PIXAR DISCOVERS AMERICA'S POLITE SOCIETY IS STILL AFRAID OF BREASTS, SO THEY OPTED FOR BREAST REDUCTION SURGERY by KC The giant breasts in Pixar's short Knick Knack, 1989 were non-existent when the short was released theatrically with Finding Nemo. When the DVD came out this year a French ASIFA member sent me a link to an article with before and after photos.
If John Lasseter likes absurdly large breasts why did Disney and/or Pixar feel it was necessary to hide that from the public? One of the gags in the film is seeing the snowman's reaction to seeing a female with giant breasts. Now the gag doesn't make much sense seeing a woman with a flat chest.
When the film was first shown some women in San Francisco were offended by John's taste and booed, but he is a big boy and could take it then. After all he used to hang out with Spike and Mike, purveyors of fine sick and twisted animation. Apparently someone felt it was time for John to be more mature and polite in public.
I e-mailed the French article to several friends and a woman wrote back, "I just gotta tell you how funny this is to me, because when I show the film Knick Knack to my students (ages 6-14 mostly) they always giggle at her boobs. So I am actually kind of relieved to have the altered version of the film." The French article can be found at: http://www.dvdfr.com/news/news.php?id=2701
WILL STEVE JOBS AND MICHAEL EISNER KISS AND MAKE UP? On June 2 Eisner told Disney investors that he hoped that a new distribution deal could be negotiated with Pixar. He stressed that no new talks between the two companies had taken place. On June 7 Jobs told CNBC viewers that he was willing to consider a new distribution deal with Disney, but they had not renewed talks. This sounds like positive first steps. The relationship between the two companies remains a popular topic of conversation. Pixar's intentions remain a secret so there is lots of speculation going on. Lots of "what would happen if…"
STUDY ANIMATION ONLINE WITH ANIMATORS FROM PIXAR AND ILM Classes and enrollment in their intensive 1-year program begin this fall. Bobby "Boom" Beck and Carlos Baena from Pixar and Shawn Kelly from ILM are the talents behind AnimationMentor.com
CHRIS LANIER'S "ROMANOV" IS IN THE "INDIANA REVIEW" (Vol. 26, Number 1) He says this is the first time this literary magazine has included comics, so he feels quite honored to be included as a featured artist. They ran a strip based on his award winning Flash cartoon Scarf Mania.
The May issue of Nickelodeon Magazine ran a full page strip called "Cat Daydreams: Where Cat Food Comes From." It is in part a tribute to his three-legged cat Luka (aka "Ahab," aka "Clompy"). He adds, "This will probably be the only time my work appears in a publication with a cover blurb about the Olsen Twins." He also has 2 reviews of comics he likes on the pop culture website "the High Hat" and the current issue of Comics Journal has printed his short article on the Alternative Press Expo.
DISNEY HEIRS WISH TO OPEN A MUSEUM HONORING WALT IN THE PRESIDIO According to Matier and Ross in the Chronicle (6/21/04), Diane Disney-Miller, Walt's adopted daughter, and her son Walt Miller have been renting space in the Presidio for several years. They use it to store family memorabilia and have set up a few displays. Now there is talk of converting a building on the parade grounds into a public museum.
Is this a good idea or will they help turn the National Park into an extension of the Fishermen's Wharf honky-tonk use of our waterfront? Hopefully it will be done with taste and they will refrain from turning the park into Disneyland-North. Diane is said to own a lot of Disney stock, but the project is not connected with the corporation as far as I know. Any comments? The family foundation web site is www.disney.go.com/disneyatoz/waltdisney
CONGRATULATIONS TO PDI/DREAMWORKS ON YOUR MEGA-HIT The next two or three sequels of Shrek are in the works and there are already predictions that Shrek 2 will be the biggest selling DVD of 2004. Television Week expects 25 million DVDs will be sold (retailing at $29.95) giving a gross sale of $470 million (possibly more than the film's domestic gross which is nearing the $400 million mark). In comparison The Simpsons are the biggest selling TV show on DVD, having sold about 800,000 units last year (about $30 million). The studio's next release will be Madagascar with a mid-2005 release planned.
"MONSTER ROAD" IS COMING TO THE RED VIC THIS FALL The unusual documentary about animator Bruce Bickford was shown at the LA Film Festival in June. Bruce was in attendance to answer questions and to offer some of the original sculptures from the Frank Zappa film Baby Snakes for sale. The Red Vic plans to show the film on their fall calendar <http://www.brighteyepictures.com>
VISIT US AT WWW.ASIFA-SF.ORG
CHANNEL 29 IS EDITING A NEW SEASON OF THE WACKY CARTOON SHOW "CARTOONLAND PRESENTS" It stars Captain Kevin on his tugboat talking with an odd assortment of characters including Wild Brain's George Evelyn, Lory
Ringuette, the director of the soon to be released feature Tele Zombie; cartoon junkie Paul Etchevery and ASIFA's Karl Cohen being goofy. There goes the neighborhood. They taped 10 shows in 2 days. Details about airdates "soon." http://www.cartoonlandanimation.com/
HENRY SELICK IS JOINING VINTON STUDIOS He will be a supervising director heading up their transition into features. He will also direct Vinton's first high-budget CG short, Moongirl. Selick recently completed stop-motion sequences for Wes Anderson's The Life Aquatic. He also has several other irons in the fire (waiting for somebody to put up the cash) including a film based on Neil Gaiman's Coraline for Bill Mechanic's Pandemonium.
Vinton is also co-producing Tim Burton's stop-motion animated feature Corpse Bride. Warner Bros. will release it in 2005.
GENE HAMM IS EXCITED ABOUT ALL THE NEW THINGS ON HIS WEB SITE You can now enjoy his documentary on the making of No Hat, No Service, more one-panel gag cartoons on the "Hammarama Page" of www.hammination.com. There is a selection of original songs you can listen to including "Arctic One Night Stand" where the nights are six months long, "Puppy Love" and "Blender," which appeared on Dr. Demento's radio show. A DVD of No Hat, No Service; Hunchback outtakes, Bum Wrap and Viagra Falls is on sale along with a CD of his favorite songs $10 each plus shipping).
RAGGEDY ANN AND FRIENDS: THE ART OF JOHNNY GRUELLE AT THE CARTOON ART MUSEUM until November 7. Opening party is on Wed. July 7 from 6 - 8 PM (public invited, $5) Johnny Gruelle is best known for creating Raggedy Ann and Andy, the beloved rag doll characters in 1915 and 1920. Gruelle (1880-1938) was also a versatile and prolific newspaper and magazine cartoonist and illustrator, and the author/illustrator of many books unrelated to the Raggedy characters.
The exhibit will also include a rare original editorial cartoon by Gruelle; samples of his comic strips Mr. Twee Deedle, Jack the Giant Killer, and Brutus; original magazine and newspaper illustrations; and original drawings and paintings from his children's book illustrations. The exhibit also includes vintage dolls, toys, animation art and ephemera that featured Gruelle's creations.
The exhibition is curated by Andrew Tabbat, author of The Collector's World of Raggedy Ann and Andy, Volumes One & Two and Raggedy Ann and Andy I. D. Guide, and co-curator of Raggedy Ann: America's Playmate at 70 at the Oakland Museum of California.
HAVE A NICE VACATION - NO ASIFA-SF NEWSLETTER OR EVENT IN AUGUST. Next issue comes out about Sept. 1. If you miss us visit our web site at www.asifa-sf.org
FRIDAY & SAT. JULY 9 & 10, BRAINWASH DRIVE-IN MOVIE FESTIVAL, 9 PM each night. Program on Fri. includes several works that use animation in different ways. South Bagdad by William Ross is an animated short, I'll Arouse Jim mixes animation with live action, The Gargoyle includes pencil test footage, Time Stop has animated EFX, Wee Entity includes some pixelation, Textures uses CG, etc. In parking lot, 1357 5th St. at Mandela Parkway, W. Oakland
SUNDAY, JULY 18 at 2 PM, ASIFA-SF PRESENTS FINALISTS IN ASIFA-INDIA'S "AWARD OF EXCELLENCE" COMPETITION Your votes will decide the winner of their best in show prize! This is a fascinating selection of work that captures the exotic nature of India (see dancing elephants, ancient gods, etc.) and the reality of modern India (ads for bug sprays, a film for the UN's Rights of Children campaign, etc.). Seeing the finalist in the independent shorts, TV commercials/PSAs and student film categories offers a rare glimpse at an emerging animation culture that is quite different from what we are used to. After you vote we will screen Adam Elliot's 2004 Oscar winner HARVIE KRUMPET. .At the Coppola Theater (Fine Arts 101), SF State, free, bring friends.
MONDAY, JULY 26, 4 PM, CASTRO THEATRE, "BACKSEAT BINGO" by Liz Blazer is a truly delightful film about the pleasures of sex for senior citizens. It is a hoot inspired by South Park. Liz's uses talking cutout heads scanned into a computer in a really original way to get people to realize that sex among seniors can be a positive fulfilling experience. The 6-minute short is being shown with Sunset Story, a poignant, moving documentary about life in a left-wing retirement home in LA. The focus is on two women who have sharp minds, are socially and politically aware and have a good sense of humor. Presented by the Jewish Film Festival.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2:15 PM, "BACKSEAT BINGO" AND "SUNSET STORY" AT WHEELER AUDITORIUM. U.C. BERKELEY See July 26 for details.
THURS. AUGUST 5 - WED. AUG. 11, "KAERA: THE PROPHECY," A STUNNING 3D CG SCIENCE-FICTION ADVENTURE FROM FRANCE Set in the future with lots of nasty creatures that eat humans, this film could develop a big cult following. The animation is good, but the fantastic art and story are what sets this film apart from Lara Croft and other so so CG features. Humans on a distant planet are enslaved by religion and enormous evil looking creatures. Kaena is a young high-spirited female forced to set out on a dangerous quest. At the Red Vic, 7:15 & 9:15 with 2 PM shows on Sat., Sun. & Wed. (no shows on Mon. August 9)
UNIVERSAL'S NEXT REMAKE OF "KING KONG" TO STAR ANDY SERKIS AS THE BIG APE He was Gollum in The Lord of the Rings. He will also play Lumpy the cook, a ship member on the Venture as it sails to Skull Island.
SPECIAL EFFECTS FOR "AEON FLUX" WILL BE CREATED BY A FRENCH COMPANY BUF Compagnie is in final negotiations to create the futuristic cityscapes and environments for Paramount's live-action version of Peter Chung's story. Oscar winners Charlize Theron and Frances McDormand are set to star. Theron will play the lead assassin and McDormand will play Handler, the rebel leader.
TV NETWORKS ARE NOW SOME OF THE BIGGEST USERS OF AD TIME They have found promoting their shows with "ads" is the most effective way to attract an audience. The ads bring higher ratings and that means more income from the commercials that air on the shows. ABC and NBC spent over a billion in 2003 on on-air promotions while NBC spent $982 million. Their buys in other media are only about 5% of their promotional budgets now. ABC spends the most, about $48.6 million last year with about half of that going to national magazines, the rest split between radio, newspapers, Sunday supplements and billboards.
HANNA-BARBERA BUILDINGS SAVED The birthplace of the Flintstones and all those other shows was saved when the L.A. City Council approved a plan to preserve the historic Hanna-Barbera animation studio buildings. The buildings were denied historic landmark status in 1997. The present owners of the buildings plan to use them for office space, a health club and a luxury apartment building.
GENNDY TARTAKOVSKY TO WRITE AND DIRECT A LIVE-ACTION "ASTROBOY" for Sony Pictures. Tartakovsky, who created Dexter's Laboratory and Samuari Jack, will try his hand with a film that has been in-development for several years. It began as a live-action project with Steven Spielberg in 1997, but was shelved when he began work on A.I. Next, Eric Leighton, who worked for Henry Selick on Nightmare Before Christmas and for Disney on Dinosaur, tried to turn it into a CG feature. Now it will be produced by Lisa Henson and Kristine Belson of Jim Henson Pictures and Don Murphy of Angryfilms.
"THE MEATRIX" IS AN IMPRESSIVE ANIMATED BIT OF PROPAGANDA ON THE WEB FOR THE ORGANIC FARMING CAUSE The film by Louis Fox won the "Net Surfers Award" at Annecy 2004. You
might enjoy seeing it even if you enjoy a rare steak every now and then. www.themeatrix.com
ASIFA-HOLLYWOOD PRESENTS THE LEN GLASSER SPECTACULAR ON SATURDAY JULY 31 Leonard Glasser in-person for a retrospective of work produced at Stars and Stripes Productions Forever. Glasser started at Terrytoons working on Tom Terrific. He designed Ernie Pintoff's award-winning shorts The Old Man and the Flower and The Interview. He founded Stars & Stripes in the 1960s and produced some of the funniest and most imaginative animated works of the Sixties and Seventies. The screening will feature rare TV commercials, his animated shorts, the off-the-wall industrial film Safety Shoes and the X-rated animation sequence from the 1971 film The Telephone Book. Sleazoid Express Magazine calls the last film "the unrecognized predecessor of the X-rated animations" Animation Blast editor Amid Amidi will host the event. At 3 PM at the American Film Institute in Hollywood.
DONALD TRUMBULL, SPECIAL EFFECTS PIONEER, HAS DIED He was 95 and died of natural causes on June 7. He won two of the Academy's Sci-Tech Awards. His first was awarded in 1985 for his contribution to the Blue Max traveling matte flux projector for composite photography. In 1999 he received another for his contributions to the development of the Zebra and Gazelle dolly systems. In 2001 he was honored with the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers` Fuji Film Gold Medal Award for outstanding achievement in image origination.
His career in the industry began as a special effects rigger on The Wizard of Oz. After three decades in the aviation industry, he returned to the film industry in 1970, teaming with his son, director Douglas Hunt Trumbull, on developing specialized equipment and robotic arms for the drones in Hunt Trumbull's first film, Silent Running. In 1976, he joined ILM and helped build the first motion-control cameras, booms and other specialized equipment used to make Star Wars He went on to become a partner and founder of Apogee Productions.
I CASTELLI ANIMATI UNITES 8 ISRAELI AND 8 PALESTINIAN KIDS ON A CARTOON PROJECT The students will work together in Rome on the story and basic drawings. The film will be produced by several Italian animation studios under the artistic supervision of Emanuele Luzzati and Giulio Gianini. Gianini and Luzzati won international fame years ago for their fine work including an Oscar nomination for The Thieving Magpie 1964. The new film and a documentary about the making of it are being co-produced by I Castelli Animati Animated Film Festival and the Office for Peace in Jerusalem in the City of Rome with the patronage of UNESCO. It will be completed this fall.
EMILY HUBLEY RECEIVES ONE OF SUNDANCE'S FIRST ANNENBERG FELLOWSHIPS Emily, daughter of legendary animators Faith and John Hubley, has become an exceptional independent animator. She was recently selected by the Sundance Institute as one of the five filmmakers in the first "class" of Annenberg Film Fellows. She will receive support over the next two-years to help her complete her current project The Toe Tactic. Her film will follow, "A young woman's search for her lost wallet through an animated and live-action world that is haunted by her dead father, populated by living objects and flawed individuals, and manipulated by a pack of capricious dogs. The other fellows are Aditya Assarat, Sterlin Harjo, Kazuo Ohno and Alex Rivera. www.sundance.org.
DISNEY'S "LORENZO" WON THE GRAND PRIX AT ANNECY AND "RYAN" WON THE SPECIAL JURY PRIZE The coveted grand prize of the 28th International Festival of Animated Film at Annecy went to Mike Gabriel for Lorenzo, a new film about a cat based on an idea by Joe Grant. It was painted on paper and then composited using a 3D system. It is being shown before Raising Helen in the US.
Chris Landreth's Ryan received the Special Jury Award. Our June newsletter had considerable information about this fine work..
In the TV category Joan's Birthday by Ginger Gibbons, U.K won a special award and the Cristal for best TV production (a second Grand Prix) went to Creature Comforts, "Cats or Dogs" directed by Richard Goleszowski at Aardman, U.K.
AWN reports that Gabriel and producer Baker Bloodworth returned to the US after their film was shown. They were informed on a Friday that "it would behoove" them to return immediately for the awards ceremony on Saturday night. They flew back. A very surprised Gabriel said, "It's a strange position to be in when you are with a major studio like Disney… You're competing with a lot of government-sponsored shorts, but ours was just as personal as any of those… we had the corporate backing of Disney, (but) we had to fight every step of the way to get (Lorenzo) made. There was no commercial incentive, so kudos to Disney for staying with us, as we went on and stopped and went on and stopped…" Roy Disney was a big supporter of the project.
KOJI YAMAMURI'S "MT. HEAD" WON THE GRAND PRIZE AT ZAGREB 2004 Virgil Windrich's Fast Film won 3 prizes, the Zagreb award, the jury of Croatian film critics award and the jury of Croatian filmmakers award.
HOW MUCH WILL IT COST FOX IF HOMER OR BART SIMPSON SAYS HELL IN THE FUTURE? The Senate and House have passed different bills to raise fines for indecency on broadcast TV (not cable). The Senate attached their version to a defense bill that passed 99 to 1.
BILL COSBY IS BACK WITH A PRIMETIME ANIMATED COMEDY "FATHERHOOD" His new series premiered in late June on Nick at Night and it is based on his best selling book of the same title. The voice actors include Lou Rawls and Ruby Dee.
NYU ANIMATOR WINS THIS YEAR'S STUDENT ACADEMY AWARD Alexander Woo from New York University won the Gold Medal for his film, Rex Steele: Nazi Smasher. The Silver went to Rock the World by Sukwon Shin, from the School of Visual Arts, New York and the Bronze went to Lemmings by Craig Van Dyke from Brigham Young University. The students get trophies, cash prizes ($5,000, $3,000 and $2,000) plus the royal treatment in L.A. for about a week. Three-time Academy Award-nominee Pete Docter from Pixar presented the awards. He won a Student Academy Award many years ago.
INTERNET STRESS TEST I got the following message from a friend. "This is an amazingly accurate stress test. Read instructions before looking at the picture. The attached photo has 2 identical dolphins in it. A person under stress will see differences in the two dolphins. If there are too many differences you are under a lot of stress and you may need to take a vacation." I guess I'm under a lot of stress so ASIFA-SF is once again taking August off. Our next newsletter will come out about Sept. 1. Any late events news will be posted at www.asifa-sf.org KC
BILL PLYMPTON TO PRESENT A MASTER ANIMATION CLASS IN SEATTLE On Saturday, July 31 he will be in Seattle to promote the premiere of his new feature Hair High. His daylong intensive master-class includes demonstrations of different drawing techniques. At: NW Film Forum, 1515 12th Avenue, Seattle www.wigglyworld.org
Bill will appear at the San Diego Comic Convention July 22-25 where his new feature will be shown along with his award winning short Guard Dog.
Hair High will also be appearing at: The Singapore Animation Festival, Singapore, June 25-30; The Jerusalem Film Festival, Jerusalem, Israel, July 9-19; Anima Mundi, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 9-18; Anima Mundi, Sau Paulo, Brazil, July 21-25 and Hiroshima Animation Festival, Hiroshima, Japan, August 19-23.
SIGGRAPH OFFERS ONE DAY ADMISSION FOR ALL PROGRAMS AND EVENTS SIGGRAPH will be held at the LA Convention Center August Aug. 8-12 for the conference and Aug. 10-12 for the exhibits. www.siggraph.org/2004
OUTDOOR ELECTRONIC BILLBOARDS ABOVE NYC SUBWAY ENTRANCES ARE SHOWING ANIMATED ADS About 100 of the wireless LED displays are in use. They are fabricated to withstand extreme temperatures, tampering and vandalism. The ad shown in a recent Video Systems article showed a computer generated bear drinking a Coke.
HOPEFULLY THE MISSING OSKAR FISCHINGER PAINTING WILL BE RETURNED Early in June Oskar's daughter sent the following, "Dear Mr. Cohen, I am eternally grateful to you for your help. I can't believe how quickly it got results. Mr. Renoldner of ASIFA Austrialocated Mr. Wolters and he willturn the painting over. I will have my cousin in Germanyship it. Again thank you so much…Thank you, Thank you. Barbara Fischinger"
THE LOONEY TOONS - GOLDEN COLLECTION, VOLUME 2 This wonderful collection will be released around Halloween. This four-disk set will contain shorts from 1936 to 1958 including lots of favorites. The 60 shorts are: HARE-BRAINED HYPNOTIST (Bugs Bunny/Elmer Fudd, 1942), LITTLE RED RIDING RABBIT (Bugs Bunny, 1944) STAGE DOOR CARTOON (Bugs Bunny/ Elmer Fudd, 1944), HARE CONDITIONED (Bugs Bunny, 1945), RHAPSODY RABBIT (Bugs Bunny, 1946), THE BIG SNOOZE (Bugs Bunny/Elmer Fudd , 1946), SLICK HARE (Bugs Bunny/Elmer Fudd, 1947), BUGS BUNNY RIDES AGAIN (Bugs Bunny/Yosemite Sam, 1948), GORILLA MY DREAMS (Bugs Bunny/ Gruesome Gorilla, 1948), BUNNY HUGGED (Bugs Bunny, 1951), FRENCH RAREBIT (Bugs Bunny/Louis and Francois, 1951), BABY BUGGY BUNNY (Bugs Bunny/ Baby-Faced Finster, 1954), HYDE AND HARE (Bugs Bunny - 1955), BROOM-STICK BUNNY (Bugs Bunny/Witch Hazel 1956), WHAT'S OPERA, DOC? (Bugs Bunny/Elmer Fudd, 1957), BEEP BEEP (Road Runner/ Coyote, 1952), GOING! GOING! GOSH! (Road Runner/ Coyote, 1952), ZIPPING ALONG (Road Runner/Coyote, 1953), STOP! LOOK! AND HASTEN! (Road Runner/ Coyote, 1954), GUIDED MUSCLE (Road Runner/Coyote, 1955), READY.. SET.. ZOOM! (Road Runner/Coyote, 1955), GEE WHIZ-Z-Z-Z! (Road Runner/Coyote, 1956), THERE THEY GO-GO-GO! (Road Runner/Coyote, 1956), SCRAMBLED ACHES (Road Runner/Coyote, 1957), ZOOM AND BORED (Road Runner/Coyote, 1957), WHOA, BE-GONE! (Road Runner/Coyote, 1958), PORKY IN WACKYLAND (Porky Pig, 1938), OLD GLORY (Porky Pig, 1939), BOOK REVUE (Daffy Duck, 1946), SHOW BIZ BUGS (Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck, 1957), KITTY KORNERED (Porky/Sylvester, 1946), TWEETY PIE (Sylvester/Tweety, 1947), BACK ALLEY OP-ROAR (Elmer Fudd/Sylvester, 1948), BAD OL' PUTTY TAT (Sylvester/ Tweety, 1949), ALL A BIR-R-R-RD (Sylvester/Tweety, 1950), ROOM AND BIRD (Sylvester/ Tweety, 1951), TWEET TWEET TWEETY (Sylvester/ Tweety, 1951), A BIRD IN A GUILTY CAGE (Sylvester/ Tweety ,1952), AIN'T SHE TWEET (Sylvester/Tweety, 1952), GIFT WRAPPED (Sylvester/Tweety, 1952), SNOW BUSINESS (Sylvester/Tweety, 1953), YOU OUGHT TO BE IN PICTURES (Daffy/Porky, 1940), DUCK SOUP TO NUTS (Daffy/Porky, 1944), BABY BOTTLENECK (Daffy/ Porky, 1946), THE GREAT PIGGY BANK ROBBERY (Daffy Duck as "Duck Twacy," 1946), I LOVE TO SINGA ("Owl" Jolson, 1936), HAVE YOU GOT ANY CASTLES? (1938), KATNIP KOLLEGE (Johnny Cat, 1938), HOLLY-WOOD STEPS OUT (1941), THE HECKLING HARE (Bugs Bunny/ Willoughby, 1941), TORTOISE BEATS HARE (Bugs Bunny/ Cecil Turtle, 1941), THE DOVER BOYS AT PIMENTO UNIVERSITY OR 'THE RIVALS OF ROQUEFORT HALL' (1942), THE HEP CAT (Hep Cat, 1942), CORNY CONCERTO (Doc and Champ, 1943), RABBIT TRANSIT (Bugs Bunny/Cecil Turtle, 1947), MOUSE WRECKERS (Hubie and Bertie/Claude Cat,1948), BEAR FOR PUNISHMENT (Henry, Ma, & Junyer Bear, 1951), CHEESE CHASERS (Hubie and Bertie, 1951), ONE FROGGY EVENING (Michigan J. Frog, 1955), THREE LITTLE BOPS (1957)
"SPIKE AND MIKE'S CUTTING EDGE CLASSICS" INCLUDES SEVERAL OUTSTANDING WORKS (and a few duds). The ringers include Raimund Krumme's Rope Dance, the Lauenstein Brothers' Balance and Pjotr Sapegin's One Day A Man Bought A House. $19.95
ROBOCOP TRILOGY ON DVD from MGM Home Entertainment, $39.96) including Paul Verhoeven's unrated director's cut of the original 1987 movie, with more graphic violence plus commentaries, making-of featurettes, etc.
ESTONIA - THE BAD BOYS OF SOVIET ANIMATION
by Nancy Denny-Phelps
Caught between Mother Russia and the free world television of Finland, tiny Estonia forged a unique place in the history of animation. The field of Estonian animation is a subject that Americans have not been presented with much information or background about, if they have heard of it at all. In his book BETWEEN GENIUS AND UTTER ILLITERACY: A STORY OF ESTONIAN ANIMATION, Chris J. Robinson, Artistic Director of the Ottawa International Animation Festival, goes a long way toward filling this void.
As I read this book I became more enthralled and my mind opened to the peculiar difficulties animators faced when creating animation under the Communist system, working on two levels like two sides of a coin. The animators worked in studios funded centrally from Moscow, and had to first clear all of their story ideas with the Russian censors. The secret to the black humor and unique genius of Estonian animation of this period lies in the lengths to which they went to disguise the political and social themes they had set in their films. In the process, they managed to sneak by some of the most humorous, poignant and subversive work created in the Soviet block.
With the end of Russian domination and the return of independence for the satellite countries, central government funding for film and animation has all but dried up and present day Estonian animators face the same obstacle that film makers in the Western market economy have always come up against - how to maintain the funding for their projects. Despite the rise of commercial studios that have replaced Soviet censors in dictating subject matter and an increasing number of foreign investors, Estonians have managed so far to remain true to their cultural traditions.
Robinson's book begins with an overview of Estonian animation, starting with a recently rediscovered film, The Adventures of Juku The Dog, produced in 1931, and continues on through films completed in 2003. Giving us a bit of recent Estonian history, he puts the story that follows in context and then goes chapter by chapter, with in-depth looks at individual animators and the studios they work with.
Estonian animation didn't really become established until the creation of the first Estonian animation studio Nukufilm, a branch of the State's live-action studio Tallinna Kinostuudio (Tallinnfilm), in 1957. Robinson outlines the careers of Elbert Tuganov who made films from 1958 to 1981, Heino Pars who worked from 1962 to 1990, and Rein Raamat who established the first Estonian cel animation studio, Junisfilm.
Many Westerners got their first taste of the Estonians' special brand of craziness at animation festivals with Pritt Pдrn, who Robinson calls "the poster boy for Estonian animation", giving an in-depth look at Pдrn and his work. The book spends a good number of pages tracing animation styles and follows the animators up to the currently emerging young crop.
I was delighted to find an entire chapter on the film composers who have made great contributions to Estonian animation. Robinson devotes eleven pages to colorful descriptions of the composers and their music. All too often their efforts are overlooked by authors who write otherwise comprehensive accounts of film and animation histories.
The challenge of passing counter-revolutionary political and social ideas under the censors' noses forced the animators to constantly push their creative limits, and I can only hope that intense competition for private funding and the need to work within the limits set by the new commercial studios, many financed by foreign money, will not stifle the unique style and humor that Estonians are known for.
The young Estonian animators that I have met personally, like Kasper Jancis and Julia Pihlak, give me great hope for the future. Julia, working with veteran animator Riho Unt, has created the warm and thought provoking The Penguin Parade, which I enjoy more each time we screen it.
Although editing and grammatical errors sometimes get in the way (the book was edited in Estonia), they are far overshadowed by the story itself and the marvelous portraits of the animators. The book is further enhanced by the numerous photos and stills liberally sprinkled throughout the 275 pages.
The book is published by Varrak Publishing. It can be ordered from AWN's bookstore (www.awn.com/awnstore) or through the Ottawa International Animation Festival office. It's $30 (with shipping if you order from the festival). Contact: 2 Daly Ave. Suite 120, Ottawa Ontario, K1N 6E2, Canada; 1-613-232-8769 or email info@animationfestival.ca
ANYONE CAN CREATE A GREAT ANIMATED TV SERIES, OR CAN THEY?
By Karl Cohen
The following was written for Animatoons, a quality animation magazine that covers world animation. The publisher is Nelson Shin who heads ASIFA-Korea and a large studio that has a feature being released this year. The magazine is printed on high quality glossy paper and the color illustrations are printed with great care. Most of the articles are written in Korean. Articles written in English are printed in both languages.
Over the years I've met dozens of people who believed they had an idea for an animated TV series that will be a smash hit. Most have asked me for advice and contacts. Some have assumed that you can just walk into an executive's office, make a quick presentation and walk out with a fabulous deal.
Creating a TV series, animated computer game or animated feature is generally a long difficult process and in the U.S it has gotten worse in recent years. This is being written not to discourage optimistic people from trying to turn their dreams into reality, but as a guide to help people understand how the corporations that produce or buy the products work. If you want to be part of the business you need to understand how it actually works, not how you think it should work.
Among the naïve ideas people have is anyone with a bright idea can show it to Disney, DreamWorks or another corporate media giant. What they fail to notice is that the big studios write their own scripts. Their corporate lawyers are so fearful of lawsuits from people who claim that something unauthorized was based on their book or unpublished script, that material submitted from outside the corporation is generally returned unopened, or if it is opened it is unread and returned with a note saying the company does not read unsolicited manuscripts. Writers' agents can submit material to some of the big studios for specific shows, but normally once a TV series is green-lighted the producers/directors hire writers they already know and trust to create the needed scripts for a series.
I know several successful writers of animated TV series and each has complained from time to time of not getting enough work. It is a very competitive marketplace for them. Each feels they are great at what they do and winning awards has reinforced that opinion. Yet, they still struggle to meet mortgage payments and have to carefully monitor their cash flow in order to live comfortable lives. They seem happy when they complain about having too much work and seem insecure when they are between jobs.
THE PRODUCTS
Creating animation that the public wants to watch week after week isn't easy. Many network executives feel that the safest bet is to obtain more of the same. Daffy Duck is back with a new Duck Dodgers series and lots of other stars get new leases on life each year. The same super heroes have appeared in dozens of TV series and features over the years and any new stars generally remind you of last year's star. It comes as no surprise that there are lots of anime spin-offs too. Revising animated TV and movie stars from the past may not produce exciting original shows, but hopefully the new programs should do well. Considering the high costs of producing a series it is understandable why a lot of producers want to play it safe and finance more of the same rather than spend money on something that possibly has a greater chance of failing.
The same conservative business model is seen in the video game and feature markets. Last year Electronic Arts, the largest publisher of video games, produced only sequels, no new titles. It can cost $1.5 to $5 million to create an electronic game today (and about 2 years of labor) and unless it is backed with a large promotional budget (advertising on TV, radio and in print) many stores will not stock it. (The May issue of Creativity addressed this issue and suggested that it is difficult but still possible to develop innovative product for this market.)
The feature market is also full of sequels. Another trend is to base the feature on popular novels, children's stories and most recently on theme park attractions. Somebody at Warner Bros. came up with the idea of starring all of their old stars in the same movie. While the concept worked in Touchstone's Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1987) because they had a great script that appealed to adults as well as kids, Warner Bros. Space Jam (1996) and Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) proved that it takes more than a handful of stars to create a box office and critical success.
While what you might like to create will be a great original work, it is important to realize that a lot of what is being produced is based on successful past products. That means the networks, game companies and film studios will be producing only a limited number of new shows in the coming years.
OK, you have an idea for a quirky, offbeat show that you think is perfect for Fox, Comedy Central or another hip network. Shouldn't it be an easy task to get them excited by your material? After all The Simpsons, Beavis and Butt-Head, South Park, and other shows were overnight successes. Or were they?
None of these shows just happened. Each was based on an already successful work and was developed at an opportune moment when the network was looking for new product. The Simpsons began as brief segments (bumpers) on The Tracy Ullman Show in 1987 where it had a chance to develop and fine-tune its characters before it premiered as a half-hour TV special in December 1989. While The Simpsons has been on the air ever since, Matt Groenig's second attempt to create a hit show wasn't quite as successful. His Futurama (1999 - 2003) lasted 5 seasons on Fox.
South Park (1997 to present) was based on The Spirit of Christmas (also known as Jesus vs. Santa, 1995) that starred 4 kids in a 5-minute Christmas card that was distributed "underground" on videotape. Trey Parker and Matt Stone had also produced Jesus vs. Frosty in 1992 that starred 4 kids. Although viewers may believe the show is "uncensored," it is carefully regulated. Words that can't be said on TV are bleeped out. The guys recently put Princess on the Internet. It is a racy series full of sexual humor that is too naughty for TV.
Beavis and Butt-Head also starred in underground movies before becoming TV stars. Before the underground movies could be shown on MTV, the network censored some of the material. The first season of the TV show (1993) was so rude that MTV cut some segments after they were shown 1 or 2 times. Eventually MTV stopped showing the stars playing with firecrackers, matches, sniffing glue and doing other stupid things and simply sat the kids on a couch and let them make wisecracking remarks about music videos. MTV ended the series in 1997. Mike Judge, the creator of Beavis and Butt-Head, went on to create the successful series King of the Hill (1997 - present).
Attempts to create other hot shows on the "cutting edge" in the last 10 or 15 years have had mixed results. Spike TV decided to develop blocks of programming for adults. A great idea, but their programming hasn't caught on the way they hoped it would. They have taken it off the air, restructured it and put it back on, but the public still isn't responding the way the network executives were predicting. Next season only Stripperella (Stan Lee and Pamela Anderson, 2003), one of the three original series produced for Spike, will be back. Perhaps their next attempts at animated adult humor will be more successful.
At The Cartoon Network their Adult Swim block of programs from 11 PM to 5 AM is doing quite well. The networks library is quite large and they present reruns of Futurama, Family Guy, Harvey Birdman, Cowboy Bebop, Space Ghost from Coast to Coast and about 20 other shows that have adult fans along with new shows including Inu Yasha from Japan.
The market for kid's animation is healthy and growing. The Cartoon Network has been able to launch several shows that broke from past trends and became hits. Linda Simensky, who was in charge of acquiring new series for the network for many years (she recently joined PBS), says that for a time the emphasis was on finding cutting edge programming. She says Dexter's Laboratory (1996 to present), Power Puff Girls (1998 to present) and Courage the Cowardly Dog (1999-2002) pushed this limit, became popular and were so successful that their new look inspired the look of shows that came later. Now, instead of being cutting edge the look has become the industry standard. Today there are several modern looking series with simple bold flat shapes and colors. She adds that despite the success of Samurai Jack (2001 to present), Dexter, the Power Puff Girls and Courage, none of the stars have yet to become "mega-stars" like Bugs or Mickey. They do adorn lots of T shirts and other merchandise, but you still see a lot more Mickey Mouse items even though the mouse hasn't made many screen appearances in recent decades.
THE PROCESS
It used to be possible to produce a show, get about two-thirds of your production costs back by licensing it to a network for one season, and making your profit off of the reruns. Now with more broadcast and cable networks diluting the number of viewers watching a given show, license fees have dropped. It isn't practical for most studios to finance series today.
Getting started may take a lot of persistence. One producer said it is often tough to get a meeting with anybody at networks today, and even tougher to get a meeting with someone who is in a position to say "yes." He has had lots of meetings with people who can only say "no" or are only authorized to recommend that a higher-up look at your proposal.
David Levy, president of ASIFA-East, was an animator and director of Nickelodeon's Blues Clues (1996-2004) until the series ended this year. He recently wrote in the association's newsletter that it is possible to turn your idea into a successful series, "but don't quit your day job." If you submit an idea to a network and they like it, it may take up to 3 months for their legal department to send you the first draft of a contract. While they will pay you to develop your idea on paper their contract may not be completely to your liking, so add another 2 or 3 months to the timetable while the contract is being revised.
Once the contract is signed, Levy says it often takes about 6 months to develop the sample script, character designs and in some cases storyboards. The pay for spending up to a year talking with lawyers, creating ideas, drawing and writing "can be as low as two thousand dollars. Networks don't throw lots of money at paper development." He adds that most projects are terminated at this point.
If your work is selected to become a pilot you will be better paid for your work, but not for the headaches you get from dealing with lawyers, TV standards and practice people (censors), child psychologists, etc. It will probably take you one to two years to complete the pilot.
Levy warns that not all pilots are aired. They are tested off the air first in different ways depending on the network. If sample audiences don't like what they see, their opinions may kill your project. If you successfully get past the focus groups you may actually get to see your work broadcast. If the ratings and reviews are good the network may decide to fund your series. Levy thinks that less than one person out of a thousand working in the animation industry has actually created a pilot or sold an animated series.
In a recent article in Television Week ("Show Time for Pilots" May 3, 2004) about live action pilots, they said the six broadcast networks developed about 500 projects on paper last year and 124 were turned into pilots. Those pilots will be shown to test audiences, to employees and to other groups to determine which will go to series. Apparently only a few will actually be broadcast. Additional series may be developed in case one or more of the first group of shows doesn't do well and is taken off the air.
WHO OWNS YOUR WORK?
A serious issue today is who will own your work. In the U.S the networks are generally not interested in projects unless they own the rights to your series and characters. As the creator of a successful series you will receive some income if the network sells your show to the home video and DVD markets, syndicates reruns and/or leases the characters to toy and clothing companies, to food corporations, etc.
If you do not like the idea of giving up the rights to your baby, there is an alternative route to success. In 1999 Wild Brain in San Francisco couldn't find an acceptable offer from a U.S. network for their show Poochini's Yard (2001), so they explored working with an international TV syndication firm. They eventually produced a 26 episode series with EM.TV in Germany, giving them rights to most foreign markets, but allowing Wild Brain to have U.S. and other distribution rights. The show was eventually syndicated to stations in about half of the U.S. market and to stations in many other parts of the world. Wild Brain owns the copyright to Poochini.
Wild Brain is presently in production on their second original series. It is a show for pre-schoolers that will run on a major cable network. John Hays, president of Wild Brain says, "Because of our gamble on Poochini we increased our chances with the network pitch. It gave us greater credibility as we demonstrated we could create and deliver an original 26 half-hour CGseries. It's a matter of creating your opportunities one step at a time." The company is also working on several TV commercials and other projects.
Linda Simensky, who now works at PBS says, "At Nick and The Cartoon Network, people sell their properties and get paid quite well to make series. At PBS, people keep almost all the rights, but they usually have to raise much of the funding for their show. So emerging artists will probably find it easiest to sell their properties, and more established companies that can raise the money, will find it more profitable to do that. I now work with mostly established producers."
THE FINAL WORD
Selling a show for TV is an odd form of gambling that a friend of mine has had luck at twice. Ken Pontac's credits include being creator/producer/director of Bump in the Night for ABC-TV and the creator/producer/director of a pilot that aired on ABC-TV. He has also worked as a stop-motion director at several studios including Will Vinton productions. He has written numerous scripts for animated TV shows including Mucha Lucha, War Planets, Reboot, Pet Alien and Bump in the Night. When we first met in the late 1980s he was art director of "The New Adventures of Gumby." I hope you enjoy his insightful essay "Never Underestimate the Power of Dumb Luck."
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF DUMB LUCK
by Ken Pontac
Never underestimate the power of Dumb Luck. It's worked for me and I'm here to tell you how.
My partner, David Bleiman, and I had just finished working on the New Adventures of Gumby and were anxious to get a show of our own on the air. We came up with an idea called "The Danger Team" and produced a very groovy three-minute trailer. We went to Hollywood with the intention of getting meetings with Big Wigs. Unfortunately, we didn't really know any Big Wigs, and, truth be told, very few Little Wigs either.
So there we were, sleeping in the basement of a LA pal, wondering how we were going to get the Meeting That Will Change Our Lives, when our LA pal's pal Andy took a look at our three-minute trailer and said, "Say, my brother Tony would love this stuff."
Well, it turned out that Tony was VP of Dramatic Development at Lorimar Television, and a week later we got our meeting with a bona fide Big Wig. Tony watched the trailer and said, "This is the most exciting thing I've seen in years! I've got pilot commitments at the networks! Give me a little time to get my ducks in a row and we can sell this!" (Tony doesn't use periods at the ends of his sentences.)
We waited for six of the longest weeks of our lives while Tony got his (very sluggish) ducks in a row, then we walked into ABC and showed them our trailer. The network suits turned away from the monitor and said, "How can we say no to this? We want to make a pilot." Just like that we had "sold it in the room" as they say in the trades. See how easy it is? All you've got to do is sleep in the right guy's basement and you're on the air.
The pilot turned out to be a horrible overwritten mess, barfed out by the most whorish hacks we could have been saddled with, and David and I had no real say about the awful content. Everything except the animation was (rightfully) lambasted in the trades, and the Danger Team was covered in quicklime and buried in an unmarked grave next to Jimmy Hoffa.
A few years later David and I were in the office of another executive, this one being Jennie Trias, the VP of Children's Programming at ABC. She had seen David and I speaking with a group of other animation professionals, was impressed at how fast and cheap we had produced episodes of Gumby, and wanted us to do the same thing for her. We came up with an idea called "Bump in the Night" and didn't even bother making a film for it (those things cost money to make; I went 15K into hock making the Danger Team trailer). We did have a nice little maquette of the main character, Mr. Bumpy, however, and Jennie loved it. "I want to make this show," she told us. "Have your people get in touch with Business Affairs." And just like that, for the second time in a row, we had "sold it in the room." See how easy it is?
Well, yes and no. Here's where the Dumb Luck comes into this one. Jennie's bosses had told her that she should be on the lookout for creators willing to sell their properties rather than merely licensing them to the network. Basically, they wanted somebody hungry enough to sell their baby. That was us! She was also told to keep her eyes peeled for something that stood out visually from the rest of the shows on the air. "Bump in the Night" was a stop-motion show, so it looked way different. The fact that the show was cool regardless of the above was only icing on the cake. Having a cool show isn't always enough. We were lucky to meet the criteria of a directive we knew nothing about, and smart enough to be able to sell it.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that when the window of Dumb Luck opens for you, you need to have the quick wit to jump through it before it closes, and the talent in your hand to show the folks on the other side you've got the show that they need. It's all about filling a need. If you can figure out what it is your buyer is looking for it's a lot easier to fill that need. It also helps to sleep in the right basement. I'll save the story of the time I slept in the wrong basement for another column
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ASIFA-SAN FRANCISCO
P.O. Box 14516
San Francisco, CA 94114
This issue was written by Karl Cohen with contributions from Ken Pontac, John Hays, Linda Simensky, Nik and Nancy Phelps, Bill Dennis, AWN.COM, Animation Blast and Cartoon Research. Pete Davis proofread, our web master is Mike Nolan, Tara Beyhm prints our mailing labels, and Laura Tolloss is our treasurer. SPECIAL THANKS TO LAURA FOR THE EXCEPTIONAL FOOD AT OUR EVENT HONORING JOHN CANEMAKER, TO DENISE McEVOY FOR THE ATMOSPHERIC LIGHTING, TO CHARLEY LIN THE BARTENDER FOR KEEPING OUR GUESTS HAPPY AND TO CARL'S FINE FILMS FOR THE USE OF THEIR EXQUISIT SPACE (coolest looking animation studio in town). Our mailing crew includes Shirley Smith. Laura, Karl, Cedric and Nancy.
17TH SEAGATE FOYLE FILM FESTIVAL This is an Irish festival. Deadline for submissions is 1st September 2004. Early Bird Entry by 19 July is free of charge.Categories are Best Irish Short, Best International Short, Best Animation, etc. Formats for selection process: VHS, NTSC and DVD. Show work in 35mm and 16mm. Seagate Foyle Film Festival Office, c/o The Nerve Centre, 7- 8 Magazine Street, Derry, Northern Ireland BT48 6HJ competition@nerve-centre.org.uk http://www.foylefilmfestival.com
THE NEW YORK FESTIVALS HAVE SNOB APPEAL They don't bother to give the entry fees, say what the prizes are or who the judges are. They say they seek "the world's best work" and "if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere." July 30 deadline. http://www.newyorkfestivals.com/
THE CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL HAS A JULY 30 DEADLINE for an Oct. 7 - 21 event. $2,000 cash prize for the best animated short. The Toll Collector by Rachel Johnson won last year (Ron Diamond showed it to us in the 35mm show he presented last fall at Delancey Street). $30 entry fee for student shorts, $50 for works by independents. They preview and screen in most formats. 32 West Randolph St. Suite 600, Chicago Illinois 60601-9803 (312) 425-9400 www.chicagofilmfest.com
ASIFA-SF AND S.F. STATE'S ANIMATION CLUB PRESENT
Romel Dias of Animagic India said that "'Raju & I' is aimed at creating an awareness about social conditions and deals with
issues faced by underprivileged children, as seen from the eyes of a 12-year-old city boy." The firm spent 2 years making this powerful 30 minute short about Children's Rights.
FINALISTS IN ASIFA-INDIA'S "AWARD OF EXCELLENCE" COMPETITION
VOTE FOR THE WINNER OF THE "AWARD OF EXCELLENCE" PRIZE!
SUNDAY, JULY 18 at 2 PM
Coppola Theater (Fine Arts 101), SF State, free, bring friends
This is an excellent selection of work that captures both the exotic nature of India (see dancing elephants, ancient gods, picturesque villages, etc.) and the reality of modern India (ads for Coca Cola, bug sprays, a film for the UN's Rights of Children campaign, etc.). Seeing the finalist in the shorts, TV commercials and student film categories offers a rare glimpse into an emerging animation culture that is quite different from what we are used to.
YOUR VOTE COUNTS! Bill Dennis, President of ASIFA-India, wants an international jury (the members of ASIFA-SF) to select the winner of the grand prize. Our pre-selection jury picked what we felt are the best works in each category. We viewed 2½ hours of animation and selected an hour program to present to you.
The independent/studio shorts are Bindu, Raju and I, and Shadow of Light
The student finalists are Drum, Ganesha and Hand and Arrow.
The ads films/PSAs are Jumbo Coil, All Out Liquid, Roach Party, Fetus, POGA (sponsored by Coke) and Bazee.
After you vote we will have an encore screening of Adam Elliot's 2004 Oscar winner, HARVIE KRUMPET.
