BIX Animation Conference: long.messages

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animation/long.messages #1, from switch, 214 chars, Sun Oct 22 22:52:34 1989
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This is the topic for those really long messages you write when your fingers
start running away at the keyboard and you’re on a roll. 🙂 As a general rule,
anything over forty lines goes into long.messages.

Emru

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animation/long.messages #2, from jimomura, 36394 chars, Mon Oct 30 13:47:32 1989
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TITLE: Intro to Laser Video
>From: rjn@hpfcso.HP.COM (Bob Niland)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.anime
Subject: Intro to Laser Video
Message-ID: <9670001@hpfcso.HP.COM>
Date: 5 Oct 89 23:51:33 GMT
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Lines: 708

re: james@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU (James Chang), asks…

> Could someone post a review of LD players and real prices (not retail) of
> them. Please include CAV as well as the other one (CLV?) and clarify the
> difference for me. Thanx…

Well, I don’t have current model/price info, but here is more than you
wanted to know about the technology in general.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

re: …but it can’t even record? Revised: 05 Oct 89

What is the appeal of laser video disc (LD)?
Why might it interest you, even if you already own a VCR?

In a nutshell: 1. LD is to VCR as CD is to audio cassette.

2. If you collect movies, LD is the closest alternative to
actual projection prints (which are hard/impossible to
get and cost several hundred dollars per).

3. If you are buying new release video tapes at $89.95, you
can get higher quality and more functionality for less
money with discs.

4. Right now is the Golden Age of NTSC laser video.

The following rather long article are the impressions of a recent laser disc
player owner. The purpose of this article is to both expose this technology
to those unfamiliar with it, and to provoke comments (and corrections) from
those who have been involved it longer than I have.

There are several problems with the video industry in general and the laser
biz in particular. One of them is the lack of solid technical information
that end-users need to make informed decisions; hence, this article.

LD Advantages (compared to VCR):

* No media wear in careful use.
* Archival media shelf life.
* Higher resolution image. Higher s/n.
* High quality analog sound, and often full-digital sound.
* Letterbox format more frequently encountered.
* Lower purchase price (for media).
* Used media of acceptable quality. Lending possible.
* Random access.
* No Macrovision copy protection (and attendent image jitter).
* Still-frame subjects available.
* More extensive liner notes.
* Theatrical trailer sometimes included.
* Pre-production material sometimes included.

LD Disadvantages (compared to VCR):

* Does not record.
* Entry-level LD player prices higher than VCRs.
* Few rental outlets.
* Fewer titles available.
* Media may require flipping after :30 or :60 minutes.

What is LD?

LD, you may be surprised to learn, had been around since 1978, or about as
long as VCR and twice as long as CD. There are about 200,000 players in
use in the U.S., and 2 million in Japan. The U.S. installed base is
increasing at over 10,000 units per month.

Physical Media Types:

There are three major types of laser video media:
12-inch video discs,
8-inch video discs, and
5-inch “CD-Video” discs (CDV).
All LD players can handle 12- and 8-inch. Only some of the newer
players can handle CDV.

The traditional 12- and 8-inch media are of acrylic construction, and
are often two-sided (literally two single-sided discs glued together).
The center hole is larger than a CD’s, and there is a small label on
both sides. The hole and label are about the same size as on a 45 rpm
vinyl record. LDs, like CDs are packaged “loose”, and not in a carrier
like the old RCA CED discs, or CD-ROMs. The storage jacket is the same
kind of cardboard sleeve used for LPs. From more than a few feet, it is
difficult to tell if you are looking at the jacket of the video disc
or the soundtrack LP.

The 5-inch media is the newest, and probably the most familiar to you,
since it is externally identical to the common audio-only CD. CDV is
single-sided, as CD is. The difference, denoted by the “CD-Video” logo
and gold-colored data surface, is that a CDV can contain just under six
minutes of full video/audio plus 20 minutes of audio-only, compared to
80 minutes of audio-only on a conventional CD. CD players are beginning
to appear that handle CD and CDV, but not 12- and 8-inch. As with CD,
CDV is polycarbonate on the data side, and lacquer on the label side.
Any LD player that can handle CDV can also handle audio-only CD.

A new single-sided 8-inch format is announced, the “8-inch LD single”.
It is polycarbonate construction (like a CD) and about the same
thickness as a CD, requiring a spacer when played in most pre-1989
machines.

Some 8- and 12-inch LDs are referred to as “CLD”s. This means that,
like CDV, only some of the chapters (tracks) have both video and audio.
The remaining chapters are audio only. CLDs are almost always music
video discs.

Data Formats:

Encoding: As with VCR and unlike CD, there is no single world-wide
format for LD. Only LDs made for the North American and Japanese
markets have U.S.-standard NTSC video and analog sound modulation.
Discs from Europe and other markets are likely to be in PAL or SECAM
format, and will not play on current American machines. As with VCRs,
the only significant “grey market” media source is Japan. Encoding is
really a non-issue, and discs are often not even labelled “NTSC”.

Color: An LD can store a Color or Black & White signal. It can also
handle any 3D format compatible with broadcast TV, although I remain
unimpressed with 3D implementations to date. Ancillary in-video
features are also available. Many discs are Closed-Captioned for the
hearing-impaired, and this is noted on the jacket. Copy-protection
schemes like “Macrovision” are possible on LD, but no one is doing
it yet, and it may even be prohibited by the format license.

Rotation modes: LDs can be mastered for either constant linear velocity
(CLV), like a CD, or constant angular velocity (CAV), like an LP. All
players can handle either format. Some releases even mix the modes,
with the initial sides being CLV and the final short side being CAV.
Some films are initially released in both CLV “extended play” and CAV
“collectors” editions. What does this mean to you?

CAV & CLV: Both modes support skipping, which samples widely-separated
frames forward or back at high speed (with some jitter on early
players). It is very much like the “fast foward” found on inexpensive
VCRs. Both CAV and CLV can support “Chapter Marks” and all types of
audio.

CAV: 1800 rpm – Stores only :30 minutes per side, resulting in higher
costs and more frequent disc flipping. In return, you get the
capability, jitter-free, to freeze individual frames, slow-mo forward
and back, 3x (or more) fast-mo forward and back, and seek to individual
frames (which are numbered for this purpose). Theoretically, CAV can
provide higher image quality toward the outer edge of the disc.

CLV: 1800-to-600 rpm – Stores :60 minutes per side, resulting in lower
costs and less flipping. In return, you give up all the other CAV
features, unless you have a high-end 1988 or later vintage player with
on-board digital field store, a feature which adds $400 or so to the
price of the machine.

The equipment:

The modern LD player looks just like an oversize CD player (and indeed,
many play CDs as well as LDs). All current models are horizontal
tray-loading designs. Earlier models, like the Pioneer VP1000, are top
spindle loading, just like early CD players.

Unfortunately, all tray loaders except the Sony MDP-series have felt
support pads that touch the LD in the data region during loading and
unloading. Further, the trays on many tray-loaders do not expose the
entire tray. Some care is required to insert and load a disc without
scuffing the plastic covering the data surfaces. Generally, LDs are
more robust than vinyl LPs, but I use the same handling precautions.

Advantages Narrative:

* No media wear in careful use.

As with CD, and unlike the early RCA CED videodisc system, LD is a
non-contact medium during play. There should be no wear in normal use,
even if you freeze a single frame on screen for hours on end. (Some
users are concerned with heat buildup in early gas-tube laser players,
but all contemporary players use solid-state lasers, so this should not
be an issue for an adequately ventilated player.)

In my opinion, LDs are slightly more susceptable to handling damage than
CDs, because, unlike CDs, the video signal and (analog) sound embody no
error correction. A deep concentric scratch is both visible and
audible. Radial scratches and light scuff marks tend to be invisible.
A regional LD/VCR rental operator reports that he has far less damage
problems and far longer retail life with LDs than with tapes.

Of the 250 or so LDs I have auditioned so far, I have witnessed severe
handling damage on only one disc. Someone had loaded it in an older
top-loading player with the shipping screw still in place, and spun it
up. I had limited success in polishing out the damage with an aircraft
canopy restoration kit. I have had complete success in polishing out
the effects of minor scuff marks.

* Archival media shelf life.

The theoretical shelf life of a *properly manufactured*, and properly
stored LD is the same as that of a CD; essentially unknown, and possibly
longer than the photographic negatives/prints from which the disc was
made (certainly longer than many 1950’s-vintage color negatives and
prints). There are no known deterioration modes for properly made and
stored discs.

Contrast this with an optimistic shelf-life of 20 years for magnetic
tapes of all kinds (less if used often). Tapes have several known
deterioration modes: print-thru; binder breakdown; base stretch; not to
mention physical abrasion wear and signal loss due to external fields
(magnetized VCR components).

Note that I emphasized “properly made disc” above. Of the major disc
pressing sources, only 3M seems to understand how to make an immortal
zero-defect disc. Technidisc and Pioneer do not have an unblemished
reputation in this regard. I have a separate report available on LD
quality.

I have had several discs with “rot” (purchased used). I have also
purchased new Pioneer discs with contaminants under the acrylic. I had
no trouble replacing or getting an offer of refund or credit for the
clearly defective discs. I still have one that is marginal on an old
VP-1000, but functions properly on current players. I am keeping it
for player testing.

Three and five year warranties are common on LD media, although
Pioneer’s is unstated and currently they are willing to replace anything
they ever made and/or distributed. The initial defect rate for LDs is
lower than for pre-recorded VCR tapes. The rate seems to be slightly
higher for LDs (about 2%) than for CDs (which are about 1%). It is
difficult to tell because there is significant variance in how various
players handle marginal and defective discs.

* Higher resolution image. Higher s/n.

The data structure on an LD (unlike ordinary VHS/Beta), is defined to
hold all the information present in an NTSC signal. Depending or source
material and the transfer to disc, LD is above live TV broadcast
quality: I understand that this is about 340 visible scan lines and
up to 425 horizontal pixels, compared to 340×334 for broadcast.

Compare this further to 340×250 for typical VHS (Real-time recorded.
Pre-recorded is probably less). Only recently have Super-VHS and
ED-Beta approached LD capability. Compared to LD, both still fall short
in chroma resolution. Of course, pre-recorded material is not yet
widely available in these new VCR formats, and may not be this decade.
Even using S-VHS/ED to tape off-air still only reaches the 340×334
inherent in the broadcast signal.

Although the video signal-to-noise ratio (s/n) appears to be about the
same for LD and VCR, it is probably not the same for pre-recorded
material. The LD process (stamping) does not degrade the signal from
master to copy. The tape process (magnetic contact printing) does. The
tape copy loses information compared to the master, as well as over
time.

* High quality analog sound, and often full-digital sound.

There are two types of sound possible on LDs:

– FM Analog sound, mono or stereo, with or without “CX” noise reduction.

– Digital sound, mono or stereo (in addition to analog sound).

All NTSC LDs have FM analog soundtracks (mono or stereo), and some have
full digital (“CD-Video” style) soundtracks as well. All LD players can
handle stereo analog sound. LD had stereo long before VCRs or broadcast
TV did. Movies have had stereo soundtracks for a surprisingly long
time, too. The 1954 “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” is stereo,
for example.

LD analog sound is live-broadcast quality, and at 75 dB s/n, is on a par
with VHS Hi-Fi, but with fewer dropouts and no helical scan artifacts.
LDs were considered the “high fidelity” video media long before they had
digital sound.

LD stereo is dual-carrier FM, not MTS (multiplexed) stereo. All players
have at least one set of 1/L(eft) and 2/R(ight) RCA audio output jacks
with which to feed an external amplifier and speakers.

If your TV does not have separate L-R audio inputs, and you are not
feeding the LD audio into an external audio system, you may have a small
problem. The “video” output signal contains no audio at all, and the
“RF” or “channel 3/4” output contains only the mono 1L, mono 2R or a
mixture of both tracks.

LD stereo is true two-channel discrete sound with virtually no
crosstalk. Consequently, it is possible to find LDs of monophonic
movies where the movie track is in one channel, and a commentary or
alternate language is on the other. Voyager Press (Criterion
Collection) routinely includes informative and entertaining material
on the second channel. All players have controls for selecting
left/right/both audio.

CX noise reduction is the rough LD equivalent of Dolby on VCR. CX is
only used on the LD analog channels. About half of the LDs in print are
CX encoded. Outboard decoders are [still] available for early players
that don’t have on-board CX circuits. There has been a lot of debate
about whether to CX or not to CX. Criterion Collection, for example,
only uses CX when the original audio source material has wide dynamic
range (i.e. frequently not on early optical soundtracks mastered on
film). With the advent of digital sound, I think the issue is moot.

Digital sound: NTSC LDs may also have CD-style digital audio (with full
error correction). These channels are also discrete, and are in
addition to the analog channels. Only the most recent three generations
of LD players have digital sound capability. All new players have it,
although it is rumored that Pioneer’s new entry-level CLD-870 player
will be analog-only. PAL LDs can have only analog or digital, not both.

Virtually all existing LD media assume that you only have analog sound,
with the digital content merely duplicating the analog. This may slowly
change. For example, the Criterion Collection edition of “The Graduate”
has a full stereo soundtrack only on the digital channels. The analog
channels are the mixed-down mono soundtrack on one and a commentary on
the other. If you have only an analog player (as I did until recently),
you can only hear the mono soundtrack. (I was pleased that they did it
that way.)

Stereo soundtracks, whether analog or digital, may be encoded for
“surround” effects, if you have an appropriate external processor, four
(or more)-channel amplifier and matching number of speakers. I have a
separate summary available on surround sound.

Surround-processed discs seem to sound like plain stereo on a stereo-
only system, although the soundstage may seem wider than for plain-
stereo discs, since anti-phase is used to place sound in the “rear
channel”.

The most common format is “Dolby Surround”. Discs bearing the double-D
[DOLBY SURROUND] logo are so-encoded. Discs bearing the double-D [DOLBY
STEREO] may be. Films made from 1965 on, and simply marked “Stereo” may
or may not have surround processing.

Unfortunately, the video disc industry has a serious problem with
adequate labelling. The “Digital SOUND” or “CD-Video” logo sometimes
appears *only* on the disc label *inside the jacket*, where you cannot
see it before purchase. Warner’s has used the phrase “Digitally
Processed”, which may or may not mean “Digital SOUND”. Surround
processing is almost *never* noted on the external or internal
packaging, may appear only in the on-screen credits, and even that may
not reflect what was actually mastered onto the disc!

* Letterbox format more frequently encountered.

(This issue is not unique to LD. If you own a VCR, understand this.)

The television screen’s width-to-height ratio is 1.33 to 1 (or 4:3).
This is the so-called “Academy Ratio” and is how films were made until
about 1950, when TV duplicated that aspect ratio, became widespread, and
became a threat to motion picture theatres, or so Hollywood thought.

+—————+ .=========.
| Projected | : TV :
| Widescreen | : Frame :
| Movie Image | : :
+—————+ `=========’
1.50:1 to 2.65:1 1.33:1

Largely to compete with TV, Hollywood started making films in
“widescreen” processes like Cinemascope, Techniscope, Vista-Vision,
Todd-AO, Technirama, Cinerama, Panavision, etc. They are all slightly
different, but share one attribute: their projected-image aspect ratios
exceed 1.33:1. Some are are as high as 2.65:1.

Many directors, particularly during the 50s and 60s, filled the entire
frame with important action or other visual material. (Woody Allen is
still doing this, at aspect ratios over 2:1.)

When transferring such movie at 1.33:1, there are two choices:

1. Crop-off or anamorphically “squeeze” some of the original frame.

Cropping, often called “panning and scanning”, and preserves detail
at the expense of information. It is often done very sloppily. In
early widescreen movies, two-character dialog ends up as “talking
noses” at the edges of the TV screen. The scanning lurches back and
forth across the image, trying to stay with the “important” visual
content. Where the image cannot be cropped, it is run through an
ellispodial lens, which squashes the image left-to-right, but leaves
the height unchanged. Title sequences are often so “squeezed”,
resulting in tall, thin distorted action under the titles. Circles
become ellipses.

2. Put the entire image on the TV screen, leaving blank/black space at
the top and/or bottom of the screen.

This is called “letterboxing” (or “videoscoping” by Criterion), and
preserves *information* at the expense of detail. Compared to
standard VHS, LDs have detail to spare, and I strongly prefer this
presentation. You may have seen this in some recent music videos on
TV, but you probably have not seen it in a broadcast of a movie on
U.S. network TV.

The most frequently encountered presentation on broadcast TV and VCR
is cropped. The use of letterboxing on LD releases is growing rapidly.
Often you have a choice of aspect ratios.

One LD label (Criterion Collection) routinely letterboxes widescreen
source material. Recent Speilberg productions (e.g. “Color Purple”,
“Innerspace” and “Empire of the Sun”) and MGM re-issues (e.g. “Ben-Hur”
and “Doctor Zhivago”) are also letterboxed. Japanese imports more often
use letterboxing than U.S. releases. This appears to be the result of
both Japanese film purism and the desire to put the Kanji subtitles
outside the picture (in the lower blank band). Unfortunately, for a
variety of reasons, Japanese discs are priced at about twice what we pay
for domestic ones. (I have a separate report available on imports.)

Wide-screen films made in the 70s and 80s are often shot with a
“safe-TV” focusing screen in the camera, or use milder aspect ratios,
like 1.66:1. This is supposed to ensure that the eventual TV use of the
film will not lose important information, but I still find such works to
be less than satisfactory when cropped.

If you haven’t had a chance to compare a letterboxed and a cropped
version of the same film, you may literally not know what you are
missing, except for a vague feeling of claustrophobia as you watch one
these “chopped and squashed” films. On the other hand, a letterboxed
presentation like “BladeRunner” at 2.25:1 or “Ben-Hur” at 2.65:1 (the
current recordholder) really requires at least a 25-inch TV with at
least 350 lines of horizontal resolution.

However, don’t automatically assume that the film you saw at 1.85:1 six
months ago has been cropped for home video. It is also the case that
some films are being shot at 1:33:1 and are being *vertically masked*
(cropped) for theatrical presentation! Video is now a bigger market
than theatres for some material. Some VistaVision films were also
composed this way.

* Lower purchase price (for media).

Discs and tapes could sell for approximately the same price. They
don’t. It might amuse you to know why…

Video mechandising trivia: VHS tapes are the dominant home video
medium. Most people rent tapes rather than buy them. The film studios
don’t get a percentage of the rental revenue. All they get is income
from the initial sale of each pre-recorded tape. And the video stores
are in hot competition with each other to get new titles fast. It is
somewhat a “captive market”. The first tape sales are therefore
targetted at, and priced for, video rental stores, not end users.

Consequently, new tape releases are priced very high ($80 is common, I
hear). It is not until the the video store demand is satisfied that the
studios drop the prices to levels attractive to individual movie
collectors ($30-40). When that market is satisfied, prices may drop
further for the “Kmart” mass-market customers, $10-20 per tape.

In contrast, LD is a “sell through” market. The major purchasers of new
LD releases are individual movie collectors. LD rentals are not a big
market, and there is no low-end mass-market at all. LDs, even major
titles like “Top Gun”, are typically introduced at $30-40 (for CLV), and
stay there. Incidently, 10% discounts are common for LD.

An exception to the generally low prices in the LD market is Criterion
Collection. Their releases run from $40-70 (CLV) and $60-125 (CAV).
They are worth it because they seek out the finest possible source
material (archival negatives, etc.) and deliver the most complete
product.

Related tidbit – I hear that the LD release of widely anticipated titles
is often delayed from the tape release by a month or two. “Bambi” fits
this model. The reason is that video retailers often don’t order (or
get) enough copies of new titles to satisfy their demand. They are
strongly tempted to make local (illegal) copies.

If they have only a tape to use as a master (and they defeat the copy
protection) they still end up with an inferior duplicate, that some
picky customer may complain about (or report to the FBI). If they have
a laser disc available, they can make illegal copies that are higher
quality than the legit prerecorded tapes. The intro delay is allegedly
to discourage this practice.

* Used media of acceptable quality.

I gather that used video tapes have an aura similar to that of used
cars. In the worst-case scenario, a flaky tape can wreck the heads in
your VCR. More typically, the retailer may be selling it because it is
damaged or worn out. The famous scene that you bought it for
has been played/paused so many times that the oxide, picture and sound
aren’t even there any more. Also, due to the wear on tapes when played,
and the potential for severe tape damage, serious collectors are
reluctant to loan out their tapes.

Used LDs, on the other hand, are like used CDs. Laser rot aside, if
they physically look ok, they probably will play like new. My
collection has a sizeable percentage of used discs. I can’t tell them
from the new ones. With agreement on careful handling, many LD
collectors are willing to swap discs for auditioning.

And the prices of used discs are appealing. My average used disc has
been $14.00, with a low of $8.00 and a max of $25.00. One local store
also used to sell his rental inventory, knocking off $1.00 per recorded
rental. I obtained some hard-to-get titles that way, and cheaply at
that. I refuse to buy cropped movies at normal retail prices, but I
will take a chance on them at used prices.

If you seek used or “cutout” merchandise, make sure you and the dealer
understand each other on the matter of defects, which are more likely on
older pressings. Most dealers will accept the return of any disc they
sell, regardless of what bin it came from. But in the case of older
titles, the dealer may not be able to replace it with the same title.
Find out what recourse is available to you in that case.

* Random access.

No long rewinds, obviously. All players can randomly seek to start-
of-disc in seconds, and to “chapter marks” (the equivalent of “tracks”
on a CD), if the disc has chapter marks on it (not all do). Not all
discs are chapter marked. The lack of them can be a considerable
annoyance on music videos. The lack of them is not generally considered
a “defect”, so if none are listed on the disc jacket, and you care, make
sure you investigate before leaving the store.

Contemporary CLV players can seek-to-time with at least one minute
resolution. If the disc is so coded, contemporary players can seek to
one second resolution. Unfortunately, the timecode resolution of CLV
discs is never noted on the jacket, but 1-second is now the most
common.

All players and discs can pause (indefinitely) and skip fore and aft
(described earlier).

CAV discs can seek to individual frame numbers (if the player or remote
has a keyboard), and play forward and reverse at unusual speeds, also
described earlier. Single-frame-step fore and aft is also available.
The newer players have a “jog wheel” that allows variable speed slow-mo
fore and aft.

* Still-frame subjects available.

The seek-to-frame plus the still-frame capability allows LDs to contain
material unthinkable on videotape. A CAV LD can store 54,000 individual
still photos per side. Discs with all the photos from the Voyager
spacecraft mission exist, as well as photos of all the art in Louvre,
500,000 aviation stills from the Smithsonian Air & Space, etc.

It is also possible to mix motion and stills. Criterion Collection LDs
often follow the feature presentation with background material such as:
production stills; related text material; outtakes; interviews; set
design art, etc. The player automatically pauses on still frames, and
you are prompted to press PLAY to resume full motion.

* More extensive liner notes.

The larger container required for a 12-inch disc invites the inclusion
of supporting text and illustration. And at least in the case of
Criterion Collection editions, you get it. Full credits, dates and
details of sourcing (negatives used, whose “cut”, etc.).

Sometimes the notes are included as still-frame text on the disc itself.
For example, the CC “High Noon” includes, on disc, the complete short
story from which the screenplay was ostensibly drawn. The Criterion CAV
edition of “Ghostbusters” includes the complete shooting screenplay.

* Theatrical trailer sometimes included.

When there is space on the final side after the feature, and an original
theatrical trailer (“coming attractions ad”) can be located, it is often
included on the disc. If you frequently host “video parties”, this may
be a useful tool for teasing your audience.

Trailers, by the way, often contain scenes not in the actual film. And,
because they are created long before the film is “in the can”, the music
in the trailer may also be completely different from that in the film.

Disadvantages:

* Does not record.

Neither do CDs and LPs; even if an economical recording LD machine is
ever introduced, it is too late for LDs to dominate the video market the
way that VCRs have. As with audio, if you want quality playback, get a
CD or LP player. If you want to record, get a cassette deck. (Yes, DAT
might change the whole audio scene. I doubt it.)

65% of American homes have a VCR. The typical LD owner is likely to
have both a VCR and an LD. The recording issue is really a non-issue
as the LD product is currently positioned.

* Entry-level LD player prices higher than VCRs.

New LD players run from $400 to $2000. You can get a VCR for under
$200. If you are concerned about features, the prices of comparable LDs
and VCRs are about the same.

You can get a used player from $100 up. I sold my 1981-vintage Pioneer
VP1000 and outboard CX decoder purchased for $100.00. It orginally cost
me $125.00 (used). The only significant missing feature on pre-1987
players is digital sound. The video performance appears to equal
Pioneer’s recent low-end machine (LD-838D). Conventional wisdom in the
LD world says to avoid players prior to the VP-1000.

Having once bought a used VCR, I would not do that again (worn out
head). An LD player seems less prone to wear, and even if it doesn’t
work properly, at least it won’t eat your media.

* Fewer rental outlets.

LDs are rented, at a typical price of $2.00 per day. Due to the
longevity of the medium, you can often rent titles that are long out of
print.

However, unless you live in a major market (L.A., NYC, S.F.Bay, greater
Boston, etc.), you may have trouble finding an outlet. Here in Fort
Collins, CO, the nearest LD rental outlet is in Boulder or Denver, an
hour’s drive. Consequently, I buy discs, swap them with friends, but do
not rent. There are under 2000 LD stores in the U.S. and about a dozen
mail-order sources.

If you are renting for auditioning, rather than for routine viewing,
this is not a big deal. Rent tapes. Buy discs.

* Fewer titles available.

There are some 3,500 titles in print in U.S. release, and about 6,000
in Japan, with some overlap. New titles are appearing in the U.S. at
a rate of dozens per month. I would guess that there are over 50,000
total titles available on tape.

I’m not particularly concerned. Of the 200 or so titles that I would
like to eventually own, it appears that two are available only as
grey-market Japanese imports and about a dozen have yet to appear on
disc at all. If I get desperate, I can always get the tape, I suppose.
At the moment, I’m finding stuff faster than I can watch it (I only have
3-4 hours per week available for TV).

Regarding those Japanese titles… Unlike Japanese audio CDs, Japanese
LDs may have modified contents. Japanese moviegoers are more purist
than Americans, and insist on original-language presentation, rather
than dubbing. So unless the disc is letterboxed (and more Japanese
discs are than American), the Kanji subtitles may appear on-screen and
in-picture. An accurate Japanese LD catalog is required to know for
sure.

Also, Japanese films censor some types of nudity acceptable in U.S. [R]
rated films. “THX-1138”, George Lucas’ first film, available on disc
only in Japan at the moment, has had this flesh-colored airbushing done
to it. I suspect there are no genuine [X] films at all in Japan.

* Media requires flipping after :30 or :60 minutes.

Sometimes the :60 minute breaks on CLV discs provides a useful
intermission for the audience. CAV discs are more annoying. If you are
a professional couch potato, or prefer to watch films in a single
sitting, theatre-style, this is a consideration. Side breaks are also
sometimes poorly chosen (or not chosen at all, resulting in an abrupt
interruption of a scene).

In any case, 1988 saw the introduction of the first autochanger (Pioneer
LD-W1, plays 4 sides). 1989 saw the introduction of the first single-
platter players with 2-sided capability (Pioneer 2070 and 3070, with
the high-end CLD-91 to come in September).

The Golden Age…

NTSC LD is growing faster now than at any time in the last ten years.
There are more titles than ever, with new ones appearing faster than the
average collector can afford to buy them. The media, film-to-video
transfer quality, and disc features are better than at any time in the
past. Disc prices are stable or declining, and catalog titles are
actually available (not always the case historically).

Current LD technology is fully compatible with the IDTV (Improved
Definition TV) monitors coming on line in 1989.

Although HDTV (High Definition TV) is getting a lot of press lately, U.S.
broadcast is at least five years away, and no standards or technology are
even rumored yet for HDTV VCR or laser. In any case, future HDTV laser
players will handle current NTSC discs.

Consider laser, even if you already own a VCR, and particularly if you don’t
yet own a CD player. I see no point in waiting.

Regards, Hewlett-Packard
Bob Niland 3404 East Harmony Road
ARPA: rjn%hpfcrjn@hplabs.HP.COM Fort Collins
UUCP: [hplabs|hpu*!hpfcse]!hpfcla!rjn CO 80525-9599

==========================
animation/long.messages #3, from jimomura, 16862 chars, Mon Oct 30 13:52:04 1989
————————–
TITLE: Re: Intro to Imported Laser Video
>From: rjn@hpfcso.HP.COM (Bob Niland)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.anime
Subject: Re: Intro to Imported Laser Video
Message-ID: <9670006@hpfcso.HP.COM>
Date: 7 Oct 89 00:35:54 GMT
References: <9670002@hpfcso.HP.COM>
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Lines: 330

re: An introduction to Japanese import LDs Part: 1 of 3
Edition: 06 Oct 89

Japan uses the American television standard, and is therefore is the only
major laser disc market outside the U.S. that is potentially a source for
North American consumers.

The purpose of this series of articles is to share what I have learned so
far about this source, and encourage others to contribute their experiences.

.———————————————————————–.
| Market Attribute | North America | Japan |
|=============================+====================+====================|
| Television & LD standard | NTSC | NTSC |
|—————————–+——————–+——————–|
| Media list price range | $25-50 | $50-100 |
|—————————–+——————–+——————–|
| Installed base of players | 200,000 | 2,000,000 |
|—————————–+——————–+——————–|
| Available titles | 3,500 | 6,500 |
|—————————–+——————–+——————–|
| “Foreign” dialog processing | Dubbed English | Japanese subtitles |
|—————————–+——————–+——————–|
| Typ. widescreen processing | Pan and scan | Letterboxing |
|—————————–+——————–+——————–|
| Censorship | None to speak of | Yes: See narrative |
|—————————–+——————–+——————–|
| Typ. product documentation | Skimpy | Extensive, but… |
|—————————–+——————–+——————–|
| Typical LD rotational mode | CLV | CLV |
`———————————————————————–‘

Legality:
========
Many Japanese LDs bear U.S. copyrights and a legend stating “For Sale only
in Japan”. As with CDs (LPs and books, for that matter), if there is a
U.S. copyright holder for the work, they can theoretically prohibit or
otherwise regulate commercial import of the work. Consequently, few
dealers will STOCK imports copyrighted in the U.S. (without permission of
the U.S. holder). Several CD retailers have been busted for stocking
“parallel imports” or are under consent decree to cease and desist. Works
copyrighted only in Japan are evidently not a problem. (Grey market
hardware is also generally not a problem from a legal standpoint.)

However, under a provision of U.S. copyright law, there is apparently an
exclusion allowing individuals to import works for their own use. (I have
not researched this, and the Berne Convention may or may not alter it in
the future.) Consequently, it is legal to personally bring back discs
from Japan. Since few of us go there or have contacts, U.S. mail order
firms are interpreting this exclusion to mean that they can act as your
agent, and individually import works for you on a per-order basis.

So, yes, you can get any LD in print, but it will take a couple of months,
or more. Also, the price you will pay depends on the value of the Yen at
the time your dealer gets the order acknowledged from Japan. If one
currency moves strongly against the other in the meantime, you could get a
pleasant or nasty surprise.

Pricing:
=======
If you have had a yen for an import, but have hesitated, it is probably
because of price. A Japanese title will cost you roughly twice the
identical domestic release. This is not due to the expense of importing
it; for example, if you examine a stateside import catalog, you will
notice that they state local Japanese prices in Yen. A typical price is
7800 Yen, or about $78.00 before shipping charges. None of the importers
I am aware of offer any discounts on imports.

The high prices are due in part to the weakness of the dollar against the
Yen, but there also seem to be major structural differences between the
U.S. and Japanese LD markets. It appears that the Japanese producers are
deliberately keeping prices high, much as U.S. video tape producers did in
the early days of VCRs (and often still do during the first year or so of
new tape releases).

The high price tape strategy failed in the U.S. for several reasons. The
courts threw out the “fair trade” laws many years ago, eliminating direct
control of retail prices by producers. We also have the “doctrine of
first sale”, which implicitly allows people to rent whatever they buy (and
the studios get no rental royalties). Instead of milking an end-user “sell
thru” market, the studios unwittingly created a massive tape rental
market. U.S. producers are now experimenting with lower first-release
prices, in an attempt to bypass the rental market and sell huge quantities
directly to end users (“E.T.” and several recent Disney titles are
examples).

I have a feeling that legal and market conditions are vastly different in
Japan. Product distribution is an elaborate multi-layer scheme, with
prices virtually dictated by the original producer at all levels. There
are probably also differences in legal conditions surrounding rentals.
Anyone with insight on this is welcome to comment.

Incidentally, the Yen price of a Japanese title is often encoded into
the initial digits of the catalog number. For example, on those I have…

Title Label Catalog No. Yen Invoice (incl. ship.)
Dragonslayer Bandai LA098L14046 9800 $90.50
Local Hero Tohokushinsha K88L-5061 8800 $85.89
Tune-Up A.V. Sony 50LS5023 5000 $56.50

The bottom line: a Japanese title is expensive, and this seems unlikely
to change anytime soon. The question becomes: is it worth it?

Features, Advantages, Benefits:
==============================
What can a Japanese disc provide that you can’t get here?

* Titles unavailable on domestic discs – easily over half the Japanese
catalog are titles never released on disc in the U.S.; for example,
“Local Hero” above, and a huge number international animation works
and domestic Japanese productions.

* Letterboxing – the Japanese video consumer apparently prefers original
aspect ratios, and prefers original language dialog. Letterboxing not
only preserves the image, it also allows the Japanese subtitles to
appear outside the image. The space needed for the subtitles is also
apt to cause the image to be closer to the original aspect ratio, and
not just partially letterboxed.

* Original running times – due to the desire of U.S. theatre owners to run
more than one screening per evening, and the industry’s low estimate of
the American attention span, U.S. releases are often shorter than the
original work. This is particularly true for imported films. “The Last
Emperor” ran 2 hours 9 minutes in U.S. theatres (and on the Nelson
discs). Laser Disc Newsletter (LDN) reports that the Japanese LD set
runs 3 hours 39 minutes.

* Original language – if you are interested in non-English works, and hate
dubbing, a Japanese disc is more likely to provide the original dialog
(albeit with Japanese subtitles). Incidentally, even on U.S.-sourced
works, if the original film had English subtitles (e.g. the bar scene
in “Star Wars”), that English may be absent (or Japanese) on the
Japanese disc.

* On the other hand, if you don’t mind dubbing, some Japanese discs are
“multi-audio”, and have between two and four different soundtracks on
them. You may be able to obtain a domestically unreleased title with
English on one of the channels. Obviously a four-channel disc requires
a player with digital audio capability.

* Side break frames – Japanese discs are more likely to fade to black at
side end, and resume the feature immediately on the subsequent side.
U.S. releases (except for Criterion) often display an End-of-Side title
and begin subsequent sides with the idiotic zooming LaserVision logo.
Frameless side switching is much less distracting, especially if you
have a multi-side player or autochanger.

* Chapter marks – Japanese discs are more likely to have them.

* Liner notes – The three imports I have include inserts with extensive
text, and in the case of “Dragonslayer”, still photos. The disc jacket
artwork appears to have been created specifically for disc, rather than
being a rehash of the VHS package. The only comparable treatment in the
U.S. is on the Criterion Collection label. Unfortunately, the
supplemental material included with the imports is all in Japanese 🙁

* Alternate disc rotation modes – Although “Star Wars” is now available
in a letterboxed domestic edition (and a nice one at that), it is CLV.
If you want CAV, you’ll have to import at the moment.

Caveats:
=======
* On-image subtitles – Works filmed in 1.33:1 Academy ratio, or cropped
(panned-and-scanned) down to that ratio, will almost certainly have the
Japanese subtitles in the picture, usually horizontally on the bottom or
vertically on one side.

Even some letterboxed discs have subtitles in-picture. This happens
when the “master” is a print with the titles already present, or the
producer can’t justify re-mastering the theatrical release for video.

* Censorship – Genital nudity (male or female) is apparently verboten in
Japan. Although there appear to be a large number of “adult” titles,
the exposure is evidently limited to breasts. I suspect this puritanism
is a legacy of General MacArthur’s administration of Japan during the
post-war occupation (but then, so is the pleasant fact that they use
NTSC instead of PAL, SECAM or something invented locally.)

Even in such “socially redeeming” works as George Lucas’ “THX 1138” the
offending details have been airbrushed out. As far as sex is concerned,
if the film you seek bears anything beyond a [PG-13] rating, make sure
you can tolerate tampering before ordering.

Violence does not seem to be censored; however, LDN reports that scenes
of WW-II Japanese attrocities in China were trimmed in the Japanese
release of “The Last Emperor”.

* Language – If the work was filmed in English, odds are that the original
soundtrack will be present, but don’t assume it. If the work was not
English, be very careful. The Sight&Sound import catalog has a column
for this.

* Source quality – particularly for U.S. films. The Japanese producers
may have had to make their video master from an ordinary projection
print, and may not had access to an inter(neg/pos) or the original
negatives. Consequently, don’t assume that the Japanese version of a
random 1963 film will improve on the faded Eastmancolor of the domestic
disc.

* Pressings – Of the three discs I listed above, only the [obvious] Sony
disc can be identified as to who pressed it [CBS/Sony]. Even one of my
Japanese co-workers can find no clue about the manufacturer on on the
other two. If you are avoiding discs pressed by a particular vendor,
you may have trouble getting information.

So How Can You Tell?
===================
Having now cautioned you about disc contents, you are doubtless wondering
how to collect the necessary “decision support data”. The answer is:

* Subscribe to LDN. Douglass Pratt reviews significant imports. His
compilation book “The Laser Video Disc Companion”, includes a number of
those reviews.

* Order an actual Japanese catalog from “Juke Box Japan” (about $5.00).
Don’t expect me to translate it for you 🙂

* Patronize mail-order dealers who provide the information in English.
Swell, sez you. Where do THEY get it?

Well, it turns out that the Japanese are fanatics for detail. Based on
the discs I have, the vendors seem to conform to a standard set of data
blocks on the disc jacket. They list: price, catalog number, rotational
encoding (CAV/CLV), running time, video encoding (color/NTSC), sound
(mono/stereo/surround/CX/digital), aspect ratio and presumably language.

This level of detail is reflected in actual Japanese LD catalogs I have
seen. At least one domestic importer (Sight&Sound) carefully
translates and transcribes all this and more into their own import catalog.

Now Before You Pick up the Phone…
================================
Make sure you actually need an import. It would be a shame if you went
off-shore for a disc about to be introduced in widescreen domestically
(e.g. “The Empire Strikes Back”, or worse, one that is already available
(e.g. “Forbidden Planet”). Despite the small size of the LD market in
the U.S., there is surprising choice in disc presentations of individual
titles. Just because the MGM/UA disc of “2001” is cropped beyond belief,
don’t assume that it’s your only choice (there is a CAV letterboxed
version from Criterion, with a CLV to come).

In particular, memorize the Criterion Collection catalog. CC discs, even
the elaborate CAV editions, cost no more than generic Japanese imports
(and, in CAV, are usually immortal 3M pressings). Also stay abreast of
what MGM, CBS/Fox and other recent letterbox converts have planned. Read
LDN, and make inquiries in rec.audio or rec.arts.movies. I can generate a
list of all known CC discs on request.

Sources:
=======

*** Laser Disc Newsletter
Suite 428
496A Hudson Street
New York 10014 NY
$25.00/year, 12 issues

A subscription will quickly pay for itself in avoided doggy discs,
domestic or import. Each LDN issue also lists all (known) planned
domestic releases, which could save you from a needless import. LDN
often reviews domestic “anime” titles, and does NOT often review import
“anime” titles, but does list new releases from all sources.

*** Laser Island
1810 Voorhies Ave.
Brooklyn NY 11235

(718) 743-2425
M-F: 10:30AM-7:00PM EST/EDT
Retail sales? – unknown

Discounts on domestic titles: unknown.
Warranty: unknown
They specialize in Japanese imports, offer a catalog. No discounts.
Caution: no credit cards. Imports take two transactions – an approx
20% deposit check, and a balance check upon importation.
I have ordered only one disc from them, and probably won’t order any
more until they accept credit cards.

*** Sight&Sound (aka Wok Tok)
1275 Main Street
Waltham, MA 02154

(617) 894-8633
M-F: 10:00 AM-7:00PM EST/EDT
Sat: 10:00 AM-5:00PM
Retail & mail order.

15% off on pre-release orders, 10% at other times. Sale & used items.
Special order imports. Some imports stocked (and priced in dollars).
Import catalog ($6.95) is very detailed and well organized.
Warranty: unlimited on domestics, 60-days on imports.
They also sell hardware, discounted.
I have ordered both domestic and import LDs from them.

*** Juke Box Japan
P.O. Box 35780
Los Angeles CA 90035

(213) 857-5701
Hours: unknown
Mail-order only.
No credit cards [yet].
No inventory – live orders only.
Reportedly has the lowest import prices and fastest service on LDs.
I have not ordered from JBJ, but expect to shortly.

*** Laser Perceptions
3300 Judah Street
San Francisco, CA 94122

(415)753-2016 FAX (415) 564-3821

I have not ordered from LP. They apparently have a catalog. In the
netnews article reporting them, the author stated: ” I just found this
great little store on the west end of San Francisco, called Laser
Perceptions. (They have an ad in Animag magazine) It’s a small store,
and they have just about every laser title that was released. What
interests us here, is that they have a very large assortment of lasers,
from Akira to Zillion. They can get tapes, but it takes a bit longer,
but they have anime lasers in stock. They can ship.”

Bob Niland ARPA:rjn%hpfcrjn@hplabs.HP.COM UUCP:[hpfcse|hplabs]!hpfcla!rjn

==========================
animation/long.messages #4, from jimomura, 4297 chars, Mon Oct 30 13:55:39 1989
————————–
TITLE: Re: Intro to Import Laser Video #2
>From: rjn@hpfcso.HP.COM (Bob Niland)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.anime
Subject: Re: Intro to Imported Laser Video
Message-ID: <9670007@hpfcso.HP.COM>
Date: 7 Oct 89 00:37:33 GMT
References: <9670002@hpfcso.HP.COM>
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Lines: 78

re: a review of an Academy-ratio Japanese import LD Part: 2 of 3
Edition: 06 Oct 89

In the accompanying discussion of imports, I mentioned…

Title Label Catalog No. Yen Invoice (incl. ship.)
Dragonslayer Bandai LA098L14046 9800 $90.50
Local Hero Tohokushinsha K88L-5061 8800 $85.89
Tune-Up A.V. Sony 50LS5023 5000 $56.50

I have a brief article on “Tune-Up” available, but both the disc and the
discussion are skippable. This article covers the first of the other two.

Local Hero
==========
For those unfamiliar with the work: “Local Hero” (1983) is Bill Forsyth’s
unpredictable and whimsical story of a yuppie Huston oil company site
negotiator (Peter Rigert) dispatched by eccentric exec Burt Lancaster to
purchase an entire coastal village in Scotland. Mark Knopfler composed
and performed the score.

This film has never been available on a domestic U.S. video disc. It is
one of my favorites, and had it been available, I would have bought a
video disc player many years ago, instead of just 18 months ago. “Local
Hero” (LH) is available on domestic tape release and is often run on
cable TV movie channels.

Disc K88L-5061 has the following attributes:
Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
Soundtrack: English, mono CX analog
Subtitles: White, one or two horizontal lines near bottom of frame
Running time: 107 minutes (compared to 111 for the theatrical release)
Chapter marks: None
Side change: Frameless (black)
Timecode res.: 1 second

Having never seen the film in a theatre, I am not certain what the
original aspect ratio was, and the on-screen credits provide no clue. In
any case, there is no obvious cropping, so I assume LH was either shot
in Academy-ratio, or composed for it. Consequently, it is difficult to
make a case that the LH disc should have been letterboxed, with the
subtitles placed below the image.

Although I have seen the work several times, and presumably would pay less
attention to the main action, I found that I tuned-out the subtitles most
of the time. They were only evident when their content was numeric or
roman characters (as when the Danny Olson character is not speaking
English). The numbers are slightly distracting because they don’t
necessarily match the dialog. Dollars are evidently converted to Yen and
measurements to metric! A co-worker who borrowed the disc also reported
that neither he nor his wife were bothered by the subtitles.

As to the running time discrepancy; LH is probably a [PG] film, so there
was nothing to censor. From what I recall of the missing material (it has
been some time), it appears that this disc was mastered from a print that
was trimmed for commerical TV. Nothing crucial appears to be absent,
although I would prefer the full original length.

I obtained the disc through “Laser Island” in Brooklyn. It took three
months to get. Dealing with Laser Island (and presumably Juke Box Japan)
is presently a pain, because they don’t accept credit card orders. You
have to call for a price estimate, send a deposit check for 20% of that
amount, wait for notification of disc importation, send a check for the
balance, then wait for shipment. Personal checks (as opposed to money
orders or certified checks) slow the already-laborious process.

The Bottom Line:
===============
Based on the data in the Sight&Sound import catalog (they also can obtain
“Local Hero”), the disc was almost exactly what I expected. (Their
catalog doesn’t mention the CX encoding.)

I have no regrets about the purchase. However, if “Local Hero” ever
surfaces in a domestic LD, particularly at the full theatrical running
time, I will probably replace this import.

Bob Niland ARPA:rjn%hpfcrjn@hplabs.HP.COM UUCP:[hpfcse|hplabs]!hpfcla!rjn

==========================
animation/long.messages #5, from jimomura, 5227 chars, Mon Oct 30 13:58:07 1989
————————–
TITLE: Re: Intro to Imported Laser Video #3
>From: rjn@hpfcso.HP.COM (Bob Niland)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.anime
Subject: Re: Intro to Imported Laser Video
Message-ID: <9670009@hpfcso.HP.COM>
Date: 7 Oct 89 00:40:10 GMT
References: <9670002@hpfcso.HP.COM>
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Lines: 98

re: a review of a letterbox Japanese import LD Part: 3 of 3
Edition: 06 Oct 89

This is the second of two reviews.

Dragonslayer
============
For those unfamiliar with the work: This is a 1981 Disney film, directed
and written by Mathew Robbins. It is not necessarily for children, and
were it remade today, it would probably be a TouchStone release.

Set in 6th century England, the premise is that dragons (and wizards) were
real. The king is sacrificing virgins to placate the regional reptile. A
band of villagers, headed by Caitlin Clarke, petition aging wizard Ralph
Richardson to help. The job ends up involving his apprentice, Peter
MacNicol. ILM did the special effects. The dragon was ILM’s first use of
the “go-motion” model animation technique.

I had never seen “Dragonslayer”, and bought the domestic LD release only
because it was $13 in the used-disc rack. I expected a predictable
“swords and sorcery” flick, and was surprised to discover an intelligent
work with convincing production values (and, for Disney, a surprisingly
casual contempt for religion). The brief nudity in one scene is not
censored on either disc.

Comparative attributes:

Dragonslayer Paramount LV 1367 $29.95 list
Aspect ratio: Cropped to 1.33:1
Soundtrack: English, CX (Dolby surround, not documented on jacket)
Running time: 110 minutes
Chapter marks: None
Side change: “End of Side” frame, zooming LV logo at start of side.
Timecode res.: 1 minute

Dragonslayer Bandai LA098L14046 9800 Yen $90.50 paid
Aspect ratio: 2.0:1 letterboxed Panavision, near top of screen
Soundtrack: English, CX and digital Dolby surround (documented)
Subtitles: White, one or two horizontal lines below frame
Running time: 110 minutes
Chapter marks: 11
Side change: Frameless (black)
Timecode res.: 1 second

The domestic disc (LV1367) was obviously cropped. A lot of ILM’s work on
the dragon is simply chopped away. Main characters are missing from
scenes, particularly group scenes. In a scene where magic fails the
apprentice, you can’t see that a crowd is witnessing it. The credit roll
after the movie, which begins some time before fade-to-black, is
anamorphically squeezed, even though the credits would have fit if the
frame was merely cropped! However, all of this is no surprise to those
of you familiar with the problems of pan-and-scan.

Furthermore on LV1367, the images are grainy, the colors are a little
washed out and one shot is reversed (messing up the continuity). The side
change titles are distracting.

How does the import fare?
========================

The LA098L14046 “Dragonslayer” is one of several widescreen Disney films
which were re-released by Bandai (Japan) last spring in letterbox format.
According to Laser Disc Newsletter, there are no plans for letterboxed
release in the U.S., which is why I ordered an import.

On the Bandai disc, the image is darker, crisper and seems to have more
detail, despite the smaller size of objects compared to pan and scan.
Some scenes have extraneous brightness at the bottom edge of the frame.
This is not a serious problem, and appears to be a video mastering defect,
not a disc error, and is not correlated with the presence of subtitles.

“Dragonslayer” is a dark movie for the most part, and the bright subtitles
would be very distracting but for the fact that they are below the frame.
I attached some velcro pads to the monitor bezel and strung a strip of
black felt across the screen, and – poof! end of subtitle problem.
Aside: there is a lot of authentic Latin dialog in “Dragonslayer”.
Curiously, the subtitles display it in Katakana (phonetic Japanese) rather
than in roman characters or translated into Kanji.

I obtained the disc through “Sight & Sound” (aka Wok Talk) in Waltham
Mass. It took six weeks and was trivial to order. One phone call, a
credit card number, and the disc simply appeared six weeks later. The
charge did not appear on the card account until shipment. However, don’t
assume that six weeks is typical. The companion letterboxed import
“Twenty Thousand Leagues…” has been on backorder since early May.

Unfortunately, Bandai’s rights ran out, and these two works, as well as
“Tron” and “Mary Poppins” will be unobtainable until Buena Vista takes
over LD production for Disney in Japan. When re-issued, they may not be
in exactly the same presentation format, so beware.

The bottom line:
===============
I am very satisfied. Even if “Dragonslayer” appears in a domestic
letterbox release, I might skip it and keep this import.

Bob Niland ARPA:rjn%hpfcrjn@hplabs.HP.COM UUCP:[hpfcse|hplabs]!hpfcla!rjn

==========================
animation/long.messages #6, from hkenner, 10193 chars, Sun Nov 19 23:28:08 1989
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
*** Moved from animation/main #105 of Sun Nov 19 01:38:51 1989
TITLE: Chuck Jones
Herewith, my 5 Nov. Boston Globe review of *Chuck Amuck* :

.rf setup
THE LEONARDO OF LAUGHTER
by Hugh Kenner

.tc ^^-^^
.ce 4
CHUCK AMUCK
The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist
by Chuck Jones
Farrar, Straus & Giroux 224 pp. illus $24.95
.tc ^^-^^
.he ^Kenner^Chuck Jones^\#^

.pp
.ne 3
Recently turned a hale 77, Charles Martin (Chuck) Jones still claims he
can’t draw but can fake it so you wouldn’t notice. That resembles Alan
Turing’s famous test for computer intelligence: if you can’t discern a
difference, assume there is none. Chuck Jones, by a kindred criterion,
is the Leonardo of Laughter. He can draw, for his purposes, as well as
Leonardo could. His Mona Lisa is perhaps Daffy Duck, who “rushes in and
fears to tread at the same time.”

.pp
.ne 3
(No, Daffy Duck is in no way a ripoff of Donald. Donald is a mere
Geraldo. Go to the back of the room and be ashamed of yourself.)

.pp
.ne 3
At Warner Bros., in a gone era, Jones invented, for instance, the
Roadrunner (beep beep) and Wile E. Coyote; also Pepe le Pew, skunkdom’s
Chevalier. He was responsible for the ultimate Bugs Bunny short, “Bully
for Bugs,” and for two stand-alones that leave you wondering what you’d
choose if you could save but six minutes from all of animation. For it
would have to be one or the other of “One Froggy Evening” or “What’s
Opera, Doc?”

.pp
.ne 3
“That … ” an eminent Milton scholar confided to my ear as “One Froggy
Evening” faded from the screen … “That … was simple … and
AB–solute.” As it is. Demolition has released a green frog from a
cornerstone: no ordinary frog, since he’ll strut with cane and top-hat
and sing as “Michigan J.” Alas, such wonders are reserved for informal
moments; place him onstage at Radio City Music Hall, aim the spots, roll
the drums: then he’ll squat like any ordinary frog and croak. The
moment he’s–what? staged, sold, programmed, framed, expected of?–he’s
not worth an instant’s attention. The impresario tears his hair. Back
into the box with the frog, back into a new cornerstone. … To be
broken into, centuries hence, by a bubble-helmeted crew; whereupon out
springs, indefatigible, Mr. Michigan J., resuming the cycle anew.

.pp
.ne 3
The Eternal Return, you see. Also the shower-stall tenor virtuoso who’d
last maybe three minutes at the Met. Also Chuck Jones, who pretends
that he can’t draw, can’t even make sense, is in fact a promoted cel
washer–scrubber of paint off re-usable celluloid–who got promoted far
past Peter Principle limits, has even been unaccountably honored with
Oscars and retrospectives and university lectureships. (But “What part
of me is the green frog?” I once heard him muse.)

.pp
.ne 3
But you want to hear about the book. But first, “What’s Opera, Doc?”
That’s a six-minute condensation of Disney’s “Fantasia,” and when you’ve
seen Bugs Bunny as a Wagner maiden sliding sensuously, slowly, down the
back of a coy horse you’ve seen perfection. Piggish Elmer Fudd himself
sang the Heldentenor part, augmented by huge shadows cast upward on
cliffs. It’s typical of the Chuck Jones self-effacement that he has
special words of commendation for the animator (Abe Levitow) who
manipulated those shadows.

.pp
.ne 3
You’re saying you want to hear about the book. But first let me explain
what’s so special about being an Animation Director (a slot Jones found
himself filling as long ago as 1938). Back to the Turing Test: what
seems like a Jones is likely a Jones. And on each of two of the
videocasettes I own there’s one short that seems wrong; that limps,
fumbles, has trouble achieving its climaxes. Sure enough, neither of
those is a Jones. Same writer, same layout men, same animators, same
characters, same Mel Blanc doing the voices; but “Directed by …” (fill
in any name but Chuck Jones) … that somehow makes a difference, as
between diamond and carbon. (Could anyone fail with Roadrunner and
Coyote? With Pepe Le Pew? Yes, it’s been demonstrated that somebody
could.)

.pp
.ne 3
Timing, largely. I’ve heard Jones eloquent on the difference
between an impact occurring in six frames and in eight. Since the
audience sees 24 frames per second, we’re talking about split seconds.
Yet they matter. Part of a director’s job, to hear Jones tell it, is
pencilling numbers in the margins of flow charts. Make this happen in
12 frames. Make this happen in 40.

.pp
.ne 3
Then there’s the designing of signature effects. “Rikki-Tikki-Tavi”
(from a Kipling story) was a half-hour TV short, too long to be wholly
memorable; Jones has the six-minute Warner Bros. span in his blood. But
whenever the mongoose came onscreen, whenever he left, one caught one’s
breath. (“An art form,” my wife said, “based on the post-retinal
image.” You couldn’t quite make out how it was happening.) Our son
called Chuck to ask. Chuck was forthcoming.

.pp
.ne 3
First, he said, think of cars at a traffic light. At a green they don’t
all move forward in synchrony; the last one stays immobile long after
the first has departed. Next, imagine a horse going over a jump, his
hind half steady an instant till the front half pulls it aloft.
(That’s how an animator sees, and thinks.) Then Rikki– well, Chuck
would send us a model sheet.

.pp
.ne 3
As he did. A model sheet dissects an effect, 1-2-3, so any animator can
make it work. Pencil in a phantom Rikki. Then curve a slim real Rikki
up into it, from the tail, till the noses match. Then fatten that slim
arriving Rikki till his contours fit. Then quiver the whiskers. And do
it all in a minimum count of frames. The essence of the art is that
order of planning. For high-quality animation is labor-intensive, and
perhaps six or seven artists will need to have the Rikki Arrival at
their command. You see why the director matters.

.pp
.ne 3
It’s so labor-intensive it’s virtually dead. At Warner Bros. the moguls
fussed seven minutes down to six, six minutes being the least they could
expect distributors to pay for, even back when a program was required to
consist of one newsreel, one cartoon, one short, one feature (total, two
hours). Six minutes, that’s 360 seconds, that’s exactly 8,640 frames.

.pp
.ne 3
The Warner animation unit, on what was fondly called Termite Terrace,
could deliver an 8,640-frame project in nine months. Shorts emerged
every couple of weeks thanks to overlapping schedules. But nine months’
work was what each cartoon represented. The “Bully for Bugs” unit even
visited bullfights in Mexico. As a result, their bull …

.pp
.ne 3
Well, Chuck Jones is eloquent about that bull, ultimate exemplar of the
principle that an animator needs to sense the weight of his moving
creature. The spine on that ton of bull stays level however his legs
gyrate. A cat likewise “is built light but walks heavy.” A walking
puppy, though, bounces. (That was something not grasped on the set of
the Dino de Laurentis King Kong, where every now and then a man in a
monkey-suit is walking far too light to weight umpty-ump tons. But the
animator of the original Kong, Willis O’Brien, had the principle down
pat.)

.pp
.ne 3
Jones is eloquent too (The book? Please wait a minute) about Warner
Bros., one of whose minions I once heard him describe as “a trellis of
varicose veins.” That’s an animator’s phrase; you can guess how he’d
draw that guy. (If, of course, he could draw. How he’d fake a drawing
of that guy.) For something that’s muted in the book, but vivid in his
talk, is his sense of having come to the end of the line too soon; not
that he petered out, not at all, but that studio animation did.

.pp
.ne 3
At Warner’s they just shut animation down. Later, Jones did memorable
one-shots, notably the Oscar-winning “The Dot and the Line” (1965) and a
wonderful feature-length “Phantom Tollbooth” that never quite made it at
the box-office (though check your video-casette store), and various TV
stints. He was an “advisor” (whatever that means) on “Who Framed Roger
Rabbit?”, which displays some very high-class animation indeed.

.pp
.ne 3
He came in when the art was at its height. It ebbed for financial
reasons, left him stranded, an articulate legend. …

.pp
.ne 3
The book. All right, I’ve not been hedging. It’s wonderful. Sixteen
color pages, black-and-white drawings throughout, and prose of the
quality you’d expect from the man whose talk ran to “trellis of varicose
veins.” There’s a wonderful passage about the arthritic Termite Terrace
janitor, who collected for Jones any number of Good Humor ice-cream
sticks on discovering him using such a stick to stir poster paint. Each
meant “that he must painfully bend over again and again for me, and I
know too well from watching him work how difficult this was and how
reluctantly he had to set his twisted brown feet for any bending action,
and yet he did bend a hundred times or more to provide the only gift he
could provide and he knew I needed.”

.pp
.ne 3
Ponder, behind that sentence, the compassion, yes, but also the taut
observation (“twisted brown feet”!) and you’re close to a grasp of
whence Jones-quality animation stems. On Saturday-morning TV they do
about three frames per second, holding each frame say eight times. That
does save money, though it forfends them from notice of twisted brown
feet. Back on Termite Terrace Jones and Friz Freling and Tex Avery
warred with the money-savers, the bean-counters, for two golden decades,
now long gone.

.pp
.ne 3
“Nothing funny about bull fights” came the Word down from On High.
Defiantly, they put nine months into “Bully for Bugs,” rightly confident
that the attention span On High was minuscule. Here’s a book to
celebrate what On High was oblivious to. The arthritic black man who
collected those Good Humor sticks used to nap three-quarters of an hour
every evening on a toilet the Producer believed “sacrosanct to his
sacred frog-belly white buttocks.” In his way, as in that of Jones and
numerous colleagues, protest against inertia was being registered. For
the latter, every 24th of a second mattered. Run to your book store,
your video store.
,

==========================
animation/long.messages #7, from jimomura, 87 chars, Sun Nov 19 23:28:08 1989
This is a comment to message 6.
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————————–
*** Moved from animation/main #106 of Sun Nov 19 10:16:53 1989
Wow! Thanks Hugh!

==========================
animation/long.messages #8, from jshook, 155 chars, Sun Nov 19 23:28:08 1989
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————————–
*** Moved from animation/main #107 of Sun Nov 19 23:13:51 1989
Thanks for checking in with your book review.
I also enjoyed your article in The Atlantic.

==========================
animation/long.messages #9, from hkenner, 110 chars, Mon Nov 20 00:16:01 1989
This is a comment to message 8.
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————————–
I have NEVER appeared in the Atlantic. You’re thinking of the Nov. Harper’s,
which I’m glad you enjoyed. …

==========================
animation/long.messages #10, from hmccracken, 3232 chars, Thu Apr 5 19:57:38 1990
————————–
TITLE: Snappy Video’s _Cultoons Volume 1_
I while ago I commented on the second volume of this fine series
of old, rare cartoons on videotape; I’ve finally got ahold of volume
one, and it’s even better than the second tape.

The first cartoon on the tape is _Mendelssohn’s Spring Song_
(c. 1933), a cartoon in the “Jingles” series; neither the tape’s
producers nor I know anything else about this series. The
cartoon is a Silly Symphony-type thing, with animation
credited to one Sy Young. Snappy says that this is the guy
who later supervised the effects animation department at
Disney, although that Young spelled his first name Cy.

Next up is what Snappy calls the rarest cartoon it offers:
_Toby in the Museum_ (1933). On the rare times when the
Toby the Pup series has been mentioned in print, it’s
inevitably been along with a note that no cartoons from the
series are known to survive. This Fleischeresque cartoon,
starring a dog very much like Fleischer’s Bimbo, proves
the history books wrong.

_The Snowman_ (1933) is a weird cartoon by the Ted
Eshbaugh studio, a small studio that seems to have
specialized in making weird, obscure cartoons over
quite a long period. I have _never_ seen the studio
mentioned in anything more than a passing reference,
and would love to know more abut them.

_Little Black Sambo_ (1935), from the Ub Iwerks
studio, is, well…unfortunate. Like almost every
Hollywood cartoon from the 1930s to the mid
1940s that had black characters, it features some
very crude stereotypes. (Chuck Jones made some
of the few cartoons that had relatively unstereotyped
blacks). Some of the stereotype cartoons are funny,
or at least fascinating in their excesses; this one is
just plain unfunny and boring.

_Goofy Goat Antics_ (1931) is another Eshbaugh
effort, this time featuring a couple of characters
who are nothing more than Mickey and Minnie
Mouse with goatees and horns.

_The Wizard of Oz_ (1933) is also by Eshbaugh;
it wasn’t ever really released, apparently, supposedly
because of copyright problems. It starts out as a
fairly faithful adaptation of the book but, like the
other Eshbaugh shorts, strays off into a plotline
that is really impossible to describe. Incidentally,
both this cartoon and the abovementioned
_Spring Song_ are examples of early color cartoons,
although both prints on the tape are black-and-
white.

_Cap’n Cub_ (1942) is the tape’s final Ted Eshbaugh
cartoon; the jacket notes call it “mind boggling,”
and I cannot disagree. It’s a wartime propaganda
cartoon, and while there were certainly ones with
more grotesque Japanese sterotypes — the infamous
_Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips_ springs to mind —
this cartoon, about an adorable little bear cub who
cheerfully flies around in a bomber gunning down
Japanese soldiers, is infinitely stranger. Most
definitely a product of its times.

The final, relatively well-known and less-strange
cartoon is Fleischer’s _Sing Along With Popeye_,
which is a brief “follow the bouncing ball” cartoon
starring the spinach-eating sailor.

All in all a very interesting tape — as I’ve said before,
you will either love this stuff or be unable to under-
stand why anybody would even be mildly interested
in it.

— Harry

==========================
animation/long.messages #11, from jimomura, 2772 chars, Fri Jun 22 08:27:17 1990
————————–
TITLE: Bootleg “Akira” Videotapes
90Jun20 from jon@bdmrrr.bdm.com.UUCP
I finally talked to Jerry Beck from Streamline films about the
bootleg English copy of Akira that turned up in an Alexandria
Va video store 2 weeks ago. He wanted me to post a summary
to the usenet and to ask that this info be spread around. Here’s
what he said:

o A version of Akira with the Streamline soundtrack has been
appearing around the country recently. In every case so far,
someone has recorded the Streamline soundtrack with the
original Japanese LD video track. He suspects that this was done
using either a recorded version of the soundtrack from the
theatre release or the soundtrack from a single copy VHS tape
released to the press. (This tape was time marked with large
numbers counting down at the top of the screen, giving it
an unsuitable picture and thus rendering only the soundtrack
usable.) The original source of the video track can easily be checked
by looking at the closing credits. If they’re in Japanese, it’s
from the Japanese LD. However, if they’re in English (which
hasn’t occurred in any case so far), the copy was made from the
Streamline video track. If anyone finds a bootleg version with
English credits, Jerry Beck would appreciate if you would notify
him at 213-657-8559, optimally with the phone number and address
of the source where the tape came from.

o Streamline doesn’t do any dubbing. They only have theater distribution
rights. They are solely a promotion company.

o Since Streamline only has theater distribution rights, they can’t
personally take any legal action. The best they can do is notify
the holders of the movie rights.

o Currently, there are only theater distribution rights for Akira.
Rights to the VHS distribution have yet to be settled. Until
they are, any version of Akira with an English soundtrack is
considered a bootleg.

o Finally, Jerry Beck wanted me to say that Streamline will be
releasing an Engligh version of Lensman around Sept 1. The
first showing will be at the Biograph Theater in Georgetown
(near Wash DC).

Remember, Streamline’s goal is to eventually have anime released
in U.S. theatres at the same time as in Japan. Please support their effort
by reporting any bootlegs of their productions. The more
VHS copies there are, the fewer people will go to the theaters.
And fewer theatre profits mean fewer Streamline productions.

Yazan, Hambrabi, Ikimasu!

—
Jon Humphreys Phone: (703) 848-7624
The BDM Corporation UUCP: {rutgers,vrdxhq,rlgvax}!bdmrrr!jon
7915 Jones Branch Drive Internet: jon@bdmrrr.bdm.com
McLean, Va 22015 Sign in Tokyo: “Street Narrows – Drive Sideways”

==========================
animation/long.messages #13, from tshim, 60 chars, Sun Aug 5 00:05:35 1990
This is a comment to message 9.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Hugh, what was your article in the November Harper’s about?

==========================
animation/long.messages #14, from tshim, 154 chars, Mon Aug 13 21:23:16 1990
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————————–
For those scratching their heads: Hugh’s HARPERS article was about nothing
other than BIX.

(Although BIX/animation wasn’t mentioned .)

==========================
animation/long.messages #15, from switch, 80 chars, Mon Aug 13 21:33:52 1990
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————————–
I don’t think ‘animation’ was in existence when Hugh wrote the article…

Emru

==========================
animation/long.messages #17, from tshim, 89 chars, Mon Aug 13 21:37:00 1990
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————————–
Aha — good point. In any case, Hugh says an earlier draft is on
writers/long.messages.

==========================
animation/long.messages #18, from hmccracken, 113 chars, Mon Aug 13 21:55:19 1990
This is a comment to message 15.
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————————–
Nope, it wasn’t even a glimmer in anybody’s eye at the point Hugh
wrote the article, as far as I know.
— Harry

==========================
animation/long.messages #19, from switch, 66 chars, Mon Aug 13 23:41:18 1990
This is a comment to message 18.
————————–
Actually, it was a glimmer, but we’ll let it rest there. 🙂

Emru

==========================
animation/long.messages #20, from switch, 5667 chars, Sun Oct 7 16:56:32 1990
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————————–
TITLE: What’s been happening
Just got back from Ottawa ’90, and I’ve got much to say on that.
But before I do, I’ll get my comments on the Ike & Spike Festival
of Animation out of the way…

MOTHER GOOSE (David Bishop, USA): Vaguely amusing short about
the violence in most of the nursery rhymes we grew up with. The
technique left a lot to be desired, though. One of those films
that cries out to me, “Why isn’t YOUR stuff in here?” Oh, well.

WOLF SWEET (Donie Danev, Bulgaria): Cel animation. Some shepherds
decide to deal with the wolves who prey on their sheep, but the situation
turns around when they nearly exterminate on the wolves and an
environmentalist interferes. Good for some chuckles, and the animation
is more than satisfactory.

SIMON (Robert Lance, USA) is a tale of a young boy who doesn’t have a
nose. While the technique (painted frosted cel, I think) was eye-
catching and the character animation a joy to watch, the story didn’t
really go anywhere. Kind of cute and largely geared at children, I
suppose.

PANSPERMIA (Karl Simms, USA): This computer animation was AWESOME! A
seed flies through space, impacts on a planet, and gives birth to life
which spawns forth more seeds. The sounds and the camera work together
with the rendering to prove that computer animation doesn’t have to be
either Pixar or mindless eye candy. Seeing it three times didn’t
diminish my appreciation in the slightest.

GRASSHOPPER (Bruno Buzzetto, Italy): Bozzetto does it again. The
history of violence in the world, but nature wins in the end every time.
A funny tale, and the music is well crafted.

VROOM (Kine Aune, Norway): Eeeh. Dunno. Nifty idea (I’d give it
away if I explained it), okay animation, but something doesn’t work.
Oh, well.

ETERNITY (Sheryl Sardina, USA): I may not like Sheridan Art College’s
“this-is-THE-right-way” outlook, but you can’t fault their students’
work. Again, I can’t explain Eternity without ruining it, but it’s
very funny.

TARZAN (Taku Furukawa, Japan): A Japanese man gets in shape and
takes on Kenya, sees the sights, etc. When he gets back to Japan
he feels somewhat let down by what his society offers. This is one
of those proofs that you don’t have to draw to animate. The only
thing this film suffers from is the fact that there are an awful lot
of jokes that are only funny if you’ve been to Kenya. There were
times during the first screening that my sister, her friend and I
were the only three laughing. Too bad; we could see the love he had for
the country was really poured into the film.

GRAND DAY OUT (Nick Park, Great Britain): A twenty-three minute
clay animation would have struck me as an exercise in terror before
I saw this film, but I’ve seen it four times to date and I’m not
tired of it yet. Nick Park has the incredible ability to convey a
lot of character with his figures, and his detailed backgrounds
and props have to be seen to be believed. The man’s imagination
and talent is seemingly endless. Anyway, the story. Wallace and his
dog Gromit are lying about the house on a bank holiday, looking for
somewhere to go. While preparing some tea, Wallace notices they
are out of cheese. Looking at the moon, he has an idea: the moon is
made of cheese, and they’re looking for somewhere to go, so why not
fly to the moon? They build a rocket in the basement and fly to
the moon, and… it’s too funny just thinking about it. See this
film ASAP. Gromit, incidentally, steals the show as far as I’m concerned.

RUG RAT (Klasky-Csupo, USA): This short by “The Simpsons People” (as
they’re referred to, sometimes by themselves) is a prelude to their
new TV series by the same name. Quite a bit of fun; I can see myself
watching this occasionally, but probably won’t go out of my way to
catch it.

DEADSEY (David Anderson, Great Britain): WOW! My sister described
this film as “what animation is all about”. Deadsey is weird, wild,
surreal. Also described by a friend of mine as “visual Skinny Puppy”.
Prepare to have your mind bent as the narrator presents his “Deadtime
Stories for Big Folk”.

DENNY GOES AIRSURFING (Lance Kramer, USA): Good idea, good pictures,
lackluster animation. Another “Why in hell don’t I have a film in
this festival?” short. I’m not very fond of the execution.

WE WOMAN (Some guy from the Soviet Union): Three parts: “The Most
Beautiful One”, using Vivaldi for the score, is an eyebrow-raiser. The
second, whose name I forget, didn’t appeal to most of my friends but
made me feel sorry for the husband and wife. The third, “The Log”, is
ambiguous. Hard for me to latch on to a definite feeling for it.
Again, descriptions would ruin the film.

DIMENSIONS IN DIALOGUE (Ifex, Chzechoslovakia): Directed by Jan
Svankmajer. Need I say more?

THE WESTERN (Gabor Homolya, Hungary): BWAH HA HA HA!

CREATURE COMFORTS (Nick Park, Great Britain): Seen this film four
times and it’s funnier every time! While GRAND DAY OUT was incredible,
CREATURE COMFORTS goes beyond it and is absolute perfection. Animals
in a zoo are interviewed about their living conditions. It captures
the feeling of television interviews perfectly. You can’t ever
miss this film. In my most personal opinion, if I can make a film
with half the wit, character, technical excellence, and humor
Park had in this film, I will be happy.

There were two shorts during the Rialto showings that weren’t listed
in the program: a SUPERMAN short (forgot which one: evil scientist,
magnetic ray beam destroying bridges) which was never one of my favorites,
and FATTY ISSUES from Great Britain, which I’ll comment on in my
encapsulation of Ottawa ’90.

Emru

==========================
animation/long.messages #21, from hmccracken, 271 chars, Sun Oct 7 18:46:38 1990
This is a comment to message 20.
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————————–
I haven’t seen most of the films you review here (though Mike and Spike’s
show is playing in Boston, so I should be seeing them soon); _Creature
Comforts_ is the one I have caught, and I agree with you entirely.
It’s excellent both in conception and technique.
— Harry

==========================
animation/long.messages #22, from hmccracken, 3645 chars, Sun Oct 7 19:27:56 1990
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TITLE: I had the pleasure Friday night of attending, along with our
own Dave Mackey, “Bugs Bunny on Broadway,” the show at the Gershwin
Theatre that has been mentioned elsewhere in this conference in recent
weeks. The event is based on an unusual and appealing idea: showing
Bugs Bunny (and other Warner Bros.) cartoons on the big screen, while
an orchestra plays the score live. The orchestra’s conductor is one
George Daugherty, who conceived the whole event.

While Dave and I sat around and took the show apart afterwards (along
with Pam and Michael Scoville (mscoville), who saw the show the night
before and were nice enough to get Dave and me our tickets), I still
had a good time. The choice of cartoons was good — Chuck Jones’s
_Baton Bunny_, _Rabbit of Seville_, _Long-Haired Hare_, and the less
well-known _High Note_; Friz Freleng’s _Rhapsody Rabbit_; and Bob
Clampett’s _Corny Concerto_, along with an excerpt or two and probably
one or two cartoons I’m forgetting. The live orchestra music often
worked very well and certainly let us view the cartoons and their
scores from a new perspective. And to top it all off, Chuck Jones
was present for this particular performance, and spoke briefly and
touchingly about the show as one of the greatest moments of his career.
(Friz Freleng had been present the night before, when he thanked God
for letting him live long enough to see the show.) The sold-out audience
clearly loved the evening.

But for all that was right about the show, there was much that disappointed.
(Some of which was more apparent to Dave, Pam, and Mike than to me.)
The biggest problem was probably that the cartoons were shown through
video projection rather than as 35mm prints; as the monitor that
Daughery watched and which was clearly apparent to the audience showed,
the projection led to washed out colors and a generally poor picture.
There is probably a good reason why video was used, but I can’t imagine
what it was.

A good portion of the evening consisted of the orchestra playing
*without* a cartoon — including an entire Carl Stalling
score played this way — with video of Daugherty and the
orchestra on the big screen. This was quite nice in small
doses, but we agreed that there was too much of it — as
Mike asked, just who was the star of this show, Bugs Bunny or
George Daugherty? Part of the reason this was done was probably
a technical difficulty that hung over the evening: there really
isn’t any way to take the soundtrack of an old cartoon, extract
the original score, and leave the voicework and sound effects.
The producers got around this in several ways, including using
a lot of cartoons without much dialogue, apparently redoing
much of the sound effects, and letting the original musical
soundtrack play in bits and pieces. (One cartoon _Long-Haired
Hare_, was played with little or no live music.)

The cartoon which appropriately ended the evening — _What’s
Opera, Doc?_ — has lots of sung dialogue, and it seems fairly
clear to both Dave and I that the producers dealt with this
by redoing at least some of the dialogue, presumably with
Mel Blanc-successor Jeff Bergman at the mike. This worked fairly
well — except for Elmer Fudd’s shriek “SMOG!”, which has none
of the ferocity of the orignal — but still is pretty offensive
to purists like cartoon buffs tend to be.

As I say, though, it was a nice show, and since it will probably
be touring, you may have the chance to see it (and maybe some
of the problems will be addressed). Dave, Mike, and Pam had some
additional criticisms which I hope they’ll take the opportunity
to air here as well.
— Harry

==========================
animation/long.messages #23, from jshook, 604 chars, Mon Oct 8 00:10:16 1990
This is a comment to message 20.
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————————–
What IS the point exactly in “Wolf Sweet”? What were the animals
at the end? I probably just tuned this one out as I have seen several
lifetime’s worth of these flat Eastern European animations and my
eyes just glaze over….
“Grand Day Out” is indeed a gem. I generally don’t take to long
“cute” films, but Park’s skill and boundless humanity lift his work
into a class of its own. If you get the chance, try to see the series
of “Animated Conversations” he and some other people made about ten
years ago fror Bristol BBC.
I think “Western” may become the “Bambi Meets Godzilla” of the ’90s….

==========================
animation/long.messages #24, from davemackey, 516 chars, Mon Oct 8 01:41:48 1990
This is a comment to message 22.
————————–
Dave
–Dave

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animation/long.messages #25, from switch, 272 chars, Mon Oct 8 10:46:35 1990
This is a comment to message 23.
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“Wolf Sweet” is one of those “The situation will continuously
cycle” things. The villagers will go and nearly exterminate the
sheep, and so on. I guess the animals at the end were ah wild sheep.
I definitely preferred it to several other Eastern European films…

Emru

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animation/long.messages #26, from sharonfisher, 120 chars, Sun Oct 14 12:34:40 1990
This is a comment to message 20.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
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This is weird. I saw Ike and Spike here in San Francisco, and none of
the cartoons you describe sound like ones I saw.

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animation/long.messages #27, from switch, 92 chars, Sun Oct 14 14:09:19 1990
This is a comment to message 26.
There are additional comments to message 26.
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Maybe you saw one of their other Animation Festivals (perhaps a rerun
of last years)?

Emru

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animation/long.messages #28, from hmccracken, 219 chars, Sun Oct 14 20:43:59 1990
This is a comment to message 26.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
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How recently did you see the show? I think the one Emru saw is brand-new.
Mike and Spike may also have more than one edition of the show traveling
at a time.
— Harry
(Which cartoons *were* in the show you saw, BTW?)

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animation/long.messages #29, from sharonfisher, 195 chars, Mon Oct 15 14:54:38 1990
This is a comment to message 28.
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Just a few weeks ago. Don’t remember what I saw, exactly; some Plymptons,
certainly, but I saw International Tournee at almost the same time and I get
confused about which pieces were in which.

==========================
animation/long.messages #30, from hmccracken, 1117 chars, Sun Oct 21 21:45:02 1990
This is a comment to message 20.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
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Saw the Mike and Spike show today — though Mike and Spike’s names were
missing, replaced by those of Jimbo and Craig — and had a good time.
I agree with most of your comments, although of the two Nick Park
films, I’d rank _Grand Day Out_ over _Creature Comforts_. (The latter
film has the better character animation, but I love the ambitious
plotline, great characters, and funny gags in _Grand Day_. I’m not
crazy about most of Bruno Bozzetto’s films, and _Grasshopper_ struck me
as being very typical Bozzetto — lots of infantile bathroom and sex
jokes mixed in with some genuinely funny stuff. The only two films
that seemed like total losses to me were _Deadsey_ (ick) and _We Woman_
(it’s nice that glasnost has progressed to the point where I don’t have
to be polite about this film just because it’s from the USSR).

I note with interest that alone among the program’s selections, _Deadsey_
and _We Woman_ have no illustration in the show’s program booklet, and
both are accompanied by sarcastic notes about their length. Looks like
maybe Jimbo and Craig didn’t like them any more than I did.
— Harry

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animation/long.messages #31, from bsoron, 479 chars, Mon Oct 22 00:28:08 1990
This is a comment to message 30.
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I caught the show Friday night and concur with you. Grand Day worked
better for me than Creature Comforts did, though I appreciated CC more
now that I’ve seen it a second time. Bozzetto’s “Grasshopper” could
have used some judicious editing — just too much repetition, much more
so than he needed either to make any point or to set up the joke at the
end. I also thought that “Dimensions in Dialogue” was a waste. I guess
the director isn’t a fan of sculpture or something?

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animation/long.messages #32, from hmccracken, 350 chars, Mon Oct 22 21:13:44 1990
This is a comment to message 31.
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Svankmajer, the director of _Dimensions in Dialogue_, is considered by
some a very fine filmmaker. (Maybe by Emru: his comments at the start
of the thread seem to indicate he has a strong opinion on the film, but
don’t say what it is.) I found the film’s technique interesting, but
am not entirely clear what, if anything, it had to say.
— Harry

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animation/long.messages #33, from switch, 399 chars, Tue Oct 23 00:40:04 1990
This is a comment to message 30.
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Funny. I really liked _Deadsey_ and 2/3 of _We Woman_. I was
extremely POed that the showing of the best of Zagreb 90 just last
week at the Cinematheque (which I’ll post about as soon as I get the
Ottawa Festival stuff typed in 🙂 left Deadsey out. Seems to be
a love/hate film. Of _We Woman_ I liked the first segment a bit
(nice concept), the second the most, and the third the least…

Emru

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animation/long.messages #34, from switch, 212 chars, Tue Oct 23 00:43:54 1990
This is a comment to message 32.
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I’ve never seen a Svankmajer film I didn’t like, in terms of technique
and creativity. I particularly like his films (such as _Dialogue_)
where he has an idea and just plays with it to see how it’ll look.

Emru

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animation/long.messages #35, from switch, 5736 chars, Thu Nov 22 01:09:08 1990
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TITLE: Computer Animation Festival
So I’m sitting around at my job at MITE AVISTA (the multimedia lab
at Concordia), when Merridy shows me this program for a computer
animation festival coming up, right? It’s called Le Festival du
Film par Ordinateur de Montreal ’90 (Montreal Computer Film Festival
’90), and it’s running until the 4th. Tonight was the opening night,
only for people with invitations. “Foo,” said I.

Imagine my surprise when I walk into AVISTA on a whim this afternoon,
to see an invitation on the desk! Stefan (current system administrator
of MITE) and I went to the opening, with our mutual friend Angela.

After being bored by the introductions, we got on with some movies…

PANSPERMIA: I’ve mentioned this one before. I still love it.

IN SEARCH OF MUSCULAR AXIS (Toshifumi Kawahara/Polygon Pictures,
Japan): Nice to look at, but that was it. I guess that was the point.

THE AUDITION (Gavin Miller/Apple Computer Inc., USA): Eeeh. A
few funny bits of business, lackluster voice acting, and a really
annoying bulldog main character (the way his face was animated
just made me ill).

PEPSI POWER HOUR (Topix, Canada): Oddly enough, I don’t remember this
one at all. I guess I’ll have to put this one off until I see it
again.

LA CIGALE ET LA FOURMI (Fantome Animation, France): A retelling
of the grasshopper and ant fable. The character designs were pretty
funny, and I particularly liked the way the ants moved. One problem
was the narrator’s voice speaking over some particularly noisy parts,
making him difficult to understand.

A VOLUME OF 2D JULIA SETS (Electronic Visualisation Laboratory,
USA): Imagine a multicolored fractal image with the parameters
constantly being modified. Now imagine the camera constantly in
motion and zooming in. Imagine the resultant color cycling from
the changing parameters. Now you’ve got the essence of this film,
but it still has to be seen to be believed. The illusion of three
dimensions fades in and out with startling regularity, giving impressions
of cavern walls, pillars, and the like. (Mind you, at the end you
_do_ get a 3D image.) Wow.

STYRO (Sinnot & Associates, USA): Eeh. Looked okay, the dog
character was kind of cute, but it didn’t go anywhere or do anything.
At all.

THE LITTLE DEATH (Matt Elson, Center for Computer Art, USA): Looks
beautiful. But what was the point? Butterflies, a pyramid, a man
jumping to his “death”. Huh?

NISSAN “TIME MACHINE” (Rhythm & Hues Inc., USA): Ha ha! A Nissan
car goes squash, stretch, and zip-tang in a 30-second Japanese ad
spot. Very entertaining.

THE PROCESS OF WOUND HEALING (Jules Bister, Germany): This was a
segment of a documentary, apparently, depicting the body’s reaction
to a flesh wound. Fascinating; if I’d had a film like this in my
biology class, I’d probably have remembered more.

ENTROPY (Robin Noorda/Morphosis, The Netherlands): One of those
films that makes you say, “What was the point?” Don’t ask me, I
don’t know either.

VISION INFOGOTHIQUE (Eric Mattson & Alain Mongeau, Canada): Give
a couple of Universite de Quebec a Montreal (UQAM) students a Mac
and they’ll do all kinds of weird stuff. Mostly black and white
images digitized and animated a la DeluxePaint III move requester.
A better animation package, some more imagination, or shorter running
time would have made this a better film.

LA TORTUE ET LES DEUX CANARDS (Fantome Animation, France): Much
like _La Cigale et la Fourmi_, the character designs were cute,
and character motion was well-handled. The problem with the narrator
was worse.

PREBIRTH (Osama M. Hashem, USA): Three ray-traced human forms
emerge from eggs, move about in sync, and merge into one, which
returns to the egg form. Very nice to watch.

SPLASH DANCE (Michael Kass/Apple Computer Inc., USA): Water flowing
through a canyon, and washing up the shore. Technically interesting
for people who are interested in seeing ray-traced water moving,
but otherwise uninspired.

GRINNING EVIL DEATH (Mike McKenna/MIT Lab, USA): HA HA! I hope
MITE AVISTA, which was partially modelled after the MIT media lab,
someday puts out stuff like this. Compute-created but cel-like
character animation meets 3D ray-traced stuff. A barrel of laughs,
especially with the “Little Mermaid Rules” graffiti on the wall in
the background. The audience loved the fate of Mr. Sarcastic.

THE MAKING OF RAZIEL’S TRANSFORMATION (Industrial Light & Magic,
USA): This short explained the workings of Raziel’s transformation
from goat to ostrick to turtle to tiger to human in _Willow_.
Technically interesting but repetitive. This could have used some
time in the editing room.

MORE BELLS AND WHISTLES (Wayne Little/Cornell National Supercomputer
Facility, USA): A bizarre set of animated instruments come to life
and perform for the audience. Pretty good.

The introduction animation for this evening (and apparently for the
rest of the festival) was done by Bruce Granofsky, who used to buy
Amiga stuff at the store where I used to work three years ago.
As he was sitting two rows behind me, I went over and talked to
him after the show. I might have something to report on his company,
DHD PostImage, or perhaps get him over here. Who knows?

I picked up quite a few flyers and information sheets which I’ll be
absorbing over the next few weeks (heck, I haven’t even gotten through
everything from Production ’90 in June, let alone the Ottawa Animation
Festival). I’ll be juggling school and work to try to catch as much
of this festival as possible, and I’ll report on that over the next
two weeks. Aside from three compilations of shorts, there are
also workshops and display booths. Hope to glean something there.

Emru

==========================
animation/long.messages #36, from hkenner, 4110 chars, Mon Dec 3 23:57:46 1990
————————–
TITLE: Jones1

FOREWORD

Chuck Jones had a great-uncle who used to tell him that a pig could
not be made into a racehorse. What might reasonably be hoped for, he
said, was “a mighty fast pig.”

So postulate a kid born, 1912, in Spokane. Endow him with a
directionless passion for drawing. Enroll him in what was available,
Chouinard Art Institute, in Los Angeles of all places, at a time when
L.A. was parvenu’s paradise, a cultural wasteland. Next–1930–plunge
the world into economic despair. Sit back, wait. No, do not expect a
Malibu Leonardo. But, should genes and fortune and circumstance
conspire just so, you may be rewarded with a surprising version of Uncle
Lynn’s “mighty fast pig.”

Such is one approach to Charles Martin (Chuck) Jones, indisputably a
master in an art–he’d have called it a trade–that only now is starting
to be defined. That was motion picture Character Animation, and it
flourished in one place in the world–southern California–for perhaps
thirty years (say 1933-63). Its several dozen practitioners (or several
hundred; definitions are elastic) had the good fortune never to be aware
that they were practicing anything resembling an art. (Otherwise put:
neither did Animation Critics exist, nor were any Traditions easy to lay
hold of.) It flourished thanks to economic givens that ought to have
made anything of lasting interest impossible, and it faded amid paeans
to social progress. (And the brief flowering of Periclean Athens: was
that perhaps equally chancy? We simply do not know how such things
happen.)

Chuck Jones, 78 at this writing and going strong, now finds himself
firmly installed in Animation History, a domain of learning that
commenced to flourish less than two decades ago. One early landmark is
the Jan.-Feb. 1975 issue of \[Film Comment\]. Another is Jay Cocks’s
“The World that Jones Made,” in the mmm. dd, yyyy issue of \[Time\].
Though generous to Jones’s way with studio properties–Bugs Bunny, Daffy
Duck–Cocks drew special attention to the glorious one-shots: “One
Froggy Evening,” notably; and “Duck Amuck,” which the priesthood is now
about ready to call “self-reflexive.” Should you ever face the solemn
task of preserving just one six-minute instance from the unthinkable
thousands of hours of animated footage that’s accumulated since–oh,
since 1914, you’d not go wrong in selecting “a Jones.”

To savor such wonders you need to examine them repeatedly; and as
long as they existed only on film, high cost kept access restricted to
affluent fanatics. A like situation obtained in the long centuries when
books were accessible solely via manuscript copies, too expensive for
individuals to dream of. Today the Video Cassette Recorder permits most
of us to own the classics of animation, and certainly the finest work of
Chuck Jones, at the cost of a dinner or two or three on the town. For
whatever purposes the VCR may have been marketed, friends of animation
at least may perceive its worth. It’s one more prizeworthy mighty fast
pig.

* * *

The Jay Cocks article first alerted me to Chuck Jones. A letter to
Cocks fetched a Jones address; then a letter to Jones brought Jones to
Baltimore, where, one memorable afternoon and evening, he discoursed,
drew pictures for children, and showed a Johns Hopkins audience a film
anthology. The texture of the discourse was memorable; I wish I could
recall who it was he characterized as “A trellis of varicose veins.”
And the films–I’ll not forget Arnold Stein the Milton scholar,
inclining his head after “One Froggy Evening” to confide, “That was
simple … and AB-so-lute.” As it was.

At Huntington Beach, July 1990, I saw Chuck Jones daily for a week.
What got taped on those visits is a primary source for this book. Though
I’ve since tried to cross-check facts I can’t guarantee them. Animation
history remains rife with vagaries of human memory. Meanwhile it seems
worth setting down what I can offer.

–H.K.

SAY

==========================
animation/long.messages #37, from hkenner, 10493 chars, Tue Dec 4 00:06:10 1990
————————–
TITLE: Jones2

CHAPTER 1

Animation, like life itself, relies on natural principles. Life
requires simply (simply!) DNA. Animation requires Persistence of
Vision. That means: anything you’ve glimpsed you’ll go on seeing for
maybe a tenth of a second after it’s gone. If meanwhile a different
glimpse gets substituted, the two will blend smoothly. And if they
depict successive stages of movement, you’ll swear you saw something
move.

Ways to substitute the next image derive from flip-books, which have
been around since at least the 19th century. On the bottom margin of a
school scribbler, a sketch of a car. On successive pages, the same car,
shifted incrementally rightwards. Now. Riffle the pages! Watch that
auto move!

To check what they’ve done, animators riffle stacks of pages. No
single drawing stands out. Single drawings, however highly finished,
may at best–Chuck Jones says–serve to help us remember some animated
sequence we recall enjoying. But Animation itself: Jones calls that “a
flurry of drawings.” How they’re shown is less important than their
flurry. A flip book can display a couple of seconds’ worth. For
something longer, best photograph each frame; then let a movie projector
place them on a screen, fast enough for Persistence of Vision to blend
them. Sixteen frames per second was fast enough in silent-film days.
Sound, when it came about 1928, required twenty-four. But the eye
doesn’t need that many; twelve per second will do for the eye. So sound
helped ease the animator’s lot. Twelve drawings suffice for a second,
each photographed twice. The eye will detect no jerkiness.

* * *

A flurry of drawings: one by one by one. Draw the starting pose;
then draw the next instant, then the next, clear to the end of this
flurry, each image a modified tracing of the one before it: that’s
called “animating straight ahead,” and it’s how all animation was done
for a couple of decades, clear into the age of sound, sixteen for each
second. In 1914, Winsor McCay’s many thousand straight-ahead drawings
made Gertie the Dinosaur huff, stomp, lower her neck. Chuck Jones, as
he likes to remark, was then two years old. “It all happened within my
lifetime.”

McCay redrew every detail of every frame: not only Gertie, who’d
shift from glimpse to glimpse, but also all those things that shouldn’t
shift: rocks, mountains, trees, horizon. Retracing those with
machine-like accuracy being simply impossible even for his steady hand,
they flickered and shimmered around Gertie. In its time, the effect did
seem rather charming. But what a redundancy of effort! A way to draw a
background once, for re-use many dozen times, was one thing that would
raise animation above slave labor. It would also permit something later
to prove indispensible in establishing a world with characters a-move
within it: a perfectly unambiguous distinction betwen what was supposed
to be steady and what wasn’t.

Not that McCay’s audiences needed that distinction. When he took
the film on tour, and stood beside the screen with a pointer to conduct
his dialogues with Gertie, some were unclear that they were looking at
drawings. Some kind of real animal, surely, though oddly drained of
color? Or maybe some kind of model? It’s hard to realize how long it
takes us to simply perceive a novel medium. (The telephone–a voice in
your head, with no one else in the room? When a Boston businessman
first heard a demonstration of that about 18xx, he could think of
nothing to say save “Ho ho ho and away we go!”)

Nor would slave labor have entered McCay’s thoughts. Like many
pioneer animators, he was driven by a passion for drawing. To make a
hundred pictures of a morning, that was sheer heaven!

We’re talking of a gone time of linked passions. Movie-goers too–
they had a passion, for nothing more subtle than the sheer illusion of
motion. It sufficed that on a wavering sheet they saw–galloping
horses! (And therein lay the germ of the Western.) Chuck Jones
remembers when it was hilarious if an animated walker just hopped once
in a while. A story? That could emerge from whatever the animator
happened to think of next.

* * *

The reusable-background problem was solved, after several fumbles,
by 1914: U.S. Patent # 1,143,542, issued to Earl Hurd. The solution
wasn’t obvious, discarding as it did the natural supposition that the
drawings the camera would see would be the ones drawn on paper. No.
Draw the background–once–on paper. Then trace each of your “moving”
paper drawings onto celluloid. Under the camera, lay each “cel” in
sequence over the background; push the button yet once again. Voila!

(And to keep things steadily lined up, put a row of pegs on the
table, to fit holes along the top of what’s being photographed. Raoul
Barre thought of that in 1914. Every cel, every sheet of animators’
paper, has worn those holes ever since.)

That process created two new occupations: cel-tracer, cel-washer.
The tracers have since been automated out, and a good thing too, since,
careful though they might be, they lost subtleties. Nowadays an
unwavering Xerox eye transfers the animator’s every nuance to the cel.
(Grey areas–and, after color came in, colored ones–got painted onto
the cels by hand, and still are.) The washers? Their job was to permit
reuse of precious celluloid, by cleaning the ink off cels once they’d
been photographed. Chuck Jones, at 19, commenced his long life in
animation as a cel-washer.

He’d been hired by Ub Iwerks of the improbable name, and who was Ub?
Ub Iwerks came west from Kansas about 1924, to join Walt Disney. It’s
no secret that his drawing was far more resourceful than Walt’s; that he
(more or less) created Mickey Mouse; that he, single-handed, animated
the pioneer Mickey cartoons, notably “Steamboat Willie”. That was the
cartoon that was retroactively fitted with sound, in accord with Walt’s
nigh-infallible nose for trends. By 1930 a financier named ??? had
persuaded Ub (wrongly) that he was more important than Walt, and set him
up in a studio of his own. He proceded to produce “Flip the Frog,” who
flopped. He had, alas, Chuck Jones recalls, “no sense of humor.” That
was a considerable drawback.

Ub Iwerks did excel at technical challenges. When Flip climbed a
stair the viewer’s eye climbed with him, so the stair’s perspective
shifted with every frame. That called for ultra-resourceful animating.

Later, back with Disney, Ub was in charge of the Multiplane Camera
project, which automated shifts of perspective with shifting viewpoints.
Objects close to the eye could even go out of focus, the way the eye
sees when it’s intent on something remote. The long opening shot of
“Pinocchio” (19xx) is a Multiplane tour de force.

But in 1931, with an infusion of cash, Tycoon Iwerks was on his own;
hiring the likes of cel-washers; also importing from the east animators
of the quality of Grim Natwick.

(Name?) “Grim” Natwick (born 1890, and dead only after he’d passed
his hundredth birthday; Lord, like symphony conductors, animators are
long-lived!)–Grim Natwick had commenced animating as far back as 1916,
for the Pathe Studio in New York, where he’d finish eight dozen
straight-ahead drawings before his lunch break. Later, with the Max
Fleischer people, he laid claim to what then didn’t look like
immortality by creating Betty Boop, at first a little dog with spit
curls that walked on its hind legs to perform a Boop-boop-a-doop vocal
identified with a singer named Helen Kane. (In those early days of
sound, animating pop hits was one sure cartoon formula.) By three more
films the dog’s droopy ears had become earrings, and Betty was, well
Betty. Grim Natwick was the other Fleischer animators’ envy because he
could join Betty’s hand to her arm with a wrist; could even manage
knees. That was because he’d had formal art-school training; most
animators, then and for decades to come, learned their craft by merely
tracing photographs. When photos weren’t available, they made arms and
legs like rubber hoses.

(Tracing photos, a technique pioneered by the Fleischers, is still
known as “rotoscoping”. It’s a way toward a quick fix on human figures,
who can be filmed in action as no Bugs Bunny can be. It is widely
regarded as cheating. It was also a way to manage Snow White and her
wooden prince. The model for some Snow White rotoscopes was Marge
Champion.)

Anyhow, here’s Grim Natwick at the Ub Iwerks studio. And here’s a
19-year-old cel-washer, Charles M. Jones. And (Grim would recall) “I
took him out, bought him an ice cream soda, and taught him all about
crooked lines.” Ah, esoterica!

Eventually–the details are elusive–Chuck Jones became Grim’s
Assistant Animator.

That sounds more grandiose than it was. Assistant Animators would
later get dubbed “In-Betweeners,” and their craft, like cel-washing,
depended on a technical advance. That was the observation that if
animators drew key poses–a left foot hitting the ground, a right foot
ditto–then the frames in between, the ones that shifted the walker from
left foot to right foot, could be as mechanical to draw as they were to
walk, and might as well be assigned to anyone with the skill just to
draw at all. “How fast is the walk?” would translate into “How many
in-between frames?,” an instruction the animator could relay. That was
the end of straight-ahead animation. Thenceforward, Key Poses and
In-Betweening. As a dividend, the In-Betweener was learning to animate.
Most animators of the Jones generation and since have learned their
craft In-Betweening.

It all made economic sense too. Animators were freed for uniquely
productive work, while In-Betweening could be left to wage slaves. For
a labor-intensive industry had long been sorting out its skills.
Someone (Disney, Fleischer, Iwerks) in charge at the top. A few key
creative people–Animators. Eager In-Betweeners, making maybe
nine-tenths of the drawings. A background artist or two. And a phalanx
of anonymous ink-and-painters, to grind out the cels the camera would
actually see. And, no, don’t forget the cameraman; we need him. And
some folk to whomp up the sound. Oh–don’t forget the story either.
We’ll return to that.

* * *

==========================
animation/long.messages #38, from hmccracken, 4103 chars, Sun Jan 20 15:39:01 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
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TITLE: Here, courtesy of our own hkenner, is an interesting letter
he recently received:
Dated Dec. 28 1990, on *Reader’s Digest* Letterhead, where the writer
(John Culhane) is identified as “Roving Editor”)

Dear Hugh Kenner:

I thought you might be pleased to know that my 80th birthday
present to my cousin, Shamus Culhane, who made the dwarfs march home in
.More..
*Snow Shite*, was your column from Art & Antiques on the way that
Shamus and his mentor, Grim Natwick, animated Betty Boop. It is my
pride that Shamus’s great autobiography, *Talking Animals and Other
People*, is dedicated to “my wife, Juana, my cousin, John Culhane, and
my mentors, Don Graham, Grim Natwick, and Walt Disney.”

When Shamus’s father deserted his family,Shamus had to drop out of
high school, where he had already won the public school medal for art
two years in a row, to become a cel washer at the J.R.Bray studio, in
order to give his mother and younger sister and brothger their daily
bread. But “man does not live by,” etc. Jimmy, as he was called then,
taught himself Greek to read the classics, and even now reads several
books a week (in English) but he has always lamented that he didn’t
have the opportunity for a university education. He has, however, taught
himself to read his fellow Irishmen, James Joyce and Samuel Beckett, and
he and I have had long, loving conversations about them, and about other
favorites: Sam Johnson, Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams. (I
presume you know that Williams’s sister-in-law, Charlotte Herman Earle,
is the mother of Eyvind Earle, who designed *Sleeping Beauty* for Walt
Disney.) When Expo 67 symbolized American by filling Bucky Fuller’s
geodesic dome with nose cones and film screens, one of those screens
showed, over and over, Shamus’s “Heigh-Ho” sequence, sharing pride of
space with Rhett constantly carrying Scarlett up the stairs of their
Atlanta house; Capra’s Mr. Smith (J-Jimmy Stewart) continually mooning
as he tries to get people to listen to the truth, etc. Naturally,
Shamus and I have continually talked about your constant illuminations
of all these great favorites of ours.

I also had a chance to talk to Grim about your column before he
died. (“Art & Antiques, yes,” said Grim, who was about to celebrate his
100th birthday.) Grim and I worked together at Richard Williams
Animation on the still-unfinished “The Thief” back in 1973: me working
with Dick on story and Grim animating the Mad Ugly Old Witch of Benaris
— whom he made resemble, in comic respects, himself. As a Newsweek
correspondent, I interviewed Bucky for an article on Southern Illinois
University; I interviewed all of the major animators of Walt’s day for
*The New York Times Magazine* and *American Film*, and John Huston gave
me the last major (two-day) interview of his life, on “The Dead”, for my
JOHN HUSTON–HOLLYWOOD’S GIANT in the Digest. Huston wrote in my first
edition of *Ulysses* (I had met Darantiere in Paris when I was a soldier
there in 1958) that Joyce’s novel was “a total illumination — doors
fell open.” Every step of the way, I have prepared by reading Kenner.
The day in about 1948, when, as a 14-year-old exploring the Rockford
(Illinois) Public Library, I opened a book at random and read *and the
days are not full enough / and the nights are not full enough / and life
slips by like a field mouse / not shaking the grass* — my life took a
new direction. Shortly after that I found a book by you on Pound’s
poetry, and soon I was reading the Cantos and pondering “Disney against
the metaphysicals.” I wrote my *Walt Disney’s Fantasia* (Abrams, 1983)
about those four words. You have helped me every step of the way. So I
hope you are happy to have pleased Shamus by seeing what he has been up
to all of these years.

And now I look forward to reading *Historical Fictions*; through
Christopher Lehmann-Haupt’s review today in the New York Times, you gave
me pleasure again, by reminding me of Lucifer Ornamental Yokum.

Sincerely,
John Culhane.

— Harry

==========================
animation/long.messages #39, from hkenner, 134 chars, Sun Jan 20 17:19:20 1991
This is a comment to message 38.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
OMiGawd. Culhane did not type “Snow Shite.” Note that W and S are
adjacent keys, and that I was making a hasty transcription. ==HK

==========================
animation/long.messages #40, from davemackey, 205 chars, Mon Jan 21 19:17:10 1991
This is a comment to message 39.
————————–
Nice letter, Hugh, and testament to your talents. And it answered
a long-standing question as to whether John Culhane was or was
not a relative of the great Shamus.
–Dave

==========================
animation/long.messages #41, from jporter, 8599 chars, Mon Feb 18 03:33:49 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Animation (1989)
Animation and the Macintosh.
By Julie Porter

According to animation historians, animation began about thirty
thousand years ago in French and Spanish caves. It is believed that
sequential drawings in Egyptian and Greek paintings were early
attempts at creating movement. With the discovery of persistence of
vision in the early eighteen twenties, many optical toys were
produced. These parlor toys often used pseudo-Latin prefixes and
suffixes. Cine-, -trope, and -scope were combined to make complex
sounding names. The word cinematography, which means the study
of motion, is still used to this day,although with a different meaning.
Another famous machine the zoetrope,which means wheel of life,
and it’s close cousin the praxinoscope, which I could not find the
meaning of, became the forerunner of the motion picture projector.
While Winsor McKay was the first popular animator, it was Earl
Hurd who in 1914 patented the process which Walt Disney was to
make famous. Mr Hurd developed a celluloid system which involved
covering an opaque background with layers of celluloid. These clear
plastic sheets known as cells are painted with opaque inks and
paint. Precisely measured metal or plastic pegs hold the artwork
stable. This is the pegged cell system of animation. The artist is
saved from the repetitive task of drawing the background lines for
each and every frame.
Many people have attempted to speed up this time consuming
process of drawing over a thousand frames for every minute of film.
Most solutions use fewer frames. Today this form of limited
animation is used for Saturday morning childrens shows. After
leaving M.G.M. in the early sixties, William Hanna and Joseph
Barbara, used an IBM mainframe to analyze their previous work.
By using the same characters from week to week, they were able to
recycle the cells based on the output of a script analyzing program.
This enabled them to produce more animation in one week; than the
entire output of their career at M.G.M.
Little changed in the world of animation until the advent of the
computer in the 1950s. Like Hanna and Barbara most people found
the computer to be more of an indexing machine than a production
machine. Another ten years would need to pass before direct
transfer of images from memory to display device would be possible.
Aside from experiments at Bell labs the only early image producing
machine that I can find documented is the scanimate. Created by
Computer Image Corporation in 1968. This primitive device used a
computer to manipulate an analog signal, such as displayed on an
oscilloscope. A few years later, a computer was connected to a
television set. The first crude attempts at animation generated
mostly color patterns. These patterns were used by the television
networks to introduce the Movie of the Week.. The networks quickly
found a cheaper alternative slit scan animation. A standard
animation camera is made to move over colored lights. Backgrounds
were painted with sponges, and cut pieces of paper. This creates
streaks and dots. The Star Wars titles are done this way.
Many early video animation machines use analog signals to
manipulate the signal along horizontal lines of the television set
These lines are commonly known as rasters. There are
approximately 400 of these lines displayed in the standard television.
This grouping of lines is called a frame. To make matters more
confusing the frame is divided up into odd Rasters and even Rasters.
These groups are called a field. Each frame is displayed 30 times a
second. This gives a rate of 60 fields per second. This is called
interlaced video.
Most computers were designed to use non-interlaced video. To get
more lines on a screen the number of lines in a field was increased.
This makes the display not compatible with a television. The
Macintosh is particularly guilty of this. To solve this problem a
device known as a frame buffer was developed. The process of
digitally writing individual dots, known as pixels, is called raster
scanning.
It was not until raster scanning became popular in the seventies
that a successor to the pegged cell method of creating animation has
been realized. Computer animation still remains prohibitively
expensive. LucasFilm, who’s well known work on the Pixar, An
incredibly expensive raster scanning computer, and other animation
marvels, Still relies on the pegged cell system for the day to day
work of producing special effects. Cost savings is a major asset in
using the cell system. Cells can be recycled by washing them in a
solvent. This was used as a plot device in the recent film Who
Framed Roger Rabbit?
The major disadvantages of using the cell system is that the
artwork must be photographed and sent to the processing lab at
least twice. First the Animator draws the character onto plain bond
paper. This is then photographed to produce a pencil test. If there is
a mistake in the animation the drawing is redone. This task is
repeated until the animation is acceptable. Once accepted the
animation is Xeroxed onto the cells. Then it is painted in preparation
for photography.
The Macintosh makes a good platform to produce this pencil test. I
use the Macintosh Plus to generate experimental animation this
way. First I draw the animation onto standard animation bond. I
then scan it in using a low cost digitizer. I use VideoWorks to check
the quality of the animation. For most eight millimeter work I use a
Scribe printer, originally released with the Apple II, to print medium
resolution cells. Surprisingly enough a LaserWriter and a postscript
drawing program, such as Illustrator or Freehand, can be used to
directly produce production quality cells. Once painted the cells can be
photographed.
The Macintosh is also a good way of maintaining other paper
producing tasks in animation and film making. Storyboards are
cartoon sequences used to hash out the plots of most major films.
Bar sheets are used to synchronize the sound to the picture. Edit
decision lists are used in the final cutting to tell the lab where to
cut the negative to print. I use MacDraw to generate these complex
forms.
A process known as ikonography is used to cut down on the
number of cells needed in documentary and educational films. This
technique is called Filmography by the U.S Navy,which is a large
producer of animated training films. Maps, paintings, and other flat
works of art are photographed with complex movements of the
camera. Music and narration are used to hide the static nature of
the artwork.These movements are called pans and zooms.
Most professional animation cameras allow the artwork to be
moved in the X,Y, or Z, planes of three dimensional space. Some
cameras allow the artwork to be rotated in the X and Y plane.
e used to record these
complex movements onto a grid. Currently motion control computers
are starting to be used to generate these complex moves. The
Macintosh makes a good low cost alternative to generate these
pantograph sheets for the amateur or semi-professional animator.
its infancy. Computers are
rapidly replacing ikonography and slit scanned animation. This is
only one aspect of persistence of vision. By following the light waves
produced on a raster
display. This variant is known as ray tracing and has opened new
horizons in the entertainment field. Many exciting and boring
ay, and other super
computers.
Animation can be done with time, paper and pencil. Flip books
were popular in the eighteenth century to show pornography. It is
used as far back as the pre-
historic Greeks and Egyptians. It took Peter Roget, the compounder of
the thesaurus, to publish a paper in 1824 on the persistence of vision
which enabled the way for animation to move from the steamy
the public movie house.
It will be nice when story and character outweigh the
mathematical concepts of fractals and antialiasing. When computers
powerful that 8000 rasters can be manipulated in a
andom access computer memory
enables whole worlds to exist; until then pegged cell animation will
be the cheapest form of producing these wonderful ways of
he Macintosh combined with the
tried and true methods of cell animation is the recommended way of
producing quality amateur, and semi-professional animation. We are
Bray were, when they
combined to share their patents. This opened the way for Max
Flescher and Walt Disney to show us what can be done when
character and personality is added to technology.

==========================
animation/long.messages #42, from hmccracken, 42 chars, Mon Feb 18 13:42:18 1991
This is a comment to message 41.
There are additional comments to message 41.
————————–
Thanks for the article, Julie.
— Harry

==========================
animation/long.messages #43, from hkenner, 192 chars, Wed Feb 20 12:02:30 1991
This is a comment to message 41.
There are additional comments to message 41.
————————–
Slight correction: “cinematography” would mean “study of motion”
but “writing of motion,” or by extension, “picturing of motion”.
Any word with “graph” in it pertains to a visual record.
–HK

==========================
animation/long.messages #44, from switch, 118 chars, Wed Feb 20 15:21:27 1991
This is a comment to message 41.
————————–
Another slight correction: when used to describe drawing on acetate, the
abbreviation for “celluloid” is “cel”.

Emru

==========================
animation/long.messages #45, from hdavison, 397 chars, Thu Apr 4 00:34:19 1991
————————–
TITLE: Come, Join and Comment..

Come and join the gaming.college/mud.gaming conference. We are discussing
the possibility of the implementation of a MULTI_USER game simulation using
a large UNIX platform on a *NATIONAL* telecommunications system.

Your thoughts and comments with respect to animation and related subjects
could put a real positive twist on the subjects under discussion.

–Hal.

==========================
animation/long.messages #46, from sje, 55116 chars, Mon May 6 19:11:49 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Disney 1991 Annual Meeting Transcript

From the Usenet Netnews of 06 May 1991
————————————–
From: david@mks.com (David Rowley)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.disney
Subject: ’91 Stockholders Meeting Transcript
Date: 4 May 91 18:17:54 GMT
Organization: Mortice Kern Systems Inc., Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA

The kind folks at the Florida forum on Compuserve have given the okay to
the odd posting of some of their messages. Here’s the transcript
of this year’s stockholders meeting.

—————————————————————————–

1991 ANNUAL STOCKHOLDERS MEETING
MARCH 19, 1991
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA

MICHAEL EISNER:.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls.

I am Michael Eisner, chairman of The Walt Disney Company. On behalf
of myself and my colleague, Disney President Frank Wells… welcome
to the Annual Meeting of Shareholders.

This is the third time in five years we’ve met here in Anaheim, the
heartland of Disney,and we’ve come a long way in that time.

When we met here in 1987, we were a two-and-a-half-billion dollar
company. When we returned here last year, we were a 4.6-billion
dollar company. Today we are at 5.8-billion and likely to pass $6
billion in the current year. And we have what athletes call “Big
MO,” MOMENTUM, on our side.

But while growth is exhilarating, we increasingly get great
enjoyment in other aspects of our jobs, often those things that
bolster our reputation for doing things well.

One occurred this year as a direct result of this scene from our
recent hit, “Honey, I Shrunk The Kids.”

[ROLL “HONEY I SHRUNK THE KIDS CLIP”]

As filmmakers intent on telling a story, we know that what we
depict on film frequently has more influence on viewers than we
could ever imagine. In this case, the unintended but happy
consequence was reported to me in a letter from Michael C. Perdue
of San Diego.

Let me read you an excerpt:On August 17, 1990 my
3-and-a-half-year-old son, Jeremy, found his one-year-old brother,
Corey, floating face down in a Jacuzzi. He jumped in and pulled his
brother up.

My six-year-old son, Tristan, pulled Corey out of the water…and
applied mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and then ran for assistance
from me. Due to the quick action of these boys their brother is
fine.

Later, I asked Tristan where he had learned to do mouth-to-mouth…
Without hesitation he replied, ‘From watching “Honey, I Shrunk The
Kids.’Thank you, Mr. Eisner, and all at Disney…

As I said earlier, these kinds of things make me especially proud
to be part of The Walt Disney Company.

(PAUSE)

Now it’s time to get on with our business.

As always, we have a full agenda. I will be acting as chairman for
the conduct of this meeting. “I now declare the polls open as of
thistime and date for all matters to be voted upon at this meeting.
The polls will close upon adjournment of the meeting.” I want to
remind those who wish to make any last minute proxy changes that
there is an information desk in the lobby with people available to
assist you. Also available are copies of our first quarterly
earnings report for fiscal 1991 and our current annual report. I
encourage you to read them.

Following is the agenda for this meeting: First, we will present
three resolutions that require the vote of our shareholders. After
that we will hear reports from officers of the company. Then we
will set aside time for questions from shareholders, after which we
will adjourn. Then… where are we going next? … Why, of course,
we’re going toDisneyland …

Now I’d like to introduce Doris Smith, our Corporate Secretary and
a vice president of the company. I now appoint Doris to act as
secretary of the meeting with responsibility for recording the
proceedings.

Doris, may we have your report on the number of outstanding shares
present today and voting?

[DORIS REPORTS]

Thank you Doris. Based on the report, I rule that a quorum is
present and this meeting is qualified to proceed with the business
matters before us.

Today’s meeting has been duly called and is being conducted in
conformity with the law and our own articles of incorporation and
our by-laws. Kevin Schaffels has been appointed by the board to act
as the inspector of elections. You have heard the tally of the
shares present today, either in person or by proxy, and that the
vote has been tabulated. We will proceed with the propositions
before us.

The first order of business is the election of four members of the
board of directors, each to hold office for a term of three years
and until a successor has been elected and qualified.

As you know, several years ago shareholders voted to reincorporate
in the state of Delaware. As a part of that reincorporation, the
company established a classified board of directors serving
staggered three-year terms. That is why our entire board is not
standing for election today.

The nominees for the board are all currently serving as directors
of The Walt Disney Company. They are Stanley P. Gold, Irwin E.
Russell and Raymond L. Watson. I am also a member of this class of
directors and therefore also a nominee.

Stanley Gold is president and chief executive officer of Shamrock
Holdings Incorporated, a company engaged in ranching, real estate,
agriculture and energy businesses and the retailing of audio and
video products. He is also president of TrAY-Foil Investors,
Shamrock Capitol Advisors and chairman of Enterra Corporation.

In addition to his business activities, he is vice chairman of the
board of governors of Hebrew Union College and a trustee of the
Cardozo School of Law in New York, The Center Theatre Group in Los
Angeles and the George C. Marshall Foundation.

Stan, please rise.

Irwin E. Russell is an attorney engaged in private practice who has
long been involved in all areas of the entertainment industry, both
as an attorney and senior business and financial executive. Since
1989, he has served of counsel to the law firm of Rudin, Appel and
Rosenfeld. Before that he was senior partner in the law firm of
Russell and Glickman.

Earlier he was executive vice president, treasurer and a director
of the Wolper organization. In addition, he has worked as an
attorney for the federal government in Washington, D. C. and serves
as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association and the
Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. He has been actively
involved in many civic, charitable and political organizations.

Irwin, please stand.

Raymond L. Watson is chairman of our board’s executive committee
and my predecessor as chairman of The Walt Disney Company. He
brought stability to the company during its most tumultuous period
in history, in 1984.

Ray is a nationally recognized architect and a leader in urban
planning and community development. He serves as vice chairman of
the Irvine Company, perhaps the nation’s leading land development
company. He also serves as chief executive officer of Ray Watson
Incorporated, a real estate development company. In 1985 and 1986,
he was regent professor in the Graduate School of Management at the
University of California at Irvine. He is a director of Pacific
Mutual Life Insurance Company and a director of Mitchell Energy and
Development Company.

Ray…

As I said previously, I am the last nominee. Directors are elected
by a plurality of the votes cast. If elected, all nominees are
expected to serve until the 1994 annual meeting.

We will now vote on those nominees who have been proposed by the
board of directors … Stanley Gold, Irwin Russell, Ray Watson and
me.

All those in favor, please signify with the word “Aye.”

[PAUSE]

All those opposed, signify with “Nay.” Based on the voice vote and
the tally reported by our secretary, Doris Smith, and subject to
the final certification by the inspector of elections, I declare
the nominees re-elected for the ensuing three years.

I want to introduce the rest of our board.

[PAUSE]

Caroline Leonetti Ahmanson has been a Disney director for 15 years.
Mrs. Ahmanson is chairman of the board of Caroline Leonetti
Limited, a woman’s center for self improvement. From 1982 to 1984
she was chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. She
is now chairman emeritus.

She also serves as a director of Fluor Corporation. For more than
20 years, she has been actively involved in numerous civic,
philanthropic and charitable affairs. She has also distinguished
herself as a goodwill ambassador to the people of China for both
our company and our country.

Caroline, please rise and be recognized.

It seems as if every time I introduce our next director who is
obviously very well known to you, there is a smidgeon of applause
… Roy E. Disney … Well, Roy, your record is intact.

Roy is, of course, the son of Walt’s brother, Roy O. Disney, the
co-founder of The Walt Disney Company. Within our organization, he
serves as both vice chairman of the board of directors and head of
the best animation department in the world.

In addition to his roles at Disney, he is chairman of Shamrock
Holdings and its subsidiary, Shamrock Broadcasting. Shamrock also
operates Music Plus andSound Warehouse, both home entertainment
retail chains.

In addition to all this, he is a sailor of accomplishment. Last
month, his sail boat, the Pyewacket, won an eleven hundred mile
race from Marina del Rey toPuertO Vallarta.

Captain Disney, would you please stand.

Ignacio E. Lozano, Jr. is chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Lozano
Enterprises, which publishes La Opinion, the largest Spanish
language newspaper in California. He has also served as United
States Ambassador to El Salvador. He serves on the boards of
Bankamerica Corporation, Bank of America,Pacific Enterprises, and
Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company.

In addition to his direct involvement in many public service and
charitable organizations, he has been an outspoken advocate of
Hispanic causes. An alumnus of Notre Dame, he is a member of that
university’s board of trustees.

Nacho …

Sharon Disney Lund …

As many of you know, Mrs. Lund is a daughter of the late Walt
Disney. She serves as an officer of Retlaw Enterprises. That’s
Walter spelled backwards. It is owned by members of the family,
including Sharon. She also serves as a trustee of four educational
institutions: California Institute of the Arts, the Marianne
Frostig Center for Educational Therapy, The Curtis School
Foundation and Landmark West.

Sharon …

Richard A. Nunis has been a director for the past ten years. He is
the mainstay of our theme parks. Dick is president ofWalt Disney
Attractions, which encompasses theme parks and resorts.

Dick has served the company with distinction for the past
thirty-six years, working his way up through the ranks. He is a
member of the board of directors of Sun Bank in Florida and Florida
Progress Corporation.

Dick is a director or trustee of several educational, civic and
charitable organizations, including the University of Central
Florida in Orlando.

Last year, he was named to the Travel and Tourism Advisory Board of
the United States Department of Commerce.

Dick …

Donn Tatum has served as a senior executive of the company for more
than 35 years. He succeeded Roy O. Disney as chairman and chief
executive officer and served in that capacity from 1971 to 1977.
Later he moved to chairman of the executive committee.

Donn is director of Western Digital Corporation. In addition, he is
a director or trustee of Endowments Incorporated, Bond Portfolio
for Endowments, New Economy Fund and Smallcap World Fund, each a
mutual fund.

Donn, please rise.

The third former chairman of the company serving on our board is E.
Cardon Walker. He has been a director for 31 years and has spent
his entire professional life with the company.

Card became president in 1971, chief executive in 1976 and chairman
in 1980. Three thriving enterprises were established under his
leadership: Epcot Center, The Disney Channel and Tokyo Disneyland.
Card is now in his 53rd year of association with the company. Card,
please stand and be recognized.

Frank Wells is president and chief operating officer of the
company. Frank will be up here later to share the stage with me.
Before joining Disney, he served as president and then vice
chairman of Warner Brothers. Before that he was a partner in the
law firm of Gang, Tyre and Brown. He serves on the board of
trustees of his alma mater, Pomona College, the California
Institute of Technology, the Sundance Institute, The Natural
History Museum of Los Angeles County and the J. Paul Getty Trust.

In addition, he is a member of the services Policy Advisory
Committee, office of the United States Trade Representative.

He has also climbed seven of the highest mountains in the world.

Frank?

Samuel L. Williams has been a partner in the Los Angeles law firm
of Hufstedler, Kaus & Ettinger for more than twenty years. He has
served as president of the state bar of California, president of
the Los Angeles County Bar Association and head of the Board of
Police Commissioners of the City of Los Angeles. He serves on the
board of directors of the Bank of California as well as many
charitable and public service organizations. One of Sam’s principal
interests in the past few years is the non-profit Casa Colina
Center for Physical rehabilitation.

Sam?

Gary L. Wilson served as our chief financial officer from 1985
through 1989, when he assumed the new role of principal adviser to
the company for strategic planning and other financial matters.
Last month, Gary was elected co-chairman of Northwest Airlines. He
is a director of NWA Incorporated, Northwest’s privately held
parent company. Before joining Disney, he was executive vice
president and chief financial officer of the Marriott Corporation.
He also serves on the board of the Fuqua School of Business at Duke
University.

Gary?

The second proposal calls for approval of the 1990 Stock Incentive
Plan. The board adopted the plan on November 26, 1990, subject to
approval by the company’s shareholders at this meeting. The plan
provides long-term incentives and rewards to employees of the
company and its subsidiaries. The 1990 plan provides for the
issuance of up to 8.5 million shares. The plan will be
administered by the Compensation Committee of the board of
directors. Approval of the plan requires the affirmative vote of at
least a majority of the common stock represented in person or by
proxy here today. The board recommends that the stockholders vote
for approval.

All in favor of the resolution, please signify with the word
“Aye.”Those opposed? I declare the second resolution of this
annual meeting to have passed, subject to the final count by the
inspector of elections.

The third and last proposal calls for the ratification of the
appointment of Price Waterhouse as the company’s independent
accountant, as recommended by the Audit Committee of the board.

The services provided to the company and its subsidiaries include
the examination of the company’s financial statements and quarterly
reports and other services related to Securities and Exchange
Commission filings.

Price Waterhouse has served as the company’s independent accountant
since its incorporation in 1938 as Walt Disney Productions.

The board recommends a vote “FOR” a continuation of this valued
relationship.

All those in favor? Opposed? I declare the final resolution to
have passed subject to the final count by the inspector of
elections.

At this time I would like to introduce Judson Green, senior vice
president and chief financial officer. He will report on the
financial condition of your company. Judson.

JUDSON:

Thank you Michael. I am very pleased to be here this morning to
review Disney’s fiscal year 1990 and first quarter 1991 financial
results.

Before I begin, let me emphasize that although Wall Street seems to
focus inordinately on the near term, we at Disney firmly believe
that we must plan for the long term. You’ve seen this philosophy
reflected in the 20/20 financial objectives printed in our annual
report — 20% or greater return on stockholders’ equity in any one
year, and 20% annualized earnings per share growth over any rolling
5-year period.

This morning I will summarize year-over-year comparisons, but focus
as well on longer-term, five-year growth comparisons, which we
believe are better barometers of Disney’s success.

In fiscal 1990, total revenue grew by over$1 billion to $5.8
billion, an increase of 27% over 1989. In 1990, total revenue was
almost three and one-half times that of 1985.

This represents a five-year compound annualized growth rate of 28%.

Over the past five years, the Filmed Entertainment and Consumer
Products segments have contributed increasing proportions of
revenue. In 1985, 74% of total revenue came from Theme Parks and
Resorts. In 1990, that percentage was only 52% because of
impressive growth in our other two segments.

In 1990, operating income for the company grew by almost $200
million to $1.4 billion — an increase of 16% over 1989.

In 1990, operating income was over four times its level in 1985,
representing a five-year compound annualized growth rate of 33%.

Looking at operating income by business segment in 1990 as compared
to 1985, you can see that Disney has achieved more balance in the
contribution of profits from each segment.

In 1990, our net income grew by over $100 million to $824 million,
an increase of 17% over 1989. This is almost five times the level
of net income in 1985, and represents a five-year compound growth
rate of 37%.

Earnings per share for 1990 were $6.00, up 18% from 1989.

Again, this is almost five times the level of earnings per share in
1985, representing a five-year compound annualized growth rate of
36%.

This strong financial performance has provided you with a strong
return on stockholders’ equity. Disney’s return on equity has
ranged between 19% and 27% over the past five years. Our return on
equity in 1990 was almost 50% higher than the return on equity for
U.S. companies as measured by the Standard and Poor’s 500 index.

Now let’s briefly look at the three business segments individually.

Revenue for the Theme Parks and Resorts grew by over $400 million
to $3 billion, an increase of 16% over 1989. When compared to 1985
revenue, 1990 represents a five-year compound annualized growth
rate of 19%.

Operating income for Theme Parks and Resorts reached $889 million,
a year-over-year increase of 13%. Operating income for this
segment has more than tripled since 1985, representing a five-year
compound growth rate of 28%.

Filmed Entertainment revenue in 1990 grew by over $600 million to
almost $2.3 billion, up 42% from 1989. In 1990, Filmed
Entertainment’s revenue was seven times its 1985 level, which
represents an impressive 48% five-year compound annualized growth
rate.

Filmed Entertainment operating income grew to $313 million in 1990,
an increase of 22% over 1989. 1990’s operating income was nine
times its 1985 level, reflecting a phenomenal 56% five-year
compound growth rate.

1990 revenue for Consumer Products grew by almost $200 million to
$574 million, a year-over-year increase of 40%.

This is almost five times the revenue level for 1985, and
represents a five-year compound annualized growth rate of 36%.

Consumer Products operating income grew to $223 million in 1990, an
increase of 19% over 1989. This is quadruple the level of operating
income in 1985 and reflects a five-year compound growth rate of
32%.

Now I’d like to spend a minute discussing the challenges of the
current economic environment.

At present, several factors are influencing your company’s
operating performance. Nation-wide concerns about the magnitude
and length of the recession have driven the Consumer Confidence
Index to historically low levels. The Financial Service sector
appears to be somewhat in disarray, and despite several Federal
Reserve Board attempts to stimulate the economy, the timing of a
recovery is uncertain.

These factors do affect The Walt Disney Company, because our core
businesses benefit from discretionary consumer spending. As a
result, the near-term financial performance will not be as dramatic
as you have seen in the past. The short term effects of the current
economic climate will likely have a negative effect on current
earnings.

Remember, however, ours is a long-term perspective, and we continue
to invest in new initiatives from which we will benefit throughout
the rest of this decade.

Now let me compare our company’s financial performance during the
first quarter of 1991, with that of the first quarter of 1990.

First quarter 1991 total revenue for The Walt Disney Company grew
to almost $1.5 billion, a 16% increase over first quarter 1990.

However, total operating income for the first quarter was basically
flat with the first quarter of the previous year.

First quarter 1991 net income of $170 million showed a 2% decrease
from the first quarter of 1990.

Although first quarter 1991 net income represents a slight
decrease, first quarter 1991 earnings per share increased by 2% to
$1.28 because of fewer shares of stock outstanding.

Within the business segments, first quarter Theme Parks and Resorts
revenue rose 1% from the prior year period to $624 million. Growth
was slowed by a softening in domestic tourism resulting from the
economic concerns I mentioned earlier.

Theme Parks and Resorts operating income for the first quarter
decreased by $25 million to $139 million. In addition to weakening
tourism, another factor affecting operating income was increased
development expense associated with our “Disney Decade” expansion
program.

In the first quarter of 1991, Filmed Entertainment revenue grew by
28% to $647 million. Operating income rose 19% to $92 million.

Consumer Products posted a 34% first quarter revenue increase to
$222 million. Operating income climbed 13% over the prior year
period to $77 million.

In summary, we achieved strong financial results in fiscal 1990 and
are well positioned for long-term success.

Michael and Frank will now tell you about plans for all three of
our business segments. These are the initiatives that will enable
us to meet our 20/20 financial goals for many years to come.

Thank you.

EISNER:

Thank you, Judson…

Each year at this point in the meeting I ask your President and my
partner, Frank Wells, to join me in bringing you up to date on the
state of the business. Please join me now in welcoming Frank to
the stage. Frank…

EISNER CONTINUES:
This year’s meeting is taking place about a month later than usual,
which means we’re very nearly at the end of our second fiscal ’91
quarter.

So rather than concentrate exclusively on 1990, Frank and I will
incorporate some of the more recent highlights in various parts of
the business.

WELLS:

First, let’s look at our filmed entertainment business, which has
developed increasing momentum and strength each year since 1984.

In fact, in the first quarter of this year its revenues surpassed
those of our theme parks for the first time in 26 years.

It is true that theme park revenues were blunted during the quarter
by the impending Gulf War and a weakening economy. But that takes
nothing away from the extraordinary performance of our Studios
division, which is staffed by a talent-rich management team led by
Jeffrey Katzenberg and Richard Frank. The Studios’ success is
merely a healthy reminder that Disney now has strength and balance
that goes beyond any single business segment. In feature films, we
proceed from a position of industry leadership. 1990 was a very
strong year for The Disney Studios, which for the first time ever
earned number one ratings at the boxoffice both at home and around
the world.

EISNER:

For the second time in three years, Disney topped all the major
studios domestically. “Pretty Woman,” with a domestic boxoffice of
more than 178 million dollars, was the second highest grossing film
of the year. Dick Tracy’s 104-million-dollars was ninth highest,
helping lift total domestic boxoffice to more than 621 million
dollars.

WELLS:

Other major films for us in 1990 included:”The Little Mermaid,” the
all-time boxoffice champ for animated features; “Arachnophobia,”
the first release of our new Hollywood Films label; and”Three Men
and a Little Lady.” “The Little Mermaid,” incidentally, was also
the best-selling home video release of 1990, and its Academy
Award-winning soundtrack by Alan Mencken and the late Howard
Ashman, also earned Golden Globe Awards. Recently, the
composer/lyricist team received two Grammy Awards when the
soundtrack was named the best recording for children and “Under The
Sea” was named best song written specifically for motion picture or
television.

“The Jungle Book,” the second most successful animated reissue in
our history, coupled with other summer films such as “Dick Tracy”
and “Arachnophobia,” enabled us to establish a WEEK-END industry
record from August 3rd to 5th last year. On that weekend seventy
four hundred theaters–30 percent of all theaters in the U.S. and
Canada–were showing a Touchstone, Disney or Hollywood Pictures
film.

EISNER:

Our overseas box office results in 1990 were even more impressive.
Our foreign gross of almost 695 million dollars easily topped the
domestic total and made us the number one producer overseas for the
first time ever. Two films, “Pretty Woman” and “Dead Poets
Society,” found huge audiences throughout the world…and
especially in Europe.
“Pretty Woman’s” year-end worldwide gross was 383 million dollars,
making it number one in the world. By the end of February, “Pretty
Woman’s” overseas gross had climbed another 45 million.

Meanwhile, “Dead Poets Society” surpassed its domestic boxoffice
gross with an international take of more than 131 million dollars
through year-end.

WELLS:

1991 will be a year rich in Disney-labeled films for the entire
family.

In January, we released “White Fang,” an adaptation of the Jack
London classic that received very favorable reviews and enjoyed
solid attendance.

“Shipwrecked” was released a few weeks ago, also to good reviews
and attendance.

EISNER:

Two other films in the same family category are Walt Disney
Pictures’ “Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken,” which is scheduled for an
April release, and “The Rocketeer,” one of our major summer movies.

“The Rocketeer” comes directly from the pages of the comic books of
the same name and introduces a new hero to the American screen and
to our Disney character lineup.

[RUN “ROCKETEER” TEASER]

WELLS:

Other Disney family films slated for 1991 include the re-release of
“101 Dalmatians” in July and our all-new animated feature for 1991,
“Beauty and The Beast,” scheduled for Thanksgiving. “Beauty and The
Beast” will be Disney’s 30th full-length animated feature and the
fourth we’ve produced in the past four years. Like “The Little
Mermaid,” it will feature the music of Alan Mencken and the late
Howard Ashman. Here is a very rough early scene from the movie.
It’s so rough, some of the scenes are still in pencil test:

[ROLL BEAUTY AND BEAST]

EISNER:

We’ve got a full slate of pictures from our Touchstone and
Hollywood Picture labels this year. “Oscar,” a soon-to-be-released
Touchstone comedy, stars (“Rocky”) Sylvester Stallone, as the son
of a Mafia father whose deathbed wish is that his son quit the
Mafia and go straight. Here are scenes from that movie:

[ROLL “OSCAR” TRAILER]
EISNER:

Hollywood Pictures is planning a special comedy treat, Neil Simon’s
“The Marrying Man,” opening April 5th.

Let’s look at some scenes from that movie:

[ROLL “THE MARRYING MAN” TRAILER]

WELLS:

Touchstone is slating two major releases for the all-important
summer months: One is”What About Bob?,” starring Bill Murray and
Richard Dreyfuss.

The second is”Billy Bathgate,” starring Dustin Hoffman and Bruce
Willis and based on the best-selling novel by E. L. Doctorow about
a young man who rises through the ranks of the Dutch Schultz mob.
Both pictures will open in June.

Our new Hollywood Pictures label will also be prominent during the
coming months. Scheduled for a May release is”One Good Cop,”
starring Michael Keaton of “Batman” fame.

A July debut is planned for “Warshawski,” based on the popular
series of detective novels featuring a hard-boiled woman
investigator.

Kathleen Turner will play the title role.

EISNER:

Network and syndicated television are areas in which we have made
substantial progress since our last annual meeting.

In network TV, “Carol & Company,” an anthology series starring
Carol Burnett, joined our highly successful tandem of “Golden
Girls” and “Empty Nest” to make a potent Disney lineup on Saturday
nights for NBC.

These shows plus our continuing Saturday morning children’s
favorite,”The New Adventures of Winnie The Pooh,” and a regular
series of Disney specials such as “Polly–Coming Home” and “A Mom
for Christmas” anchor our expanding efforts in network television.

We have four mid season shows.

They are:”Blossom,” which airs at 8:30 p.m. Mondays on NBC.
“Blossom” is the story of a 14-year-old girl growing up in totally
male surroundings. It’s off to a good start in the ratings.

WELLS:

“S.T.A.T.,” which will make its debut in April on ABC, is a
half-hour comedy centering on a big city hospital emergency room.
It is produced by Danny Arnold, creator of “Barney Miller.”

EISNER:

“The Disney Hour” will launch a one-hour series on NBC on Easter
night. The Disney series is called”The Hundred Lives of Blackjack
Savage,” and it tells the story of a Wall Street tycoon who teams
up with the ghost of a notorious pirate in a Caribbean castle, both
seeking redemption for their cruel lives by saving others.

WELLS:

And, finally, “Dinosaurs,” another ABC show that will debut next
month.

It features a family of green-skinned blue collar characters
created by Jim Henson Productions, which is co-producing with us.

EISNER:

Disney experienced a great loss during the past year. It was the
sudden death of our friend and associate Jim Henson, creator of The
Muppets, a quiet genius and one of the most talented entertainers
I have known. I’m pleased to report, however, that we will continue
to work with Jim Henson Productions on a number of projects, and
“Dinosaurs” is just one example.

WELLS:

Looking a little further down the line, we are developing a
half-hour animated children’s series, which will in effect be a
“prequel” to “The Little Mermaid.”This program will be a Saturday
morning network show starting in the fall of 1992. In addition,
we’re pleased to report that we have already received commitments
for 10 new primetime network pilots in the fall.

Five of these are with NBC, three with ABC and two with CBS.

EISNER:

All three networks and the Disney channel will devote the week of
April 15 to highlight the importance of education. The cornerstone
of the NBC effort will be”she stood alone”a TV movie produced by
Disney and scheduled to air from 9 to 11 p.m., April 15.

It stars Mare Whittingham and portrays the life of Prudence
Crandall, a Southern lady known as the “mother of black education”
for her courageous battle earlier this century to open a school for
young black children.

WELLS:

Television syndication continues to be a major success story for
Disney. Starting last fall, we began airing 18 hours of syndicated
programming per week on major stations across the nation.

“The Golden Girls,” which entered syndication for the first time in
the fall, continued its winning ways by becoming the number one
off-network show of the year.

Meanwhile, “Live with Regis and Kathie Lee” achieved ratings
success that enabled it to move from its morning slot into more
lucrative afternoon hours in many major markets.

Movie critic stars “Siskel & Ebert” continue to outshine all
others, and a new game show hosted by Dick Clark, “The
Challengers,” made its debut in the fall.

In the fall of 1992, we also will begin syndicating the top-rated
reality-based NBC series “Unsolved Mysteries.”

EISNER:

Our biggest success in TV syndication is “The Disney Afternoon,” a
two-hour segment of animated cartoons consisting of 30-minute
episodes of “DuckTales,” “Chip ‘n Dale’s Rescue Rangers,””The
Adventures of the Gummi Bears” and “Tale Spin,” which debuted last
fall.

We plan to introduce new series and new characters each year to
keep “The Disney Afternoon” a fresh and exciting viewing
experience. Here’s a preview of three new replacement shows now in
production for future seasons:

[ROLL DISNEY AFTERNOON]

WELLS:

Overseas, our Disney Club shows are top rated in France, the U.K.,
Holland, Spain, Germany, Italy, Australia and Venezuela–each of
the eight countries where they are being carried. The combined
average weekly audience of the Disney Clubs is nearly23 million,
and new clubs are slated for launch in Portugal, Brazil, Mexico,
Denmark and Sweden in the months ahead.

During the past year, we’ve extended our television reach to four
former Iron Curtain countries–the Soviet Union, Poland,
Czechoslovakia and Hungary.

Programming includes dubbed episodes of “DuckTales,” “Rescue
Rangers,” and “The Wonderful World of Disney.”

EISNER:

In 1990, The Disney Channel continued to record more growth than
any other pay television service as it passed the five million
subscriber mark. During the year, it won two Emmy Awards out of
eight nominations, a significant achievement for a cable service.

One of the major television events of the year was the Channel’s
inaugural production of “The American Teachers Awards,”
highlighting the extraordinary contributions to society made by
American teachers.

USA TODAY called the program “the best awards show of the year.”
Here are some scenes from our Teacher Awards Program:

[ROLL TEACHERS AWARD]

WELLS:

The Disney Channel has taken to producing more and more of its own
programming, a growing trend throughout the cable industry. The
movies are generally about families, and the interrelationships
between parents and children. The focus is on people finding
themselves and building character.

Some recent examples are “Back to Hannibal: The Return of Tom
Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn,” starring Paul Winfield and Ned
Beatty, “Mark Twain and Me,” with Jason Robards and Talia Shire,
and “Perfect Harmony.”An important new program addition during the
current season is “The Magical World of Disney,” which moved from
network TV to the Channel in September. During 1991, the show will
air world television premieres of “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids,”
“Bambi,” and “The Little Mermaid.”

EISNER:

If ever a chart told a story of dominance, this one does. As you
can see, it lists the 10 all-time best-selling videocassettes.

Seven are Disney titles, and four were released by us during the
past year–“The Little Mermaid,” with sales of nine million units,
“Pretty Woman,” with seven million, “Peter Pan,” also seven
million, and “Honey I Shrunk the Kids,” five million.

WELLS:

Buena Vista Home Video led all other studios for the third straight
year in the North American rental market. An impressive
demonstration of Home Video’s marketing expertise was its release
of “Elvis:The Great Performances,” the group’s first venture into
music video programming.

Both volumes of Elvis achieved top-10 position on the charts and
now rank among the best-selling movie videos of all time.

EISNER:

Last month, in another new venture, Home Video released the first
six volumes of “The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle,” a
compendium of favorite characters and stories by the late Jay Ward
of early television fame.

In Billboard’s most recent listing of best-selling videos,
“Bullwinkle” Volumes I through IV ranked second, fourth, sixth and
eighth respectively. Here’s an excerpt from “Bullwinkle’s”
promotional reel:

[ROLL ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE]

WELLS:

Our next major video release, “The Jungle Book,” is scheduled for
May.

The international segment of Buena Vista Home Video continued its
rapid growth in 1990, extending its reach by year’s end to more
than 45 nations around the world.

Overseas gross revenues have increased four-fold since 1986 and
nearly doubled in the past year alone.

EISNER:

As the world’s attention shifted to the conflict in the Middle East
this year, more and more attention in Southern California shifted
to KCAL, our Los Angeles television outlet that offers an
unprecedented three hours of prime time news nightly.

KCAL, the only station in the nation with such a news-oriented
format, received the Golden Mike Award in January for the best
60-minute news broadcast.

In addition, it won awards for best news reporting, best news
series and best investigative reporting. The station’s prime time
news program increased its viewership almost60 percent with the
onset of the Persian Gulf war.

It was one of the few independent stations in the country to have
two correspondents anda TV crew reporting directly from the war
zone.

WELLS:

In 1989 we announced the formation of Hollywood Records, a company
we created to move Disney into the mainstream record business, a
business much larger than the film business.

I’m happy to report today that Hollywood Records is moving swiftly
to earn its place in the market.

Its first release was by a new group called “The Party,” made up of
members of “The New Mickey Mouse Club.” Their first single,
“Summer Vacation,” was released in July.
Hollywood Records has already signed 18 acts, most of them groups.

EISNER:

The big news, as rock and roll fans will recognize, was the signing
of Queen, a group whose popularity goes back 20 years.

You may recall two of its bigger hits, “We Are The Champions” and
“We Will Rock You.”Just last month, Hollywood Records released
Queen’s newest album, “Innuendo,” celebrating the group’s 20th
anniversary. The album is enjoying great success, becoming
Hollywood Records’ first gold disc by selling almost 600,000 units.

It also certified gold in Canada. The first single from the album,
“Headlong,” recently reached number two in the charts and was
chosen as a “Breakthrough Video” by MTV.

Hollywood Records will issue the entire catalog of Queen albums for
the first time digitally remastered on CD.

Here are some glimpses of this famed musical group which has sold
more than 80 million records and toured28 countries in their20 year
history.

[ROLL QUEEN TAPE]

WELLS:

Rapid expansion in the U.S. and increased activity in many
international markets made 1990 the most successful year ever for
Disney Consumer Products. Under the leadership of Bo Boyd,
operating profits continued to grow even as new businesses were
being launched and expanded.

Growth in Disney Specialty Retail, which is responsible for both
the Disney Stores and catalog sales, continues to be substantial.
We estimate that last year some 35 million guests visited a Disney
Store.

EISNER:

The rapid expansion of The Disney Store network brought the number
of stores to80 at the end of 1990 with a target of 120 by the end
of 1991.

We marked two retailing milestones during the year.

In April, we opened a prototype Mickey’s Kitchen, the first Disney
restaurant outside a theme park or resort, alongside a new Disney
Store at Montclair Plaza mall east of Los Angeles. It was an
immediate success.

Near the end of the year, we opened the first Disney Store outside
the U.S. on Regent Street in London. It immediately became our best
performer with sales several times the average of other Disney
Stores, prompting us to move ahead swiftly to open three additional
stores in the U.K. by the end of this year and more than a dozen
more in Europe by the end of next year.

WELLS:

A second experimental Mickey’s Kitchen will open in April alongside
a Disney Store near Chicago.

Mickey’s Kitchens are designed to be fun and offer something for
just about everyone.

The menu reflects our desire to offer low-fat, low-salt,
low-cholesterol and vegetarian alternatives at all our restaurants,
including those throughout our theme parks and resorts.

EISNER:

While our progress in new business areas is always exciting, the
major share of our Consumer Product revenues and profits still
comes from our more established business areas. The first
handmade Mickey Mouse doll was licensed in the 1930’s. Today our
licensing group operates out of 29 offices in the 70 or so
countries in which we do business.

It is responsible for some 3,000 contracts with top manufacturers
in almost every product category imaginable.

Today, the emphasis is on fewer, but BETTER, licensees in many of
our product areas. This gives us greater control over the quality
of licensed products and improves our ability to work more closely
with licensees.

A second strategy has been to develop what we call character
“brands” that have year-round appeal. “Disney Babies” is such a
brand.

Through this program, we coordinate products for infants made by 40
non-competitive licensees.

WELLS:

In film and television licensing, we sign up companies to
participate in opportunities connected with our upcoming movies or
current television shows.

This year, we will link up with more than 100 licensees whose
merchandise will help promote “Beauty and the Beast,” “The
Rocketeer,” “Darkwing Duck” and “101 Dalmatians.”Meanwhile, Mattel,
which since 1988 has been our major standard character pre-school
toy licensee, recently signed on to produce and market a line of
toys and fashion dolls based on characters from classic movies.

EISNER:

Disney Publishing underwent a growth explosion in 1990.

Until last year, our role in publishing was primarily as a
licensor, and we continue to license books telling Disney stories
and involving Disney characters to publishers who distribute
through mass marketing outlets.

Twin Books, for example, sold almost two million copies of “The
Little Mermaid” last year. But early in the year, we embarked on
a comprehensive program to establish Disney as a full-fledged
publisher in many other categories.

WELLS:

In April, Disney Publishing began producing the U. S. comics we had
previously licensed, adding six new titles to our roster and
bringing the total to eight.

EISNER:

Next we launched a juvenile trade book line to publish non-Disney
children’s titles from the world’s best authors and illustrators.

WELLS:

Then we formed a general interest book division, which during this
first year, will publish some 50 titles for adults, including
popular fiction, biographies and histories.

EISNER:

And most recently, we’ve formed a Magazine Publishing group, which
produces the Mickey Mouse Magazine for very young children and
“Disney Adventures,” a new monthly magazine for children and
youngsters 7 to 14.

WELLS:

The past year has been a busy one for Walt Disney Records, which
concentrates on selling Disney music on record, tape and compact
discs. Already the largest children’s record company in the world,
it has increased its efforts in finding and developing young
recording artists and new character concepts.

During the past year, for example, it launched the singing career
of 11-year-old Christa Larson of the U.S.

And Canadian comedian-musician Norman Foote. A current project
involves an all-star compilation album to benefit the Pediatric
AIDS Foundation. The album will feature a selection of children’s
songs by Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Sting, Elton John, Paula Abdul,
James Taylor and Barbra Streisand among others.
EISNER:

Disney Audio Entertainment is a world leader in producing
read-along products and sound storybooks.

Its most dramatic success during the year was its sale of more than
a million units of “The Little Mermaid” book-and-cassette
read-along.

Walt Disney Computer Software is a relatively new business that
holds great promise. It develops and markets challenging and
entertaining educational programs and games for both computers and
electronic game systems. Several Disney-licensed video games were
best sellers in 1990.

WELLS:

Overseas, the European/Middle East Region has as one of its goals
increasing the awareness of Disney in anticipation of next spring’s
opening of Euro Disney.

In our view, the potential of the European market with 350 million
people is virtually limitless.

Records and Music in the region surged far ahead of expectations
due to excellent growth in Germany, the Scandinavian countries,
Italy and France.

The first album by Disney’s French singer Anne, “La Petite Siren”
(or “The Little Mermaid”), earned a gold record status for sales
over 100,000 copies.

Consumer Products/Europe is responsible for creative control of 74
Disney publications in 20 languages. Weekly readership of these
magazines exceeds 20 million.

Last month Fleetway, part of the huge U.K. Maxwell Consumer
Magazines group, introduced a Disney weekly comics magazine for 7
to 12-year-olds and this month it is introducing a Disney monthly
for ages 3 to 7. A November agreement with French publisher
Hachette created a company called Disney/Hachette Press that will
publish both Disney and non-Disney magazines.

EISNER:

Meanwhile, following the “fewer but better” strategy pioneered in
the United States, Europe has reduced its number of licensees from
fifteen hundred to one thousand, thus increasing its ability to
control quality and associate Disney with companies that are
leaders in their fields.

We are also building business relationships in countries formerly
behind the Iron Curtain.

Our magazine, Mickey Maus (that’s M-A-U-S, if you please), was
actually banned from East Germany for many years, but with the
opening of the border, it has become a major seller there again.

In May, we introduced a Mickey Mouse comic to Moscow, and all
200,000 copies of the first edition sold out in a single day. We
could easily have sold a million copies if we had enough paper.

WELLS:

Japan is the shining light of our consumer products business in the
Asia/Pacific Region. Per capita spending on Disney merchandise is
twice in Japan what it is in the United States.

EISNER:

That’s not too surprising, Frank, when you consider that on one
memorable day more mouse ears were sold at Tokyo Disneyland than
there were people in the park.

WELLS:

WALT Disney HIMSELF ESTABLISHED A strong presence for THE COMPANY
in Latin America. Jose Carioca and other Disney characters helped
us sell 27 million comics in Brazil alone last year. In a major new
agreement, Disney comics are now also being sold in every Spanish
speaking country in the region.

EISNER:

It’s time now to take a look at our theme parks, where the
big…bigger…biggest news is our April, 1992 opening of Phase I,
Euro Disney, which is the new name of the entire 5,000 acre resort
complex we will develop 20 miles east of Paris over the next 30
years.

We are tremendously optimistic about Euro Disney, and you will see
why in a few minutes. We are equally pleased about plans for
California, Florida and Tokyo over these next several years of what
we’re calling the Disney Decade.

WELLS:

As you know, 1990 was a year of solid performance at all our U.S.
parks, thanks to our all-star cast under the leadership of Dick
Nunis. It was also a banner year at Tokyo Disneyland. In the U.S.
attendance was healthy at all parks…but especially strong at the
Disney-MGM Studio Theme Park, where we now can handle twice as many
guests as before and where we experienced strong attendance gains
through August. That’s when we and the rest of the tourism industry
began to feel the effects of a weakened national economy and the
uncertainty surrounding the occupation of Kuwait.

You may have read that immediately after the outbreak of war in
January, international travel dipped dramatically. To offset the
fall-off in air travel, we set into motion strong promotional
efforts at Disneyland and Walt Disney World to encourage attendance
by nearby residents.

These programs were helpful, and now that the war is over, air
travel is increasing rapidly, which we expect will be a harbinger
of strengthening tourism.

EISNER:

Meanwhile, our plans for the Disney Decade are moving forward
swiftly. During the 90s, the number of new projects planned for
California and Florida totals more than 60. They include pavilions,
attractions, hotels, rides, revues, adventures, extravaganzas and
entertainment centers. And beyond all these are five new theme
parks–one in California and one in Florida plus the two planned
for Euro Disney and a second gate at Tokyo Disneyland.

WELLS:

In the U. S., the Disney Decade got off to a fast start last year
when we formally opened the “Star Tours” attraction at the
Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park. At the same time, we dedicated the
nearby 758-room Walt Disney World Swan Hotel and later in the year
opened the 1,500-room Walt Disney World Dolphin. In the fall, we
opened Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Resorts, which provide more
than twelve hundred rooms.

EISNER:

In the wake of the tremendous success of our Caribbean Beach Resort
in Florida, we’re building other moderately priced hotels,
including the thousand-room Port Orleans Resort, which will reflect
the ambiance of New Orleans’ famed French Quarter when it opens in
mid-year, and the Dixie Landings Resort, scheduled to open in 1992.

Other 1990 highlights in Florida included the opening of Delta Air
Lines’ Dreamflight attraction at the Magic Kingdom and the December
premiere of the “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure” at
the Studios Theme Park.

WELLS:

Coming up this summer at the Disney-MGM Studios is an exciting new
attraction featuring the Muppets.

It’s a brand new 3-D movie starring Kermit and the gang–a show
guaranteed to put Miss Piggy right in your lap…whether you want
her there or not.

We’ve got ambitious plans as well for our other two Florida parks.

Our Epcot Center plans call for a magnificent Space Pavilion for
Future World.

Here guests will discover the wonders of outer space in an exciting
new voyage.

EISNER:

In Epcot Center’s World Showcase area, plans are well along to
premiere two other new pavilions:One is a Switzerland pavilion,
featuring a 15-story Matterhorn Mountain with a breathtaking
bobsled ride, ending in a picturesque Swiss village…

And, a Soviet Union pavilion is still a hoped-for addition during
the decade. This is the pavilion guests tell us they’d most like to
see in World Showcase.

Our third Florida park–the “flagship” Magic Kingdom–will
celebrate its 20th anniversary this fall.

“Surprise” will be the main element of the celebration…surprise
events, surprise gifts for guests, surprise happenings, surprise
drawings…the works. Next year we’ll reach new heights in the
Magic Kingdom with the East Coast opening of “Splash Mountain,”
already one of the all-time favorites at Disneyland.

WELLS:

As you know, Disneyland celebrated its 35th birthday last year.
This year the excitement continues with special appearances by the
stars of “The Disney Afternoon” in parades, photo sessions and
other events throughout the park. Highlighting the numerous
activities will be “Plane Crazy,” a musical show on the Videopolis
stage featuring Baloo and Louie, the stars of “TaleSpin.”Meanwhile,
we’re working on plans for Mickey’s Toontown, a permanent home
built just in time for our favorite mouse’s 65th birthday in 1993.
Mickey’s Toontown will also be the location of a new and wild Roger
Rabbit ride.

EISNER:

The big question in Southern California now revolves around where
we will build our second theme park. For some time now, we’ve been
studying sites adjacent to Disneyland here in Anaheim and near the
Queen Mary in Long Beach.

Last July we submitted a detailed proposal for an ocean-oriented
theme park and resort complex called Port Disney to Long Beach
officials.

Our Anaheim proposal for a second theme park and resort complex
will be formally presented to city officials within 30 TO 45 DAYS.

We have gone to great lengths in Long Beach…and will do the same
in Anaheim…
to review our proposed plans with members of the community and
solicit their comments and concerns.

We are excited by the potential of each project and are continuing
our feasibility work in both cities.

A decision on the two projects is not expected before year-end.

WELLS:

Following the dictum that one picture is worth a thousand words,
we’d now like to show you two brief films on our Euro Disney
project. The first film is slightly more than a year old. It
describes the Euro Disney project, and, through the use of models,
shows what the project will look like at the completion of Phase
One construction.

[ROLL EURO DISNEY FILM]

EISNER:

Now for a project update. Here is Euro Disney one year later–in
January of this year. No more models. What you’ll see here is the
largest single construction project currently underway in Europe.

[ROLL EURO DISNEY TWO]

EISNER:

I think you’ll agree that these two films say it all:Euro Disney,
scheduled to open 13 months from now, is on time and on budget.
Between now and opening day, it will hire and train more than
10,000 new cast members.

WELLS:

Tokyo Disneyland, a theme park much like the original Disneyland,
is one of the great success stories since its opening in 1983.

We fully expect Euro Disney, a total resort complex, to more than
match that success when it opens, and with a major difference. This
time we will have an ownership position as well as income from
royalties and management fees.

EISNER:

Frank, and now on a totally different subject, I would like for all
of the Walt Disney company, for all of our 55,000 cast members and
for our board of directors sitting in front of you… To thank the
men and women of our armed forces who risked their lives in the
middle east.

WELLS:

and may they all return home soon.

This brief film clip from KCAL expresses the feelings of all of us.

[RUN KCAL PROMO]

EISNER:

That concludes our report on the state of your company.

Thank you very much.

(PAUSE)

And now time for the question and answer period. Frank, please
explain the procedures we’ll use.

WELLS:

As you see, we have stations where there are microphones. If there
is a question you would like to ask, please go to a microphone near
where you are sitting and wait to be recognized.

Because of time limitations, each person will be given the chance
to ask one question only. After everyone has had an opportunity to
speak once, and if time permits, additional questions may be asked.
We’re ready for the first question.

(NOTE: AT THE APPROPRIATE TIME, A QUESTION FROM MICROPHONE 15)

EISNER:

Thank you for the motion. I will now limit questions to those who
are currently at the microphone stations.

That appears to be all the questions we have time for. Again, thank
you for joining us today and for your continued support.

I deem the motion to adjourn the meeting moved and seconded.

All those in favor, please signify with the phrase, “April In
Paris…”The meeting is now adjourned.

==========================
animation/long.messages #47, from hmccracken, 50 chars, Mon May 6 22:24:08 1991
This is a comment to message 46.
————————–
Wow! Thanks, Steve…Very interesting!
— Harry

==========================
animation/long.messages #48, from hmccracken, 116 chars, Tue Aug 6 16:19:05 1991
————————–
The next message is the text of something I wrote for the
next issue of Emru Townsend’s fanzine, _Quark_.
– -Harry

==========================
animation/long.messages #49, from hmccracken, 5464 chars, Tue Aug 6 16:20:12 1991
————————–
Felix: the Twisted Tale of the World’s Most Famous Cat
By John Canemaker
Pantheon

Call Felix the Cat the Mickey Rooney of the animation
world. After a brilliant start, his career has had more fallow
periods than highlights, and he’s often come precariously
close to being forgotten by the American public. But that
public does have a certain affection for him that keeps his
career alive, and like Rooney, Felix has outlasted most of
the studios that employed him and shows every sign of
outliving most of us as well. His story is well worth telling,
and John Canemaker’s Felix: the Twisted Tale of the
World’s Most Famous Cat does an admirable job of doing
so.

When I first heard about this book, I found somewhat
dubious the prospect of an art book devoted to a character
who appeared mainly in black-and-white, graphically
primitive cartoons, and who hasn’t made a film of note in
sixty years. But Canemaker knows exactly what kind of
book Felix’s career will support, and this is not a coffee-
table behemoth but rather a modest, small-scale volume
that devotes almost all its space to Felix’s glory days in the
1920s and makes no attempt to convince us that those Felix
TV cartoons of the 1960s were great art. I can imagine
similarly formatted books being done about a number of
cartoon stars whose careers flourished mainly in the black-
and-white days, including Popeye and Betty Boop (both
owned, like Felix, by King Features). Perhaps Canemaker
will write them.

Animation fans have known for a long time that Pat
Sullivan plastered his name all over Felix’s films but didn’t
create the character, and that his death from alcoholism was
in part responsible for Felix’s decline as a cartoon celebrity.
Canemaker tells us much more, little of which will improve
Sullivan’s reputation. While we learn that Sullivan was a
competent cartoonist early in his career and see numerous
examples of his newspaper work, we also discover that he
spent time in prison for rape. Canemaker also sheds a lot of
light on just why Felix’s stardom ended so abruptly, which
happened for a number of legal, financial, and box-office
related reasons.

The other man we associate with Felix is Otto Messmer,
the character’s creator (though among the book’s interesting
tidbits is the fact that Bill Nolan was responsible for the
Felix design we’re most familiar with today). Canemaker
takes a fairly benign view of the unusual Sullivan-Messmer
relationship — brash Sullivan marketing the character and
taking most of the money and all of the glory for himself,
shy Messmer doing the creative work for little pay and no
credit. Shamus Culhane, whose career encompassed most
of the classic studios *except* Sullivan’s, sees Sullivan and
Messmer’s business partnership as having had almost sado-
masochistic undertones. Whatever way you look at it, it’s
clear that Sullivan would have had nothing to promote
without Messmer’s wonderful cartoons, and Messmer was
too withdrawn and unassuming to have ever become a
Walt Disney-like artist/entrepreneur all by himself. It was
the peculiar synergy of their personalities that made Felix
the first real star of animation.

After Felix’s film career was derailed around 1930,
Messmer occupied himself with other artistic projects,
including writing and drawing the Felix newspaper strip
and comic books. Eventually, he found rewarding work as
an animator of those gaudy Times Square electric signs. It’s
nice to know, as Canemaker reminds us, that Messmer
lived long enough to receive full recognition as Felix’s
father and one of the most important figures in animation
history. Like Ub Iwerks, Messmer never received the
monetary rewards he might have for his contributions to
the artform, but both men were able to lead long and happy
careers, quietly doing work they enjoyed.

The three color-and-sound Felix cartoons that the Van
Beuren studio made in the 1930s — which have become
widely available on public domain videotapes — are
discussed only briefly in this book, although Canemaker
does tell us that Messmer came quite close to working on
them. Also touched on only lightly are the Joe Oriolo-
produced Felix TV cartoons (which are well-remembered
by Baby Boomers but artistically pretty vacant), and the
Felix comic strips and books (which were of more interest,
at least when written and drawn by Messmer). While it’s
fine that Canemaker devotes most of his space to Felix’s
great years, a *little* more information on some of the
sidelights of Felix’s career, like the recent Hungarian Felix
animated feature, might have been worthwhile.

Like Canemaker’s biography of Winsor McCay, this book
is superbly researched and wonderfully illustrated.
Canemaker is better than anyone else at taking a murky
topic from the early days of comic art or animation, then
coming up with important facts, photos, and artwork
relating to the topic that have never seen print before.

Like the McCay book, this one gets a little dry and
scholarly from time to time; Canemaker makes no attempt
to convey the sense of fun that Felix’s cartoons had in his
writing. In fact, a little more lively criticism of the things
he discusses is just about the only thing that might
significantly improve Canemaker’s work. Otherwise, Felix:
the Twisted Tale of The World’s Most Famous Cat is a
shining example of what a book about animation can and
should be.

==========================
animation/long.messages #50, from hmccracken, 170 chars, Mon Aug 12 13:53:09 1991
————————–
TITLE: Blanc Tribute
The next message contains the text of a piece on Mel Blanc that I
wrote for Emru (Switch) Townsend’s _Quark_ not long after Blanc’s
death.
— Harry

==========================
animation/long.messages #51, from hmccracken, 8257 chars, Mon Aug 12 13:59:41 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
=====================================================
=Looney Tunes And Merrie Mel: A Tribute To Mel Blanc=
=Harry McCracken =
=====================================================

Fate’s eye for the ironic was unusually sharp when she took Mel Blanc and
Laurence Olivier from us within the space of a day or so. One does not want to
make too much of the coincidence; but if Olivier is commonly regarded as the
finest stage actor of the century, Mel Blanc is the Olivier of animated-cartoon
voice acting… and even that is something of an understatement. His place in
the history of his unusual artform really is that important.

The many newspaper stories which followed Blanc’s death dwelt on subjects like
the creation of Bugs Bunny, and Blanc’s 1961 automobile accident and subsequent
recovery. I won’t try to cover such biographical details here: Blanc himself did
so capably enough in his autobiography, That’s Not All Folks!, which was
published by Warner Books last year.

The newspaper obituaries also emphasized the superficial aspects of Blanc’s
work: the catch phrases such as “What’s Up, Doc?” and “Sufferin’ Succotash”
(which Blanc was not necessarily responsible for), and vocal gimmicks like Porky
Pig’s stuttering and Sylvester’s slobbering. But Blanc’s greatness scarcely lied
there, or even, entirely, in the dazzling range of voices he commanded.

I mean no disrespect to the other great animation voice artists — among them
June Foray, and the late and much-missed Daws Butler, Paul Frees, and Bill Scott
— when I say that Blanc was incomparably the greatest cartoon voice actor of
them all. And what an odd, difficult job the voice artist has: to speak in a
purposefully silly voice, designed to match a cartoon rabbit, duck, woodpecker,
or Tasmanian devil, and yet deliver dialogue with feeling and warmth. That Blanc
provided voices for so many characters is indeed remarkable, but more remarkable
still was just how good each individual voice was.

Blanc did not enter the field he would soon be synonymous with at its very
start: human beings had been providing voices for animated characters for a
decade before he began doing so. Some of the voices, like Clarence Nash’s Donald
Duck, Jack Mercer’s Popeye, and Walt Disney’s very own Mickey Mouse, were pretty
appealing, and responsible for much of their characters’ popularity. But the
average cartoon star delivered his dialogue — which was generally brief and
unimportant — in a voice that had no real relation to whatever personality the
character had. (It isn’t surprising that the voices were crude. They were often
provided not by professional actors but by animators and other studio workers in
their spare time.)

Most of Blanc’s early Warner voices were pleasant but unremarkable, which made
sense: he was providing them for the pleasant-but-unremarkable Warner characters
of the day. The first appearance of Daffy Duck, in Tex Avery’s Porky’s Duck Hunt
(1937), roughly marked the beginning of development that would lead to its great
Warner Bros. cartoons of the 1940s and 1950s, and as the sophistication of the
studio’s artists grew, Blanc’s facility always kept pace. Daffy Duck began life as an
uncomplicated lunatic with a whooping laugh; Bugs Bunny started out as a
white rabbit with a nasal, almost Goofy-like voice. By the mid 1940s, the
cartoons and characters were at their most exquisitely looney; so were Blanc’s
recordings. And when, in the 1950s, the Warner cartoons became a little more
restrained and character-oriented Blanc’s voices took on their subtleties.

Selecting a single performance as Blanc’s best is next to impossible: unlike
most actors, he leaves us hundreds and hundreds of films, few of which exceed
seven minutes in length. But I have my favorites. Some of Blanc’s earliest
tour-de-forces come in Bob Clampett’s Bugs Bunny cartoons: the rabbit’s manic
lust for an Oscar in What’s Cookin’ Doc (1943) and futile attempt to rewrite the
fable of the Tortoise and the Hare in Tortoise Wins by a Hare (also 1943).

Then there is Friz Freleng’s Hare Brush (1955), in which Bugs Bunny, brainwashed
into the misbelief that he is Elmer Fudd, speaks in a voice that takes on the
cadences of Fudd’s diction without entirely losing those of Bugs’ speech. And
how about Freleng’s Oscar-winning Birds Anonymous (1957), with Blanc in top form
as Sylvester, Tweety, and the cat who convinces Sylvester (temporarily, of
course) to kick the Tweety-bird habit?

Blanc’s most textured, complex voice may have been that which he gave Daffy
Duck, and Daffy’s desperate, lisping attempts to take charge of things were
never more funny than in his battle with an unseen cartoonist in Chuck Jones’s
Duck Amuck (1953). Best of all, there’s Chuck Jones’s 1957 masterpiece What’s
Opera, Doc?, with what is possibly the finest soundtrack of any animated
cartoon: the neat telescoping of Wagner’s “Ring Cycle” into six minutes, and
Blanc and Arthur Q. (Elmer Fudd) Bryan’s incomparable singing of Michael
Maltese’s lyrics.

Which is not to suggest that all of Blanc’s best work came in well-known
cartoons with famous characters. Jones’s cartoon The Hypochondri-Cat (1950),
starring the second-string characters Hubie and Bertie (mice) and Claude Cat,
features one of Blanc’s most delectable performances. Through a series of events
too complicated and funny to be recorded here, Claude has been led to believe
that he has died and become an angel, and must flap his golden wings and head
towards heaven. Claude’s transformation from terrified, hysterical pussycat to
serene angel is priceless, and accomplished as much through Blanc’s dialogue as
through the animation.

(You may detect a bias towards the work of Chuck Jones in the above comments. I
cannot truthfully deny it. The bias is not without reason: Jones, and storyman
Maltese, gave Blanc some wonderful material to work with, and he always made the
most of it.)

Blanc is so closely identified with the Warner Bros. cartoons that the
prodigious amount of non-Warner work he did is easily forgotten. His
contributions to radio are well-remembered; his many phonograph records somewhat
less so. In the late thirties and early forties he could frequently be heard in
cartoons from studios other than Warner, and he provided the voice of one major
non-Warner star (Woody Woodpecker) in that character’s ascendancy, and of two
others (Tom and Jerry) in their waning days.

As radio and theatrical animation fell into decline by the early 1960s, he also
became a mainstay of TV animation. The Warner characters appeared in animation
made especially for the medium, and for The Flintstones Blanc provided the
intentionally-unlike-Art-Carney voice of Barney Rubble, as well as Dino’s barks.
Other Blanc-voiced characters — the vast majority of his TV performances were
for Hanna-Barbera — included George Jetson’s boss, Mr. Spacely, and Secret
Squirrel.

Little if any of Blanc’s television performances matched the greatness of what
he had accomplished at Warner Bros. One is tempted to attribute this to a number
of causes: his advancing age, his smoking habit, or possibly residual effects of
the above-mentioned car accident.

Ultimately, though, it’s probably television animation’s fault, not Blanc’s. His
Warner work was a challenge that he rose to impeccably; after it, TV voice work
— which is too often largely a matter of conveying what’s going on, since the
visuals rarely can do it — was a poor vehicle for his talents. As Chuck Jones’s
widely-quoted comment goes, TV animation isn’t much more than illustrated radio
— and the scripts Blanc had to work with in series likes Captain Caveman and
Heathcliff and Friends were hardly of Jack Benny Show caliber.

All of which reminds us how nice it is that Blanc was a young man looking for a
job in Hollywood in the mid-1930s. Had he done so a few years before, there
would have been no sound cartoons to require his talents, and if he had come
onto the scene a few years later, the Warner Bros. characters might have found
other, less memorable voices. They were lucky to find Mel Blanc; he was lucky to
find them. Most of all, fans of animation are immeasurably fortunate that they
found each other.

==========================
animation/long.messages #52, from paulr, 122 chars, Mon Aug 12 17:26:31 1991
This is a comment to message 51.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
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————————–
Thanks for posting that! May we have permission to copy it? I would like to post it on UseNet and in my office. 🙂
-Paul

==========================
animation/long.messages #53, from hmccracken, 29 chars, Mon Aug 12 17:37:31 1991
This is a comment to message 52.
There are additional comments to message 52.
————————–
Golly! Feel free!
— Harry

==========================
animation/long.messages #54, from switch, 82 chars, Mon Aug 12 22:42:58 1991
This is a comment to message 52.
————————–
Better yet; download ‘quarkv13.arc’ from /listings and get the whole
mag 🙂

Emru

==========================
animation/long.messages #55, from jshook, 59 chars, Mon Aug 12 23:58:14 1991
This is a comment to message 51.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–

That’s a wonderful piece, Harry. Thanks for posting it.

==========================
animation/long.messages #56, from hmccracken, 22 chars, Tue Aug 13 09:14:03 1991
This is a comment to message 55.
————————–
Thanks, Jim!
— Harry

==========================
animation/long.messages #57, from davemackey, 5350 chars, Wed Sep 25 21:06:05 1991
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Dr. Seuss: filmography, bibliography, etc….
…. some of which is courtesy of Pamela Scoville, who’s a little too busy to
post… she’s tearing apart a newsletter to get the news out, and she too is
quite saddened by his passing… as would be anyone who ever loved his books
as a kid. So she’s asked me to post some additional information on the life
and career of Theodor Seuss Geisel.
Here’s a fairly complete list of Seuss animated adaptations… First of
all, Jeff Lenburg in his “Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoon Series” lists two
Dr. Seuss cartoons, allegedly released by Warner Bros. in 1931. I have no
other confirmation of this and I haven’t ever seen either “Neath the Bababa
Tree” or “Put On The Spout.” (Nor was mention made of them in the recent book
about Geisel’s life and work.) But here are some Dr. Seuss adaptations I
have seen and confirmed the existence of.
“Horton Hatches The Egg”: Warner Bros., 1942, supervision Robert
Clampett.
“Private Snafu” series, produced at Warner Bros. for U.S. Army Signal
Corps, 1943-1945.
“The 500 Hats Of Bartholomew Cubbins”: George Pal/Paramount, 1943, Oscar
nominee.
“And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street”: George Pal/Paramount,
1944, Oscar nominee.
“Gerald McBoing Boing,” UPA, 1951, Oscar winner.
“How The Grinch Stole Christmas,” MGM/Chuck Jones for CBS, originally
aired December 18, 1966.
“Horton Hears A Who,” MGM/Chuck Jones for CBS, originally aired March
19, 1970. “…Grinch…” and “Horton Hears…” shared a Peabody award for
excellence in Children’s and Youth television in 1970.
“The Cat In The Hat,” DePatie-Freleng for CBS, originally aired March
10, 1971.
“The Lorax,” DePatie-Freleng for CBS, originally aired February 7, 1972.
“Dr. Seuss On The Loose,” including “Green Eggs and Ham,”
DePatie-Freleng for CBS, originally aired October 15, 1973.
“The Hoober-Bloob Highway,” DePatie-Freleng for CBS, originally aired
February 19, 1975.
“Halloween Is Grinch Night,” DePatie-Freleng for ABC, originally aired
October 29, 1977. Emmy Award winner.
“Pontoffel Pock, Where Are You?”, DePatie-Freleng for ABC, originally
aired May 2, 1980.
“The Grinch Grinches The Cat In The Hat,” DePatie-Freleng for ABC,
originally aired in 1981.
“The Butter Battle Book,” Ralph Bakshi Productions for Turner Network
Television, originally aired in 1989.

As Harry mentioned, the good Doctor began his career as a magazine
cartoonist whose work appeared in such magazines as “Vanity Fair,” “Variety,”
“Judge” and a then-fledgling magazine called “Life.”
Seuss won two Academy Awards in the middle 1940’s for his documentary
films produced under the auspices of the Army Signal Corps, including “Hitler
Lives.”
His publisher for his entire career was Random House, who published
not only The Cat In The Hat Series books but also Beginning Books, some of
which were written by his longtime associate Phil (P.D.) Eastman.
Seuss sometimes used the pseudonym Theo LeSieg. (The first four letters
of his first name and his last name spelled backwards.) One of the nice
little-known facts about his life is that he at one time designed toys and
furniture, the latter of which was done for Sears Roebuck.
In the final analysis, his books that’ll live for generations on end, as
have those of Frank Baum and Lewis Carroll and others whose books have been
embraced by our country’s young people, and here’s a quick list of titles
culled by The Associated Press…. see if you can find your favorites in
amongst these…
“And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street,” “The 500 Hats of
Bartholomew Cubbins,” “The Seven Lady Godivas,” “The King’s Stilts,” “Horton
Hatches The Egg,” “McElligot’s Pool,” “Thidwick The Big-Hearted Moose,”
“Bartholomew And The Oobleck,” “If I Ran The Zoo,” “Scrambled Eggs Super,”
“Horton Hears A Who,” “On Beyond Zebra,” “If I Ran The Circus,” “How The
Grinch Stole Christmas,” “The Cat In The Hat,” “Yertle The Turtle,” “The Cat
In The Hat Comes Back,” “Happy Birthday To You,” “One Fish, Two Fish, Red
Fish, Blue Fish,” “Green Eggs And Ham,” “The Sneetches And Other Stories,”
“Dr. Seuss’ Sleep Book,” “Hop On Pop,” “Dr. Seuss’ ABC Book,” “I Had Trouble
Getting To Solla Sollew,” “Fox In Socks,” “The Cat In The Hat Songbook,” “The
Foot Book,” “I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today And Other Stories,” “My Book About
Me,” “I Can Draw It Myself,” “Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?”, “The Lorax,”
“Marvin K. Mooney, Will You Please Go Now!”, “The Shape Of Me And Other
Stuff,” “Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are?”, “There’s A Wocket In My
Pocket,” “Great Day For Up!”, “Oh, The Thinks You Can Think,” “The Cat’s
Quizzer,” “I Can Read With My Eyes Shut,” “Oh, Say Can You Say?,” “Hunches In
Bunches,” “The Butter Battle Book,” “You’re Only Old Once,” “I Am Not Going
To Get Up Today!”, and “Oh, The Places You’ll Go.” I am certain that a number
of these books were either Newberry or Caldecott Medal winners for excellence
in children’s literature, but I don’t have a listing of these.
What a legacy.
It’s been observed several times that Dr. Seuss had no children of his
own. But, through his books and animations, he celebrated youth the world
over, loved us as endearingly as he would have his own progeny.
–Dave

==========================
animation/long.messages #58, from jshook, 32 chars, Wed Sep 25 21:24:41 1991
This is a comment to message 57.
There are additional comments to message 57.
————————–

You completely forgot Dr. T.!

==========================
animation/long.messages #59, from hmccracken, 317 chars, Wed Sep 25 23:59:11 1991
This is a comment to message 57.
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————————–
Thanks for the great information, Dave. One small correction:
the _Life_ that the good Dr. drew for was not the famous companion
magazine to _Time_, but the earlier magazine (which used to be
called “The Old _Life_”) that was not unlike _The New Yorker_
in many respects. He drew for it in its later years.
— Harry

==========================
animation/long.messages #60, from switch, 226 chars, Thu Sep 26 22:58:42 1991
This is a comment to message 57.
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————————–
Dr. Seuss is one of the few people whose works I’ve read from
childhood to this very day (Charles M. Schulz is another, though
I prefer to look at anything older than 1980). I was crushed
when I heard of his passing..

Emru

==========================
animation/long.messages #61, from davemackey, 392 chars, Fri Sep 27 06:53:28 1991
This is a comment to message 59.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Thanks, Harry, and hey, jshook: I did forget about “The 5000 Fingers Of Dr.
T,” didn’t I? 😉
That was a 1953 film written by Seuss about a sadistic piano teacher
played by Hans Conreid. (I always used to get this film confused with “The
Seven Faces Of Dr. Lao,” which was made 11 years later, starred Tony Randall
and was directed by George Pal.)
–Dave

==========================
animation/long.messages #62, from hmccracken, 144 chars, Fri Sep 27 09:07:32 1991
This is a comment to message 61.
————————–
Personally, I’d rather have 5,000 fingers than seven fingers. I
wonder if Dr. Lao ever met Eve? They’d have ten faces between
them…
— Harry

==========================
animation/long.messages #63, from hmccracken, 370 chars, Fri Sep 27 11:04:01 1991
This is a comment to message 60.
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It’s always sad when someone as talented as Dr. Seuss dies — but
remember that the guy was a very successful artist and author from
the mid-1920s until today. Seuss started out as a contemporary
of John Held Jr. and ended up as one of Matt Groening and Bill
Watterson and the guy who does _Where’s Waldo_ — you can’t ask
for much more in a career than that.
— Harry

==========================
animation/long.messages #64, from snowbear, 62 chars, Sat Sep 28 01:53:44 1991
This is a comment to message 57.
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————————–
I think the first book I ever READ was “I can Lick 30 Tigers”

==========================
animation/long.messages #65, from hmccracken, 312 chars, Sun Sep 29 14:28:42 1991
This is a comment to message 57.
————————–
I was in a used bookstore today and saw another popular Seuss
book which I had forgotten: _The Boners Omnibus_, one of
several volumes of schoolboy howlers and the like that
he illustrated fairly early in his career. These must have
sold well, since they’re so widely available in second-
hand shops.
— Harry

==========================
animation/long.messages #66, from hmccracken, 204 chars, Sun Sep 29 23:22:03 1991
This is a comment to message 64.
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————————–
_Dr. Seuss’s ABC_ and _Green Eggs and Ham_ were certainly two of the
first books I ever read. Isn’t it an odd coincidence that I’ve
always considered those two to be the Dr.’s best books? 😉
— Harry

==========================
animation/long.messages #67, from tsin, 129 chars, Mon Sep 30 19:26:00 1991
This is a comment to message 66.
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————————–
i still have my One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish!
and lots of others!
Horton Hatches the Egg was my favorite though…
cynth

==========================
animation/long.messages #68, from davemackey, 406 chars, Tue Oct 1 18:12:00 1991
This is a comment to message 67.
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I think everyone’s got a favorite. In another conference I mentioned my
second-grade book fair, at which I purchased my very own copy of “Green Eggs
and Ham.” To this day it’s my favorite.
I was happy to see the story come to life as part of the TV special “Dr.
Seuss On The Loose.” I have a faint memory of Paul Winchell doing all the
voices for that segment.
–Dave

==========================
animation/long.messages #69, from hmccracken, 341 chars, Sun Nov 17 16:57:35 1991
————————–
TITLE: The next message after this one…
Is an informal review of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, which
has opened at single theaters in New York and L.A., and begins
everywhere else this Friday. While the review doesn’t reveal
any shocking story points, some folks may wish to refrain
from reading it until they’ve seen the film.
— Harry

==========================
animation/long.messages #70, from hmccracken, 6510 chars, Sun Nov 17 17:00:09 1991
————————–

Even before it has opened in most of the
country, more than one critic has called
Disney’s adaptation of Charles Perrault’s
fairy tale Beauty and the Beast an instant
classic. I woudn’t go that far, but it
certainly is a delightful piece of
entertainment that continues Disney
Animation’s recent streak of very good
films. Every animated feature that Disney
has released since 1988 — Oliver &
Company, The Little Mermaid, The
Rescuers Down Under, and this one —
has been something to be proud of. (I’m
being kind and not counting the limited-
animation “Movietoon” DuckTales: the
Movie as a Disney animated feature.)

The initial temptation is to compare this
movie to The Little Mermaid; it’s a close
race, but I’d have to say that Beauty noses
out a win over Mermaid. The new film
lacks a central character as strong as
Mermaid’s Ariel, and I’m still debating in
my mind which film packs the bigger
emotional wallop. In most respects,
though, Beauty out-Mermaids the earlier
film with more opulent visuals, better
musical sequences, and more confident
storytelling. The character animation in
both films is of about equal high quality,
and both films suffer from being very slick
without being terribly substantial and well
thought-out in the story department.

The story works very hard to make the
Beauty, who’s called Belle, a stronger
character than the typical Disney heroine.
(Although when you think about it,
characters like Snow White and Sleeping
Beauty are a lot more independent and
resourceful than we usually give them
credit for being — a topic for another
time.) The story also gives Belle a love of
books and reading that seems like a
heavy-handed sop to parents, educators,
and other grown-ups.

Like the Little Mermaid, Belle has an
unnerving tendency to look just slightly
different from scene to scene. Fifty-four
years after Snow White, Disney is still no
where near as adept with human
characters as it is with animals and other
more fanciful creations.

The other most significant human
character is Gaston, a handsome,
egotistical blowhard who tries very hard
to win Belle as his bride. Gaston is an
odd-looking fellow who’s a little
reminiscent of Ichabod Crane’s rival
(whose name escapes me at the moment)
in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, but he’s
still a great character. Less successful is
Belle’s father, Maurice, who’s not much
more than a bland imitation of Pinocchio’s
Gepetto.

The cutest, most Disneyesque characters
are the talking dishes, pieces of furniture,
and other household implements that
make up the staff of the Beast’s castle.
Cogsworth, a bossy mantel clock, and
Lumiere, a Chevalier-like candlestick, are
marvelous creations who give the film its
most inventive moments. A very similar
approach was taken in the animated
feature The Brave Little Toaster, but
Disney does it better and with more wit.

Then there’s the Beast himself, voiced
amazingly well by former teen heartthrob
Robby Benson. You may have seen still
pictures of this buffalo-like creature, but
you can’t really appreciate the character,
animated by Glen Keane and others, until
you’ve seen him prowling about,
sometimes on all fours, full of nervous
energy and pain which is expressed in his
beautiful blue eyes. Disney missed a great
opportunity by not giving the Beast a song
about his feelings (the death of Howard
Ashman earlier this year may have caused
this).

Ashman and Alan Menken’s songs are
clever and hummable in a Sondheim sort
of way; like The Little Mermaid, Beauty’s
approach to its music seems much closer
to that of modern Broadway musicals than
to that of earlier Disney films. While the
numbers do a good job of helping to tell
the story, there’s a certain stagebound,
artificial feel to them, unlike the earliest
Disney features’ still-unparalleled
integration of music. (The Broadway feel
is accentuated by the presence of stage
performers like Angela Lansbury and Jerry
Orbach in the cast.) Some of the numbers
also seem a little misplaced in the film: for
instance, the very funny one devoted to
telling us about Gaston comes long after
we’re well-acquainted with the character.

Despite my quibbles with the film’s use of
music, it certainly has the best songs and
musical sequences of any Disney (or non-
Disney, probably) animated feature since,
at the very least, 1967’s The Jungle Book.
Each one of the musical sequences is a
highlight of the film and of recent Disney
animation in general, especially the
opening scene and the “Be Our Guest”
number that comes about halfway through
the movie.

Technically, the film is impressive and a
far cry from the threadbare looking Disney
features of ten and twenty years ago,
although last year’s Rescuers Down Under
was probably a bit slicker and well-
polished. While Disney is evasive about
much of its use of computers, Beauty was
apparently inked and colored by
computer, rather than with cels, and its
use of color is rich and satisfying.

The film’s opening creates a look which is
so multi-dimensional that it’s almost like
watching a 3D movie that doesn’t require
special glasses; this seems to have been
done by using the computer to simulate
the old multiplane camera. A later
ballroom scene integrates hand-drawn
characters with spectacular backgrounds
that are completely computer-generated
and rendered. The effect is stunning,
although a little out of place, since in
general the backgrounds are done by
hand.

Beauty and the Beast is consistently
entertaining and manages to get some new
twists out of the traditional Disney fairy
tale format, but in the end it’s covering
ground that’s pretty well-trod. Audiences
and most magazine and newspaper critics
tend to reward Disney when it repeats
itself and punish it when it takes chances,
but I wish the studio would choose more
offbeat stories and approaches from time
to time.

The next Disney animated feature, due a
year from now, is another classic story:
Aladdin. Disney is unlikely to do anything
really unusual in animation until one of its
adaptations of age-old tales flops, as when
the failure of Sleeping Beauty led to the
innovations of 101 Dalmatians.

I doubt that this will happen anytime
soon. Certainly, Beauty and the Beast is
poised to do very, very well at the box
office; it’s also the first animated feature
since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
that’s being discussed as a potential
nominee for an Academy Award for Best
Picture. For all my criticisms of the movie,
I’d love to see it get such a nomination.
— Harry

==========================
animation/long.messages #71, from switch, 24957 chars, Mon Jan 20 12:50:54 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Warner Bros. cartoon trivia
Here’s something I found in rec.arts.animation which should be
of some entertainment to all. Bear in mind that I don’t know
all the answers to these questions, so it’s up to the archivists
in the conference to supply definitive answers…

From: JACK.L.WEBB@OFFICE.WANG.COM (Jack Webb)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.animation
Subject: Warner Bros. Trivia Contest (LONG)
Date: 15 Jan 92 15:35:23 GMT
Organization: Webb’s Wackyland – Derry, Cow Hampshire USA

Seemed like it was time to shake off the winter doldrums, and come up with
something that wasn’t Ren and Stimpy related… 🙂

Upper Deck has come out with another ‘toon-related baseball card set called
“Comic Ball 2 Cards”. Like the first set, these again tell stories. One of
the biggest differences with this set is that the stories have the Warner
‘toon characters “interacting” with photos of Reggie Jackson and Nolan Ryan.

The other major difference is that the back of the cards, when in order in
groups of nine cards, create a picture “puzzle” with both baseball trivia and
Warner Brothers cartoon trivia questions. (FYI – this set is made up of 198
cards, plus 9 special hologram cards)

So, without further ado-doo, the main reason for this post:

TA DA!

My first (and almost assuredly only) Warner Brothers cartoon trivia contest,
brought to you (without their permission, but what the hell, look at all the
free advertisement they’re getting…) by Upper Deck (their questions) and me
(my typing).

The questions have been grouped into three catagories – easy, semi-nasty and
nasty. Incorrect answers are worth 0 points – correct answers are worth one
point each for the easy questions, two each for the semi-nasty questions, and
three each for the nasties. There are 35 questions in each group for a total
of 210 possible points. These were grouped by me – comments/flames on the
grouping should be sent to alt.flame.nobody.home 🙂

Rules (sorry, there’s gotta be a couple):

1. All entries MUST be sent to me at:
jack.l.webb%office.wang.com
I will NOT accept entries posted to rec.arts.animation (besides the
horrendous waste of bandwidth – why give away answers?).
2. All entries must be received by January 31, 1992.
3. I’m the sole judge/jury/executioner in determining answer correctness.
4. In case of a tie, I’ll come up with some flavor of a random method to
pick the winner.

To make this interesting, I’m even gonna offer a prize. To the knowledgable
winner, I will send one complete set of these cards (all 198 of ’em), and a
few (sorry, I don’t have a second complete set) of the hologram cards!

I’ll announce the winner in r.a.a in February. All entrants will be notified
of their score, and will receive the answers to all questions. Drop me a line
at the above address if you’re not participating but would like the answers
anyhoo. For obvious reasons, I won’t send the answers out until February 🙂

COMIC BALL 2 CARDS TRIVIA QUESTIONS
EASY QUESTIONS:

1. One of Chuck Jones’ 1953 cartoons featured Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and
Marvin Martian in outer space. In 1977 it was seen briefly in Steven
Spielberg’s feature “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and was
requested by George Lucas to accompany his feature “Star Wars” when it
opened in San Francisco. In 1980, Jones was given studio financing to
produce a sequel. What is the name of this now-legendary cartoon?
2. Name the 1948 cartoon whose title is a parody of the 1942 Columbia feature
“You Were Never Lovelier” with Fred Astaire and Rita Hayworth.
3. Which two famous characters, created separately and originally cast as
antagonists, were eventually teamed as buddies and starred together in
many Looney Tunes like “Scalp Trouble”, “Wise Quacks”, “A Coy Decoy” and
“Tick Tock Tuckered”?
4. What three Chuck Jones cartoons are famous for the arguments between Bugs
and Daffy about whether it’s duck season or rabbit season?
5. Name the cartoon whose title was a twist on the title of the James Cagney
feature “Yankee Doodle Dandy”.
6. Name the Walt Disney film in which Bugs, Daffy, Porky, Forhorn Leghorn,
Wile E. Coyote and Yosemite Sam all appeared.
7. Name Walt Disney’s friend from Kansas City, Missouri, a former silent
screen accompanist and the originator of the “Silly Symphonies”, who
scored most of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies made between 1936
and 1958.
8. Initially, Wile E. Coyote obtained his outrageous devices from different
companies, but as the series progressed, it was a single brand name that
appeared on the boxes in which his traps and other gizmos arrived. What
was the name of the inexhaustible supplier?
9. Name the cartoon that is a thinly-disguised parody of Disney’s Fantasia.
10. What popular characters were originated in 1949 for the cartoon “Fast and
Furry-ous” as an attempt to lampoon chase cartoons?
11. Which two characters, never paired during the normal operation of the
Warner Bros. studio, became adversaries in low-budget cartoons such as
“Assault and Peppered” and “Snow Excuse” made after 1963?
12. Name the Warner Bros. director who is generally credited with creating the
studio’s comedy style and it’s stars Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd and Daffy Duck.
He came to work at the studio in 1935 and his first film, released in 1936,
was the black-and-white Looney Tune “Gold-Diggers of ’49”, featuring Porky
and Beans.
13. The most famous and most popular Looney Tunes characters were created in a
single decade. Those ten years produced Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite
Sam, Sylvester and Tweety, Foghorn Leghorn, Henery Hawk, and the Road
Runner and Coyote. Which decade was it?
14. Which Bugs Bunny cartoon was the only one to win an Academy Award?
15. In the 1943 Bugs Bunny cartoon “Falling Hare”, Bugs finds himself aloft in
a World War II bomber with a “mythical beast”. What was the imaginary
creature called?
16. Name the hapless orange cat who became one of Chuck Jones’ funniest but
least-known characters, as the victim of the pranks or simply the harmless
enthusiasm of characters like the mice Hubie and Bertie, Frisky the puppy,
or the bulldog Marc Anthony.
17. Name the Robert McKimson cartoon that is seen at the end of Peter
Bogdanovich’s 1972 feature “What’s Up Doc?”.
18. Who was the man said to be allergic to carrots who was responsible for Bugs
Bunny’s voice?
19. Which two major Warner Bros. cartoon stars are older than Bugs Bunny?
20. In the late 1940’s, Tweety and Sylvester had a hit record written by
Michael Maltese and Warren Foster, sung by Mel Blanc, and released by
Capitol Records. What was the name of this song?
21. One of the most famous characters appeared in only one cartoon, a Chuck
Jones Merrie Melodie of 1955, unnamed anywhere in the entire picture. He
was later given a name based on one of the songs he sang in his single
starring role. Who was this memorable solo artist, and in what cartoon
did he appear?
22. Name the first Warner Bros. cartoon character, a nondescript black-and-
white creature who starred in all of the Looney Tunes from 1930 to 1933.
23. Name the character sometimes called Bugs Bunny’s most ferocious antagonist,
created by director Robert McKimson for cartoons like “Devil May Hare”
(1954), “Bedevilled Rabbit” (1957) and “Bill of Hare” (1962).
24. Mel Blanc’s exclusive credit as Voice Artist in Warner Bros. cartoons was
such a binding deal that he received sole voice credit even for a series of
cartoons starring a family of three characters whose voices were provided
by Stan Freberg, Billy Bletcher and Bea Benaderet. Name this threesome.
25. When Mel Blanc was faced with the job of originating the Bugs Bunny voice,
he claimed that he did it by combining the inflections of which two New
York City neighborhoods?
26. Name the 1948 cartoon whose title is a parody of the 1940 Jack Benny
feature “Buck Benny Rides Again”.
27. One of Bob Clampett’s best cartoons has remained hard to see on television,
due to the abundance of blackface caricatures that appear in the story, a
take-off on Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”. Name this cartoon.
28. Which television series was being spoofed in the last of the battles
between Bugs Bunny and thugs Rocky and Mugsy, the 1963 Merrie Melodie “The
Unmentionables”, in which Bugs plays agent “Elegant Mess”?
29. In a 1956 Looney Tune directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael
Maltese, Daffy and Porky appear in fog-shrouded London as “Dorlock Homes”
and “Watkins”, bringing the “Shropshire Slasher” to justice. What is the
name of this hilarious parody of Sherlock Holmes?
30. Which Warner Bros. cartoon character was introduced in Robert McKimson’s
1946 cartoon “Walky Talky Hawky”, and was modeled after Senator Claghorn
from Bighorn on Fred Allen’s radio show?
31. What is the name of the dog character who persues Porky Pig as a potential
master with outrageous, and hilarious, agressiveness (“You ain’t got no
dog, I ain’t got no master. So I’ll make you a preposition!”) in cartoons
like “Little Orphan Airedale” (1947), “Often an Orphan” (1949) and “The
Awful Orphan” (1949)?
32. Name the bright-eyed, innocent human character who filled in as the Looney
Tunes star between the abrupt exit of Bosco and the debut of Porky Pig.
33. What was the name of the Dr. Seuss character – a “100%” faithful elephant –
who starred in one of Bob Clampett’s cartoons in 1942, then was lucky
enough to have Chuck Jones build a half-hour animated television special
around him in 1970?
34. Name the little red-haired character who first appeared in “Hare Trigger”
in 1945, and was said to be a caricature of his director, Friz Freleng.
35. Before 1944, the cartoons we call Warner Bros. were actually produced by
what independent producer?

SEMI-NASTY QUESTIONS:

1. In what cartoon does Bugs Bunny appear AT the drawing board rather than
ON it?
2. The first cartoon directed by Robert McKimson cast Daffy Duck as a maniac
who drew moustaches on billboards and Porky Pig as the cop sworn to bring
him to justice. Name this 1946 Looney Tune.
3. For budgetary reasons, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies were notoriously
stingy about the number of characters who could appear in one cartoon.
However, a Daffy Duck cartoon from 1950 included not only Porky Pig, but
Sylvester the Cat, Elmer Fudd, Henery Hawk and Mama Bear from the studio’s
featured trio The Three Bears. Name this unique, star-studded cartoon.
4. What early black-and-white Looney Tune cartoon, in which Daffy Duck
convinces Porky Pig to tear up his contract with the studio, is famous for
anticipating “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” with it’s combination of animation
and live action?
5. Fairy tales were a favorite mode of humor for the Looney Toonsmiths. Name
the one fairy tale that stood above all the others when it came to
providing a fit subject for lampoons.
6. Name the Bugs Bunny cartoon in which Bugs finds himself in the castle of a
self-identified “Evil Scientist” who is a caricature of Peter Lorre.
7. Bugs Bunny was introduced for years on television as “that Oscar-winning
rabbit”, but the skunk Pepe LePew was also an Oscar-winner. Which of his
pictures earned him this distinction?
8. Name the 1944 cartoon, featuring Bugs and Elmer, whose title is a parody of
the 1943 United Artists feature “Stage Door Canteen”.
9. Name the Bugs Bunny cartoon in which he stands in for the Easter Bunny.
10. In 1941, Warner Bros. released a film starring Monty Woolley and Bette
Davis called “The Man Who Came to Dinner”, based on the play by George S.
Kaufman and Moss Hart. Name the 1942 cartoon whose title was a take-off
on the feature.
11. Once Elmer Fudd’s baby-talk speech became famous, the Warner gang soon took
to releasing cartoons with titles mimicking his inflection, like “Jack
Wabbit and the Beanstalk” and “Wackiki Wabbit”. What was the first cartoon
titled in this fashion, and how was its director credited?
12. Chuck Jones is known to be a fan of Mark Twain, and in 1978 adapted Twain’s
“Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court” into a TV special for Bugs
Bunny entitled “A Connecticut Rabbit in King Arthur’s Court”, later
retitled “Bugs Bunny in King Arthur’s Court”. His first attempt to squeeze
Bugs into Twain’s classic was in what 1955 cartoon?
13. In the late 1940’s and into the 1950’s, the Termite Terrace personnel went
through a square dance craze, in which learning the calls and mastering the
steps became an obsession for the artists in their off-hours. Name the one
cartoon in which this obsession was worked into a gag for Bugs Bunny.
14. Name the two Chuck Jones cartoons in which Bugs Bunny maneuvers himself out
of the clutches of the nefarious Witch Hazel, whose voice is provided by an
uncredited June Foray.
15. What was the origin of the name “Bugs”?
16. The Goofy Gophers, a pair of considerate rodents who stretched the rules of
etiquette to the breaking point, were originated in 1947 in “The Goofy
Gophers”, a cartoon completed by Arthur Davis. Who initiated the cartoon?
17. In what cartoon does Pepe LePew believe he is in charge of an entire French
Foreign Legion fort?
18. Name the character who was introduced in Bob Clampett’s “Bugs Bunny Gets
the Boid” in 1942, and was said to be based on ventriloquist Edgar Bergen’s
character Mortimer Snerd.
19. Name of the LAST Bugs Bunny cartoon to be released in theaters.
20. Name the studio’s first Oscar-winning cartoon, which was also the first
Tweety and Sylvester episode.
21. Often the characters in Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies were parodies of
famous Hollywood personalities – usually ones that Warner Bros. had under
contract. Name the Bugs Bunny cartoon in which his adversary is a
caricature of Edward G. Robinson.
22. Termite Terrace’s fifth Academy Award, and Tweety and Sylvester’s second,
was given to what 1957 cartoon lampooning Alcoholics Anonymous?
23. Until later made-for-television episodes such as “Bugs Bunny’s Christmas
Carol” and “The Yolk’s on You”, Sylvester the Cat and Foghorn Leghorn were
not known to populate each other’s cartoons. Name the sole exception to
this, a 1947 Looney Tune directed by Robert McKimson, in which Foghorn’s
ventriloquism causes Sylvester to crow at dawn.
24. Shortly after Yosemite Sam’s debut, he appeared as a pair of nearly
identical brothers in what Daffy Duck cartoon directed by Friz Freleng?
25. Name the 1947 Merrie Melodie, directed by Friz Freleng, in which a
caricature of Humphrey Bogart has such a featured role that it practically
amounts to a co-starring turn with Bugs Bunny.
26. A major Warner Bros. feature film release of 1946, and a Hollywood classic
ever since, was Howard Hawks’ “The Big Sleep”, featuring Humphrey Bogart
and Lauren Bacall and based on the novel by Raymond Chandler. In the same
year, Bob Clampett put out a Bugs and Elmer cartoon whose title was a
parody on the title of the famous feature, and it turned out to be
Clampett’s last cartoon for Warner Bros. Name the cartoon.
27. Termite Terrace founders Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising came to Hollywood from
the same Midwestern metropolis; their friend and animator and later
director Friz Freleng hailed from the same town, as did Ben Hardaway,
Melvin Millar, Carmen Maxwell, Rollin Hamilton and many other Warner
Toonsmiths. Name this breeding ground.
28. Termite Terrace introduced an entire “Our Gang” of animal characters in a
1935 two-color cartoon called “I Haven’t Got a Hat”. There were, among
others, twin puppies named Ham and Ex, a cat named Beans, an owl named
Oliver, and overseeing the menagerie a cow named Miss Cud. Out of this
motley crew, one Looney Tunes star did emerge; who was it?
29. Name the first Bugs Bunny cartoon to be nominated for an Academy Award.
30. During the 1950’s, which director hit on the idea of doing a series of
video parodies and came out with cartoons like “The Honeymousers”, “The
Mouse That Jack Built”, “Wideo Wabbit”, “People Are Bunny” and “China
Jones”?
31. Who was the ungainly red-nosed character, much beloved by Tex Avery and
other directors, who spoke like radio comedian Joe Penner, appeared in
cartoons like “Little Red Walking Hood” and “Count Me Out” in the late
1930’s, and was the “fella” in “Cinderella Meets Fella” in 1938?
32. “Dough for the Do-Do”, released in 1949 and directed by Arthur Davis, was
actually a remake in color of what now-classic black-and-white Porky Pig
cartoon of 1938 directed by Bob Clampett?
33. During World War II the Warner Bros. toonsmiths made their contribution to
the war effort by producing a series of black-and-white animated
instructional films for the Armed Forces featuring what hapless GI
character?
34. In what famous cartoon by director Bob Clampett does Daffy imagine himself
to be detective Duck Twacy?
35. Name the story man who helped create cartoons like “Stupor Salesman” (1948)
and “What Makes Daffy Duck?” (1948) for Warner, then went on to write for
(and did the voice of) Bullwinkle the Moose on television.

NASTY QUESTIONS:

1. A bizarre Martian character (later named Marvin) battled with Bugs Bunny
on the Moon, on the Planet Earth, and in an astral complex somewhere in
the stratosphere. He also disintegrated Daffy Duck on the Planet X. In
what cartoon did he FIRST appear?
2. Name the piece of classical music that became a Looney Tune staple, and
the basis for the animated action in Friz Freleng cartoons like “Rhapsody
in Rivits”, “Pigs in a Polka” and “Rhapsody Rabbit”, as well as the
foundation for Daffy’s song “The Daffy Duck Rhapsody”, which was released
on record.
3. Name the last black-and-white Looney Tune cartoon to be made.
4. Who is the only Director in the world to have directed Bugs Bunny, Elmer
Fudd, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Jerry Lewis, Bob Hope and Jayne Mansfield?
5. Name the last Warner Bros. cartoon to be nominated for an Academy Award.
6. In the last of the five cartoons pitting Bugs Bunny against Wile E.
Coyote, Bugs claimed to be filling in for the Road Runner, and the
existing style of the Road Runner cartoons became confused with Bugs
Bunny’s style. Name this bizarre 1960s cartoon.
7. Speedy Gonzales in best known for his appearances in Friz Freleng cartoons
and the Oscar won by Freleng’s “Speedy Gonzales” in 1955. Speedy made his
first appearance in what 1953 cartoon directed by Robert McKimson?
8. Name the Road Runner cartoon that appears in one sequence of Steven
Spielberg’s 1974 feature “The Sugarland Express”.
9. From 1953 to 1963, Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog battled over a flock of
sheep on workdays while on a time clock, but were again buddies when they
clocked out. Name the first of these cartoons.
10. In what year were Yosemite Sam, Pepe LePew and Sylvester the Cat
introduced?
11. There was only one year in which the Looney Tunes gang had three
nominations for an Academy Award, only to see the prize go to a film from
Europe. The entries were Friz Freleng’s “The Pied Piper of Guadalupe” and
Chuck Jones’ “Beep Prepared” and “Nelly’s Folly”. What was the year?
12. Name Warner Bros. studio’s first color cartoon.
13. Name the first Warner Bros. cartoon to be nominated for an Academy Award.
14. It may or may not be true that Bugs Bunny was derived from the character of
Max Hare in the Walt Disney Silly Symphony “The Tortoise and the Hare”, but
it is true that the tortoise-vs-hare conflict became a standard plot for
Bugs. Name the three cartoons in which variations on this theme were used.
15. When Friz Freleng’s 1941 Porky Pig cartoon “Notes to You” was reworked by
the same director in 1948 with Elmer Fudd and Sylvester, what was the new
title chosen for the remake?
16. In the late 1930’s and early 1940’s Chuck Jones directed a series of
cartoons featuring Inki, a young pygmy hunter, and his experiences with a
certain lion and mynah bird. What was the LAST of the Inki cartoons, and
when was it released?
17. In the constant search for funny new character, Ben Hardaway tried
fashioning a rabbit in the mold already established by Daffy Duck, and made
two cartoons with two different-looking rabbits before Tex Avery actually
created Bugs Bunny in the cartoon “A Wild Hare”. Name these two Hardaway
cartoons of 1938 and 1939.
18. In the 1943 Bugs Bunny cartoon “Wackiki Wabbit”, Bugs’ antagonists are two
tropic-island castaways who were modeled after two staff members of the
Warner Bros. cartoon studio. They also provided the voices for the
characters. Which two of the boys from Termite Terrace did the honors?
19. Name the pair of Bugs Bunny cartoons in which Bugs befriends and assists a
cute little penguin who walked like Charlie Chaplin.
20. In what two cartoons does Bugs Bunny masquerade as a hairdresser to
bamboozle the same orange furry beast with tennis shoes?
21. Name the three cartoons in which Sylvester doesn’t speak and attempts
repeatedly, without success, to convince Porky Pig in pantomime of the
danger they have stumbled into.
22. The Warner Bros. studio, whose live-action films pioneered the use of 3-D
in the 1950’s, released only one 3-D cartoon. It starred Bugs Bunny and
was released in 1954. Name the cartoon.
23. In Tweety Pie’s first cartoon, he didn’t share the screen with Sylvester,
who hadn’t yet been created, but with two cats modeled after Abbot and
Costello. What was the name of this cartoon, and who directed it?
24. Name the two Warner Bros. feature films of the late 1940’s – both
coincidentally featuring actor Jack Carson – in which Bugs Bunny made brief
appearances in sequences directed by Friz Freleng.
25. The last cartoon featuring Sniffles the Mouse was a take-off on the 1940’s
radio series “Duffy’s Tavern”. What was the name of this 1946 cartoon?
26. Although Yosemite Sam was designed as a Western badman, he has also been
portrayed as a pirate. Name the three cartoons released between 1948 and
and 1954 in which he appeared opposite Bugs Bunny as the captain of a
pirate ship.
27. Of all the recent television compilation specials featuring the Looney
Tunes characters in clips from their vintage cartoons, there is only one
which contains NO new animation. Which one is it?
28. The 1933 Merrie Melodie “Shuffle Off to Buffalo” is based on a Warner Bros.
song that had its first screen appearance in what Warner Bros. feature?
29. In what TWO cartoons does Bugs Bunny appear as Brunhilda, the character
from Norse mythology?
30. Animator Arthur Davis was a director in the 1940’s and turned out a string
of wild cartoons featuring the usual Looney Tunes cast of characters, but
directed Bugs Bunny only once. Name his Bugs Bunny cartoon.
31. W.C. Fieldmouse, Eddie Gander, Deanna Terrapin, Irvin S. Frog, Ben Birdie
and Milton Squirrel are caricatures featured in one of Frank Tashlin’s
cleverest cartoons. Name this Merrie Melodie of 1937.
32. Warner Bros. had two cartoons up for the Animated Short Subject Oscar in
the 1941 race, and they were both directed by Friz Freleng. One was his
first Bugs Bunny picture; the other was the first of his elegant musical
cartoons. Name these two firsts and Academy Award nominees.
33. Although many story men (and quite a few directors) created stories for
Warner Bros. cartoons, there is a famous (or infamous) trio of men who were
responsible for most of the scripts on which these great cartoons are
based. From 1950 to 1960 they wrote and drew storyboards for virtually
every cartoon the studio turned out. Who were these fabulously successful
cartoon writers?
34. What is the title of the very first Looney Tune, made in black-and-white,
starring Bosko and Honey, directed by Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising, released
in 1930?
35. One of Frank Tashlin’s notable cartoons is an elaborate production starring
“W.C. Squeals” (W.C. Fields as a pig) on ice skates carrying on a rivalry
with an unseen Charlie McCarthy, presumably in the movie audience. Name
this outstanding 1938 entry in the Merrie Melodies series.

—————————————————————————–
That’s it – good luck – let the games begin!

Jack

==========================
animation/long.messages #72, from davemackey, 3918 chars, Mon Jan 20 20:58:18 1992
This is a comment to message 71.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
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SPOILER…. ANSWERS TO QUIZ FOLLOW
!
!
!
!
LAST CHANCE TO BAIL OUT! ! ! !
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
Okay, folks, because You asked for it… The Answers:

(1) “Duck Dodgers In The 24-1/2th Century”
(2) “You Were Never Duckier”
(3) Porky Pig and Daffy Duck
(4) “Rabbit Fire,” “Rabbit Seasoning,” “Duck! Rabbit, Duck!”
(5) “Yankee Doodle Daffy”
(6) “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”
(7) Carl W. Stalling
(8) Acme
(9) “A Corny Concerto”
(10) The Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote
(11) Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales
(12) Fred “Tex” Avery
(13) 1940’s
(14) “Knighty-Knight, Bugs”
(15) Gremlin
(16) Claude Cat
(17) “What’s Up Doc?”
(18) Mel Blanc
(19) Porky Pig and Daffy Duck
(20) “I Tawt I Taw A Puddy Tat”
(21) Michigan J. Frog, in “One Froggy Evening”
(22) Bosko
(23) Tasmanian Devil
(24) The Three Bears
(25) “Which is tougher, Brooklyn or The Bronx? ‘So I put da two a dem
togedder, Doc, and dat’s how I came up wid da voice a Bugs Bunny.’ ”
(26) “Bugs Bunny Rides Again”
(27) “Coal Black And De Sebben Dwarfs”
(28) “The Untouchables”
(29) “Deduce, You Say”
(30) Foghorn Leghorn
(31) Charlie Dog
(32) Buddy
(33) Horton the Elephant
(34) Yosemite Sam
(35) Leon Schlesinger

Semi-Nasty Questions

(1) “Duck Amuck”
(2) “Daffy Doodles”
(3) “The Scarlet Pumpernickel”
(4) “You Ought To Be In Pictures”
(5) Little Red Riding Hood
(6) “Hare-Raising Hare”
(7) “For Scent-Imental Reasons”
(8) “Stage Door Cartoon”
(9) “Easter Yeggs”
(10) “The Wabbit Who Came To Supper”
(11) “Wabbit Twouble”; supervision, Wobert Cwampett
(12) “Knight-Mare Hare”
(13) “Hillbilly Hare”
(14) “Bewitched Bunny” and “Broom-Stick Bunny”
(15) Bugs was the nickname of studio artist Ben Hardaway
(16) Bob Clampett
(17) “Little Beau Pepe”
(18) Beaky Buzzard
(19) “False Hare”
(20) “Tweetie Pie”
(21) “Racketeer Rabbit”
(22) “Birds Anonymous”
(23) “Crowing Pains”
(24) “Along Came Daffy”
(25) “Slick Hare”
(26) “The Big Snooze”
(27) Kansas City, MO
(28) Porky Pig
(29) “A Wild Hare”
(30) Robert McKimson
(31) Egghead
(32) “Porky In Wackyland”
(33) Private Snafu
(34) “The Great Piggy Bank Robbery”
(35) William Scott

Nasty Questions

(1) “Haredevil Hare”
(2) Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody
(3) “Puss ‘n’ Booty”
(4) Frank Tashlin
(5) “Now Hear This”
(6) “Hare-Breadth Hurry”
(7) “Cat-Tails For Two”
(8) aaaaagh! this is the only one I don’t even have a guess for!
(9) “Don’t Give Up The Sheep”
(10) 1944
(11) 1962
(12) “Honeymoon Hotel”
(13) “It’s Got Me Again”
(14) “Tortoise Beats Hare,” “Tortoise Wins By A Hare,” “Rabbit Transit”
(15) “Back Alley Oproar”
(16) “Caveman Inki,” in 1949
(17) “Porky’s Hare Hunt” and “Hare-um, Scare-um”
(18) Michael Maltese and Tedd Pierce
(19) “Frigid Hare” and “8-Ball Bunny”
(20) “Hare-Raising Hare” and “Water Water Every Hare”
(21) “Scaredy Cat,” “Claws For Alarm,” “Jumpin’ Jupiter”
(22) “Lumber Jack-Rabbit”
(23) “A Tale Of Two Kitties,” by Robert Clampett
(24) “My Dream Is Yours” and “Two Guys From Texas”
(25) “Hush My Mouse”
(26) “Buccaneer Bunny,” “Mutiny On The Bunny,” “Captain Hareblower”
(27) “Bugs Bunny In Space”
(28) “Forty-Second Street”
(29) “What’s Opera, Doc?” and “Rabbit Of Seville”
(30) “Bowery Bugs”
(31) “The Woods Are Full Of Cuckoos”
(32) “Hiawatha’s Rabbit Hunt” and “Rhapsody In Rivets”
(33) Michael Maltese, Tedd Pierce, and Warren Foster
(34) “Sinkin’ In The Bathtub”
(35) “Cracked Ice”

Good job putting this together, Jack (wherever you are!)
–Dave

==========================
animation/long.messages #73, from hmccracken, 223 chars, Mon Jan 20 22:51:47 1992
This is a comment to message 72.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Wow, Dave! Are those answers off the top of your head, or did you
use any reference works? In either case, I’m impressed —
but check your answer to Nasty Question #29; I think you’re
only half-right on that one.
— Harry

==========================
animation/long.messages #74, from davemackey, 351 chars, Tue Jan 21 02:54:55 1992
This is a comment to message 73.
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————————–
You’re welcome to correct and challenge any of my answers. What was the other
cartoon in which Bugs played Brunhilde, anyway? Now that I think about it it
probably wasn’t “Rabbit Of Seville.”
Most of the answers were off the top of my head with just a few that I
had to double check against a book or two.
–Dave

==========================
animation/long.messages #75, from hmccracken, 205 chars, Tue Jan 21 09:23:30 1992
This is a comment to message 74.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
I’ll give you a hint: it wasn’t a cartoon made in the 1950s, and it
wasn’t a Chuck Jones cartoon. (And it wasn’t a compilation film
that included _What’s Opera, Doc?_ — that would be cheating.)
— Harry

==========================
animation/long.messages #76, from davemackey, 145 chars, Tue Jan 21 12:54:13 1992
This is a comment to message 75.
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————————–
Possibly “A Corny Concerto”? I thought it may have been “Bugs Bonnets,” but
you ruled out Chuck Jones in the 50’s. –Dave
,
.
add

==========================
animation/long.messages #77, from hmccracken, 155 chars, Tue Jan 21 14:11:05 1992
This is a comment to message 76.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Nope! Another hint: it was a Friz Freleng cartoon which, appropriately
enough, also featured a historical figure who was quite a Wagner
admirer.
— Harry

==========================
animation/long.messages #78, from dferg, 64 chars, Tue Jan 21 21:30:55 1992
This is a comment to message 77.
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————————–
Vas it by any chance ‘Herr Meets Hare’? Dat’s a goot one, yah!

==========================
animation/long.messages #79, from hmccracken, 321 chars, Tue Jan 21 21:34:43 1992
This is a comment to message 78.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
You got it! The whole section in which Bugs plays Brunhilde quite clearly
inspired _What’s Opera, Doc?_. I’m not positie, but I think Mike
Maltese (_What’s Opera_’s storyman) also wrote _Herr_. If so, it would
be logical to guess that his importance in the creation of _What’s Opera_
was extremely significant.
— Harry

==========================
animation/long.messages #80, from davemackey, 214 chars, Wed Jan 22 19:32:32 1992
This is a comment to message 79.
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You are correct on identifying Maltese as the writer of “Herr Meets Hare,”
and rounding out the creative team (aside from the obvious personnel) was
animator Gerry Chiniquy.
–Dave

==========================
animation/long.messages #81, from switch, 9074 chars, Sat Apr 11 19:38:25 1992
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
This is the first draft of an article (or an editorial – not sure
as yet) for the next issue of _fps_. Any comments or corrections
would be greatly appreciated.

—–

Recently, Pixar officially stated that the last two Disney features
released (_Rescuers Down Under_ and _Beauty and the Beast_) were
created entirely without the use of cels, utilizing Pixar’s
computerized ink-and-paint system known as CAPS (Computer-Assisted
Paint System). By all reports, Disney was none to happy about this.
One surmises that Disney would prefer to keep the public thinking
that they still make their movies the old-fashioned way, as if using
computers will somehow take the life out of their work.

To me, this seems like a strange attitude. Whenever I casually
mention my interest in animation either as an aficionado or an
aspiring animator, one of the first questions I’m often asked is:
“They use computers for a lot of that now, don’t they?”

It’s not too surprising that most people who ask me this have little
idea of exactly what computers can do in the animation process, but
I’m often amazed when I find that many animators, animation fans,
and computer users don’t fully understand either. We’re still in the
middle of the computer revolution and most of us are completely
unaware of how versatile these tools are.

So what does CAPS do? This is fairly simple – the original drawings
are done the old-fashioned way: pencil and paper. Once the pencil
drawings are completed, they are scanned into a computer. Using
CAPS, the artwork is cleaned up and “inked”, the colors are added,
and the images are transferred directly to film one frame at a time.
Here are just a few of the advantages to this system: cel animation
uses flat colors for principal animation, and asking a computer to
fill a bounded area with one particular color is as easy as a few
clicks of a button. This makes multi-layer animation somewhat
easier to deal with, as in the past cel-painters had to deal with
compensating for layers of cels. If a frame used five cels for an
image, the top cel would be brightest and as you went farther down
each cel would be darker. You could either hope no one would notice
the slight color differences in characters and their costumes from
scene to scene, or get the poor painters to compensate for this as
they painted. Also, CAPS allows you to color the line surrounding
the character, which gives them a softer look. In case you hadn’t
noticed, real people don’t have black lines surrounding their bodies
– this was a necessary evil for inkers in the past, but thanks to
CAPS it’s somewhat rectified. The final step – output to film –
takes some twenty minutes per frame. Assuming a 24 frame-per-second
(fps), 90-minute movie, that’s a total of 43200 hours, total. This
usually gets me the reply, “Why is this easier? When a cameraman
does it, all he has to do is put a drawing under the camera, shoot
the frame, and put on the next drawing.” These people have evidently
never worked under a camera. When you’re dealing with cel animation,
you have to make sure the cels are properly layered to avoid the
coloration problems mentioned above, that you’ve properly zoomed in
or out, tilted, panned, etc. as described in the exposure sheet,
dissolved the proper amount from one frame to another… and after a
few exhausting hours, errors accumulate. A computer can be told to
do most of this on its own, and being infinitely patient and
tireless will reproduce exactly what is has stored.

I don’t understand Disney’s reluctance to admit to using CAPS. After
all, they’ve been using and developing various technological
shortcuts or alternatives for decades. Look at their use of
Xeroxing onto cel (_101 Dalmatians_) to help eliminate the inking
stage while preserving the original artist’s line. Look at the
multiplane camera – not invented by Disney, but certainly refined
there – which allows for convincing parallax and depth of field
effects (_The Old Mill_).

Besides, CAPS is just the tip of the iceberg of computer and
computer-assisted animation. There’s also computer-assisted
animation, which allows you to design and animate three-dimensional
objects with a computer, which you can then reproduce on cel. Take
a look at Bill Kroyer’s _Technological Threat_. The wolf characters
are all animated by hand. The office droids are composed of a
pyramid, a truncated pyramid, and a sphere. The droids were
designed once, and then given paths to follow. The computer was
told “move this droid from point A to point B, following this path,
making sure the head bobs this way and the spheres rotate that way.”
The animation was then previewed on screen, and from there
reproduced on cels. This allows animators to create complex objects
and animate difficult camera moves quickly and with less effort.
(Lest anyone think this is cheating, I should point out that
animating traditionally-drawn characters over a computer-animated
background or object is not at all easy. I admire the ballroom
scene in Disney’s _Beauty and the Beast_ not because of the splendor
of the ballroom, but for the seamless integration of the dancing
characters with the backgrounds.) Disney, incidentally, has been
using computer-assisted animation in just about every feature since
_The Black Cauldron_.

In the good old days, animators checked their animations by doing
what’s called a pencil or line test. The rough animation was drawn
by pencil, them shot on cheap black and white film stock. This was
then used as a preview to catch any errors before the pencils were
handed over to ink and paint. Decades later came video line-test
systems, which let you do the same thing – only with a special VCR
that records at 24 fps (NTSC video runs at 30 fps). Rather than
using up expensive film stock and waiting for it to be processed,
you could pop in a regular videocassette and instantly preview your
animation. Since then, animation studios have switched to another
low-cost alternative. Each pencil drawing is scanned into a
computer, which plays back the image on a screen. This gives two
advantages over film: since each image is stored in the computer’s
memory, frames can be held, rearranged or duplicated at will. Also,
a single computer disk is smaller and less expensive than a video
cassette.

But let’s deviate a little from classical cel animation. It’s
apparent from films like _Willow_, _Terminator 2_, and _Sleepwalkers_,
and videos like _Black or White_ that “morphing” is a popular
computer-generated (CG) animated effect these days. _T2_ in
particular had many subtle CG animations, effects, enhancements, and
modifications such as digitally flipping images in such a way that
the viewer has no idea that what he’s seeing is not what was filmed.

Fractals (which someone once dubbed “the lava lamp of the Nineties”)
allow us to travel through animated abstract mathematical universes.
Most people have been exposed to two-dimensional Mandelbrot and
Julia set fractals, with their whorls of recursive colors, black
holes, and tentacles. Then there are Lyapunov images, which are
more three-dimensional and give a sense of being part of a strange,
alien reality. While this is a wonderful tool for abstract and
experimental animation, a more practical application is in CG
fractal landscapes. By giving a computer numeric parameters and some
controls for the environment, it can create mountains, trees,
clouds, and bodies of water, all quite realistic and
three-dimensional.

In my eyes, the most important aspect of the computer age as it
affects animation is the personal computer, especially the
Commodore-Amiga computer. The Amiga has such a variety of animation
packages ranging from classical animation (Disney Animation Studio)
to effects-laden point-A-to-point-B animation/paint programs (Deluxe
Paint IV) that any amateur or professional animator now has an
inexpensive creative outlet. Whereas before one had to learn about
the technical aspects of film, acquire a camera and film and worry
about processing costs, now one can buy a basic Amiga system and
enough software to do his own animation experiments in any style
imaginable, from Disney to UPA to Pacific Data Images. It’s simple
enough to get an Amiga animation onto videotape, although it could
also be saved to disk and transferred between different computer
systems – allowing millions of people access to someone’s work
without having to worry about distributors and the like. For those
of us who do this for the love of the art, the computer has opened
up whole new horizons to experiment, to learn, and to show the world
what we’ve been doing — without having to worry about acquiring
expensive equipment or studio time.

The computer revolution has touched all of us involved with
animation, from the creators both amateur and professional, to the
audiences in the cinemas and living rooms. It’s impossible to
ignore the pervasive influence of the computer in the animation
industry as well as everyday life, and Disney is foolish to think
they can.

==========================
animation/long.messages #82, from olson, 154 chars, Sun Apr 12 00:43:08 1992
This is a comment to message 81.
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————————–

fascinating article. ended too soon for me. wanted to hear more
about exactly what aspect of disney features since black cauldron
used cg techniques.

==========================
animation/long.messages #83, from switch, 134 chars, Sun Apr 12 11:50:09 1992
This is a comment to message 82.
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Hmn. The Disney technique is similar to Kroyer’s – I’ll have to
go back and look at that paragraph if it’s not clear. Thanks!

Emru

==========================
animation/long.messages #84, from jshook, 1966 chars, Sun Apr 12 23:12:44 1992
This is a comment to message 83.
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————————–

I, too, thought it was a good article, but also (like you) can’t
quite tell if it is a feature or an editorial. It seems to start
as an editorial, but then to support your position you (quite
rightly) fill the reader in on a lot of technical information
so that s/he can see the basis for your position. I feel the
article would be more effective as a feature, but to keep the
editorial point you might be able to hinge it on something
like : “Disney seems to be upset that Pixar has publicised
the use of their computer system in the making of B & B, but
in fact they have been using computers for some time now.
And it seems foolish of them to deny the very real advantages
computer-assisted production gives them. And when this can be
done in such a way that none of the original vitality of
the artists’ drawings is lost–only the tedious ‘grunt work’
is handled by computer–it is hard to understand what they are
so afraid of.” Well, you get the idea… Then you can go on
and describe their system and what it does.
The only other comment I would make is I think you need to provide
a litle bit more information when talking about cel levels.
You should explain that animation is broken down into levels so that
parts of the character that aren’t going to move for a while don’t
have to be re-drawn. And you can make the point that this is
part of the hallowed tradition of Disney animation and it is done
to *save work*. Which is all that their computer does, so why are
they afraid of letting it be known that have become more efficient?
I suspect that Disney thinks that if the public learns that their
new features are “done with computers” it will be thought that
animators aren’t involved in the process in the way they have in
the past. But their system is specifically designed to preserve
the quality of the hand-drawn animation. Only the “inking”, “painting” and
“shooting” are computerised, and that was a mechanical process
anyway.

==========================
animation/long.messages #85, from dcolton, 206 chars, Sun Apr 12 23:18:38 1992
This is a comment to message 84.
There are additional comments to message 84.
————————–
The E! channel on cable had a special on animation on Fern Gully.
I caught the end and the animators demonstrated the computer
assisted drawing and the large amount of xeroxing involved.
Interesting stuff.

==========================
animation/long.messages #86, from switch, 658 chars, Mon Apr 13 01:01:17 1992
This is a comment to message 84.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Exactly my problem. It *started* as an editorial, but by the
time I got through the information needed to prop up my points,
it was leaning towards article status. Your suggestion for the
editorial “hinge” is well-taken. I’ll chew on that.

I avoided the explanation of cel levels because every time I write
an article (or a long-winded FidoNet message), the explanations
almost overpower what I’m trying to say. Look at how much I glossed
over in this one — I was restraining myself half the time.

However, all your suggestions have been noted, and will be sitting
in the “points to ponder” window on my desktop when I work on
the next draft 🙂

Emru

==========================
animation/long.messages #87, from jshook, 348 chars, Mon Apr 13 23:28:25 1992
This is a comment to message 86.
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————————–

Well, I think you have done an excellent job of condensing a
lot of information into a small space without flasifying
or oversimplifying the material. I often have the
impression whe I read articles about topics with which
I am familiar that the author has gotten it all slightly
wrong, somehow. I didn’t get that feeling reading your
article.

==========================
animation/long.messages #88, from drtoon, 2327 chars, Tue Apr 14 22:07:55 1992
This is a comment to message 81.
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————————–
Very good article! I have but a couple of suggestions to make:

You say that CAPS allows colored lines as opposed to the “necessary evil” of
black outlines in the past. In fact, Disney and most others have long used
hand-inked colored outlines. It’s the more recent Xerox process that
neccesitates black outlines.. not traditional ink & paint. This has been one of
the objections to the Xerox process, along with the scratchy look it gives to
the lines. You might more correctly state that the Xerox process is a
technological shortcut to eliminate the tedium and expense of hand-inking, but
CAPS is a superior solution because it eliminates the tedium while still
allowing the flexibility of colored lines found in the traditional hand-inking
process. One question: does CAPS allow a variable-width outline as does Xerox
and hand-inking?

You say that CAPS renders finished frames at the rate of 20 min./frame =
43,200 hours per 90 min. film. This works out to almost 5 years to render a 90
min. film. Obviously this is ridiculous. You might want to clarify this 20
min./frame statistic. Even assuming animating on two’s, you can’t expect us to
believe it takes two and a half years of round-the-clock computer time to
merely render a feature film – not to mention the time taken to get it ready
for final output.

Your article is clearly championing the benefits of computer assistance in
animation, and seems aimed at converting the traditionalist skeptics among your
readers. You might do better to try to explain Disney’s reluctance to publicize
CAPS instead of just berating them for it. I’d guess that many animation fans
associate computer animation with shortcuts, cheapness and “cheating”. You
might try to explain that CAPS can preserve as high a standard of rendering (or
higher) than traditional hand methods at a much lower cost. This in turn might
enable animators to bring projects to the screen that would otherwise be too
expensive to produce.

If you restrict the article just to CAPS as an ink and paint timesaver, I
think you can win some converts. If you expand it into an aesthetic argument
for computer-generated character animation, you’ll have tougher going. I’d save
that for a separate article if I were you.

Suggested title: “Who’s Afraid of The Big Bad CAPS?”

-Doug.

==========================
animation/long.messages #89, from switch, 80 chars, Wed Apr 15 07:06:11 1992
This is a comment to message 87.
————————–
Thanks. Now if I can retain that in the next two drafts I’ll
be happy 🙂

Emru

==========================
animation/long.messages #90, from switch, 470 chars, Wed Apr 15 07:10:42 1992
This is a comment to message 88.
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Black outlines: I’d never known that. Now I have to go watch
all my old Disney movies again 🙂

Rendering time: Uh oh. Somehow I missed that one. I’ll have to
double-check that statistic. Thanks.

As I was mentioning to Dave in CBIX last night, I believe I’ll
stick with just CAPS for now, and maybe go on about computer animation
in general some time in the future.

“Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad CAPS?” sounds great. Wanna be my
official title generator? 🙂

Emru

==========================
animation/long.messages #91, from hmccracken, 251 chars, Wed Apr 15 17:30:54 1992
This is a comment to message 81.
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————————–
Nice work, Emru! There are some other advantages of the CAPS process
that you didn’t mention — like its ability to create a multiplane-
like effect, and its much cleaner overall look compared to the gritty
look that Xeroxing tends to give.
— Harry

==========================
animation/long.messages #92, from hmccracken, 314 chars, Wed Apr 15 17:34:21 1992
This is a comment to message 90.
There are additional comments to message 90.
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The first few Xeroxed Disney features had
only the thick black Xerox outlines, but they eventually were able
to do colored outlines, as well as a softer gray line. _The Rescuers_
was the fist feature to use the soft gray line; I don’t remember
offhand which one was the first to use colored Xerox lines.
— Harry

==========================
animation/long.messages #93, from switch, 112 chars, Wed Apr 15 19:19:37 1992
This is a comment to message 91.
————————–
Whoops – the multiplane effect was something I wanted to mention –
don’t know how I missed that. Thanks.

Emru

==========================
animation/long.messages #94, from jshook, 438 chars, Wed Apr 15 22:55:24 1992
This is a comment to message 90.
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————————–

Disney (and perhaps others) even went so far as to use more than
one outline color per character–usually the outline color was
a darker value of the color it surrounded, but sometimes it
was lighter or a different hue altogether. I believe these
colors were sometimes applied with a brush rather than a pen.
This allowed as skillful inker to vary the line width which can
be used as a subtle way of modeling the contours of a shape.

==========================
animation/long.messages #95, from hmccracken, 446 chars, Thu Apr 16 09:51:45 1992
This is a comment to message 94.
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I doubt that anybody other than Disney would have or could have
done that (or done things like applying actual makeup to cels,
as they did to rouge Snow White’s cheeks). Walt Disney’s
willingness to spend as much time and money as needed to get
the effect he wanted meant that his studio could do things
that could never be justified in terms of pure economics.

Also — I might be wrong, but weren’t cels *usually* inked with
a brush?
— Harry

==========================
animation/long.messages #96, from switch, 130 chars, Thu Apr 16 21:38:35 1992
This is a comment to message 95.
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I’d always thought they were inked with a brush, though I just
use a thin felt pen, since I’m not doing anything serious…

Emru

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animation/long.messages #97, from bcapps, 40 chars, Sat May 2 00:02:46 1992
This is a comment to message 90.
There are additional comments to message 90.
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Hey! I resemble that remark! 😉

Bob

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animation/long.messages #98, from lwilton, 1455 chars, Sat May 2 04:33:25 1992
This is a comment to message 90.
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Reply to old stuff, but I just wandered in here a mo ago…

Original Disney outlines were black, as were all others (so far as I know).
Some time around the 30s or 40s they came up with “self inking” lines
that were not all black, and this was held to be a great advance in
technique. And of course it was. I don’t recall when this was first
used, but you can look it up in _The Art of Animation_.

But then they went to the Xerox process, and lost the self inking lines,
which made nobody except maybe the bean counters very happy. This also
cost them some of the “liveness” of the images, or so they claimed, due
to the way that they had to do a hard outline on the drawing to have it
reproduce on the Xerox cel. After a few years they developed the grey
lines on the Xerox cels, which made the animation dept. much happier,
but they still missed the old self inking lines.

I heard a Disney type commenting reciently that they were using a “New
Process” for B&B (carefully not mentioning any names), but they
specifically commented that the NP got them self inking lines back,
and they were delighted. Sorry, I don’t remember who or what circumstances.

Your rendering time stat might very well be correct, except for the fact
that the movie was prolly shot on twos for the most part. Remember, there
is no particular reason to render the whole movie sequentially. Just
shell out for 10 film recorders, and do it in one tenth the total time.

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animation/long.messages #99, from switch, 48879 chars, Sun Jun 14 21:49:42 1992
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This interview was conducted by Greg Barr (elfhive) at AnimeCon
’91. Those who are interested in the Japanese animation industry
both here and abroad will probably find this of interest.

This is the final form of the interview after it was printed in
_fps_ #2.

————Cut here—–8<----------------------------------------- AnimeCon '91 was the first convention in the United States devoted exclusively to the subject of Japanese animation. It was held over Labor Day weekend in San Jose, California. During five days nearly 3000 Japanese animation enthusiasts from all over the United States and some from as far away as Australia participated in panels, met with some of their favorite directors and animators, and mostly watched a lot of film and videotape. In addition to about 40 hours of film screenings, three channels of the hotel closed circuit television system were dedicated to airing Japanese animation twenty-four hours a day. Only one of those channels was dedicated to playing requests for repeats, the other two never ran the same tape twice or duplicated programs between them. As someone who is new to the appreciation of anime, I was eager to meet and record my conversations with a number of professionals in the field. Often joining in these conversations was Aleta Jackson, who shares my enthusiasm for this subject. I am delighted to be able to share some of these talks with you. Trish Ledoux is the current editor of Animag: The Magazine of Japanese Animation, and has worked as a translator of anime. In this case, the term translation applies both to the person making the literal translation from one language to the other and the person taking that literal translation and improving the English. Our initial discussion gave me some background about Japanese animation, which has existed since the early 1960's in Japan, and its introduction shortly thereafter in the United States. Trish Ledoux: The first shows to come over were Astro Boy I still have a little 'Golden record' on 78 [rpm]; it was twelve cents and Kimba, the White Lion. A lot of people say that these are the two shows that first got them started in Japanese animation. It was Astro Boy that first appeared on NBC in prime time in the mid-sixties. That was very popular and reached a broad segment of the population. I have no clear memories of watching that show, but I do have the record. Greg Barr: Animag started about four years ago. Was that a second wave of popularity for Japanese animation? TL: Actually it started earlier. Starblazers came first around 1979-80. That's when it first started broadcasts here. I was watching it because it was on kiddie afternoon TV. I was seventeen, eighteen at the time. I was enjoying them at the time. I saw another dubbed feature called Galaxy Express by Leiji Matsumoto. It was dubbed by a group called Family Home Entertainment. They had substituted the names of the characters and even changed the plot lines around, but it was still more than anything anyone had seen in animation. There were multiple stories going on, there were ideas. The sense of continuance was the most important to anybody, I know it was for me. The idea of watching Starblazers, a story that would continue from day-to-day, was so in contrast to the episodic television in America [where] everything was wrapped up and complete in itself, you had a beginning, a middle, a corny joke at the end and then it is over with. GB: You mean like the Hanna-Barbera style? TL: Not to say that they don't have some fine shows, but they hadn't tapped into this continuing story concept. I know that as I got more and more interested in it, I found more people like me. I joined a fan club for Starblazers and that led me to realize that there was a whole body of people all over the United States who were watching the same show. It wasn't just me that was finding it out. GB: How big was that club? TL: Maybe they had about two thousand people back then, around 1980-81. The next big show to come along was Robotech. It was brought over by Harmony Gold, which was the Hong Kong based production firm, that is best known for dubbing kung fu films. Robotech was a hit for almost exactly the same reasons that Starblazers was. There was a continuing story line, there were characters that you could get to know, there was a complex story line going on and it was always embroidering upon itself. The most important element in Robotech was that a character died and they let him die. There were characters in Starblazers who had died but in the American version they mysteriously 'got out'. There was a voice-over. There was, "Oh gee! Knox, are you OK?"' then you would hear this disembodied voice over the radio: "Yeah, I got out alright," but you never see Knox again. In Robotech, they actually have a character bite it. Roy Fokker also had an interesting girlfriend, Claudia she was black. One of the [few] black characters we had seen in animation. He goes to her house, they have some 'pine' salad (which is pineapple salad in Japanese), he went out and got shot. He doesn't tell anyone, he comes back and plays the guitar while bleeding to death on her sofa. This is pretty important stuff when you are used to watching regular Saturday [or] after-school TV! GB: It was Carl Macek who was editing and dubbing this material for after-school broadcast. He is the one who was stretching the limits of what kids were used to? TL: From what I understand, Carl was interested in animation going all the way back to college. He was majoring in it. He loved animation. He wasn't necessarily into Japanese animation at first, but eventually he saw it as this undiscovered gold mine. Here were these wonderful stories, this fantastic animation, all this stuff was going on out there and no one had any access to it. It seems as though his main goal has been to increase access to it for everyone on a variety of levels. His first step was through Robotech. His role in that was by necessity circumscribed. He was only allowed to do certain things, the story could only go so far. He had people telling him what he could do and couldn't do. Carl is a very nice man. He has taken a lot of grief from anime fandom here in America because they tend to hold him solely responsible for some of the shows that came after Robotech. They seem to think that it is all his fault that the story lines were the way they were. He had very little to do with it. I don't want to sound like I'm apologist for him, but I know him and I understand the position he is coming from and I think he is really misunderstood. He is, of course, with Streamline Pictures now and taking a different tack with that. He is bringing it dubbed in English as a theatrical release. You can now go to some art theaters and see Akira, Robot Carnival and The Castle of Cagliostro, which he is working on now. GB: Now we are talking about a different type of Japanese animation. The feature films have not been seen on television in the United States. This is a whole different world from the television series you have been describing. Has this been a result of the series like Robotech? TL: Oh, definitely. Without a single doubt. Robotech was in a lot of ways the wedge that opened the market. Even though Starblazers and some other shows came first, in a sense they really don't count. They were important and a lot of anime fans remember them but it was just the opening salvo in what was to be a larger battle. As far as some fans are concerned the arrival of Japanese animation in the U.S. gave them something that they weren't finding in other parts of their lives. I think that in fandom there is this whole idea that there is something out there that nobody else knows about but you. The idea that you are discovering it. It is new to you. Watching Starblazers and realizing that all the kids around you aren't really clueing in to it and it is really good stuff. That is an attitude common to everyone I have ever spoken with in Japanese animation fandom. They have this feeling that they know something that other people don't know, that the rest of America doesn't know. GB: I have heard expressed, in fact, that there is a certain reluctance to promote Japanese animation too much because it would change fandom. TL: Yes. That is true. The "old guard" who think that it is bad anytime you start getting it too much exposure. It isn't going to be "theirs" anymore. I think that, in some respects, if that is what they are in it for, they are right. They have a legitimate concern. But, if they are in it for the animation and they want to see more product brought over, then there is no other way to go. We have to expand. We have to have people like Carl working for us. We have to have Streamline bringing the animation into the mainstream. At Animag we are constantly trying to broaden our focus. We started out with just synopses. My current attitude is that trained monkeys can write synopses. It is not the secrecy thing that it was. There was a time when it was very clandestine. It was secret knowledge that we all passed around like a cabal. These little cells of animation fans who would talk to other animation fans in a chain that went right across the country. It isn't like that anymore. There are people like U.S. Renditions and AnimEigo, there are other magazines, at least a half dozen others who are regularly publishing. GB: Some have already failed. TL: They come and they go. We are really lucky that we have been able to go this long. I have to say that it is because we have the luxury of using people's free time. I'm able to devote myself to it as a student. If I were working full time there is no way that I could possibly manage it. GB: Is Animag incorporated and was it started by fans? TL: Yes, we are incorporated. The story begins when the C/FO (Cartoon/Fantasy Organization) was still in existence. It was this dark, looming organization that a lot of people like to throw stones at for both good and bad reasons. They were like a central controlling brain with the local clubs being like neurons. After a while, the brain decided that it was going to tell everyone exactly what kind of shows they were going to watch and how much they were going to pay for it. It got so weird that the politics were just bizarre. It was an important organization because it spread the knowledge. This was the group that people could write to and say "Gee, I heard about this really great show called Gundam, do you know where I can get any of the tapes. They charged a basic fee to pay for the tape and the recording and set people up with these tapes. So the knowledge of it grew and it spread out amongst the cells where more people started watching these shows. These were what I call the "robber baron" days of Japanese animation video watching. People would sit on these huge stacks of tapes and say "what will you give me for them?" and people paid outrageous prices to see lots of these things. GB: What is the situation with the distribution of Japanese language tapes? It reminds me of when I used to work in the Middle East where just about everything we saw was not an authorized release. On the other hand the authorized versions were simply not being released in that part of the world. How has the distribution evolved and where do things stand? TL: There was a time when getting a fourth generation videotape was lucky. Nowadays, with the advent of the laserdiscs, it is a different world. Nobody is watching the grainy, scratchy copies anymore because copies are being made right off the laserdiscs. I know of at least four different places right in San Francisco, not even the whole Bay area, where you can purchase Japanese animation laser disks. They rent them. You can get them, copy them, and bring them right back. There is no need anymore for a lot of these clubs, and who is to say that C/FO didn't fall apart because it wasn't needed anymore? I think that is an important part that people haven't talked about. As far as the distribution of tapes is concerned there are a lot of people entering into this as legitimate players. There is U.S. Renditions. They are a division of Books Nippan in the U.S., which is itself a division of a huge Japan based publishing company. They are the forerunner for importing Japanese animation, goods. U.S. Renditions is releasing subtitled videotapes of really popular shows. Now anybody with $20 in their pocket can go down to their local comic stores and get these shows, at least through special mail order. There is no longer any need for Byzantine maneuvering to get to know somebody and getting a tape from them. Those days are gone and they are not ever going to come back. GB: What about Animag's position in this whole situation? How are you going to broaden the market, if that is your intent? TL: As I mentioned before, we started out with just the synopses. Over recent years we have been trying to add in more general interest. We now have a modelling column, we have a comics or manga column and we are just trying to broaden our base of interest. At the same time we are very careful about getting too narrow. There are some aspects of animation fandom who only want to see shows over and over again. They are not interested in the new stuff, whereas we are trying to bring in the new stuff all the time. We are trying to increase awareness and let people know what is going on. We are also keeping a good balance of the older stuff. That is why we have our "Anime Flashback" section. The parameters are not necessarily the age of a show, it has to be accessible. Some shows you are never, ever going to get in the original. You can't even get copies of copies anymore. There are lost in the sands of time and you can't find certain episodes. The best you can do is hope to find someone who knows a little bit about it and write an article on it. In our issue number thirteen we have a Xabungle article. It is a really obscure little show but it is wonderful, it was worked on by a lot of the same people who did Gundam. I don't think that people would find out about shows like that if it weren't for magazines like Animag. GB: Do you think that this will generate some interest so that the shows will become more available in the U.S.? TL: I think it is. The world is changing in animation. A lot of shows are being released on laserdisc. You can get the entire run of some shows which consist of over 30 disks like [Science Ninja Team Gatchman.] Urusei Yatsura has over 200 episodes available on laserdiscs. They cost big chunks of change but they are selling. GB: These shows are not translated into English, right? TL: No. What is fascinating is to figure out how much of a market there is for this material in English. A lot of times people say "if I get a couple of bucks together, I can get a genlock for my computer and do the subtitling myself." Subtitling Japanese animation is a whole other subcurrent of this fandom we have been talking about, people have been doing that for many years. My personal opinion is that the market for English language anime is limited. GB: Do you mean dubbed or subtitled or both? TL: Let me rephrase that. I think there are different markets. The kind of hard core anime fans you find at a convention like this, a lot of them have no interest in seeing subtitled or dubbed. They are always going to find flaws with it. If they go to see one of Streamline's new productions they are just going to sit there. They aren't even listening to it. They just want to knock it down because it's been dubbed and its not "theirs" anymore. You'll hear them commenting "that's not what it says, my friend who had a class in Japanese tells me that that isn't what is happening." I think we are branching out into different markets. Different people who want different things. GB: Isn't that a rather limited group, those people who are going to sit through a dubbed feature and pretend they understood the original Japanese? You seem hesitant, but the distributors are talking about an explosion of Japanese anime in the American market. It seems to me that would have to be in dubbed English. Subtitled films are for "foreign film buffs." Carl Macek seems to be the person who is spearheading the dubbed approach. Do you see his feature film releases breaking out into the mainstream through possible subsequent cable distribution? TL: If anyone can do it, Carl can do it. He and Jerry Beck, his partner at Streamline Pictures, have picked some really good pictures. If it is going to happen it is going to be because of their efforts. Carl and Jerry looked at the situation and came to the same conclusions that you just mentioned. They realized that there is a ceiling on certain kinds of growth. If it was going to work it was going to have to be in English. They also felt that it wasn't going to work initially as television releases. It had to be the theatrical English versions. At this point we are just waiting for the right vehicle. Akira was a good opener. A lot of people who have never seen Japanese animation before are looking at it and they are flabbergasted, they are awed. They are watching it, there is the soundtrack with all the crazy instruments, and there is the story behind the production. There was this huge conglomerate that got together in Japan just to finance this thing. It cost like seven and a half million dollars to produce the film. GB: But that's very cheap for a feature length animation film. TL: Yes, but it was the highest budget ever spent. It was also very high for a feature length Japanese film. If you know anything about Japanese film production, they make films on a shoestring. There is a reason why Kurosawa can't get his films produced in Japan and comes over here to get people like Spielberg and Lucas to back him. GB: So it's like the Indian film production scene, where they make over 300 films a year, but none of them have million dollar budgets. They are, however, very limited to their cultural market. Is it possible that animation would be the first uniquely Japanese cultural expression that would break into the mainstream US market? TL: I think the market is ripe for it. Certainly there is a fascination with all things Japanese right now. Just as an example, attendance is at an all-time high in my language classes. From 1982 to 1985, there was a 42% increase in the number of people who were speaking Japanese. There are a lot of people interested in it and Japanese animation is a really good way to get into it. Even if you don't speak Japanese you can pick up a lot of the cultural nuances just by watching it. GB: I have come across a magazine called Mangajin whose intent is to teach English speaking people a little about Japanese language and culture through manga or Japanese comics. One of the things they talk about is about the different levels of the Japanese language. They call them politeness levels. Are those language levels reflected in anime, are there films that have higher politeness levels or are they all in a "familiar" level? TL: There is only one film I can think of that has a high level of language and that is from a world-famous story of thirteenth century Japan called The Tale of Genji. It is very slow paced. If you have read it you might be able to appreciate the film. It is something beautiful to watch. If you expect to see a fast moving plot and lots of mecha action you will be disappointed. That film was recorded using the high, exalted court speech. Most Japanese animation language is very colloquial. In Japanese there is no equivalent to the Anglo-Saxon "four-letter" swear words. It is all in the intonation and the context of the situation. For example, a common swear word is "kore yao" which literally means "that guy." They don't really mean anything. No one knows what the actual meaning is, they just know that if you say it in a certain way, with a certain tone, it means something negative. As translators, we have tried to pin down a few to expressions like "son of a bitch" or "Goddammit," but it is very loose. GB: Let me get back to Animag. Tell me more about the staff and how it operates. Are you all part-timers? TL: Well, I certainly work full-time hours. GB: You are not paid full-time? This isn't a career situation? TL: No. We haven't quit our day jobs. I would like it to be. It would be my dream that I could just do this. In a sense you could say that it is my full-time job because I don't work any other jobs. I have done some freelance writing and have been published in some art magazines. I write about Japanese animation. As I mentioned, most of us at Animag are students. We have the interest and the time even though our funds are limited. Animag got started because some people looked at what was out there, said we really like Japanese animation, we don't know what is going on with it, let's do a magazine. In a real sense it was, "I've got a barn, I've got a Laserjet, let's put out a magazine." One of the people at the inception was Matt Anacleto and he is working now as a graphic designer, that is what he does all day long. For him it was nothing. All of us were completely unbowed by the enormity of putting out a magazine. If it had been up to me, I certainly couldn't have gotten it together to do this. Matt is my business partner on this. He is Filipino. We have a wonderful ethnic diversity and we also have the highest percentage of women of any of the animation groups. There are four or five women on a staff of almost twenty. That's a very high percentage when you look at other demographics in the field. There was a recent article in an Orange County (California) paper where all the people being interviewed said that there weren't any women involved in Japanese animation. I thought it was interesting that they didn't mention the fact that a major animation magazine has a woman editor and that there were many women involved in the production of Animag. We have a wide ethnic mix. There are a lot of different viewpoints coming into it. We aren't a bunch of guilty white kids sitting around watching it and getting our thrills. Aleta Jackson: One of the attractions about Japanese animation is that there is no specific ethnic group that you are dealing with. It seems to cross all barriers. You can be a poor ghetto kid and appreciate it just as much as a privileged kid. The thing I like about Japanese animation, aside from the beauty of it, is that they are teaching their children that space and space development, going into space, is for them. It is their manifest destiny. When I see Gunbuster, about a young girl who tells her Dad that she is going to be a space pilot just like him, and then she goes and does it. This says something to me about what the Japanese are telling their children. Do you see that at all? TL: There is definitely a cultural subtext. I know Leiji Matsumoto, who is very active in this. He is a member of the Young Astronaut Club. He comes to America fairly frequently on tours and talks to people who are interested in the space program. It seems like there are a lot more people there who are interested in advancing the space program and in advancing technology, in manifest destiny and in breaking frontiers. It's not really fair to compare it to American animation because our two industries are so different. AJ: It strikes me though that this is a basic cultural difference. They are telling their children and their people: "Prepare to go into space." We are telling our children and our people: "Go dig under the sewers in New York." GB: It shouldn't be, because it is all supposed to be light-hearted and fun, but it is a little disturbing. As someone who is interested in promoting space settlement, the treatment of the fictional space program in the film Wings of Honneamise is very, very disturbing. Of all the anime I have seen this one is truly unique. It doesn't bear a relationship to other styles or types of Japanese animation. One of the guests from Japan at this convention, Mr. Sadamoto, worked on Wings and said, somewhat jokingly, that it was an allegory about the studio that produced the film, Gainax. What is interesting is the artist's perspective. Aleta asked Hideaki Anno at a panel yesterday why young girls (who don't take shit from anybody) were often the heroines of these space stories, he answered "because it sells." I would like to know whether there is some conscious message sending at work or if it just happens to be a manifestation of the Japanese culture. Is it really that they have cute young girls because it is mostly young guys that watch this videotapes and they do space stories just because they are interesting? Gundam, for instance, opens with the only animated depiction I know of O'Neill cylinders as space colonies. TL: Gundam is one of the most impenetrable shows out there. There are reams and reams of literature on it. There are volumes of books. I have friends who have made it their life's work. They have learned Japanese just to read Gundam in the original language. You know how when you watch a show you can assume there is a lot going on but there may not be? You may be just projecting. In Gundam there is just such a rich vein to be mined. There is so much thought going on in there. [Yoshiyuki] Tomino, who started Gundam, is an incredible man. He is making political statements. He is making scientific statements. On top of all this there is just there is just the other face of guys going around in giant robots and that's cool too. So you can watch Gundam on a variety of levels. You can watch it because it has neat giant robot combat, but it also has these interesting character developments with larger than life figures like Char Aznable, or you can watch it because you want to find out more about the science. You've got the O'Neill colonies, you've got the Lagrange points, the Minofsky field, all this super science in there going back to Starship Troopers by Heinlein. GB: Who was responsible for the Japanese animation version of Starship Troopers? TL: I think it was Sunrise, who is also the producer of Gundam, but I think you should check on this. GB: That brings up the subject of how animation is produced in Japan. Is it dominated by big studios, like Disney, or are there a lot of independents? If both, what are their relationships, how do they work, and if you have an idea how do you go about realizing it? TL: Gainax is an example of local kids who made good. They were independents that started out with some small little projects. Like a bunch of fans who got together just to do what they like best. It was just popular enough that they have bloomed out and become this big company that is doing a lot of different shows. They are doing Nadia, they are doing all kinds of things which were unimaginable ten years ago when these people were working out of their "garages" doing little projects. Generally the big studios really are the big studios. We are talking about a billion dollar industry with a lot of merchandising going on. It is very hierarchical. When I go over there with Toshifiumi Yoshida, who you get to talk to depends upon who you know and how important you are. It matters whether they bring you tea or not. I think Animag occupies a certain position by virtue of being a novelty. Certainly when I go, I mean here is this blonde woman who comes in and can speak a little Japanese and I'm the editor of an American Japanese animation magazine, I'm novelty city. They will haul out the kids and file them by to look at me. I don't know how seriously they take us. I know we are just a drop in the pond. They don't even consider us a fly worth swatting. Some of the bigger companies, Bandai, for example, are impenetrable. We have tried and tried and tried. We just cannot get any inroads into them. There is this one story where Toshi had gone to Japan, this was around Animag 1 or 2, and he was trying to get permission to do some research on Gundam in order to go beyond the magazine, like a book or similar project. The man he was talking to became very grave and started saying "We will sue you, you know. It's legal and we are going to sue you." The idea of tackling the merchandising juggernaut, as we call Bandai, is just beyond the reach of mortal man. It's a huge organization. Although, according to people that Toshi has talked to very recently, Bandai may be on the way down. They have started marketing toothbrushes, panties, shower caps. They are going into a different branch of merchandising because the market isn't there for the big robots anymore. It is just gone. It's past. GB: So they aren't following the movement, if there is one? They aren't sure they want to go along with it. When you think about a studio system like Disney, for instance, it starts out with a tremendous amount of innovation internal to the culture of the studio and an expression of the culture it is in. It sounds like Gainax may be an example of that. How about Hayao Miyazaki, is he part of a studio or does he have a studio of his own? TL: Miyazaki is a studio. All of what we call the "great" animators are their own studios or companies. Matsumoto has his own production company. He's got people going all over the world looking for bootleg copies of his work. He is constantly finding things in Hong Kong. He will sometimes align himself with other studios and do cooperative efforts, but I think he decides which projects he is going to work on. The same is true of Miyazaki. Miyazaki is an institution in himself. He is the most beloved animator of all time in Japan, and here for that matter. It was certainly one of the reasons that Carl Macek got into it. There is even an apocryphal quote attributed to Steven Spielberg about Castle of Cagliostro "having the greatest action scene that he had ever seen." By the way, nobody can trace that down, I have been trying for five years and nobody can find any attribution to it anywhere. I'd like to go up and ask him sometime if he really said that. GB: He would probably say "Castle what?" TL: Maybe he wouldn't have any idea what we are talking about. GB: I think this is a very fertile period for Japanese animation in the United States. I think that people instantly recognize something like Miyazaki's art. TL: It is universal and transcends cultural boundaries. GB: That could be a major influence here and shake up the way people perceive animation. I don't know how it might influence the big animators like Hanna-Barbera or Don Bluth, but either we are dead wrong about how obviously interesting it is to people or it really is going to have a major influence. I think more than things like the manufacturing technology, such as televisions and VCR's. America is a melting pot of cultures but generally you become American when you come here. I think, however, that Americans somehow become Japanese when they are exposed to anime. I don't know what the importance of that is, but, the more I hear people like you who sound deeply involved in Japanese animation, the more I get the sense that people want to learn Japanese... and it isn't just to do business over there. TL: That's a very insightful observation, actually. Every time I do a convention or an appearance on the subject, I ask how many people have studied Japanese. "How many of you have [studied Japanese]? Usually it is 80% or 90% of the audience. They see it and they want to know more about it. It is a fascination with the Japanese and things Japanese. Of course there is the beauty of the art, there are the stories that you aren't getting anywhere else, there is the cultural taste which is pulling people in from all fronts. It has so many different facets that can attract so many people. In a way it is a shame that it has been this secret, guilty pleasure for so long. It has been here for so long as a recognizable, tangible, visible force, a presence in the merchandising industry, since at least 1980. People are making big bucks off of merchandising and syndication, but where has it gone since then? I know that Carl has told this story many times about trying to get the rights to Nausicaa. That is one of Miyazaki's seminal works, I mean everyone wants to bring Nausicaa to the U.S., it is the project of the century. But the people who owned the North American rights, as soon as they realized that somebody wanted it, put this huge premium on it so nobody could touch it, not even Streamline Pictures. So people are sitting on these rights. They have the rights to a lot of projects which they bought when they first came over because the Japanese were selling cheap. The rights to a lot of Miyazaki films have been snapped up by various American holding companies and they are not releasing them. GB: How aware of this is Miyazaki? TL: Very aware and very frustrated. People have gone over and talked to him personally who have this desperate desire to bring his work over here. It deserves to be seen, but there is nothing that he can do. You were asking about the studio system and how much control they have. In a sense what goes on in Japan they can say, but when it goes outside it is completely out of their hands. GB: Is that because they just didn't know about international marketing? TL: It isn't as much of a priority. Being part of the homogenous Japanese society means that when you are in Japan you are Japanese, you only care about things Japanese. It is so important to remain true to your own cultural identity, to focus in on what is Japanese, that I think there is a lot of blindness to what is going on outside of their own inner circle. There are two words in Japanese that describe this whole relationship. There is honne and tatemae. Honne is written with the kanji [Japanese ideograms --Ed.] for tree which is "source root" and stands for the true feeling. And then there is tatemae which comes from the verb tateru which means to build or to construct and that is a foundation. These are the two sides that you show the world. You show your inner circle, your family, the one face and you show everybody else the other face. I'm going into cultural things here, not really animation, but it wouldn't be true to say that this doesn't affect the animation and their perception of it. GB: At the opening ceremony for AnimeCon '91, they showed a videotape of some works in progress by American animators like Rick Sternbach and some friends. He seems to be influenced by Japanese animation. Do you see this happening in American animation and will Animag cover this material as well? TL: I don't think Animag will cover any American animation. We have been approached about covering more American animation but there are some copyright issues and it is difficult to find people who are qualified to do it. Maybe, I'm damning myself, but we are able to operate right now in a market where a lot of people don't speak Japanese. Some think they do, but very few actually do. Animag has a cadre of people who really do and they spend a lot of time doing research and travelling to talk to people in the Japanese animation field. As a little group of students I would say that it would be hard to compete with so many others more knowledgeable about the subject of American animation. GB: But if you see something that is obviously influenced by a particular Japanese animator? TL: Well, it that case we would be interested in covering it. The following represents excerpts from a conversation with Mr. Kazuhiko Inomata, producer of the Dominion series for Toshiba Video Software and Mr. John O'Donnell of U.S. Manga Corps, distributors of Toshiba's subtitled Dominion. Also present were Ken Toshifiumi and Trish Ledoux of Animag. John O'Donnell was translating for Mr. Inomata. The conversation began with a discussion of the problems anime has in meeting American television standards because of the amount of violence throughout. Kazuhiko Inamoto: In terms of the problems of showing Japanese animation in America today, the Japanese production companies are aimed at American film majors and aimed at the three networks. But that kind of product does not mass market enough and is too violent for television and is therefore better for video release. GB: In terms of marketing, do they study the networks as a market and are they aware of the peculiarities of those networks as opposed to the cable television market? KI: We produce with the thought that as long as it works in Japan, it is fine. Now we are thinking that perhaps, if we see a rising boom for this product in America, it may be time to think about what works in other countries as we go into the design stage. GB: The market seems big enough that you could just go ahead and use the original material and find a place through which you can access the appropriate market for a certain kind of anime. For instance, a cable channel might specifically handle Japanese animation. Or would you change the content of the material specifically for American audiences? KI: One way to treat the content with consideration is to take the original Japanese material and put English subtitles on it. When you dub it, however, you open it up for a broader market. Anime needs to be accepted as not just for kids. We are approaching the video rental stores, which tend to market our product in the children's section, to get them to set up a completely separate Japanese animation section that stands alone. John O'Donnell: U.S. Manga Corps is working with Blockbuster to have them set up these separate sections to handle the three labels we distribute. Blockbuster wants to know how many titles there are and if there is enough volume for them to warrant paying special attention to anime. KI: In Japan, every month about 50 new titles are released on video. These are called OVA (Original Video Animation). So the basic supply of programming exists to allow a flow into America. Each of the groups in Japan that makes animation has its own sales organization which has its own relationship to American distributors and each is wrestling with the decision of whether or not to come into this market. So unless we get a sense in Japan that it is worthwhile coming into America on a regular basis, it is hard to give the kind of ongoing support that the distributors need. Right now the videos are priced at 10,000 Yen and it just won't work. JOD: If a forty minute OVA were to be priced like a CD at $14 to $15, there would be a real market here. Presently it is $35 and it is just too high. It needs to come down to $14.95 and $19.95 for feature length animation films. Then people would find it easier to get several selections. TL: For people who have never seen one before, they are unlikely to take a chance at $35. At $14.95 they might buy it just because the like the look of the cover art. GB: Because of the size of the American market, does Mr. Inomata feel that it is worth the effort and expense of doing some traditional market research? KI: How much does it cost? GB: It would depend on how extensive it was. If you put together focus study groups who have never been shown the animation before and then follow it up with quantitative analysis of that information to verify what the study groups are saying, it could start at around $50,000 to $100,000. KI: In Japan we did some market research. We showed the average man in the street and asked, "What do you think?" The answer was that it was boring and they couldn't see the point. We went ahead with the marketing and discovered that there were enough "mania people" (fans) out there that it became a success. All these questionnaires were coming in the front door saying: "it won't work, it won't work, nobody wants it!" At the same time substantial shipments were going out the back door. It was too much of a gap. Ken Toshifiumi: My opinion on the idea of a separate Japanese animation corner at Blockbuster is that in order to keep enough stuff coming there will be a glut of stuff that isn't going to sell. In order to keep the flow up that will satisfy the store, bad product will come in to the shelves. KI: The American market now reminds me of the Japanese market five years ago, before the OVA boom. When we had the boom there was boring, bad stuff mixed in with the good stuff. The people picked what they wanted. Fans would buy this or that, some stuff would sell and others wouldn't. I'm not worried about having a lot of stuff on the market because it will all seek its own level. KT: Right now is U.S. Manga Corps dealing exclusively with Toshiba EMI? JOD: We've licensed the Dominion series from Toshiba Video Software and we are looking to do more work with them, but it is not an exclusive arrangement. KI: Actually we are Toshiba Video Software, which is owned by Toshiba. Toshiba EMI is a separate company because it is a joint venture with EMI in the record business. You have two Toshiba companies here. The fact that record sales were falling off is what brought Toshiba into the OVA market. [Note: Since this interview, Mr. Kazuhiko Inomata has become a producer at Toshiba EMI. -GB] KT: Unlike the television programs, you also don't have to worry about television commercials and having a toy line to back the program. This way the record companies can back one video production, put the money in and then get it back in direct sales. GB: Explain the record market in Japan? KT: The Japanese record market as it is isn't that great. There isn't a whole lot there. You have the "pop idol" industry which isn't a very stable market by nature since idols come and go quickly. TL: The "idol" thing in Japan is basically the marketing of a pre-pubescent girl. They dress her up in the cutest outfit they can possibly find and give her a nonsense song to sing in a competition. She basically wins because of cuteness. KT: They don't usually last more than a year. That market started to go bad in Japan and the companies looked for new ways to make money. They started investing in OVA. KI: Actually it was more the toy side that got into OVA. Bandai is one of the largest toy companies and one of the first to start producing OVA. There follows a discussion about a Japanese documentary concerning fandom lifestyles. KT: In 1982 animation fandom was really big in Japan. There was this production that did a "cut-away" view of the fans asking them what they were doing that year. There was even some animation created to show things that were appening amongst the fans. Some people watch it and don't understand it, others look at it and say "My God, that was me!" I saw a clip from the film where they interviewed 100 animation fans from 1982 and asked them how many had lost their virginity before marriage. Of the fifty men, none had, and of the fifty women only two. None of this would make any sense to American fans. TL: People would wonder this is animation why are you asking about sex? KT: They were asking when was the first time you saw a porno movie, that kind of thing. I think there is too much Japanese culture in it to be really understood over here. Maybe a little bit of the eroticism would be attractive to American fandom, but that might be the only real draw besides the nice animation. Although cute little girls in skimpy clothes always works. We always put a girl or a robot on the cover. TL: Greg and I were talking about this before. I feel that there is a certain amount of appeal to something that seems impenetrable, which has this mystique to it. It's like having a Rosetta stone that you decode to try to find out what is going on. So sometimes the cultural stuff is good, but if it just the cultural stuff I don't think it is going to fly here. It has to have something else to bring it in. JOD: Have you seen The Sensualist? It is from a book by Ihara Saikaku. He lived during the Genroku period, which is the Japanese Renaissance in early 1700 A.D. The book is called The Life of an Amorous Man. It is very famous. O.B. Kikaku and Studio Jamp, which is a production company, did a feature length animation of it called The Sensualist. It is very slow and stylized, not at all like most of what you see at this convention. It is extremely elegant. I love it, but would that fly in America? KI: That particular film didn't even work in Japan. JOD: So where is that cultural wall? Is it a wall that you want to climb over because it is there and people want to look? KT: I think everyone wants to see what the culture is like in Japan, but it has to be interesting enough for them to keep watching. ----- Discussion regarding the OVA series Dominion. GB: Is it unusual in Japan for what seem like the antagonists to be the more popular and well-liked characters? KI: Yes, normally the characters who play the bad roles tend to have more popularity than the good guys. GB: In the United States, we have groups that are organized to challenge the content of television programming, especially children's television. Are there similar groups in Japan and would they oppose the projection of an image of popular bad guys? KI: Perhaps in cases where the villains are really bad, but most "bad guys" have some redeeming values in them. In spite of the fact that they do bad things, there is some humanity about them and people who are watching feel for them. The writers are very good about maintaining that sort of a balance. So they have no problem with parents' groups protesting. GB: Are there such groups? KI: Yes, they have some groups like that. They are more concerned about the sexual things as opposed to the perceptions of who is a good guy or who is a bad guy. Things like sexual perversions that you find in specialized magazines are more the concern for these parents' groups. GB: Dominion features a great deal of sexual innuendo in a humorous way. Is that a peculiar feature of Japanese animation and, if so, how do you think that will play to the American market? KI: In Japan they do not have the same Judeo-Christian ethic of shame about the body. If a woman goes in the shower she is not likely to have her clothes on because they would get wet, so that is why when you see a shower scene they don't have any clothes on. This is a simple thought process so it doesn't raise any questions. GB: From a marketing point of view what is U.S. Manga Corps approach to the product knowing that it may be sensitive with American audiences? JOD: We play it up. We make it real clear that the reason you are buying this is because it is a cartoon for college kids and young adults. We are putting stickers on it that state "not recommended for children." Our feeling, as producers of this material, that you must make sure it is clear who it is aimed for on the box so no parent will buy it by mistake. That is our responsibility. The second thing is that we feel it is part of the appeal of Japanese animation. Why are American cartoons boring? They are just children's stories with gags. You don't have the character development. You don't have the sophisticated plots that continue the character development and get richer with more threads and stories. They shy away from any adult oriented concepts like crime and punishment, environmental degradation. These are not themes that you find in children's animation in the U.S. Part of the appeal of Japanese animation is that a lot of these themes are included. GB: There is a program called Toxic Avengers in the U.S. that seems to point to a slight change in themes for American children's cartoons. Also the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, did that have any success in Japan? KI: The characters just weren't appealing to the Japanese. It was really bad, a total flop in Japan. GB: Yesterday at the opening ceremonies, American artist Rick Sternbach and other animators send a video that showed some ideas in progress for animation programs, some storyboards and character sketches. It seemed as though it was heavily influenced by Japanese anime. Is there any interest on the part of the bigger Japanese studios in sponsoring productions by American artists influenced by the Japanese, but which might be more in tune with the American market? KI: It is a great idea. I would like to see Japanese and Americans working together on a co-production basis to come with programs that would appeal to both markets. GB: What is his reaction to this first Japanese anime convention in the United States? KI: In Japan the scale is bigger. The annual Wonder Festival is about ten times bigger than this. I am very impressed that America has come to this kind of level for this kind of product. ========================== animation/long.messages #100, from switch, 16335 chars, Sat Aug 29 12:09:26 1992 -------------------------- TITLE: Anime, and He May Not This is an article written by Marc Elias for the next issue of FPS. It's basically a commentary on the merits (or lack thereof) of Japanese animation. Since there seems to be some healthy debate on the subject on several BBSes and nets I call, he granted me permission to post this. Anime, And He May Not (or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love My Big Purple Battle Suit) by Marc Elias Recently, I was given an assignment for this magazine, and, well, honest-to-God, I meant to do it. I really did. I wanted to produce the most even-handed, thoughtful and entertaining review fps had ever printed. But I got distracted. When my editor noticed that I was neglecting the action of the Japanese animated video I was supposed to be critiquing in favor of turning around and sneering at everyone else in the room, he peeked over my shoulder at what I had scrawled, and, in the manner of a true journalist, immediately saw a golden opportunity to annoy people. Naturally, his primary impulse, like mine, was to expose some of the more embarrassing, irritating and regressive aspects of anime, an art form for which we have enough respect and love to want to criticize it in a healthy, constructive way... But mostly he wanted to annoy people, which often has the same effect, and is a lot more fun. So, with his blessing, I have a few points to make--maybe a few bones to pick--about the world of Japanese animation. Let's run a few up the flagpole and see who jumps into the head of a twenty-storey robot (that they don't know how to drive) and righteously tries to attack them. Japanese animation is not the seamless, perfect artifact that its most ardent fans make it out to be. It has infuriating problems. In fact, to the more moderate animation enthusiast, the human cost of these problems is not as evident in the medium itself as it is in its most visible disciples, the anime fanatics. I feel that the blindest among them, either with good intentions or with malice aforethought, tend to make what is admirable about anime very tacky, and what is unfortunate about anime downright unpleasant. Theirs is the crime, or the curse, of being selectively diplomatic, which often boils down to accepting and defending a volume of really bad ideas on the strength of the far fewer number of good ones. The fanatic both helps and hinders whatever he or she is fanatical about. That goes for religions, or hockey teams, or identity politics, or forms of art. In the case of anime, slavish devotion to the product and what it represents means, in the simplest terms, that someone will keep making the stuff, which is good for everyone, because when anime is good, it is very good. But what the stereotypical extremist (read: big fan) demands and accepts (one would like to say `condones') determines both the intention, the content and the ultimate effect of what is produced. There are a lot of bad ideas in anime, and most of its true partisans don't do anything about it. The occasional maverick genius will always do what he or she wants to, and it will be so full of good ideas that it becomes an excuse for a torrent of subsequent mediocrity and regressiveness from the rest of the genre. This is true of every form of expression. But in anime, I find the mediocrity easier to spot, because it doesn't seem to aspire to more, and consequently, neither do its fans. The fanatic, with his or her strength and influence, is missing out on the chance to make the style they love truly a world leader within its mandate, instead of the unstable, borderline silly set of commercials that too much of it is today. But let me say this now, for the record: I like Japanese animation. I do. Like my friend and editor Emru, I like the respect with which an entire culture accords animation, an art form that I love; an art form that, on the whole, my culture treats very roughly. In North America, most people refuse to understand what you're talking about until you say "cartoon", and then they proceed to get the wrong idea at a furious pace, with an intensity that leaves the animation lover spent, and primed for a good long lie-down. The fact that we market the stuff mostly for children is not a problem; children used to have a whole lot of imagination, and the secret was safe with them. But now those children have grown up, or are successfully faking it, and are feeling the need for the kind of freedom of imagination that animation gave them as children. It's a relentlessly happy form of art, and a genuine one, as most desultory television watchers would gladly like to announce to those responsible for 90% of our animation. The bottom line about the art form is its freedom; the freedom to add movement and timing to drawings, the freedom to make absolutely anything you can force your hands to draw come alive, the freedom to make things that aren't real feel real, and the freedom to make things that can't possibly be real feel more real than everything else you see every day. It is a powerful way to show people things they might never see otherwise. Americans like Disney, Bluth, Bakshi, Avery and Jones have set lofty standards for their countrymen that are unfortunately rarely equalled. The Japanese animators, on the other hand, have made putting work and style into their animation almost a national pastime. The Japanese have the best timing, the best draughtsmen, the best scope and the best support system in the world of animation. The North Americans may be funnier, the Eastern Europeans may be more socially conscious, the Italians may be more authentically lascivious. The Japanese are definitely the loudest, and the brightest, and in the big picture, they take what they do very seriously indeed, which in and of itself, is not only necessary, but good. However, anime fanatics tend to take things too seriously. And as a consequence, some anime producers are offered the leisure of taking things less seriously than they should. For example, anime, and the manga comic style that inspired it, has a network of intricate templates, traditions and rules that are adhered to more or less faithfully by every animator in Japan who isn't working for an American producer, and most of those who are. Some of these are tremendous ideas that can be adapted again and again. Some of these are good ideas that have been used again and again, until you are led to wonder what was so good about them anyway. Some of them are just plain shoddy judgement, and insults to the imagination, especially when judged against the best of the genre. Again, this is true of every way of life that relies on imagination to touch human emotions. But anime has a habit of allowing some of its weakest notions to become its standard bearers all over the world, largely because the genre's consumers don't put enough thought into what they accept, and consequently the producers only have to work half as hard to satisfy their demands. Even newcomers will recognize the most obvious characteristics of anime. A simplified action and fewer re-drawings, coupled with an impeccable timing, results in faster-paced but potentially crude movement. At its best, it is nothing less than thrilling. This stuff can make twelve cels a second look like Disney. At its worst, it looks unconvincing and cheap. A uniform character design anthropomorphizes people into a bizarre pseudo-humanity in which individuality is replaced with big eyes, perky noses, long legs, small waists, big breasts, strong jaws and heart-shaped faces, depending on whether the character is man-boy or woman-girl. As a design trick, it was once an inspired stylization, but it is getting tired, very tired. As it shows no sign of becoming extinct, it looks like we will just have to accept it, and move on. Another anime staple is the incredibly complicated machine. One could go on for pages about why the Japanese excel at drawing, almost drafting machinery, but suffice it to say here that no culture does it better. Regardless of whether the devices are of this world or of another, Japanese animators don't even flinch at putting them through the most amazing stunts, perspectives and explosions. The results are often astounding. And yet, as we have seen, they refuse to individualize the acting of their characters, and character animation by definition is nothing less than acting. The Japanese are no less human than North Americans, in some cases, probably more so; why won't they breathe life into the majority of their people? An example of a high-visibility anime product that seems to have had little or no big-picture thought given to it is a series called BUBBLEGUM CRISIS. As outlined in the first issue of this 'zine (by the outrageously diplomatic Emru Townsend), BGC takes place in Mega-Tokyo during the first half of the 21st Century. It follows the adventures of the Knight Sabers, four adorable but dangerous vigilante women, in their quest to work out their dysfunctional childhoods on anyone in Mega-Tokyo who misbehaves. By day, Priss is a nightclub singer. Celia runs a lingerie shop. Nene is an officer in the AD Police, Mega-Tokyo's Keystone Kops. Linna would like to be a nightclub singer, but she can't sing. Still, she remains the cheerful one. When danger strikes, they all put on big robot battle suits and fight like well-trained, bloodthirsty mercenaries. This, in the world of anime, is a perfectly reasonable concept. Perhaps the work doesn't deserve such a facetious reading, especially for people who haven't seen it. But I've seen it. That was the review that this article was supposed to be. The only meaningful conclusions I could come up with about BUBBLEGUM CRISIS was that it was bursting at the seams with bad ideas, all seen through to their logical, inevitable conclusions. I would argue with those who call it stylish, because I've seen that style before, and it didn't do much for me the first time around. Style as substance requires the hand of a master. The master stylist must instinctively know which aspects of the style he or she is relating are the most important, the most meaningful, and exploit them. Not, as in BUBBLEGUM CRISIS, occasionally sneak one in during a downtime in the preposterousness. What style there is in BUBBLEGUM CRISIS is vastly overshadowed by cheap, exploitative writing. Very sad. But what made the series this way? Stereotypes abound in every art form that relies in any way on storytelling. They save time and effort. If, for example, you want to tell a story about two brothers, rivals since birth, who eventually work things out, you don't want to waste the time you have to put into solving the problem into setting the problem up. A few time-honored (time-worn?) tricks, and the audience is ready. Use established ideas to set up your original ones. That's the idea. But anime has a desperate relationship to stereotypes that gives interested observers plenty of sources from which to track the growth of inexcusably bad ideas. For example, women are so poorly treated in anime that it is next to impossible to nail down the main stereotype. Is it the moll who, despite being the girlfriend of the lantern-jawed hero, isn't officially part of the gang, but can karate kick like nobody's business (once someone unties her), and whose main function seems to be decolletage and occasionally getting kidnapped? Or the teenager who takes a lot of showers with her blonde or redhead but otherwise identically buxom friends at the space boarding school, and then unleashes savage vengeance upon people after school? Is it the spunky tomboy fighter pilot, the zipper of her flight suit constantly under incredible strain from her massive breasts, who is otherwise just like the guys except she can't whip it out and stand at the urinals with them? The killer kid sister? The killer rock singer? The lingerie-selling vigilante leader? Many other necessary story elements become stereotypes as well. Villains gleefully stereotype one another without asking permission, and then ritually embark on vast world-domination schemes. Entire cultures are routinely threatened by Some Sinister Something, forcing their best and brightest to band together in big machines and fight for their helpless kid sisters. Boyfriends and girlfriends are interrupted from the day-to-day business of atomic flirting by violent death from the skies, or maybe it's violent death on fast motorcycles. Large, faceless corporations stocked with limitless greedheads exert fierce control over people for the sake of doing so. Convenient Bad Guy Syndrome. If you close your eyes for too long, maybe to, oh, I don't know, rub them in a gesture of resignation, the threat might suddenly change, especially if the film has no subtitles, but I guarantee that in most cases you'll be able to get right back into it after a quick stereotype-check. Vengeance is big with anime writers, ostensibly because they need reasons for people to suddenly start shooting at each other. Conquering the world is big, usually to get back at someone, though. Megalomania, repression, pride... Heroes are well-respected, both as fighters and lovers, and they have the best clothes and the best gadgets. And at this point, I begin to suspect the pervasive influence of a certain Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. The Japanese are crazy for James Bond, an affection I am completely powerless to explain, but in any case, it seems like they've lifted a good 90% of his plots, villains, gadgets and spy-babes for their animated stories. Naturally, most of them take place in space and all that, but otherwise, it's pure 007. Any good ideas 007 might have had were better left with him, where someone could appreciate them. BUBBLEGUM CRISIS' good original ideas could be carried around in one of those touristy waist-wallets. In anime, this situation seems to be endemic. In fact, it seems that the same disease that has affected the motion-picture industry has infected the world of anime. Bad writing. Artless, brainless, flashy, water-treading formula. If we stay within the traditional genres of anime (we're not even going to touch anime porno. No one's been able to prove that sex is a bad idea yet), this is the same disease that enables one of the biggest movie studios in the States to take a superb body of imagination called ALIEN and completely rape and disrespect it to make a thoroughly unnecessary sequel. Or how about the screenplay fiasco called COOL WORLD? BATMAN RETURNS? Almost every other film in that genre for as long as we can remember? These may not be highbrow films, but in theory they are not intrinsically bad ideas. They had promise. They had the potential to reach a slightly patronized, if not alienated audience, a group of people with boundless imaginations, who love fantasy and speculation, but have a tendency to accept easily understood stereotypes in favor of true emotional experience. Having appealed to their tastes, the vehicle can relate some enormous and important concepts. To the rest of the world, they could have demonstrated some stellar imagination to people with uninformed and narrow value judgements about what can be proudly called art. Instead, they were badly written, telling people nothing, and were allowed to be made anyway, alienating everyone who appreciates imagination. It seems like that's what can happen to our good ideas, if we don't take them seriously enough. In my view, it is up to the fans, the partisans, the experts, the people who know and love anime, who spend their money on it so that it can flourish; it is up to these people to politely ask those with the energy and talent to produce the animation to please, even if it costs more and takes longer, please hire someone who can write coherent, imaginative meaningful ideas for their animators to bring to life. It is up to the fans to support the anime projects with genuine thought and sophistication to them, and to openly ignore those that persist in insulting their intelligence. If, instead of taking what they are offered and pronouncing it good simply because it is what they've been offered, the people who love anime ask for more, then the entire world would be forced to recognize and respect anime as an art form worth the fanatical pride of its fans. ========================== animation/long.messages #101, from davemackey, 2235 chars, Fri Oct 16 06:11:54 1992 There is/are comment(s) on this message. -------------------------- TITLE: New Warner Bros. laserdiscs Here are the contents of the six new Warner Bros. laserdiscs that will be released for this holiday season. Each disc is $34.98 list. "Winner By A Hare" The Fair Haired Hare Bully For Bugs Hare Do Captain Hareblower My Bunny Lies Over The Sea High Diving Hare Rabbit Seasoning Bunny Hugged Ballot Box Bunny Box Office Bunny Big House Bunny Rabbit Hood Hare Trimmed Mississippi Hare "Duck Victory" Duck Dodgers In The 24-1/2th Century Duck! Rabbit, Duck! Drip-Along Daffy The Super Snooper Daffy Duck Hunt Muscle Tussle Don't Axe Me Stork Naked Robin Hood Daffy Ali Baba Bunny Cracked Quack Daffy Dilly Golden Yeggs Duck Amuck "Looney Tunes After Dark" Jumpin' Jupiter Water, Water Every Hare Bewitched Bunny Hyde And Hare The Night Of The Living Duck Transylvania 6-5000 The Wearing Of The Grin Scaredy Cat Broom-Stick Bunny Hyde And Go Tweet Hare-Way To The Stars The Abominable Snow Rabbit The Duxorcist The Hasty Hare "Ham On Wry" Often An Orphan You Ought To Be In Pictures The Pest That Came To Dinner The Ducksters Dog Collared Porky In Wackyland Deduce, You Say Porky Pig's Feat Claws For Alarm The Prize Pest The Case Of The Stuttering Pig Thumb Fun Awful Orphan Boobs In The Woods "Looney Tunes Assorted Nuts" A Bear For Punishment Dog Gone South Boyhood Daze Pest For Guests Mouse Wreckers A Sheep In The Deep Rabbit's Kin Feed The Kitty The Hypo-Chondri-Cat From A To Z-z-z-z-z Chow Hound Strife With Father Bear Feat Feline Frame-Up Gone Batty A Hound For Trouble "Looney Tunes Curtain Calls" Rabbit Of Seville One Froggy Evening Hillbilly Hare Curtain Razor What's Up, Doc? Nelly's Folly The Scarlet Pumpernickel Show Biz Bugs Three Little Bops Baton Bunny High Note Long Haired Hare Tweety's Circus What's Opera, Doc? --Dave ========================== animation/long.messages #102, from hmccracken, 103 chars, Fri Oct 16 09:23:24 1992 This is a comment to message 101. There is/are comment(s) on this message. -------------------------- Gee, they sound almost good enough to buy a laserdisk player for -- especially the last two! -- Harry ========================== animation/long.messages #103, from davemackey, 234 chars, Thu Oct 22 20:28:05 1992 This is a comment to message 102. There is/are comment(s) on this message. -------------------------- Mine is as good as bought right now. It is very odd that I am getting my laser disk player some ten years after I acquired my first and only laser disk -- "Coal Miner's Daughter" starring Sissy Spacek. --Dave ========================== animation/long.messages #104, from srider, 441 chars, Mon Oct 26 22:46:26 1992 This is a comment to message 103. There is/are comment(s) on this message. -------------------------- Good ones can be had for $300 nowdays. I noticed in the new issue of the laser disc catalog the _Beauty & the Beast: Work in Progress_ special edition disc which presents the film as shown at the New York festival last year. 70% complete, with pencil roughs in places, and the rendered ballroom scene not yet complete but an in-depth study on the software and machines involved in creating the sequence. $49.95 Already ordered. 🙂 ========================== animation/long.messages #105, from switch, 194 chars, Tue Oct 27 19:19:58 1992 This is a comment to message 104. -------------------------- Yup. I've decided to ignore the Expanded Entertainment October special, and Sight & Sound's anime discounts in favor of this one... I have a thing for line tests and pre-production work. Emru ========================== animation/long.messages #106, from davemackey, 1937 chars, Thu Nov 19 20:43:17 1992 There is/are comment(s) on this message. -------------------------- TITLE: "The Golden Age Of Looney Tunes, Vol. 3" 1. Harman-Ising One More Time Red Headed Baby Pagan Moon A Great Big Bunch Of You The Shanty Where Santy Claus Lives One Step Ahead Of My Shadow The Dish Ran Away With The Spoon 2. Bugs Bunny Wackiki Wabbit Hare Force Super Rabbit Herr Meets Hare Bugs Bunny And The Three Bears Stage Door Cartoon Easter Yeggs 3. Chuck Jones The Squawkin' Hawk Inki And The Minah Bird From Hand To Mouse Fin N' Catty Fresh Airedale The Eager Beaver House Hunting Mice 4. Friz Freleng Pigs Is Pigs The Cat's Tale Lights Fantastic Ding Dog Daddy The Wacky Worm Peck Up Your Troubles Racketeer Rabbit 5. Early Avery I Wanna Be A Sailor Circus Today Aviation Vacation Aloha Hooey Holiday Highlights Crazy Cruise The Cagey Canary 6. Tashlin And Clampett Little Pancho Vanilla Booby Hatched I Got Plenty Of Mutton Farm Frolics Falling Hare Birdy And The Beast Russian Rhapsody 7. Sports Freddy The Freshman Boulevardier From The Bronx Along Flirtation Walk Sport Chumpions Greetings Bait Screwball Football Baseball Bugs 8. The Evolution Of Egghead Egghead Rides Again Count Me Out Johnny Smith And Poker-Huntas A Day At The Zoo Believe It Or Else A Feud There Was Confederate Honey 9. Porky And Daffy Daffy Duck And The Dinosaur Slightly Daffy Ain't That Ducky Wagon Heels Along Came Daffy Nothing But The Tooth The Up-Standing Sitter 10. Politically Incorrect Wake Up The Gypsy In Me He Was Her Man Sioux Me The Mighty Hunters A Feather In His Hare The Early Worm Gets The Bird Inki And The Lion The boxed set list for $99.95. --Dave ========================== animation/long.messages #107, from hkenner, 74 chars, Thu Nov 19 21:44:13 1992 This is a comment to message 106. There is/are comment(s) on this message. -------------------------- Hey hey hey I've missed a detail-- where do I order the boxed set??? --HK ========================== animation/long.messages #108, from davemackey, 116 chars, Fri Nov 20 19:02:37 1992 This is a comment to message 107. There is/are comment(s) on this message. -------------------------- Let me give you a tip, Hugh -- Whole Toon has it for ten bucks off. (206) 391-8747. --Dave ========================== animation/long.messages #109, from hkenner, 261 chars, Mon Nov 23 21:37:06 1992 This is a comment to message 108. There is/are comment(s) on this message. -------------------------- Dave, Whole Toon's phone op tells me they have something with a similar title (not identical title) on CD-ROM. Is that what you listed? I asked them to send me a new catalogue. Mine--arrived 10 days ago--is a mess of duplicated and missing pages. ... --Hugh ========================== animation/long.messages #110, from hmccracken, 647 chars, Mon Nov 23 22:18:20 1992 This is a comment to message 109. There is/are comment(s) on this message. -------------------------- Hugh -- If I'm not mistaken, the "Golden Age of Looney Tunes Vol. 3" collection which Dave refers to is available only on laserdisc at this time. It's $89.95. However, Vol. one of the same laserdisc series has recently been re-issued as ten videotape volumes, which are available in a boxed set which Whole Toon sells for $74.95. (It's on page 14 of the new catalog.) The ten tapes are "1930s Musicals," "Firsts," "Tex Avery," "Bob Clampett," "Chuck Jones," "Friz Freleng," "Bugs Bunny By Each Director," "1940s Zanies," "Hooray for Hollywood," and "The Art of Bugs." -- Harry (ps: The Whole Toon catalog # for the boxed set is MGM 802915.) ========================== animation/long.messages #111, from davemackey, 331 chars, Tue Nov 24 20:27:42 1992 This is a comment to message 110. There is/are comment(s) on this message. -------------------------- But cartoons on CD-ROM! Wouldn't that be nice. Pop in, say, your favorite Tex Avery classic, open a window, and you can watch "King Sized Canary" while working on spreadsheets in another window! I wonder if our more technically-oriented folk here could speculate on the practicability of this. --Dave ========================== animation/long.messages #112, from ianl, 352 chars, Tue Nov 24 20:44:20 1992 This is a comment to message 111. There is/are comment(s) on this message. -------------------------- Without specific hardware to support the playback, we're a ways from it, I think. You're talking about an image with roughly 512x400 pixels in truecolor, moving at 30 frames per second. That's a lot data to move, and I haven't yet heard of any general-purpose systems that include hardware that's up to the task. (In the MSDOS world, anyway.) ========================== animation/long.messages #113, from hmccracken, 389 chars, Tue Nov 24 21:56:52 1992 This is a comment to message 112. There is/are comment(s) on this message. -------------------------- That's right, but an easier solution to the cartoons-in-a-window problem is here right now: there are several boards available that will let you plug any video source (a videocamera, cable TV, etc.) into your computer, then watch that video source in a Windows window. I've done just that, letting me watch cartoons in resizable window while I use my word processor in another. -- Harry ========================== animation/long.messages #114, from ianl, 59 chars, Tue Nov 24 23:27:24 1992 This is a comment to message 113. There are additional comments to message 113. -------------------------- That sounds like a real boon to workplace productivity. ========================== animation/long.messages #115, from davemackey, 139 chars, Wed Nov 25 19:38:11 1992 This is a comment to message 113. -------------------------- That's my next purchase. The TV board for the computer. (After I get Christmas out of the way, of course.) --Dave ========================== animation/long.messages #116, from switch, 7375 chars, Tue Jan 19 11:27:20 1993 There is/are comment(s) on this message. -------------------------- One of the great things about this city is that it's a very 'filmic' place. As a consequence, we get a lot of animation programming coming through here (an average of about three hours of new theatrical animation per month), quite a bit of it hard to find anywhere else. Last Wednesday, my roommate/co-conspirator and I went to the first showing of the best of the Hiroshima '92 international animation festival. One or two of these shorts have already been in Expanded Entertainment or Mike and Spike's packages, and I expect some others will make their way into the next few packages. Until then, these short summaries/critiques will have to do. GREETINGS FROM CROATIA (Josko Marusic, Croatia, 57 secs; cel animation): In the lobby, I joked, "Where could anyone have found the time to animate in Croatia, with all that's going on?" Well, this film is about "all that's going on." A husband and wife are quietly relaxing in their house. Every time the man tries to say something, there's an explosion, and another part of the house is blown off. It's a surprisingly funny look at the current situation in what used to be Yugoslavia. THE WELL ORDERED RESTAURANT (Tadanari Okamoto, Japan, 19 mins; probably fine colored pencil - maybe some pastels - on paper): Two hunters go out into the forest, and happen upon a seemingly empty hotel, where they are given instructions by an invisible host by way of signs and small cards. Eventually the hunters realize that they are the hunted... This is a nice film to look at, and it has more than a few memorable scenes and images, but it could have stood to spend a bit more time in the editing room. We pretty much know the outcome from the beginning, but the pacing was such that we just wanted them to get on with it, already. SPOTLESS DOMINOES (Philip Hunt, Great Britain, 12 mins; stop-motion): Technically speaking, this film is very well done. However, it seems to be an example of art for art's sake, and has no real story. I suppose it could be described as an extremely surreal telling of a boy's discovery that his playmates and his guardian are not at all what they seem. KUBINE (Norbert Hobrecht, Germany, 4 mins; stop-motion and ink): On a desert landscape, two cubic humanoids meet and interact; however, there's a tiny person living inside one of the humanoids' heads, and he/she's trying his/her best to survive with a pet. Unfortunately, everytime the cubic humanoid moves, everything inside its head tilts. This is quite funny. A FEATHER TALE (Michele Cournoyer, Canada, 6 mins; ink/paint): Um. Well, this tale is about in a relationship which goes from love to her lover's desire to possess her. At times confusing, it is at least very nice to look at. THE MIRROR (Tatsuhiro Nagayasu, Japan, 2 mins; pixellation): A man confronts his animated reflection in the mirror. No real story, just interesting to watch. THE SQUARE OF LIGHT (Claude Luyet, Switzerland, 5 mins; ink & grease marker): A boxer trains, and relives one of his matches. This film is shot in stunning and vibrant 70mm, with all the scenes in the ring (which are from his perspective) taking advantage of the wide-screen format. OFF HIS ROCKERS (Barry David Cook, USA, 5 mins): Oddly enough, I don't remember this film at all... THE STAIN (Marjut Rimminen & Christine Roche, Great Britain, 11 mins; cel & stop-motion): This is a very disturbing tale about a very isolated and very dysfunctional family. A man and his wife live in seclusion in a large manor which takes up most of a tiny island. They have four kids: an older sister, twin brothers, and a younger sister. The parents eventually disappear (first the mother, then the father) the older sister learns lives in a deranged fantasy land, and the twins (Siamese?) do as their father did -- go out to work every day in their black suits. The introverted youngest sister is crippled by her older sister as a baby, and dreams of dancing. This is just the premise; the events themselves and the conclusion are quite distrubing... AMENTIA (Sergei Ainudinov, Russia, 11 mins; cel): A look at Death's everyday life, and her disillusionment with the living. This is a suprisingly funny look at life, death, politics, the hectic pace of modern life, and plain ol' human folly. ADAM (Peter Lord, Great Britain, 6 mins; clay): God creates man, alone on a tiny planet. What happens when man is left alone to learn, without guidance. Heh heh heh... WORDS, WORDS, WORDS (Michaela Pavlatova, Czechoslovakia, 8 mins; cel): A day in a small restaurant is shown via the conversations of the people who drift in and out. The conversations themselves are represented by music and abstract speech balloons, and the events are occasionally punctuated by a rambunctious dog. Funny and heartwarming. THE SANDMAN (Paul Berry, Great Britain, 10 mins; stop-motion): In every film festival, there is one film that stands out enough so as to define that festival for me. THE SANDMAN is it. The story is quite simple: a boy, alone in a vast house with his mother, is afraid to go to sleep. He sees and hears the fearsome Sandman, but is it real or imagined? The characters are wonderfully defined -- their faces speak volumes. The mother is relatively young but aged by life; the child is tiny, innocent, and afraid; the Sandman is aquiline, sinister, and cunning. The Sandman's movements are absolutely incredible. It seems as if Berry was working from a dancer's movement. The combination of his style of walking, his birdlike features and clothing, and that evil expression on his face were enough to make him seem uncomfortably human and inhuman at the same time. The set design is fantastic -- everything looks as it does at night; exaggerated, uncertain, alien. An excellent exercise in horror and disquiet. FRANZ KAFKA (Piotr Dumala, Poland, 18 mins; pencil or pen): After GREETINGS FROM CROATIA and AMENTIA, we thought Eastern European animation was finally lightening up a bit. Not on all counts, it seems: FRANZ KAFKA's 18 minutes seem like three hours as we're treated to an almost speechless slice of Kafka's life as he goes through a somewhat surreal and often disconnected series of events, some of which are taken from his work. As we entered the halfway point of the film and I felt like I'd been there for hours, my mind took refuge by coming up with the silly versions of "Metamorphosis." MANIPULATION (Daniel Greaves, Great Britain, 6 mins; pencil, cutout, stop-motion): Look, if you haven't seen this by now, you're spending too much time in front of your computer. This was last year's Academy Award winner for animated shorts, and has been shown in several compilations. An animated character is at odds with his creator, and eventually finds freedom. A slightly more vicious "Duck Amuck", if you will. CAT AND COMPANY (Alexander Guryev, Russia, 9 mins; cel): Hold it, folks, we've got some more humor here. After FRANZ KAFKA I was afraid, but it seems it's only the Polish animators who are so depressed. CAT AND COMPANY is a slightly different cat and mouse tale. The owner of the house wants her cat to catch (and, one assumes, exterminate) the mice in the house. The cat would rather watch birds and dream of flying, and befriends the mice, who try to liberate the cat. A nice chuckle to end this part of the program. ========================== animation/long.messages #117, from switch, 411 chars, Tue Jan 19 22:02:33 1993 This is a comment to message 116. There is/are comment(s) on this message. -------------------------- >OFF HIS ROCKERS (Barry David Cook, USA, 5 mins): Oddly enough, I
>don’t remember this film at all…

My roommate jogged my memory. This short was produced at Walt Disney, and
combines three-dimensional computer animation and hand-drawn. A boy is
obsessively playing his home game system, and his rocking horse is feeling
neglected. No surprises, and the animation is what you’d expect from
Disney.

Emru

==========================
animation/long.messages #120, from switch, 6275 chars, Sat Jan 23 03:20:24 1993
This is a comment to message 117.
————————–
And now, part two of our program…

One week after our last reviewed showing, the Cinematheque Quebecoise
showed the second part of their Hiroshima ’92 program. I’m not going to
bother with any preamble.

MTV WORLD PROBLEMS, WORLD SOLUTIONS: THINK (Paul and Menno de Nooijer,
The Netherlands, 36 secs; pixellation): Another entry in MTV’s
collection of thirty-second shorts on the environment. This is typical
of Paul de Nooijer’s work so far: wacko, cartoon-like color schemes, and
some signs to give us messages. I dunno, his stuff is well done, but
it’s so similar in style that it gets tedious in short order.

THE BOY AND THE LITTLE RACCOON (Tadahito Mochinaga, Japan, 13 mins;
stop-motion): This is quite a cute tale, and easy to understand despite
being completely in Japanese. A little girl raccoon encounters a bunch
of human kids. After a little pestering, her mother transforms her into
a cute little girl. (How the heck should I know how? I just watch
them.) She then goes out and explores the world of humans. At times
too sugary for words, the film is at least entertaining, since the whole
film takes place on a small revolving set with a stationary background,
presenting the viewer with headache-inducing pseudo-parallax.

SABINA (Katherine Li, Canada, 7 mins; colored pencil): Described as “a
visual poem inspired by the work of Anais Nin”, this film is dedicated
to Snow White, Cinderella, and Rapunzel. This is by no means a
narrative; images of woman swirl and metamorphose. It’s quite nice to
watch, with a pleasant soundtrack. Images and themes: women, water,
flight, women, water, light, women, and water. There are worse ways to
spend seven minutes.

LES EFFACEURS (Gerald Frydman, Belgium, 7 mins; cutout): In a bizarre,
surreal landscape, people do their best to erase their faces by scraping
at them with their arms or against rough surfaces. One man can’t erase
his face, no matter how hard he tries. Quite funny, though it could
have withstood some more time in the editing room.

HOTEL E (Priit Parn, Estonia, 30 mins; cel): Welcome to art film hell.
First, it’s a typically long and dreary Eastern European tale about how
horrid life is there, and how easy the rest of Europe has it. Fine.
But the same story could have been told in fifteen minutes! If Priit
Parn can get a half-hour cel-animated film together in Estonia and I
can’t scrape up the cash for a 30-second short, I really don’t see what
he’s complaining about. Gripes aside — this film is at turns morbid
and funny, and it’s usually pretty interesting to watch. But after
about twenty minutes we were gripping the arm rests tightly enough to
have ripped them out.

LES SAISONS QUATRE A QUATRE (Daniel Suter, Switzerland, 2 mins; pencil):
This has been shown at one of the Expanded or Mike & Spike festivals
before. A man rides his bicycle to a particular tree, and photographs
it. Most of the animation takes place on a calendar notepad, where each
frame is drawn on a separate day. A very pleasant film, and a great
break after HOTEL E.

CANFILM (Zlatin Kirolov Radev, Bulgaria, 18 mins; stop-motion): This
has been shown at one of the Expanded or Mike & Spike festivals before,
and when I first saw it I considered it to be the first inkling that the
Eastern Europeans were lightening up a bit when making social commentary
animated films. This is my third time seeing this short, and I enjoyed
it more than the first two times. In a world populated by
anthropomorphic cans, various leaders come and go as they bid for
power, and hold the masses in their thrall. Very nice work.

THE HUNTER (Mikhail Aldashin, Russian, 4 mins; cel): This was in one of
the other festivals before. A primitive hunter does his best to use
disguises to hunt ostriches, elephants, and lions — until one of his
disguises works too well. Pretty funny.

THE WRONG TYPE (Candy Guard, Great Britain, 4 mins; colored pencil):
This is another short that’s been through one of the other festivals
before. As usual, Candy Guard’s neurotic character (whose name escapes
me at the moment) is trying to cope. This time, she tries to become a
temp, without much success. It’s funny, but it lacks something, and I
can’t quite put my finger on it.

LA COURSE A L’ABIME (Georges Schwizgebel, Switzerland, 4 mins; paint on
glass): Scenes from various aspects of Swiss life, past and present,
metamorphose into one another, until they form one very large collage.
Visually stunning, it’s all the more impressive when you realize that
this is all being done on one piece of glass.

CHOREOGRAPHY FOR A COPY MACHINE (Chel White, USA, 3 mins; photocopied
images): This has been through one of the festivals. People, body
parts, and various items are animated via a photocopier, using some of
the unique distortions that a photocopier does best. Very nicely
choreographed. I’m pretty sure this was conceived one night when
someone was photocopying rude bits of their anatomy at the office…

THE VACUUM (Tim Rolt, Great Britain, 11 mins; pixellation): Um. Poor
Colin is sucked into a vacuum cleaner, and spends quite some time inside
until he is released in a rather bizarre fashion. Weird characters and
some weird sets. Frightening mama vacuum.

THE MILL (Petra Freeman, Great Britain, 8 mins; paint on glass): Ummmm,
I don’t remember this one.

COLORS (Tom Renoldner, Austria, 4 mins; paint on tracing paper):
Aaargh! It’s the return of the art film! Shapes metamorphose, syncing
with a really obnoxious tone, interrupted by a regularly occuring beep.
If it had been at the beginning of the program, it would have been
tolerable, but as it was, it was all we could do to keep poor Marc
sedated. Lord knows I wanted to scream.

BALLOON (Ken Lidster, Great Britain, 12 mins; stop-motion, cel,
pencil/ink): This has been in at least two other festivals. If you
haven’t seen it by now, you’re not getting out enough. This fantastic
short tells the tale of a little girl, her sentient & sapient red
balloon, and the dirty dirty bad guy who wants to steal the balloon
away. The animation is top-notch, the designs are brilliant — just
wait until you see the balloon torture chamber — and that bad guy falls
into my top ten. “Huzzah!”

Emru

==========================
animation/long.messages #121, from switch, 7479 chars, Sat Apr 3 01:13:40 1993
————————–
Last week Wednesday (March 24), I went to a screening which was to be held
at the “International Museum of Cartoon Art.” This seemed a bit odd to me,
as I had never heard of such a place, and I try to keep up on these things.

As it turned out, the “Museum” itself is one man with an enormous collection.
Peter Adamakos, who runs a 22-year-old studio by name of Disada Productions,
is working on getting an actual location for his collection of films and
animatiom-related paraphrenalia. (Actually, I don’t know if it’s just him
who runs the Museum; he was the only one there, but he said “we.”)

Anyway, for the time being he has an agreement with the Montreal Film
Society, and he’s showing animated films at their location for the next
few months. What I caught on Wednesday was actually the end of a six-week
stint of cartoon showings revolving around a loose theme.

But I’m digressing all over the place. Last Wednesday’s theme was “The
Art of Animation”, and here’s what was shown. Most of the time, there
was a short break between each movie as Peter explained something from
the previous film, answered questions, and introduced the next film:

THE UGLY DUCKLING (Disney, 1931), as well as THE UGLY DUCKLING (Disney,
1939): What a difference eight years makes! I had never seen either
version of this tale before, and it was interesting to see both back to
back. The 1931 version was in black and white, the other in gorgeous
Technicolor. The original is well animated, and very early-30s (rubber
hose limbs, the timing, certain uses of facial expressions, the gags, and
the overall “simplicity”) in style. No real surprises here. The second
version is an explosion of color and sound, with beautiful painted
backgrounds, excellent use of shadow, and better use of music. The focus
moves away from the “cartoony” gags in the original, and makes a direct tug
for the heartstrings.

It would be hard for me to cite a better example of the Disney
“naturalistic” style than the second UGLY DUCKLING.

CARTOON CRAFT (RKO-Pathe, ca. 1937) was made after Snow White. With the
release of Disney’s first feature-length animated film, people were asking,
“How are animated films made?” This is supposed to be a documentary of
sorts, but it zooms by very quickly and very little actual information is
imparted.

I managed to annoy a few people when I snorted derisively when the narrator
referred to animation as a “uniquely American form of art.” I tried to
restrain it, but it was better than me…

ANCO ANFLEUR (television ad, Disada, early 70s): Peter showed an ad his
studio had done, and then proceeded to show the pencil tests, so people
would get a feel for the process of animating. Unfortunately, the film
broke in the middle of the pencils.

MOVING DAY (Disney, 1937): I’d never seen this before. Reasonably
entertaining I suppose, but aside from some of the gags I didn’t enjoy
it that much. It’s too much like THE CLOCK CLEANERS or LONESOME GHOSTS
— Mickey, Donald, and Goofy get into a situation, they become separated,
a number of gags affect each character individually, then they’re reunited
for the finale. I’ve never liked these; most of the time, the story
is lacking, and just padded out with gags.

THE OLD MILL (Disney, 1937): Always a favorite. Disney’s first use of
the multiplane camera. I felt compelled to correct Peter when he said
Disney invented the multiplane camera, but decided against it since I’d
already annoyed a number of people with my snort.

WHAT’S OPERA, DOC? (Warner, 1957): Not a great print, but who cares? We
loved it.

PORKY IN WACKYLAND (Warner, 1938): One of my favorites. This is what you
get when you let a bunch of Warner animators get wacky and truly surreal
at the same time. Still my favorite gag in this one: the dodo rides the
Warner Bros. crest as it comes toward you – just like in the opening –
nails Porky with a slingshot, flips around, and recedes into the distance.
Too bad he didn’t have the color remake, DOUGH FOR THE DO-DO.
Do-do-de-do-do-do-do-de-do-de-yo!

NORTHWEST HOUNDED POLICE (MGM, 194?): IMHO, the _best_ example of Tex
Avery’s wild takes. And, of course, the running-off-the-filmstrip gag,
which the Simpsons imitated recently.

By now, almost two hours had gone by, so there was a break, where people
could look through some cels from Disada’s work, and look at some flip
books.

Back to the show.

BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE WALT DISNEY STUDIO: Almost twenty minutes long;
Richard (I think) Benchley goes to the Walt Disney Studios at the
insistence of his wife to suggest to Walt that they make a film of the
book, The Reluctant Dragon. He ends up getting lost several times over
and wanders through just about every department in the studio, where people
are only too happy to explain and demonstrate their jobs. An entertaining,
creative, and very well done documentary. They animate storyboards to show
how they’re used to plot a film; the show the artists doing sketches of
elephants and babies in order to understand how they move and look; they
show the multiplane camera (that thing is HUGE!); they show the ink and
paint process. Everything is in there, to the last detail. There are a
few liberties taken, such as the bit with the multiplane camera: they sort
of imply that it’s a special camera used to film all animation. Overall,
though, very impressive, and very thorough. I’m surprised they don’t show
this to first-year animation students at Concordia.

THE BAND CONCERT (Disney, 1935): The first appearance of Donald Duck, I
believe. I’ve commented on this film before, so I’ll keep it brief:
Mickey’s conduction a band playing the William Tell Overture. Donald
Duck interferes. As it happens, a tornado comes along in the middle of
the performance, but the people playing don’t notice. This is probably
one of the best examples of Disney’s connecting music with animation —
at a certain point, it’s no longer a matter of the events controlling the
music the band plays, but the music controlling events. When Horace starts
to beat the tympani, the a leaf blows by as a light breeze begins. As the
music becomes more forceful, the tornado comes out of nowhere. The band is
eventually picked up by the tornado, spiralling higher into the sky among
the debris, faster as the music approaches the crescendo. When that
decisive note hits, everything -stops-. And then the music and the
tornado wind down, blah blah blah. That moment where the music stops is,
IMHO, the best-timed piece of animation ever.

IN A CARTOON STUDIO (Van Buren, 1931) is a hilarious counterpoint to BEHIND
THE SCENES AT THE WALT DISNEY STUDIO. This film is animated, and has the
characters supposedly showing us how cartoons are made. This film is
violent (in the finished cartoon, the hero deals with the villain by
unblinkingly shooting him between the eyes), surreal (a three-legged
camera running around from desk to desk filming the animators’ work), and
strangely accurate — regardless of how good or bad the joke is, they’re
satirizing the real processes of creating animation! I wonder how well
that went over in 1931, when the process of animation was much more of a
mystery to the average moviegoer.

Thus endeth the review. There’ll be another showing next Wednesday, and
if it doesn’t interfere with the Cinematheque’s upcoming focus on
independent Japanese animators, I’ll be going. And, of course, reporting
on it here.

==========================
animation/long.messages #122, from davemackey, 7393 chars, Tue Apr 6 23:15:16 1993
————————–
TITLE: “TTA” fan poll
Here’s information on the annual TTA fan poll! Remember, send your entries to
the proper Internet address listed!
–Dave

Tiny Toon Adventures Third Season Poll

If you have a question about something, read the instructions.
If you still have a question, read them again! If you *still* aren’t sure,
send e-mail to me (address at the bottom of the poll). I answer all my
e-mail (except ones from Jamie).

The poll will close at midnight Pacific
time on Thursday, May 6 (that’s 3 a.m. on Friday, May 7, EST). Votes are
cast by filling in your answers and mailing them, with “TTA Poll” in the
Subject line, to furrball@drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu (Don’t worry; Furrball
promises to be entirely impartial in the character vote!).

You may change your vote at any time prior to the closing date by sending
the change *only*. Write “TTA vote change” in the subject line.

Since we have a small group here, and the show is so darn good, most of the
subjects will allow more than one entry. Unless the category is followed by
a (1), you may list as many entries as you feel appropriate. Keep it fairly
reasonable, though, guys. If the category has a (1) after it, list only one
choice! Any additional choices will not be counted.

****************************************************************************
IMPORTANT FORMATTING NOTES!
Please do NOT use square brackets like this: [ ] in your entries. I’ve
used them to enclose my comments, so anything inside square brackets will be
ERASED, probably before I look at it. Also, please keep the headings (A,
B, C, D, E) that I’ve assigned — it’ll make the poll processing much, much
easier. The best way to do all this is to use this file as a template, or
use the template poll.temp (basically this file sans intro) which will
hopefully soon be available on the ftp site utpapa.ph.utexas.edu. THANKS!
****************************************************************************

The episodes are divided into seasons according to Chris’s Episode Guide
and Synth’s Reference Guide. Unless otherwise specified, all categories
cover ALL seasons of Tiny Toons, plus all specials. HOW I SPENT MY VACATION
is counted as a full length episode, second season. IT’S A WONDERFUL TINY
TOONS CHRISTMAS is counted as a full length episode, third season.

Last but not least, please don’t feel compelled to respond to every category.
If you don’t know or don’t care, don’t bother.

Here goes …

A. CHARACTERS
[Except for the first category, three is usually a good number of characters
to list. — ed.]

* Absolute Favorite Character (1)

* Favorite Character
[including the above entry!! You may list as many as you like here.]

* Favorite “Star”
[of Buster, Babs, Plucky, Hamton, Furrball, Elmyra, Sweetie, and Monty.]

* Favorite Supporting Character
[all others except One-shots (see below)]

* Favorite One-Shot Character
[character who appeared in ONLY one episode]

* Favorite Villain
[Dizzy counts as a villain here, yes.]

* Character most deserving of MORE air time

* Character most deserving of LESS air time

* Least Favorite Character

* Most Improved Character from 1st THROUGH 3rd Season

* Least Improved Character from 1st THROUGH 3rd Season

* Best New Character, Third Season

* Worst New Character, Third Season

B. EPISODES
[*** Guidelines!
FULL episodes are those episodes which are listed as FULL in Chris’s
Episode Guide.
SHORT episodes are *any one segment* appearing in an episode listed as
SHORTS in Chris’s Episode Guide.]

[***Any inappropriate votes will *not be counted*, so make sure you put the
right episode in the right place. The Episode Guide is available on
utpapa.ph.utexas.edu (via ftp), or request it via e-mail from either
plucky@ais.org (Chris) or furrball@drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu (Tim). It’s big,
so make sure you have the room!***]

* Favorite Full Episode, First Season

* Favorite Short Episode, First Season

* Least Favorite Full Episode, First Season

* Least Favorite Short Episode, First Season

* Favorite Full Episode, Second Season

* Favorite Short Episode, Second Season

* Least Favorite Full Episode, Second Season

* Least Favorite Short Episode, Second Season

* Favorite Full Episode, Third Season

* Favorite Short Episode, Third Season

* Least Favorite Full Episode, Third Season

* Least Favorite Short Episode, Third Season

* Favorite Full Episode
[rank your top three, then add as many more as you feel necessary]
1.
2.
3.
More:

* Favorite Short Episode
[rank your top three, then add as many more as you feel necessary]
1.
2.
3.
More:

* Favorite Single Show Consisting of Short Episodes
[i.e. Any show listed as SHORTS in the Episode Guide, such as “Wheel O’ Comedy.”
The point here is which shorts, while possibly not being individually great,
worked well together … do NOT vote for individual short segments here!!]

* Least Favorite Full Episode

* Least Favorite Short Episode

C. TECHNICAL

[*** Information that may be helpful in the last two sections is available in
the Episode Guide, mentioned above, and also in Synth’s Tiny Toons Reference
Guide, kept on utpapa.ph.utexas.edu (via ftp), or available via e-mail
request from synth@dreamtime.unm.edu (Synth) or furrball@drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu
(me! :-). Careful, though — it’s huge!! ***]

* Best Animation Studio

* Worst Animation Studio

* Best Animation in an Episode (list the episode and the studio)

* Best Script (i.e. dialogue)

* Best Story (i.e. plot)

* Best Voice Talent (name the voice actor)

D. MISCELLANEOUS (or, categories that everyone will have a different answer in)

* Best ORIGINAL Musical Number
[this does *not* include “The Anvil Chorus,” or *anything* from TTMTV except
“Top Secret Apprentice,” or anything from “Toon TV” except “Toon Out.”]

* Best Rendition of a Non-Original Musical Number
[this includes *only* music not included in the above category]

* Favorite Version of the Main Title Tiny Toons Theme
[The Plucky Duck Show theme, The Two-Tone theme, the Plucky Show theme from
TINY TOONS CHRISTMAS, etc. — including the original and instrumental versions]

* Favorite Tag
[The “tag” being the little piece of animation at the very end of the end
credits]

* Favorite Quotation (1)

* Best Gag Credit

* Mystery Category (1)
[Give an award to something in the show that you feel is not covered in this
list. This can be silly or serious or anything in between. Go wild.]

E. SPECIAL END SECTION

* Reason you would like to see Tiny Toons continued another season (or ten):

[Write this one as though you were writing to Warner Bros. Then print it out
and send it to them! Rob and the TTAUEC have the addresses. Maybe when the
poll’s done, I’ll collate all the answers to this and send it to them again —
but the more letters the better!!]
——————————————————————————–

Th-th-that’s all, folks! Please put “Poll” or “TTA Poll” in the subject line
when mailing.

Need more info? Send e-mail to:

plucky@ais.org (Chris): Episode Guide, general questions
synth@dreamtime.unm.edu (Synth): Reference Guide, general questions
rjung@netcom.com (Rob): WB addresses, TTAUEC, general questions
furrball@drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu (Tim): Poll, completed ballots, general ?s

Have fun!

==========================
animation/long.messages #123, from davemackey, 1909 chars, Fri Apr 30 20:29:45 1993
————————–
TITLE: How Looney can you get?
Here is the tracking for the forthcoming “Golden Age Of Looney Tunes, Vol.
4”, set for release this Summer.

1. Bugs Bunny

The Wabbit Who Came To Supper
The Hare-Brained Hypnotist
Case Of The Missing Hare
Hare Conditioned
Buccaneer Bunny
Rhapsody Rabbit
Any Bonds Today (Bugs Bunny Bond Rally)
A Wild Hare (restored original version)

2. Early Chuck Jones

The Good Egg
Ghost Wanted
Snow Time For Comedy
The Bird Came C.O.D.
Dog Tired
Fox Pop
The Weakly Reporter

3. Friz Freleng

The Trial Of Mr. Wolf
Double Chaser
The Sheepish Wolf
Hiss And Make Up
Holiday For Shoestrings
The Gay Anties
Of Thee I Sting

4. Cartoon All-Stars

Tom Turk And Daffy
I Taw A Putty Tat
Two Gophers From Texas
Conrad The Sailor
Doggone Cats
A Horsefly Fleas
Hobo Bobo

5. Radio Daze

Crosby, Columbo & Vallee
The Woods Are Full Of Cuckoos
Let It Be Me
Little Blabbermouse
Malibu Beach Party
Quentin Quail
Hush My Mouse

6. The Frantic Forties

Hop, Skip And A Chump
A Hick, A Slick, And A Chick
Meatless Flyday
The Foxy Duckling
Bone Sweet Bone
The Rattled Rooster
The Shell-Shocked Egg

7. Wacky Blackouts

Land Of The Midnight Fun
Wacky Wildlife
Ceiling Hero
Fresh Fish
Saddle Silly
Foney Fables
Bug Parade

8. Ben Hardaway & Cal Dalton

Love And Curses
Gold Rush Daze
Bars And Stripes Forever
Hobo Gadget Band
Fagin’s Freshman
Busy Bakers

9. Sniffles

Naughty But Mice
Little Brother Rat
Sniffles And The Bookworm
The Egg Collector
Sniffles Bells The Cat
Toy Trouble
The Brave Little Bat

10. Merrie Melodies

The Queen Was In The Parlor
I Love A Parade
The Organ Grinder
Billboard Frolics
Flowers For Madame
September In The Rain
You’re An Education
–Dave

==========================
animation/long.messages #124, from switch, 6916 chars, Thu May 13 22:13:28 1993
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
Well, here we go again: a review that’s a week late. Blame my busy
schedule; I do.

The week of May 2-8 was Opera Week in festival-crazy Montreal, and
as usual the Cinematheque quebecoise fit this into their theme for
the movies shown during the week. Naturally, I caught the
animation screening, and just as naturally I’ll inflict my opinions
on you, the unsuspecting readers.

WHAT’S OPERA, DOC? (Chuck Jones, USA, 1957, 7:00, cel) Oh, come on.
If you haven’t seen this, you shouldn’t be reading this message.
Go rent the video NOW.

For those of you still here: Unfortunately, the print shown has
seen better days. The opening and closing scenes were the most
affected, as the dark shades sort of fused into dark grey, and all
of Maurice Noble’s hard work went for naught.

PULCINELLA (Giulio Gianini & Emanuele Luzzati, Italy, 1973, 10:00,
painted cutouts) A layabout is harshly awakened by his wife, and
cajoled into going out and doing something productive (presumably,
finding a job.) While out, he relieve himself on a statue, arousing
the ire of the authorities. He flees the scene and decides to take
a nap, where his operatic dreams of grandeur and irreverence are
punctuated by images of the authorities and his wife. (One wonders
why he bothers to sleep when his dreams are just as repressive as
his real life.) Eventually he gets back home, dodges his wife, and
goes back to sleep.

“Pulcinella” doesn’t pretend to have any real storyline, which is
just as well. I would have been sorely disappointed if the film
had been pretty much the same but pretended to be a narrative. As
it was, it was enjoyable flight of fancy, and Gianini and Luzzati
cut loose with some dynamic, colourful, and often quite funny
animation to accompany the music. When the film opened, I was
afraid the ten minutes would go on forever; when it ended I
wondered why it had to be over so soon.

CARMEN GET IT (Gene Deitch, USA, 1961, 8:00, cel) A Tom & Jerry
cartoon that was eight minutes too long. A Hanna-Barbera offering,
I believe; the animation was terrible, the artistry was terrible,
the gags were mostly unfunny… Gah.

A HARD DAY AT THE OFFICE (Al Sens, Canada, 1977, 6:00) Uh-oh, I’ve
forgotten what this was. Could someone please jog my memory?

RABBIT OF SEVILLE (Chuck Jones, USA, 1950, 7:00, cel) If you
haven’t seen this, you are unfit to live. Either enter the
spike-lined coffin in all due haste, or immediately rent the video.
What are you waiting for? Get going!

“Yes, you’re next. Yoooou’re so next.”

BAND CONCERT (Wilfred Jackson, USA, 1935, 9:00, cel) I’ve commented
on this before, so I’ll just steal from myself, correcting the
typos:

Mickey Mouse is conducting a band playing the “William Tell
Overture.” Donald Duck interferes. As it happens, a tornado comes
along in the middle of the performance, but the people playing
don’t notice. This is probably one of the best examples of
Disney’s connecting music with animation — at a certain point,
it’s no longer a matter of the events controlling the music the
band plays, but the music controlling events. When Horace starts
to beat the tympani, a leaf blows by as a light breeze begins. As
the music becomes more forceful, the wind picks up and a tornado
comes out of nowhere. The band is eventually picked up by the
tornado, spiralling higher into the sky among the debris, faster as
the music approaches the crescendo. When that decisive note hits,
everything -stops-. And then the music and the tornado wind down,
blah blah blah. That moment where the music stops and the seconds
leading up to it is, IMHO, the best-timed piece of animation ever.

OPERA (Bruno Bozzetto, Italy, 1973, 11:00, cel) Eleven minutes of
Bozzetto madness. You know it’s going to be weird when it opens
with a man serenely pointing a gun to his head, and when he pulls
the trigger a mouth leaps out and eats him.

The film starts out simply enough: a crowd watching an opera.
Every time the curtain goes up, we see an image of a famous
composer, and we hear some strains from a more or less famous piece
that person has composed. Then something ludicrous happens. This
keeps up for a few minutes, but by the time it’s over the audience
is in stitches.

Cut to next series of gags: people trying to perform in an opera
quite normally, but more absurd gags come along, at a faster pace
than before. The proverbial fat lady is singing, and the strangest
things happen as people run under her skirt — wacko things like
that. By now, the audience is gasping for air as they thrash about
on the floor laughing.

Suddenly, the film loses it. Oh, it’s still quite funny and
frenetic, but now the images are becoming serious. Pollution.
Over-population. Nixon in a bomber. You get the idea. It’s
almost as if Bozzetto ran out of ideas halfway through and decided
to get topical instead of continuing along his opera theme. A
pity, since the sudden change from outright madness to political
commentary jars you enough to diminish enjoyment of the film.

THE CAT ABOVE AND THE MOUSE BELOW (Chuck Jones, USA, 1964, 7:00,
cel) One of those ‘toons that proves that even at his worst, Jones
is still right up there among the best. Jerry’s living under the
stage where Tom is performing. Of course, Jerry does his best to
get Tom the hell out of there. We’ve seen this scenario played out
time and again, and there’s really nothing new here. The only
thing that makes this cartoon worthwhile is that it’s chock full of
those Jones mannerisms. Heh heh.

MICKEY’S GRAND OPERA (Wilfred Jackson, USA, 1936, 7:00, cel)
Mickey’s going to conduct, and somehow Pluto shows up, to the
mouse’s consternation. He tells Pluto to go home. Donald is the
male lead, singing to his matronly lover in “Romeo and Juliet”.
Pluto runs afoul of some rabbits in a magician’s hat. Chaos
abounds. Some funny bits, but I have a bias against Disney shorts
in general that’s hard to overcome. Yes, they’re technically
excellent, but I was raised on Warner Bros. cartoons and it’s hard
to top those for humor.

Speaking of which…

MAGICAL MAESTRO (Tex Avery, USA, 1952, 6:00, cel) If you haven’t
seen this, please smear yourself with dog food and present yourself
to the nearest Doberman kennel — or rent the video.

Gotta love those rabbits.

BARBER OF SEVILLE (James Culhane, USA, 1944, 7:00, cel) I never did
like Woody Woodpecker. While other characters grew out of the “I’m
just plain nuts” mold, he never seemed to break out of it (mind
you, I haven’t seen a WW ‘toon in years — I could be wrong.) The
barber goes off for his physical, and Woody decides to take over.
Manic, but overall unfunny. A couple of gags borrowed from “Rabbit
of Seville” pop up. The only bit I really like is when Woody makes
this vicious swipe at this poor guy with the razor.

Next week: The Three Caballeros. I’ll try to get that one out
early.

==========================
animation/long.messages #125, from hmccracken, 565 chars, Fri May 14 09:35:21 1993
This is a comment to message 124.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 124.
————————–
Sounds like a great show, although I would have ditched those
two post-Hanna-Barbera Tom and Jerrys personally, replacing
one of them with Chuck Jones’s _Long Haired Hare_ and another
with one of the better Mighty Mouse operettas (the best work
ever done at the Terry studio).

Also, the Gene Deitch Tom and Jerry you mention was done after
Hanna and Barbera left the MGM studio, but before their own
studio did some Tom and Jerry cartoons. It was one of a series
of T&Js done by Deitch at his studio in Czechoslavakia (sp?),
all of which are terrible.
— Harry

==========================
animation/long.messages #126, from davemackey, 635 chars, Fri May 14 20:17:39 1993
This is a comment to message 124.
————————–
“Carmen Get It” had nothing to do with Hanna-Barbera, who by then were
running their own studio. And Deitch made his cartoons in Prague,
Czechoslovakia, so listing USA as the country of origin isn’t quite exact.
I’m sorry you didn’t think more of Woody Woodpecker since “Barber Of
Seville” is one of his all-time best cartoons. Few directors can make the
most of their first opportunity to work with a character; “Barber” was Shamus
Culhane’s first chance with Woody, and the woodpecker seems to have had some
feisty Irish blood in him that the director seized upon, and the teaming was
a success.
–Dave

==========================
animation/long.messages #127, from davemackey, 253 chars, Fri May 14 23:33:04 1993
This is a comment to message 125.
There are additional comments to message 125.
————————–
The only one of the Deitch T&J’s that was any good was “The Tom And Jerry
Cartoon Kit,” mainly because it strayed from the formulaic nature of T&J.
That short was written by one of “Bullwinkle”‘s storymen, Chris Jenkyns.
–Dave

==========================
animation/long.messages #128, from switch, 255 chars, Tue May 18 01:28:11 1993
This is a comment to message 125.
————————–
I was hoping to see _Long Haired Hare_ on the big screen as well,
but no luck.

Oh, and it was pointed out to me that the Woody Woodpecker cartoon
which I said borrowed a few gags from _Rabbit of Seville_ predates
_Rabbit_ by seven years. Oops. 🙂

Emru

==========================
animation/long.messages #129, from switch, 7544 chars, Thu Jun 3 00:36:54 1993
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Another Cinematheque outing

For most of the month of June, the Cinematheque Quebecoise is
featuring Eastern European cinema, in a program titled “Hier, a
l’Est” [“Yesterday, in the East”]. Every Wednesday they’re
featuring animation from a certain Eastern European country, and
this Wednesday’s program focused on what was called the USSR when
these shorts were created.

One of the hallmarks of Eastern European animation has been that
these works tend to be technically excellent, and quite long.
They often contain huge doses of social commentary, and can be at
times quite dreary. Sometimes they’re downright
incomprehensible. All of the USSR program was technically
excellent, and the shortest film was eight minutes, but the
stories varied enough in subject matter that we didn’t walk out
despondent enough to slit our wrists.

The titles given in the program are in French, and I can’t read
the Cyrillic characters, so I’ll be providing the best
translations I can for them.

THE FACE HIDDEN IN THE MOON
A. Tatarskij, 1984, 10 minutes
Paint
The plot for this is really simple: a man carrying a trunk walks
into a completely empty white space. Humming a simple tune and
smoking his pipe, he proceeds to pull a table, food, companions
and later whole buildings and landscape from the small trunk.
They eat, drink, and are merry, until the other residents annoy
him enough to shove them all back into the trunk. The film ends
with the man walking through the blank space again, until he
decides to set up a table once more…
I’d have to call this an average film. The animation was
serviceable, the handful of jokes were funny, and the scenario
was pleasant enough that you didn’t mind the mostly laid-back
pacing. Not awful, but not spectacular.

TYLL THE GIANT
Rein Raamat, 1980, 14 minutes
Cel, paints
The operative word here is “Wow.” This film is an adaptation of
Estonian folk tales. Is Tyll a giant or a god? We’re not sure.
But he is a hard worker who tills the fields, until his people
are invaded and cry for help. After feeding himself (he can’t
war on an empty stomach) he throws himself into the fray,
sweeping scores of enemy soldiers through the air with his mighty
blows. He loses his beloved, and after burying her and surviving
an attempt on his life by a demon, is called back to war. This
time, he not only faces the opposing army but their giant/god.
He destroys the giant/god, but loses his own life in the
process… or does he?
TYLL reeks of capital-L Legend. At first the style looks rather
simplistic, considering it’s flat-colour cel work compared to
some of the fantastic ink and paint work in other “Soviet” work.
But then you look at the way the eyes and heads are drawn, or how
a combat scene is structured, and it becomes apparent that it’s
more or less modeled on early narrative artwork. Although the
characters are mostly rendered in flat colours on cel, the
colours aren’t Disney-bright but somewhat muted; this plus the
dark blues, blacks, greens and browns used for the backgrounds
gives the viewer the feeling that a storm is constantly brewing
in the late afternoon — the perfect setting for gloom, death,
and destruction. Add the soundtrack — men chanting in,
presumably, Estonian — and the grisliness of the deaths on the
battlefield and you’ve got a film that has to be experienced to
be believed.

THE ADVENTURES OF AN ANT
Edward Nazarov, 1984, 8 minutes
Cel
This is my second time seeing this film, and I enjoyed it more
this time. An ant gets lost in the forest and with the help of
other bugs manages to get back home before dark. Some wonderful
forest scenes and multiplane effects here.
This is an enjoyable and funny film. The bugs and the occasional
bird look and act like real bugs and birds, the occasional
cartoony face notwithstanding. Better yet, they move like real
bugs and birds, only occasionally lapsing into cartooniness for
humourous effect. Nazarov has mastered what Disney has always
striven for in its naturalistic films: the ability to make a
particular animal identifiable as a that animal, but still
accessible to a human audience. Nazarov’s skill is especially
apparent in most of the funny moments of the film, which are not
made up of slapstick gags but as the results of particular bugs
acting as they should under certain circumstances. (There’s one
exception to this, but the joke is so funny that it’s worth it.)
A certain situation between a beetle, some ants, and some aphids
is funny because we know how these creatures interact in real
life.
Best of all, Nazarov adds voices to the creatures, all of which
are hilariously appropriate. Some mumble what appears to be
nonsense; others speak fluent Russian. However, the film
survives the (modified) Chuck Jones principle: the tone of voice
is all you need to get the point.

GARDEN OF CHRYSANTHEMUMS
Nicolai Smirnov, 1987, 10 minutes
Drawings on cutouts, some stop-motion
Wow! A 2:1 aspect ratio! Very nicely rendered characters,
excellent backgrounds, wonderful use of dissolves, excellent
layout! But what the hell was it _about_?
At least it was nice to look at.

THE SWAN’S PLUMAGE
Ida Garanina, 1977, 10 minutes
Stop-motion
This is a bit of an oddity. If I hadn’t seen the credits, I
would have bet my last dollar this was a Japanese film. (Heck,
the opening and closing credits are presented in Cyrillic, but
rendered to look Oriental and read vertically.) The story is a
very Japanese tale about a swan shot by a hunter, who is found by
an old man who pulls the arrow out and lets the swan fly free.
Later, the man and his wife are visited by a woman who we know to
be the swan in another form… I won’t give the rest away.
PLUMAGE seems to have been created by a Kihachiro Kawamoto fan;
the movement and designs of the puppets, combined with the
staging, are reminiscent of Japanese theater. The editing is
fantastic. PLUMAGE is without dialogue, letting the actions and
the music tell the story. It’s not _quite_ in Kawamoto’s style,
but it gets the essence of Kawamoto’s intentions: to present
Japanese stories in the animated form, mimicking other Japanese
artforms. It just so happens that PLUMAGE is from the USSR.
Go figure.

THE COUNT OF COUNTS
Yuri Norchtein, 1979, 26 minutes
Pencil, paints, inks
Clocking in as the longest film in the collection, it’s also the
one that fits into all the categories outlined in the
introduction. Technically excellent, it’s also overly long,
comments on war and how it can shatter the dreams of the average
person, and mostly incomprehensible. Considering the film has no
dialogue, the film is IMHO a failure as a narrative since we
really don’t understand what the heck is going on. Why do we
keep flashing back to the family picnic? What is the deal with
the fox and the baby? Why the cuts to young boy eating an apple?
In short, what the hell is going on here?

THE BATTLE OF KERJENETZ
Ivan Ivanov-Vano and Yuri Norchtein, 1971, 10 minutes
Cutouts
Another 2:1 film. A telling of a battle, presumably that of
Kerjenetz. I must confess that I didn’t follow the story all the
much, numbed as I was by COUNT OF COUNTS. What I found most
interesting was the use of two-dimensional cutouts rendered as
figures from classical paintings used in three-dimensional shots,
sometimes playing with perspective and multiplane effects. The
results were sometimes strange, but always interesting. I’d like
to see this again, if only to analyze the image construction
more.

Next week: Poland.

Emru

==========================
animation/long.messages #130, from jshook, 906 chars, Fri Jun 4 00:09:27 1993
This is a comment to message 129.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–

I believe the film you list as “Count of Counts” by Yuri Norchtein
is the one known to me as “Tale of a Tail” by Yuri Nordstein.

If so, I am sorry you did not like it. I have seen it 6 or 7 times,
and have never found it less than profoundly moving. I remember
first seeing it at one of the Ottawa animation festivals about
10 years ago. It was the last film in that night’s program, and
I recall that when the lights came on, I and my friends sat motionless
and silent for a number of minutes (some of us blinking back tears)
before leaving the theatre.

If you’re willing to give Norchtein/Nordstein another chance, be on
the lookout for an earlier film “Hedgehog in the Mist” which is
also beautifully done, and a lot lighter in tone.

You’ll have to be patient, however, as for many years there
was exactly one print of this film in all of North America,
but perhaps that has changed recently….

==========================
animation/long.messages #131, from switch, 746 chars, Fri Jun 4 13:02:34 1993
This is a comment to message 130.
————————–
Yes, _Tale of a Tail_ would make more sense. I translated the French title
fairly literally right after I got home (around midnight) — not a good idea.

I’ve seen some of Norchtein’s other work, but nothing jars my memory. I’m
sure if I saw an image it would come back to me.

Anyway, I found some parts of the film very moving, most notably any scene
involving the young men being taken from their girlfriends to fight in wars,
with only some returning. As a whole, however, it was hard to see how one
scene related to the next. If I see it again, I’ll try to make more sense of
it.

(One problem is that the Cinematheque Quebecoise has incredibly comfortable
seats, and it’s very easy to nod off unless it’s a very exciting film…)

Emru

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animation/long.messages #132, from switch, 5355 chars, Mon Jun 21 23:00:41 1993
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TITLE: Cinematheque quebecoise outing

Almost a week late, but I’m a busy guy so I’m allowed.

Last Wednesday, the Cinematheque featured Czechoslovakian animation.
Again, all titles are translated from French, so they may differ from
the “official” English titles.

Most of the films were “language-less,” so it’s no big deal figuring
out the stories. Only one film required any explanation (which
wasn’t supplied.)

ONE GLASS TOO MANY, Bretislav Pojar, 1954, 20′, stop-motion, color
This is a rather heavy-handed tale on the tragedies resulting from
drinking and driving. With foreshadowing this obvious, Pojar might
as well have ended the film ten minutes early. The sets and the
figures are well done, though (superb attention to detail), as is
some of the camera work. There were moments when I felt as though I
was careening out of control on a rain-slicked road, despite the fact
that these are little wooden figures and props.

THE MILLIONAIRE WHO WOULD STEAL THE SUN, Zdenek Miler, 1948, 8′,
charcoal & ink
A very wealthy man has his countless working masses build him bigger
and bigger factories and buildings, until he builds so large that he
can — and does — envelop the sun. Of course, it backfires…
Can’t complain. I liked the rendition of the rich guy, and though
the delivery was a bit ham-fisted we clearly understood the extent to
which he prospered by oppressing others.

BIRD FUNNIES, Vladimir Lehky, 1964, 4′, line drawings, b&w
When my companion Robert and I saw this beginning, we thought it was
going to be unbelievably stupid. At first it seemed to be two birds
with a Chester & Spike relationship. As we prepared for the worst, a
few really funny gags popped up. Then another. And another.
Really, this is an avian buddy film. No plot, but who cares?

EXCUSE ME, PLEASE, Lubomir Benes, 1974, 5′, stop-motion, color
Heh heh. A man who is pushed around by his wife, total strangers,
and eventually a dog has a fantasy of being able to push back. Thus
strengthened, he goes out with new resolve, with interesting results.
Serviceable, animationwise. Not brilliant, but not shoddy. The
comic timing is just fine.

THE CLEANING PHANTOM AND THE SS, Jiri Trnka, 1946, 10′, cel, b&w
I’m positive I didn’t get the title right. I’ve seen this film
before, but with English title cards (these were Czech). As I
remember it, they say that during WWII there was a person whose
existence was whispered back and forth: a bounding chimney-sweeper
who would foil Hitler’s minions.
In the film, a mustachioed character squeals on suspected Allied
sympathizers, no matter how ludicrous his grounds. It’s partly done
out of spite, partly self-aggrandizement, and of course fear. A
chimney-sweeper spies a procession of people being hauled away by the
SS and accidentally happens upon sofa springs which he uses to bound
from place to place. Donning a mask, he proceeds to make trouble for
the Nazis.
This is good, clean fun with a few really good gags thrown into the
mix. I like the bit when the camera cuts to a park and there’s a
pair of SS officers who are obviously in love: one wanting, the other
demure. Another pair walks past a fountain, holding hands. Laugh
riot.

WHY DO YOU SMILE, MONA LISA?, Jiri Brdecka, 1966, 12′, cel, color
A nice combination of fine arts and stylish line drawings. Brdecka
has a good eye for design here, being spare in his use of colors.
It’s hard to decide what’s more important: the tribute to da Vinci’s
talent and versatility, or the string of gags that leads to the
reason for Mona Lisa’s enigmatic smile. The plot is simple: a man of
some import brings his love, Mona Lisa, to have Leonardo paint her
with one of his famous beautiful smiles. Mona is a rather portly
woman who doesn’t seem to want to smile. There must be some way to
get a grin out of her, but how? Heh heh…

THE PARASITE, Vladimir Lehky, 1960, 7′, line drawings, color
This is just *great*! LIQUID TV’s “Stick Figure Theater” series
reminded people that you don’t have to draw to animate. The simple
figures here are very expressive in their simplicity.
There are two characters: a resourceful fellow who uses his mind to
overcome adversity (like finding shelter, harnessing fire, learning
how to cook) and a guy who leeches off of his hard work. The film
moves throughout the ages, always using the same two characters.
Very funny, very poignant, and best of all — the parasite gets his.

NON-SENSE, Macourek, Doubrava & Born, 1974, 8′
I don’t remember this at all. Does anyone know?

THE HAPPY CIRCUS, Jiri Trnka, 1951, 13′, cutouts, color
J.S. BACH: FANTASIA IN SOL MINOR, Jan Svankmajer, 1965, 8′, animated
live footage, b&w
Aaaargh! I have immense respect and admiration for Trnka and
Svankmajer’s work, and that’s probably why these pained me so.
CIRCUS makes good use of 2-D cutouts in 3-D sets, but what’s the
point? This film is just like a real circus. Seats full of easily-
amused kids, trained animals, clowns. I don’t like this kind of dull
stuff in real life (give me something like Archaos any day) and I
like it less animated.
FANTASIA is animation set to music — only the animation is of
patterns in a decaying building, and not particularly interesting
decay, either.
Looks like even the masters have off years.

This week: Yugoslavia, including Zagreb of course. Yahoo!

Emru

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animation/long.messages #133, from hmccracken, 37 chars, Tue Jun 22 09:11:43 1993
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You *DON’T LIKE CIRCUSES*?
— Harry

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animation/long.messages #134, from switch, 460 chars, Tue Jun 22 21:33:21 1993
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Not ones like that, no. Well, let’s break this down:

Bears: pandas and koalas, yes.
Seals: the sillier, the better (since they’re always silly, this
isn’t a problem.)
Kids: Love ’em when they’re in groups of ten or less. Then I get
tired.
Clowns: Only Obnoxio the clown and others of his stripe. Otherwise
they annoy me.

And, of course, I like Trnka and bizarre circuses. Unfortunately,
this short didn’t quite fit the bill…

Emru

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animation/long.messages #135, from number6, 64 chars, Wed Jun 23 01:01:15 1993
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Hey, I don’t, either. ‘Cepting the circus of Dr. Lao, that is.

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animation/long.messages #136, from switch, 5213 chars, Tue Jun 29 13:38:16 1993
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TITLE: Yet another Cinematheque screening
Sigh. I went to the Cinematheque after a long days’ work and only
3 1/2 hours of sleep. So I fell asleep in the comfy chairs, making
this set of capsule reviews a bit short. Anyway, this program
featured Yugoslavia, which means lots of stuff from the Zagreb
studios.

Again, titles are loosely translated from French.

P.S. Sorry if this seems a bit disjointed, I wrote this in bits and
pieces throughout the week.

THE AGE OF VAMPIRES
Nikola Majdak, 9′, 1970, cel
This was seven minutes too long. The setting: an inn situated next
to a cemetery. The cast: three musicians, a womanizer, three women,
a vampire killer, two funeral processions, three spirits, and a
brief visit from a mobile hand a la Thing of the ADDAMS FAMILY movie.
The womanizer seduces several women through the course of the evening
and takes them to the cemetery to have sex. Every time a funeral
procession goes by, the vampire killer runs out and rams a wooden
stake through the corpse’s chest. Every so often we see the band
playing wacky music. Eventually the vampire hunter is killed and his
spirit joins two others, and they go about doing mischievous things
until we get to the punchline.
Sight gags abound, but don’t save the film. The animation’s fine.
Oh, yes — the character designs are very sixties.

NIGHTMARE
Aleksandar Marks and Vladimir Jutrisa, 10′, 1977
A man walks into his home, goes to sleep, and has a series of
nightmares, waking up screaming from every one. This went nowhere,
and I fell asleep at this point.

The ones I missed: DISINFECTION (Ante Zaninovic), FROM INSIDE AND
OUTSIDE (Josko Marusic), CAPTAIN ARBANOS MARKO (Zlatko Bourek), and
MAYBE DIOGENE (Nedeljko Dragic).

OPTIMIST-PESSIMIST
Zlatko Grgic, 8′, 1974, cel
A devil-may-care optimist spends ten minutes trying to make an overly
cynical pessimist lighten up. The plot’s useless, really. It’s just
a bunch of non-sequiturs strung together. It’s dubbed into English,
by the way, which is so-so. The sight gags are pretty funny, though,
so the lack of any coherence isn’t really a problem.

SKIN OF GRIEF
Vlado Kristl, 10′, 1961, cel
Well, wow. This is one of those tales where some poor sap finds a
magical but malicious artifact which grants him a wish — for which
he later pays a price. Raphael leaves his love, Pauline, and after
losing money at a roulette table is led to something called the skin
of grief — a red square that promises to fulfil any wish, but once
used will diminish — as will the owner’s life. Raphael has money
and happiness until he realizes he’s aging rapidly. He ends up back
in Pauline’s arms, but soon it’s too late…
In terms of the story itself, this is rather predictable. What makes
it so striking are the visuals. The characters are stylized adn
slightly asymmetric, and their smooth animation may not be perfectly
lifelike, but they move in a striking manner. (I’d really have to
watch it again to put my finger on exactly what it is about the
character animation that grabs me…) The backgrounds are all
broadly painted dark reds, browns, greys and blacks, punctuated by
the odd white. The lack of an horizon or of anything concrete in a
scene adds to the surreal and dreamlike (well, nightmarelike) nature
of this film. Take all this with some melodramatic acting and some
funky editing, and you’ve got a pretty riveting short.

SATIEMANIA
Zdenko Gasparovic, 15, 1978, mostly pencil, ink, and paints
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen this, but that doesn’t
mean I’m tired of it. Gasparovic animates to the music of Erik
Satie, alternating between bouncy and somber. It starts with the
bouncy stuff, with shots of people walking. But these are *funny*
walks, because he’s taken the way some people walk and exaggerated
it to this music. Aside from some annoying stereotypes, this
guarantees a smile. The next segment is quite somber, with lots of
pans across still shots, or cross-dissolves substituting for
animation. Scenes of rainy days, women in anguish while their lovers
watch stone-faced, things like that. Back to the funny stuff, with
scenes of extreme and comical violence. Then back to the somber
stuff, and fade to black.
I’ll break this into two components, the funny stuff and the bleak
stuff. The funny segments take advantage of the vibrancy of animated
colored pencil and pen and Satie’s exuberant piano to make give a
real sense of dynamism and energy. Gasparovic concentrates mainly on
the humor of walking in the first segment, and so spends most of his
time focusing on feet and legs. He also expends considerable effort
on the textures and shades of the people and their clothing. The
extreme violence segment uses mostly ink and watercolor with less
color detail, as things move very quickly.
The bleak stuff is interesting because it employs some dark humor and
incongruities. There are scenes where men sit at a table with lavish
foods (mostly meats) and on the table only partly onscreen is a
woman’s stockinged leg, for instance. The lack of dynamism and extra
attention to layout, color, and detail make these bits seem
particularly grim.

Next, and the last for a long while: Bulgaria.

Emru

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animation/long.messages #137, from elfhive, 4616 chars, Sat Oct 2 23:22:49 1993
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TITLE: 24th International Tournee of Animation

Here are some thoughts about a week after the screening.

WE LOVE IT
From the folks who brought you Fast Food Matador, this one is a
lot more repetitive and consequently weaker. It was good for a
verse and a chorus. I would have shortened it by at least three
minutes.

THE MAN WHO YELLED
Funny concept and it didn’t go on too long. Hope that your sound
system isn’t going to distort because there is a lot of yelling
in this one.

THE STAIN
Every so often I have to stop and wonder if such dark humor in
the UK is the price we pay for gems like Fawlty Towers. This was
a really depressing piece about a family with more than its fair
share of problems. The script could have been written by Joyce
Carol Oates. Apparently the idea was taken from a classified and
I have to wonder if the story is a completely fabricated or
represents some kind of research into that classified. Anyway,
who wants to know about this kind of stuff.
The technique was bizarre to match. Cross cutting from something
akin to pictillation and then stop-motion but none of it very
accomplished.

THE BILLY NAYER SHOW
Another entry in the watch-me-perform-in-close-up category of
animation. Lots of brush strokes over what must have been
rotoscoping, if not, hats off. Still it wasn’t holding my
interest.

By this time I was getting a little concerned that I was in for a
real tedious exploration of the avant-garde and perhaps even,
shudder, politically correct themes that are often interwoven in
Terry Thoren’s compilations. And then suddenly my life brightened
remarkably with

LITTLE WOLF

This was worth the price of admission. This was great. What can I
say about this elixir? I will buy this reel just to get this
cartoon. This was from the UK by a man or woman with the unlikely
English name of An Vrombaut. It won best debut film at Annecy
this year and I can clearly see why. I’ll be watching for the
next one.

THE SQUARE OF LIGHT

Very interesting animation, again the broad brush strokes and
accurate action portrayal of a boxing match. Wish I liked boxing
more.

PREHISTORIC BEAST

This looks like Phil Tippett’s bid to do _Jurassic Park_ special
effects. Extremely well-done stop motion work on the old theme of
T-Rex meets Stegosaurus. While it was beautiful it does
illustrate the limitations of stop motion and why Spielberg went
with the computer animation for the most part.

I THINK I WAS AN ALCOHOLIC

John Callahan must be from the Bill Plympton school of humor. I
didn’t want to smoke cigarettes before I saw Plympton’s _25 Ways
to Quit Smoking_, I don’t want to become an alcoholic after
seeing this short. Crude but effective animation yet not as
stylized as Cruikshank for instance.

A SALUTE TO THE DIMENSIONAL ARTISTRY OF WILL VINTON STUDIOS

Hold on, did I just say limitations of stop motion animation!!!
Wash my mouth out with soap — or at least amend that to
limitations of stop motion to achieve accurately realistic
portrayals. With MR RESISTOR, however, stop motion reaches new
heights. Here stop motion brings the fantastic to life and it is
completely believable. I really enjoyed this segment.

THE RIDE TO THE ABYSS

Beautifully set to classical music and drawn in primitive art
style, this held my attention and built to a fine finale.

THE SANDMAN

UK’s Cosgrove-Hall has really got my attention now. First
_Truckers_ now this beautiful film from Paul Berry. Again that
really dark British humour but this is done so well that the
horror really comes through. In _The Stain_ I didn’t care about
the characters, but here I’m instantly identifying with the
little boy and what happens to him happens to me. Not for the
squeamish!

WORDS, WORDS, WORDS

Very much an Eastern European film (made in Czecho when it was
still attached to Slovakia) that examines human behavior and
relationships through tones rather than actually words. Here
crudeness of style seems to underscore the creator’s intent
rather than distract from it.

GAHAN WILSON’S DINER

The third of four reasons to own this reel. Only because I think
that _Little Wolf_ and _The Sandman_ are more powerful stories.
The animation in this is GREAT. The story is pure Gahan Wilson
but it didn’t leave me with the same emotional intensity that the
other two did.

GET A HAIRCUT

A disappointing finale. After Canada’s _Get A Job_ this won’t
compete either melodically or visually.

Still it was a great experience and a chance to see what is going
on in the wide world of animation. Wish they played more of this
on tv but I’ll bet I’m not missing it by not having The Cartoon
Network 🙂

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animation/long.messages #138, from hmccracken, 90 chars, Sat Oct 2 23:43:44 1993
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]Thanks for the comments, Elf! Sounds like the Tournee is well worth
catching.
— Harry

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animation/long.messages #139, from sharonfisher, 423 chars, Sun Oct 3 14:40:00 1993
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John Callahan is a paraplegic, caused by an accident with a drunk driver.
I’m not expressing myself well. He was drunk, and a passenger in a car
where the driver was drunk. He’s written a couple of books, starting with
“Don’t worry, he won’t get far on foot” and does some lovely cartoons on
the handicapped, which generally draw letters about how terrible it is
that some cartoonist is making fun of handicapped people.

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animation/long.messages #140, from elfhive, 322 chars, Sun Oct 3 18:44:37 1993
This is a comment to message 139.
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There was something very immediate about “I Think I Was An Alcoholic,”
it wasn’t the kind of thing that someone unfamiliar with the symptoms
would be able to produce as effectively.

I would think that animation would be a great activity for someone
confined to a wheelchair. If that isn’t too insensitive a statement 🙂

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animation/long.messages #141, from jshook, 84 chars, Sun Oct 3 23:44:11 1993
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Do you happen to remember what piece of music was used for THE RIDE
TO THE ABYSS?

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animation/long.messages #142, from elfhive, 233 chars, Sun Oct 3 23:47:24 1993
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I keep wanting to say Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique but that’s just
because I got the CD from BBC Music two days ago and I have been listening
to it. Does Gounod and ”
“Damnation of Faust” sound right?
Sorry that I don’t remember.

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animation/long.messages #143, from jshook, 207 chars, Sun Oct 3 23:56:55 1993
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Berlioz also wrote a “Damnation of Faust.” I was wondering it that’s
the one that was used in the film. I think it would probably make
a better soundtrack than Gounod’s (which I admit I have not heard.)

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animation/long.messages #144, from elfhive, 375 chars, Mon Oct 4 22:29:46 1993
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I seem to recall Gounod for some reason. In any case it was a good
blend between the visual and aural elements. I could stand to see
a lot more “Fantasia” animation going back to explore classical
music with wonderful images. I liked the computer match up in
_The Mind’s Eye_ and _Beyond The Mind’s Eye_ but that still leaves
a *lot* of room for real talent to get in there.

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animation/long.messages #145, from switch, 770 chars, Wed Oct 6 21:42:01 1993
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Nice reviews, Greg! I hope the Tournee makes it here — our usual venue for
Expanded’s stuff has closed down.

> THE STAIN

I found it to be an interesting short. Mind you, I have it on tape from the
UK Channel Four show, “Four-Mations”, and they talk with the creators.
Unfortunately, they don’t say much that’s worthwhile (to me, anyway.)

The cross-cutting worked for me. Have you seen “Balloon”?

> THE SANDMAN

Another good one, which I have on the same tape. Two chaps from England,
one rather normal-looking and the other with bright orange hair. But listening
to them talk, I’m more frightened by the normal-looking one.

> WORDS, WORDS, WORDS

I agree with your sentiments. A very touching film.

> DINER

Now I *really* hope the Tournee gets here.

Emru

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animation/long.messages #146, from switch, 179 chars, Wed Oct 6 21:43:39 1993
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Have you seen any of the other animated renditions of, say, “Sorceror’s
Apprentice” or “Night on Bald Mountain”?

(Hmmmn, _Allegro non Troppo_ will be showing this week…)

Emru

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animation/long.messages #147, from elfhive, 232 chars, Thu Oct 7 21:47:20 1993
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It’s them normal lookin’ ones what really surprises. Who cares about
bright orange hair?

I’d like to see _Diner_ again. I must have missed the punch line at the
end because it seemed to, how can I say this, “fishtail” as it ended.

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animation/long.messages #148, from elfhive, 257 chars, Thu Oct 7 21:49:37 1993
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No, I haven’t seen those pieces rendered by anyone but the Disney
artists. I have a copy of _Allegro non Troppo_ on laserdisc. I really
like that film. I’m tempted to pick up _Volere Volare_ but I haven’t
seen it and hesitate to part with $35 that easily.

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animation/long.messages #149, from switch, 245 chars, Fri Oct 8 19:57:32 1993
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Ack! I just discovered that I just missed _Allegro non Troppo_ *again*.
*Sigh*

Anyway, there are three or four _Night on Bald mountain_s out there, and
plenty of other examples of animation to classical music. Well worth
ferreting out.

Emru

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animation/long.messages #150, from elfhive, 78 chars, Fri Oct 8 21:32:58 1993
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Do you have titles and creators for the _Night on Bald Mountain_
animations?

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animation/long.messages #151, from switch, 139 chars, Fri Oct 8 22:16:38 1993
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Only one I remember offhand: _Night on Bald Mountain_ by Alexieff and Parker.
A quick scan through my database reveals nothing else.

Emru

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animation/long.messages #152, from switch, 7350 chars, Fri Oct 22 22:24:35 1993
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TITLE: Nick Park Retrospective
Busy, busy, busy. Normally I do this sort of thing within a few
days of a screening, but I’ve been real busy with school, work,
and meeting deadlines. Ain’t life sweet.

Here’s what happened: the Cinematheque Quebecoise, in conjunction
with SoftImage, hosted a week of animation October 5 to 10,
cramming in no less than 24 hours of animation, often with guest
speakers. At $4 per 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hour screening in the city’s
most comfortable cinema, this was a bargain, to say the least.
(I wish I had known earlier that an ASIFA-Canada membership
grants free access to Cinematheque screenings; even though I
missed most of the shows, I’d save quite a bit of cash.)

I’ve already gone on about the evening with the folks from
SoftImage, which helped kicked off the week. I missed the James
Whitney, Bruno Bozzetto, and Raoul Servais retrospectives, as
well as the Italian and Belgian animation retrospectives, among
other things; I’d be damned if I’d miss the Nick Park/Aardman
Animations retrospectives, and if I didn’t catch at least one
half of the Annecy ’93 show I might as well jump off a bridge.

Wishing to avoid eternal damnation and incidentally take a break
from working on my animation assignment, I went to the
Cinematheque on the evening of October 9 for the Nick
Park/Aardman shows. David Sproxton, who co-founded Aardman with
Peter Lord, was there, and gave a short but interesting talk
about Nick Park. Basically, Park was working on A GRAND DAY OUT
on his own on a grant, for five years. He was in a bit of a
situation; not yet out of school, he had gotten this grant (which
he could use on nothing but the film) but had no job. Surviving
on the dole, he was about halfway through when Sproxton and Lord
gave a talk at his school. They saw his work, hired him at
Aardman, where he did some commercial work for them and they gave
him the facilities to finish A GRAND DAY OUT, which he did over
the course of the next two years.

The lights dimmed, and Sproxton looked for a seat in the packed
house. By chance, the only empty one was the aisle seat next to
me. I tried not to gush and embarrass myself, and managed to
arrange an interview with him without lapsing into Drooling
Fanboy Mode. My mother would have been proud.

Anyway, on to the films:

A GRAND DAY OUT
1989, 23 minutes

CREATURE COMFORTS
1989, 5 minutes

Director: Nick Park
Great Britain

Now, look, this is very simple. If you haven’t seen this or
CREATURE COMFORTS by now, you’ve simply not been paying
attention. Both these films have been in any number of animation
festivals; CREATURE COMFORTS has been on PBS and Canada’s CBC
many times over. If you missed them, go out and rent or buy
Expanded Entertainment’s BRITISH ANIMATION INVASION or AARDMAN
ANIMATIONS videocassettes (the latter is also available on
laserdisc by Lumivision).

The reviews for both these films are the same I used when I first
saw them in 1990, with minor edits.

GRAND DAY OUT
A twenty-three minute clay animation would have struck me as an
exercise in terror before I saw this film, but I’ve seen it
innumerable times in the last three years and I’m not tired of it
yet. Nick Park has the incredible ability to convey a lot of
character with his figures (some only about three inches tall),
and his detailed backgrounds and props have to be seen to be
believed. The man’s imagination and talent are seemingly
endless. Anyway, the story: Wallace and his dog Gromit are
sitting about the house on a bank holiday, looking for somewhere
to go. While preparing some tea, Wallace notices they are out of
cheese. Looking at the moon, he has an idea: the moon is made of
cheese, and they’re looking for somewhere to go, so why not fly
to the moon? They build a rocket in the basement and fly to the
moon, and… it’s too funny just thinking about it. Gromit, in
the tradition of mute animal sidekicks, steals the show.

CREATURE COMFORTS
Surprisingly, this film is funnier and technically amazing every
time I see it. While GRAND DAY OUT was a quite well done and an
entertaining narrative, CREATURE COMFORTS, at a little over a
third the running time, is a more compact, tightly-edited film
and is closer to perfection. Animals in a zoo are interviewed
about their living conditions. It captures the feeling of
television interviews perfectly, which isn’t really surprising:
voice track is comprised of clips from interviews with real
people, under differing circumstances. Aardman started doing
this sort of thing in 1978 with a series of shorts called
ANIMATED CONVERSATIONS, where they would record some real-life
event and animate to it, sometimes taking a few liberties with
the animation, but rarely with the voice track. In the case of
CREATURE COMFORTS, they spoke to kids in a zoo and asked what
they thought of the animals being in cages; to senior citizens in
an old-age home; and to foreigners living in Britain, most
notably an irate Brazilian student. These became the voices of
different animals in a zoo, responding to unheard questions from
an unseen interviewer. Whatever you do, don’t miss this film.
In my most personal opinion, if I can make a film with half the
wit, character, technical excellence, and humor Park worked into
this, I’ll be very happy.

And now, a drum roll, please…

THE WRONG TROUSERS
1993, 29 minutes

Director: Nick Park
Great Britain

Tremendous! Amazing! Incredible!

But maybe I’m getting ahead of myself.

Imagine, if you will, a new film with Wallace and Gromit from A
GRAND DAY OUT. Imagine an animated Gary Larson cartoon in
stop-motion. Imagine the most sinister, mute penguin you’ve ever
seen. Imagine Nick Park with a serious budget, four years more
experience, and the tools and staff of Aardman Animations at his
disposal. These just barely describe his new opus, THE WRONG
TROUSERS.

We were fortunate; this screening was the North American
premiere, and the third public showing worldwide. As such, the
print was fantastically clean, the sound and colours deliciously
rich.

I’m not going to give even a hint of the story here. Seeing
everything unfold with Park’s impeccable sense of timing is a
joy, and I think it would be a shame to give any of it away. But
I will make a few comments on the film overall.

I’d said that THE WRONG TROUSERS is like a stop-motion Gary
Larson cartoon. On the surface, this may seem like a ludicrous
idea, but hear me out before you call the boys in the white
coats.

One of Larson’s recurring themes in THE FAR SIDE is to play on
cinematic or literary cliches, usually cliches so
well-established you instantly recognize them even if you’ve
never seen them in a movie or a book. THE WRONG TROUSERS crams a
diverse array of cliches both old and new, sometimes with
wonderfully absurd twists. Through it all, Park manages to keep
Wallace and Gromit’s characters intact, so their reactions are
unsurprising but entertaining. Park’s sense of timing and
meticulous character animation serve particularly well here,
especially since two of the three characters are mute.

In short: drop everything and see this when it comes to your
local cinema. Consider chipping in on a rental car with your
friends if it’s out of town. It’s worth it.

Comments on the Aardman retrospective and the Annecy ’93 showing
to come later.

Emru

==========================
animation/long.messages #153, from jshook, 128 chars, Fri Oct 22 23:13:56 1993
This is a comment to message 152.
————————–

Thanks for posting this. I promise to drop my trou… er, drop everything
if THE WRONG TROUSERS gets within viewing distance.

==========================
animation/long.messages #154, from switch, 9882 chars, Mon Nov 1 22:36:12 1993
————————–
TITLE: Aardman Animations Retrospective
As promised, here’s my overview of the Aardman Animations
retrospective of a few weeks back.

For those who don’t know, Aardman is a British animation studio
that does a lot of spectacular stop-motion and clay animation.
Their best-known work in North America is probably Nick Park’s
CREATURE COMFORTS, or the SLEDGEHAMMER music video.

I’ll just cut to the chase. I won’t be commenting on all the
shorts, though.

DOWN & OUT (Peter Lord & David Sproxton, 1978, 5′) This is the
first of the Animated Conversations series. A (senile? drunk?
derelict?) man tries to get a ticket for food at a hostel. The
whole thing centres around the clerk and a security guard trying
to explain things to the befuddled old man.

This is good, but doesn’t show off the Aardman brilliance; this
serves more as a hint of things to come. As sets and props go,
this is adequate, as is most of the stop-motion; however, the
Aardman touch is apparent in little details. There is of course
the attention to stance and facial expressions, but part of the
Aardman aesthetic when it comes to using “found” voice tracks us
that they avoid a straight script-to-screen adaptation; if they
come across and interesting background noise, they use it for
something. Or occasionally the camera wanders away from the
person talking.

THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF MORPH: “Grand Morph’s Home Movies”
(Peter Lord & David Sproxton, 1981, 5′) This is a kids’ show
featuring a tiny clay creature called Morph. He has a whole
bunch of clay friends and relatives, and they live in various
items on a tabletop. The show’s actually quite entertaining in
its own right, even in a room full of adults, as there are some
funny asides in the narration, and we begin to see the boys at
Aardman playing with facial expressions and actual body language,
as opposed to just stances. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of
these.

EARLY BIRD (Peter Lord & David Sproxton, 1981, 5′) Another
“found soundtrack” work. Here they compress about an hour’s
worth of a weekday early morning show into five minutes. The DJ
wakes up in the studio, and while doing his patter he shaves,
makes breakfast, and prepares to leave. Attention to detail is
the key here: the DJ’s booth is crowded, and he has to pull
things out of drawers, place records on turntables, etc., so the
place is appropriately cluttered.

BABYLON (Peter Lord & David Sproxton, 1986, 14′) The program
jumps forward in time, presenting us with a work after Lord and
Sproxton have become more proficient. To jump from 1981’s EARLY
BIRD to 1986’s BABYLON and then back to 1981 with LATE EDITION
was somewhat jarring for me; I would have put this after LATE
EDITION.

In any event, BABYLON is a more serious Aardman offering. It’s
set at a dinner for higher-ups in the arms and munitions
industries; the keynote speaker spews extreme right-wing
rhetoric, while deals and power games are in progress at the
dinner tables. Actually, there’s more to it than that, but it
would take some time to explain it.

Technically, this film is amazing. There are overhead pans
across crowd scenes with over a hundred figures, all animated so
you’d swear you’re looking at live-action shots of a ritzy dinner
affair. Absolutely stunning.

This isn’t a straight narrative, and there’s visual and aural
allegories aplenty. The soundtrack — or rather, soundscape —
is well done. An ominous basso rumble permeates the film,
punctuated by a whispered “Peace… and… profit”; people’s
voices are distorted; and so on.

My only complaint is in the delivery of the film’s message. In
part, it depends on the image of very extreme right-wing arms
dealers, and a final sequence I won’t describe for those who
haven’t seen it. The trouble is, it’s too pat; these guys sell
arms, ergo they’re warmongers, ergo they’re right-wing fascists.
Well, it doesn’t always work that way, guys. And the final
sequence is, well, predictable. The only thing that saves it is
the wonderful animation and sound work.

LATE EDITION (Peter Lord & David Sproxton, 1981, 5′) Another
“found soundtrack” work, this time at a newspaper office, as the
late edition is being prepared. It seems that the recordist
moved around the room, as conversations fade in and out, often
obscured by the general sounds of the newsroom. Lord and
Sproxton take advantage of this by similarly shifting the visual
point of view. I liked how the camera kept moving back to this
one worker, unnoticed (ignored?) by all, who either had his head
on the desk or was pouring himself a drink; it added tragic
punctuation to the film.

WAR STORY (Peter Lord, 1989, 5′) This one has done the rounds at
a few festivals: an old man tells about his service in WWII.
Sort of “found soundtrack” — this is from an interview, and thus
less is left to chance; also, extra sound effects are added for
the old man’s flashbacks. My favourite touch — they left in the
recordist saying the tape was running when it shouldn’t have
been, the pair laughing, and the old man jovially saying, “Shut
that thing off!”

MY BABY JUST CARES FOR ME (Peter Lord, 1987, 3:00) This seems
like a tribute to Tex Avery; I’ll have to find out for sure
someday. The cast for this film is all anthropomorphic cats, and
it centres around a lady cat singing “My Baby Just Cares For Me”
at a nightclub. One male cat, obviously a fan, attracts the
attention of a bouncer when he’s obviously overly affected by her
song…

What makes this film for me is not the animation but the
atmosphere. The animation’s great, no doubt about it — but the
name of this game is lighting and mood. This is a very
convincing nightclub scene, and Lord manages to make the lady cat
very sensual.

GOING EQUIPPED (Peter Lord, 1989, 5:00)

LURPAK: “Sailor” (Peter Lord, 1986, 30″; advertisement)

KP DISCOS: “Ouch” (Peter Lord, 1988, 30″; advertisement)

NERDS: “Monster Mash” (Peter Lord, 1989, 40″; advertisement)

ADAM (Peter Lord, 1991, 6′)

BAREFOOTIN’ (Richard Goleszowski, 1987, 2′) What happened here?
This is clay animation to the song “Barefootin'”, featuring
bizarre space aliens with really big feet. It’s not that this is
particularly bad, it’s that there’s nothing that makes it stand
out, which is very un-Aardman, in my opinion. Ho hum.

IDENT (Richard ?oleszowski, 1989, 5′) This is more like it.
Surreal, bizarre, strangely poignant. It’s rather hard to
describe this one effectively…

REX THE RUNT: “Dinosaurs” and “Dreams” (Richard ?oleszowski,
1991, 2′ each) I think these shorts are for televised inserts,
but I’m not sure. Rex the Runt is a little dog character (you
can see his spiritual ancestor in IDENT) who has a show along
with his girlfriend and their pals. Rex and his friends are
almost two-dimensional clay figures in a pretty much
three-dimensional setting. These shorts are witty and
fast-paced. Quite fun to watch.

SCOTCH TAPE: “Not Fade Away” (Bill Mather, 1985, 30″) An advert
for Scotch VHS and Beta cassettes. Quite a normal ad, except for
two things: (1) it’s in stop-motion, and (b) the fellow walking
and talking is a richly-voiced skeleton. It lends an eerie
touch, to be sure.

SLEDGEHAMMER (Stephen Johnson, 1986, 4′) You know, the Peter
Gabriel music video.

NEXT (Barry Purves, 1989, 5′) Shakespeare, apparently in the
afterlife, acts out all of his plays in mime, with the help of
some stage props. This has done the festival circuit, and is a
joy to watch each time. Everything after the wondrous shot of
ol’ Will ascending on silver wings amidst sparklers and scrolls
bearing the names of his works is superfluous.

CREATURE COMFORTS (Nick Park, 1989, 5′) Haven’t we been here
before?

LOVES ME… LOVES ME NOT (Jeff Newitt, 1992, 8′) Remember what I
said about Nick Park’s THE WRONG TROUSERS? The part about
dropping everything to go see it. The same goes for this. In
conversation, David Sproxton told me that this is Jeff Newitt’s
first work (more accurately, his first personal work — he had
done ad work before.) Hearing that almost made me want to throw
in the towel and switch majors from animation to something
easier, like rocket science. Yes, it’s that good.

It starts with a man — a very, very well-dressed and
well-coiffed man — smoothly walking into frame, oozing
self-confidence from every pore of his latex body. He espies a
flower and plucks it — “Ow!” it quietly cries — and regards it.
For almost a full minute, he holds it at arm’s length, inspects
it closely, even seems to dance with it. This serves the purpose
of (a) showing us that this man is incredibly suave and
self-assured, and (b) showing off Newitt’s incredible skill.

The man plucks a petal — “Ow!” — and we hear the deep
intonation, “Loves me…” and he allows the flicker of a grin.
Another petal — “Ow!” — “Loves me not…” and there is the
barest flicker of a frown. It proceeds like this for the rest of
the film. When it says “Loves me…” he gets happier and happier
with each petal. When it says “Loves me not…” he despairs more
and more, until he finds himself in life-threatening situations,
sometimes attempting to kill himself. As the short progresses,
he realizes that the flower’s petals are the key — but since the
flower died when he plucked it, the petals are starting to fall
off whether he plucks them or not! He frantically tries to keep
the petals from coming off…

Whew. It almost leaves me breathless just thinking about it.
The precise character animation is matted onto the background,
allowing for all sorts of extra animation and eye-popping optical
effects. The soundtrack is nothing to sneeze at, either.

LOVES ME… LOVES ME NOT speaks of love, desire, obsession,
superstition, narcissism, the unwitting destruction of a
significant other… and it’s an awfully fun way to spend eight
minutes. Don’t miss this.

Emru

==========================
animation/long.messages #155, from elfhive, 4130 chars, Fri Nov 12 00:27:05 1993
————————–
TITLE: Anime America ’94 Update
————————————————————–

Anime America Electronic Progress Report, November 1993

Anime America
Red Lion Inn
San Jose, California
July 29,30,31, 1994

Sponsored by:
The Foundation for Animation and Comics Education
a California not-for-profit corporation

GUESTS OF HONOR:

GO NAGAI
Creator of Devilman, Mazinger Z, Cutey Honey, Violence Jack, and
many other famous anime and manga characters.

AKEMI TAKADA
Character designer for Urusei Yatsura and Kimagure Orange Road.

Principle event summary:

35mm and 16mm Film Programs
Special Benefit Auction – proceeds to scholarship program
Anime Game Show – Hosted by AnimEigo
Artist and Industry Panels
Autographs and Sketches
Art Show
Dealer’s Room
Projection screen video theaters with surround sound
Information channel and updates on room tv

Accommodations and Room Rates:

Anime America 1994 will be going home to the traditional
convention hotel in San Jose, CA, the Red Lion Inn off Highway
101. The Red Lion hosted AnimeCon 1991 and Anime Expo 1992, so is
well-tuned to supporting anime conventions. The hotel facilities
are spacious, comfortable and convenient to San Jose airport.

Single/Double Occupancy: $72.00 per night
Triple/Quad Occupancy: $79.00 per night

Reservations must be made before July 1, 1994 in order to be
guaranteed by the hotel. You must mention Anime America in order
to get the special convention rates. Please contact:

The Red Lion Inn
San Jose, CA 95054
(408) 453-4000

Fans attending from Japan should contact the following
travel agent:

Mr. Yukio Yanadori
Deputy General Manager
Kinki Nippon Tourist Co., Ltd.
19-2 Kanda Matsunaga-cho
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101
phone (03) 3255-7077

Membership rates:

—– $35.00 until 12-20-93
—– $40.00 until 3-20-94
—– $45.00 until 7-1-94
—– $50.00 at the door

Anime America invites fans from around the world. For further
information, write or call:

Anime America
298 4th Avenue, Suite 472
San Francisco, CA 94118
Voice Mail: (415) 241-8823
Fax: (408) 748-9620
In Japan: 0468-21-1910 ext 243-2034 (voice or fax)

————————————————————-
Email address: anam@rahul.net
Japan email: Niftyserve SGQ01534
————————————————————-

35mm and 16mm Film Programs:

Courtesy of Tokuma Shoten –

RCockpitS by Leiji Matsumoto – This brand new OAV series
will be shown in itUs entirety, three half-hour segments, in
35mm. Subtitled video may be available as well.

RThe Deep Blue FleetS – A Japanese viewpoint World War II
series, also in 35mm. There will be two 45 minute segments. A
subtitled video may be available by the date of the Con.

RWild SevenS – Another brand new one, about motorcycle
gangs. There are two 45 minute segments in 35mm.

More films will be announced as they are confirmed.

Special Benefit Auction – proceeds to scholarship program:

Anime AmericaUs sponsor company, F.A.C.E., is dedicated to
education, especially with respect to artistic expression in
comics and animation. In support of this goal, Anime America
will host a Benefit Auction. Go Nagai has already donated
several matted and autographed cels from his hit OAV series
RDevilmanS. More info to come.

Anime Game Show:

AnimEigoUs Robert Woodhead will host this computer-assisted
gameshow romp through various translated releases. Prizes have
yet to be determined but they will be listed here in an update
to follow. There will be three segments – a qualification round,
semi-final and final – on Friday, Saturday and Sunday,
respectively.

More info next month!
————————————————————-

==========================
animation/long.messages #156, from elfhive, 3560 chars, Thu Dec 9 23:11:28 1993
————————–
TITLE: THE AIRTIGHT GARAGE
An Animation Odyssey

For the past several years, Starwatcher Graphics, French
artist Moebius’ American company, has been developing a feature-
length animation film based on his graphic novel, The Airtight
Garage, written in 1987. Randy and Jean-Marc Lofficier
collaborated on a working script and a draft storyboard was
produced by Moebius and his assistants in order to bring this
idea to the screen. Their efforts to bring a story to the screen
illustrates the difficulties that independent producers have in
realizing their creative dreams. As of this writing the
possibility of realization seems good, but it is important to
remember that any number of circumstances could still derail the
process.
Starwatcher initially worked with a small Canadian
production company in Montreal called Pascal Blais Productions.
When those efforts failed to pan out, they found a potential
collaboration with the then Soviet animation company,
Soyuzmultfilm. This is the company that produced The Snow Queen
and the animated Shakespeare series currently airing on HBO. The
two groups attempted to realize the project during the period
spanning 1989 to 1991 – a very difficult period given the
historical events that occurred in Russia during those years.
Due to in part to the impact of political and financial
developments, the collaboration was abandoned. A number of
artistic and technical differences inherent in the joint-venture
nature of the project and arising from the cultural differences
between Starwatcher’s “western” approach and the Russian style
and techniques of Soyuzmultfilm contributed to its ultimate
demise.
Following the collapse of the co-venture with the Russians,
Starwatcher flirted briefly with Animedia, a group of former Don
Bluth Animation employees in Ireland, but nothing came of those
discussions and Animedia ultimately declared bankruptcy. By this
time the diligent efforts of producer Philippe Rivier had
provided a foreign pre-sales distribution arrangement for The
Airtight Garage, but there was still no US distribution deal and
this element is crucial to full financing of the film project.
Finally, in 1992, Rivier also negotiated an association with
Akira Kurosawa Enterprises that began to open new doors. In fact,
the idea of working with Japanese animators seems ideal for this
particular story. Here was an opportunity to combine the best of
anime – the special effects and backgrounds – with a Western
approach to storyline and characters. The approach to the project
would be to have all pre-production, the final storyboard, the
“model pack” (defining the character designs, props and
backgrounds), and the layout prepared by Western artists under
the supervision of Moebius and his assistants. At that point, the
production would move to Japan for the completion of the film. A
verbal agreement was recently reached with the director of Akira,
Katsuhiro Otomo to co-direct The Airtight Garage with Moebius.
At this point things are looking up for both the producers
and for lovers of anime and animation. The potential for a great
film production is certainly in place and we can only hope that
nothing will disturb the synergy that has been lovingly crafted
with perseverance. If you are interested in knowing more about
the original story, Marvel has recently re-released The Airtight
Garage as a four comic-book mini-series and it should be
available at your local comic store.

Please do not cross-post or publish elsewhere without permission.
Greg Barr

==========================
animation/long.messages #157, from elfhive, 4795 chars, Fri Dec 17 20:46:19 1993
————————–
TITLE: KATSUCON ICHI
Katsu Con Ichi
The First (announced) East Coast
Anime Convention
February 17 – 19, 1995

at the
Hoilday Inn Executice Center
Virginia Beach, Virginia

Confirmed Guests

_Johji Manabe_ – Artist, writer and creator of,
– Outlanders (Manga and Anime OAV)
– Caravan Kidd (Published in Us by Dark Horse Comics)
– Capricorn (One shot Manga story and OAV)

_Scott Frazier_ – First American to work and teach in a Japanese
Animation School
– First American to work production and be a
directors assistant on a film.
– Founder and Chief Executive of Tao Corporation LTD.
(Tao Studios)

_John & Jason Waltrip_ – Artist on Enternity Comics’
– Robotech II: The Sentinals
– Robotech Genisis
– Cybernights
– Metal Bikini
– Amazon Gozangas

_Danny Fahs_ – Artist for Antartic Press’
– Stellar Losers
– Zetraman Revival”
– Girls of NHS, NHS Yearbook and NHS Swimsuit Issue

_C. Sue Shambaugh_ – Renound Fan Translaor
– Translator for AnimEigo

(other guests to be announced)

Katsu Con is hoping to become the East Coast Regional Anime Convention
for the United States. We’re entering our first event with alot of optimism!
We hope to include events such as:

Panels
Workshops
Dealers Room
Variety Show
Amateur Film Fest
Art Show
Modeling Contest
A Fri and Sat Dance
Costume Show
Modeling Contest
An anime based Game Show
and (of course) LOTS of Anime!!!

_Memberships_ _Hotel room rates_
$22 until June 30, 1994 $59 per night, per room.
$26 until Dec. 31, 1994 (Make sure to mention Katsucon when
$30 at the door. making your room reservations)

_Exhibitors Tables_
$75 per table till the con date.
$100 at the Con.
(1st & 2nd tables incluude one membership each. 4 table limit)

_Hoetl Information_
Holiday Inn Executive Center
5655 Greenwich Road
Virginia Beach, Virginia 23462
(804) 499-4400
1-800-HOLIDAY

***NOTE*** The hotel cannot take reservations unitl one from the date of
Katsucon.

The hotel is centrally located in the Tidewater area of Virginia which includes
Newport News, Norfolk, Hampton and Virginia Beach.

From I-64 East, take Exit 264-B (Newtown Road) then the South Newtown Road
exit. At the light go straight onto Greenwich Road. The Hotel is located on
the right. Free parking for registered hotel guests on the premises for cars
and busses. The hotels complementary shuttle handles arrivals and departures
from Norfolk International Airport.

The Katsu Con staff invites everyone to come and join us for a weekend
of Ani-mania. to register and receive more information on Katsu Con Ichi,
fill out the questionaire below and mail it to:

Katsu Productions
PO Box 11582
Blacksburg, Virginia 24062-1582

Internet Mail: katsu-con@polaris.async.vt.edu

BBS: SkyNET BBS (703) 552-3308 (operational Aug. 1993)

MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO: Katsu Productions
(No Cash PLEASE)
+——————————————————+
| Name:______________________________________________ |
| |
| Address:___________________________________________ |
| |
|City:______________State:_____Zip:__________Age:_____ |
| |
| 1. Are you a member of any Anime/Manga clubs? |
| If Yes, which(please use full names)? |
| |
| 2. Are you a student? |
| |
| 3. Would you interested in volunteering at the Con? |
| If so, in what capacity? |
| |
| 4. Have you attended other Anime related conventions?|
| |
| 5. Given that God is infinite, and that the universe |
| is also infinite, would you like a toasted tea |
| cake? |
| |
+——————————————————+

==========================
animation/long.messages #158, from switch, 9940 chars, Mon Dec 27 17:10:56 1993
————————–
The following are some animation-related excerpts from FineArt Forum #12,
an online magazine. At the end is information for subscribing to FAF, if
you’re interested.

_________________________________________________________________
From: Susanna Koskinen
Subject: Re: ISEA Online

Beginning 1st January 1994 there will be an online discussion
forum for topics of ISEA’94 – The 5th International Symposium on
Electronic Art. It is a lively forum for discussion prior to the
artistic event in Helsinki, Finland in August. The online
conference can be reached from throughout the world, wherever
there is an access to InterNet. It will contain all the information
about ISEA’94, an ongoing discussion with a hypertext interface
and possibility to view audio and image information.

ISEA ONLINE is based on the World Wide Web hypermedia service
which can be viewed with a program called Mosaic. It is available
for Unix, Windows and Mac by anonymous ftp from:

FTP.NCSA.UIUC.EDU

You can use programs like FTP (or Fetch for Macintosh) to retrieve
the files from NCSA.

If none of these suits you, you can mail to

isea-forum-request@uiah.fi

for information about ISEA. That way you will receive the updates
regularly, and your name and address will be added to the
isea-forum discussion list.

A mailserver may also come online later in case there’s need for
email access to ISEA archives. If you haven’t contacted ISEA’94
before and would like to be updated, please request for information
at isea-info-request@uiah.fi.

The Mosaic connection (or URL) for ISEA ONLINE is:

http://www.uiah.fi/isea

These above addresses will start working on January 1st 1994

Hope to see you soon in ISEA ONLINE!

ISEA’94
5th International Symposium on Electronic Art
August 23-28,1994 – Helsinki

Coordinator
Ms. Susanna Koskinen
UIAH / Media Lab
Hameentie 135 C
FIN – 00560 Helsinki
Finland
tel. +358-0-7563 601
fax +358-0-7563 602
E-mail: isea@uiah.fi

_________________________________________________________________
From: “Roland Yeo”
Subject: IEEE TENCON ’94 – Call for Papers

IEEE Region 10’s 9th Annual International Conference)
22 – 26 August 1994, SINGAPORE
Special Session On
COMPUTER GRAPHICS & APPLICATIONS

This one-day special session, organized by the Center for Graphics
and Imaging Technology, Nanyang Technological University, will
provide a forum for the presentation and exchange of current work
on all areas of computer graphics technology and its applications.

Details
Dr. Murali Damodaran
Center for Graphics and Imaging Technology
Nanyang Technological University
Nanyang Avenue, SINGAPORE 2263
Tel: (65)-799-5599, Fax: (65)-792-4117
E-mail: mmurali@ntu.ac.sg

_________________________________________________________________
From: Mike Gigante
Subject: CG International ’94

Insight Through Computer Graphics
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
Melbourne, Australia, June 27 – July 1

Details
CGI ’94 Secretariat
RMIT Advanced Computer Graphics Center
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
GPO Box 2476V
Melbourne, Victoria, 3001
Australia

Tel: (+61 3) 282 2462 or (+61 3) 459 4752
Fax: (+61 3) 282 2490
Email: cgi94@godzilla.cgl.rmit.oz.au

_________________________________________________________________
From: PRISMA.D@AppleLink.Apple.COM (PRISMA HgmbH,F.Biernat,DE,IVC)
Subject: world Media interactive – call for entries

In January 1994,”worldmedia(c)”, the international art magazine
for electronic media, will be published on interactive CD-ROM as
part of the digital world edition.

Besides the actual electronic media-magazine world Media interactive
there will be also the world media Art Gallery on the CD to present
international new media artists and their projects, animations,
pictures and interactive documentation as independent applications.
The concept and intention of the worldMedia Art Gallery is to build
up an independent platform for any kind of art work made with
computers.

All artists and creative directors of new media are invited to
appear in the worldmedia Art gallery on CD. Anybody who may be
interested in presenting his work or parts of it, documents, etc.
to a larger audience should send their work or should contact
the “worldMedia interactive” in Berlin.
deadline of advance notice: 22.12.93!!

Details:
worldMedia interactive
Redaktion Berlin
Gerichtstrasse 23, 5.H.
13 347 Berlin
Fax: 030 / 465 14 80
applelink: DIGITALWORLD

contact USA:
worldMediainteractive, USA
Seth J. Goldstein
131 Varick Street # 902
New York, New York 10013
Fax (212) 627 0129
applelink: IMAP
AppleLink: Paul.Kaiser

_________________________________________________________________
From: “Roger F. Malina”
Subject: Molecular Graphics Art Show – Call for entries

Original works with a molecular theme are invited in a broad
range of formats – computer generated or hand drawn formats,
2 or 3D, film or video. Accepted Entries will be displayed
at the Molecular Graphics Art Show at the 1994 Meeting of the
Molecular Graphis Society and documented in a special issue of the
Journal of Molecular Graphics. Contact David Goodsell, Molecular
Biology Institute, Univ of Calif, Los Angeles, Ca 90024
Fax 1-310-825-0982, email goodsell@uclaue.mbi.ucla.edu

_________________________________________________________________
From: John Sappington
Subject: baseinfo

bASE.ARTS is a digital resource and facility providing artists
access to technology and alternative methods of exposure. Our
intentions are to further the relationship among contemporary
artists, new technologies and their audiences establishing a base
for artistic collaboration.

We accept submissions for work that is originally photography,
video, text or computer based.

Currently we are working towards the production of a series of solo
exhibitions to be delivered on diskette. (cross platform). We accept
slides, video tape (vhs,super vhs, hi-8, 8) text or digital sketches
(mac or ibm compat). Please include; resume, SASE, support materials
with your submission.

bASE.ARTS
P.O.Box 78154
San Francisco, CA. 94107
Voice 415-821-4989
Fax 415-821-4119
base@well.sf.ca.us
base.arts@AppleLink.Apple.com
71742.2615@Compuserve.com

_________________________________________________________________
From: gsingh@iss.nus.sg (Gurminder Singh)
Subject: CFP: VRST – Virtual Reality Software & Technology

V R S T ‘ 9 4
August 23-26, 1994, Singapore

C A L L F O R P A R T I C I P A T I O N
Papers, Panels and Tutorials due February 7, 1994
Demos due: February 28, 1994
The Conference on Virtual Reality Software and Technology,
presents a high-quality forum for innovative virtual reality
research and development. Papers, panels, tutorials and
demos are sought on a wide range of topics in virtual reality.

Papers in hardcopy form must be received no later than
February 7, 1994 by:

Gurminder Singh
Institute of Systems Science
National University of Singapore
Heng Mui Keng Terrace
Kent Ridge
Singapore 0511
REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE

gsingh@iss.nus.sg
+65 772-3651
+65 774-4998 (fax)

_________________________________________________________________
How to use FineArt_Online :

at the InterNet prompt you type
ftp ra.msstate.edu
when is asks for your Name you type –
anonymous
then it asks for your password and you type your Email address
note that this may not echo on your screen. If you type it OK
then you should see a banner than ends:
Guest login OK, access restrictions apply.

You can use Unix commands like ls (list) or cd (change directory)
to navigate around. Remember that cd .. (cd followed by two
periods) will take you back to the parent directory.

First you need to get to FineArt_Online – you type:
cd pub/archives/fineart_online
You can retrieve files by typing:
get
If you get a message:
not a plain file
– it means you have probably asked for a directory. cd to that
directory then ls its contents and try again.

FineArt_Online has three subdirectories: Current_Events;
Backissues and; Online_Directory. The current issue is usually
at this level also as FAFvnn where v=volume and nn=number (with
a leading 0 if necessary). ie. FAF710 is v. 7 no. 10. This same
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_________________________________________________________________
Executive Editor: Paul Brown Associate Editor: Hudson Oliver
Online Database Moderator: Reed Altemus

ASTN President: Annick Bureaud
ASTN 57 Rue Falguiere, Paris, France

ASTN Advisory Board Chair: Roger Malina, Leonardo-ISAST

Correspondents:
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_________________________________________________________________
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_________________________________________________________________

==========================
animation/long.messages #159, from elfhive, 2687 chars, Tue Jan 25 00:43:16 1994
————————–
TITLE: LIST OF JAPANESE ANIMATION RELEASED IN US

as of April 1994 announcements

STREAMLINE PICTURES

Films

Akira
Fist of the North Star
Vampire Hunter D
Castle of Cagliostro
Twilight of the Cockroaches
Lensman
Windaria
Robot Carnival
The Professional
Silent Mobius/Neo Tokyo
Wicked City

OAV

Dirty Pair “Affair on Nolandia”
Zillion “Burning Night”
Robotech II: “The Sentinels”

Mini-Series

Robotech: Macross
Robotech: Southern Cross
Robotech: Mospeada
3×3 Eyes
Doomed Megalopolis
Crying Freeman

TV Series

Nadia
Zillion
Tales of the Wolf
Speed Racer (3 parts)

ANIMEIGO

Films

Kimagure Orange Road Movie
Urusei Yatsura #1 “Only You”
Urusei Yatsura #2 “Beautiful Dreamer”
Urusei Yatsura #3 “Remember My Love”
Urusei Yatsura #4 “Lum …”
Urusei Yatsura #5 “Final …”
Urusei Yatsura #6 “Always …”
Arcadia of my Youth

OAV

Madox-01
Riding Bean
Urusei Yatsura (6 parts so far)
Genesis Survivor Gaiarth: (3 parts so far)
Otako No Video (2 parts)
Ten Little Gall Force/Scramble Wars
The Dagger of Kamui
Shonan Bakusozuku
Oh! My Goddess (3 parts so far)

Mini-Series

Bubblegum Crisis (8 parts)
Bubblegum Crash (3 parts)
Vampire Princess Miyu (4 parts)
AD Police Files (3 parts)
Kimagure Orange Road (4 parts)

TV Series

Urusei Yatsura (14 so far)

US RENDITIONS\L.A. HERO

Film

Appleseed
Black Magic M-66

OAV

Kabuto

Mini Series

Gunbuster (6 parts)
Dangaio (3 parts)
Iczer One (3 parts)
Macross II (4 parts)
The Guyver (10 parts)
Orguss (17 parts)
Giant Robo (1 part)
Devilman (2 parts)

US MANGA CORPS

Film

Project A-ko
Project A-ko 2: Plot of the Daitokuji Financial Group
Project A-ko 3: Cinderella Rhapsody
Project A-ko 4: Final
Crystal Triangle
Gall Force: Eternal Story
Gall Force 2: Destruction
Venus Wars
They Were 11
Odin: Photon Space Sailor Starlight
Harmagedon
Urotsukidoji I: Legend of the Overfiend
Urotsukidoji II: Legend of the Demon Womb
Demon City Shinjuku

OAV

MD Geist
The Humanoid
Dog Soldier
Explorer Woman Ray (2 parts)
Wanna Be’s
Roots Search
Rumik World: Fire Tripper
Rumik World: Mermaid Forest
Rumik World: Laughing Target
Rumik World: Maris the Chojo
Area 88 (3 parts)
The Ultimate Teacher
The Guyver – Out of Control
Outlanders
RG Veda (2 parts)
Heroic Legend of Arislan (2 parts)
Burn Up!
U-Jin Brand
Genocyber: Birth of Genocyber
Hades Project Zeorymer (2 parts)

Mini-Series

Dominion Tank Police (4 parts)

A.D. VISION

OAV

Devil Hunter Yohko
Sol Bianca
The Girl from Phantasia

VIZ VIDEO

Film

Ranma 1/2: Big Trouble in Nekronron China

TV Series

Ranma 1/2 (8 parts)

OVA

Ranma 1/2: Desperately Seeking Shampoo
Mermaid’s Scar

PIONEER

Tenchi Muyo (1 part)

OTHER

Astroboy (24 parts)
Tobor the 8th Man
Bolar Wars (Starblazers)

==========================
animation/long.messages #160, from hmccracken, 5169 chars, Thu Mar 31 21:48:03 1994
————————–
TITLE: A review
The Music of Disney: A Legacy in Song
(Walt Disney Records)

Reviewed by Harry McCracken

Suppose for a moment that you’ve been given the job of assembling
a three-CD tribute to Disney music. The goal is unquestionably
laudable, but what’s the best way to accomplish it? Do you fill
the discs with what you consider to be the finest music ever
associated with the Disney name — even if most of it appeared in
a small cluster of relatively early animation films? Or is it more
important to try to cover everything, from Steamboat Willie up until
yesterday’s episode of Bonkers? Another dilemma: is it crucial that
every famous Disney song be included, or would it be more productive
to include lots of worthwhile music that’s not so well known, the
better that listeners can discover gems they haven’t heard before?

Your answers to these tough questions are probably different than
mine, and it’s likely that neither of us would address these issues
in exactly the same way that the producers of The Music of Disney:
A Legacy in Song did. Anyone interested enough in Disney to buy the
set (or receive it as a present, as I did) will enjoy at least some
of the seventy-eight tracks it includes. But after having soaked it
all in, I’m not sure if I’m more or less convinced that Disney music
— taken as a whole — is something deserving of such a lavish,
expensive tribute.

Part of the problem lies in the discs’ organization. Disc one covers
Disney theatrical animation from Steamboat Willie (1928) through The
Sword in the Stone (1963). Disc two picks up with Mary Poppins (1964)
and continues through Beauty and the Beast (1991). The final disc
then goes back and covers a hodgepodge of different areas: live-action
theatrical films, TV animation, theme-park music, and more.

In other words, the first thirty-five years of Disney theatrical cartoon
music are crammed onto one-third of the available space. Indeed, by the
time the first five tracks of the first disc are over, we’ve heard all
we’re going to hear of the first decade of Disney music.

For me, this is a huge disappointment; to my ears, the first twelve years
or so of Disney theatrical animation include the vast majority of the
studio’s greatest music — say, 75% or so. And much of that 75% came in
the wonderful scores of the Silly Symphony shorts, of which we get exactly
one selection in this set: the oft-heard music from The Three Little Pigs.

Especially on the first disc, a lot of my quibbles are highly personal
ones. I would have gladly done with only one of Bambi’s bland songs rather
than two, in order to squeeze in more of Dumbo’s marvelous songs. Bambi
fanatics would likely feel otherwise. Similarly, I’d have chosen “Minnie’s
Yoo Hoo,” Mickey’s early theme song, instead of the music from Steamboat
Willie. Heck, I’d have included both.

By the time we get to the start of Disc two, The Music of Disney has
already begun to turn into The Music of Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman,
a situation that continues for the rest of the set, except for a brief
respite when it covers the theatrical cartoons of the late 1970s onward.
Fans of the Bros. Sherman may be pleased, but I began to overdose after
three or four songs.

There’s no doubt that any overview of Disney music is going to include a
lot of the Shermans’ work, and some of it stands up well, like the Mary
Poppins and Jungle Book songs. But do we have to hear Annette Funnicello
singing not one but two Sherman-written themes from live-action films
(The Parent Trap and The Money’s Uncle)? And Maurice Chevalier and Hayley
Mills harmonizing on a song from In Search of the Castaways? And two
songs from The Aristocats? Rather than being a selection of their best
compositions, this provides compelling evidence that the brothers cranked
out many very superficial tunes and began to repeat themselves very early on.

Besides the Sherman stuff, Disc three covers many other bases, like the
DuckTales and TaleSpin themes, music from The Mickey Mouse Club (of which
I’d like to have heard more), and theme-park material ranging from the
well-known Pirates of the Caribbean theme to obscure Epcot music. I can’t
imagine that the compilers of the set, or anyone else, feels that most of
this is excellent music; its appeal will be based almost entirely on
whether or not it stirs up any nostalgic feelings for any
particular listener.

Because the third disc is devoted to such odds and ends, the music from
recent Disney animated features — the Ashman/Menken scores for The
Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast — is on disc two, where it’s easy
to gloss over. (The set was apparently produced before Aladdin’s release.)
That’s too bad; these pieces (and the hummable and witty “Perfect Isn’t
Easy,” from Oliver & Company) are the best Disney music in many decades,
and the set would make a much stronger overall impression if they were the
final cuts.

The Music of Disney also includes a slick and reasonably informative
sixty-page booklet, with terrific illustrations. Despite the complaints I
have about the set — the biggest by far being the lack of Silly Symphony
scores — I’m glad I have it.

==========================
animation/long.messages #161, from hmccracken, 210 chars, Tue Sep 27 16:55:32 1994
————————–
TITLE: The next message…
is the text of a column I’ve written for an upcoming issue of _Animato_
magazine. My “Curiosity Shop” column is on obscure, offbeat animation
that’s generally not available on video.

==========================
animation/long.messages #162, from hmccracken, 7258 chars, Tue Sep 27 17:03:32 1994
————————–
CURIOSITY SHOP
Column #2

THE LOST BOY: REDISCOVERING SCRAPPY

By Harry McCracken

In 1980, Leonard Maltin called the Van Beuren Studio the least-known of
the animation studios of the 1930s — but today that dubious honor more
rightly belongs to the Columbia studio. After all, in the years since Maltins
comment, the Van Beuren films have gone from near-total obscurity to being
available nearly everywhere for a few dollars, thanks to the pervasive public-
domain cartoon tapes that also feature formerly-forgotten cartoons from
Fleischer, Famous Studios, and other companies.

You wont find Columbia cartoons on those $2.98 tapes — or almost
anywhere else, for that matter. The studio has apparently diligently renewed
the copyrights on its animated films, preventing them from lapsing into the
public domain. But aside from one botched tape of recolored Lil Abner
cartoons, the Columbia library has received no exposure on videotape or
modern-era television.

That makes Scrappy, the small boy who appeared in more than 75 Columbia
animated shorts from 1931 through 1941, one of the most forgotten major
cartoon characters of the 1930s, along with his fellow Columbia star Krazy
Kat. Produced by Charles Mintz in California, the Scrappy cartoons are
amusing, offbeat, and thoroughly worthy of rediscovery.

Dick Huemer, who was responsible for the early Scrappy cartoons along with
Sid Marcus and Art Davis, has described the informal process by which
these films were produced: each of the three artists would be completely
responsible for one-third of the cartoon, devising gags and animating with
without consulting much with the other two. Scrappy was a little kid with an
oversized head, but otherwise never seemed to look — or sound — quite the
same from scene to scene or cartoon to cartoon.

The disorganized approach extended to the cartoons cast of characters. The
primary supporting player was a smaller boy, apparently Scrappys younger
brother; Maltins Of Mice and Magic says he was known alternately as
Oopie or Vonsey, but in the only cartoon Ive seen in which he was identified
on-screen, it was as Poopsie. Scrappy had a dog — a terrier named Yippy —
but in some cartoons he unaccountably owns a different canine companion.
The cast was rounded out by Margie, a little girl whose appears in relatively
few shorts.

Scrappy was superficially one of the legion of Mickey Mouse knockoffs that
populated animation in the 1930s, but hes a much more original character
than Warners Bosko or Columbias own Krazy Kat (who owed far more to
Disney than Herriman). Unlike the incessantly cheery Mickey wannabees,
Scrappy is an often sour-tempered fellow with a short fuse. Nominally a little
boy, he also appears in such adult occupations as pet store owner, South Pole
explorer, or Royal Canadian Mountie as each cartoon requires.

He regards Oopie — a much more likable character than his older brother —
as a major annoyance, telling him to shut up and/or spanking him in
countless scenes. (He even slaps him around in Scrappys Boy Scouts
(1936), an otherwise wholesome film apparently produced in conjunction
with the Boy Scouts of America.) In Techno-Racket (1933), Scrappy is a
farmer who fires Oopie and all the animals on his farm from their jobs with
great relish, in order to replace them with robots!

Its unfair to Scrappy to single him out for his unsympathetic behavior,
though. In his world, almost everyone seems to take a certain glee in wanton
violence, including animals. In The Pet Shop (1932), for instance, some
monkeys string up Oopie from the ceiling with a length of rope, so that two
fish may play tic-tac-toe on his scalp. The winner of each game gets to
whack Oopie on the backside with a two-by-four.

Almost without exception, adults in Scrappy cartoons are lazy, untrustworthy
types, like the jury members in The Dog Snatcher (1931) who wake up long
enough to railroad Yippy into the dog pound, then fall asleep again. (That
cartoons most memorable moment, however comes when Scrappy rescues
his pal by yanking the skin off of a guard dog and donning it as a disguise!)

The apotheosis of the Scrappy style has to be The Flop House (1932), in
which our enterprising hero runs a thriving business by providing 25-cent
temporary bedding for down-on-their-luck dogs, goats, and kangaroos, not to
mention his own kid brother. As usual, several gags involve senseless
destruction: When Oopie gargles before going to bed, he casually smashes a
window merely so he can spit his used mouthwash through it. The climactic
chase scene comes when Oopie discovers his bed is full of bedbugs (whom
are lovingly and repulsively animated), which leads to a riot in which the
vagrant animals storm out of the flop house.

Seen today, the Scrappy cartoons can be a lot of fun, but as Maltin points out
in Of Mice and Magic, the structure most of these shorts is so hap-hazard
that they dont make a lasting impression. In many cases, its ambitious
artwork rather than gags that stick in the mind: Sassy Cats (1933) opens
with a striking sequence — in which a cat carouses over a series of fences —
that uses three-dimensional, moving backgrounds, a rarity in animation until
Disney began accomplishing similar effects with computers in the 1980s.
Even more memorably, Scrappys Art Gallery (1934) has a nifty scene in
which Oopie frolics through slickly animated versions of famous paintings.

Like most of the significant cartoon stars of the early and mid-1930s,
Scrappy really wasnt destined to outlive the decade. By 1936, Columbias
cartoons began to take on more and more of a Warner Bros.-like screwball
flavor, a style of humor that Scrappy was ill-suited to tackle. He became a
more placid, somewhat more realistic little boy, and the cartoons lost their
weird charm and slightly unnerving edge.

Like Porky Pig, who went through an similar evolution, Scrappy began
hosting spot-gag cartoons, such as Scrappys News Flashes (1937).
Eventually, in films including A Worms Eye View and The Millionaire
Hobo (both 1939), he became a minor character in his own cartoons. (The
title character in the latter film is a vagabond entertainingly voiced by Mel
Blanc, who contributed to the soundtracks of many Columbia shorts of the
period; Scrappy has a bit part as a messenger boy.)

A few months after Scrappy made his final appearance in The Little Theatre
(1941), Frank Tashlin came to Columbia and made The Fox and the Grapes,
an excellent, Warner-style cartoon that introduced the Fox and the Crow, the
studios major characters of the 1940s. Unfortunately, the Fox and the Crow
have faded as completely from public view as Scrappy has. Theyd be a
perfect subject for a future Curiosity Shop column — except Ive only seen a
handful of them myself.

***

When not writing about obscure cartoons in Curiosity Shop, former Animato
editor Harry McCracken covers computers and multimedia for magazines
including PC World, Multimedia World, and Digital Video. Know of a
forgotten masterpiece he should be aware of? Write him c/o Animato.
Special thanks to Kip Williams for research assistance with this installment.

==========================
animation/long.messages #163, from hmccracken, 119 chars, Tue Sep 27 17:04:12 1994
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: I’m not sure why…
but all the apostrophes disappeared from the text in the previous
message. Sorry!
— Harry

==========================
animation/long.messages #164, from peabo, 143 chars, Tue Sep 27 17:17:57 1994
This is a comment to message 163.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
There are additional comments to message 163.
————————–
Were you using typographical apostrophes? Those would have the high bit set
and might disappear (or not) depending on how you connect.

peter

==========================
animation/long.messages #165, from hmccracken, 46 chars, Thu Sep 29 23:33:02 1994
This is a comment to message 164.
————————–
That’s probably my problem. Thanks!
— Harry

==========================
animation/long.messages #166, from dgh, 150 chars, Mon Oct 3 02:21:43 1994
This is a comment to message 163.
————————–
They showed up as AE dipthongs (yes, that’s really a word) on my OS/2 PC,
which means the decimal value of the character was 146.
,
|) /\ \/ | +)

==========================
animation/long.messages #167, from switch, 1233 chars, Fri Oct 7 23:44:45 1994
————————–
TITLE: Introduction
In early 1988, I first heard about the Ottawa International
Animation Festival. For a little over $120, you could spend a
week watching independent and commercial animation from around
the world; fans, animators, and production people from various
companies mingled in a more or less informal setting, mostly
revolving around the National Arts Centre (NAC). And there were
all kinds of parties. It was sort of a mix of a film festival, a
trade show, and a fan convention — and it was only two hours
away from home. I had to go.

Of course, I missed it entirely that year. I caught small
amounts of the next two festivals in ’90 and ’92, but I was
determined to somehow catch an entire festival, preferably before
the century ended.

This year, I succeeded. The Ottawa ’94 festival ran from
Wednesday, September 28 to Sunday, October 2, and I managed to
stay for almost the whole thing. And, being the appallingly
verbose person I am, I’ve decided to tell you all about it.

What follows will be more or less a play-by-play of what went on
from my point of view. Aside from certain highlighting points, I
won’t be doing one of my usual lists and mini-reviews of the
films I saw; that’ll come later.

Emru

==========================
animation/long.messages #168, from switch, 4818 chars, Fri Oct 7 23:45:08 1994
————————–
Normally, the festival names an honorary president. This year
they didn’t, instead dedicating Ottawa ’94 to the late Mike
Gribble, of Spike and Mike.

D A Y O N E

Wednesday started late, as companies set up their displays and
people came in to pick up their passes. At 6:30 the place was
crowded with people. Disney Feature Animation and SoftImage had
their booths already set up.

Well, maybe calling Disney’s display a “booth” is a bit of a
misnomer. Their setup was bigger than the rest and had its own
separate area. They had images from _The Lion King_ which I
mostly skipped over; I was more interested in the pre-production
artwork from their projects in various stages of development.
From the Florida and California studios, there was _Fantasia
Continued_, _Pocahontas_, _Hunchback of Notre Dame_, and _Legend
of Fa Mulan_. The _Fantasia Continued_ display contained
beautiful color images of glaciers, and whales both underwater
and flying through the clouds. _Legend of Fa Mulan_ is based on
a Chinese folk tale, and the concept sketches looked delicious.
The representative I spoke with said that they’re trying to make
_Fa Mulan_ the first Disney feature completely done at the
Florida studio. He confirmed that they’re still aiming for one
feature a year, but they’re willing to occasionally let that
slide if a movie needs more work.

A video monitor ran line tests of _The Goofy Movie_ all through
the festival; I think they said that was being animated at the
Paris studio.

The rest of the booth had work and promotional shots from
_Frankenstein_, _The Spookiest Town on Earth_, _Tarzan_, _Weird
Henry Berg_, and _Wolves_. _Wolves_ is mostly set in a medieval
forest; a royal hunting dig gets lost, and after severe exposure
and starvation, is saved and cared for by wolves. Living among
them, he realizes that these wolves are also caring creatures
with families, and he falls in love with one of them. Of course,
he eventually has to go back. _Weird Henry Berg_ is about a
nerdy, unpopular kid who is overshadowed by his popular older
brother — until a baby dragon is dropped into his lap.

This stuff is apparently slated for the Canadian studio. Yes,
Canadian studio. They’re still figuring out where it’s going to
be, but there’s a reasonable chance it’ll be in Vancouver.
Talking to Linda Hume, I got the impression that the Canadian
studio will be where they would work on some of the more
“experimental” films. Films without songs, films with slighly
non-Disneyesque plots. Some, she said, might be released under
Touchstone.

SoftImage was showing their CreativeToonz software, but I didn’t
see that right away as I ran into friends from my first year in
animation at Concordia. I also bumped into Chris Hinton and
Wendy Tilby (their films, _Blackfly_ and _Strings_ respectively,
were nominated for Academy Awards two years ago). Then at 7:00
we all filed in for the first Competition screenings.

An explanation is in order: a godawful number of short films are
submitted to the festival (this year, about 850), and about a
hundred of them are selected by a selection committee of four
people from within the animation industry. These were split up
among six Competition Programme screenings, and were up for
various awards and prizes. During these screenings, if the
director is present in the audience, they are announced and
spotlighted.

After the screening, I ran into Jerry Beck (co-author of _Looney
Tunes and Merrie Melodies_, co-founder of Streamline Pictures,
and other stuff too numerous to list), and I reintroduced myself
(I’d only met him in person once before; we’ve interacted many
times in the past, but usually via phone or modem, and for
several different things like my magazine or a BIX animation
conference live chat). He jokingly handed me a card, which I
didn’t really look at as I filed it away; when I looked at it a
little later, I discovered that he’s now VP of feature animation
at Nickelodeon.

Then it was off to the Blue Cactus for the opening party. This
was thrown by Cinar Animation, who are based in Montreal.
Several friends who work at Cinar were there, and it was good to
see them again. Free food and drink abounded, and everyone
mingled. I got to chat with Abby Terkuhle (VP of Creative and
On-Air Promotions at MTV, and executive producer of _Liquid
Television_) again; he said that _LTV_ itself is in limbo, but
MTV is producing more animated work.

I talked to some more friends, then chatted briefly with Gabor
Csupo (of Klasky-Csupo) and Linda Simensky, Director of Animation
for Nickelodeon (she was also part of the aforementioned selection
committee.)

I saw Paul Driessen (_The Killing of an Egg_) from a distance,
but didn’t get a chance to talk to him throughout the festival.
Drat.

==========================
animation/long.messages #169, from switch, 3384 chars, Sun Oct 9 01:23:32 1994
————————–
TITLE: Ottawa ’94 – Day 2

D A Y T W O

My day started off with an African animation retrospective at the
NAC (all the retrospectives were screened at the NAC.) Bruno
Edera, the person who organized the retrospective, gave a short
introduction in halting English and fluent French, where he said
that this wasn’t so much a retrospective as a glimpse of the body
of work coming from Africa, or Africans abroad. After the
screenings, booklets were available that contained more detailed
information about African animation schools, directors, and
films.

Then it was off to a panel on woman animators. The first half
hour was mostly talking about life as an independent animator in
general — little if any gender issues. I stepped out to drop
off some _fps_ fliers and talk to a few people, then came back in
towards the end (which, according to my friend who stayed, is
just when it got interesting.)

A bit later, it was off to an Art Mode gallery to see a
display of work from woman animators from around the world.
There was work from Joyce Borenstein, Faith Hubley, Karen Aqua,
Candy Kugel, Lynn Smith, and many more. A wide and interesting
variety of styles, and some of it was for sale. I couldn’t
afford anything except the free wine and hors d’oeuvres.

After dinner, it was off to the NAC. More booths had been set
up, and I talked to several people while waiting for the second
competition screening.

Over at the Amblimation booth: Andrew Lloyd Webber’s _Cats_
should be due in early ’95, about the same time as they start
production on _Bolto_. _Bolto_ is a feature based on a true
story about some crisis in 1950’s Nome, when the only way to get
help or supplies was by dog sled — only the movie is from the
perspective of the dogs. Hey, get this — _Bolto_ will have =no
songs=. Ron Rocha, the person I spoke to, didn’t figure they’ll
be doing many musicals. Feeling bold, I asked about animated
features in other genres, and he said that Spielberg is
interested in doing an animated action movie.

SoftImage’s Creative Toonz 2-D animation software is being used
by Amblimation for their features. Or rather, Creative Toonz is
the base, and they’ll be modifying it for their needs. Toonz is
also being used for the production of _Asterix in America_,
currently being produced in Germany, due for North American
release early next year.

Then it was off to the screening. Highlight: probably due to
the various changes in formats and projectors during each
screening, there were frequent — but minor — boo-boos with
several films. During the first attempted screening of _The
Dangwoods_, the video had no accompanying sound, but the people
in the booth didn’t realize it. The audience spontaneously
started filling in the sound effects, screaming, crowing, and
making tooth-brushing noises where appropriate. We all had a
great time.

After the screening was Chez Ani, Late Night. Every festival has
one or two rooms set aside, designated for “Chez Ani” — a place
where people can get together to give presentations, hold panels,
have meetings, eat, drink, leave leaflets, advertise for work,
etc., in an informal setting. When Chez Ani isn’t being used for
a planned event, people can use it to show their latest work.
The Late Night Chez Ani had free snacks and cheap drinks, and
just allowed people to mingle.

Emru

==========================
animation/long.messages #170, from switch, 2644 chars, Sun Oct 9 16:16:49 1994
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
TITLE: Ottawa ’94 – Day 3
D A Y T H R E E

The first thing we caught was the Australian animation
retrospective in the morning. Then we scurried off to Warner
Feature Animation’s Animator’s Picnic. This was sort of a large
scale, outdoor Chez Ani. Double-decker buses carted us to the
picnic site, a lovely expanse of green on the river. There, a
tent awaited us with plenty of tables and delicious food and
drink. There was also a pumpkin-carving thingie (missed that),
and a bonfire for those who wanted to ward off the light chill or
just melt marshmallows.

This lasted for four hours, and people mingled, ate, threw
frisbees, hula-hooped, arranged to show portfolios, and took
photographs all over the place. I got to talk to Linda Simensky
and Gabor Csupo for a bit longer, as well as some folks from MTV,
Pacific Data Images, Universal Cartoon Studios, and ILM. Marv
Newland was there, but I didn’t get a chance to talk to him.
Double drat. Aside: International Rocketship’s Hallowe’en
special based on Gary Larson’s _The Far Side_ has been completed;
Klasky-Csupo is looking at doing feature projects (it seems
everyone is; this could an interesting couple of years.)

Linda, Gabor, Janna from PDI plus a few other people and myself
caught the last double-decker back, which was fun. After we
returned to the NAC, we scattered all over the place; I grabbed
forty winks, and then returned to the NAC for a retrospective of
Cinemascope Classics. This was hosted by Jerry Beck, who gave a
short explanation of Hollywood’s push for Cinemascope as a draw
against TV, and pointed out things to watch for. It was great
seeing _Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom_ again, especially with
such a nice clean print.

Oh, yes — Ellen Cockrill, Director of Development for
Hanna-Barbera, also gave a short introduction. I managed to
catch her after the screening (wasn’t hard — I found out to my
surprise that she was sitting right behind me) and asked her why
_Super Secret Secret Squirrel_, my favourite new Hanna-Barbera
show, didn’t return this season. She said it was one of those
decisions based on the letters they got in from viewers — people
liked the show and everything, but it was generally agreed that
it didn’t fit with _2 Stupid Dogs_. So the people who make such
decisions axed it. (Now, =I= would think that would be an
indicator to make more _Secret Squirrel_ episodes. But I must be
weird.)

Shortly after was the third competition screening, where they
finally showed _The Dangwoods_, which garnered thunderous
applause because the sound worked. Then everyone repaired to
Chez Ani.

Emru

==========================
animation/long.messages #171, from hmccracken, 56 chars, Sun Oct 9 16:29:09 1994
This is a comment to message 170.
There is/are comment(s) on this message.
————————–
What’s Universal Cartoon Studios up to, Emru?
— Harry

==========================
animation/long.messages #172, from switch, 293 chars, Mon Oct 10 12:07:12 1994
This is a comment to message 171.
————————–
Couldn’t say. There were several people with UCS jackets, and the two I
finally caught up with were two animators who had just finished working on
_Monster Force_. They told me a bit about the show, and their plans to
start a small independent studio; but it seems by notes were lost.

Emru

==========================
animation/long.messages #173, from switch, 2082 chars, Fri Oct 21 21:58:26 1994
————————–
TITLE: Ottawa – Day 4
D A Y F O U R

Saturday morning was the fourth competition programme, and one of
the most packed. More people brought kids than usual, so we got
to hear some great editorial gurgles when strange things happened
on the big screen.

From noon to 1:15 was SoftImage’s demonstration of CreativeToonz,
their answer to Disney/Pixar’s CAPS. Designed to run on any SGI
platform, it’s designed to be intuitive enough that animators
with minimal computer experience can get a lot of work done with
it.

After missing the Ernest Pintoff retrospective and catching the
next competition screening, we scurried over to the Capitol Hills
for Hanna-Barbera’s Open House. The first thing we noticed was
the free Pez; I got a Dino. Next, right in front of the table of
free tea, coffee, and snacks, was Ellen Cockrill and another
Hanna-Barbera staffer with a large-screen TV showing some clips
from the Hanna-Barbera Shorts project: a collection of 48
director-driven shorts created by new and veteran directors,
including John Kricfalusi, Ralph Bakshi, and Joe Barbera. Most
of the stuff by these guys elicited little in the way of reaction
from the audience… but then came _The Power Puff Girls_, by
someone whose name escapes me. In Hollywoodspeak, this is _Astro
Boy_ meets _Charlie’s Angels_ as grade school kids. Someone
knew and loved Tezuka’s style enough to amiably poke fun at him.
Brilliant work.

The next Special Programme focused on computer animation,
featuring people from SoftImage, ILM, Pacific Data Images and a
production studio whose name also escapes me. Mostly, they spent
ninety minutes demystifying different kinds of computer
animation. The most interesting, to me, was 24-year-old Kyle
Balda showing some of the work he did on _The Mask_ bit by bit
(ahem), illustrating the work involved in effects that whiz by
faster than you can blink.

After another competition screening, we hurried to the Upstairs
Club, where MTV and Funbag studios threw a very loud and very
funky party. My ears are still ringing.

Emru

==========================
animation/long.messages #174, from switch, 3270 chars, Sat Jan 28 23:15:28 1995
————————–
TITLE: Tic Tac Toon
A little over a month ago (December 15, to be exact), I and about
sixty other members of ASIFA-Canada were invited to a demonstration
of a new computer-based animation production system, name Tic Tac
Toon. I was planning to write a review of the system shortly after,
but work and _fps_ have kept me so busy I’m just getting to it now.

Tic Tac Toon currently runs on the DEC Alpha platform, though there
are plans to port it to SGI and Windows NT. The major distinction
between it and SoftImage’s Creative Toonz, Pixar/Disney’s CAPS, or
Cambridge’s Animo is that it’s based on vectors as opposed to
bitmaps. The folks there kept harping on that fact, which drove me a
bit crazy.

Using vectors is a good thing: programmed properly, they can
preserve the animator’s line fairly well; images can be expanded or
reduced at will without scaling artifacts; images take up far less
memory and disk space; certain functions are sped up. But there’s
one big drawback, at least to the ASIFA-Canada crowd: the use of
vectors limits you to cel-style animation, period. Aside from clever
use of gradients, that eliminates any kind of painterly effects,
photo manipulation, and any form of interaction with original film or
video images, outside of straight matte effects.

Aside from this feature/flaw, Tic Tac Toon seems to be a fairly well
thought out animation production system for the lone animator or the
production studio, though the $50,000 to $60,000 pricetag per
workstation/software setup might turn off most lone animators.

Tic Tac Toon can be used for as much or as little of the animation
process as you like, from pre-production (storyboards) straight
through to post-production (well, that’s not entirely true — the
cross-dissolve and fading functions are still in the planning stages,
and it was never made clear just how advanced the sound sync
functions were).

Like Creative Toonz, Tic Tac Toon is built for networking; the
director can restrict certain aspects of a production to certain
users, making sure the colourist doesn’t start messing around with
multiplane effects, and so on.

Some cool functions:

* The program has about a dozen mouth positions preprogrammed into
it, and it can extrapolate mouth movements from a soundtrack to
create guides for lip sync. This also automatically makes an index
for the exposure sheets. A very nice time-saver, and the mouth
position index can be customized.

* Animated objects can be attached to the camera, or vice versa, for
near first-person effects.

* Lines do not need to be closed for colouring; reference vectors
close the gaps. This frees up considerable time and gives a bit more
flexibility in colouring and aesthetic styles.

* The program multitasks quite well; you can set it to, say, colour
in someone’s hat red for 200 frames, and while it does that, you can
be working on something else. There’s less chance for error than on
a bitmap-based system, since it defines fill areas by the vectors
themselves.

At the time we saw the demonstration, the reps said that Tic Tac Toon
was being tested in the States, and had been used in the creation of
the opening for _Highlander: The Animated Series_ in France.

More details as I sift through the promo literature.

Emru

==========================
animation/long.messages #175, from hmccracken, 22006 chars, Sun Mar 12 21:12:23 1995
————————–
This document includes all of the columns from the March issue of the
monthly newsletter of the International Animated Film Society:
ASIFA-Hollywood, the “Inbetweener.” For more information on ASIFA or to
order back issues of the Inbetweener, contact Dave Koch at the ASIFA office
Tel. (818) 842-8330 or write: ASIFA-Hollywood, 725 S Victory Bl., Burbank,
CA 91502

The Inbetweener is edited by Stephen Worth and the contributors to this
issue include: Dave Koch, Milton Knight, Jim Korkis, David Ehrlich, Bill
Turner, Antran Manoogian, Frankie Kowalski, Kit Tomasco, Jere Guldin, Pat
Raine Webb, John Cawley and Ellen Harrington. The contents are copyrighted
1995 by ASIFA-Hollywood. Opinions expressed herein are those of the
individual contributors, and do not necessarily reflect those of
ASIFA-Hollywood.

We hope you enjoy this posting and will consider joining and supporting
ASIFA-Hollywood and its projects.
___________________________________________________________

THE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
By Antran Manoogian, President of ASIFA-Hollywood
___________________________________________________________

Although the 23rd Annual Annie Awards Ceremony is still many months away
from now, preparations for this prestigious event are already well
underway. The first major task, the selection of this year’s award
categories, has been completed. With the exception of the Annie Awards for
Animated Feature, TV Program, Creative Supervision, Voice Acting, the
Winsor McCay Award and the Certificates of Merit, the remaining honors are
either revised from last year’s competition or are completely new awards.

Here are the returning award categories that have been revised since last
year’s event: The Animated Television Commercial category has been retitled
the Animated Promotional Production Award, to include bumpers, titles,
interstitials, and promotional productions. The Animated Home Video Award
has been revised to exclude videos of previously released material. The
Animated CD-ROM Award has been re-named the Animated Interactive Production
Award, to include any interactive medium. The Individual Achievement Award
for Artistic Excellence has been retitled the Production Design Awardto
recognize individuals working in the areas of color, design, and layout.
The Individual Achievement Award for Story Contribution has now been split
into two categories: Writing and Storyboard.

The completely new Annie Award categories that are being introduced this
year are: Animated Short Subject Award, which will cover both theatrical
and television shorts; the Animation Award, which will honor achievement
specifically in the area of animation; and the Music Award, for both
featured and incidental music in an animated production. There will also be
two juried Annie Awards: Special Presentation of an Animated Production,
which will include such things as compilations and restorations; and the
Technical Achievement Award, which will recognize advancements in the craft
of animated filmmaking. Finally, the last new award which will be
introducing this year is the June Foray Award. This special Annie will be
given to an individual whose involvement in animation has made a positive
and significant impact on the industry and the art form as a whole.

I would like to thank everyone who provided suggestions for this years
award categories, and I would like to acknowledge the contributions of my
fellow Annie Awards Rules Committee members: Chris Craig, Harvey Deneroff,
and Bob Miller, who were largely responsible for determining this year’s
award categories.

JOHN HALAS: A REMEMBERANCE
By David Ehrlich, Vice President of ASIFA
___________________________________________________________

I first met John at the 1979 Annecy Animation Festival, it was the third
day of the festival and in my shyness, I had met very few of the animators
who all seemed to know each other. I was standing next to an animated
hologram I had brought to exhibit and an elderly man with a very thick
Hungarian accent came up to me and began asking questions about the
technique I had used. After a very long discussion, he left and soon
returned with others. Before long, we were all sitting on the terrace
drinking fine French wine and philosophizing. When I finally learned this
man’s name, I was overwhelmed that this giant of animation had taken the
time to meet me and bring me into the circle. Through the years, John and I
became good friends. He always encouraged my personal experimental work as
well as the international collaborations that I was involved in, and by
both personal example and tutelage, he was one of the people who passed on
to me a hope for what ASIFA could truly be. His greatest pride was his
successful effort, during the height of the Cold War, to bring together in
ASIFA, the American and Russian groups, to have them coordinate projects
and to have them drinking and laughing together.

Since I first met John in 1979, I’ve seen him encourage many other young
artists. In those early years of computer animation, when animators would
join together in disparaging the medium and booing the beginning efforts,
John did everything he could to support those around the world in
stretching the medium. I’ve never seen John so happy as when John Lasseter
won the first Academy Award for a computer-generated animated short. Even
after his strokes in the first few years, John remained a source of
unlimited energy even from his sickbed, organizing retrospectives,
continuing his manuscripts and his correspondence. It is hard to believe
that this man, his presence and the continual flow of his output, is gone.
I shall miss him greatly, but he has given all of us so much to take
forward with us.

THE ANIMATION PRESERVATION PROJECT REPORT
By Jere Guldin
___________________________________________________________

A couple of issues back, we reported on the possible discovery of a lost
Toby the Pup cartoon. Previously, only a fragment of a single entry in this
series, released by RKO during 1930-31, was known to exist. This newest
Toby cartoon to be found comes from a collection of silent and sound films
being repatriated to the United States from Australia, more about which can
be read in the article on animation preservation in the current issue of
Animato! (#31), which is on the newsstands now.

Only recently, “Circus Time,” the title of the Toby cartoon, arrived at
UCLA Film and Television Archive, which had elected to preserve the short
(along with numerous other subjects from Australia,) providing it turned
out to be what it was supposed to be, and the money could be raised to do
it. When taken out of its can and inspected, “Circus Time” did indeed prove
to be the film of the same name. Although relatively short, as cartoons go,
it appears to be mostly complete. The main titles are partially intact; and
although the end title is missing, the print concludes just as the picture
begins irising to a close.

Unfortunately, the condition of the film leaves something to be desired.
It’s what generally is regarded as a battered print: damage to the
perforations is heavy; and the splices, although not numerous, are shrunken
and buckled, and need to be remade. Most of these problems will be
invisible to an audience when a copy made off the preservation negative
generated from this print is screened. What will be noticeable though, is a
big chunk of missing footage during the credits, several feet in length, at
the dissolve between the first and second title cards. Since the titles
are, for the most part, complete, this wouldn’t be critical, except that
the music accompanying this portion would be lost. (Unfortunately, the
titles don’t exist on the other surviving fragment.) Amazingly, the
soundtrack remains intact at this section in a thin ribbon of film
containing sprocket holes and track, but from which the picture has been
shorn away completely. It may or may not be possible to salvage that
portion of sound, which certainly will be one of the challenges in
restoring the film.

Obviously, this little five-minute cartoon is incredibly rare, and, just as
obviously, it will take many hours of intensive labor to get it into a
condition from which it can be copied. It will also take approximately one
thousand dollars in lab costs to see it preserved. Luckily, there is
someone who is so enthusiastic about the idea of returning Toby the Pup to
the silver screen that the film may end up getting preserved fairly soon
through the Animation Preservation Project. There’ll be more on that when
it happens. Meanwhile, you can catch our latest effort, the George Pal
Puppetoon, “Sky Princess,” when it is screened in April as part of UCLA
Film and Television Archive’s Seventh Annual Festival of Preservation. It
is being included in an evening of Puppetoons, presented in newly-struck
copies from preservation materials or in original Technicolor nitrate
prints. You won’t want to miss it, particularly as the event will include a
guest panel comprised of persons who worked on the Puppetoons. Currently,
the program is set for 7:30pm on Tuesday, April 25, but that date is not
yet firm. Call (310) 206-FILM in April for confirmation.

CEL BREAK!
By Jim Korkis
___________________________________________________________

BOOP-OOP-A-DOOP IS ILLEGAL IN THIS STATE!
Recently, a teacher at my school was charged with a misdemeanor entitled
“Child Annoyance.” After a little research, we discovered that this statute
refers to an adult who is “vexing, annoying, irking or disturbing” a person
under the age of eighteen, usually with sexually suggestive comments. The
accused teacher had mentioned he enjoyed watching Baywatch, wished he was
married to Cindy Crawford and told kids not to play with his toys- all of
these statements were classified as sexually suggestive by a group of
right-wing fundamentalists who feel it is their moral duty to cleanse the
schools of any unorthodox teacher who might be foolish enough to exhibit a
lame sense of humor. The teacher in question was found not guilty, but it
scared the rest of the teaching staff.
Do you think Betty Boop is sexy? Then you may be next in line! When Betty
Boop was created, studio blurbs clearly stated that the classic little
flapper was only sixteen years old and would remain sixteen forever. Even
though she wore revealing outfits, made suggestive movements and had a
teasing little girl voice, Ms. Boop was still a bit prudish in her own way-
she was genuinely shocked and offended when some lecherous adult wanted to
take her “boop-boop-a-doop” away! During a copyright infringement suit in
1934, a judge offered the following description of Betty: “There is the
broad, baby face; the large, round, flirting eyes; the low-placed, pouting
mouth; the small nose; the imperceptible chin; and the mature bosom. It is
a unique combination of infancy and maturity- innocence and
sophistication.” Betty Boop was never a rocket scientist, but even she
would be smart enough to charge her lecherous cartoon peers with child
annoyance complaints if she could. And based on the exaggerated reactions
from these ink-and-paint Romeos to her teasing, panty-flashing and
top-dropping, she would most likely win a King’s ransom in damages to boot!
Next time you watch a Fleischer classic, keep in mind that Betty’s just a
minor and the law protects her!

THE BARRIER BOOK
Last issue, I referred to Mike Barrier’s History of Animation which has
been in preparation for close to a decade. Barrier was the editor of the
justly-revered Funnyworld magazine, which for the longest time was the only
magazine devoted to animation history. Concerning the progress of his
long-awaited tome, Barrier recently wrote: “Earlier this year, I finished a
long chapter on the making of Snow White, and I’m now writing a chapter on
the other early Disney features. It’s the last section to be written of the
book’s seven central chapters, on the Disney cartoons of the 1930-1942 and
the Warner cartoons of 1933-1953. I don’t expect the remaining chapters to
be nearly so hard to write, and I hope to have the book finished by the end
of next year. The manuscript totals around 600 pages at this point, and
will probably grow to more than 1,000 before I’m done. Then I’ll pare it
back by 200 pages or so.” One of the things slowing Barrier down was the
Los Angeles earthquake which prevented him from completing some much-needed
library research. One person who has read some of the rough draft of
Barrier’s book has assured me that this will indeed be the definitive
history of the Golden Age animation. Hopefully, it will be released before
the next Golden Age!

J. EDGAR DISNEY
I was quite pleased with my recent purchase of Walt Disney: The FBI Files
by Richard Trethewey. ($23.95 from Rainbo Animation Art, 8 Duran Court,
Pacifica, CA 94044-4231) Trethewey’s book reproduces the FBI-related
documents about Walt Disney available through the Freedom of Information
Act, as well as providing a common sense commentary to help put all this
information into the proper perspective. With all the hoopla surrounding
Marc Eliot’s book covering the same material,Walt Disney: Hollywood’s Dark
Prince, it’s nice to see some alternative viewpoints.

DEWEY’S NEWSLETTER
Does the world really need yet another specialty publication dedicated to
the discussion of animation related topics? Probably not, but that hasn’t
stopped Dewey McGuire from producing a pleasant and professional newsletter
entitled McBoing-Boing’s “Journal of Drawings In Motion.” ($8 for every 4
issues from Dewey McGuire, 134 Cardiff Circle, Iowa City, IA 52246) The
first issue primarily concerns itself with discussions about Disney’s
Donald Duck short, Der Feuhrer’s Face, and the early sixties cartoons from
Warner Brothers. McGuire also makes a plea in the first issue for
submissions of articles, columns, essays and letters, and is “particularly
keen on pieces about rarely seen films and subjects not heavily covered
elsewhere.” I enjoyed the first eight page issue and am looking forward to
future issues.

CRAZY STUFF
In the late 1950’s, Dr. Lauretta Bender, senior psychiatrist at Bellevue
Hospital, was employed as an advisor for DC Comics at the salary of a
hundred and fifty bucks a month. This was during the time that comics were
coming under heavy attack for supposedly having an adverse impact on
impressionable young minds. Bender stated that she considered Disney films
more potentially damaging than comics. “The mothers are always killed or
sent to the insane asylums in Walt Disney’s movies,” she claimed. What
movies was she watching?!

BUT WHAT ABOUT HIS EVIL TWIN?
In his column for the Comic Buyer’s Guide, writer Tony Isabella states:
“Mark Evanier knows everybody and everything. The world is fortunate,
indeed, that he is a force for good.”

SNOOP DOGGY MUTT
“Snoopy cannot be a real dog. Neither can he be too much like a child,”
stated cartoonist Charles Schulz in a 1978 interview, “His entire
relationship with the kids in the comic strip and in the animated specials
is based on his being neither animal nor human, but something in between-
retaining some characteristics, good and bad, of both. Snoopy is an actor,
and a good one. He can act like a dog, but he’s not about to be one. After
all, did Bela Lugosi decide to be a full-time vampire?”

FRED FLINTSTONE FOR PRESIDENT!
“One study revealed that only one half of adults around the world could
identify a picture of their national leader, but the same study showed that
90 percent of the three-year-olds in this country could easily identify a
picture of Fred Flintstone.” revealed the deputy director of the Bureau of
Consumer Protection of the Federal Trade Commission in 1978. Sounds like
the basis of a political career to me!

TOO MACHO FOR CARTOONS
Back in 1987, an animated project was being developed that was tentatively
titled “Michael’s Pets,” which would showcase the exotic animals that were
kept by singer Michael Jackson in his private zoo. At the time, there was
some speculation whether Jackson himself would be directly involved with
the series or a possible feature film adptation. His representative, Bob
Michaelson, stated, “I think Michael is too macho- you might argue with me
on that- but I think he’s too macho, too cool to be seen with a bunch of
cartoon animals.”

CONGRATULATIONS
Congratulations to Jerry Beck, who was appointed Director of Animation for
Nickelodeon Movies. One of Jerry’s stated goals is to revive some of the
classic Terrytoon characters like Mighty Mouse, Tom Terrific and Heckle and
Jeckle. Jerry plans on being bi-coastal so West coast animation fans can
still look forward to occasionally enjoying Jerry’s company.

FUNNY BONER
By Kit Tomasco
___________________________________________________________

More than anybody else in the animation industry, I am uniquely qualified
to speak on the subject of how to apply for a job. (Heaven knows, I’ve
applied for enough of them!) Well, I’ve taken note of all of the mistakes I
made, and have come up with a sure-fire recipe for success when showing
your portfolio to potential employers…

Before you leave for the Expo, ask yourself these important questions: Am I
wearing a T-shirt sporting the most popular character from the studio for
whom I hope to work? Is it clean? (Here’s a tip for expert readers- Wear
more than one T-shirt so you can peel off Mickey before you approach the
Warners table… and peel off Bugs before you approach the Film Roman
table… But don’t embarrass yourself by running out of shirts. If you get
down to the Inspector Gadget T-shirt, it’s time to go home.) The next
question to ask yourself is: Did I spend at least as much time arranging
and re-arranging my artwork in a costly leather portfolio case as I did
creating the artwork in the first place? (Handy tip- If it just so happens
that your portfolio case is MUCH nicer than the portfolio case of your
interviewer, an inside deal can sometimes be struck!) And perhaps most
importantly… Does Mom know what time to pick me up?

Dave Master did a great job of pointing out what should go into a
portfolio, but I can think of a few more important things to include:
Always include lots of drawings of various characters in the same “Ta-Da!”
pose. Countless merchandising experts agree that this ubiquitous pose makes
the biggest impression on the average cartoon lover. Besides, if you can
draw a character with a manic smile, wide open eyes and rigid body, you can
draw him in any mode or pose. Never include clean-up drawings. Portfolio
reviewers love roughs. Make them as rough as you can… scribble
shamelessly! If you see the reviewers reach for their glasses, you know
that you’re getting their attention! Remember that “man does not live on
funny animals alone.” Include gory scenes based on your impressions of the
O.J. Simpson case, or stylized “Hello Kitty’s” with grossly oversized,
gelatinous eyes. Don’t forget that realism is what folks are looking for
nowadays… do tightly rendered drawings of your Aunt Lucy’s dermoid cyst,
the mold growing in the bottom of your refrigerator, or the funny old bum
that’s always hanging out behind the supermarket. Don’t be afraid to
include the “old favorites.” Make sure you include lots and lots of those
hilarious comics you did featuring your classmates in Junior High School.
If you notice that the portfolio reviewers are skimming over these
sketches, stop them and read every one out loud to them and explain the
jokes so they can fully appreciate them… “Oh-Ho-Ho! This one’s a killer!
See that girl there? That’s Eileen McGregor… She used to pick her nose
shamelessly in class. That’s why I drew her with the oversized nostrils!”
Lastly, always remember a good portfolio should include… 8X10 glossies
from The Alligator People and My Three Sons, and a sharpie… just in case
you should bump into Beverly Garland, herself in the parking lot!

O.K. You’ve followed all of this advice, and you still feel a little uneasy
about the quality of your portfolio… Not to worry! There are a few
special techniques that I’ve designed to put you over the top and into the
job of your dreams. The Blackmail Method: Space out your artwork a bit, and
follow each really horrible drawing with a photograph of the reviewer in a
compromising position. When they object to seeing themselves depicted that
way in your portfolio, point out that if you had a good paying job, you
wouldn’t ever need to show your portfolio to anybody else ever again!
Here’s another sure-fire trick: The Sympathy Ploy: Slip an extra twenty
empty sleeves into your book after the last piece of art. Then rip them out
and crumple them a bit. Finish the job up by pouring water all over the
mess and zip up your case. Now you’re ready to go see the folks at the
Warner table… When you unzip the case, and the water pours out, look
shocked and say, “That guy at the Disney table must have spilled his
Snapple on my portfolio!” Fight back the tears as you show them the soggy
and smeared remnants, and when you get to the torn pages, burst into tears,
wailing, “Those meanies from Disney have stolen my BEST work!” Works like a
charm! Another good way to get their attention is: The Brady Technique:
Open your portfolio to reveal architectural blueprints. Exclaim, “Oh my
gosh! Dad must have taken my Yogi Bear sketches to the big presentation to
the City Council!” Enlist the help of Marsha, Cindy, Bobby and Alice to run
throughout the Expo searching for the missing artwork, while you quietly
lift art from other people’s books while they’re distracted by the chaos.

Posted for ASIFA-Hollywood by:

____________________________________________________________________________
__Stephen W. Worth Vintage Ink & Paint
vintage@lightside.com Animation Art Restoration,
Authentication, Appraisal
and Sales

==========================
animation/long.messages #176, from hmccracken, 24386 chars, Sun Mar 12 21:13:17 1995
————————–
This document includes all of the news stories from the March issue of the
monthly newsletter of the International Animated Film Society:
ASIFA-Hollywood, the “Inbetweener.” For more information on ASIFA or to
order back issues of the Inbetweener, contact Dave Koch at the ASIFA office
Tel. (818) 842-8330 or write: ASIFA-Hollywood, 725 S Victory Bl., Burbank,
CA 91502

We hope you enjoy this posting and will consider joining and supporting
ASIFA-Hollywood and its projects.

___________________________________________________________

ASIFA NEWS
By the staff of the Inbetweener
___________________________________________________________

DAVE MASTER’S PORTFOLIO TUTORIO!
In anticipation of the upcoming ASIFA Animation Opportunities Expo, Dave
Master, Director of Training at Warner Feature Animation, provided tips on
putting together a successful animation portfolio to a receptive and
enthusiastic audience which packed the Animation Center last month. Dave
had a “dummy portfolio” with him, which he compiled from portfolio pieces
shown by artists recently hired as employees in the business. Dave stressed
that portfolios should include about 25 pages, consisting of 12 human
figure drawings, 3 animal studies, and 10 pieces which exemplify your
ability in the area for which you are applying. If your goal is character
animation or design, show a versatility of styles and include characters
which display uniqueness and a definite attitude and personality. Layout
and background artists should include thumbnail layouts depicting a variety
of different interiors, exteriors and moods (ie: rainy nights, winter
scenes, night-time scenes, etc.) Also, consider doing a layout or
storyboard treatment of a familiar story or fairy tale, so that your work
can be judged within the context of a theme the reviewer is familiar with.
If you have a sketchbook, you should include it as one page of the
portfolio. But don’t worry about a few bad drawings reflecting negatively
on your work- reviewers usually focus on the good stuff. Videotapes should
be no longer than 3-5 minutes, and like any other element of your
portfolio, they should pertain to the position for which you are applying.
As for computer animators, Master stressed that being able to run the
machine or program is no longer the only prerequisite for getting hired.
CGI animators need to display a proficiency with figure drawing and the
mechanics of human movement.

Aside from these specifics, Dave offered some general advice about
presentation as well: neatness does count! Due to the volume of
submissions, portfolio reviewers, despite their idealized “let the art
speak for itself” rhetoric to the contrary, will by nature form a better
impression of an organized, easy-to-peruse, concise portfolio than a
mixed-up, dog-eared one. Pay attention to page direction , eliminating the
need to keep twisting and turning the portfolio. Also, when including
xeroxes, it’s a good idea to use color copies – even on black & white
stuff- since the reproduction quality is so much better. Tapes don’t
necessarily have to fit inside the portfolio, as long as you have each
piece of your submission clearly marked, listing what work you did on each
segment included on your tape. Lastly, include a cover letter and resume,
attached to the outside of your portfolio. Indicate what sort of animation
work you want to do, your current prospects, contract expirations, etc.
Your actual work experience should be displayed at the top, and include
animation or art classes you’ve taken. Master was kind enough to stick
around after the crowd had dispersed, to answer a few specific questions
from stragglers, even taking the time to glance at some work. Before
wrapping the evening up completely, however, he gently reinforced the
tutorial’s implicit, underlying point: You can’t draw enough. Take an
instructed life-drawing class, practice what you learn at workshops such as
ASIFA’s Tuesday/Thursday ones, and always improve upon your portfolio.

WIA: 1ST ANNIVERSARY MEETING
“Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?” This question
(and many others) were deliberated by four industry panelists at the first
anniversary Women in Animation meeting held last month. The discussion,
lead by Sari Gennis, focused on the portrayal of women and girls in
animation. Sari was joined by Lily Tomlin, co-creator of the animated Edith
Ann specials; Linda Miller, Director of Animation at Hanna-Barbera; Spumco
Big-Shot John Kricfalusi; and Thomas Schumacher, Senior Vice-President at
Walt Disney Feature Animation. The theater was full to capacity with an
enthusiastic audience of over 250, and guests were welcomed by the
evening’s hosts, Warner Bros. Feature Animation Senior VP, Michael Laney
and Rita Street, founder of WIA.

The panel discussion commenced with a video compilation examining how
female characters have been portrayed in animation for the past seventy
years, and after the parade of evil queens, witches and princesses, Sari
launched into the subject at hand. Lily Tomlin pointed out that when she
was growing up, she would try to emulate role models like Kim Novac and
Cinderella, but today’s animation offers no really valid role models for
young girls. Tom Schumacher replied that the current blandness in female
characters is the result of the tendency to stick to personality traits
that are safe and comfortable. Sari pointed out that women characters are
generally a reflection of the times, citing Tex Avery’s “Swingshift
Cinderella” and Wilma Flintstone as examples form the 40’s and 60’s. The
problem in the 90’s, is that the studios are afraid to stray too far from
“politically correct” stereotypes, according to John Kricfalusi. He
stressed that truly rich character portrayals are the result of animators
and designers who draw upon their life experiences, rather than falling
back on the tried-and true. Everyone agreed that the studios should work
harder toward providing meaningful role models for young girls who enjoy
animated cartoons.

In addition to the panel discussion, Libby Simon, WIA’s Historical
Committee chair, presented a tribute to color stylist and designer, Mary
Blair with slides from Dr. Robin Allan’s vast collection. Mary Blair
influenced the mood and design of all the Disney features from 1943 to
1953, including “Cinderella,” “Alice in Wonderland,” and “Peter Pan,” and
was instrumental in the design of the “Small World” attraction at
Disneyland. Marc & Alice Davis, who were also on hand, noted that working
with Mary was a joy. “She was quite a jewel and Disney really believed in
her unique use of color. Mary was shy by nature and never realized how
great she really was.” Marc Davis commented. Mary Blair’s son, Kevin Blair,
graciously accepted WIA’s honor and recognition. Everyone seemed pleased
with the program, and we all look forward to the next WIA event. If you
would like more information about Women in Animation, please call (818)
759-9596.

TALKARTOON NIGHT AT ASIFA
Last month, ASIFA Board member, Gere Guldin screened a bakers dozen of
exceptional and sparkling clean 16mm prints of cartoons from Max
Fleischer’s Talkartoon series at the Animation Center. The titles included:
“Barnacle Bill,” which featured a prototypical Betty Boop with dog ears,
“Grand Uproar,” which resembled a Silly Symphony, “Swing, You Sinners,” a
morality play featuring scary cemetery ghosts and goblins, and two episodes
starring our favorite Fleischer character, Bimbo. Bimbo played second
bananna to Betty in “Bimbo the Male Man,” a comic look at the postal
service; “The Herring Murder Case,” a mystery story involving a gorilla who
shot a fish; “Bimbo’s Express,” where Bimbo plays a moving man; and last
but not least, the wild and surreal “Crazy Town.” A good time was had by
all!

ANIMATED NEWS
By the staff of the Inbetweener
___________________________________________________________

JOHN HALAS (1912-1995)
John Halas, who died in London on Friday January 20th, was without a doubt,
the founding father of British animation, and of ASIFA as well. Halas was
born in Hungary, and his earliest work there was with the famous puppet
animator, George Pal. He came to London in 1936 where he met Joy Batchelor,
to whom he was married in 1940. They set up their own studio in that same
year under the auspices of the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency. Much
of their early work during WWII was sponsored by the government, and much
of their subsequent work also involved applying animation to educational
and instructional applications. By 1945, Halas & Batchelor was the largest
studio in Europe. It flourished for more than forty years producing over
2,000 films, and being awarded more than 200 international prizes. John
Halas’ greatest achievement was the first animated feature film to be
produced in Britain, “Animal Farm.”

Halas was the first to set up an animation “school” at his studio at
Stroud, and gave opportunities to many young animators and artists to
produce experimental and personal films. In 1960 he was influential in
forming a small group of animation enthusiasts that was later to become
ASIFA and he was on the first Board of Directors of the Association. He
served as ASIFA’s president for many years and succeded in uniting factions
in Eastern Europe and America at the height of the cold war. He also
advised UNESCO on the use of animation as a way of teaching in Third World
countries, and formed Educational Film Centre to produce educational films
for schools and universities. He had boundless energy and was involved in
film projects almost up to the time of his death, but his greatest talent
was his ability to make things happen. The world of animation has lost one
of its elder statesman, but his work and influence, both in his adopted
country and around the world, will live forever.

ACADEMY ANIMATION TRIBUTE
Animators took center stage at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences Winter tribute, with a special evening of film clips and personal
appearances that honored the 25th anniversary of the International Tournee
of Animaton. Over 1,000 people attended the sold-out event, and hundreds
more were turned away at the door, proving that audiences for animated
films in Los Angeles are truly passionate about the medium. Hosted by
animation lover and renowned film expert Leonard Maltin, the program
featured a history of, and highlights from, an international array of
Academy Award winning films that have been featured in the Tournee over the
years. The first section of the program featured excerpts from the early
years of the Tournee, including “Pulcinella,” “The Further Adventures of
Uncle Sam: Part 2,” “The Legend of John Henry,” “It’s So Nice to Have a
Wolf Around the House” and “Oh, My Darling.” Bill Littlejohn and Prescott
Wright joined Maltin on stage to briefly discuss the early years of the
Tournee, then it was on to our neighbors from the North, the National Film
Board of Canada. Co Hoedeman (“The Sand Castle”) and Ishu Patel (“The Bead
Game”) were on hand to discuss their unique system of funding and producing
animated films. Other NFB films screened at the event were “The Street,”
“Special Delivery,” “The Big Snit” and “The Cat Came Back.” Bill Kroyer
(“Technological Threat”) shared a number of amusing anecdotes from the
Tournee’s recent history, along with Terry Thoren, the Tournee’s current
programmer. Clips were shown from a number of recent classics, including
“The Great Cognito,” “A Greek Tragedy,” “Balance,” “The Cow” and “Words,
Words, Words.” This very special evening concluded with a true highlight-
Canadian animation legend Frederic Back took the stage to share a clip from
his Academy Award winning film, “The Man Who Planted Trees.” Leonard Maltin
wrapped up the evening with an invitation to the audience to view the
exhibition, “The Best of Soviet Animation Art,” drawn from the collection
of Mike and Jeanne Glad. Currently on display through April 12th in the
Academy’s main lobby, the show features over 100 animation drawings,
paintings, cels and puppets from the former Soviet Union.

TAKE A HIKE FAT CAT, FELIX IS BACK!
“Out with the old and in with the new,” seems to be the motto at CBS these
days, at least when it comes to the upcoming Saturday morning schedule. Six
new shows will enter the lineup next season: “The Adventures of Hyperman,”
produced by Big Blue with Illumination Studios; Klasky-Csupo’s “Santo
Bugito;” The Lion King’s “Timon and Pumbaa,” from Disney TV; “Ace Ventura:
Pet Detective,” from Nelvana and Morgan Creek; and Film Roman’s “The Mask,”
and “Felix the Cat.” Bumped into TV limbo (or in some cases syndication)
are: “Little Mermaid,” “Beethoven,” “W.I.L.D.Cats,” “Skeleton Warriors,”
and the long-running “Storybreak” and “Garfield and Friends.”

THE ABC’s OF SatAM
Yes, Jim Carrey is probably the closest you can get to being a human
cartoon. (…with the possible exception of Jerry Lewis!) It has now been
announced that all three of Carrey’s starring vehicles from the last year
will become animated series! Following in the footsteps of “The Mask” and
“Ace Ventura,” ABC will add an animated version of “Dumb and Dumber” to
it’s Saturday morning lineup next season. “Dumber” will join two other new
cartoons, both from DIC: “Madeline,” based on Ludwig Bemelmans children’s
books and “What-a-Mess,” from the books by British TV personality Frank
Muir.

WB ENTERS THE FRAY
Warner Bros. Animation, Universal Cartoon Studios and Steven Spielberg will
provide the bulk of the animated children’s programming for the new Warner
Brothers Network. “Adventure Man,” an animated/live-action adventure series
featuring a toy inventor who transfers his consciousness into a five-inch
superhero action figure, will join “The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries,”
“Earthworm Jim” (based on the Sega video game,) “Animaniacs,” “Pinky & the
Brain,” and “Feakazoid!” to round out the cartoon lineup.

VIRTUE IS ITS OWN REWARD
Who says animated cartoons are devoid of any worthwhile moral content?
Former drug czar and Secretary of Education William Bennett and recently
created PorchLight Entertainment that’s who! PorchLight has obtained the
TV, home-video and interactive rights to Bennett’s bestselling “The Book of
Virtues: A Treasury of Great Moral Stories,” and although they were
reportedly not the highest bidder, Bennett chose PorchLight because
president Bruce Johnson envisioned the adaptation as an animated series for
network broadcast in prime time. The plan is to turn the 800-plus page
collection of stories, fables, poems and essays into a 30-minute animated
series, while concurrently developing a multimedia version.

MUSICAL CHAIRS
Chris Montan, senior VP of music for Walt Disney Studios, has signed a pact
with the studio to develop and produce live action feature films on a first
refusal basis. He will also serve as executive producer on all animated
films, while consulting on stage productions, live-action musicals and
theme park attractions, as well as the studio’s record labels. Under
Montan, Disney has won 4 out of the last 5 best-song Oscars.
Meanwhile, Hanna-Barbera Cartoons recently announced that Sherry Gunther
will fill the newly created post of Senior Vice-President of Production .
Gunther, who formerly served in a similar position at Klasky-Csupo, worked
on such series as “The Simpsons,” “Rugrats” and “Duckman.” At H-B she will
work on the new incarnation of “Jonny Quest,” and the “World Premiere
Toons.”

DONKEY KONG CREATES AN INTERNATIONAL INCIDENT!
Nintendo of America Inc. and more than 125 other companies have filed a
lawsuit with the US trade representative against several foreign countries
over their alleged failure to crack down on counterfeiting. Nintendo stated
in a news release that it believes the government of China has directly
participated in “rampant counterfeiting” by operating state-owned
manufacturing plants, and that Taiwan, Thailand, Hong Kong, Venezuela,
Argentina and Paraguay have all turned a blind eye to major producers of
game and component fakes operating within their borders.

NON-NEWS
The Hollywood Reporter recently reported that Time Warner’s children’s
music label is close to “inking a deal” with Warner Bros. Consumer Products
to produce song albums and other merchandise based on the company’s
animated characters. This is probably the most surprising announcement of a
new business alliance since Disney TV negotiated the rights to the
“Aladdin” series!

$2 MILLION, AND WE AIN’T LION!
Disney’s latest animated feature set another money-making record recently,
when an auction of artwork based on “The Lion King” raised almost $2
million . Of the 256 lots, an image of baby cub Simba with sidekicks Pumbaa
and Timon proved to be the most sought-after, yielding $39,100 (nearly 8
times its presale estimate!) from a private European sucker… Oops! We
meant to say, “collector.”

A GREAT BIG “POKE” IN THE PARK
The premiere of Disney’s upcoming “Pocahontas” will take place on four
8-story-tall screens erected in New York’s Central Park on June 10, two
weeks before its official theatrical opening. Not only will this be the
first film event at the park, home to frequent concerts and rallies, but it
will also be the first limited-access event at the venue, with attendance
confined to a scant 100,000. (This may irk New Yorkers who are used to open
access to virtually all park events…) Tickets will be distributed through
a random mail-in program, with request forms available in local newspapers.
New York City will provide security and maintenance for the event in
exchange for a “sizable donation” by Disney to the city. Employing Disney’s
CircleVision technology, eight projectors will be used to cover the 13-acre
viewing area using 70mm prints made especially for the park screening. Over
150 sound speakers will be used for the PA system, which is billed as
larger than five ampitheater concert audio systems.

FELIX’S BUDDY, MILTON
The Inbetweener’s Art Director, Milton Knight was recently tapped along
with Lynne Naylor to direct episodes of Film Roman’s new series of “Felix
the Cat” cartoons for CBS’s Saturday morning schedule next Fall. He says
that the folks at Film Roman saw his work in the Inbetweener and thought
he’d be perfect for the project. We couldn’t agree more! Congrats, Milton!
It’s comforting to know that Felix is in such good hands.

DON’T HAVE A COW, MATT!
Matt Groening, creator of “The Simpsons” demanded that his name be removed
from a recent episode which cross-promoted Film Roman’s other prime-time,
adult animated series, “The Critic.” Appearantly, Groening approved of the
idea initially, but changed his mind when he saw himself incorrectly
credited as “the creator of The Critic” in the press. Executive producer,
James L. Brooks was quoted in the L.A. Times as saying, “I am furious with
Matt… He is a gifted, adorable, cuddly ingrate. But his behavior right
now is rotten. And it’s not pretty when a rich man acts like this.” In one
scene of the episode in question, Bart Simpson meets the Critic, Jay
Sherman, and says, “Hey man, I really love your show. All the kids should
watch it.” Then he cringes, turns away and mutters, “Suddenly I feel so
dirty…” Obviously, Groening feels the same way.

FANTASIA (AND THEN SOME!)
Walt Disney’s classic animated feature, “Fantasia,” is scheduled for a 1998
theatrical release. But don’t plan on seeing those cool dinosaurs or cute
centaurettes this time around. Harking back to Walt’s original plan for the
film, Disney animators will insert several new segments, retain some, and
delete others. Four of the segments from the original will remain in the
1998 cut: “Night on Bald Mountain,” “The Dance of the Hours,” “The
Nutcracker Suite” and “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” Five new musical
segments will be added, some incorporating state-of-the-art computer
animation: The first movement of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony will be
accompanied by abstract animation; Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Steadfast
Tin Soldier” will sport a snappy score by Dimitri Shostakovich; and Donald
Duck will appear as Noah’s assistant on the Ark, to the tune of Elgar’s
eternally irritating “Pomp and Circumstance.” (Well, two out of three ain’t
bad… “Pomp” will definitely be my cue to go get popcorn!)

NELVANA PUSHES THE ENVELOPE
OK. Here’s a quiz… which of these statements is NOT true: 1) Nelvana
plans to turn campy, sci-fi sex kitten Barberella into a cartoon series for
kids. 2) Nelvana plans to turn the campy, horror-flick,
transvestite/dominatrix Frank N. Ferter from “The Rocky Horror Picture
Show” into a cartoon series for kids. and… 3) Nelvana plans to turn the
stage musical based on the music of Lois Jordan , composer of “What’s The
Use Of Getting Sober, When You’re Just Going To Get Drunk Again” and
“Woman, You Need A Whipping” into a cartoon series for kids. Give up? They
all sound unlikely, don’t they? Well, believe it or not, all three
statements are true! The sexual, and gender-bending aspects of the former
two will be dropped, and the Jordan series will focus on “Five (cute li’l)
Guys Named Moe.” The characters will all be youngsters who are
non-conformists in programs that “will teach kids to be different.” Just
how different depends on the network censors…

CD-ROM SPINS OFF AN ANIMATED SPECIAL
If that headline sounds like “Man Bites Dog,” it should… usually the
interactive version follows the animated one, but not in this case. IF/X
Prods’ CD-ROM version of “Peter and the Wolf,” featuring animated
characters created by Chuck Jones, will be turned into an hour-long ABC
special scheduled to air during the Christmas season. It will star Kirstie
Alley, Lloyd Bridges and Ross Malinger in 16 minutes of live-action footage
to be built around the core 28-minute animated story. All new animation
(and some new voice recording) will be done for the TV version, with an
original score by the 70-piece Time-Warner Symphony Orchestra. Animation
has already begun at Cosgrove in Manchester, England.

THE MILLION DOLLAR MOUSE
The earliest known sketches of Mickey Mouse have been donated to the
International Museum of Cartoon Art in Boca Raton, Florida. Stephen Geppi,
owner of Diamond Comics Distributors, donated the complete six-page,
36-panel storyboard for “Plane Crazy” to the museum at the end of January.
The pencil sketches, drawn by Ub Iwerks, tell the story of Mickey’s first
movie, a 1928 silent cartoon which spoofed the flying craze spawned by
Charles Lindbergh’s trans-Atlantic flight. The donation is (erroneously)
estimated to be worth between $3 and $5 million dollars. (Attn: IRS agents:
Top dollar for an animation drawing at auction is generally between $7,000
and $10,000- much less than the estimated $500,000 to $833,000 a page
quoted here!) Mort Walker (creator of Beetle Bailey and founder of the
museum) proudly calls the sketches the “Mona Lisa” of cartoon art. (Does
that make my Yogi Bear cel the “Nude Descending A Staircase” of cartoon
art?)

ANNOUNCEMENTS
___________________________________________________________

Animator/Trainer skilled in Disney-style animation wanted for Vietnamese
animation studio. Contact: Thomas Wiegand, Animation Talent Agency (415)
776-7983 fax:(415) 673-1099.

Pacific Data Images is seeking traditional and computer animators to
produce a 3D stereoscopic, 70mm film for Warner Brothers, animating some of
their traditional characters. Please send your resume and reel to: Marilyn
Friedman, Pacific Data Images, 1111 Karlstad Dr., Sunnyvale, CA 94089. No
phone calls please.

==========================
animation/long.messages #177, from switch, 13533 chars, Sun Oct 8 22:15:32 1995
————————–
The following is an article slated for the seventh issue of FPS,
which focuses on computers and animation. Consider it a teaser, if
you will. Feedback is definitely welcome.

MOTION MACHINES
How Computers Are Changing Traditional Animation
by Emru Townsend

In 1990, Disney released The Rescuers Down Under, the world’s first
animated feature which, while it looked like any other cel-animated
production, never had a single cel slide under a camera during
production. Rescuers Down Under was Disney’s first film to use their
Computer Animation and Production System (CAPS) from beginning to
end, eliminating the need for cels entirely. In the five years
since, other companies with similar products have joined the fray:
Softimage’s Toonz, Cambridge’s Animo, and Toon Boom’s Tic Tac Toon
are but a few.
The advantages to digital production systems are many, and
can make it more cost-effective for studios to switch. They can also
allow for animators to spend more time animating, as the computer
helps shorten the time required for certain stages of the animation
process. In theory, this means that either the same tasks get done
faster, or that better animation gets done in the same amount of
time.
The systems are widely misunderstood, however. One of the
popular misconceptions of 2D animation systems is that they are
either used to entirely supplant the animation process (ousting
traditional animators), or are used only for ink and paint (replacing
only a small part of the process). While they certainly don’t
replace animators, they do significantly more than just ink and
paint. The following is an overview of how these systems fit into
the animation process. Bear in mind that the features mentioned here
are a summation of the traits of all the 2D animation systems out
there, and that it’s unlikely that any one system does everything
listed below.

First, let’s look at the traditional animation process. Let’s assume
that the model sheets, storyboard, scripts, and voice/sound tracks
are done, and we’re ready to start production. Also, keep in mind
that various individual steps within these stages can be shuffled
around or done concurrently, depending on the studio or the project.
PLAN EVERYTHING: EXPOSURE SHEETS. As composers and
musicians have sheet music, animators have exposure sheets. Exposure
sheets break down the elements of a film frame by frame. This
includes the various pieces of animation, the use of backgrounds, the
soundtrack, and the camera directions. From the exposure sheet, the
various teams working on the film know what needs to be done and for
how long.
ROUGH DRAWINGS AND PENCIL TESTS. Naturally, the next step is
to get some drawings done. These are usually done in pencil, by a
key animator and inbetweeners. The key animator will draw the
extremes of motion, with the inbetweeners filling in the frames that
get the character or object from point A to point B. After this is
completed, the animation is shot on video to be previewed. Many
studios also use a Quick-Action Recorder (QAR), which is a
stand-along computerized system that offers many of the same
pencil-test features as digital animation systems. (Before video and
QARs, these pencil tests used to be shot on cheap black and white
film.)
CLEANUP. After the roughs are approved (or appropriate
changes are made), the work then goes to cleanup artists, who take
the rough pencils and eliminate any extraneous lines or writing from
the drawings.
INK & PAINT. The cleaned up pictures are now transferred to
acetate cels, usually by Xerography Before the Xerographic process,
this was done by hand with ink. Hand-inked cels offered the option
of inking the outlines with different colours, for a softer blending
of foreground characters and objects to the background. Hand-inking
was also more expensive and time-consuming. Xerography is
significantly faster, but the ability to use coloured outlines is
sacrificed.
After inking, the cels are then flipped over and painted in.
Traditionally, individual elements in a scene–say, Bugs Bunny, Daffy
Duck, and Elmer Fudd–are animated on different cels, which will then
overlaid one on top of the other under the camera, with the painted
background on the bottom. While this is a useful system–it allows
objects and characters to pass in front of one another, and keeps
from having to redraw elements that don’t move–it also creates a
problem for the painters. Cels are not perfectly translucent,
meaning that they do not allow all of the light to pass through them.
The end result is that the lower cels end up looking darker than the
ones on top. This limits the amount of cels that can be stacked on
one another, but more importantly to the painters is this: if Elmer
is on a layer lower than Bugs, his skin and clothing will be darker
than Bugs’. To compensate for this, cel painters would have to make
sure that Elmer was painted a brighter colour than usual.
CAMERA. With the animation complete, it’s time to shoot onto
film. (For direct-to-video productions, the animation is often shot
on film and then transferred to D1 or D2 digital video tape.) Armed
with the exposure sheet, the camera crew knows how to layer the cels,
as well as the camera moves (tilts, pans, and zooms) and lighting and
exposure instructions (fade-ins, fade-outs, irises, dissolves,
backlighting, etc.) Where things can get tricky (and, of course,
expensive) is in the area of multiplane effects, which involve
parallax and depth of field.
The best way to explain multiplane is with the example of a
car driving past a farm. Looking out the window, you see three
elements: the fence, only a few feet from the car; some cows
grazing, several yards away; and a stone wall farther away. Since
the fence is closer, it appears to be rushing by quickly, while the
cows are moving more slowly. The stone wall is considerably slower,
since it is considerably farther away. This phenomenon is known as
parallax.
Parallax is easily simulated with cels; the fence would be on
the topmost cel, the cows in the middle, and the stone wall on the
bottom. The topmost cel would be moved at a faster rate than the
middle cel, while would be moved at a faster rate than the bottom
cel.
For added realism, however, we would also need the second
element of multiplane: depth of field. Depth of field is the effect
of certain objects being out of focus while others are being focused
upon. For example, if we were focusing on the cows in the previous
example, the fence and the stone wall would be out of focus.
The traditional animation solution is the multiplane camera.
Using this, the different cel levels are placed several inches or
feet apart, which would give true depth of field. As we zoom in or
out, the different levels are brought closer together or farther
apart. Unfortunately, multiplane cameras can be quite large and
cumbersome (imagine trying to shoot a scene with seven layers, each
at least a foot apart, and you’ll have an idea of how big a
multiplane setup–excluding the camera–can be) and of course, the
precision required for each shot makes the possibility for error
fairly high. But the final result can be spectacular and well worth
the trouble.
Special effects are often taken care of here as well.
EDITING. Now we’ve got the raw footage, and our audio
tracks. It’s time to sit down and edit the film. This involves
rearranging sequences, throwing out mistakes made by the camera crew,
and cutting together a complete audio track by syncing appropriate
sounds with the appropriate frames. After the film has been spliced
together and the various audio tracks have been worked out, the film
and audio tracks are merged onto a final print, and we have an
animated film.

Now, let’s look at how the same procedures can be followed, using a network of computers with animation production soft
ware.
PLAN EVERYTHING: EXPOSURE SHEETS. Exposure sheets can be
entered directly into the computer. Since we’re operating on a
network, everyone will be able to refer back to the exposure sheets
for timing, lighting information, etc., and any changes made at any
point in production will be instantly available to everybody.
ROUGH DRAWINGS AND PENCIL TESTS. Drawings can be done
directly on the computer with a graphics tablet. However, they can
just as easily be done with pencil and paper, and scanned in
afterwards with a regular desktop scanner. The pencil tests can be
done on the computer, and images can be rearranged or held with a few
commands.
CLEANUP. The cleanup process can be made easier by setting a
threshold for the images. Everything darker than the threshold will
be made black; everything lighter, white. If the threshold is set
properly, the task of cleaning up can be reduced to minor touchups,
or eliminated altogether.
INK & PAINT. Now that we have the line drawings, we can
throw colour at our images. The outlines of the images can easily be
painted in colours aside from black, for that softer look. Sure,
this used to be expensive, but pixels are cheap. As for painting,
cartoon images are typically coloured with flat colours filling
distinct areas. Anyone who has played with a computer paint program
knows that computers do this sort of thing without breathing hard.
And if the animator is looking for a gradual transition of one colour
to another–closer to an airbrush effect–well, that can be done as
well. In fact, the computer can allow for fine control over the
airbrush, which can eliminate shimmering in airbrush effects (unless
the shimmer is a desired effect, of course.) As if that weren’t
simple enough, different programs also have options allowing the
animator to say, for instance, “Colour Bugs Bunny’s ears gray for the
next 250 frames,” and the computer makes it so. These methods are
not foolproof, and require some human double-checking, but they
significantly reduce the animator’s workload. Still another feature:
some programs take advantage of multithreading, where the program
allows the user to do work while it’s busy executing the previous set
of instructions. A multithreading program could be busily colouring
250 frames of Bugs’ ears in the background while the animator is
working on something else. Colours can also be changed at the click
of a mouse.
CAMERA. Since there are no physical cels, real-world
limitations like translucency and colour correction become
non-issues. Standard camera moves and exposure instructions can be
done programmed in, and previewed before they’re set in stone.
As for multiplane effects, you can set up a virtual
multiplane camera which is far more elaborate than any in real life,
since all the layers and the camera itself are just bits and bytes.
The computer can figure out how much each image needs to be blurred
to simulate depth of field.
Special effects can be added in at this phase–lighting
effects, smoke, liquid effects, blurring and the like can all be done
and redone digitally until the director is satisfied.
Once everything is ready, the system can output the frames
directly to film using a digital film recorder–no further human
intervention required. Digital animation systems can also allow for
different output media: rather than shooting on film and then making
a transfer to video for direct-to-video projects, the images can be
sent directly to tape.
EDITING. Editing at this point can be done traditionally,
using the film we got from the previous stage. The other alternative
is to use a digital editing system, where the editing is done before
the frames go to film.

What we’ve covered so far are the broad stages of animation
production. But computerized systems can also simplify more
specialized functions in the process. Consider lip syncing, the
matching of mouth movements to certain phonetic sounds. Some
packages employ phoneme recognition, which allows the computer to
figure out which mouth position to use (of course, these mouth
positions must have been created by the animator) based on the
syllables it recognizes from the voice track. Of course, speech
recognition is still not an exact science, and there are occasions
when animators will want to exaggerate or otherwise modify the basic
mouth positions–but for the most part, a lot of time can be saved
using this method.
There is also the marrying of computer effects to 2D. For
instance, 3D animation can be combined with 2D. Imagine a scene with
complex mechanical works–rather than draw everything frame by frame,
the computer offers an alternative–creating the scene in using a 3D
modeling/animation system, and then having the computer render the
image with solid lines and colours. Used wisely, this can leave the
computer to do what computers do best–animating rigid bodies
following programmed instructions–while leaving the animator to
concentrate on doing more expressive character animation.
However, the best feature of these systems by far is the new
flexibility they allow in production. Changes can be made right up
to the last minute, if necessary; scenes can be previewed in a
variety of ways, making it easier to spot mistakes and correct them;
several people can work on different parts of the same scene
simultaneously without interfering with each other. As with anything
else, the computer is a tool: in this case, a tool which, if used
properly, could lead to better animation for all of us.

==========================
animation/long.messages #178, from hmccracken, 22918 chars, Sun Jul 21 22:38:34 1996
————————–
LUXO SR.
An Interview with John Lasseter
(From Animato #19, Winter 1990)

SIGGRAPH, the annual convention of’ the Association for
Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group on Graphics,
is a mammoth convergence of the computer graphics industry
that lasts a week but would take years to explore fully.
Seminars and panels discuss the science and art of computer
animation; acres of exhibition space display products that push
graphics technology to remarkable limits.

But in many ways the heart of the show is the Computer
Animation Theater, a show of the most outstanding new works
of computer animation, ranging from sophisticated technical
exercises to increasingly films with characters as real as
those in more traditionally-animated films. And for the past few
years, a new film by John Lasseter and his collaborators at the
computer hardware and software company Pixar has been
among the most eagerly-waited works in the show. In 1986, it
was the ground-breaking Luxo Jr.; last year, it was Tin Toy,
the first computer-animated film to win an Academy Award
This year, the Lasseter film that premiered to a wildly
enthusiastic reception was Knickknack, an ingenious, very
funny cartoon which gives us some idea of what Chuck Jones
or Tex Avery might have done-with computer animation. Luxo
Jr. established standards for computer character animation
that have inspired many of the best computer-animated films
made since then; Lasseter’s own subsequent films are among
the finest of those films, and each one has shown us more
clearly what tremendous potential this new art form has.

I interviewed Lasseter at SIGGRAPH in Boston in August,
1989

Harry McCracken

HARRY McCRACKEN: / should start by asking how you got
interested in animation in the first place

JOHN LASSETER: I got interested in it when I was really quite
young, as I guess most animators do. I used to get up very early
on Saturday mornings and watch all the cartoons until the golf
matches came on, or the football. And I used to go out and see
all the Disney films.

When I was a freshman in high school, our library had a copy
of the Bob Thomas book The Art of Animation, the one all
about Sleeping Beauty. I got that, and I read it. And it was sort
of funny, I realized that people actually did the job of making
cartoons. And I thought, “That’s what I want to do.”

I can tell you exactly when I realized that I wanted to be an
animator. It was at a screening of The Sword and the Stone at
the local theater. I don’t know if in your town there’s a theater
that, if a movie is playing there, you know that’s it; after there,
the movie’s gone. It was the end of the release. Forty-nine cents.
It was the Wardman Theater in Whittier.

So I saw Sword in the Stone, got out, my mom picked me up,
and I said, “I want to work for Disney. I want to be an
animator.” And luckily, my mother was an art teacher at a high
school for thirty-eight years, and she was always supportive of
being an artist as a profession.

I wrote to Disney and all those things through high school, and
took figure drawing courses. And when I was graduating from
high school, Cal Arts was forming their character animation
program as a separate program from the film graphics program.
The next year I went there; it was the first year of the program. I
went there for four years, then went to work for Disney.

What did you work on at Disney?

When I first started working there, I did a little bit of animation
on The Fox and the Hound. Then I worked in the story
department for a while, on a number of projects that didn’t get
off the ground. Then I worked as an animator again, on
Mickey’s Christmas Carol.

About that tune, Tron was being made, and that’s when I got
interested in computer animation. Bill Kroyer and Jerry Rees
were doing it, and I saw some of the early work on that and got
real excited about computer graphics. I was able to get Tom
Wilhite, who at that time was head of production at the studio,
interested in combining character animation with
computer-generated animation. I worked with Glen Keane,
who’s a brilliant animator, and we did a thirty-second test called
the Wild Things test, which combined hand-drawn animation
with computer-generated backgrounds.

After that, I went up to Lucasfilm, and started working with
their computer animation group. The first thing I worked on
there was The Adventures of Andre and Wally B. which was a
short animated film we did for SIGGRAPH in 1984 when it
was in Minneapolis. Then I worked on Young Sherlock Homes.
I’ve sort of done a project a year while I’ve been up there. In
February of ’86 we spun off and became Pixar and that year did
Luxo Jr, and then the year after that did Red’s Dream, and then
Tin Toy, and this year Knickknack.

Did you leave Disney because you wanted them to get more
involved in computer animation then they were at the time?

Yes, sort of. At the time, the expense was so much, and there
was very little that had been developed. It required a lot of
development in order for it to be usable. The Wild Things test
proved to be really successful, I think in proving that it could
work, but also it was quite expensive at the time. They were
concerned that it was just too expensive.

There were still some people who stayed dedicated to
computer animation, and since they’ve done some great work
with it, of course.

Was there a point when you felt you reached a breakthrough
with your work in computer animation? There’s a much bigger
difference between Andre and Wally B. and Luxo Jr. in style
and approach then between Luxo and the films that have
followed.

Right. It’s pretty obvious that Luxo Jr. was a real breakthrough,
not only for me and Pixar but for the industry as well. When we
were spun off and became Pixar, they said, “For the first year of
Pixar, we want to have a film in the film show at SIGGRAPH.
You guys do it.”

Bill Reeves, Eben Ostby and myself didn’t have a film we
wanted to do. So we all sort of did a little something we wanted
to. Bill was working on some interesting research on waves, so
he did a little piece with waves. Eben was doing some
procedural animation; he did something with a beach chair. And
I was interested in doing things with lamps. I had done some
student films with them, and they were kind of fun.

I started working on doing lamps. I modeled one Luxo lamp,
and then a friend of mine came over with his baby. And then I
went back to working on the lamp, and wondered what the lamp
would look like as a baby. I scaled different parts of it down:
the springs are the same diameter, but they’re much shorter. The
same with the rods. The shade is small but the bulb is the same
size. The reason the bulb is the same size is because that’s
something you buy at the hardware store; it doesn’t grow.

So I animated it, and the story developed as I went, and we
premiered it at SIGGRAPH. I love showing the films at
SIGGRAPH because you get such a great reaction. The reaction
to Luxo Jr. was phenomenal; people had never seen anything
quite like that before, and it got a really wonderful ovation.

The thing I wanted to do in Luxo Jr. was make the characters
and story the most important thing, not the fact that it was done
with computer graphics. As you see in the film show at
SIGGRAPH, a lot of times it’s computer graphics for computer
graphics nerds. People get excited about it purely because it was
generated with a computer.

I wanted people who had never even seen a computer before to
look at it and enjoy it as a film. I did a couple of things: I locked
the camera down, didn’t move it.

There’s so much stuff flying around in computer films.

Oh God, yeah; you get sick. They do it because you can do it.
And people tend to have real bright colors, without thinking
about the way things look.

After the film show, Jim Blinn, who’s one of the pioneers in
this field, came running up to me and said, “John, I have to ask
you a question.” And I thought, “God, I don’t know anything
about these algorithms; I know he’s going to ask me about the
shadow algorithms or something like that. And he asked me,
“John, was the parent lamp a mother or a father?”

You figured you had succeeded then.

Yes, exactly. Here, one of the real brains in computer graphics
was concerned more about whether the parent lamp was a
mother or a father.

It’s interesting; that question keeps coming up. A lot of people
say it’s a mother; a lot of people say it’s a father. I always
envisioned it as a father, but it’s based greatly on my mother. To
me, if it was a mother lamp, she would never let the baby jump
up on that ball But the dad is like, “Go ahead, jump up on it, fall
off and break your bulb. Youll learn a lesson.”

What role do you play in making your. computer-animated
films in comparison to the role the director or animator plays
in the creation of a..traditional animated film?

I come up with the initial concepts. We bounce the idea around
with the crew we have. Most of them have computer
backgrounds, but over the years they’ve become quite savvy
with animation and stories.

So we usually develop the stories together, and I’ll do the
storyboard. From the storyboard we define what needs to be
modeled. We generally divide up the modeling task between the
crew. I’ll do some modeling, and then I’ll do all the animation,
generally. Some of the other people have started doing a little bit
of the animation.

I also direct it as far as what it looks like, color decisions,
staging it, doing the angles. It’s sort of up to me to keep the
storyline together in my head. And then Bill and Eben usually
are the ones who render it, after I’m finished doing the
animation.

Have you been particularly influenced by any artists in your
work?

Yes. There’s Walt Disney; his films are just brilliant in their
staging and characters, of course. Chuck Jones is probably my
next biggest influence. As a director, he has the greatest timing
there is; I think you’ll agree with that.

But also there’s Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston as
animators. The reason I like their work so much is that they do
such great characters. I love the work of Ward Kimball as well;
he’s a big influence. But his work, and Milt Kahl’s work, are
much more identifiable. You’ll look at Milt Kahl’s work and say,
“Oh, there’s a Milt Kahl scene.” His stuff is brilliant, but I think
Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston do work where the character
is it, is everything, and their stuff just comes alive.

Also Norman McLaren and the Canadian Film Board…

How has he influenced you – his use of color?

Yes, and also- his series of films called “Animated Motion.”
They’re such wonderful teaching tools.

You know, in going to Cal Arts, and being born and raised in
Los Angeles, Disney and Warner Bros. cartoons were basically
my sole influence. But since I left Disney and started doing
short films, I’ve been going to animation festivals around the
world. And that’s like a whole new world that’s opened up to me
of short films: the Film Board, all the European films, and even
things from the United States. Stuff that you never, ever see,
and it’s such great work. The work of Paul Driessen, the work
of Bill Condie. Cordell Barker’s The Cat Came Back is just
fabulous. I keep getting influenced by these people.

And I loved Roger Rabbit. It’s almost like an animated film for
animators. All the gags they pulled from history. They just went
nuts, and it’s really fun.

What are some of the stumbling blocks in using computer
animation- things you’d like to do but can’t? Is that in your
mind much?

In computer animation there are a lot of limitations that
traditional animation doesn’t have. And vice versa, actually. As
soon as I started working with computer animation, I realized
that the easiest thing to do in hand-drawn animation are the
most difficult to do in computer animation. An example of that
is organic shapes, like Dopey and all the great animation of the
Dwarfs. You see that and it’s just so fluid, and yet it seems
connected. That’s so hard to do with computer animation; it’s
virtually impossible. It’s easy to make a sphere or any object
scale in X, Y. or Z, but to make something move around and
keep the same volume is so hard. We keep doing research in
that area.

But then trying to animate a room with a moving camera shot
in hand animation, is also virtually impossible. And also, the
shadowing, and shading, and lighting, and reflection,
refraction…all that stuff you get in computer animation is
virtually impossible to do in hand animation. To me, it’s really
important for animators to understand the medium they’re
working in, whether it’s sand animation, clay animation, cel
animation, or computer animation.

Traditional animation is one cheat after another. It’s always an
illusion of depth, or illusion of this or that. When I work with
the computer graphics guys, they seen much more to be purists.
They really want it to be truly refractive, truly this or that. So
I’ve introduced a lot of traditional animation-like cheats into the
computer animation we do, and it’s really broadened their
perspective a little bit.

We keep pushing the boundaries out, and now I know exactly
what areas are very important to me but difficult to do, and
those are the areas are the kinds of places we focus in on. If
you’ve seen procedural animation, like Chris Wedge’s Balloon
Guy, where things are just kind of blublublublubluba. (Flops
around loosely in imitation of Balloon Guy) – I love that kind of
thing. The way Chris did it with Balloon Guy is great, because
he as an animator defined the initial stuff, and then let the
computer do it.

There are a lot of people who are just letting the computer do
the animation. You can just type in “Character Walk,” and it’ll
walk someplace. That takes the fun out of it for the animator.
So what we’ve done is always keep the animator in initial
control, and then let the computer do some of the more
mundane stuff. The first use of procedural animation was in
Luxo Jr., with the the ball rolling. Making a ball roll on the
ground is actually quite difficult, because you have to match the
translation with the rotation, and the size of the ball and so on.
And I sat there with a calculator figuring all this out, and I
realized, “What am I doing? Computers should be able to do
this.”

So Eben wrote this whole procedural animation system we
have that does that. In Red’s Dream we did it with the unicycle:
the wheels turning, and keeping the pedals flat, and all that. All
I did was to do a pass, with the timing of it and the character
moving around. The snow (in Knickknack) is another good
example. I just animated the character, and played with a few
parameters, and the computer did all of the snow floating
around. So as we go on, more and more tools are being
developed. It’s getting more and more power, but the animator
still has the initial control, and we can still tweak it after the
computer is done.

Which of your films or characters do you think has been most
successful so far in achieving what you want to do?

Luxo Jr., without question. Tin Toy won the Oscar, but I wish
the baby had been a little more cute. But the story was to the
point where it was a baby monster, so it worked. It worked
really well, in fact; it may have been better, since the baby
looked kind of bizarre, than it might have if the baby was really,
really cute.

I like the sad ending in Red’s Dream. Knickknack I think
works really quite well. It’s surprising the reaction that it’s
getting. But generally, most peoples’ favorite is Luxo Jr.,
because it’s just this little simple thing, and it’s complete on its
own.

Knickknack seems more cartoony than your other films.

Right, it was a very conscious decision.

It’s more of a gag cartoon.

Right. After Tin Toy, we really wanted to do a cartoon. I went
back and looked at my collection of Chuck Jones and things.

Another thing I wanted to ask you about was the sound effects
in your films. They seem more important than in most animated
films, and I was wondering if that was something related to the
fact that you’re working in computer animation, or if you’d do
that no matter what.

I’d do that no matter what. It’s the work of Gary Rydstrom, who
works at Sprocket Systems, which is the post production facility
at Lucasfilm. He’s brilliant; we’ve become really close friends.

Sound has been very important to me. Actually back when I
was a student and first began cutting sound effects to go with
my animation, I had this scene where a lamp was falling from a
shelf and breaking its lightbulb. I was trying all these big
crashes, and nothing was working. And I accidentally synched
up the wrong sound to it, which was this little tiny minute little
“tink,” with this big camera jar and everything. I just cracked up
because it gave it a completely different feeling. And in a way,
it was that moment that I realized how important good sound
effects were.

On Andre and Wally B. the sound was done by Ben Burtt,
who’s won numerous Oscars for Star Wars and Raiders and all
those things, and he had so much fun doing it. And Gary’s done
all the sound effects from Luxo on. I bring Gary in even-. before
die story-board is complete;: I’ll show him the initial ideas, and I
always leave lots of openings in my animation for Gary to do
stuff. Tin Toy was probably the peak, because he did all that:
wonderful stuff. Just the fact that it was a one-man band was
for Gary, because I knew he would have a lot of fun doing it.

On Tin Toy, he was cutting the sound effects for Cocoon II at
the same time. Cocoon II took him about a day, day and a half
to-do the sound.effects for one reel. Eight or nine reels make up
a complete film. Gary took six weeks to do the sound effects for
Tin Toy, because he was so into it. He was so into it because he
loved it. He was doing it on his own time, and he kept layering
and layering sound after sound. There must have been twenty
different tracks for Tin Toy, and it really shows, be cause it’s so
rich.

Also, I’ve found that when I do animation, it’s very important
for me that you get a sense that the character is made out of a
particular something. I wanted the feeling with the lamps (in
Luxo Jr.) that their bases were very heavy, so when they land
it’s with a thud, and so on. In Tin Toy it was very important to
get a sense that the character was made out of tin, and that the
baby was flesh-and-blood and much more massive. Sound
really helps.

Is there a reason why all your films are basically in
pantomime?

You noticed that. I’ve done two student films one called Lady
and the Lamp, and the other called Nightmare. Lady and the
Lamp won a student Academy Award in 1979 for animation,
and then Nightmare won the same award the next year. Lady
and the Lamp, my very first film, is the only one that has any
dialogue.

Each film, I want to give myself a challenge, to make it
interesting. If you keep doing the same old thing, it’s “Ho,
hum.” With Lady and the Lamp, it’s the story of a lamp shop
where all the lamps are alive, and this one little lamp breaks its
light bulb and goes blind. It feels around trying to find another
light bulb and ends up screwing in a gin bottle and getting
drunk, and destroying the lamp shop. And it was very important
that that I wanted to do this character that didn’t talk. The lamp
doesn’t talk; it’s the shopkeeper that talks. I wanted to get the
sense that he was a character without doing the typical thing of
sticking a face on an inanimate object. And I think I succeeded.

The next year, everyone at Cal Arts was doing things with
dialogue. I wanted to do Nightmare without any dialogue, to
just let the film play by itself. It was a challenge at the time to
do it without dialogue. And then when I went back and did
Luxo Jr., I just went on from there.

So you were thinking that way before you got involved with
computer animation.

Oh yes. One thing that Chuck -Jones said that always has been
in my mind – I guess it was a comment towards Saturday
morning cartoons – is that with really good animation you
should be able to turn the sound off and still know what’s going
on. That’s something I’ve always taken to heart, and it’s been the
foundation of my stories in a lot of ways.

I think maybe soon Ill start experimenting with doing
dialogue with computer animation. Generally, the dialogue I’ve
seen with computer animation has been pretty weak. There are
all these principles and things that over the years people have
developed with animating dialogue. At Disney, they teach you
certain things, and I’m real interested in applying those to
computer animation as well, like I’ve applied the other
principles of animation, like stretch and squash, and
anticipation, and timing and so on.

Are you interested, when it becomes economically feasible, in
doing longer computer-animated films, like features?

Yes, that’s what we’re working towards. The goal of our group
is to eventually do a feature film. Ever since I’ve been with the
group, we’ve been researching and developing computer
animation systems, and with my influence it’s very important to
have computer animation systems that are developed for
traditional animators to use. It takes quite a lot of training, but
the tools are there that people are used to. And we want to get
into longer forms of animation

When will that become feasible?

It’s hard to say, but not long. We’re starting to develop some
longer-format stuff.

Where do you see computer animation and yourself being in
ten years or so’ Do you see an end to hand-drawn animation?

Never. Never, never, never, never. Computer animation is
different than hand-drawn animation. One of the misnomers
that a lot of people think about is that computers go into other
industries and replace hand workers. It’s not that way at all with
computer animation; it’s a very different look.

Where I see the future, to be honest, is something I want to do
more of: a combination of character animation done by hand,
and character animation done by computers, and backgrounds
done by painting and computer combined together. The
technology we’re developing is going to make it a lot more
feasible to do that sort of thing, so it blends together better than
in the past. Cel animation looks so different than computer
animation, but I think with developments like what we did in
the Wild Things test , and like in Roger Rabbit – the
-shading-that they achieved – you’ll be able to make cel
animation look a little rounder, more like you can do with
computer animation.

==========================
animation/long.messages #179, from hmccracken, 21198 chars, Mon Jul 22 01:09:44 1996
————————–
Welcome to Burbank Florida
A Visit to Disney Animation Florida
(From Animato #19, Winter 1990.)

By Harry McCracken

The Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park, which joined
the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT Center at Walt
Disney World last May, is a place where pieces of
movie legend – from Dorothy’s ruby slippers to the
piano on which Sam played it again to Hollywood
Boulevard itself – have somehow magically landed in
central Florida. Tucked in one corner of the place is
one of the most significant Hollywood icons that has
made the trip: an animation studio making Disney
cartoons with classic characters like Mickey Mouse
and new stars like Roger Rabbit.

While the attraction opened its doors to Disney
World visitors only this year, in one sense its roots
stretch back to the 1930s, when Disney first began
having to explain that it did not offer tours of its
animation studio. (An earlier stab at addressing this
problem grew from a proposed playground on the
Burbank studio property into Disneyland.) Planning
for the Disney-MGM Studios project began not long
after the present Disney studio management led by
Michael Eisner assumed power, and the resulting park
combines facets of the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT
Center into a theme park which complements its two
neighbors on the Disney property (If the Magic
Kingdom’s greatest appeal is to children, and EPCOT
is of particular interest to grownups, Disney-MGM
seems to be aimed most squarely at teenagers and
young adults. Of course, all three parks are perfectly
capable of captivating visitors of any age.)

The park’s attractions range from the purely fanciful
– a Hollywood Boulevard inspired more by every
movie fan’s dreams than the actual street, an elaborate
ride through great moments in film history – to a
working film production center where visitors can
discover how movies are made. It is here that the
animation studio tour is located, along with a
“Backstage Movie Tour” built around soundstages
and sets where live action television programs,
movies, and commercials are filmed.

The animation building really holds two intertwined
operations: a Disney-MGM Theme Park attraction –
“The Magic of Disney Animation” – and an animation
studio – Walt Disney Animation Florida – that will be
producing animated shorts and featurettes as well as
other-special projects. The attraction, which makes
the actual animation studio the centerpiece of an
experience that includes films and an art exhibit, does
a fine job of taking visitors behind the scenes of
Disney animation. While there is humor, in the form
of a film and several short video presentations
featuring Robin Williams, the overall tone is
scholarly, almost reverent; the mood is reminiscent of
Frank Thomas and Oliver Johnston’s Disney
Animation: the Illusion of Life or one of the other big
art books on the studio’s work. (Interestingly, the
animation studio tour is much more serious and less
glitzy than the live-action studio tour that sits next
door on the Disney-MGM lot.)

Walt Disney Animation Florida’s staff had to be
built from scratch, a not-inconsiderable task given
that the state does not have a natural abundance of
professional animators. (Although once upon a time
there was another major animation studio in the state;
see this issue’s “Koko Komments” for more
information on the Fleischer studio’s period there.)

The staff includes eight animators from a variety of
backgrounds: Mark Henn came to the studio after
contributing to every Disney animated feature from
The Fox and the Hound to The Little Mermaid (for
which he animated many of the title character’s
scenes). Bngitte Hartley arrived a veteran of the
London TV-commercial industry and an animator on
Who Framed Roger Rabbit. And Alex Kuperschmidt
has been working as an artist at Walt Disney World
for several years, including as an animator for a small
animation group which has since been disbanded. The
staff also includes artists “on loan” from the
California studio for special projects, like Mark
Kausler, whose past credits range from Yellow
Submarine to early Ralph Bakshi features to Daffy
Duck’s Quackbusters; he put his experience from
Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Tummy Trouble to
use during several months at the studio spent working
as an animator and storyman on the studio’s first
theatrical cartoon, Roller Coaster Rabbit.

Much of the staff is made up of young artists new to
the animation business, many of them graduates of
Disney’s California studio’s internship program.
Disney Animation Florida has also begun its own
apprenticeship system, drawing on students from five
art schools across the country, including CalArts and
Sarasota, Florida’s Ringling School of Art and
Design. Ten to fifteen seniors and juniors participate
in each training session, working independently at
first, and eventually graduating to inbetweening and
other production work on the studio’s films. Some of
the best artists who have completed the program are
offered positions as assistants; some of the most
promising assistants are being groomed to become
animators on future projects. “They’re all wildly
talented as artists,” says Brigitte Hartley of the
students in the program, “It’s great to have that
around.”

The facilities these artists work in are new,
nicely-equipped and organized, and attractive. “Well,
it’s such a beautiful studio,” Mark Kausler says “It’s
just a great place to work, a beautiful environment.”
The studio, with a staff of about eighty, is small in
comparison to the California Disney facilities, and
compact enough that visitors can peer into each
department from story to editing without tiring their
feet. Mark Henn comments that “It’s nice being in a
smaller group like this, where everything is at your
fingertips: Camera, editorial…everything is close at
hand. Being a tight group like this, hopefully you’ll
have better communication, which is a major problem
not just in animation, but in any business of this size.”

There is also the odd fact that, unlike any other
animation artists in history, these ones work under the
close inspection of hundreds of Florida tourists. (Not
every nook and cranny of the studio is visible to
guests, but neither are there great amounts of space
that aren’t apparent to them.) The studio is
soundproofed off from the visitor area, so sound isn’t
much of a problem, except for video monitors that
continuously play the Walter Cronkite-Robin
Williams loops. Some of the employees have taken to
shielding these out with the help of Walkman-type
tape players. Most artists adjust quickly to the faces
watching them; their communications with visitors
are mostly limited to a few funny signs taped to the
window and the occasional suction cup-tipped dart
shot at the glass.

Having decided to operate a cartoon studio as part of
the Disney-MGM Theme Park, Disney was faced
with the question of what to do with the animation it
produced. At first, the plans were for the studio to
make theatrical featurettes starring Mickey Mouse
and other classic Disney characters, something the
studio had intended to do ever since the success of
Mickey’s Christmas Carol in 1983. Using Mickey and
his crowd would serve another purpose: audiences are
probably more interested in seeing artists at work on
cartoons with famous characters than new ones they
aren’t familiar with.

The studio will be doing this: its second major
project is a retelling of The Prince and the Pauper
with Mickey in both title roles and many of his
friends in the supporting cast. During the Summer of
1988, however, Who Framed Roger Rabbit opened
and caused a sensation, and suddenly Disney had its
new star in decades who was perfectly suited to
short-subject parts. And so Disney Animation
Florida’s first project for theatrical release became
Roller Coaster Rabbit, a seven-minute Roger Rabbit
cartoon which will reportedly open with Touchstone’s
Dick Tracy next Summer. One Roger short, Tummy
Trouble, had already been produced in California,
with some ink-and-paint work done in the Florida
studio; both it and Roller Coaster Rabbit were
directed by Rob Minkoff.

Roller Coaster Rabbit’s story was conceived and
storyboarded in California, along with Tummy
Trouble and three other Roger stories which may be
animated in the future: Hare in My Soup, Pressed
and Impressed, and Beach Blanket Bunny. (The
animation tour’s story room, incidentally, is the one
area that is at this time a mock-up rather than a real,
operating facility; The Prince and the Pauper was
also storyboarded in Burbank.)

The cartoon takes Roger, along with Baby Herman
and his mother, to a county fair, the atmosphere of
which Mark Kausler compares to the animated
sequences of Disney’s So Dear to My Heart. As in
Somethin’s Cookin’ (the Roger short that opened Who
Framed Roger Rabbit) and Tummy Trouble, the
storyline concerns Roger’s hapless attempts to save
Herman and himself from perilous situations, of
which the fair proves an extremely rich source. Roger
pursues the baby through a dart game and shooting
gallery, around a ferris wheel (in a scene that may not
make it into the final film), and into the bullpen home
of a bull who resembles a more belligerent cousin of
Disney’s version of Ferdinand. The climactic scene
comes when Roger and Herman find their way onto
the title’s roller coaster, which is computer animated a
la the clockwork scene in The Great Mouse
Detective; and as in Tummy Trouble, there is a
surprise ending incorporating live-action footage.
(During the cartoon, Jessica Rabbit makes a cameo as
the operator of an understandably-popular kissing
booth.)

Like Who Framed Roger Rabbit’s animation and
Tummy Trouble, Roller Coaster Rabbit is done in the
style of the mythical Maroon Cartoons studio, which
Alex Kuperschmidt describes as “taking the best of
American cartoon forms and combining them all in
one…a hybrid of of Tex Avery’s sensibility with a
Disney quality.” Avery’s influence is felt in the visual
style – the look somewhat resembles that of his early
films for MGM – but most importantly in the; films’
gags. Every time Roger Rabbit does a take, it’s a
loving tribute to Tex Avery and his importance in the
history of American animation.

But Kausler says that the exaggerated gags are “the
only thing that’s survived from the forties. Everything
else is like a feature; Roger is really a feature
character. Not just a crazy little character like Droopy
or the buzzards in What’s Buzzin’ Buzzard [Tex
Avery, 1943], which he somewhat resembles. He’s
got a little more depth to him than that.” (Although
Brigitte Hartley, whose work on Roller Coaster
Rabbit focused on Baby Herman, laughs that she
“worked on Roger in the film [Who Framed Roger
Rabbit], but he’s become too wacky. I can’t keep up
with him.”

The production process on the short, too, bears little
resemblance to the traditiona1 cartoon-making
system, in which budgets were tight and the story was
planned down to the last detail before animation
began. Mark Kausler estimates that only one out of
every four animation drawings done for Tummy
Trouble ended up on the screen, and suspects the ratio
on Roller Coaster Rabbit to be similar. “It’s much
more of a live-action approach,” he says. “They think
in terms of shooting ratios, how much stuff can be
done over, rewrites at the last minute, just like in
live-action filmmaking.”

Mark Henn agrees, and notes Walt Disney Studios’
Chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg’s influence on how
Disney animation is produced in both California and
Florida. “It’s a kind of a hybrid of live-action and the
way Disney used to make films. Knowing that in one
sense nothing is ever locked, and there’s always room
for improvement, but with this hurry-up,
we’ve-got-to-get-it-done-yesterday kind of pace. In a
lot of ways, it’s good, because you don’t have to wait
four or five years to see your finished work. You
don’t spend so much time on it that you lose your
objectivity.”

The work pace is much brisker on the Roger
cartoons and new features than the leisurely gait that
Disney animation had settled into in the 1960s and
1970s, but in many ways the attention to detail on
Roller Coaster Rabbit is exceptionally high. (The
Roger shorts are by far the most expensive short
cartoons ever produced.) Mark Kausler: “Everything
is on a higher level. The cleanup is a lot more refined;
they don’t just take the animators’ drawings and
Xerox them. It goes through a whole different stage:
the cleanup people have to make it very, very precise,
and add all the little things – like his pants cuffs
falling through, what happens to his ears and hair, the
amount of delay on every part of his body.
Essentially, you’re using two sets of animators for
every scene.”

This painstaking work pays off: while the
animation is filmed using the Xerox camera, which
usually results in a rougher line quality, Roller
Coaster Rabbit has a slick, hand-inked look straight
out of the 1940s.

While much of what’s new about the approach to
production taken on the cartoon is also taking place
on the Disney animation features, there are some
notable differences. On the features, animators are
typically “cast,” with each animator spending most of
his or her time on a particular character’s or
characters’ appearances throughout the movie.
Animation on the Roger Rabbit cartoons however, is
assigned primarily by scene, with each animator being
responsible for a scene and all the characters in it.

Mark Henn draws some further contrasts between
animating on a Roger short and his work on the
features: “It’s a very different style of animation. It’s
very broad; it’s very action-oriented, very fast-paced.
It’s kind of as if you were taking a very well-known
dramatic actor and putting him in a comedy role, or
vice-versa. It’s putting on a slightly different hat for
me, which is good; I like the challenge of doing
something different.”

“It differs from the other studio in that our
organization is a little primitive, compared with
California,” notes Kausler. “We’re still developing,
and we don’t really have a smooth, efficient way to
work, because we haven’t done enough pictures yet. I
think when we get more production in, we’ll finally
get it up to speed where everybody’s comfortable.
Right now we’re going in fits and starts.” (At this
time, the Orlando studio’s work must be approved in
Burbank, necessitating plane trips back and forth for
the directors and a certain amount of further delay.)

Chances are that the studio will get the opportunity
to achieve the development Kausler refers to:
attendance figures at Disney-MGM Studios Theme
Park are said to have surpassed even the company’s
immodest expectations, and that The Magic of Disney
Animation attraction and Disney Animation Florida
will be around for many years to come seems assured.
Exactly what the studio will be doing is harder to say.
There are as of yet no long-term plans (no public
ones, anyway), and what projects the studio gets is
likely to depend on what needs doing at any given
time.

The immediate future, after Roller Coaster Rabbit
and The Prince and the Pauper, will probably include
more featurettes starring Mickey and the gang, and
perhaps more Roger Rabbit cartoons, if Disney and
Spielberg choose to continue their collaboration on
the character. As the need arises for commercials and
other special projects involving Disney characters,
they may be done there as well; a McDonald’s ad
featuring characters from The Little Mermaid was the
first job completed at the studio.

There may also be some work on feature films: the
studio has already helped out on the the ink-and-paint
for The Little Mermaid (and received its own set of
credits in the film for doing so). Mark Henn will be
doing some animation from Florida on The Rescuers
Down Under, in addition to his work on The Prince
and the Pauper, and studio officials have reportedly
considered using the Florida studio as a unit on
upcoming features.

The ultimate project for the studio, of course, would
be a feature film of its very own. Such a task would
require major expansions of both the staff and the
studio facilities, neither of which is currently planned.
Mark Henn for one, would like to see it happen, and
calls it his long-term goal.

A Disney animated feature produced entirely in a
state other than California is an odd thought, but no
odder than the mere idea of a Disney studio outside of
that state would have been a few years ago. Florida
won’t even be the only home of a satellite Disney
cartoon studio: the company recently announced plans
for a second Disney-MGM park at Euro Disneyland
outside of Paris, which will also have its own
animation facility

Whatever the future holds, there will be a lot of
cartoon fans watching with interest what goes on at
Walt Disney Animation Florida. And possibly
ducking a well-aimed plastic dart shot in their
direction.

Sidebar: The Magic of Disney Animation: A Guided
Tour

The first thing visitors to The Magic of Disney
Animation lay their eyes upon when entering the
attraction is an imposing case filled with thirteen of
the Academy Awards the Disney studio has won for
animated films over the decades. The case is the
centerpiece of a small but impressive museum of
Disney animation art and other memorabilia from the
studio’s origins to The Little Mermaid, the contents of
which will change every six months.

The gallery also serves as a waiting area for Back to
Never Land, a film starring Walter Cronkite and
Robin Williams that introduces visitors to the basics
of animated-film production. This film is a delight
which, like the attraction as a whole, entertains and
educates in equal parts. Williams gets changed into an
animated character – one of the Lost Boys from Peter
Pan, to be exact – as Cronkite briefly explains each
step of the animation process. The film’s animation,
directed by Jerry Rees, is a nicely-done pastiche of
the Peter Pan style. Williams is hilarious, and
Cronkite is an agreeably avuncular host whose
demeanor and voice bear a startling resemblance to
those of another Walt who used to give similar
presentations about Disney animation on TV. (Back
to Never Land was, incidentally, produced outside the
Disney studio by Bob Rogers.)

After the film is over, visitors enter the animation
studio tour itself, which is conducted along a raised,
glassed-in area from which each studio department
can be viewed in sequence. The tour, accompanied by
video monitors playing further Cronkite/Williams
explanatory material, is almost unique among Disney
theme park attractions in that it is self-guided; visitors
are invited to stay as long as they wish and watch
artists and other employees at work. Stops on the tour
include story, animation, clean up, effects,
backgrounds, photocopying process (aka Xerox),
paint lab, ink and paint, camera, and editing. The
studio is on a staggered work schedule, so that
visitors will find employees at work during most of
the park’s open hours, including nights and-
weekends, although animation and ink and paint are
the only two departments in which workers are almost
always visible. These are also the departments in
which park guests are most likely to want to take their
time: watching the artists laboring over animation and
eels for films which won’t be released for many
months is fascinating, and like most animation
studios, the place is filled with gag drawings,
memorabilia, and other interesting clutter that’s fun to
take note of. (Animation fans are especially likely to
want to linger in the place and take in the little details
to be seen, like model sheets, copies of books on the
work of Disney and other studios, and even, on one
artist’s desk, an inscribed sketch of Bugs Bunny by
Chuck Jones.)

At the end of the touring area is a small theater area
in which a video program featuring film clips and
interviews with Disney animators is shown; like the
art display, it also serves as a painless waiting area,
this time for a concluding film show of classic Disney
animation clips in an adjacent theater. (As is common
with such compilations, the film – which oddly
ignores the short subjects almost entirely in favor of
brief snippets of the animated features -is not terribly
satisfying. It would be nice to see it replaced with a
complete Disney short, which might change on a
rotating basis.)

From there, visitors exit back into the Disney-MGM
park, by way, if they choose, of an elegant shop
which sells mementos including books, posters, and
greeting cards, authentic animation paper and pencils,
and production art and limited-edition eels costing
thousands of dollars. (Animation fans with long
memories may grow nostalgic for the long-gone days
when Disneyland’s Art Corner sold choice cels from
the l950s features for a few dollars apiece.)

==========================
animation/long.messages #180, from hmccracken, 6383 chars, Wed Jul 31 22:05:54 1996
————————–
Curiosity Shop

In Praise of 8mm

By Harry McCracken

Call me a technological renegade, a throwback. All my cartoon-loving
friends seem to be investing in laserdisc players, 27-inch TVs, and
satellite dishes, the better to watch classic American animation in all its
glory.

So why am I sitting in my darkened living room, using an 8mm
projector to cast an Inspector Willoughby cartoon against the wall? A
silent, heavily-edited, black-and-white Inspector Willoughby cartoon?

It wasn’t nostalgia that attracted me to 8mm cartoons; my family had no
home-movie setup when I was a kid. None of my friends seemed to,
either. Indeed, the only times I was reminded that anyone did was on
rare ocassions when my father dragged me on a trip to the local camera
shop: I’d entertain myself by browsing through the spinning racks of
Disney films.

My only memories of actually *watching* 8mm animation come from
occasional family dinners at the Ground Round. Walter Lantz cartoons
flickered silently in one corner of the room, a sideshow to the main
attractions: greasy steaks, pitchers of root beer, and free popcorn; for all
I know, those cartoons flicker still today.

For whatever reason, though, I’m finally becoming addicted to 8mm
home movies — at least twenty years after the rest of the country forgot
all about them. Where do you find an 8mm projector to buy these days?
They aren’t exactly plentiful. I got mine, a plasticky little GAF model
from the 1970s, for $10 from a wizened old man who had a cellarful of
them. It’s decrepid and it’s flimsy, but it works just fine and can play
either ordinary 8mm or Super 8 reels.

The movies themselves are a bit simpler to locate; take a look around
the nooks and crannies of your local flea market or antique store and
you’re likely to spot some, usually at giveaway prices. (To get to the
cartoons, you’ll need to sift through other 8mm fare, such as extracts
from Abbott and Costello flicks and highlights from fifty year-old
boxing matches.) I suspect that it’s the colorful boxes that keep home
movies in circulation, not the thought that anyone is going to want to
watch the films inside.

But I do. And I’m discovering that 8mm home animation is — or should
I say was? — a fascinating world.

For one thing, it’s a distinctly *different* world than that of big-time
theatrical animation. In a theater or on TV, Chilly Willy is a distinctly
minor cartoon character; in the world of 8mm, he’s a bonafide star,
whose films were among the most widely circulated of any character.
Walter Lantz characters in general had high profiles in the home-movie
business, being, as they were, the top attractions of Castle Films, one of
the leading home-movie companies.

Official Films was another home-movie powerhouse. I have one of its
catalogs from the late 1940s that’s a veritable museum of obscure
cartoon shorts. Van Beuren, Columbia, Ted Eshbaugh — the company
dealt in the work of the most hapless of all cartoon studios. Most of the
films it sold were one-shots with generic cartoon characters; about the
closest it got to a star was Van Beuren’s enormously forgettable Cubby
Bear, whom Official inexplicably redubbed Brownie.

Whatever the studio, 8mm home-movie cartoons are generally edited
down, ofen drastically so; they’re in black-and-white; and they feature
subtitles instead of sound. (I realize that color home movies with audio
tracks exist, but I’m not interested in them; color and sound would spoil
the purity of the experience, somehow.)

Chuck Jones has rightly said that you judge if a cartoon’s any good by
seeing whether you can tell what’s going on with the sound turned
down. But even when a silent 8mm cartoon passes this basic test, it
usually isn’t very funny. Viewing a silent Warner Bros. cartoon, for
example, impresses upon you very quickly just how important Mel
Blanc’s voice, Carl Stalling’s music, and the dialogue of such writers as
Mike Maltese were. (8mm cartoons usually had extremely perfunctory
on-screen captions, presumably so they could be quickly taken in by
inexperienced young readers.) Even the most pedestrian of Woody
Woodpecker cartoons takes on new qualities when watched on 8mm;
seeing Woody laugh without *hearing* Woody laugh is an odd
experience indeed.

Okay, so 8mm cartoons are a laughably rinkydink form of amusement
by contemporary standards. It’s worth remembering, though, that in the
old days, home movies were by no means inexpensive fare. My Official
Films catalog from the late 1940s lists 8mm cartoon prints at $5.50
apiece — a considerable entertainment investment in an era when a
comic book sold for a dime and a movie ticket cost a quarter.
Projectors, too, were luxury items: the 1972 Montgomery Ward catalog
lists several models, from between $60 and $160 apiece; more, in
constant dollars, than a good VCR costs today. To put these prices into
perspective, the same catalog has car batteries for $10, men’s suits, for
$55, and a sofa for $130. (It also has a primitive reel-to-reel, black-and-
white video camera and player for $1200 — one of the priciest items in
the whole book.)

That we can now pay $200 or less for a high-quality video tape player is
pretty impressive, but what’s downright remarkable is how cheap, and
widely available, cartoons have become. I can walk into just about any
supermarket or drugstore in my neighborhood and choose from a
selection of uncut, beautifully-restored Disney features — with sound
and color, even! — for fifteen dollars or so apiece. If you’d prophesied
this utopian situation to me twenty years ago, as I rummaged through
8mm cartoons at the photo store while waiting for my dad, I would
never have believed you.

When pressed, I’ll admit that I’ve got those glorious video copies of
Snow White and Pinocchio on my shelf, and I’m grateful to have them.
Still, I wouldn’t trade all the Disney tapes in the world for my collection
of ancient home-movie cartoons. Anyone care to join me for a private
screening of the Super 8 edition of Paul Terry’s The Happy Cobblers?

Harry McCracken, who works at PC World magazine when he’s not
covering weird and wonderful old animation in this column, wrote this
column on a thirteen year-old laptop computer. Know of any obscure
cartoons he should know about? Write him c/o Animato.

==========================
animation/long.messages #181, from hmccracken, 8075 chars, Wed Jul 31 22:07:33 1996
————————–
CURIOSITY SHOP

IN SEARCH OF SAM SINGER

By Harry McCracken

If the career of Ed Wood Jr. is any indication, being a truly terrible
filmmaker is an accomplishment worth celebrating. Wood – creator
of Plan Nine From Outer Space, Glen or Glenda, and other
legendarily awful live-action films – may have lived his life in
obscurity, but his perverse stature has led to posthumous books,
documentaries, and a Tim Burton film that must have cost many
times as much as all of Wood’s movies put together.

As far as I’m concerned, there’s no doubt who has earned the
peculiar distinction of being the Ed Wood of animation: Sam
Singer. Who? The fact that you probably haven’t heard of him just
proves my point — Singer’s career is just as obscure as Wood’s was
until recently. His work is just as individualistic, and just as
consistently rotten. Clearly, he’s an artist – a producer, actually —
whose work cries out for rediscovery.

Usually, I try to provide you with some background information
on the animation I discuss in this column, but in this case that’s
simply impossible. Except for a few inaccurate mentions in such
reference works as Jeff Lenburg’s Encyclopedia of Animated
Cartoons, Singer and his cartoons go almost completely
undocumented in animation reference books. (For all I know, he’s
alive, well, and reading this column.)

Not all Singer cartoons include credits, but those that do feature
the names of a few recognizable animation veterans, including Ken
Southworth and Reuben Timmins. Johnny Holiday was Singer’s
musical director, and Dal McKennon — the voice of Archie,
among many other TV cartoon characters – provided voices.
Singer’s company seems to have gone under more than one name,
Trans-Artists Productions being the most common one.

By normal standards, Singer’s Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse
is not a well-remembered cartoon series, but it’s the least forgotten
of his works, and the only one which occasionally comes up in
discussions of old cartoons. As I write this, it has also become the
only one of Singer’s series to be revived in recent years:
Nickelodeon’s Weinerville show has begun airing Courageous Cat
cartoons.

The one fact that animation fans are likely to recall about the show
is that Bob Kane, Batman’s father, created it. Not that doing so
required much inspiration: The title characters are essentially
Batman and Robin as poorly-drawn funny animals, complete with
a Catmobile, Catcave, and Commissioner Gordon-style bulldog
chief of police. Their arch-enemy is the Frog, an Edward G.
Robinson clone who is occasionally assisted by such lackluster
crooks as the Fox and a weird, oversized mouse sporting a
moustache, smock, and beret. Although its campy feel closely
resembles that of the Adam West/Burt Ward version of Batman,
Courageous Cat actually preceded the live-action Batman show,
dating from 1960.

One of my favorite Courageous Cat cartoons is The Case of the
Visiting Patient (a typical Singer title, at once prosaic and slightly
bizarre). Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse are visiting a
psychiatrist (as friends, not patients). The doc tells them that his
next appointment is with “your friend the Frog,” whom he asks
them to entertain while he leaves for some unspecified reason.
Courageous Cat promptly disguises himself as the shrink and
listens to the Frog’s problems, in hopes of uncovering secrets that
can be used against him; Minute Mouse hides behind a screen with
a tape recorder to capture the conversation. If this particular
method of crimefighting isn’t illegal, it certainly should be. (Come
to think of it, what would Watergate have been without
suspiciously similar antics involving secret tape recordings and
intrusions into a psychiatrist’s office?)

Another Courageous Cat cartoon, The Case of the Masked
Raiders, involves a crime wave by gangsters sporting grotesque
masks manufactured by the Frog. The short climaxes with a
supremely odd scene in which Minute Mouse browbeats a criminal
into squealing on the Frog by zestfully eating a pickle in front of
him; the criminal breaks down and sobs that he can’t bear to watch
anyone eat a juicy pickle. A true Sam Singer moment.

For me, though, Singer’s masterwork was Bucky and Pepito, a late
1950s series that’s the earliest Singer creation I know about, and
only from a handful of scratchy, decomposing prints that formerly
belonged to a rental library. From what I’ve seen, Bucky and
Pepito is the worst animated cartoon series ever made – the
animated equivalent of Wood’s Plan Nine from Outer Space.

Bucky is a cowboy-hatted, red-headed kid, and Pepito is the most
insulting sort of stereotype, a dimwitted Mexican fellow of
indeterminate age whom the show’s theme song describes as being
“oh so lazy, and so very, very slow.” The series is set somewhere
in an indeterminate part of the American Southwest, and the one
genuine compliment you can pay it is that the rocky landscape
paintings that serve as backgrounds are fairly attractive. Actually,
that theme song -“Bucky and Pepito: Such a funny, funny pair!” —
deserves praise, too, for being remarkably catchy in its own
offbeat way.

Like Courageous Cat, Bucky and Pepito features sloppy artwork,
a minimum of movement, and plots and dialogue that are full of
non-sequiturs. The pacing is leisurely in the extreme: Whenever
one character asks another a question, it seems to take at least
three or four seconds before there’s any sign of a response.

The best example of Bucky and Pepito – it may have been the first
one made – is a surrealistic little cartoon called Jumpin’ Frijoles.
Pepito finds an old pair of boots and puts them on, then helplessly
goes into a crazy dance which flings him high in the air through all
sorts of dangers, seemingly for several miles. Eventually, he’s
rescued by a winged palomino horse. It turns out that some
Mexican jumping beans had been lodged in the boots; Bucky and
Pepito appear to this riotously funny. Iris out to a refrain of the
theme song. Such a funny, funny pair.

In another adventure, The Ol’ Cannon, our youthful heroes have
fun using the titular weapon to shoot each other as human
cannonballs. (Kids, don’t try this at home). The cannon
misbehaves, though, and a character named Cal Coyote shows up
and volunteers to repair it. Most of the rest of the film is
pantomime slapstick of the coyote fumbling with the cannon,
shooting himself into a cloud and getting stuck there, and so on.
Yet another cartoon is built around gags involving a road runner;
Singer’s artists certainly went out of their way to pay Chuck Jones
the sincerest form of flattery.

Aside from Courageous Cat and Bucky and Pepito, I know of only
one other example of Singer’s work. In the mid-1960s, he
produced at least one cartoon for American International Pictures
starring Sinbad Jr., an adventure-seeking young sailor who is
better known – if he’s remembered at all — for appearing in shorts
done by Hanna-Barbera for AIP. Singer’s version of Sinbad is
more crudely-drawn than HB’s and has a different theme song, but
is just as forgettable. And sadly, not nearly as eccentric as Singer’s
other creations. Whether Singer’s attempt at Sinbad Jr. came
before or after the Hanna-Barbera’s work I’m not sure, but it’s easy
to imagine AIP being displeased with Singer’s work and bringing
in HB to finish off the series.

Does Singer have any more animation credits? Like I say, I don’t
know, but I hope so. His work may be bad, but it’s never boring.
And I hope that this column sparks the Singer revival that’s surely
overdue: I’m forward to the lavish coffee-table books, the big-
budget remakes of Courageous Cat and Bucky and Pepito, and the
Singer biopic starring Johnny Depp. Let the renaissance begin.

When not covering obscure animation for Animato, Harry
McCracken is a senior associate editor for PC World magazine in
Boston. Know of any weird and wonderful animation he should be
aware of? Write him c/o Animato.