko. Fishing (1921) and Invisible Ink (1921) are tinted prints that are quite a treat The tape begins with a well done history of Max Fleischer, accompanied by some rare still photos and footage." The company has also released Disney's Alice In Cartoonland and a silent "sampler" called Before Walt featuring Alice, Koko, Felix and other classic examples of silent animation. Each tape is $19.95 and to order, or more information, www.inkwellimagesink.com DISNEY PURCHASES WINNIE THE POOH FOR $350 MILLION They paid $88 million to Westminster School and the Garrick Club and $132 million to the Royal Literary Society. Disney had licensed the rights to Winnie in the 1960's and has been paying royalties. Disney's copyright will expire in 2026. The last relative of A. A. Milne to hold a share in the copyright was Christopher Robin Milne. He sold his quarter share to the Literary fund for $225,000. Some of the money was used to set up a fund for his daughter, Clare, who was born with cerebral palsy. With the new sale, Clare will receive a one-time fee of $44 million. Christopher Robin's widow, Lesley, will not receive anything. The London Sunday Times said, "Christopher was very anti-Disney. He hated what they had done with the books and the characters. Christopher just wasn't interested in money." RICHARD WILLIAMS HAS A 'HOW TO' BOOK COMING OUT IN OCTOBER from Faber and Faber in England & the US. Williams plans to visit San Francisco in Nov. on his book signing tour. Mo, his wife, called wanting to know if we wanted to have him present an hour talk followed by a book signing party. (YES!) She says the book will not be a big coffee table volume, but 330 pages of important information that you can keep by your animation table. It will cover more than he presented in his remarkable course, so plan on getting a copy when he comes to town. OTHER CINEMA, A NEW ZINE ON THE WEB, IS WORTH A VISIT I broke up laughing when I read Dennis Nyback's Rat in the Popcorn. It is a very funny (and slightly sick) story about a prank that happened years ago at a movie palace in Seattle. I believe Nyback was a projectionist there at that time. The on-line publication also features material by Jack Stevenson, Martha Colburn, George and Mike Kuchar, Jon Moritsugu and others. Noel Lawrence of San Francisco is the publisher. www.othercinema.com ASIFA-HOLLYWOOD RAN A PROGRAM OF TV'S FIRST CARTOONS with Crusader Rabbit, Ruff and Reddy, Colonel Bleep, Tele-Comics and much more. Jerry Beck introduced it. CONTRIBUTE TO THE NEXT NEWSLETTER - REMBERANCES OF BILL HANNA WHO DIED 2/22/01 AND SAM SINGER, WHO DIED EARLIER THIS YEAR, WANTED One is world famous, the other a forgotten producer. Both were pioneers of animation made for early TV (but one had been a great cartoon director before going into TV) and both were colorful (but in different way). Send your comments about either man to 478 Frederick, SF CA 94117 or karlcohen@earthlink.net (deadline April 21) SAN DIEGO COMIC CON 2001, JULY 19-22 Their advance publicity promises it will be the biggest and best For info. write Box 128458. San Diego, CA 92112-8458 MONKEYBONE COMMENTS - Bill Plympton called from New York to say, "I loved the film. Glorious!.. Its the Wizard of Oz to the 10th degree." He says it is so rich and dense that you need to see it several times to see everything Henry Selick put into it. He feels it should become a cult classic and is sorry more people are not enjoying discovering it. When I mentioned people having trouble with its story he suggested we simply are not used to dreamlike material as literature anymore. When asked about his new feature, he reports theatrical rights have been sold to France, Spain and Italy and that other deals are "pending." A.O Scott in the New York Times gave the film a long and positive review that concluded, "Sure, Monkeybone is a bit of a mess. But the unconscious is by definition a disorderly place, which few movies explore with such mischievous insight.". Jerry Beck sent an e-mail from LA that reads, "I'm in the minority in 'not hating' Monkey Bone, since EVERYONE I know hated it. Where was all this "hate" when Cool World came out? That was a piece of crap!" He went on to say that Animation Blast has just published a great issue. A few days latter he sent us the following: "I DIDN'T HATE MONKEY BONE by Jerry Beck (first published at Cartoon Research.com, a great web site) I've never seen so much wildly different opinion on a film before. Harry Knowles (Ain't It Cool News) who read the original script and has a cameo appearance in it, hated it; Roger Ebert didn't care much for it, and the L.A. Times loved it. My only question was: has it got enough animation in it to qualify as an animated feature. The answer to that question, now that I've seen it, is NO. It's a live action film with animation effects and 2-D cartoon sequences. " "And what did I think of it? Is it the mess its been rumored to be? The answer is "No" to that, too. In fact I liked the film. It's got some great surreal imagery. And some very clever ideas. The story is about a cartoonist who goes into a coma and has to fight his way through his surreal subconscious mind to get back to reality. It's done in a darkly humorous way and there are some great ideas here. Roger Rabbit and Cool World aside, the film this most resembles (and might make a good double bill with) is Beetlejuice." "This isn't a great movie, but a fun B-movie that might just (like The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T) become a cult favorite in the next few years when its discovered on video. If this film played midnight shows twenty years ago, it would've been a smash hit. If you want to see something visually imaginative, and different from the usual Hollywood fare, check it out ." Adrienne Crew who works with Salon.com in San Francisco wrote: "I was really saddened by Fox's lack of support for Monkeybone. The trailer was a mess and failed to convey the wondrous world created by the filmmakers. After the film's opening on February 23, 2001, theater chains immediately cut back its screening schedule, making the movie almost impossible to see. I had to really search for a San Francisco theater screening the film after 5 pm. But my diligence paid off." "Monkeybone is one of the most creative and ambitious films I've seen all year. Unlike most animation/live action films, Monkeybone has a smart and coherent script with a twisted dream-logic and "sick fuck" sensibility that matches the film's amazing animation sequences and art direction. How many Farrelly Brothers films include references to mythology, Jungian psychology and organ harvesting? " "Playing the film's nightmare-haunted hero, Stu Miley, Brendan Fraser's loose-limbed acting nicely compliments the animation and makes the live-action sequences jump in ways Ralph Bakshi's Cool World never achieved. Fraser actually matches the energy of the animated creatures bouncing around him." "The animation itself is excellent, as one would expect from a Henry Selick film. The stop-motion and CGI moments are inventive, expressive and seamlessly integrated into the whole film. I really enjoyed the puppetry as well. The sequences taking place in Stu Miley's imagination play like an "H.R. Puff N Stuf" episode directed by David Lynch or Salvadore Dali. In fact, the filmmakers pay homage to Lynch by recreating an Eraserhead-esque nightmare for the hapless hero." "I predict that this film, like Tank Girl, Mars Attacks! and The Velvet Goldmine, will be rediscovered on cable and video after enduring the ignominy of being a neglected gem buried by its corporate distributors." Ken Kearney of Santa Cruz said in his e-mail, "Hey Karl: Re: Monkey Bone, I saw it, wish I didn't production values were good story suckedhey! And I like movies!!!" Harry Knowles, the author of Ain't It Cool News on the Internet, says he read the original script and loved it, but the production was turned into a mess thanks to Fox trying to keep the cost of the production down. He hated the changes that were made. He claims lots of animated scenes were never made and were replaced with actors in rubber outfits. He had a bit part in the film and one of his 2 scenes was cut so his part makes no sense. He writes, "I hate the film in a profoundly upsetting way What makes Monkeybone unbearable is the sheer enormity of talent wasted on this non-working whoopee cushion." Harry McCracken at www.harrymccracken.com (he lives in Boston) said, "I have seen Monkeybone and it wasn't bad. Surprisingly good, in fact, given that the studio seems to have abandoned it." "What it really reminded me of was a Fleischer cartoon. Everything, from plot to characters, is at the service of weird, bad-dream imagery and bizarre little gags. As with a Fleischer cartoon, describing the images and jokes would be kind of pointless. And while not everything works, enough of the hundreds of ideas pay off to keep you (or me, at least) interested" "I guess Monkeybone is my favorite of his films. I've felt like Selick wasn't much of a storyteller in the past, and I don't think he's improved so much as found a project for which traditional storytelling wasn't crucial. " "Why did Fox abandon this film? Maybe it tested badly. Part of the problem is that it would have been tough to promote it in a way that didn't make it look like a kids' film, which it definitely isn't -- it's fairly racy, in fact. Anyhow, if you like weird 1930's animation as much as I do, you'll probably enjoy Monkeybone -- if you can find it." Karl Cohen The film is a wonderful display of production talent and the end credits suggest Selick may have set a record for using more special effects artists, computer and stop-motion animators, etc. than in any other live action film in film history. I loved most of the rich, dense visuals. I was delighted Fox would finance a work based on dreams. I grew up loving several great films based on dreams including Cocteau's Blood of a Poet, Hans Richter's Dreams That Money Can Buy and The Saragosa Manuscript. I love a good celluloid dream, but I'm sorry to say I can not include Selick's film in my list of great dream films. Perhaps the problem lies with Selick's film not being one person's dream but the dream of a committee. Dreams are personal experiences, not collective undertakings. I really wanted to love this film as I knew several people who worked on it. I suspected the film was having problems when Fox wouldn't let publications write about it in advance. In the end I didn't hate or like the film. I was disappointed with it as it was a remarkable undertaking. Brendan Fraser may be sexy or something, but I was unimpressed with his performance. I was also bothered with some of the live action extras looking amateurish. Still, I urge anyone who is curious to rush out and see it on a big screen. There is so much detail that isn't going to look as wonderful on video. You may not love this film, but it has a great deal to offer despite any faults you find in it. I would love to read an intelligent interview with Henry Selick about this production. Two publications wanted me to interview Selick for them, but their requests to Fox for articles were turned down several times (January and October of 2000 and January and February 2001). Will Fox let Selick talk about this work? Are they afraid he'd tell us why the film had to be "fine tuned" after it was supposed to come out last November? Did Fox screw things up as Knowles claims? I suspect there is an important story being suppressed by Fox. (Animation Magazine's latest issue includes brief quotes by Selick, but the only insight I gained was a new studio head was responsible for the delays and changes.) KC P.S. MONKEYBONE'S BOX OFFICE GROSS was $5.2 million after 4 weeks. It played in 1,748 theaters. It may no longer be on any screens in the Bay Area. COMMENTS ABOUT THE EVALUATION OF "ANIMATION MAGAZINE" THAT WE RAN IN THE MARCH ISSUE One person said "I loved the rant on Animation Magazine." The head of a local company wrote, "Your editorial about Animation Magazine was pretty much on target. I usually take a quick glance through it and put it on the shelf. But, in talking to people at the Animation Conference in LA last summer, most find it a useful "trade" magazine. That is exactly what it is, a 'trade' magazine for the animation industry, filling the gaps where Millimeter doesn't. Like most trade publications it is often self-congratulatory, full of puff pieces for advertisers and those who agree to a cover story and rarely challenging. People in any industry want to see the names of themselves and their peers in print. Nice to send home to mom and dad and place in the scrapbook. The ads and listings help people make contacts and get new jobs, while the feature articles inform readers about what is happening at various companies, largely according to their publicists. Animation Magazine is meaty compared to the publications I get for the toy, licensing, computer and home video marke! ts. " YOU DON'T NEED A ROCKET TO GET TO THE MOON: SPACE ANIMATION 1921 - 1956 Several months ago the Hayden Planetarium in the American Museum of Natural History, NYC, asked me to curate an animation program for the first anniversary of their new projection system. When they asked me to fly east to introduce the program, I suggested they ask John Canemaker to present the opening comments as he lives in NYC. He sent a copy of his entertaining speech and gave permission to reprint it. I hope you enjoy his comments. KC
INTRODUCTION BY JOHN CANEMAKER"It is a pleasure to introduce these entertaining cartoons on outer space travel selected by my friend and colleague, animation historian Karl Cohen. The films were made between 1921 and 1956. They are, therefore, pre-NASA -- that is, they were made before the formation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 1958. NASA was formed because the previous year a Russian satellite named Sputnik became the first artificial satellite to orbit the earth, which freaked out America. We lost the space race on October 11, 1957, a date that almost lived in infamy because of the so-called "Pearl Harbor effect" that Sputnik had on the United States -- a full blown crisis that affected our country's self-esteem, and made us doubt our educational system, our government, and our national priorities. Many of tonight's cartoons were made long before JFK demanded an American land on the moon before the end of the 1960s; years before John Glenn orbited the earth; decades before Neil Armstrong took his "small step for man/ giant step for mankind" moon walk on July 20, 1969. (Do you remember where you were that evening?). These films, therefore, reflect a period of innocence in our wonderings about outer space, galaxies, stars, other planets and the alien life forms we might find there. This was before we knew for certain that the moon is not made of Swiss cheese; that Mars does not have little green men sailing in gondolas down red canals; and Pluto was still considered to be a planet, instead of being downgraded by this very Museum to a piece of ice. Before Ralph Kramden first threatened to send Alice to the moon, toons were already there. In The Flying House, from 1921, Winsor McCay -- the greatest of the early animators -- dispatched a bickering married couple to the moon to escape their earth-bound creditors. There they encounter a gigantic moon man who tries to kill them with a huge fly swatter. In the end it turns out to be a nightmare dreamt by the wife; and although the couple's financial woes remain, she is grateful to be back on terra firma. The dream of escaping earthbound cares by journeying to another world and then discovering (as did Dorothy in the wonderful land of Oz) that "there's no place like home" is a theme that runs through at least half of tonight's films. Three cutesy kittens journey to the Milky Way (in the Academy Award-winning 1940 short of the same name) to search for milk. Of course. Obviously, the pussycats use the same reasoning as Willie Sutton, who explained that he robbed banks "because that's where the money is." Willie Whopper heads for the Stratos Fear to dodge his dentist, Dr. A. King, a perfectly reasonable solution we have all contemplated at one time or another. Tex Avery's misanthropic cat hates everybody on earth, but changes his mind after rocketing to the moon and encountering the aggressively surreal creatures there. He returns to earth quickly and painfully: by whacking his backside with a golf putting iron so hard that he escapes moon's gravity and lan! ds on 42nd Street, where he welcomes being trampled by aggressively surreal New Yorkers. Speaking of New York, several of the films were produced in the hood, as it were. Winsor McCay and his son Robert animated The Flying House at their house in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn; Max and Dave Fleischer -- represented by Bimbo Up to Mars from 1930 and a 1932 Betty Boop short Ups and Downs -- had a big, bustling studio at 1600 Broadway (the building is still there). Goons from the Moon -- a wonderfully gooney 1951 short starring an operatic Mighty Mouse battling red and green bat-winged cat invaders from the moon -- was made in New Rochelle. Closest to us here at the museum was the studio of Felix the Cat, animation's first superstar. Felix's foray into space in Astronomeows (from 1928) and about 175 other shorts were made over a period of ten years by Otto Messmer and a small group of assistants in a loft located at Lincoln Square (now Lincoln Center) on 63rd Street and Broadway. The animation techniques used in tonight's films are not only pre-NASA, but pre-computer. A majority were made with sequential drawings traced and painted onto cels and photographed onto film frame by frame. Very hand-made. Very labor intensive. Very quaint! Even more quaint are a couple of stop motion, three-dimensional shorts that use wooden puppets and clay. The latter technique is found (literally) in Gumby, who is an ancient clay cousin to the Chicken Run gang. Trapped on the Moon was only the third episode to be seen on the now-classic Gumby TV series from 1956. And there is George Pal's sumptuous and charming stop motion Puppetoon, The Sky Princess, from 1942. Pal took a laborious process - moving puppets frame by frame - and made it even more tedious. He devised the 'replacement system' of stop motion: instead of adjusting the face or limb of a model between exposures, Pal exchanged the entire face or limb for one that was slightly different. The lavish art direction and complex camera set-ups seen in the Puppetoons series were good practice for his later career as a successful producer director of sci-fi/fantasy films, such as War of the Worlds and The Time Machine. Our own time machine/cartoon rocket is about to blast off. But a word of warning: some of the creatures you are about to see are so bizarre, so strange-looking, so . . . unearthly that parents are advised to cover their eyes. But kids can watch and laugh. You will have no choice but laughter when Daffy Duck meets Marvin, a sneaker-clad Martian in Chuck Jones' great parody Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2 Century. Or when scaredy cat Sylvester sees green birdlike thingies from Jupiter and Porky Pig does not. Oh, the toon universe is far weirder than we ever imagined. Ah, mission control has signaled me that we are ready for the countdown. So sit back. Relax. Be very afraid. And enjoy the trip. Copyright John Canemaker 2001. ABOUT JOHN CANEMAKER: He is an animator and a full professor and director of the animation program at New York University Tisch School of the Arts. He is also one of the world's most respected animation historians. Mr. Canemaker writes on animation for the New York Times and is the author of eight books on the history of animation. His latest book, Walt Disney's Nine Old Men and the Art of Animation, will be published by Disney Press in October. Mr. Canemaker is a creative consultant and on-camera and audio commentator for the DVD version of Disney's best-selling The Fantasia Anthology, and later this year for the upcoming DVD's of Dumbo and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
FESTIVALS |
|
This issue was written by Karl Cohen. Pete Davis was the proofreader and Shirley Smith the production manager. Mailing crew included Tara Packard and Ron Seawright. Membership is only $18 a year ($40 international). Join now and get a bonus, your membership will expire in June, 2002. |
| Membership/subscription is $18 a year or $40 for both local and international membership. |
© 2001 Animation World Network