Saturday, July 24, 2004
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After hastily scribbling an alibi I hook up with Mark and Cole to grab some brunch. We take the clown car to Café Paris for delicious waffles served by yet another blond goddess.

After our meal Mark and I are summoned to the studio to meet with Magnus. Weekends are meaningless in LazyTown; whenever we can get an audience with the boss we drop what we’re doing and grab our notepads (or in my case my iTalk). An hour later we’re at the studio for a crazy gabfest that lasts until late afternoon. Then it’s back to my apartment where a jazz band is playing to a crowd in the plaza beneath my balcony. I crack open a cold Viking and enjoy the sights and sounds. Y’know, I could get used to this.

I head over to a local dive to grab a bite and a beer while working on the notes from today’s meeting. At some point I call it a night and hit
the sack. Tomorrow’s a big day. I have a massage scheduled!

Goodnight and all that jazz,
Ken Pontac,
Iceland

GUMBY DHARMA is a new documentary about Gumby creator Art Clokey. It’s directed by Robina Marchesi, with new animation by Tim Hittle, and includes interviews with Ray Harryhausen, Henry Selick and Hittle, among others. A rough cut/work-in-progress print will screen tomorrow afternoon at 3pm at the Mill Valley Film Festival. Details can be found HERE. According to ASIFA-San Francisco prez Karl Cohen, the film is not sugar-coated in the least and offers an insightful look into Clokey’s work and life. Says Cohen: “The film is about where his creativity comes from, but instead of this being a cute charming story about inspiration, it is a biography involving several deaths, a childhood interrupted by a broken marriage, a cruel stepfather, rejection and other non-Disney elements. There is much joy in it including Art living with a grandfather who provided him with a new lease on life. Art explains that Gumby is his vision of a world where he can safely celebrate life and that he and all of us can be Gumby. The Gumby episodes are his daydreams of a world he missed growing up.” If you’re unable to make the screening tomorrow, the film is eventually going to be released onto home video.

We are overdue in mentioning Drew Carey’s Green Screen Show. It’s been on for two weeks now (Thursday nights at 8:30pm on The WB Network) and I’ve really enjoyed both episodes that have aired. In addition to the improv comedy provided by Drew and his talented crew, the animated embellishments from Ron Diamond’s ACME Filmworks are delightful, funny and visually arresting. This is a must-watch show for cartoon fans - the greatest collection of animated styles collected in a half hour since Pee-Wee’s Playhouse.That’s fitting as Prudence Fenton (of Pee Wee’s Playhouse, Liquid Television, etc.) is producing the animation with Diamond - and they have assembled an incredible array of talent to back up the comics: Eric Goldberg, Bill Plympton, Scott Ingalls, Mark Cabellero & Shamus Walsh, Bill Kroyer, Chris Prynowski, Paul Vester, Janet Perlman, Marv Newland, John Dilworth and Cordell Barker (to name but a few).The animated bits are outstanding. You can never tell what style of animation is coming up next - cartoon cel, stop motion puppets, rotoscope, CG - and that’s part of the fun of watching the show. Each segment has merit - and the show on the whole is an outstanding achievement (especially considering the short schedules the animators had to work within). I highly recommend you check it out.

I saw this drawing by Tom Oreb (character stylist on SLEEPING BEAUTY and TOOT, WHISTLE PLUNK & BOOM) for the first time yesterday. I’m not sure what it’s from, though it seems to be a design/layout drawing for the DICK TRACY TV series (1960) or a sketch from that era. For all its simplicity, the drawing works beautifully. It has personality, style and humor (the hands especially are funny), but more than anything, it’s just plain fun to look at. Oreb knew exactly where to add little hints of dimension, showing the underbrim of a hat and the inside of a character’s shirt, to give a sense of form to the otherwise flat designs. And below is a page of doodles by Oreb. Not quite as impressive, but still nice to see (click on the image for the full version).

I stumbled across an interesting blog post over at RobotJohnny.com that again mentions the “Uncanny Valley” theory and how Brad Bird has overcome this obstacle with THE INCREDIBLES. This comment in his entry perfectly sums up my thoughts: “The moment I saw the trailer for THE INCREDIBLES, I knew that Pixar had done something that no 3D film had done yet - they had created human characters that had some style to them and that didn’t try to emulate life.”

‘Nuff said.

Friday, July 23, 2004
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The alert reader will notice that there was no description of yesterday’s events.

We will speak no more about it.

I’ve been spending a lot of time with Stefan, teaching him how to talk like a pirate and swapping tall tales. He’s a really funny guy, and is becoming one of my pals in this production. We even dress alike, as the picture below illustrates.

Today’s a big day. I’m getting relocated from my temporary residence into my new “crib” (or “ágætur íbúd í the midja af the borg” as the kids in Iceland call it). It’s smack dab in the center of the city, and every time I show my gawking cohorts the address I receive gratifyingly raised eyebrows and “ahs” of envy. When the landlord asks me what my wife’s name is so he can put it on the mailbox “to make her feel that she has a home in Iceland when she visits” I almost weep.

Another important aspect of the day is the arrival of Cole Zaslove, Mark Zaslove’s kid and my little Oddchild. Cole is instantly smitten by Julianna, who he refers to as “the pink-haired girl.” I think she’s the first great love of his life (besides his mom, who’s also here), and it’s pretty damn adorable. I snap a picture of Cole and Julianna, an image that he will doubtlessly treasure forever.

Thorir tells me about a band that’s playing at a local guzzlery, but when I get there at 10pm the bar is practically empty and there’s no band. I spend some time (and WAY too much money) at a nearby strip club, and when I get back to the bar the joint’s jammed and the band is cranking. Thorir is nowhere to be seen, but that doesn’t stop me from ordering a Viking (the local brew) and listening to the REALLY LOUD music. I finish my beer and split, my ears ringing in Icelandic.

I weave through the streets as midnight approaches. The sun is visible on the horizon, and the sidewalks are crowded with people just getting ready to party. As I’m admiring a group of blond goddesses one of them smiles at me and breaks from the pack. It’s Gudrún, a seamstress from the show. She and I enter a nearby bar and chug suds and swap gossip for an hour. Gudrún, thanks for being my first Icelandic drinking buddy!

I stagger back to my new ágætur íbúð í the miðja af the borg and work on a LazyTown script in bed until I fall asleep with my computer heating my belly like a high-tech hot water bottle. Thank God this new place has blackout curtains. I just wish it had soundproof windows, because there’s a party right outside that ends up lasting until 5am.

Ken Pontac,
Pleasantly buzzed,
Iceland

Apparently the new REN & STIMPY: THE COMPLETE FIRST & SECOND SEASONS — UNCUT are not exactly uncut. Though the edits seem relatively minor, it’s hardly a smart idea for Paramount Home Entertainment to release a DVD with “uncut” printed in big letters on the cover when there are obvious edits in numerous cartoons. I haven’t seen a complete list of cuts yet, but some of the them are mentioned in this message board post. Also here is a letter from John Kricfalusi explaining his side in the whole matter.