Author Archives: Amid Amidi

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New Blog: Animation – Who & Where

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Old artists

Joe Campana, a film editor who works in animation, recently started a blog called Animation — Who and Where, and it has already become an indispensable daily read for me. Joe has done an incredible amount of detective work when it comes to biographical research on artists and their families, and now he’s sharing that info with everybody. Right now, he’s writing about the lives of artists who would have been celebrating their 100th birthdays this month if they were still alive. They include Johnny Cannon, Tom McKimson, Tom Johnson and Disney composer Leigh Harline. He also promises to identify the Disney animation artists playing softball in the footage recenly included on the “More Silly Symphoniesâ€? dvd. I can’t wait!

On a sidenote, wouldn’t it be amazing to have this biographical info available someday on a wiki, and to have it cross-referenced with a list of scenes and cartoons that the artists worked on, similar to what Alberto Becattini has started here. There are dozens of people out there, myself included, who have compiled plenty of original research, and if we pooled it together, it would amount to an unprecedented animation reference.

(website found via Hans Perk’s A. Film LA)

A Disney Art Exhibit in LA?

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onceupontimedisney.jpg

While it looks like animation fans in the United States definitely won’t be getting the “Once Upon a Time Walt Disney” exhibition that was in Paris last year and is currently displaying in Montreal, there is some exciting news to report. Colin Stewart, a columnist for the OC Register, did some research about the potential of a US exhibit and shares his findings at his Arts of Innovation blog.

Speaking to Lella Smith, director of the Walt Disney Co.’s Animation Research Library, Stewart found out that fifteen other museums, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), attempted to the get the exhibition, and because of that enthusiasm, there’s a “good possibility” of a similar show. In fact, the curator of the current exhibit, Bruno Girveau, is headed to LA in April to discuss the possibility of a show with LACMA. (Apparently, the reason that they can’t just bring this exhibit to the US is that the fine art pieces by Albrecht Durer, William Blake and Gustave Moreau were lent by the Louvre on condition that they only be displayed in two locations, a precautionary measure designed to limit possible damage to the pieces.)

Elbert Tuganov (1920-2007)

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Elbert Tuganov (1920-2007)

Pioneering Estonian animator Elbert Tuganov has passed away at age 87. Chris Robinson, author of Estonian Animation: Between Genius and Utter Illiteracy, writes in with some details about Tuganov’s life and work:

Elbert Tuganov, the father of Estonian animation, died on Thursday, March 22, 2007. He was 87. Tuganov was actually born in Baku, Azerbaijan and began his animation career in Germany. When Hitler took power, Tuganov returned to Estonia. He joined Estonia’s state film studio, Tallinnfilm in 1946. For eleven years, Tuganov shot, drew, and painted titles and credit sequences. During this time Tuganov built an animation stand that would allow the studio to do frame by frame shooting. A visiting Moscow official was impressed by the new apparatus and suggested that Tuganov make animation films.

Tuganov immediately set out to find scripts and landed a Danish story called Palle Alone in the World. This became the basis for the first Nukufilm (the name of the puppet animation division of Tallinnfilm) production, Little Peter’s Dream (1957). For the next four years, Tuganov and his small crew of six people worked on films alongside artists from the Estonian puppet theatre. After his fourth film, Mina and Murri (1961), animation production received a budgetary blessing from Tallinnfilm. The division’s staff grew to twenty and it was decided that the puppets would then be fashioned in the studio.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Tuganov made a number of innovative puppet and cutout films for both adults and children including the satires, Park (1966) and Bloody John (1974); the astonishing time-lapse film Inspiration (1975), a document of the famous Estonian song festival; and what may be the world’s first stereoscopic puppet animation films Souvenir (1977). In total, Tuganov made 38 animated films and received numerous international awards. He remained at Nukufilm until his retirement in 1982 and later wrote an autobiography, Walking Through the Century, that detailed his failed attempt to flee the Soviet Union in 1982.

Tuganov’s passing comes as Estonia celebrates Nukufilm’s 50th anniversary this year. In November, an international puppet animation symposium is being held in Tallinn to commemorate Nukufilm’s anniversary.

A complete list of his works can be found on the Nukufilm website.

LA SHOW: The Ancient Book of Myth and War

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Ancient Book of Myth and War

“The Ancient Book of Myth and War” opens at Gallery Nucleus (30 West Main St., Alhambra, CA) this Saturday, March 24, from 7-11pm. The show of paintings, illustrations and prints based on classic myths and legends features work by four exceptionally talented animation development artists currently working at Pixar: Don Shank, Scott Morse, Lou Romano and Nate Wragg.

With their already crazed animation dayjobs, I have no idea how they find the time to create so much amazing art, but if the show isn’t enough, the work is also being collected into an 80-page hardcover book. A limited number of copies will premiere at the show this Saturday and the book can currently be pre-ordered on Amazon. This Sunday afternoon, there’s also an (almost sold-out) four-hour workshop/painting demo with the quartet. Details for that event are available here.

Stay tuned to the Brew for more details about the book and a contest you won’t want to miss.

El Tigre Beat Boards by Dave Thomas

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Dave Thomas Beat Board

A quick follow-up to yesterday’s El Tigre review: the show’s supervising director Dave Thomas also has a blog where he’s posting many examples of his beatboards. Thomas would do between 30-60 pages of these beatboards before the episodes were handed out to the board artists, so he could visually describe how he wanted the action handled. It’s an immense amount of work that most TV directors don’t do, but it’s a good way for the director to take more control over the vagaries of the TV animation process. And the resulting quality speaks for itself. Dave also has an excellent post about his conversion from traditional pencil drawing to an all-digital paperless production using the Cintiq. Personally, I’m waiting for Dave to tell the story of his biggest accomplishment: how he came up with the 99 Cent Super Value Menu.

REVIEW: El Tigre (Nickelodeon)

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El Tigre

My introduction to Jorge Gutierrez’s work was at the 1999 CalArts Producers’ Show. It was a screening of his CG short Carmelo. If I recall correctly (and I may not be) the film wasn’t even finished that year and was presented as a work-in-progress. No matter though, Jorge’s film instantly stood out. Here was that rarest of rare among student filmmakers: somebody who actually had something to say. The CG in his film might be considered crude by today’s standards, but what hasn’t dated is the passion and affinity for Mexican culture that he infused into that work.

I met him around town shortly after that screening and over the years have had the pleasure of getting to know both him and his lovely wife, Sandra Equihua, who is equally passionate about her art and heritage. Together, they are the animation world’s answer to Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo…well, minus the physical abuse, marital infidelities and communist sympathies.

All this is to say that it’s hardly surprising somebody else has also recognized their talents. Jorge and Sandra now have a show on Nick called El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera. The show premiered earlier this month, and after watching the first four episodes, I’m delighted to report that it’s everything I could have hoped for and more.

When I first heard the series pitch a few years ago, I was immediately impressed by its concept and the dramatic possibilities it presented: the adventures of a young superhero (El Tigre/Manny Rivera) whose father is a superhero (White Pantera) and grandfather a supervillain (Puma Loco). As often as El Tigre fights villians in the show, he must also do battle with his own conscience and learn to distinguish between right and wrong. Does he cheat by his using his superheroic powers to win a soccer (sorry…futbol) match? Does he steal people’s pets and then return them to collect the reward money? Does he spend the family’s guacamole fund to buy a tattoo maker? These are the type of issues that young Manny struggles with in the series.

The series rarely broaches the deeper inner character turmoil inherent in such a setup, those fuzzy and exciting grey areas that fall somewhere between good and evil (I know, I know, it’s a kids show), but there are other levels of richness to be found in the series. Among them is a nicely fleshed out relationship between Manny and his best friend, Frida; a standout is the episode “Adios Amigos” where Manny makes the decision to stay away from Frida in order to protect her from harm, and the ensuing pain that it causes both of them. First and foremost though, the show is designed to entertain, and there’s no shortage of fun throughout. One of the show’s highlights is the stream of deliciously silly villains that El Tigre has to contend with: early episodes have included Dr. Chipotle Jr, General Chapuza and his grandson Che, Sartana and Titanium Titan. It’s a south of the border rogues gallery worthy of Dick Tracy.

El Tigre

Artistically, El Tigre clicks on all fronts. What is particularly impressive is how the visuals channel Mexican folk art without turning it into a caricature. It absorbs the bright rhythms, shapes and feeling of vernacular and folk art, and through digital means, transforms it into something new and exciting. Part of that new and exciting translation comes from how far the production pushes the use of Flash. El Tigre offers hands down the most dynamic implementation of Flash I’ve ever seen in an animated TV series, seamlessly combining the cinematic possibilities more commonly associated with 3D CGI alongside the organic appeal of drawn animation.

The show is intensely stylized but it is not the random styling one finds in most contemporary animation. The various pieces of the puzzle fit together well and form a compelling overall visual point of view. This includes tight energetic direction by Dave Thomas, lush color and background design by Roman Laney and Tod Polson, the eccentric and endearing character design sensibilities of creators Gutierrez and Equihua, and the artistic contributions of an almost too-good-to-be-true crew including Gabe Swarr, Fred Osmond, Chris Battle, Steve Lambe, Ray Morelli, Katie Rice, Sean Szeles, Joseph Holt, Luke Cormican, Ricky Garduno, Dave Knott, Gerald De Jesus, Eddie Trigueros, Fred Gonzales, Denise Chavez, Aaron Horvarth and Katrien Verbiest.

El Tigre

The show is not entirely free of weaknesses. Among them is its annoying tendency to stage too many scenes on slants and diagonals, voice acting performances that I couldn’t understand (good enunciation is apparently not in vogue among current voice actors), instances of out-of-character dialogue (though far less than other modern shows), and at least in the four episodes that I watched, not as much focus as I would have hoped for on the central relationship between El Tigre, his superhero father and his supervillain grandfather.

On the whole, the show’s strengths overwhelm its faults. Thanks to its creators, the series is colored with a generous Mexican spirit and personality, while remaining accessible to all audiences, whether you’re full-blooded Mexican or somebody whose knowledge of Mexican culture extends as far as the end of a churro stick. Refreshingly good-natured and lovely to look at, El Tigre is one of the finest animated offerings to appear on TV in recent memory.

New episodes of El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera air Saturdays at 10:30am/9:30c.

El Tigre

A sidenote: many of the El Tigre artists are also bloggers and they’re posting some illuminating production material on their blogs. Here’s a selection:

* Specialty poses by Gabe Swarr

* Rough Flash animation by Sean Szeles

* Various designs and paintings by Steve Lambe

* A piece of promo artwork by Chris Battle

* A great doodle of Frida by Katie Rice

El Tigre

Chris Ware Animates

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Chris Ware animation

Superstar cartoonist/designer Chris Ware (Acme Novelty Library) apparently animates too. Here’s a four-minute segment he did for Showtime’s new series This American Life, based on the public radio program of the same name which interviews ordinary Americans about events in their lives. The story in this short strikes me as being more interesting than the animation, which doesn’t particularly enhance the audio track in many ways. All the same, it’s interesting to see Ware doing animation. It’d be even more interesting if he collaborated with an animator who understood his work and wanted to build on his graphic style in animation.

(Thanks, Adam Koford)

John Hubley’s Flat Hatting

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John Hubley's Flat Hatting

We’ve debuted a new film on CartoonBrewFilms. It’s John Hubley’s Flat Hatting, a rare 1946 US Navy training film produced at UPA (at the time, still called United Film Productions). I’ve watched and studied this film countless times and I never get tired of it. There is so much graphic daring in the artwork of this film, and it is a terrific example of how beautiful animation can be created with a limited budget and small crew.

My introduction to the film came eight or nine years ago while I was working at Spumco. I was watching Tex Avery’s Symphony in Slang when John K happened to walk into the room. He said, “If you like that, then check out this film,” and pulled out a copy of Flat Hatting from his personal collection. Both of us assumed the films had the same designer since the guy in Symphony in Slang (designed by Tom Oreb) looks somewhat similar to the lead character in Flat Hatting. Of course, I later found out that Flat Hatting was the genius of John Hubley. And now, you can find out too just how much of a genius Hubley was by picking up a copy of Flat Hatting on BrewFilms.

New Peter Pan DVD Ruined?

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tinkcomparison.jpg

I haven’t seen the new Peter Pan 2-Disc Platinum Edition, but according to the prolific UK animation director Oscar Grillo, the dvd is a mess. Many animation enthusiasts have complained about Disney’s film “restorations” in the past, and knowing Grillo’s keen eye, it’s easy to believe this is as bad as he says. I’d be curious to hear more comments from other Brew readers who have watched this new dvd release, particularly if you’re familiar with earlier theatrical releases and home video versions. Here are Oscar’s thoughts:

Yesterday I saw a copy of the newly released “Peter Pan Special Edition” and I ALMOST HAD A HEART ATTACK!!! Granted, Peter Pan is no Pinocchio, but I like it very much. The transfer, digital enhancing, sound and image ARE ALL HORRIBLE!! They’ve “strengthened” all the lines and darkened the backgrounds and altered the colours to a degree that now Peter Pan looks like one of those classic “Porky Pigs” rotoscoped in Korea in the Seventies using Rapidographs. I must have seen Peter Pan more than three hundred times and most of them in the cinema. I know the film very well. This version truly shocked me. I won’t talk much, I suggest people compare this version with any of the previously released video or DVD editions and you’ll see for yourself what I mean and complain to those responsible. When a madman damages the “Night Watch” by Rembrandt (it actually happened), he ends up in a psychiatric hospital; when a corporation ruins an animation classic, they sell it as a “special edition.”

UPDATE: Here’s a gallery of still comparisons from various home video release of Peter Pan. (Thanks, Steve)

“Cool Kitty” Vid Designed by Megan Brain

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Class of 3000 music video

If Disney’s early-60s paper cutout short A Symposium on Popular Songs had included black people, they might have looked something like this music video that Megan Brain (mentioned here previously) recently designed for Cartoon Network’s Class of 3000 series. Joe Horne boarded and Chris Staples animated the characters in After Effects. Check it out below.

Annecy 2007 Selections

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Annecy

The official competition selections have been announced for the world’s longest-running animation festival, the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, which takes place this year from June 11-16.

224 films were selected from 1826 entries. The breakdown is:
* 51 short films in competition,
* 51 short films in panorama,
* 51 graduation films,
* 71 TV and commissioned films (34 TV series, 9 TV specials, 20 commercials, 6 music videos and 2 educational films)

If you have the opportunity to attend this festival, don’t miss the chance. It’s an experience you won’t forget.

Freehead Benefit Concert

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Freehead

Cartoonist extraordinaire Jim Smith (Ren & Stimpy, Samurai Jack, The Ripping Friends) will be performing a “farewell concert” with the band Freehead on Saturday, March 31, from 4pm until whenever at Safari Sam’s (5214 W. Sunset Blvd, Hollywood, CA). The concert is for a good cause: to raise money for Freehead band member Richie Hass who is currently fighting multiple myeloma, a type of cancer that affects plasma cells. Lots of other bands are also performing that evening, and Jim Smith notes on his blog that he will “draw and sign anything that holds still long enough.”