November, 2001 Newsletter
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AN EVENING WITH TOM SITOSito has been called "one of the key players in the Disney Animation Revival" (AWN, January, 2001 ) WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 7, 7:30 PM AT THE EXPLORATORIUM Tom Sito has been working in the industry for 26 years. He recently co-directed Warner Bros.' Osmosis Jones. His Disney screen credits include The Little Mermaid, Beauty & The Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Pocahontas, Fantasia 2000 and Dinosaurs. In 1995 he left a Disney directorship post to help set up the Dreamworks Animation unit. At Dreamworks he recruited and trained staff and worked on Shrek, The Prince Of Egypt, Antz, Spirit Of The Cimmaron and other projects. Prior to joining Disney he directed 22 hours of Saturday morning TV shows (Fat Albert, She-Ra, etc.) and numerous commercials. His credits as an animator include the title sequence of City Slickers and the Emmy winner Ziggy's Gift, 1982. His personal work includes the beautifully animated and politically poignant Propagandance (Animation Celebration, Vol. 2). He teaches at the University of Southern California and California Institute of the Arts, has written numerous articles about animation and has lectured at NYU, SVA, UCLA, AFI, Microsoft, Sheridan College and other institutions. Sito has been President of the Motion Picture Screen Cartoonist's Union Local 839 for many years. He has been a vice president of ASIFA-Hollywood and is a member of the Motion Picture Academy, the National Cartoonists Society and Hollywood Heritage. In 1998 Tom Sito was added to Animation Magazine's list of "The 100 Most Important People in Animation." CLIFF BOULE OF PDI/DREAMWORKS DIRECTED A "THREE LITTLE PIGS" VISA SPOT FOR BROADCAST IN LATIN AMERICA The spot shows what happens when you build with straw and sticks, so the practical pig buys bricks at a store and charges his purchase. The spot is available in Spanish, Portuguese and English. It was made by a 25-person team at PDI in 3 months (on time and on budget). Laura Lockwood was the producer, and Tim Cheung the lead animator. PDI used some of the new technology developed for Shrek on the ad. www.pdi.com WILD BRAIN CREATED THE "FEED THE RUMBLE" CAMPAIGN FOR KID CUISINE They have completed three 30 second animated TV commercials for ConAgra's Kid Cuisine line of frozen meals. They were directed by David Feiss (creator of Cartoon Network's hit TV series Cow & Chicken). The campaign features three madcap adventures with KC the Penguin and his animal pals. In one ad they plan to search for the Forgotten Kingdom, but first they must eat a lunch of Kid Cuisine. The animation was created using a blend of cel animation, Mac Graphics and digital ink and paint. Credits for the ads include animation director Dave Marshall, background and color design by George Evelyn, Mac Graphics and paint by Scott Adams and Cynthia Crimmins and digital ink and paint and compositing by Danya O'Brien, Kenrick Walz, Isaac Payne and Bryan Dawson. The assistant animators were Billy Burger, Amber MacLean, Brad Rau and Dick Hill. The cleanup animation was by Wang Film in Taiwan . WILD BRAIN INC. CONTINUES TO EXPAND. THEY HAVE OPENED A LONDON OFFICE First they opened a branch in Germany and now Wild Brain UK. It is being headed by Mike Smith who spent the last 10 years in the US working at Warner Bros. Feature Animation, Nickelodeon Features, and Colossal Pictures. He is from England. In the mid-'80s, he founded Felix Films, the first animation studio to represent directors and designers with their own show reels. Smith's past clients include Nike, MTV, ESPN and the BBC. He has won numerous industry awards including Clios and Annies for Coca-Cola and Levi's and a Silver Hugo at the Chicago Film Festival for his Nike Charles Barkley commercial. He directed animated sequences for Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers and United Artist's Tank Girl. He also directed the 20 minute short 1001 Nights which premiered with the Los Angeles Symphony. Nikki Kefford is the production manager in London. Also joining the staff is animation director Tom Gravestock who has been working in London for the past 10 years directing commercials at Picasso Pictures. The studio's first production is a commercial campaign. LIVE IN THE SANTA CRUZ AREA? WATCH THE "KEN KEARNEY SHOW" ON PUBLIC ACCESS TV Over the years he has interviewed several retired animators who have lived in the area including Lee Blair. He just sent a tape of his 61st program (August, 2001) which is a half hour visit with Jim Faris. Faris edited soundtracks for MGM cartoons from 1946 - 1954. The most unusual part of the interview was Faris' description of MGM's cartoon producer Fred Quimby. According to the studio rumor mill Quimby was a film exhibitor who got his job at the studio in the 1920's for taking the "fall" for a higher-up who did something illegal. Apparently Quimby's reward was a job for life at MGM. Many of us know Quimby's name from the credits of Tom and Jerry and Tex Avery cartoons, but nobody seems to talk or write about him except to say he had little to do with the creation of the cartoons. Faris say Quimby once told visitors to the studio that a cel washer was preparing cels for animators to use. He was amazed that Quimby didn't know animators draw on paper and not on cels. As a producer of short films and cartoons he paid little attention to the creative process. He did watch the budgets, enjoyed his fancy convertible, took long lunches followed by afternoon naps and he often left the studio early according to Faris. The show gets repeated from time to time on cable channel 27 in Santa Cruz. ILM IS PRESENTLY WORKING ON IMAGES FOR 13 PRODUCTIONS They are K-19 for Paramount, Signs and Big Trouble for Disney, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, The Majestic, and The Time Machine for Warner Bros., Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones for Lucasfilm Ltd, Men in Black 2 for Sony, Minority Report for Dreamworks, Imposter and Gangs of New York for Miramax and ET (rerelease) for Universal. PAUL NASS PARTICIPATED IN A UNICEF PSA MADE USING FLASH AND THE INTERNET He was a lead animator on a Freedom from Discrimination message for a Rights of the Child campaign. He worked with artists from the US, Canada and Slovenia on the project. It was screened at Annecy in June. This is the 3rd UNICEF PSA Nass has worked on. IF WE HAVE A CHRISTMAS BOOK, TAPE, CD, CRAFT AND GIFT SALE AT OUR WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 19 ASIFA EVENT, DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SELL? I'm trying to decide if we should make a holiday sale part of the event. If you have items contact Karl Cohen ASAP so I can decide if we should expand the event into a screening and sale. (415) 386-1004 or karlcohen@earthlink.net Call by the 15th of Nov. if possible. If we hold the sale your name can be on the flyer with the types of items you will be selling. MIKE NOLAN HAS BECOME THE EDITOR AND CHIEF BOTTLE WASHER OF WWW.ASIFA-SF.ORG He has worked as web-master for the past year. John Grimes has been writing the content, but will step down to the role of associate and let Nolan become our editor-in-chief. Nolan can be contacted at webmaster@asifa-sf.org The site has had 79,700 hits this year with over 11,000 in October (as of Oct. 20th), so people are finding out about us. Again thanks to John Grimes and Becky Wells for figuring out and establishing something the animation community can use. E-MAIL COMMENTS AND TIPS "Out of all the ASIFA chapter news that I've seen...ASIFA-SF is BY FAR the best. Lot of news. Lot of personality. No holding back. I like it mucho much." Chris Robinson, Ottawa Regarding my comment to a friend about a mutual friend who is overworked and underpaid I was told "Your description of (name withheld) aptly summarizes the whole game industry, I'm in the same boat, working 7 days/week on a fixed salary, I believe unionization should become viable for game artist/animators, maybe an ASIFA event for the future." Note: ILM may be the only union shop in the Bay Area animation/special effects industry. The union representing their artists is IATSE Local 16. Somebody sent me a Chronicle article (10/1/01) about Barry Bonds hitting his 70th. The last 3 sentences are about local animator Kevin Coffey. "Kevin Coffey of San Francisco predicted Bonds will do more than just break McGwire's record with a 71st home run. 'There's no stopping him. He'll get 74 or 75,' Coffey said. 'He can hit one a day'." David Silverman, one of the original directors/animators of The Simpsons, left Pixar after completing his work on Monsters, Inc. as co-director. He has moved back to LA and will direct The Simpsons first feature. A DVD of Richard Williams' defaced Thief and Cobbler is being given away (free) in Canada in boxes of Fruit Loops cereal. BILLY GREENE'S "THOUGHT BUBBLE" has been accepted in the Shorts International Film Festival in NYC, November 12-15, and will be shown at least three times over the course of the festival. Also, the director of the NW Film Festival in Portland has asked to show Thought Bubble at the festival Nov. 2-10, even though Billy missed the entry deadline. THE CARTOON ART MUSEUM HAS FOUND A HOME They will take over the space that housed the Ansel Adams Center at 655 Mission on Nov. 1. The museum hopes to reopen in December. Unfortunately the photography center is deeply in debt and will be selling off their collection to pay off creditors. JONATHAN LUSKIN, A RETIRED FOUNDING MEMBER OF ILM'S CGI DEPT, HAS DIRECTED ANOTHER PLAY Losing Father's Body at the Phoenix Theatre II, 653 Geary, was directed by Luskin. It opened in /October and closes Nov. 10. THE KINETICA 3 SERIES SHOWN AT THE PFA AND CINEMATEQUE WAS A REMARKABLE SELECTION OF RARE ARTISTIC GEMS Jordan Belson's Bardo was a mesmerizing 13 minute adventure that was so engaging that it seemed like only 5 or 6 minutes had passed when it ended. The images were breathtakingly beautiful and he left me wanting to see more. The 2 programs of abstract animation included several more surprises. Hy Hirsh's 6 films in the show were quite impressive. He lived in San Francisco for part of his life (he did still photography for the DeYoung Art Museum for several years and exhibited his photography here) and each was a different type of visual exploration. The 20 page catalog for the show informs us why you may not have seen Hirsh's work before. He died in Paris of an apparent heart attack while driving. His films were impounded by the French police for several years as a film can in the wreck contained cannabis. (The police lost some of the prints.) Apparently only Creative Film Society in Los Angeles distributed his work for many years and since few people knew what they were like they were rarely seen. The Iota Center in LA recently found funds to restored several of Hirsh's films. There are plans to release a tape of his work. Hirsh information wanted. Iota's director Cindy Keefer is researching his life and has found very little information about him. She has yet to find out where his local exhibits were and other details about his life in the Bay Area. (The DeYoung's records do not indicate what photos he did for them and the SF Public Library only found 2 minor references to him). If you can contribute to her knowledge or suggest leads (310) 842-8704 info@iotacenter.org 3765 Cardiff Ave. Suite 305, LA, CA 90034
LOCAL SCREENINGS"T. REX: BACK TO THE CRETACEOUS" IN 3D IMAX IS A LOT MORE FUN THAN "JURASSIC PARK 3" - NOW AT THE SONY METREON IN SAN FRANCISCO The 3D effects are played up nicely, so you almost get a dinosaur in your lap in one scene and you can almost reach out and touch one in another. The scenes with dinosaurs are on the screen long enough for you to actually enjoy seeing them. In Jurassic Park there were so many fast cuts designed to build tension and scare that you rarely got a good look at the menacing monsters. In the IMAX film they are often gentle creatures. While Blue Sky/VIFX's animals may not be quite as realistic and finely crafted as ILM's work, it is good enough for me to recommend your seeing this film. The film is worthwhile for other reasons. The script is well constructed and footage of a modern and a historic archaeological dig is quite convincing. My wife feels the film is suitable for 4th graders through adults, but may bore little ones. It even has educational value, unlike other recent dinosaur movies. Another reason you might enjoy it is simply the fact that IMAX is a great entertainment delivery system and this is one of the best IMAX movies to date. Coming January 1 in IMAX, Disney's Beauty and the Beast. The Metreon ran the trailer for the Disney feature that opens next year. It looks sharp, the colors are rich and the animation has never looked better. The music heard over the IMAX 6 channel stereo system sounds fantastic. If you enjoyed the film when it came out, the new version with a new scene added should be a great film experience for you. Wednesday, November 7, 7:30 PM, ASIFA-SF presents AN EVENING WITH TOM SITO (see flyer for details) at the Exploratorium, free, public invited Thursday, November 8, PREMIER OF NINA PALEY'S "THE STORK" WITH LIVE MUSIC BY NIK PHELPS AND THE SPROCKET ENSEMBLE plus other animated films from the US and Russia. This fine evening of Ideas in Animation will also include musical guest stars Connie Champagne and Mr. Lucky. At the Red Vic on Haight Street in SF. Thursday, Nov. 8, AMY HICKS' HATCHING BEAUTY in the "Pop Pop Program" of the Film Arts Festival. Balboa Theatre, 9 PM. The 9 minute work intertwines live action, stop-motion, and found footage to illustrate human consumption. This is Hicks' 9th personal production and it was made in part through a grant from FAF. Friday, Nov. 9, LENA PODESTA'S "HORSE PLAY" in the "Animal Magnetism" program of the Film Arts Festival, 9 PM, Balboa Theatre. A 2 minute work using drawings on paper that explores the dream world of a sleeping woman. It is "part whimsy gone wrong." It was made at the UCLA Animation Workshop. Friday, Nov. 9 - Thursday, Nov. 15 at the Lumiere on Calif. near Polk. NEW FROM JAPAN, "METROPOLIS" This is a spectacular looking work on video and I suspect it will be even more visually stunning on a big screen. It is based on a manga by the late Osamu Tezuka and was adopted for the screen by Katuhiro Otomo (director of Akira). The sci-fi story was inspired by Lang's Metropolis, with the workers living underground and the rich living in skyscrapers. If you enjoy anime with spectacular sets and first rate art direction plus lots of action, this film is a must see. I was impressed with most of it and when my viewing was interrupted by the phone, I couldn't wait to get back to it. It is a great yarn, but I wish the script had stronger character development and was clear about what motivated them. Still, the film was a lot more engaging than 95% of the films I saw last summer. Print is in Japanese with English subtitles. Friday and Saturday, Nov. 9 & 10 and Nov. 16 & 17 SPIKE & MIKE'S SICK AND TWISTED FESTIVAL OF ANIMATION at the Castro at 7, 9:20 and 11:30 the 1st weekend (also 2 & 4:30 on Sat.). Second week shown at 11:30 pm only. Midnight shows continue in SF on weekends at the AMC's Van Ness Theatre Nov. 30 - Dec. 22. Also in Berkeley at the Oaks Theatre, 1875 Solano Ave. , Nov. 9 - 20. At the Park in Lafayette, Nov. 9 - 15; Crest in Sacramento, Nov. 9th - Dec. 8 on weekends and the Towne Theatre in San Jose, Nov. 30 - Jan. 3. Warning: Three requests to review this program in advance on tape were turned down, suggesting to me that they are not proud of this show and do not want it reviewed. (In past years I have reviewed it.) Several really good films are in it, Plympton's Eat, Christopher Simon's Hello, Dad, I'm in Jail and John Magnuson/Lenny Bruce's Thank You Mask Manc. 1968, but I guess they are scraping the bottom of the barrel for "pee pee ka ka" humor to fill out the show. Spike and Mike have created a gold mine with this series, but they are developing a negative reputation among young animators. They may offer great exposure for works selected, but while they profit the artists get next to nothing for their countless hours of work. I'm sure they pay Plympton well, but former students have complained loudly to me about the low pay offered them. If I were a young animator I'd think twice about the value of making a work with hopes it will be exhibited in this series. KC Friday, Nov. 9 ABSTRACT ANIMATION FILMS at 8 pm and a multi-image screening at 9. Films by Oskar Fischinger, Len Lye, Adam Becket, Scott Bartlett, Harry Smith & other artists. Multi-images by Larry Ackerman and Will Cloughley. South of Market Cultural Center, 934 Brannon St. SF Sunday, Nov. 11 Film Arts Festival at the Castro presents at 11 AM, MARCO POLO: RETURN TO XANADU 82 minutes, an international production that includes ties to the Bay Area. Writer-producer Chris Holter went to SF State, and animation director and designer Arnie Wong worked in our area off and on for several years. The 35mm production is an action adventure film for kids. Holter co-wrote 4 of the songs. With Nina Paley's Fetch. Sunday, Nov. 11 Film Arts Festival at the Castro presents at 1 PM, DJ QBERT'S WAVE TWISTERS a 46 minute animated DVD created by Syd Garon and Eric Henry. Billed as a "hip hop animated cartoon about communication, language, vision and the future. It's an eye-popping, hip-hop Fantasia, a turntable masterpiece." It is called "a sci-fi/kung-fu epic.. visual skratching: sampling from a wide variety of techniques." Techniques used include traditional cel, 3D cgi, cut outs and photo collage. Some of my students at SF State got real excited when somebody lent me a preview tape (excerpt). I didn't relate to the soundtrack or the repetitive visuals at all, but it wasn't created for people my age. November 14 - 16 and 18 - 20 LESLIE IWERKS' "THE HAND BEHIND THE MOUSE" (about the career of Ub Iwerks) with Hitchcock's "THE BIRDS" (Oscar winning special effects by Ub Iwerks) and two rarely seen cartoons by Ub Iwerks. Complete show 7:30 pm each night. Leslie Iwerks in-person Sunday, Nov. 18. They are showing the complete uncensored 93 minute version of Leslie's feature, not the 45 minute edited version shown on TV. The theatre plans to have Leslie's book for sale and also DVDs of Ub Iwerks cartoons. Fine Arts Cinema, 2451 Shattuck (at Haste) in Berkeley. www.fineartscinema.com (510) 848-1143 Sunday, November 25 The Old First Concert Series presents NIK PHELPS AND THE SPROCKET ENSEMBLE. At least two films will be shown, Fur and Feathers, animated on glass by a woman from Russia studying at CAL Arts and Nina Paley's Fetch. Old First Church, 1751 Sacramento at Van Ness, 4 pm. (415) 474-1608
NATIONAL NEWSUCLA TO SCREEN FAITH HUBLEY'S 24TH PERSONAL FILM in a program of films by Faith Hubley and Dan McLaughlin. Faith's latest film is Northern Ice, Golden Sun. It conveys the Inuit's deep attachment to their land and their remarkable ability to adjust to the natural world. John and Faith Hubley together made 21 award wining films. Dan McLaughlin has won many awards as an experimental animator and is the head of the UCLA Animation Workshop. Included is a new work, The Shapes of Movement, an experiment in rotating images narrated by Burt Lancaster. The program is Tuesday December 11, 7:30PM, Melnitz 1409, UCLA campus, free but please RSVP at 310-825-5829. FOR LOCAL INFORMATION VISIT ASIFA-SF.ORG MIYAZAKI'S "SPIRITED AWAY" PASSES "TITANIC" AS THE RECORD HOLDER FOR THE FILM SEEN BY THE MOST PEOPLE IN JAPAN according to Variety (first week of October). Although Disney isn't planning to exercise their option to distribute Miyazaki's Spirited Away in the US, people in Japan think it is worth seeing, and damn it, I want that pleasure too. Since Spirited Away was released on July 20, 2001, 16.9 million people have seen it and it is still doing good box office. Titanic was only seen by 16.8 million people. So far Titanic has made more money in Japan as a lot of Spirited Away tickets have been sold at discounts. Spirited Away is expected to break the total gross income record soon. I've asked friends why Disney's release of Princess Monokee, also directed by Miyazaki, only grossed $2 million in the US when the film was a colossal hit in Japan. People felt Disney didn't market it properly. Jerry Beck wrote us, "With the resources of Disney/Miramax, Mononoke should have done a lot better. This is a film that needed buzz for the American art-movie crowd to discover it. They never gave that a chance. They should have released the film in a very limited set of theaters in its original Japanese language (with subtitles) months earlier than they did (It sat on their shelf for over a year - by then every anime fan in the country had the Japanese video or a bootleg copy). I could go on and on about how they should have handled it - (I made the same box office gross with Akira in 1990 with a two man distribution company and 8 prints) - needless to say Hollywood does not understand the audience for these films, nor how t! o market them to mainstream America." "Anime features are not simply 'animated films' as Hollywood perceives them. It's a genre of animated film that has a cult fan-base. It could expand its reach (as Chinese martial arts films finally have), but only if the studios take time to understand it." Another animation expert said, "it's only my opinion, but I feel that even though Disney did a poor job of marketing Princess Mononoke the film never had a chance of being the big hit in the US as it was in Japan. I do think it could have grossed more than the $2 million it made, maybe something like $10-15 million if marketed extremely well, but nothing nearing blockbuster status. The reason I say this is because I saw the film in theaters and couldn't believe how bad it was. Maybe there was something in the cultural translation that I didn't understand, but outside of the pre-existing anime fans, I can't imagine that film ever finding a very large audience." ALEKSANDRA KOREJWO SCREENING Korejwo is a Polish animator who creates animation using colored salts moved around with condor feathers. She was honored in September with a screening in Los Angeles. It was presented by Acme Filmworks, ASIFA-Hollywood and Women In Animation. They showed 6 of her films and She gave a demonstration of her unusual animation techniques. The event was at the Directors Guild Theater in Los Angeles. It was Aleksandra's debut screening in the U.S. Korejwo works directly under a top lit Oxberry camera on a field that measures 30" x 40." Her art is rendered and shot on ones. In her shorts the animated images flow to the movement and rhythm of classical music. A selection of her pastels can be viewed at www.acmefilmworks.com She does commercial work in the U.S. with Ron Diamond's Acme Filmworks. Diamond is an unusual producer as he respects uniqueness and quality. In the past his company has created ads with several gifted animators including Bill Plympton and John Dilworth. A couple of years ago he organized and presented a 35mm ASIFA-SF program of new Canadian animation with Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis in-person at the Red Vic. He also supports animation scholarship and the solid reporting of animation news. He is a founder and owner of AWN.COM MARK FLEISCHER, MAX'S GRANDSON, NAMED PRESIDENT OF MAINFRAME, U.S.A. This is a new division of the Canadian computer animation studio. Mainframe absorbed Mark's Fleischer Studios, Inc. in Los Angeles and the two companies are now developing a 3D CGI television series based on Max Fleischer's Betty Boop. XETH FEINBERG'S "THE OLD COUNTRY" IS AN ENTERTAINING PARODY OF EASTERN EUROPEAN ANIMATION ON THE INTERNET The subtitled work was produced by the National Film Board of Slobenia. It is an ambitious work that features several unusual old world cultural activities including peasants doing an ancient version of "bonk-a-mole." It is on a site that also features Bilbo, Queer Duck and other series. www.mishmashmedia.com Xeth Feinberg is an independent animator, cartoonist and founder of NYC-based Mishmash Media, Inc. He is a pioneer of flash animation who created the award-winning Bulbo series, SCIFI.com's Astro-Chimp, and Icebox.com series Hard Drinkin' Lincoln and Queer Duck. His credits also include other webtoons and interactive gizmos. His non-Internet work has appeared on MTV, Comedy Central and in The Village Voice. THE 2001 MARK DAVIS LECTURE ON ANIMATION WILL BE AN ANIME PANNEL WITH KATSUHIRO OTOMO, MARK DIPPE, JERRY BECK and others guests at the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Samuel Goldwyn Theatre on Wednesday, November 14th. The evening event will include 35mm clips from some of the greatest anime films past and present. The panel, still being finalized, will include Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira), Mark Dippe (from San Francisco, director of the live action Spawn, and Jerry Beck (author, researcher and former anime distributor). www.cartoonresearch.com "NEW YORK TIMES" RAN AN ANALYSIS OF WHY DISNEY STOCK HAS LOST VALUE The basic theme of the article is that a lot of Disney's income comes from areas that have slowed down this year (travel, advertising and retail), and since the events of Sept. 11, things have gotten worse for those areas. Right now a lot of people are avoiding theme parks, hotels and Disney cruise ships. Since people are spending less, companies are pulling back on their TV advertising budgets. Disney's ABC network is plugging the theme parks in some of the unsold air time. It also didn't build confidence in Disney stock when the Bass family of Texas sold $2 billion of Disney stock to cover their losses on telecommunications holdings that they bought on margin. Putting over 5% of the company stock up for sale at once gets noticed. In the 2nd week of September, just as terrorists struck, Disney went another billion in debt to buy back a billion bucks of the stock once owned by the Bass family. The corporation now has a $16 billion debt, the largest it has ever been. The 2 page article appeared Sunday, September 23 on the front page of the NY Time's business section. Note: by mid-October the value of Disney stock was heading up again. It was close to $20 after reaching a low of $15.50 a share. The 52 week high was $42 a share.
BOOKS AND RECORDSNEW DUMBO DVD WITH EXTRAS FROM DISNEY IS NOW AVAILABLE. ALSO PIXAR'S "TOY STORY," "TOY STORY 2," "BUGS LIFE" AND "GERI'S GAME" IS AVAILABLE AS A DVD SET The Dumbo package also includes the shorts Elmer Elephant and The Flying Mouse, plus a sneak preview of DUMBO 2, a direct to video feature. Lent, who teaches at Temple University, has edited several scholarly volumes. His latest is a remarkable survey of the diverse types of animation being produced in China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, India, Taiwan, Indonesia and other countries. The 15 contributing authors have provided easy to read chapters that seem well researched. There are ample footnotes and bibliographies at the end of chapters. Supporting visuals range from production stills and preliminary drawings to ads for films and photos of several of the animators.
Fans of anime will probably pass on this book as it isn't full of trivia about their favorite obscure films. Instead it is a solid survey of historical and contemporary developments and trends. There are chapters as diverse as "The History of Malaysian Animated Cartoons," "Overseas Animation Production in Asia" and "Anime in the United States."
A look at the chapter "Australian and New Zealand Animation" introduced me to the work of Eric Porter "who was the most significant Australian animator in the pre-television era and he would become a cornerstone of the industry when television broadcasts began." This is followed by a solid discussion of Porter's work and work by many other artists. There are separate sections in the chapter on animation for TV, "Hanna-Barbera in Australia," animated features from the region, independent animation, "Women in Australian animation" and "The Contemporary Industry."
I assume a lot of libraries will acquire the book as it is not only the first reference book on the subject, it is also well researched and written. It is not only a concise record, it is also attractive, nicely illustrated and it has an inviting cover. Hopefully better bookstores will stock it. KC
RHINO RECORDS HAS RELEASED "THAT'S ALL FOLKS!" featuring classic songs from Merrie Melodies & Looney Tunes cartoons. Enjoy Bugs' rendition of I Love to Singa, and Daffy singing The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down. Includes the complete soundtrack to 6 cartoons - What's Opera Doc, Three Little Bops (performed by Stan Freeberg and Shorty Rogers), Have You Got Any Castles?, Book Revue, Katnip Kollege and Back Alley Uproar plus lots of other musical delights.
RELEASE DATE OF RICHARD WILLIAMS' BOOK HAS BEEN CHANGED It is now March 15, 2002. He hopes to do a book signing tour of the U.S.A. at that time.
"WALT DISNEY'S NINE OLD MEN AND THE ART OF ANIMATION," IS A NEW BOOK BY JOHN CANEMAKER Book signings, lectures, and screenings were held at New York's Museum of Modern Art and New York University in October. This is Canemaker's 8th book on animation history. He is one of America's most respected animation historians. Once more he brings a high level of historical detail, analysis, and candor to his text as he offers us an intimate biographical glimpse at the art and lives of Walt Disney's core group of animators. The men studied include Les Clark, Wolfgang Reitherman, Eric Larson, Ward Kimball, Milt Kahl, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, John Lounsbery, and Marc Davis.
The book is oversized (9" by 12"), 310 pages and is lavishly illustrated in color with original animation art, film frames, stills and family photographs. The publisher is Disney Editions, NYC. Canemaker's earlier books include Winsor McCay; Felix - The Twisted Tale of the World's Most Famous Cat; Tex Avery -- The MGM Years; Before the Animation Begins and Paper Dreams.
POLISH ANIMATOR JAN LENICA DIES by Chris Robinson After battling a lengthy illness, the legendary Polish animator and artist, Jan Lenica died on October 5, 2001 in Berlin. He was 73 years old. Jan Lenica was born in 1928 in Poznan, Poland. He studied architecture at the Technical University of Warsaw. After leaving Poland, he moved to Paris and later to the U.S., where in 1974 he became a professor at Harvard University in Cambridge. In 1979 Lenica became the head of the animated films department at the University of Kassel in Germany. After leaving the University he remained in Germany, giving lectures in Berlin at Hochscule der Kunste between 1986 and 1994. He remained in Berlin until his death.
Lenica is best known for his black animation comedies, Monsieur Tete, Adam 2, Rhinoceros, Labyrinth and A, which explore the conflict of individuals struggling to express themselves within a stifling bureaucratic and violent world. Lenica was also famous throughout the art world for his unique film posters.
His films and art have been exhibited throughout the world. He has been the subject of numerous articles and two documentaries. He was recently a guest of the Ottawa International Animation Festival, which held a retrospective of his films and an exhibition of his poster art in September 2000. Lenica had been at work on his first film in over twenty years when he died.
Contributed by Chris Robinson, Ottawa, Canada. He edits our ASIFA International newsletter, runs a few festival, writes for AWN.COM under the name "Animation Pimp" and does other cool things.)
A PERSONAL REMEMBERANCE OF JAN LENICA by Prescott J. Wright Another world famous animator passed away a few weeks ago; Jan Lenica (pronounced Jan Len-itza). He was born in Poznan, Poland in 1928. During his youth he witnessed war and political changes in Europe. He completed his education at the acclaimed Art Institute of Poland and the Communist government funded his first films. Unlike the U.S., cartoons were made in Europe and elsewhere for adults, not just for children with some appeal for adults.
Many of his films derived their plots from the work of modern philosophers and new studies of psychology. This was Lenica's meat. He loved converting wild ideas about people and their lives into visual stories, although they would sometimes stretch into the bizarre in such as the films A, Rhinoseros and Mssr. Tete. He often used grotesque images and the cut-out technique. That became the trademark for his work and that of his buddy Walerian Boroczyk. When it became risky to be in Poland, he left for France.
I had good fortune to meet Jan at an early Annecy Animation Festival, and again at the 2000 Ottawa Animation Festival, where he was honored. He did not remember me from the earlier meeting. He had slowed down considerably in his responses though they were always thoughtful. He had little patience for those who had not studied his work which often took several screenings to fathom.
His work was inspired by the writing of Romanian playwright Eugene Ionesu, who was also an expatriate in France. It was Inescu's play A which inspired Lenica's film A. The plot was the tyranny of words depicted as a large letter A which intruded into a man's household and refused to leave.
In his later years, he moved to the U.S., but he only found funding for one more film project. In despair of not getting funds, he and his Finnish wife moved to Berlin where he made a living illustrating books. He was joined there by the great Yugoslavian animator Nedeljko Dragic, who went there as the war in his homeland deepened.
Lenica's passing was a loss for all of us. He was a master of story, design, character development, and timing. His works were not simple cartoons, but were complex fine art films. He will be missed by his friend and those who enjoyed his work. We can honor his contributions and his life by exhibiting his films, if we can find them. I hope that someone will build a small library of his work before his films get lost forever. If you know of such a library please let me to care of ASIFA-San Francisco. Prescott Wright, president emeritus.
COMPUTER GRAPHICS PIONEER ROBERT ABEL DIES. After an illustrious career in visual effects spanning more than 30 years, computer graphics pioneer Robert Abel passed away on Sunday, September 23, 2001.
Animator Scott Kravitz worked with Able and wrote the following: "Before joining Bob Abel at Synapse Technologies I had been aware of only a few of his achievements- the CG commercials with the Sexy Robot and the walking Levi's logo that featured the Candy Apple Neon technique. Yet the work Bob Abel had taken on at that moment was an educational project about the quintcentennial of Christopher Columbus's arrival in America. It was to be stored and accessed on laser discs in a multi-media format never before seen. It was 1990 and CD-ROMs hadn't yet been introduced and the word "interactive" was just becoming a buzz word.
I was hired as Bob Abel's personal assistant. The list of people who have passed through his employ is astounding. Visual effects supervisors such as Con Pederson (2001: A Space Odyssey), John Nelson (Gladiator), Rob Legato (Titanic) and Charles Gibson (Babe) were all mentored by him early in their careers. Grateful to be part of this list I had wanted to make a good impression on Mr. Abel. I let my mother pick out my outfit for my first day at work, and it turned out to be exactly the same thing that Bob was wearing. As he introduced me to the other employees I must have looked like the biggest sycophant in the world. If Bob had noticed, he didn't mention it.
Few people truly fit the label of "visionary." Bob did. At age 24 he was a key designer of the 1962 World's Fair Pavilion exhibit "The New Age of Science," and two years later, for the IBM Science Pavilion "A View From the People Wall." Meanwhile, he was making documentaries such as The Making of a Presiden" (for which he won an Emmy) and Joe Cocker: Mad Dogs and Englishmen.
In 1971 he formed Robert Abel and Associates and changed the effects industry with the first motion-control camera (for which he shared a Scientific and Technical Oscar). Later he worked extensively in raster graphics as Abel Image Research, a division of RA&A. They gave birth to computer graphics as we know them today.
For those who want to understand his genius, I can describe his office - tall stacks of papers arranged across the floor like buildings in a miniature city. Navigating one's way from the door to his desk required a different route each day. One of the producers once took me aside to warn that I should never rearrange the piles. Bob had an order to the papers that only he knew.
He seemed to think out loud, often using a tape recorder in lieu of notes. He used speaker phones so he could leave his hands free to work his highlighter across pages of text. He rarely took a lunch break.
As Eisenstein did with the montage, Bob did with information. A person using his program begins researching one topic and discovers surprising connections to seemingly unrelated subjects, resulting in an awareness that didn't exist before. This kind of serendipity was not something most people had associated with computers, but now take for granted with the Internet. Following one idea leads to another unexpectedly, in a process without end, and the only constant is the one who explores. So he conducted his life."
Scott Kravitz is a stop-motion and computer animator in San Francisco. He is currently working on Phantom Investigators for Wholesome Products.
SHOPPING TIP - AMAZON.COM IS SELLING RICHARD WILLIAMS' YET TO BE RELEASED BOOK AT 30% OFF. THEY OFFER THE SAME DISCOUNT ON JOHN CANEMAKER'S NEW BOOK
by Nik and Nancy Phelps
Last year Nina Paley attended Krok and told us it was a fabulous experience. She submitted Fetch this year, it was accepted, but at the last moment she couldn't attend the two week event that takes place on a cruise ship. Since Nik had composed the music and the Sprocket Ensemble had performed the score for her film, we were invited to represent the film.
Two weeks before the event we received our formal invitations to attend, so it was a rush to get our visa from the Ukrainian Embassy. We flew into Kiev, met with some of the international attendees and at midnight we took Mr.Toad's wild ride to Odessa. On the morning of August 20th we boarded the T. S. Shevchenko where we spent the next two weeks in the company of 200 people from all over the world watching and discussing animation.
The attendees bring all types of interests and knowledge to the festival. There were artists, composers, animation teachers, and even Felinni's script writer. Every day from 9 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon we would watch the competition screenings as we sailed across the Black Sea and up the Dnieper River to Kiev. At 2 we had lunch. In the afternoon there were optional screenings including a fine program of animated Oscar-winners. There were also group excursions when we were in port. For example, in Yalta we went to a royal residence. In Herson we were taken by a small boat to a tiny village where we ate a fabulous meal prepared by local grandmothers.
In the evening there were informational programs. One of the interesting features of the festival was seeing an evenings presentation by each competition juror. That way we got an idea of the taste and style of each juror. When the winners were announced on the final night it helped you understand the judges choices.
Another evening highlight was a presentation of award winning films from the Annecy Animation Festival. At 10 p.m. the screening room on the ship was turned into a disco and we danced the night away (sometimes until 5 am which made getting to the 9 am screening more of a challenge). Several times during voyage there were talent shows and one night there was a costumed Mardi Gras. Lest the trip sounds too academic, there was plenty of time for shopping in port, for sightseeing and of course great amounts of beer, wine and vodka for all.
The quality of the animation was consistently high and represented a wide variety of techniques and styles. It was really wonderful to have the opportunity to spend two weeks getting to know the other animators. After seeing their work you had several chances to talk about it with them.
The opening night ceremony took place at a brand new theater in Odessa and the closing night award ceremony took place at the Artists' Building which is the festival headquarters in Kiev.
The festival committee is trying to encourage more participation from the West. This year lots of awards went to non-eastern block works. This year's jury didn't seem to have an appreciation for flash animation or low resolution computer generated work (For the Bird from Pixar won an award, so they enjoyed high-end work).
The festival is jointly sponsored by the Filmmakers' Union of Russia and Filmmakers' Union of Ukraine. Next year the festival will cruise from St. Petersburg to Moscow and will be open only to student films. In 2003 the festival will return to the Ukraine and will be open to all works.
I hope in the future many Bay Area animators will submit work to the Krok International Animation Festival and attend and share the experience. It was one of the best times Nik and I have ever had. We encourage people to talk to us about our Krok experience.
PS, It costs $500 US to attend if your work is in the festival and $1000 for others for two weeks on board with 3 meals a day!
Nik Phelps is a composer and the leader of the Sprocket Ensemble. Nancy is the Sprocket Ensemble's producer.
NASHVILLE INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL December 21, Feb. 1 early deadline, $30 fee, $35 late fee. June 5-9 event. Brian Gordon, who did a fine job running the Golden Gate Awards in SF for may years, is now this festival's director. Festival has a long history of doing a good job supporting independent film/animation. Shows 16mm, 35mm, Beta and Digital Beta . Previews in ?" VHS. Animation category. For form, NIFF PO Box 24330, Nashville TN 37202-4330 (615) 742-2500 www.nashvillefilmfestival.org
BLACK MARIA FESTIVAL DEADLINE IS NOV. 20 They include several animated personal films each year. Kathy Geritz, a curator at the PFA, is a judge this year. Cash prizes, $35 entry fee, tour. They do not return ?" tapes. New Jersey City University, Fries Hall - MA 112, 2039 Kennedy Blvd. Jersey City NJ 07305 www.blackmariafilmfestival.com
QUESTION:
HAS DISNEY MADE THE WORLD A SAFER PLACE TO LIVE? You can forget about the dangers of the world on your next trip to Disneyland. The San Francisco Examiner on Sept. 4 announced on the front page in 2" headlines that the park had disarmed their evil pirates. Yes, no more cap pistols tucked under their belts!
The next day Rob Morse wrote on p. 2 of the Chronicle, "Disneyland has disarmed the skippers on the Jungle Cruise ride. They can no longer take those dramatic shots with blanks at the mechanical hippo. 'It's clearly a form of animal cruelty' said a spokeswoman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in applauding Disney's disarmament, which extends even to the removal of toy flintlocks from Frontierland."
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This issue was written by Karl Cohen, Articles were contributed by Prescott Wright, Chris Robinson, Scott Kravitz and Nik and Nancy Phelps. Laura Tulloss was the layout artist and Pete Davis proof read it. Shirley Smith, Ron Seawright, Tara Packard and Nik and Nancy mailed it to you. Non-members? Join for only $22 a year. Send a check to the above address. |
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© 2001 Animation World Network