A Day In Burbank:

This morning as the kids run around getting ready for school and my beard, that I have grown to lengths so that I can be Santa at Christmas, is finally driving me crazy, I get my Z Z Top face ready for a day in fair Burbank. It is a happening town.

Got a noon meeting at the Smokehouse and a 3 o`clock at Woodbury (stop motion - cool). Don`t forget that there is an ASIFA volunteer meeting tonight at 7 at the Animation Center (2114 W. Burbank Blvd) so you might want to spend some time in Burbank too.

If I am not mistaken the subject of this night`s meeting is volunteers for the up coming Annie Awards. (spots have become limited in the last couple of years as the Annies get bigger and better each year)  ¶ 6:55 AM   

  Archive: Spumco Drawings By Vincent Waller Today we digitized a batch of drawings donated by John Kricfalusi. They are sketches by Spumco director, Vincent Waller.



ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive

Enjoy
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive  ¶ 6:54 PM   

  Animation Invades Live Action! Last July 29th the Motion Picture Academy presented an amazing show about animation performance. A sellout crowd saw Brad Bird, Eric Goldberg, The animators of Lord of the Rings and others present a rare insight into animation, both 2D and 3D. Those who didn't make it then know now they missed something pretty cool. Now the same folks are at it again:

THE SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL of the MOTION PICTURE ACADEMY PRESENTS:
ANIMATION INVADES LIVE ACTION
TUESDAY DECEMBER 6TH, 7:30PM
At the Samuel Goldwyn Theater
8949 Wilshire Blvd. Beverly Hills

This show will explore how animation and live action have blended together to create a new cinematic language. ROGER RABBIT, KING KONG, I-ROBOT, POLAR EXPRESS- where does the animated film end and the live action film begin? What is the future? Scheduled guests include John Dykstra, Bill Kroyer, Ken Ralston, Rob Minkoff, Alfred Molina, Bob Kurtz, Anthony LaMolinara, Steven Poster and Tom Sito. Plus lots of rare footage.

ONE NIGHT ONLY!
Tickets on Sale NOW, $5.00 for the general public.
Doors open at 6:30PM.
For more info and how to order, call 310-247-3000  ¶ 8:58 PM   

 

When Brad Bird got one of his many well deserved Annies last year he thanked Disney Marketing. I know that it might be seen as cool and hip to be down on Disney in some parts of the animation community but I don`t think that even the hardcore Disney distracters can fault them on their marketing skills.

There is no way I would have bought this box of candy without Goofy on the box. And the game on the back, like Orcson Welles playing chess with whisky miniatures and drinking the pieces he takes, the kids get sugared up slowly over time. Dead brilliant! As a guy who has done some marketing in my day, like Brad I take my hat off to the guys at Disney marketing. I picked these up at the 99 Cent Only store for 99 cents.  ¶ 10:44 AM   

  Never Say Never:
I went out to the movies yesterday. But that is not my topic. There was a preview for King Kong. I love Willis O`brian and what I like to think of as the real Kong. Not too fond of the Dino piece of S - - - from a few years back. Not looking forward to anybody remaking my RKO classic. But damn, this looks good. It has the feel of the real Kong, it is set in the time period of the real Kong and I am going to go see it. Something I swore I would not do.  ¶ 3:09 PM   

 
Annie Tickets on Sale:
Tickets for the 33rd Annual Annie Awards are now available to all members of ASIFA-Hollywood at the special price of $65 (2 ticket maximum) through December 4, 2005. On December 5, tickets will be available to members of ASIFA-Hollywood and the general public at $75.

Tickets can be purchased by calling the Alex Theatre Box Office at (818) 243-2539 daily between noon and 6 p.m. A per ticket fee applies if purchasing over the phone. Please contact the box office for more details.  ¶ 4:40 PM   

  Tradition:
So here it is the day after Thanksgiving, traditionally the day that stores start putting up Christmas decorations. Man has that tradition been gone a lone time. This last week, if we put aside all the computer related stuff I have been fighting, has mostly about job referrals.

That also is an old tradition in the animation field, and thankfully one that hasn`t changed much over the years. It happens when animation people get together. I got together with a lot of people last weekend with the Annie judging for Gaming and TV Production categories. Job referrals for seven people and two animation programs (entry level jobs) passed through my hands in the course of the week.

Network, I always tell my students. You want to be where the jobs are floating around because that ups the chances that one of them is going to be just right for you, for me.

This next week sees the start of the early planning phase of the Afternoon of Remembrance. This most meaningful event is put on in January each year by the Animation Guild, Women in Animation, and ASIFA-Hollywood.

Now I need to be part of another volunteer project like I need another major computer disaster (gods forbid) but this truly beautiful and meaningful remembrance of all of the Animation People who have passed from our ranks within the year is something I have always felt strongly about. And the people who put it on each year are some of my favorite people in the world.

Now back to the grind. I have four class databases to rebuilt and another one to update. I have a number of programs and lots of data to reinstall and I have a syllabus to rewrite for a new school I am really looking forward to teaching at come January. Life goes on. And I some how have to get my email working again.  ¶ 6:58 AM   

 

Here it is Thanksgiving and I am grateful to be back in these pages. I am updating my virus detection software even as we speak. I want to give a big thank you to Steve Worth who keep these pages updated while I was fight the binary demons. I am behind on a lot of stuff and will be playing catch up for the next couple of weeks.  ¶ 10:01 AM   

  Archive: Tenggren's Little Trapper Happy Thanksgiving!

The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive will be closed Thursday in honor of Thanksgiving. We will be back at work, digitizing artwork on Tuesday. In the meantime, I posted a batch of scans of one of Gustaf Tenggren's best Golden Books... The Little Trapper.



ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive  ¶ 5:33 PM   

  Los Angeles International Children's Film Festival We received this email today...

The Los Angeles International Children's Film Festival is Dec. 9-11 at the Autry National Center. We are showing more than 80 short films from around the world made for children.

Two programs we have for children on Saturday night Dec. 10 showcase the most creative animation we received for children ages 4 and older. Program #3 is at 7:15 p.m. and Program #4 is at 8:15 p.m. The 8:15 p.m. program includes "Moongirl," the new animated short from filmmaker Henry Selick ("James and the Giant Peach").

We would like to offer $1 off each ticket purchased to your members if they mention your association at the door. Regular ticket prices are $5 adults; $4 ages 17 and younger. As seating is limited, your members may want to purchase in advance at www.presaleticketing.com then ask for a $1 refund at the door (though there is a small ticket charge for the online service).

We also have numerous animated shorts throughout the weekend. See our Web site at www.lachildrensfilm.org

Thanks!
Dan

Dan Bennett
Executive Director
Los Angeles International Children's Film Festival
www.lachildrensfilm.org  ¶ 11:14 PM   

  Archive: Tin Pan Alley Cats Today we posted images from Bob Clampett's classic, Tin Pan Alley Cats.



ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Project Blog

Thanks
Stephen Worth
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive  ¶ 4:15 PM   

  Wendy Jackson Hall This article is taken in part from the notice posted in Animation World Network and is reproduced with their permission.

Independent animator/educator/writer Wendy Jackson Hall passed away Nov. 14, 2005, in Bainbridge Island, Washington. She was hospitalized over the past weekend for blood clots in her lungs and was trying to get stabilized enough undergo biopsies for cancer when she died of complications. She was 32.

An alumnus of the Rhode Island School of Design, she was part of the early core of AWN & Animation World Network, which she joined in 1996 as a sales rep and advanced to associate editor of the magazine. She departed the online publication at the end of 1999 and went on to write about animation for many publications such as the ANIMATION JOURNAL, ANIMATION MAGAZINE, ASIFA NEWS, AWN, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, VARIETY and WIRED MAGAZINE.

While a busy freelance journalist specializing in animation, she taught animation production courses at Santa Monica College as well as schools in California and Massachusetts before getting married to Porter Hall and soon moved up to Washington where she continued to teach, write, animate and consult to animation clients that included AtomFilms and Nicktoons. Jackson Hall served the Ottawa 00 International Jury.

But prior to all that she was general manager of our office here at ASIFA-Hollywood. In those years Wendy helped coordinate events such as the 1995 Annie Awards and the 1996 Animation Opportunities Expo. She was a great asset in those years, whose cheerful smile and demeanor set a pleasant tone around the ASIFA office.

Wendy was a young woman, with family and career who was taken much too soon. Our hearts go out to her family.

Board of Directors
ASIFA-Hollywood  ¶ 9:42 AM   

  Here I am in the teacher`s workroom at the college I teach at on Tuesdays this semester. I am still fighting the good fight on the computer crash front. Got back on the internet yesterday but had to disable my virus protection to do so, so I am still not on.

Finished judging for the Gaming Annies Saturday and did the TV Production on Sunday. A big thanks to my judges. Both teams came up with very good slates. They will be announced on Dec 5th. when all the others are announced.

Also on Dec. 5th. the cut off date for members to buy Annie tickets at reduced prices. After the 5th. members will have to pay full price. Here is a link to the Alex Theater box office but they do not seem to have them listed http://www.alextheatre.org/boxoffice.html Maybe give them a call.  ¶ 7:20 AM   

  What The Archive Website Is For A Note From Steve:

I'm having a little trouble getting across the purpose of the A-HAA! Blog website... The archive website isn't the archive itself. It's the blog reporting on the progress of the archive. When I post a movie or drawing, it isn't just a "funny cartoon", it represents an aspect of the progress of the archive, or an important bit of information that needs to be more widely known. One cartoon on the website might represent hundreds of cartoons in the archive itself.

The A-HAA! Blog isn't just a "cool website to look at stuff". I need the active participation of the artists out there in the "blogosphere". Underneath each post in the A-HAA! Blog is a comments link. That's there for you to comment on what you've learned and to show how you're applying it to your own work. Share your thoughts and sketches related to the post. Discuss the importance of what you see with others. Analyze what you're seeing and figure out what makes it work so well.

Also, the past posts in the blog are maintained for you to dig into and continue to use. I've posted links in the header to the MEDIA, BIOGRAPHY, FILMOGRAPHY, VOLUNTEER and META posts. Click on those and see how they work. Just because a post is a couple of weeks old, it doesn't mean that it isn't still relevant.

The purpose of this archive is to exchange ideas, and to spark inspiration. That requires YOUR active participation.

Here is what we scanned on Thursday...



More info at The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Project Blog.

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive  ¶ 1:26 PM   

  I am alive but I very much hate Window XP (eXtra Fascis) so very, very much. If I have not returned your email it is because I have not gotten your email for the last 3 days or anyone else`s email. I will try to get my email working sometime today. I am really not being rude, well, okay, I am being rude to Little Billy Gates but then he started it.  ¶ 10:23 AM   

  The Uncle of Anime Comes to Fullerton:

Monday night I had Fred Ladd out to talk to my class at Cal State Fullerton. The following photos are from the meet and greet after the event.

I invited Fred because he worked and works in a side of animation and film that does not get much coverage it the normal animation program, the business and finance side of production.

Fred led us through the early days of his career when he was importing/exporting film under the Marshal Plan. He got paid in film form other countries and had to figure out how to make money with it in the U.S. markets. (which is how he because such a talented editor)

He then took us through a lot of his other film deals. Got into the trading of exclusive distribution territories for services in the process of creating the film.

More than a few students looked a little taken back when he explained that at this level animations are considered Product. Not something that the normal animator likes to think about, but something I feel they need to know.

We watched a lot of his films, the students got to ask a few questions and we ran out of time far too soon.












We than had a small reception, the Pencil Mileage Club presented Fred with a club book bag and sketchbook as a thank you for coming out to Fullerton. We had a little food, we talked a lot, and Fred signed autographs.

He brought along Gigantor pictures from a Comic Con event he did for me a couple of years back and a few of the Kimba collector packets from last week`s 40 year reunion (the money from these went to ASIFA) Thank you Fred.  ¶ 7:47 AM   

  Archive: 15% More Betty Boop!

Today I posted 15% more Betty Boop than you have ever seen before!

ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Project Blog

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive  ¶ 8:15 PM   

  I have been offline all weekend with a nasty computer crash. Just faught my way back on today. Had to buy a new computer, old one was smoked. Hoping to save some of my animation, I have all but 2 scenes backed up. Just got to my email and am sad to see that we have lost another animation legend.

DEAR LARRY,

you may want to make a mention of this on the ASIFA Blogg.

ASIFA/Hollywood learned this week of the death of animator DEREK LAMB. He was 68. Since the 1960's Derek was a mainstay of ASIFA Canada and the most active member of the National Filmboard since Norman McClaren. He won awards including two oscars for his short films Every Child, Special Delivery, Why Me? and Lady Fishburnes Guide to Good Manners. Many will remember his credits for the PBS series MYSTERY! where he brought to life the quirky style of cartoonist Edward Gorey. He had a long battle with cancer and died surrounded by family and friends.

Thanks- Tom

  ¶ 5:18 PM   

  Kimba the White Lion 40 years to the day that the first episode was finished - Glendale Library Reuion 11-10-1965 to 11-10-2005





Set up for Kimba event



Fred sets up cues for the night with the video/sound booth






Sadao Miyamoto (an alumnus of Tezuka's Mushi Productions), Jared Cook, translator & interpreter for Tezuka , and Fred Ladd back to camera




Fred Ladd, Sadao Miyamoto, Sonia Owens back to camera and Jared Cook



Craig and Robin Anderson who came in from Baltimore for the event www.KimbaWLion.com




Filmography, voice cast photo and 36 page Kimba book



Miyamoto-san had day to day insights into Tezuka`s Mushi Productions



Sonia Owens one of the last of the voice crew



Fred Patten, author of the How Kimba Came to Be essay in the Kimba booklet




Tinker Bell as MC





Fred intros Kimba screening




















The smoking gun, Kimba`s father in the clouds  ¶ 9:50 AM   

  For Those of You That Don`t Get Animation Magazine:
Ollie Johnston to Receive Medal of Arts Legendary Disney animator Ollie Johnston was among the names announced yesterday as President George W. Bush unveiled the recipients of the 2005 National Medal of Art. The first animator to ever receive the honor, Johnston is traveling to Washington D.C. with his family and Roy Disney to attend Thursday`s ceremony.  ¶ 10:06 AM   

  FROM THE EMAIL BINS:



Morph 2005 German Stop Motion Online Festival

Just fished this out of my spam bin. I had a piece in this festival last year. I didn`t place but I blamed it on a language barrier so my ego survived. I am not going to be able to have my current piece in shape for this year. But that is festival life, you are either in the show or part of the audience, on the bus or off the bus. I you have some stop motion shorts here is any easy way to get them seen.

• Dear Filmmakers
  
  have you made a stop-motion animation short? morph 2005 is the online animation contest put on by stopmotionfilm.de, the first german stop-motion website. you can enter your film into one of the following categories and win a prize.
  
  - best stop-motion quickie
  - best stop-motion character
  
  your film will be presented on our website and will be viewed by other creative types all around the world.
  
  
  • requirements: seven minutes or shorter
  
  
  • technique: stop-motion or claymation, or a combination of these with 2d-computer animation
  
  
  • download your entry form online at stopmotion.de
  
  
  • deadline for submissions: november 30th 2005
  
  
  
  

  - - - - -
  thomas schneider-trumpp
  head of
  animation & director morph
  - - - - -
  studio clayart
  a brand of scopas medien ag
  daimlerstrasse 32-36
  60314 frankfurt/main
  tel.: +49 (069) 440870
  fax.: +49 (069) 4059692
  http://www.stopmotionfilm.de/
  http://www.clayart.de/
  

Former Student Tracks Me Down:

One of the things about teaching that I like is that if you do a good job, students look you up in later life and say thank you. And if you don`t do so well with some student they may think bad things about you but you really have to mess them up for them to want to hunt you down. Here is an email form the former category.

Hello Mr. Loc,

I am not sure if you would remember me or not, My name is Daniel S _ _ _ _ _. I was in your classes at CCROP. I attended the first internet web publishing class that you had and then the following year took your animation class.. I tried to drop by the school to say Hello, but they told me you were not working there anymore. So I did some searching on the internet and found this E-mail address, I hope this one is still valid.

I have built and maintained the website www.customautoparts.com for the last 3 years now. I
remember you being such a great teacher while I was going to school there, and like I said I was in the neighborhood and wanted to drop in on you and see how you were doing. Since I did not see you at the school, I hope this E-mail reaches you . . . Write me back and let me know how things have been.

Hope to hear from you soon,

Daniel S_ _ _ _ _
CustomAutoParts.com

I remembered him. Needless to say I did write him back. This is the gravy, the feed for the ego, the stuff that keeps me teaching. I had a teacher like this only more so, Peggy Russell, my 8th grade English teacher, I still am in touch with her. For years she edited my manuscripts until computers came up with spell check. She went out of her way to change my life for the better. I wouldn`t be writing this today with out her. I will love her to the day I die. I don`t think I have ever paid back my debt to her but these past students looking me up give me hope that some day I might.  ¶ 8:34 AM   

  Archive Report: More Amazing Ray Patin Drawings Dan Goodsell was in yesterday with a huge stack of amazing drawings to be digitized for inclusion in the database. These sketches have received comments from all over the world since we started posting them. Everyone agrees that this collection is a treasure trove of 1950s design. The drawings we are posting in the blog are just the tip of the iceberg. The number of pieces in the collection numbers in the hundreds. Stop by the archive and take a look at all of them.

Here's a little treat from today's batch...



Check out the rest at... The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Project Blog

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive  ¶ 11:53 AM   

 

Mark signing a Roger Rabbit poster that already has the autograph Richard Williams (for Mark Kausler)



Mark and I talking to a student that worked on the InstaVision Popeye game for which Mark animated the commercial, one of Mark`s favorite because he got to do the old Popeye.


Photos by: Megumi Tsuji Pencil Mileage Club Historian  ¶ 11:13 AM   

  Mark Kausler was at my Cal State Fullerton class Monday night. I will be writing about it later this week. Until then here are some photos.

LATER: I finally got some sleep last night. My Monday / Tuesday schedule has been a little wearing this semester, class till 10 PM Monday night and then 8 AM class Tuesday morning. This week was real hard because I had Mark Kausler in to Cal State Fullerton. But it was worth it.

Mark brought out his 16 mm projector and showed rare animations and almost animations (NBC TeleComics - Radio play with still pictures). There were two real highlights to the show for me.

The first dealt with the TeleComics. I picked up a couple of original pieces of production artwork from ASIFA just because they where such great pieces of art. Mark identified the artist in passing, Dik Moores of Gasoline Alley fame. I love Dik`s run on Gasoline Alley and didn`t even know I had two of his originals in my collection.

The second big surprise for me was a Krazy Kat that I had not seen in 40 years and I didn`t even know that I had not seen it. That is what I love about cartoons. All of the sudden I was a kid again setting in my parents front room in Florida looking at this big monster RCA cabinet model TV / Record Player with the 12 inch screen and the record player that had not worked for years and years. There were ugly nick knack shelves on the wall with seashells we fownd on the beach. I was half way through a box of Cheerios. And the devil (a very strong part of my childhood church going mythology) was talking Krazy Kat into stealing a melody from a classical composer. I want a copy of that cartoon. I want to see it again. Man I love that cartoon and all these years I didn`t even know what was missing.



Okay let us change subjects, here is Ken Kinoshita (one of my students, a former Disney artist, current Illustration student and a long time friend of Mark) with Mark Kausler.





Mark and I talking about the play list of cartoons for the night.




Mark in his element, behind a projector



We started with Crusader Rabbit The Alex Anderson/Jay Ward rabbit is not an easy cartoon to see as most copies are buried in the Fox Vault.



Followed by NBC TeleComics (ASIFA-Hollywood had all of the artwork for this cartoon thingy) Then Mark showed a reel of cartoons from his childhood. Cartoons that he loves, cartoons that shaped him and made him into an animator.



We ended the night with an interview, Mark showed artwork from his short animation It`s the Cat (I love this cartoon it has all the things that I love about cartoons from the 30s). We then showed this great animation to my class. Did some questions from the audience and had a small reception. All in all a very good night. Thank you Mark.



Photos by: Bonnie Robinson  ¶ 6:22 AM   

 

I very seldom read the Orange County Register it was hatefully anti-teacher during the 2001 Orange Country Teachers Strike. And they took the position from the very first that our dear Governor Arnold is a liberal. (I am not making this up, really I am not, gods I wish I were) But this Sunday there was not a Los Angeles Times to be had in the store and we really needed the funnies and the movie section and thought that it would be better than nothing.

With such a dubious pedigree it comes as no great surprise that they put forth the same mistaken assumptions as their betters at the New York Times a few weeks ago, mainly that cartoons are only for children. Sandy Cohen in Innocence and Innuendo is shocked, I say shocked to find adult elements in G-rate animation features in the form of things that adults get but that sail harmless over the heads of the kiddies and Sandy seems to think it a new and insidious development and has a group of other movie rating groups that do a better job of stopping creeping communism I mean liberalism where are our burning crosses?.

This Cohen personage must not have been paying much attention to say Doc of Snow White fame (the first Hollywood animated feature) and I quote: What are you and who are you doing? I mean who are you and what are you doing? Cartoons have always been for adults. Don`t make me have to bring up the subject of Betty Boop.

So Sandy do a little research or shut up. Like maybe seeing some animation before you write about it might be in order. I do teach Animation History in two Orange County colleges and one college that is over the line in Long Beach, try stopping in some time. Oh and the liberal commies are not taking over the cineplex, really. Or if we are we did it a long time ago while you where sleeping at the switch in your diapers.

To add insult to stupidity in the Culture (sic) Section in an article of Orange County sons and daughters who made good, some unknown writer infers that Chuck Jones was born in Newport Beach and that he created Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and Pepe Le Pew. I guess that one out of five is as good as we can expect and it gives me the greatest sadness that indoor plumbing has finally come to Orange Country so that this paper can not be treated as it truly deserves.

  ¶ 6:56 AM   

 
KIMBA THE WHITE LION
40th Anniversary Party

A tribute to Osamu Tezuka's "Jungulu Taitei Leo"

Tickets are $6 for ASIFA-Hollywood members, $8 for non-members. This event will be THE DEFINITIVE REVIEW of the famous KIMBA Series.

Exclusive merchandise will be sold! Come Early - Seating is limited!

Thursday November 10th • 7:00 pm
Glendale Central Library
222 E. Harvard Street
Glendale, CA  ¶ 1:12 PM   

  List Season Comes Early:

Very burned out this A.M. Thursday spent 14 hours working phones, emailing, graphic design, etc (Video crew for Annies, guest speakers at Fullerton this week and next, internships for my students, film preservation stuff). Then Friday (yesterday) spent all day sorting and watching all, yes all (okay, almost all) of the submissions for TV Production category of the Annies. (9 in the morning to 8 at night)

When my family got home they moved right into an area of the house where they could not hear and then at 8 they forced me to stop. I still have 6 more to view. Already Scotch taped over all of the tracking number labels so that they don`t fall off in handling (had that happen last year, never again) and removed all the record tabs from the video tapes. I just have to get everything in numerical order and they are ready for the judging.



I am at that list making stage, already. And I am just on the side of the Annies. Gretchen Dixon and Annette O`Neil and Antran and crew are right in the thick of it all. I remember when I was just at theouter edge of stuff, working tickets and greeting on the night of the event. And I was thinking it would be fun to get more involved and it is.

Today is my daughter`s birthday so I am taking the day off (after I post this) and taking a whole crew out to see Wallace and Gromit and then tomorrow it is back to grading term papers for Cal State Fullerton and getting ready for my Monday night class and my first guest speaker.

Tuesday is mid-term portfolio review for my internship classes at Brooks. Wednesday is the Annie Feature film meeting and Thursday is 40 years of Kimba. Fred talked me into taking one of the voice-acting crew guests back to her hotel after the event. Friday I am sleeping and maybe some work on my animation.  ¶ 8:47 AM   

  Animation Archive: More Ray Patin Art Today, you may have noticed that the ASIFA websites have been responding slowly. The story on the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Film Preservation Program that I posted yesterday on the Archive site got picked up by several big links sites, and for a while there, the server was totally slammed. The word is getting out!

Today, I posted more drawings from the Ray Patin Studios...



Make sure to check them out on the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Website.

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive  ¶ 5:22 PM   

  Members Discount Prices: Annie Tickets

Annie tickets will go on sale in the next couple of days for ASIFA-Hollywood members only. Just like last year Annies tickets will be available at a reduces members price for only a short time. In this case until the end of November. Then the prices go up to their normal price for both the membership and the general public. All ticket sales will be handled through the Alex Theater Boxoffice http://www.alextheatre.org. More details to follow.  ¶ 4:55 AM   

  Toward a More Perfect Truth:

Minor correction. The other day Steve thanked Jerry Beck in these pages for providing the Black and White Terrytoon cartoons for the ASIFA Archives. And in truth the cartoons in question did come from Jerry`s collection but before they came from Jerry`s collection they came from Mark Kausler`s collection.

These Terrytoons, just like so many other cartoons today, are here for us to enjoy only because Mark Kausler hunted them down one by one over the years, bought them with his own money, paid out of his own pocket for the film storage facilities for the past 35 plus years, lovingly maintained the films by hand, and then made them available to the public by freely lending them to Jerry and others like him to be copied.

So maybe it is not a minor correction, maybe it is a major correction. I for one thank the forgotten shades of Emile Cohl and J. Stuart Blackton for the likes of Mark Kausler and the thousands of cartoons he has saved.  ¶ 4:52 AM   

  Could you please help us get the word out about this meeting to your members? Thanks!-Pamela Thompson, Recruiter, Ideas to Go

The Los Angeles Professional Chapter of ACM SIGGRAPH Presents:

The Making of Chicken Little
Thursday, November 17, 2005

See a screening of "Chicken Little" in Disney Digital 3-D, a new 3-D technology using digital projection and passive polarized glasses. Following the screening, three speakers from Walt Disney Feature Animation will present the making of "Chicken Little", with a focus on animation, effects, and the process of bringing the film to theaters in 3-D.

Save the date and watch your email and our web site for updates on this meeting!
http://la.siggraph.org

Program

7:30 - 9:15 P.M. Screening.
9:15 - 10:15 P.M. Presentation. Speakers to be determined.  ¶ 10:14 PM   

  Swing You Sinners at the Archive Today was a busy day at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive. Marc Deckter and Marc Crisafulli were in to help scan and back up videos. Dan Goodsell was in with a new batch of amazing artwork from the Ray Patin studios to digitize. And we digitized an important Fleischer film for inclusion in our database...



Swing, You Sinners was the first of Fleischer's legendary series of cartoons dealing with surrealism, cartoony ghosts and goblins, and hot jazz. Ted Sears, Grim Natwick and Willard Bowsky animated it, and I guarantee after watching it, it'll be your new favorite cartoon.

The best thing is that the copy we have in the archive was preserved by ASIFA-Hollywood's Animation Preservation Program.

Check it out...

ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Blog

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive  ¶ 8:52 PM   

  Who?

Last night was the ASIFA-Hollywood Executive Board meeting. Lots of great things covered. Lots of great things happening. More about that later. Today I want to cover:

Kimba (Kimba)
Kimba (Kimba)
Kimba (Kimba)
Kimba (Kimba)

Who lives down in deepest darkest Africa? (Africa)
Who`s the one who brought the jungle fame?
Who`s the king of Animals in Africa?
Kimba the white lion is his name!

Fred Ladd was in with a preview of the exclusive material that will be for sale at the November 10th Kimba 40th Anniversary. Looking hot! A 36 paper full color booklet with the definitive work How Kimba Came To Be by Robin Leyden and Fred Patten. Also a great inside cover beauty shot of Kimba, (perfect for autographs) shown here with Fred`s autograph already on my copy and I will be able to add other cast signatures at the Glendale Library show next Thursday night. Come to the show and buy the package and so can you.






But that is not all, said Fred doing a dead on impression of a 80`s Ginsu knife infomercial. With the book comes a completely re-mastered copy of the original filmography that has not seen the light of day for 40 years. David Derks retyped all the text from the beat up photocopy of the original typewriter pages from the writer`s synopsis done for NBC 40 years ago when Kimba was young. David also did a great job of cleaning up the original frontpage artwork so that it looks brand new. All 52 episodes are here and it order just the way the writers wrote them after they finishing the adaptations.

But even that is not all continued Fred Ladd, the Stepfather of Anime. By this time the board is under his spell and rolling with it. no, that is not all. You also get a copy of the original voice cast photo in loving, authentic 8 by 10 inch black and white. The booklet has a very small copy of the photo right next to the Kimba model sheet but you just can`t see the cast at this size. Therefor a full size reproduction suitable for framing. also a great object for autographs.



And here is the cool part, when you pick these up at the Kimba Anniversary you will be able to get them autographed, right there at the event by the surviving cast members. There will never be another event like this. This is the only time that the surviving cast will be getting together in one place. I`m starting to sound like Fred. But it is true. We were contacted by a fan from Baltimore, who will be flying in just for this event. Don`t miss this one folk.

Tickets are $6 for ASIFA-Hollywood members, $8 for non-members. This event will be THE DEFINITIVE REVIEW of the famous KIMBA Series, and a frank look at charges made even today that Disney's "The Lion King" was inspired by Osamu Tezuka's "KIMBA, The White Lion,".seen on U.S. television 30 years earlier.

Exclusive merchandise will be sold! Come Early - Seating is limited!

Thursday November 10th • 7:00 pm
Glendale Central Library
222 E. Harvard Street
Glendale, CA  ¶ 8:53 AM   

 

Continuing the great video tape sell off that is currently underway everywhere I scored some cool stuff the other day, Donovan Cook`s Three Musketeers the last great 2-D feature until Curious George comes out. Also got Joe`s Apartment and the find of the day was Yakety Yak a PSA tape with the Recycle Music Video, the making of, all the short versions of the live action/animation campaign and the star spots. We use to have all the cels for this at ASIFA and I lugged them back and forth to Comic Con for years until a dealer bought the whole lot.

Talked to Mark Kausler tonight about his guest speaker/screening at Cal State Fullerton next week. Man has he pulled some killer 16 mm stuff for my students. Stuff like Anderson / Ward Crusader Rabbit the first made for TV animation NBC TeleComics the second or third made for TV aniamtion if you want to call this animation (ASIFA had all the cels from this one too) UPA The Telltale Heart and many more.

Norman McLaren always gets a reaction. I showed my Fullerton students a whole lot of his stuff this last Monday night. We always get such nice discussions going about weather Begone Dull Care and Pas de deux are animations or special effects films. Here is a link to last years class discussion on this same set of films. Norman McLaren  ¶ 6:07 AM   

  At The Archive Lots of new pictures to drool over at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive website...



Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive  ¶ 12:19 AM