Large front page story in the Sunday Calendar Section of the L.A. Times today on animation writers - particularly feature animation writers - and their desire to get residuals like their live-action counterparts.

My latest Flickr set is comprised of photos from the collection of animation legend Ray Aragon. The photos were taken in June and July 1958 at Disney. Most of the artists in these pics worked in the layout and background departments at Disney; at the time they were completing work on SLEEPING BEAUTY and beginning production on 101 DALMATIANS. These photos also appear in ANIMATION BLAST #9. Speaking of which, the issues have just arrived! I’ll have an update posted soon about that.

I’m way overdue in mentioning this traditional hand drawn adult feature now in production at IDT Film Roman in Burbank.I was visiting some friends on The Simpsons yesterday and wound up checking out some of the pre-production art for the Rob Zombie animated feature The Haunted World Of El Superbeasto. There’s no doubt in my mind that this, at worst, will become a cult classic — and at best, it just might inspire other traditional animators to produce something equally innovative, commercially atractive and as artistically satisfying as this.Based on a Zombie-authored comic book from a few years back, the film is an R-rated action-comedy cartoon about a retired Luchador and his sexy secret agent sister and their battle against an evil super villian, his zombies and… oh yes… Hitler’s head in a jar. It’s loaded with female nudity and lots of gratuitous bloodshed… and it looks hilarious. Laugh out loud funny. It’s got funny drawings and an all-star voice cast (Paul Giamatti is Dr. Satan, pictured above) — it looks a lot better than it has any right to be.Mr. Lawrence (Spongebob Squarepants) is the director on the project and Rob Zombie himself has a hands-on creative role as co-writer and executive producer. Bob Jaques (Ren & Stimpy) is involved with the timing. The film was originally a direct-to-video project but it’s turning out so well that a theatrical release is being planned. I’ll try have more info on this film as the production continues on - it’ll certainly be one to keep your eye on for next year.

If you’re in Edinburgh, Scotland anytime in the next week, you may want to check out a play called MICKEY MOUSE IS DEAD writen by Jessi D. Hill. Here’s the description:

A searing look into friendship, national identity and the politics of paranoia, the Happiest Place on Earth will never be the same.

Hollywood, 1952. Are the Communists coming? Senator McCarthy hunts Reds, the Rosenbergs are doomed to die, and Walt Disney spies for the FBI. Harris and Finch, scriptwriters at the Disney Studio, are plotting to unionize. Walt’s just been called to name names. How much does he know about them? Can Grace, Finch’s trust-fund girlfriend, penetrate Walt’s private playground? How far will Walt go to save Mickey Mouse from becoming a Commie Yid?

After reading reviews of the play, the first thing I noticed is that it’s about two Disney scriptwriters who write animated shorts. Notice a problem with that? Scriptwriters didn’t write shorts at Disney, story artists did. Also, in this play, the writers are trying to unionize in the early-1950s, which makes no sense because at the time Disney artists had already been unionized for over a decade. I understand that it’s a piece of fiction, but if the playwright hasn’t even made the effort to create a semi-believable set-up, it makes one seriously question the rest of the production. For my money, a play about the actual Disney strike of ‘41, and the tensions between artists on the picketline and those who remained inside, would make a far more riveting and interesting production. Then again, a play like that would require a writer who actually knows his history. Reviews of this play can be found HERE, HERE and HERE.
(Thanks, Andrew Osmond)

UPDATE: Corey Klemow writes about a Disney-themed play currently being staged in Los Angeles:

There must be something in the air… there’s also a play in L.A. right now set at the Disney studios. “Lobster Alice” (which I haven’t seen yet; reviews range from raves to decidedly mixed) takes place during the time Salvador Dali was working at Disney in 1946 on “Destino,” while production is also getting started on “Alice in Wonderland.” Judging from the reviews, it’s not really about animation at all (Dali helps a repressed young animator who is working on “Alice” to pursue the woman he loves), but at least the person Dali befriends at Disney is an animator and not a scriptwriter.” Details HERE.

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Eric Goldberg Speaks

August 18, 2006 3:35 am

Animated-News.com has a nice in-depth interview with recently-returned-to-Disney artist Eric Goldberg. He touches on a lot of subjects throughout the interview and also discusses A MONKEY’S TALE, the superb hand-drawn short he recently directed. I hope the film makes it onto the festival circuit but for the moment it’s playing only at a Buddhist cultural center in Hong Kong.

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NORMAN McLAREN

August 17, 2006 3:25 pm

Tomorrow night, August 18th, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences in Beverly Hills will present A Salute To Norman McLaren, hosted by animation critic Charles Solomon. The evening will include the screening of thirteen newly restored and remasterd 35mm prints of McLaren’s pioneering work for the National Film Board of Canada. Films include NEIGHBORS (1952), A CHAIRY TALE (1957), BEGONE DULL CARE (1949), STARS AND STRIPES (1940), BLINKITY BLANK (1955) and eight others. A panel discussion will precede the screening; panelists include animator and former McLaren colleague Chris Hinton, USC animation professor Christine Panushka, McLaren colleague and Oscar nominated animator
Ishu Patel, and Simpson’s director David Silverman. Tickets are $5. and the event will be presented at 8pm in the Academy’s Goldwyn Theatre at 8949 Wilshire Blvd. More information is posted on the Academy’s website.

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George and Mahmoud

August 16, 2006 11:37 pm

Found this piece on Cold Hard Flash. It’s not clear who made it, but Aaron Simpson writes that it’s “part of an anti-war campaign staged by a group of animators and illustrators in Israel.” The animation and design are both pretty funny.

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Recommended Blogs…

August 16, 2006 2:51 pm

There’s so many animation artist blogs out there nowadays. We can’t possibly link to all of them, but we’ll try to link to the best of the them. Here’s a few good ones I’ve run across recently.

Nate Wragg works at Pixar. Consistently good design and color in his artwork.

Jamie Mason is the director of the NFB short THE MAGIC OF ANANSI, which can be seen HERE. He’s got an eclectic mix of personal illustrations and animation clips posted on his blog.

Here’s an artist who needs no introduction: Stephen DeStefano. Actually, he probably could use an introduction, but I’m too lazy to write one. Just check out his new blog; you won’t be disappointed.

JibJab co-founder Evan Spiridellis does lots of figure drawing after-hours. He keeps track of his amazing work on this blog.

Chris George is a designer on VENTURE BROS. He takes a more illustrative approach. There’s solid work throughout his blog.

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