ASIFA-Hollywood: The International Animated Film Society
Saturday, July 02, 2005
Report From Anime Expo:
This morning I rose at the hellishly early hour of 5:00 A.M. to venture forth to the Anaheim Convention Center, dragging my elder brother behind me. The reason behind my behavior was simple: Anime Expo, a gathering grounds for anime freaks.
Although I had long considered myself such a freak, this was the first year I decided I could handle a day at AX and a week at ComicCon and live. I wish I could describe the Expo to you as a mind-reeling force, not to be reckoned with unless you happened to be equipped with something along the lines of a cattle prod.
Sadly, this wasn`t the life-altering experience I had expected, mainly because of the many numbing years I had spent following my father to the Comic Convention. On the upside, this convention is strictly anime. If you spot a LOTR cosplayer or a weenery adolescent dressed as Harry Potter, you may spit on their sad little heads.
Beautiful, sweet, undaunted anime, after a few hours of walking the halls, I bought myself a special Totoro shirt, and I was happy. But my elder sibling, Tobias, was unhappy; he did not have a proficient amount of money for his Rebirth manga. Until I selflessly assisted in his purchase, and we feasted upon unhealthy food by the lobby doors.
Unfortunately, I couldn`t wrench the camera from my father`s iron grip for a day, and none of this was recorded. Fortunately, I have selected a few choice pictures of vaguely related topics for your viewing. Well, that`s about it my darling fishies. Say no to drugs, avoid fatty foods, join ASIFA-Hollywood. It`s the path to true happiness.
Raven Loc
Friday, July 01, 2005
REVIEW:
fps
Frames Per Second Magazine has just published an insightful online review of Martha Sigall`s book
http://www.fpsmagazine.com/review/050613lines.shtml
fps
Frames Per Second Magazine has just published an insightful online review of Martha Sigall`s book
http://www.fpsmagazine.com/review/050613lines.shtml
The Thursday schedule for Comic Con is posted at:
http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci05_prog_thu.shtml
Thanks to Jon Reeves of Internet Movie Database for the link.
Speaking about Thursday at Comic Con here are ASIFA`s offerings for the first day of the largest popular culture con in the continental United States.
There is a very strong touch of classic Fleischers, early Van Beuren, and early Walter Lantz that is a joy to behold. All that crap about 2-D animation being dead is just that as long a Mark can still hold a pencil. Come see this filmed love letter to all that is good in hand drawn animation.
Mark will also be sharing from his extensive collection of classic animation. And from his impressive knowledge of the history of animation. Don`t miss this one.
NOTICE: We still very much need booth volunteers for Thursday 4 PM to 6 PM. If you are going to be at comic con of Thursday, we need your help. To see other times that we need booth volunteers and to find out what ASIFA is doing at comic con check this link http://www.agni-animation.com/blog/combinedschedule05b.pdf
http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci05_prog_thu.shtml
Thanks to Jon Reeves of Internet Movie Database for the link.
Speaking about Thursday at Comic Con here are ASIFA`s offerings for the first day of the largest popular culture con in the continental United States.
11:00-12:30 Margaret Kerry: Voice Actor Tryouts - Margaret Kerry, the rotoscoop model for Disney`s Tinker Bell and the lips of Clutch Cargo, brings her years of voice acting skills to this unique voice acting training session. Here is a chance to learn the tricks of the voice acting trade. Room 6AOur own Tinker Bell takes the stage to teach the skills of voice acting. This is a goody. Last year she had a giant room talking like Katharine Hepburn in under 5 minutes. She has lots of tricks of voice acting and she shares them freely with her audience. If you are an animator you are going to do voices, if you are an actor you need this, if you want to be a voice actor this one is definitely for you.
1:30-2:30 ASIFA Presents: Mark Kausler: It`s the Cat - Mark Kausler`s career has included work on Beauty and the Beast (animator:"Maurice"), Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi (animation director), Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (animator) (storysketch), and The Lion King (story). Also a noted authority and collector of early animation, Mark is the creator of last year`s Annie Award nominated hand-drawn cel-animated short It`s the Cat. Join Mark Kausler for this screening and discussion of the making of this unique film. Mark will also be screening some of the rare films that inspired this film. Room 3Those of you that know me should know of my love for Mark`s amazing cel animation It`s the Cat. This is a type of animation that I love and is just not being made any more by anyone but Mark.
There is a very strong touch of classic Fleischers, early Van Beuren, and early Walter Lantz that is a joy to behold. All that crap about 2-D animation being dead is just that as long a Mark can still hold a pencil. Come see this filmed love letter to all that is good in hand drawn animation.
Mark will also be sharing from his extensive collection of classic animation. And from his impressive knowledge of the history of animation. Don`t miss this one.
3:00-4:00 ASIFA Presents: Martha Sigall: Living Within the Lines - Martha Sigall is a living legend in the world of animation. She started in ink and paint at the Leon Schlesinger studio (later renamed the Warner Bros. Animation Studio) in 1936. She worked with everybody at most of the majors during the Golden Age of animation, including Chuck Jones, Bob Clampett, Friz Freleng, Tex Avery, Bill Melendez, and many more. She will be discussing her autobiography, Living Within the Lines, Room 4I love Martha. Her book is a treasure trove of personal stories about her friends and her world. Here are insights into the golden age of animation that only Martha can tell. This is your chance to hear about the world of Termite Terrace, MGM cartoon studio, UPA, Bill Melendez Studios and many more from an insider that was there at the beginning of the golden age of animation.
4:00-5:30 Animation on a $hoe$tring Budget - Larry Loc is an animator, a teacher of animation, and a member of the executive board of ASIFA-Hollywood, the International Animated Film Society. His eBook, Animation on a ShoeString, Building a Low Cost Animation Studio with Your Home Computer, has helped hundreds of people assemble the tools they need to create their own animations. Larry will offer information on the latest, cheapest animation tools and where to find them. Room 1ABI`m not going to miss this one. Here I share all of my low cost tricks for making your own animation. You need two things to animate; a passion to animate and the tools to film the results on to film, video, or DVD. This seminar is all about getting the tools to create animation.
NOTICE: We still very much need booth volunteers for Thursday 4 PM to 6 PM. If you are going to be at comic con of Thursday, we need your help. To see other times that we need booth volunteers and to find out what ASIFA is doing at comic con check this link http://www.agni-animation.com/blog/combinedschedule05b.pdf
Thursday, June 30, 2005
ASIFA-Hollywood volunteers met last night to prep animation cels for sale at the up coming San Diego Comic Con
If you are an ASIFA volunteer going to comic con be sure to check the ASIFA comic con schedule. It will be updated daily until the convention.
Joe Grant Remembered:
Tuesday Night I attended the celebration of the life of the great Disney artist Joe Grant at the Alex Theater in Glendale. Host Leonard Maltin introduced a number of animation notables including Pete Docktor, Charles Solomon, Eric & Sue Goldberg, Burny Mattinson, Dean DuBlois and Mike Gabriel. I was struck by how many people had such a strong attachment to Joe.
Some young people reading this may wonder, what is all the fuss is over folks like Joe? They were old and died and so what was special? The reason is we in animation learned much at the knees of the older masters, and I say that humbly as an Adjunct Professor of Animation myself. Sure, they gave us our first career breaks, but they also gave us our inspiration. Shamus Culhane taught me not only timing and how to fill out exposure sheets, he taught me about art and museums. That to be a cartoonist you didn't have to be rich to enjoy good taste. Joe Grant was a poet and calligrapher who loved to talk about the latest article he read in the New Yorker as much as what he did long ago on Dumbo.
Guys like Joe are the end of an era, the last of the Golden Age Generation who did the most famous cartoons ever. They all joined the business in the early 1930's, did their finest work in the 1940s-1950's, and now the average age of the remainder are in their 90s. Today besides Joe Barbera there are only two remaining animators from the original Tom & Jerry MGM Unit, One remaining Nine Old Man from Disney. It is the natural way of things for this generation of to slowly leave the stage, but we who came after want them to know we are proud and grateful to have known them. As the writer Michel de Montaigne once said: We can see far when we can stand on the shoulders of Giants.
Tom Sito
Tuesday Night I attended the celebration of the life of the great Disney artist Joe Grant at the Alex Theater in Glendale. Host Leonard Maltin introduced a number of animation notables including Pete Docktor, Charles Solomon, Eric & Sue Goldberg, Burny Mattinson, Dean DuBlois and Mike Gabriel. I was struck by how many people had such a strong attachment to Joe.
Some young people reading this may wonder, what is all the fuss is over folks like Joe? They were old and died and so what was special? The reason is we in animation learned much at the knees of the older masters, and I say that humbly as an Adjunct Professor of Animation myself. Sure, they gave us our first career breaks, but they also gave us our inspiration. Shamus Culhane taught me not only timing and how to fill out exposure sheets, he taught me about art and museums. That to be a cartoonist you didn't have to be rich to enjoy good taste. Joe Grant was a poet and calligrapher who loved to talk about the latest article he read in the New Yorker as much as what he did long ago on Dumbo.
Guys like Joe are the end of an era, the last of the Golden Age Generation who did the most famous cartoons ever. They all joined the business in the early 1930's, did their finest work in the 1940s-1950's, and now the average age of the remainder are in their 90s. Today besides Joe Barbera there are only two remaining animators from the original Tom & Jerry MGM Unit, One remaining Nine Old Man from Disney. It is the natural way of things for this generation of to slowly leave the stage, but we who came after want them to know we are proud and grateful to have known them. As the writer Michel de Montaigne once said: We can see far when we can stand on the shoulders of Giants.
Tom Sito
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Last night the animation community came together to honor the life and work of Disney great Joe Grant.
Don Hahn, the producer of Roger Rabbitt, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin, presents the Grant Family with the Annie Award recieved last year for the short animation Lorenzo, a project that Joe Grant nursed into being against great odds over a large number of years.
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
16 Days Until Comic Con:
I am trying to get into the Zen like state that helps me survive the madness of 85,000 Plus fans and lethal noise levels. Here is a look at some of this year`s offerings.
Akira Umemoto, Creative Director Mattel (Industrial / Commercial Animation)
Donovan Cook., Director Disney`s 3 Musketeers currently pitching 3-D projects (2-D to 3-D)
Lili Chin, Co-Director and Producer Mucha Lucha (TV and Flash Animaiton)
Eddie Mort, Co-Director and Producer Mucha Lucha (TV and Flash Animaiton)
Jon M. Gibson , Gaming Reporter and Curator Early Gaming Art Exhibit (Gaming)
Larry Loc, Animation Teacher ASIFA Board (Moderator & Animation Education)
Just remember that the sound of one hand clapping is a snap!
I am trying to get into the Zen like state that helps me survive the madness of 85,000 Plus fans and lethal noise levels. Here is a look at some of this year`s offerings.
ASIFA-HOLLYWOOD STATE OF THE ANIMATION INDUSTRYMatt O'Calaghan, Director of Curious George (2-D Feature Animation)
San Diego Comic Con
SATURDAY, JULY 16
12:30-2:00pm
ROOM 3
Akira Umemoto, Creative Director Mattel (Industrial / Commercial Animation)
Donovan Cook., Director Disney`s 3 Musketeers currently pitching 3-D projects (2-D to 3-D)
Lili Chin, Co-Director and Producer Mucha Lucha (TV and Flash Animaiton)
Eddie Mort, Co-Director and Producer Mucha Lucha (TV and Flash Animaiton)
Jon M. Gibson , Gaming Reporter and Curator Early Gaming Art Exhibit (Gaming)
Larry Loc, Animation Teacher ASIFA Board (Moderator & Animation Education)
Just remember that the sound of one hand clapping is a snap!
Call For Volunteers:
On the last Wednesday of each month there is a meeting of ASIFA-Hollywood volunteers at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Center in Burbank. This is the most important meeting on our monthly calendar. This is where the stuff is planned and volunteers make a difference.
This Wednesday night at 7 PM is the most important of these volunteer meeting for the year. This is the one where we put the finishing touches on our battle plan for the San Diego Comic Con.
Comic Con is a lot of work and a lot of fun and we need your help to make it happen. Join us:
Wednesday June 29th
ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Center
2114 W. Burbank Blvd.
Burbank, CA
Come learn how you can be part of this amazing event. Pizza will be served. Good times will be had. Come take part in ASIFA-Hollywood.
On the last Wednesday of each month there is a meeting of ASIFA-Hollywood volunteers at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Center in Burbank. This is the most important meeting on our monthly calendar. This is where the stuff is planned and volunteers make a difference.
This Wednesday night at 7 PM is the most important of these volunteer meeting for the year. This is the one where we put the finishing touches on our battle plan for the San Diego Comic Con.
Comic Con is a lot of work and a lot of fun and we need your help to make it happen. Join us:
Wednesday June 29th
ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Center
2114 W. Burbank Blvd.
Burbank, CA
Come learn how you can be part of this amazing event. Pizza will be served. Good times will be had. Come take part in ASIFA-Hollywood.
Sunday, June 26, 2005
Tom Sito Puts Foot in Blog-y Water
Animation great Tom Sito starts his own blog at his Gang of 7 website. Tom, who submits items to the ASIFA blog, has taken the plunge into the murky waters of blogging.
This is good, because when I run out of things to say I can just steal from him or if I`m real lazy, I can just link to his blog: http://www.g7animation.com/news/
Animation great Tom Sito starts his own blog at his Gang of 7 website. Tom, who submits items to the ASIFA blog, has taken the plunge into the murky waters of blogging.
This is good, because when I run out of things to say I can just steal from him or if I`m real lazy, I can just link to his blog: http://www.g7animation.com/news/
R.I.P. Paul Winchell:
Paul Winchell died last night (Sat) in his home in Moorpark in his sleep at age 82.
Besides being the voice of Tigger in the Winny the Pooh films, Winchell did voices for Fox & the Hound, The Aristocats and a myriad of voices for Hanna & Barbera including Dick Dastardly in Penelope Pittstop.
I'll always remember him for his childrens show with his ventriloquist dolls Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smith. I begged my parents for a Jerry Mahoney Doll.
Annie Award Winner, Winchell also was an early designer of a valve in the first Jarvick 7 artificial hearts. So adieu Paul, look up to the heavens and give one last : Scottie-Wattie-Doo-Doo!!
-Tom Sito
Paul Winchell died last night (Sat) in his home in Moorpark in his sleep at age 82.
Besides being the voice of Tigger in the Winny the Pooh films, Winchell did voices for Fox & the Hound, The Aristocats and a myriad of voices for Hanna & Barbera including Dick Dastardly in Penelope Pittstop.
I'll always remember him for his childrens show with his ventriloquist dolls Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smith. I begged my parents for a Jerry Mahoney Doll.
Annie Award Winner, Winchell also was an early designer of a valve in the first Jarvick 7 artificial hearts. So adieu Paul, look up to the heavens and give one last : Scottie-Wattie-Doo-Doo!!
-Tom Sito
New Look and Feel
If you were at this site yesterday you might have noticed that the blog looked a little messed up. It just went strange. No idea why. There were big gaps in the text.
I tried everything to fix it. After a lot of work and a change to the template, a loss of the page counter and other fun things that took more time than I had to spend we have a new look. So what are you going to do.
Me, I`m going to a party for Martha Sigall that animation art collector Dave Lowanstein is holding today. His collection is legend and this will be my first chance to see all the cool animation art he has gathered.
If you were at this site yesterday you might have noticed that the blog looked a little messed up. It just went strange. No idea why. There were big gaps in the text.
I tried everything to fix it. After a lot of work and a change to the template, a loss of the page counter and other fun things that took more time than I had to spend we have a new look. So what are you going to do.
Me, I`m going to a party for Martha Sigall that animation art collector Dave Lowanstein is holding today. His collection is legend and this will be my first chance to see all the cool animation art he has gathered.
