Remembrance:

Dear BM,

I'm sorry to let you know that Pierre Courtet-Cohl died last Sunday. He was Emile Cohl's grand son (and also an ASIFA member) and I think most of you met him in some festival. He was gravely ill since two years now.

He was a very nice man and did a lot to promote the art of his grandfather. He died the year of the 100th anniversary of Emile's first film Fantasmagorie.

Best wishes,

Olivier

Association Française du Cinéma d'Animation (AFCA)
French Animated Films Association
53 bis rue Rodier
75009 Paris

Here is some very sad news forwarded to me my Antran who is a member of the international ASIFA Board. I never got to meet Pierre Courtet-Cohl but I very much share in a love and deep respect of his grandfather`s work. So much so that we have named the highest honor in the upcoming ASIFA-Hollywood Student Animation Festival in Emile Cohl`s honor.

When Olivier talks about the 100th anniversary of Fantasmagorie he is talking about the anniversary of animation itself. Blackton used animation techniques in his trick films as tricks but Pierre Courtet-Cohl`s grandfather Emile was the first true animator. I would have love to have met you Pierre. I am saddened by your passing.

_ _ _ _ _ _

In keeping this the tone of the announcement above the Animation Guild, ASIFA Hollywood and Women In Animation present An Afternoon of Remembrance. A celebration of the lives and careers of the animation people who have passed from our ranks in this past year.

This Saturday, March 1st.

Social 1 PM - Memoriams 2 PM
Hollywood Heritage Museum (Lasky-DeMille Barn)
2100 N. Highland (in the parking lot of the Hollywood Bowl)
Hollywood, California

99 Cent Trends

It has been a while since I found anything good at the 99 Cent Only Store in the way of old media. I have cried before in these pages about the death of the cheap Public Domain cartoon DVD.

Yesterday I found only one new/old cartoon disk. And a lot of the stuff on the disk I already have. The only new/old things on the disk for me were Friz Freleng`s Sports Chumpions, a weird almost animated toon called the Invisible Moustache of Raoul Duffy and a New Three Stooges. New Three Stooges always make me sad with over the hill live action mixed with bad animation.



Other new trends have popped in the 99-Cent racks. Game software seems to be the new trend of the day. I picked up a very nice port of Millipede. I spent so much money of this game in the arcades it is nice to have it back on my computer even if I don`t have a track ball. Nicely the port is playable from disk without need for install. I will be trying out more of the Atari ports when I get a chance. Millipede runs like a charm.



The other trend is straight to the cutout rack failed games. In the case of the Nitro Family PC shooter it is more like a self installed virus that locks up the system, changes the desktop, and tries to call the Internet without first asking permission. At 99 cents I paid too much for this dog. I will not be trying more of these.

Rewording History:

I was looking at Disney`s Merbabies yesterday from the More Silly Symphonies Volume 2 of the Disney Treasures and listening to the commentary by J. B. Kaufman. It amazes me how official studio true in not lies in what is said but in what is not said.



Merbabies is the 1938 sequel to Disney`s 1935 Water Babies. It was created by Harman and Ising not the Walt Disney Studios. Kaufman slides right over the whole event and makes it sound like Walt and Rudy and Hugh were buddies and it is the most natural thing in the world for Walt to call them up and ask them to do a picture for him when Snow White got too demanding to keep the shorts unit running. This is the nuts and bolts of the whole event. This is the studio truth and all the things said are technically true.

Hugh Harman, brother of Fred Harman one time partner of Walt in one of his Kansas City studios, was a contemporary of Walt in the days that they were both learning animation out of a library book. Rudy Ising answered a newspaper add. Walt went bankrupt and left Kansas City. It is a true tribute to Walt`s power of persuasion that Walt could talk anybody from his Kansas City Studio into moving to Hollywood to join the new Disney Bros. Studio.

Walt quit animating early on around 1922 - 23. Only to be forced to serve at ink and paint when Charles Mintz, working on hard feeling and jealousy in the studio, convinced Harman and Ising and all of the rest of the Disney animation crew, except Ub Iwerks, to jump ship. Mintz also took Disney`s distributor and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit at the same time. Walt was not happy.

The feeling between Walt and the Mintz betrayers was anything but happy. In 1937 Walt was in a race for his life. He had to get Snow White finished before the Bank of America quit giving him money. The studio was at stake. Mickey Mouse was in hock up to his always face-front swiveling ears. Harman Ising had just lost MGM who where bringing the studio in house. Walt needed an ink and paint crew. Harman Ising needed money to keep their studio afloat.

Merbabies was the bone that Walt threw Harman Ising to rent their studio`s ink and paint department. But Walt would not meet with them or talk to them. Everything was done through intermediaries. There was no second picture deal for the deserters after Walt got what he needed out of them. Walt was not one to forgive anything, ever.

My question is why are historians still self censoring themselves about events that happened 70 years ago? Shouldn`t there be a statute of limitations? How is that serving history? I know that there are truths that are dangerous to tell but if nobody ever tells them then they cease to exist and the half truths become the lies of history.

And the Oscar Goes To:

A big congratulations to PETER & THE WOLF and RATAOUILLE also to Bill Westenhofer of Rhythm & Hues for the GOLDEN COMPASS Visual Effects win. I talked to Bill on Saturday and he thought he was going to be passed over again this time for TRANSFORMERS.


Visual Effect Winners

Social Faux Pas of the Third Kind:

It was late in the DreamWorks Pre-Oscar brunch yesterday and I was up in the front of Campanile where the crowd was cleared out a little. And I was talking to a DreamWorks producer at yesterday`s very great Jeffery brunch.

I have been playing with the idea of getting a producer on the ASIFA-Hollywood State of the Animation Industry Comic Con panel this year. Animation doesn`t get produced without producers. I know that because I have done a little producing on a very small scale and I know what a hard job it is to meet all the needs of a film in the making.

Bill, the producer, was suggesting all of these other DreamWorks producers that he thought might have a better project name recognition then he did when he mentioned the producer from Over the Hedge. I have never made a secret of the fact that I love this animation.

So I was deep into gushing about Hammy time and the cookie gag (the cookie gag is one of the great gag setups of all time). I am talking about the beauty of this setup and how they draw it out and draw it out over 2/3s of the movie when I look up and lock eyes with a man across the room who I can tell is listening to us talk. I could also tell that this person worked on Over the Hedge and maybe even the scene I was gushing about.

Okay it is not quite as embarrassing as bagging on a film in front of the creator, which I have done in the past. But still it did throw me a little. So if you where the guy listening. Those are my real feelings about Over the Hedge, it is one of the great over looked animations. I was not kissing up. And the rest of you, do what I am going to do today, re-watch the film .

FREE ANIMATION SOFTWARE:

Kent Braun of DigiCel has come up with a really exciting offer for students taking part in the ASIFA-Hollywood Student Animation Festival. ASIFA-Hollywood and DigiCel are offering a free copy of this remarkable 2-D Animation Software to every student taking part in the upcoming ASIFA-Hollywood Student Animation Festival.

If you are a student planning on taking part in the ASIFA-Hollywood Student Animation Festival ask your animation program to Pre-Register for the festival so that you will be eligible for this free copy of 2-D Animation software.

If you are an animation educator Pre-Register your program and get your students a free copy of FlipBook. (Festival copies of FlipBoof are time coded and fully functioning and will be good until the October 2008 Festival screening date)

Jeffery`s Party:

Photos from today`s DreamWorks Pre-Oscar Party. More details plus a really cool announcement later.

Filler

Just a quick note to let you know I am still alive. I am working on a letter of recommendation for a former student. Working on a free software deal for the students taking part in the ASIFA-Hollywood Student Animation Festival. And heading out to the DreamWorks pre-Oscar party where I hope to score some judges for Festival and some panelist for Comic Con. More later.

FlipBook First Student Animation Festival Sponsor

The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Educators` Forum Student Animation Festival (Saturday Oct. 18th, Woodbury University) got our first sponsor today. Kent Braun of DigiCel FlipBook is donating more than $1,500 of 2-D animation software as prizes for the festival winners. Kent has been a big AISFA supporter in the past and continues his generosity.


CLICK FOR FLIPBOOK SITE:

Competition Categories & Prizes for the festival now look like this.

• Best Visual Storytelling
  Plaque, $200.00, FlipBook Lite* ($99 Value)



• Best Character
  Plaque, $200.00, FlipBook Lite* ($99 Value)



• Best Technical Achievement
  Plaque, $200.00, FlipBook Lite* ($99 Value)



• Judges` Choice
  Plaque, $500.00, FlipBook Studio* ($419 Value)



• The Emile Cohl Award for the Best Animated Short
  Plaque, $1,000.00, FlipBook Pro* ($799 Value)


* FlipBook comes in either Windows or OS X Operating Systems

We are still looking for other sponsors to provide prizes for this festival. For more information on the ASIFA-Hollywood Student Film Festival click over to: http://www.asifa-hollywood.org/aef/fest.html

This and That and Missing the Real Mickey:

Just finished grading the first be project for my History of Animation class (most got it some didn`t) and updating the rules for the ASIFA-Hollywood Student Animation Festival. http://www.asifa-hollywood.org/aef/rules.html

This coming Saturday in the DreamWorks pre-Oscar party. One of my all time favorite events of the year and not just because the food is so good. Thank you Jeffery for inviting me year after year. You really know how to through a party.

My last post was about the all encompassing nature of the Disney presence in our culture. Here`s another example:



My next class at Laguna will be dealing with Mickey before he was an icon. I will be showing The Mad Doctor and Mickey's Orphans and a lot of other early Mickey Mouse cartoons from before he because too sweet to have an edge.

There is a reason that Mickey is the star he is but I just wish he could still be the way he was before he became the corporate spokestoon. He use to really kick butt.


The Mad Doctor, 1933 one of my all time Mickey Favs

Incred-a-Pimp

I was in an Office Depot yesterday buying computer supplies and happened to comment to the salesperson, Incredibles, great movie, but it has been your big screen display movie for the last 2 years. Don’t you think it is about time to move up to Ratatouille?

Turns out that Office Depot is under contact to Disney to show The Incredibles as their display movie all day every day. They are getting paid to play this great movie over and over again until the salesman hates it.

I am getting a little bored seeing the same film over and over again and I only go in the store every couple of weeks, maybe only once a month.

I like the idea of seeing cool animation in my local computer store. I just wish that they would rotate the films a little more. Don`t beat my favorite Pixar film into the ground. Cars, Ratatouille, how about a preview for Wall-E?

The Importance of Orderly File Backup:

Save your work in an easy to find computer backup. Maintain directory structure and naming convention in your backups. Label your file backups when you remove work from the system.

I spent the day uploading samples for a possible gaming job. A lot of the stuff I uploaded was no longer on my system. But I could lay my hands on it in minutes and arrange and upload it in hours.

Order is all important when working with computer files the size of most files for gaming and movies. I always tell my students that they can use one piece of TP for 3 functions if they keep their order straight. They can clean their glasses, blow their nose and wipe. But only if you keep everything in order.

New Policies Damage a Once Great Website:

I know I am going to piss someone off with this but they are pissing me off, big time! Last Sunday while waiting for a video of the Winsor McCay Award acceptance speeches to upload for my site I wandered over to Animated News to check out their Annie Awards coverage. In past years it has been first rate.

In the past Animated News was one of my favorite sites. I would click by 2 or 3 times a day. They always had original reporting and interviews with animation heavy weights. Not anymore, the by lines of the reporters that use to do all that cool stuff are few and far between.

Their full reportage on the Annie Awards this year was a link to a Variety story, and a link to the Annie Award list of winners at the ASIFA Annie Award site. Nothing about who was there, what they thought or said, or how they felt, or what new project they are working on. Just Cut and Paste Reporting.

I don`t know who the new bean-counter-in-charge is at this once great site but I do not appreciate their policy of web site regurgitation with no real reporting. Warm it over, pass it off as a report. That is not reporting. There are far too many sites doing this already. If they hadn`t once been great I wouldn`t bitch or even view.

It is like all the middle management types that got the boot at Disney have taken over Animated News and are using all their favorite voodoo middle management techniques to run the site into the ground. Sadly I only click by Animated News about once every other week now and I am always disappointed.

I know how to get to all the sites they lift their stories (sic) from so I don`t really need them anymore. But gods, I do miss them.

A Report on the Annie Awards

I know it took me 2 days to get this report together but the Annie Awards were very good. Had a great time at the pre party. Sat with Martha and Sol Sigall and June Foray. Talked to John Canemaker. Talked Michael Giachhino, Pixar composer extraordinar, into doing a panel on Animated Music at next year`s Comic Con. Saw tons of cool industry pros, Glen Keane, Eric Goldberg, Dave Master, Tom and Pat Sito, Tee Bosustow. The list goes on. Talked Jorge Gutiereez, 2 time Annie Winner this year for his El Tigre, into being on my Comic Con State of the Animation Industry panel. Had a really great time and got a lot of important networking done for the ASIFA Student Animation Festival and the ASIFA slate of Comic Con panels.

I didn`t take that many photos this year, I didn`t take that much video either. I mostly watched the show and talked to people. But the Winsor McCay Awards are the highlight for me so I grabbed footage of John, Glen and John. It will take a little time to download the MPEG but is worth it.


Click to go to video page

Annie Photos

Annie Awards images from last nights event. Caption to follow later today.


The ticket table


My wife Ruth and Sol Sigall proud UCLA Alumni


Marcus Adams Certificate of Merit award winner


My friend Nancy, wife of Marcus


June Foray


Antran Manoogian, ASIFA-Hollywood President


June, Jerry Beck, Sol and Martha Sigall


Steve Worth


Dave Master, Acme Network



Raven Loc


Tobias Loc


Me


Yvette Kaplan & Jerry Beck (his June Foray Award) with Patrick Warburton in background

No FTP No See:

My blog has been down for the last few day. I have been publishing right along but it has been failing to upload at my server. Here is the back posts.

Tonight is the Annie Awards. I am brushing my hat, getting out my tux and getting my camera ready. I normally find most of my Comic Con panelists before and after the show. Tonight I am also looking for judges for the up coming ASIFA-Hollywood Student Animation Festival. And I need a guest speaker for my class. You have been warned.

Tomorrow: Photos of the event.

Festival Greenlighted

Great News: The ASIFA-Hollywood Board of Directors has approved the budget for the ASIFA-Hollywood Student Animation Festival Oct. 18th. Call for entry should be going out at the end of this month.

Supreme Arrogance:

Busy day, Afternoon of Remembrance meeting this noon, ASIFA-Hollywood board meeting tonight, prep for both in the morning and a little Annie and Comic Con stuff in between.

As I did last year, I will be displaying my arrogance again this year by giving out copies on my animation to some of the best animators in the world.

The trophy for the Annie Award in a working Zoetrope that will display properly prepared stripes of animation. A couple of years ago I did an animation of the leaping guy from the ASIFA logo designed to work inside an Annie Award.

Last year I made copies of my Zoetrope animation and gave them out to the winners so that they would have something to play in their award. Maybe even get the idea and make their own Annie animation. Half way through the night I was struck with my supreme arrogance in giving copies on my primitive animation to the best animators in the world.


Yesterday I went out and made more copies on my Zoetrope animation for this year`s winners. This year I must be even more arrogance because I am well aware of my arrogance going into the Annie Awards. But yet this Friday night and I am doing it again anyway.

Art is Family

One of the things I always tell my beginning animation classes is that their career has started as soon as they walk in the door of their first animation class. Look around you, I will say, you will see most of these people for the rest of your life. Some of them will work with you. Some on them will work for you. And some of them you will work for. Some of them you will have all three work relationships with.

Last week I got a call from one such person. John Bisson and I where students together at the Kubert School. We did special effects on grade Z and NYU film-student level slasher films together. We partied together. We were and are friends these 30 years and more.

Film, comics, animation, all very small fields. Everybody knows everybody. Keep your friends. Don`t burn your bridges. When all is said and done. Your art family is your real family. Your family of choice.

I am saddened to hear of the passing of John`s mother so soon after the death of his father. Mrs. Bisson put up with our madness casting latex monsters and body parts out in her garage. She was a fine lady who was always kind to me. She would bring us Pepsi in the hot afternoons. And she put up with us taking over her kitchen, mixer and oven for foam latex. (and if you burn latex in an oven you never get the taste out again)

I wouldn`t have gotten into doing stop motion if I hadn`t worked with John on go motion and I wouldn`t have been able to work with John if his mother had put her foot down and done the sensible thing and kicked us out of her garage. God bless you Mrs. Bisson. You were always a kind soul.

John Bisson and some of his designs for Trancers

From the Email Bag:

Once you are my student you are my student for life. I teach a lot of students animation and I always tell them that they can email me questions anytime. It works out nicely because they often come up with great questions that should be answered on a wider level. So they end up co-writing my column. And no that does not make them scabs in the writer`s strike. Animation writers are under another union.

Dear Larry Loc,

I was a student in your History of Animation Class in Fall of 2006. I am still taking Animation classes at Cal State Fullerton. I've been searching for internships and came across a(n) internship for Disney Animation. In the specifications for application it said that I needed to belong to a Union. Would you be able to suggest a Union to join.

Thank You,

Alfredo L_ _ _ _

Alfredo,

I think that you would have to join the union at the time of getting the internship. And Disney should have all the paperwork. The one you should be joining as an animator is The Animation Guild and Affiliated Optical Electronic and Graphic Arts, Local 839 IATSE. You have to be working for a studio that has a union contract to get into the union. So jump at this chance to get your union pin. Once you get in, stay in. There is strength in numbers and you will have a better career as a member then you will working non union shops.

Here is their web site http://www.animationguild.org/ and I am forwarding your email to Jeff Massie at the guild. He should be able to give you the information you need.



The Animation Guild and Affiliated Optical Electronic and Graphic Arts, Local 839 IATSE
4729 Lankershim Boulevard
North Hollywood, CA 91602-1864
phone: (818) 766-7151
fax: (818) 506-4805

Wild Guesses:

Annie voting closes today and features are too tight to call. Ratatouille from Pixar Animation Studios is a great piece of visual storytelling. But the thing with Pixar is people tend to judge Pixar against Pixar and other Pixar movies are a little better then the Rat in the Kitchen film. As a former professional Chef I had problems with cooking rats.

Persepolis by Satrapi is an important film and I agree with Tom Knott a win for an independent feature a this time would be good for the industry. Hollywood jumps on bandwagons and this is one I would love to see take off. But Persepolis is flawed by being too real, there are no story arches in real life or in Persepolis. I liked the film a lot but did not enjoy it.

Surf`s Up by Sony Pictures Animation it the film I enjoyed the most. Entertaining and innovative filmmaking with a North Shore storyline masquerading as a documentary. It did not do well at the box office because it was yet another penguin movie. That has hurt it before and may again.

These are to top three runners in my eyes. Bee Movie from DreamWorks Animation is fun. I`ve watched it a couple of times. The Simpsons Movie is the Simpsons TV Show only longer and gods knows that is nothing to sneeze at.

Over in Best Animated Short Subject I see How to Hook Up Your Home Theater from revitalized Walt Disney Feature Animation. This is the best short I have seen in a long time. The only possible composition is Your Friend the Rat out of Pixar Animation Studios. Keep it in the family. I loved the movement in The Chestnut Tree but it is a little artsy without a real storyline.

Everything Will Be OK, hell I really loved Rejected but this one just did not work. Too long too wordy too full of itself. Not sure that there is any reason that this had to be an animation. It was about the writing and the weirdness and could have been done just as easily with live action images.

In Best Animated Television Production I see Creature Comforts America by Aardman Animations and Robot Chicken Star Wars from ShadowMachine. This could be the year that a stop motion project takes TV Production.

Best Animated Video Game: Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Burning Earth from THQ, Inc. is so hot. So is the Transformers: The Game by Blur Studios. I love Blur Studios and have a lot of respect for them. Even Bee Movie Game from Activision and Ratatouille again from THQ, Inc. are good solid games. Not what you think you are going to get from a movie tie in. I kind of think Transformers but I would love to see Airbender with its more 2-D look of the show.

We will see how well I guest come Friday the 8th. at the 35th Annie Awards.