Author Archives: Amid Amidi

About Amid Amidi

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Bomb Threat at DreamWorks

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DreamWorks Bomb

Some people at DreamWorks were sent home today because of a bomb threat at the studio. They later discovered it was just the trailer to the next installment of Shrek.

Seriously though, studio employees are writing about the bomb threat on Twitter.

UPDATE: According to Arthurk192, “Authorities have determined that the package was not a bomb. It was, in fact, a gift from overseas, officials said.”

UPDATE 2: The Glendale News Press has an article about the suspicious package at DreamWorks.

(Thanks, Scott)

JibJab’s 2009 Year in Review

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JibJab has released their annual “year in review” short with a tongue-in-cheek summary of the highs and (mostly) lows of the past twelve months. They’ve supplemented it with an exhaustive set of blog posts documenting the production process scene-by-scene. This year’s edition is notable for its lo-fi aesthetic with most of the visuals created in-camera. It was surprising to learn on their blog how many of the elements that I initially assumed used digital compositing were actually made with cut-outs, replacement stop-mo animation, and puppetry.

The Best Animation Books of 2009

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Here are my picks for the best animation books of 2009.

Colors of Mary Blair and Iwao Takamoto

The Colors of Mary Blair –A catalog for an exhibition that happened earlier this year at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo. I don’t have a copy myself and don’t even know how you can obtain one, but this book does it right with page after packed page of animation concepts, personal watercolors, advertising art, and illustration work. It works well as a companion to John Canemaker’s 2003 bio The Art and Flair of Mary Blair.

Iwao Takamoto: My Life with a Thousand Characters by Iwao Takamoto with Michael Mallory – An entertaining, fast-paced and personal look into the life and career of now-deceased artist Iwao Takamoto that shows he deserves to be remembered for more than just designing Scooby-Doo.

South of the Border with Disney

South of the Border with Disney: Walt Disney and the Good Neighbor Program 1941-1948 by J.B. Kaufman – A masterful piece of research that proves not every stone has been unturned in the field of Disney history.

Walt Stanchfield books

Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes, Volume 1 and Volume 2, by Walt Stanchfield, edited by Don Hahn – A lifetime’s worth of knowledge and wisdom is contained within these two paperbacks. The material is taken from Stanchfield’s handouts used in his classes for Disney animators. These books belong on any animator’s bookshelf, whether beginner or expert.

Starting Point and Fantastic Mr. Fox

Starting Point: 1979-1996 by Hayao Miyazaki, translated by Beth Cary and Frederik L. Schodt – I have yet to read a single page of this book, but if you ask Mark Mayerson and Richard O’Connor, it’s nothing short of amazing. It sounds like an eclectic and thought-provoking collection of opinions from one of today’s master animation directors, and it’s the animation book that I’m currently most looking forward to reading.

The Making of Fantastic Mr. Fox – This elegantly compact volume, designed by Angus Hyland of Pentagram, injects fresh blood into the tired ‘art of’ book format. I’ve personally resisted writing any more feature film ‘art of’ books, but something as original and distinctive as this one might force me to reconsider.

Feel free to share your favorite animated-related titles published in the past year and tell us why.

Christmas Cards by Disney Artists ca. 1940

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Bill Hurtz card
Christmas Card by Bill Hurtz

Here’s a collage of holiday cards by Disney artists that I guarantee you haven’t seen before. They are either from 1939 or 1940. Click on the image below for the full-sized version. The artists are, clockwise from upper left, Berk Anthony, Bill Hurtz, Walt Kelly, Marc Davis, Zach Schwartz (I think), Marc Davis again, Ernie Nordli, Ted Sears, and Frank Thomas.

Disney cards

Sita Sings the Blues: One-Week NY Theatrical Run

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Sita Sings the Blues

Nina Paley’s animation masterpiece (and I don’t use that term loosely) is having a full one-week theatrical run in New York City from December 25-31. There are multiple screenings a day at the IFC Film Center (323 Sixth Avenue) and Paley writes on her blog that she’ll be doing Q&As at the 8:25 pm shows “most (possibly all) nights.” Showtimes and tickets are available at the IFC website.

Roy E. Disney, Lyricist

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Following his passing, I’m learning new things about Roy E. Disney. For example, musician Alexander Rannie pointed out to me that Disney wrote lyrics for the song “Sometimes” in his sailing documentary Pacific High (1979). It was set to music by Robert F. Brunner and sung by Christalee McPherson. You can listen to the song here. These are Roy’s lyrics:

Sometimes, there’s a moment
Sometimes, you’ll never know
Sometimes, it just happens and flows

Sometimes, there’s a moment
Fleeting – too soon gone
A moment overwhelms you like dawn

Once in a million times
Watching the thistles blow
You seek perfection there
Somehow the pieces fit

You’re just a thistle, too
Blown on a vagrant wind
But when it comes you’ll know
The moment’s there for you

Sometimes, there’s a moment
When it happens, you will know
Heaven in that moment
And heaven will touch you

So take it, just take it
Until it can touch you again