May, 2001 Newsletter

Local Screenings | National News | Passing | Conferences and Trade Shows | Festivals

You can meet and talk with Nina Paley (original art), Michaela Pavlatova (making available some cutouts from Forever and Forever), Russell Merritt (author of Walt in Wonderland, an important study of Disney's silent films), Karl Cohen (author of Forbidden Animation: Censored Cartoons and Blacklisted Animators), Arnaldo Laboy (creator of The Adventures of Poyi and Ubo) and Chris Lanier (author/illustrator of the graphic novel Combustion). All will bring things to sign.

Will Ryan, the creator of Elmo Aardvark and a former president of ASIFA-Hollywood, is coming up from Los Angeles with voice actress Diane Michelle to promote the great Elmo Aardvark: Outer Space Detective show, distributed by Mondo Media. Both are voice actors (Goofy, Daisy Duck, Tigger for Disney, Yosemite Sam, characters on Batman, etc.) Ryan will sign copies of his out-of-print

Elmo Aardvark CD and copies of The Elmo Aardvark Miracle: How to Make a Movie with No Money (if it is back from the publishers). They will also perform strange and unusual acts before your very eyes!

CONGRATULATIONS FILM ARTS FOUNDATION ON YOUR 25TH BIRTHDAY A big celebration party with live music by Papa and his Band, projections, etc. will take place May 17. For details www.filmarts.org or l 552-6350

ABOUT ED HOOKS AND "ACTING FOR ANIMATORS" A lot of animators in the Bay Area and around the world have studied with Hooks. His new book has been getting great reviews. Amazon.com writes "Until now, animators who have wanted to learn about acting have had no option but to study the subject side by side with stage and movie actors, a group that uses acting techniques in a wholly different way. Ed Hooks offers a better alternative with Acting for Animators, the first book about acting theory and technique written specifically for the animator. "

Amazon puts readers' comments about books on their site.. One person wrote, "This is a dense, thoughtful work, of lasting value, which will reward careful study. Hooks writes in an easily readable style, concisely and directly, about the most difficult and elusive portion of the art of character animation. Buy this bookŠ before you choose software or other animation tools. You will find that Hooks' advice will also improve your script and storyboard development. One of the problems with books about computer-based character animation, such as my own 'Character Animation In Depth', is that they lose value as the software they are written for becomes obsolete. Hooks' work will retain its value for a long time. Buy a copy, keep it handy, reread it frequently, and don't loan it to friends; you won't won't get it back. Give them one instead."

Another review concludes, "Overall, best money I've spent on an animation book in a long time! I don't care how long you've been in the industry, you'll learn something from this book!"

Brad Bird, director of Iron Giant and Family Dog, says "Hooks has made a valuable contribution toward deepening our understanding."

Hooks will be signing copies at tonight's event. This will be one of his last appearances in the Bay Area as he plans to live in Chicago part of the year and in Rome the rest of the year.

THE PACIFIC FILM ARCHIVE IN BERKELEY WILL PRESENT 9 EXTRAORDINARY PROGRAMS BY THE CZECH DIRECTOR KAREL ZEMAN, FOLLOWED BY 7 EVEN RARER PROGRAMS BY THE RUSSIAN DIRECTOR ALEXANDER PTUSKO, AND A NIGHT OF PUPPET ANIMATION BY LADISLAW STAREWICZ (WITH LIVE MUSIC BY THE TIN HAT TRIO) Can there be too much of a good thing? If you really love animation, especially Ray Harryhausen type fantasy films, do your best to see all or most of these unusual programs. Most of the works to be shown combine stop-motion and special effects with live action. Most have never been seen in the Bay Area, or if they were shown it was decades ago.

The Zeman series begins Friday and Saturday, May 4 and 5 and continues on Fri. - Sunday May 11, 12 & 13. Karel Zeman's work created astonishing visions of ancient and modern worlds. His fantasy films include Barron Munchausen (Grand Prix, Cannes, 1964), The Stolen Airship (1960, a Jules Verne tale of boys who meet Captain Nemo, 35mm, color), Journey to the Beginning of Time (1954, boys venture to the age of dinosaurs, 35mm color), and The Fabulous World of Jules Verne (1958, it combines moments from the books 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and An Invention for Destruction, 35mm, b/w).

There is also a program of funny Zeman shorts that feature his animated alter ego Mr. Prokouk. The program also includes his first film, The Christmas Dream, 1946 and a short that sounds simply amazing. Inspiration, 1948, "is a love story set in a single drop of water, which Zeman animated by heating and bending fragile blown-glass figures!" .

The Starewicz program on Saturday, May 19 at 3:30 & 7:30 includes several of his unusual puppet films including 3 made in Russia in 1911 (Cameraman's Revenge, Insect's Christmas, and The Ant and the Grasshopper). His stop-motion work using real insect parts on armatures and other techniques still amazes and delights audiences.

Alexander Ptushko's feature New Gulliver (Sunday, May 20 at 5:30 pm) was released in 1935, 2 years before Disney released Snow White. It is the story of a man (Petya) who falls asleep while reading Gulliver's Travels. He finds himself in a world full of Lilliputs (over 3,000 miniature figures were used in the stop-motion sequences). Ptushko placed his Lilliputs in a world similar to Russia in the 1930's, so there is a jazz band, mechanized tractors and "in the best revolutionary spirit a miniaturized workers' proletariat who rises up with the help of the giant Petya!" (PFA program notes) "In addition to the technical finesse with which the puppets are managed, the film hasŠ genuine wit in its sly assault on bourgeois institutions." (NY Times, 1935). Prescott Wright saw the film years ago and highly recommends ASIFA members see this interesting historic landmark.. (35mm, b/w, English subtitles)

Ptusko's Sampo, 1959. Thurs. May 24, 7 pm, is being presented in its complete wide screen form for the first time in the US (a chopped up short pan and scan version was released years ago as The Day the Earth Froze). The fantasy concerns a witch who tries to obtain a mill that can produce endless amounts of gold, salt and grain. When the hero tries to stop her she steals the sun, plunging the earth into darkness. There is a fire breathing iron horse, a talking tree, and other imaginative elements in the film. (35mm, color, scope, English subtitles)

Ptushko's Stone Flower, 1946, Sunday, May 27, 5:30, was Russia's first all color feature and Life Magazine noted it was "delightfully done, no propaganda, no moral." The plot concerns the magical Queen of Copper Hill who seduces a stone sculptor into joining her in her underworld kingdom. Lots of supernatural splendor in this tale. It was a popular success when it was released.

The series includes a lot of other features for us to discover. For example Vly by Ptushko on June 7 is a horor-fantasy film about a priest locked in a church full of grotesque demons and gargoyles (based on a story by Gogol). The PFA's film calendar provides a great deal more information about these works. A list of the films and show times appears in the newsletter's "local screenings" section.

FOR THE BIRDS HELLO DOLLY! SPIKE & MIKE?S 2001 CLASSIC FESTIVAL OF ANIMATION RETURNS TO THE BAY AREA WITH LOTS OF CROWD PLEASERS! MOST HAVE NOT BEEN SEEN HERE BEFORE Animation fans should enjoy Spike & Mike?s 2001 Classic Festival of Animation, which opened in the San Francisco at the Castro last week. This year?s eclectic mix showcases short films that are full of delightful surprises. They come from nine countries (France, Chile, Italy, Japan, Czechoslovakia, The Netherlands, Australia, USA and England).

The program features this year's Oscar winner Father and Daughter and a dozen other works that I think are really nice. There is also one that I think is a real gem, a couple that didn't interest me and one work that I thought was awful.

Father and Daughter is by world-renowned animator Michael Dudok De Wit.(He also won an Oscar nomination for Monk and the Fish, 1995) The artwork is a joy to watch and the story is sophisticated and understated. It may stimulate your imagination about what happened.

Among the works in the program that also impressed me are For The Birds from Pixar, Insect Poetry by Marilyn Zornado and her friends from Vinton's studio in Portland, Europe and Italy, a very clever comic work by Italy's Bruno Bozzetto, and Hello Dolly! by Mariko Hoshi (a Bay Area animator). I also liked for a variety of reasons The Man with the Beautiful Eyes by Jonathan Hodgson of England, Ill Communication by Danny Capozzi of England, The Last Drawings of Canaletto by Cameron McNall, Metropopular by Jonah Hall from PDI, The Pigion and the Onion Pie by Stephen Holman and Josephine Huang (how do people create strange stories like this one? - the mind is a wonderful thing) and a couple of other works.

I enjoyed almost everything in the program except Rejected by five-time Spike and Mike participant, Don Hertzfeldt. It was given an Oscar nomination this year and has won several other honors. Go see it and decide for your- self if it is a hit, a miss or really awful.

Rejected consists of several commissioned works that were rejected by sponsors after they were made. People who have worked on sponsored films seem to have a special place in their heart for works that are critical of sponsors including I Like It by Buzzco and New Fangeled by George Griffin. Unfortunately I find Rejected poorly written, poorly organized and poorly made. The stick figure style of animation has been used to good advantage by several directors including George Evelyn in his delightful "Stick Figure Theater" segments made a few years ago by Colossal for Liquid Television and Tex Avery in Porky's Preview, 1941. I do not feel Hertzfeldt's latest work uses the approach to good advantage, but a lot of people disagree with me.

My favorite film in the program is an old gem by Michel Ocelot of France. The Prince and the Princess was made in the 1980's using cut-out/silhouette animation. It wasn't widely seen, so I'm glad the program includes it. I suspect many of you will remember this film many years from now for both its beautiful animation and delightful comedy.

The program will be at the Castro Theatre 429 Castro, SF, (415) 621-6120, April 27-May 9; Grand Lake Theatre 3200 Grand Ave, Oakland, (510) 452-3556, May 4-17; Oaks Theatre 1875 Solano Ave, Berkeley, (510) 526-1836, May 4-24; Orinda Theater 2 Orinda Square, Orinda, (925) 254-9060, May 4-24; Rafael Film Center 1118 4th St, San Rafael, (415) 454-1222, May 11-24; Towne Theater 1433 The Alameda, San Jose, (408) 287-1433, May 11-June 7; Roxy Stadium 14 85 Santa Rosa Ave, Santa Rosa, (707) 522-0330, May 18-31 and Roxie Cinema 3117 16th Street, SF,(415) 863-1087, May 27 & 28.

WILD BRAIN COMPLETES A DELIGHTFUL OPENING FOR CARTOON NETWORK'S "THE CHUCK JONE SHOW" George Evelyn directed the graphic package for the show that includes a 30 second opening, a 10 second close and several short "we will be right back" messages. He animated new versions of landmark images by Jones that appear in some of his greatest hits.

The opening sequences begin with rough pencil test drawings of characters. They are next seen as finished drawings and finally with fully rendered backgrounds. These sequences will hopefully remind TV viewers that an artist created them. The opening ends with the characters surrounding a portrait of Jones. The end "close" goes from fully rendered art to a pencil image of Roadrunner about to be blown apart by a device from Acme. (Of course it isn't functioning properly.) As the final curtain drops we hear an off-screen "boom." Thank you Mr. Jones for these golden moments, and thank you Mr. Evelyn for refreshing our memories.

The crew working on these visuals includes Gisela Hermeling, art production supervisor; Eric Schweikert, technical director, and animators Brad Rau, Aaron Sorenson, Alan Sperling, Ralph Fernan and Aichu So. The assistant animators on the project were Cindy Ng, Billy Burger, Chris Carter, Granger Davis, Heiko Drengenberg, Emile Dunonslet, Sam Hood, Christine Lacore, James Munro, Ivan Spiridonov, Armanda Tsoukanelis, Lyra Warren, Celeste Moreno and Vaughn Ross. Tod Polson created the backgrounds. The digital ink and paint crew included Danya O'Brien, Isaac Payne, Carter Tomassi, Kenrick Walz and Bryan Dawson.

ASIFA-SF DUES ARE BEING RAISED $4 A YEAR TO COVER OFFICE DEPOT'S DOUBLING THE COST OF PRINTING THE NEWSLETTER They had really low rates for years which helped us keep membership dues at $18 a year. Shirley Smith is trying to find a less expensive printer, but Office Depot's rates are apparently competitive with Kinko and other major copy services. Since we have been slowly spending more than we take in, your board voted to raise dues on May 1.

PIXAR, LASSETER SIGN TEN YEAR DEAL Pixar executive vice president and two-time Oscar-winning director John Lasseter has signed a new ten year contract to provide his services exclusively to the studio. "John Lasseter, more than anyone else, has shaped Pixar into the world-class animation studio it is today. With John leading our creative team for the next decade, our dream of nurturing a golden age of animation at Pixar may come true," said Pixar CEO Steve Jobs.

Lasseter, currently in development on his fourth feature, has directed Toy Story (1995), A Bug's Life (1998) and Toy Story 2 (1999). their combined worldwide box office receipts total over $1.2 billion to date. The studio's next feature, Monsters, Inc. is scheduled for a November 2, 2001 release.

"It's the dream of every animator and storyteller to help build a studio from scratch that embraces the creative values we hold dear," said Lasseter. "A place like Pixar doesn't happen often, and I feel like one of the luckiest guys on earth." From AWN on the Internet

JONATHAN LUSKIN DIRECTED "LIFE DURING WARTIME" at Teatro 150, to May 12, (415) 433-1172.. Luskin was a cgi animator at ILM for several years.

PDI/DREAMWORKS "SHREK" IS A DELIGHTFUL COMEDY THAT MAKES MAJOR ADVANCES IN THE ART OF ANIMATION When I saw the first TV commercials for Shrek I feared the worst. Much of what I saw was ugly. When I went to a press preview I was taken by surprise the moment the first images came on the screen. Within the opening moments of the film I was amazed at PDI's ability to create lush textures and details. In one early sequences we see Shrek taking a mud bath. While kids will love the realistic goo and slime, I was impressed with the suggestion of muscles under the skin in the close-up of his bare back.

Shrek turns out to be visually stunning much of the time and genuinely funny. The first images drew me into the film and allowed my suspension of disbelief to take over. Soon, I was in total awe of the spectacular scenery, sets, costumes, unusual characters, gorgeous colors and dozens of other elements. I was laughing out loud at some of the jokes (groaning at others, but there are so many good ones the duds don't matter) and was thoroughly convinced I was going on an incredible adventure. I wasn't thinking about all the factual information I already knew about this production. In my mind all the characters were real including the Dragon. Intellectually I knew that all the visuals were created by computers, but for 80 minutes they were alive.

We are witnessing a remarkable period of filmmaking. While each computer generated film has advanced the art to some degree, Shrek makes major advances and takes the art form to new heights. The quality of PDI's work is so good that I wanted to believe that the entire film was shot on location. I especially loved the beautiful landscapes including fields of flowers blowing in the breeze. I even accepted the characters as being real, even though they are not photo-realistic.

Shrek, based on a story by the humorist William Steig, dares to go where few films tread. It is an irreverent fairy tale in the tradition of the "Fractured Fairy Tales" from The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. It pokes fun at numerous sacred cows of our culture from Small World at Disneyland to a TV's "Dating Game." There is an overabundance of humor and it is delivered at a rapid pace. While the sophisticated dialog and bizarre story should appeal to most adults, there is romance for the girls and some grime, slime and bathroom humor for boys. Up tight parents may be offended, but they will approve of the film's positive moral messages.

The story begins with an ugly reclusive ogre named Shrek (Mike Myers) enjoying life living alone in a dismal swamp. Suddenly he is invaded by annoying fairy tale characters (some made famous by Mr. Disney). They have been banished from their kingdom by the evil Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow). Determined to save his home from the pesky creatures, Shrek sets off to deal with Lord Farquaad. He is joined by a wisecracking donkey (Eddie Murphy) that will do anything except shut-up.

Shrek's journey is full of unorthodox moments. The rescue of Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) isn't your typical fairy tale adventure, nor is the love affair between the donkey and the fire breathing dragon (relax, it is a female dragon). There are lots of delightful surprises, unusual twists and wonderful laughs awaiting you if you decide to see Shrek.

For more on Shrek see the cover story of FilmTape World's May issue. It is my interview with Raman Hui, Supervising Animator about the making of the film. KC

PS Don't be surprised if there is a sequel and other spin-offs.

PDI PROMOTES MARILYN FRIEDMAN TO HEAD OF STUDIO RECRUITMENT AND STAFFING In recent years she has been a friend of our ASIFA chapter by finding people on their staff to talk at our events. She has also provided us with reels for our annual open screenings and information for our newsletter. We wish her well in her new position.

Shoshana Abrass has been named head of systems. She was a systems administrator at PDI before moving south to work for DreamWorks. She is back managing a staff of 12.

BULGARIAN SCIENCE FICTION WRITER BORIS BELOVARSKI IS IN THE BAY AREA AND DEVELOPING A TV SERIES BASED ON HIS WRITINGS For information go to www.timeship.tv There are several press clippings about his work and other informative sections. It wasn't clear to me how animation will be used in the TV series (all animation, part or effects work & live action), but it sounds like a great undertaking.

"MORE THAN 75,000 DOT-COM EMPLOYEES HAVE RECEIVED PINK SLIPS SINCE DECEMBER, 1999 - SOME 45 PERCENT OF THEM IN THE BAY AREA." The New York Times, April 15, 2001. p."bu 13." The article is about people who are being laid off and are going into the Peace Corps to teach technology in developing nations.

KQED IS OFFERING A $10,000 OWENS INDEPENDENT VISION POST PRODUCTION AWARD Animated and part-animated projects will be considered, especially ones that conform to standard TV lengths (i.e. 26:40 min). Winner must grant KQED the right to air their work locally. Deadline is May 30 and project must be completed by summer, 2002. Karl Cohen can send you an application or contact Peter J. Owens Independent Vision Award, 2601 Mariposa, SF, CA 94110-1426

THE U. C. THEATRE CLOSED FOR GOOD MARCH 29, 2001. IT HAD SHOWED 100s OF RARE ANIMATION PROGRAMS OVER THE YEARS including Karl Cohen's Forbidden Animation program in 1997. Garry Meyers, who ran the theatre for many years is now running the Balboa in SF.

LOCAL SCREENINGS

Karel Zeman Animation at the Pacific Film Archive:

Fri. May 4, 7:00, The Stolen Airship, 9:10, The Jester's Tale

Sat., May 5, 7:00 Journey to the Beginning of Time, 8:35 Treasure of Bird Island

Fri. May 11, 7:00 Zeman Shorts, 8:55 The Fabulous World of Jules Verne

Sat. May 12, 7:00 Baron Munchausen, 9:10 Kraba - The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Sun. May 13, 5:30 The Thousand and One Nights

Friday, May 18 Free Public Screenings of Animation Finals at SF State, at 2:30 (digital displays in the lobby) and 3 pm (projected work in the Coppola Theatre, FA 101). The S. F. State Film Finals (mostly or all live action films) at 7 pm in the McKenna Theatre. Free reception at 6 pm in the Casablanca Room (CCA 158

Saturday, May 19, 3:30 and 7:30 Starewicz Puppet Films with music performed live by The Tin Hat Trio, PFA

Saturday, May 19, 8:30, ARK EMERGENCY BENEFIT at ATA (992 Valencia). Ark "is a cell of mischievous media artists with bold graphics and aggressive wit, who have launched a steady stream of scathingly critical initiatives against the corporate take-over of the democratic process, not to mention everyday life. During the Fall 2000 elections, arc agent James Baumgartner was sued by the Chicago Board of Education for his satirical voteauction.com website. Though the ACLU has agreed to defend him, James has already racked up a $10,000 legal debt. Here's a friggin' raft of prank videos - plus a half-hour set of Negativiland music videos - towards his free speech defense."

Features by Alexander Ptushko at Pacific Film Archive

Sunday, May 20, 5:30, The New Gulliver

Thursday, May 20, 7:00, Sampo

Sunday, May 27, 5:30, Stone Flower

Sunday, June 3, 5:30, Ruslan and Ludmila

Thursday, June 7, 7:00, Viy

Friday, June 8, 7:30, Aerograd, 9:15, The Letter that was Never Sent

Friday, June 2, 7 pm, BARRY PURVES SCREENING AND DISCUSSING 5 OF HIS ANIMATED FILMS at the Women's Building as part of the National Queer Arts Festival. 3543 18th St. (415) 552-7709 www.staytooned.com

NATIONAL NEWS

SOTHEBYS IS AUCTIONING OFF 325 LOTS OF EARLY ANIMATION ART - MOST OF IT IS PRE-WAR DISNEY Go to www.sothebys.com and look for the Jeff Lotman collection sale. Go before May 5 and see part 1 up for sale. Part 2 runs from May 11 to June 1. It is (was) a very impressive collection!

"ANIMATION BLAST" #6 HONORS THE GREAT, BUT OBSCURE, CARTOON DESIGNER TOM OREB, PLUS THE AMAZING JIM TYER I didn't know Oreb was the designer of several striking looking films from Disney and MGM. His credits include Toot, Whistle Plunk and Boom (Oscar, 1953) and Tex Avery's Symphony in Slang, 1951. He also designed characters for Disney features and Disney TV commercials, but he was not given screen credit very often. Now you can read about his impressive body of work in a long in-depth tribute (18 pages with lots of illustrations).

The second artist being honored is Jim Tyer. He spent years animating for Van Buren, Harman-Ising, Fleischer, Terrytoons, Famous and other studios. In his later work he experimented with creating extreme and outrageous shapes for his character's faces and bodies as he put the through their paces. He broke a lot of rules and is dearly loved by a lot of people from Jerry Beck to John Kricfalusi. His imagination knew no boundaries and in a section about him by Ralph Bakshi (Bakshi was an inker when he worked with Tyer) he is reported to have given him the following advice. "1. Everything moves. 2. Don't worry about the model chart. 3. Either have fun with the drawing or go home. 4. There ain't nobody to follow but yourself." This is a great 20 page tribute in an exceptional issue.

Animation Blast's new 52 page issue costs $6. (Several pages are in color.) Copies are available from Tower Records, Comic Relief in Berkeley, by mail from Amid Amidi, PO box 260491, Encino, CA 91426-0491 and from Animation Blast.com.

A MEMBER GETS AN ADVANCED LOOK AT DISNEY'S "ATLANTIS" He writes, "it was a major disappointment. When I think of the lost city, I expect amazing graphics. Instead we get characters looking like they came from TV with nice backgrounds but nothing special. Surprisingly there are no songs though it lends itself to them as the film follows Disney formula pretty much. Opens with subtitles which will throw kids off and then everyone stops speaking 'Atlantisian' and speaks English. Even the comic relief characters are only of mild interest. One of them chain smokes! In a Disney film? The films opens well but after 30 minutes, people were falling asleep. I think much will bore audiences of all ages. There goes my stock again."

ASIFA-EAST SHOWED A RARE FEATURE THAT INCLUDED ANIMATION FROM THE HUBLEY STUDIO The feature was The Four Poster, 1952, with Rex Harrison and Lilly Palmer. Art Babbitt and Lou Keller did the animation, Paul Julian designed the layouts and backgrounds and John Hubley was the animation director of the animated sequences in this live action feature. Apparently it isn't available on video or from film libraries.

GRAND VALLEY STATE UNIVERSITY IN MICHIGAN HAD AN IMPRESSIVE GALLERY EXHIBIT, SCREENINGS AND TALKS FEATURING THE WORK OF KAREN AQUA, JOHN CANEMAKER, JOAN GRATZ, FAITH HUBLEY AND DEANNA MORSE The exhibit of work by 5 American independent animators was on display Feb. 26-March 30. While the exhibit was up Hubley and Aqua introduced screenings of their work and Morse gave a gallery talk. The gallery published a handsome and informative catalog to go with the exhibit. The university is in Allendale, Michigan.

ASIFA-HOLLYWOOD SHOWED "A LOST ANIME CLASSIC" On April 25 Jerry Beck introduced a screening of a 16mm print of Jack and the Witch (Shonen Jack to Mahoutsukai), released in 1967 by Toei. Their print was a dubbed version that was distributed to US TV stations in the late '60's. The flyer for the program calls it, "a wacky, sometimes psychedelic, cartoon adventure, both intentionally and unintentionally funny (the awful dubbing doesn't help)."

THE GENE SISKEL FILM CENTER IN CHICAGO PRESENTED AN 80 FILM TRIBUTE TO CHUCK JONES It is a rare occurrence when somebody does a 35mm program honoring an animator, so I was amazed that the film archive connected with the Chicago Art Institute showed 8 programs of shorts plus Chuck Jones: Extremes and In-Betweens, a new documentary on Jones. Greg Ford and Ronnie Scheib were the guest curators behind this series.

PASSING

BILL HANNA DIED IN MARCH Trying to find correct information about him was an interesting adventure into how lax animation scholarship has been. He was born in either 1910 or 1911 in New Mexico (different books give different dates). He had no formal art training when he landed a job with Harman-Ising in 1931 according to Maltin, but Lenberg says he left his career in engineering, took a crash course in art and got a job with Harman-Ising when they were producing animation for MGM. That would have him joining the firm about 1934.

At Harman-Ising he rose in the ranks and directed the beautiful fantasy To Spring in 1936. When Harman-Ising lost their contract to produce shorts for MGM in 1937 he, like most of the staff, left and was hired by MGM for their new animation dept.

At MGM he was paired up with Joe Barbera by producer Fred Quimby right after joined MGM according to one book, in 1938 according to another and in 1939 according to Hanna in another book. Their first project together wasn't very successful (an unnamed cartoon), but other books say their first project put a cat and mouse together. The film was called Puss Gets The Boot (1940) and it went on to win an Oscar nomination.

According to an ABC report "in the next 12 years the pair's creations would garner them 12 nominations and 7 Oscars over the course of more than 100 cartoons." In 1957 MGM decided to close their animation studio and laid-off their staff.

This was a turning point in animation history, but what happened next isn't well known. According to official biographies Hanna opened Hanna-Barbera Studios, invented limited animation for TV, did Ruff and Reddy (1957), Huckleberry Hound, Flintstones, Jetsons, Smurfs, Yogi Bear, etc. and lived happily ever after.

If you look deeper there are other versions of the story. Hanna-Barbera didn't invent limited animation even though Hanna once told me that was one of his accomplishments. A few limited animation shows made for TV date before Ruff and Reddy including Alex Anderson and Jay Ward's Crusader Rabbit (1950) and some of the work of Sam Singer (see the next obituary).

Hanna also denied to me in the late '80's that he tried to produce a Crusader Rabbit series in 1957 without the help of Joe Barbera. It didn't matter to him that Mike Lah, a former MGM animation director and partner of Hanna in the project; voice actress Lucille Bliss (the original voice of Crusader), Alex Anderson (the creator of the show) and others remembered his participation in this failed business venture. Fortunately he told Keith Scott (The Moose That Roared, 2000) a few years later that he had begun work on new Crusader Rabbit episodes in 1957 and that the project came to a halt due to copyright problems. It is much neater to claim you always stuck with your business partner and say that you invented limited animation for TV.

Obits are supposed to be nice, so I wont discuss the labor problems, the dozens of awful shows produced by Hanna-Barbera or the negative statements people have made about working for that company. Perhaps it is better to say he gave out-of-work Disney, MGM, Warner Bros. etc. artists employment after the theatrical animation industry shut-down, and not discuss the quality of the work (Preston Blair said he was like "a race horse pulling a milk wagon"). Hanna will certainly go down in history for keeping the industry alive during a dark period, but at what cost?

I would rather remember him for the wonderful Tom and Jerry series, but his professional life didn't end in 1957. He did provide employment for a lot of wonderful people when there were few alternatives for finding work in the animation industry.

Almost everyone who will read this grew up watching the company's products. Last month I asked people to contribute to this obit (nobody did) as I wanted to have some statements by others to balance my own feelings about his later work. I didn't grow up watching their shows so I can not tell you about the joy they gave me as a kid. I grew up watching theatrical cartoons in real movie theaters and for me TV animation was usually awful stuff until The Simpsons and Ren and Stimpy came along.

If my opinions get you mad or otherwise give you the urge to write something down, feel free to send in your statements by May 23 for the June newsletter. (karlcohen@earthlink.net or 478 Frederick, SF CA 94117)

SAM SINGER DIED AT AGE 88, DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER OF EARLY TV ANIMATION Singer's work is unknown to most animation fans, but there was a time his work was widely seen. His animated Adventures of Pow Wow the Indian Boy was made for the Captain Kangaroo Show from 1957-'60. There were episodes Bunky and Pepito made about the same time and Courageous Cat in 1960. Paddy Pelican, originally a puppet show in the early '50's, was the star of six 5 minute b/w episodes by Singer in 1957. The finished films were nicely drawn pencil tests!

He began the Sinbad the Sailor show in 1965 (pilot) but lost the series to Hanna-Barbera (Woolery, Children's Television gives him credit as producer). He was involved with a Tubby the Tuba film, but lost that project as well. His name is associated with a few other projects, but it would take more research to find out what his involvement was.

When I spent an evening interviewing Singer about 1995 he proved to be a fascinating character. He swore constantly, was a heavy cigar smoker, and he needed two canes to walk due to arthritis. The walls of his apartment in Hollywood were covered with his paintings.(he gave me one and it now hangs in my office) and the rooms contained piles of books and papers.

As Singer talked it became obvious that what he was telling me about his career wasn't always true! He claimed to have been at Disney from 1933 to the early 40's and rose to become a "unit director" on Snow White, Bambi, Pinocchio and Fantasia. I later contacted the Disney Archives and David Smith wrote back "we show a Sam Singer working here as an apprentice animator for only 6 months, from January 18, 1937 to July 7, 1937."

I later found a brief biographical note that Samuel Bart Singer contributed to the 1969 Motion Picture Almanac. He said he was born in 1913, he had studied at the Chicago Art Institute and Univ. of Illinois, he worked for Disney in 1937, Warner Bros. 1939-'40, Columbia 1940-'42; was a producer and/or director of live TV in Chicago from 1946-'52, and was the prod.-dir. of the Courageous Cat series (1960).

Singer told me that one of his jobs in Chicago was doing about 200 quick sketch illustrations a day to illustrate stories told on the Uncle Mistletoe Show He also did various art jobs for Marshall Field Co. and Ovaltine (sponsor of local TV shows).

Late in his life he manufactured a very handsome portable drawing disc for animators and taught drawing in Los Angeles. Amid Amidi, who writes Animation Blast, took his class as he knew of Singer from the Spring, 1996 issue of Animato that called him animation's Ed Wood (Singer had a lot more talent and skill). Amidi said most of the students left before the class ended due to Singer's language (he called women "toots," "sweetheart," etc. and he tended to insulted you if he didn't like your drawings). Amidi said Singer still loved to draw with his students and that he was highly skilled at it. He showed an animatic in class for his Tubby the Tuba and "his storyboard drawings were exquisitely rendered in color pencils and well laid out; it showed an artist whose talents far exceeded that of Ed Wood's."

CONFERENCES AND TRADE SHOWS

SIGGRAPH 2001 WILL BE IN LA IN AUGUST for information www.siggraph.org/s2001 (312) 321-6830 or write 401 N. Michigan Ave. Chicago, Illinois 60611

WIRELESS COMPUTING, JUNE 13-15, SANTA CLARA CONVENTION CENTER www.SummitOnWireless.com

KID'S WORLD, BEIJING EXHIBITION CENTER in China is Aug. 7-12 is for animated films, television shows and animated computer and web products. Contact Ms. Zhang Xi zhangxi@cgwic.com No. 30 Haidian Nanlu, Beijing, China 100080

FESTIVALS

MILL VALLEY FILM FESTIVAL DEADLINES ARE MAY 31 AND JUNE 30 For application and information (415)383-5256

BUDDING ANIMATORS, 3RD WEEK WITH THE MASTERS, ANIMATION COMPETITION, deadline Sept. 20, for info www.toonanimationindia.com Event is Oct. 29 - Nov. 2

2001 OTTAWA INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ANIMATION FESTIVAL DEADLINE IS JULY 1 No entry fee for this major competition. Various categories. For rules and entry form 2 Daly Ave. Suite 120, Ottawa Ontario K1N 6E2 www.awn.com/ottawa

TELLURIDE INDIE FEST DEADLINE IS AUG, 1 (or sooner if they get over 1,000 entries) p.o. box 860, Telluride, Colorado 81435

THE DIGITAL UNDERGROUND DEADLINE IS JUNE 8 Only accepts works on video. 530 Divisadero, SF CA 94117 www.sfindie.com

RESFEST DEDLINE IS JUNE 1 $20 entry fee. Works must use electronic effects and/or editing. No entries on film. Resfest, 601 West 26th St. 11th floor, NY NY 10001 (212) 217-1154

PEOPLE WHO WANT INFORMATION MAY FIND IT AT ASIFA-SF.ORG

This issue was written by Karl Cohen. Shirley Smith was the production manager and the mailing crew included Smith, Tara Packard and Ron Seawright. Issues are free to our members. Membership is $22 a year from the above address.

Membership/subscription is $18 a year or $40 for both local and international membership.

Asifa San Francisco Home Page

© 2001 Animation World Network