Sometimes I can`t think of anything to write in these pages and sometimes there is too much going on and not enough time to write about all the things going on. This is one those times. I will label these photos later this week when I recover from Friday and Saturday.


























The clean up and sort at the old animation center went very well. A big thank you to all the volunteers that came out and help. Paul Abramson, David Gustafson, Edwin Austin, Jason Jones, Raven Loc, Tobias Loc, Michael (someone) and that weird guy in the hat.











  ¶ 9:44 AM   

  Laguna College of Art & Design students take a little time out from killer end of semester deadline to listen to Aki Umemeoto talk about animation jobs outside TV and Feature animation.



Christina Yeung gets a few much need seconds of shuteye before the program starts



Aki Umemoto Creative Director for Mattel for 25 years, currently creative Director for Base Station, an industral film production company, talks about the other 80% of animation outside of film and TV







More details later:  ¶ 5:15 AM   

  Call All ASIFA Volunteers

There is a Archives Move scheduled for this Saturday, April 29th at 721 S. Victory Blvd., Burbank (the old animation center) starting at 9 AM.

We are going to be cleaning and sorting and breaking down office furniture and basically closing the old animation center so that we no longer have to pay rent on it.

There will be no heavy lifting or real moving of stuff from site to site. We are just getting the stuff sorted and ready for the movers.

Bring gloves, bring tools, bring cleaning supplies, bring yourself. Help out ASIFA and meet other volunteers.  ¶ 10:11 PM   

  This and That from Here and There:

The April ASIFA-Hollywood Volunteer`s Meeting took place last night at Woodbury University with 10 of our hardcore volunteers in attendance.(thank you Dori and Mary for letting up use your campus)

There is an archive move scheduled for this Saturday morning (April 29th) at the old ASIFA Animation Center, 721 S. Victory Blvd., Burbank at 9 AM running to about 2 PM. It is not really a move so much as a sort and box and break down. We are getting ready for the movers to grab the items and get us out of the old site. Bring your tools, bring you gloves, and come on out and help us close down the Victory Blvd. site.

The reason we need to get done by 2 PM is Jerry Beck`s AFI screening of Tunes for Toons. This looks and sounds like a great one and I am not going to miss it.

Saturday April 29th, 2006 - 3:00pm
American Film Institute
Steven Ross Screening Room (Warner Bros. Building)
2021 N. Western Ave.
Hollywood, CA

ASIFA-HOLLYWOOD members admitted FREE / Non-Members Admission: $10.00



This just scheduled:

ASIFA-Hollywood Volunteer Meeting (South)
May 17th - 7 PM
Laguna College of Art & Design
Room 12

I am an Orange County guy in my residence if not my politics. One of the things I get asked all the time by all the other Southys is why are all the ASIFA events in Hollywood and Burbank?

Okay, it is ASIFA-Hollywood. But we do have a lot of members up and down the left coast. We even have a member in Texas. So with San Diego Comic Con coming up I felt it would be a good idea to get together with the ASIFA members who live in San Diego and Orange counties. These would seem to be the people best situated to work this event. And I need all the help I can get.

So if you are an ASIFA member who lives in a southern zip code this meeting is for you. And with the price of gas as darn Bush hight as it is it will be nice not to have to spend a couple of hours on the 5 freeway. If this works out I might just schedule a few more of these meetings-south in the future. More info to follow.  ¶ 8:45 AM   

  ASIFA Volunteers on the Move:

ASIFA Volunteers Meeting (tonight)
Wednesday, April 26th
7PM
Woodbury University
7500 Glenoaks Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91510-7846
Room M104
FREE PARKING

(See details below)

This coming Saturday Morning is the Victory Street Move. We need your help packing boxes and sorting animation artifacts. Come on out to the volunteer meeting tonight and help plan this move.

Planning for the upcoming San Diego Comic Con will also be discussed in great detail. As will a number of other volunteer opportunities . Come on out and be an active part of ASIFA-Hollywood. Be part of animation history past, present and future.


  ¶ 6:58 AM   

  A couple of months ago I gave you a heads up on the Nicktoons Animation Festival. It is submission time. So get your shorts out.

  ¶ 5:17 AM   

  ASIFA Volunteers Meeting
Wednesday, April 26th
7PM
Woodbury University
7500 Glenoaks Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91510-7846
Room M104
(FREE PARKING)

We will be meeting at a different building and room this month (only) because of a review that is taking place in the design center.

We have a lot of things to cover this month.
Plans for Comic Con
Upcoming Archives Move (Morning of April 29th)
Plans to hold an ASIFA Volunteer Meeting in Orange County in May
Animation Rescue Team

On Campus Directions to this Month`s Meeting Site:

When you enter campus, you will still park in the big parking lot. The building you are going to is on the right side of the parking lot facing the central quad. It is the second building from the entrance, called Miller Hall.

M104 is on the ground floor (you go down a few steps to get there) and on the side of the hall facing the quad.

Here's a campus map. You want building 3. PARKING IS FREE


Park in P1 meeting is in building 3 ground floor (click for larger image)  ¶ 7:19 AM   

  Archive: Mexican Lobby Card Fiesta Here's another reminder to stop by the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive to see our exhibit of Mexican Lobby Cards. The images that we have posted in the Animation Archive blog just scratch the surface of this wonderful collection.



Media: Mexican Lobby Card Fiesta

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive  ¶ 12:20 PM   

 

Update on Gerry Giovinco, AKA Captain Visual and it even deals with animation. Seems the man who started Comico Comics is now a professional clown and a world authority on balloon sculpting with a number of books on the subject to his credit. His web site is here www.captainvisual.com and an animation trailer of a film he is working on called Captain Visual`s Intergallactic Circus is here http://www.captainvisual.com/circus.htm.  ¶ 7:21 AM   

 
Gerry is the guy on the right in orange

I just got a blast from the past. I got an email from Gerry Giovinco, the man that put Comico on the map. I first met Gerry working on Bob Schreck`s 1980 independent film The Incredible Hulk Meets the Ever Lovin` Blue Eyed Thing.

Bob, who is now a senior editor at DC comics, in those days was the bouncer at the Creation Comics Con. When Bob wanted to do a movie he got in touch with all of the people that had done cool costumes at Creation. Since I was doing slasher flicks and rubber suits at that time I was in that number.

We took over a bar on Long Island for 2 days and we filmed this movie that still holds up well today. Don`t look for it in the Internet Movie Data Base, none of my film work during this time made it to IMDB. I have a very dark VHS print of it and if you get me drunk sometime I might show it to you?

About a year later I got a letter from Gerry asking me to contribute to a new comic company he was putting together. I was doing Photo Comics with stop motion models at the time, and kick myself, I never sent him anything thinking that this was just another self published one shot. If I had only sent him something I would still be on the Right Coast starving in comics and covered in snow for 6 months out of the year.

Gerry, a high school friend of his, and the friends brother who was a dentist or accountant and owned a building and was looking for a tax write off, started Comico, but it was Gerry`s baby.

Gerry didn`t know from tax write offs, this was comics, this was what he wanted to do and do it he did. He got Mage, and Panda Kon, and Evangelina (bounty killer Nun in a leather habbit set in the future), Robotech, and Concrete. He built it up into the number 3 comic publisher in the country.

That is when the trouble really started. If the comic company was not a tax write off and was going to show a major profit then we can`t let some kid run it just because he built it. They took the company away from Gerry and gave it into the keeping of more mature looking people that Gerry had brought in to help him run the place.

The last time I saw Gerry I was on the East Coast visiting Chris Kalnick and we went in to Comico. I looked around and couldn`t find Gerry anywhere. I even asked and got a non answer. So I talked to other friends and stocked up on free sample comics.

Then when I was on my way out I ran into Gerry. I started talking to him. Just passing the time. Maybe 45 seconds in to the how are you doing? and the people that he had hired to help him run his company, who where now the bosses of the company he had created, came down on him like a ton of bricks like he was some dumb office boy off the street.

They soon turned Comico right back into the tax write off it was meant to be but both moved on and are still working in the field today. Gerry, I don`t know what happened to Gerry. I am waiting for a return email. This was the first time I saw this kind of dumb headed business planning. But it wasn`t the last time. And every time I see it I think of Gerry.  ¶ 7:51 PM   

  Volunteer Call: Saturday Volunteer Days In May The Board of Directors of ASIFA-Hollywood have authorized the Animation Archive to open on Saturdays for volunteers who want to help process the backlog of material waiting to be formatted for induction into the archive database. We are looking for volunteers to help out in two areas:

PHOTOSHOP: Scanning and formatting of images to the various sizes and formats required. Basic Macintosh and Photoshop skills are required.

VIDEO: Capturing, editing and formatting of video using Final Cut Pro, iDVD, and other video software. Basic experience with working with video on the Macintosh required.

If you only have basic computer skills, we are willing to train you to use the software if you commit to several shifts over the next two months.

If you would like to help, you need to sign up for a shift, so we will know to have work ready for you when you arrive. There are two shifts available... afternoon (from 1:30pm to 5:30pm) and evening (from 5pm to 9pm). We have two computers devoted to Photoshop, and one devoted to video. You can sign up for two shifts in a row, and spend the whole day with a dinner break at 5 if you wish. Here is the weekly schedule of shifts...



You MUST reserve your shift if you plan to volunteer. To reserve a shift, see the calendar pages for the Saturdays in May...

Saturday, May 6th
Saturday, May 13th
Saturday, May 20th
Saturday, May 27th

Thank you for your support!
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive  ¶ 6:01 PM   

  Archive: Three More Early Tenggren Books Today, we digitized three early books by famed Disney concept artist, Gustaf Tenggren...



Media: Three More Early Tenggren Books

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive  ¶ 7:01 PM   

  Animated Film Trauma Center:

Here is a technical one from the email bag. This came in response to my blog on films I am trying to help preserved. It came by way of Steve at the Archives, which makes sense. And I have answered it directly because of the importance of the issue but also feel some good would be served to post this information in case others have the same problem.

Hi Larry

Next time you speak to Kausler, could you ask him if he knows anything about...

B.M. Powell
Getting In Dutch
Laff-Trip Novelty
MCMXXVI

A reader of the blog sent me a message saying that they have a 16mm print of it with a strong vinegar smell, and they wanted to know if it was important or not.

Thanks
Steve

Steve,

First off, Mark Kausler had not heard of this film. That in itself makes me think that it may be rare. There are big problems with Kodak`s so called safety stock. Here is what Kodak says about it.

Long-term storage of film has been an industry concern since the beginning of motion pictures. Moisture, temperature, acids and vapors from the atmosphere that surround stored film have an impact on the life expectancy of motion picture film.

"Vinegar Syndrome", is a term used to describe the chemical reaction that goes on during the deterioration of cellulose triacetate film support. When cellulose triacetate begins to decompose, "deacetylation" occurs and the acetate ion reacts with moisture to form acetic acid producing a vinegar odor when a can is opened. Once the reaction is started, it cannot be stopped.

Molecular Sieve is a promising new technology developed by Eastman Kodak Company, that has the ability to retard the vinegar syndrome reaction.
Simply stated, the inclusion of Molecular Sieve with processed motion picture film in a sealed container has the ability to extend the life of the dye images
and film support beyond that which is currently considered normal.

There are a number of steps needed to help extend the life of films showing signs of Vinegar Syndrome.

• It needs to be stored in a cool temperature, but that in itself is not going to help with a film showing signs of Vinegar Syndrome
  
  
• Get the film off of its metal reel. Re-spool it onto a plastic core. The metal needs to be removed from the chemical equation.
  
  
• Get a product from Kodak called a Molecular Sieve Acid Scavenger. As I understand it Molecular Sieve Acid Scavenger is a kind of desiccant blanket that the film is wrapped it. This will slow down the deterioration in some cases. Here is the link to where the Molecular Sieve Acid Scavenger can be purchased.
  http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/support/technical/molecular.jhtml?id=0.1.4.15.12.6&lc=en
  
  This is not going to be the final answer. The film needs to be copied or it is going away. It is all a mater of time.
  
  
• If the Vinegar Syndrome is advanced, (and after you have taken all of the other steps) freeze the film while waiting to get it copied.
  

Animation always gets the short end of the stick in film preservation programs and animation from defunct studios that are not going to donate money to the program are even lower on the pecking order.

These guys are fighting a ongoing losing battle and have to think on levels of the greater good and how they can save the largest number of films. It is a political nightmare like a giant film ER trauma center in a 365 day a year natural disaster.

Good luck with your film. Being 16 mm you can take it out to DVD at a private company that transfers home movies. Not the best plan as DVDs are not archival but it is better than playing the film and setting up a camcorder on a tripod.

The waiting list at a film preservation programs is killer, we have had Mark`s copy of the nitrate The Bees at UCLA for almost a year and it is just coming up to the top of the list this summer. And ASIFA is paying for the film processing. There is no chance of getting a film preservation program to come up with the funding, they don`t work that way. And here at ASIFA we have limited funds and, counting The Bees, five films in the hopper ahead of this film.

So I fear that you are on your own. Good Luck with your project and welcome to the fun world of film preservation.  ¶ 5:45 AM   

 

I spent the weekend editing a set on DVDs of two interviews with Mark Kausler. The first interview was 11/7/2005 at Cal State Fullerton and the second interview was at Laguna College of Art & Design on 3/17/2006.

The Fullerton interview gets into the details of Mark`s career. Mark talks in detail about the Maybellene scene in Heavy Traffic, working story with Joe Ranft on the Baby Herman cartoon that begins Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the change over of Chouinard Art Institute to Cal Arts, professional work at age 14 and much more including why a major studio tried to censor his student film. There is also a screening of some of Mark`s collection of animation.

The Laguna College of Art & Design interview covers animating to the beat, working with music, and then goes into Mark`s critique of LCAD student films, with insights into how Mark thinks and his views on the creative process. Lots of good stuff here for the student.

Mark worked freelance most of his career so Internet Movie DataBase (working mostly from the credits) misses lots of his work. Mark`s career covers all of the second half of the history of animation and he worked with and knew most of the people from the first half of animation history. These DVDs only scratch the surface but does do a little bit to set the record straight.

The first disk is a treasure for the student of animation history and the second disk is very helpful to the animator. I will be giving a copy of both disks to the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archives once I get them finished. With any luck you will be able to view them at the archives starting some time next month.

My next project is a DVD of this year`s Afternoon of Remembrance followed by a Fred Ladd interview and last year`s State of the Animation Industry panel from the San Diego Comic Con. Or maybe the other way around.  ¶ 6:48 AM   

  Archive: More Great Milt Gross! We just posted more great scans from Milt Gross' Cartoon Tour Of New York...



Media: Milt Gross' Cartoon Tour of New York Part Two

Enjoy!
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive  ¶ 11:57 PM   

  Eight Great Blogs For Students Of Animation Lately, there has been a lot of activity in the "blogosphere" related to design and animation history. I want to quickly bring a few blogs to your attention that you should add to your bookmarks. I've limited this list to the blogs that provide the best resources for information on animation history, analysis and design for students. There are many other great news and personal artist sites to explore as well. In no particular order...

John Kricfalusi's ALL KINDS OF STUFF

John K's blog is swiftly rising to the top of the traffic rankings, and for good reason... He's packing it full of amazing drawings and solid information. His analysis of style in animation surpasses that of anything currently in print. Post by post, he's laying the groundwork for a broadly arching theory about the creative process that taps upon the whole history of cartooning, from T. S. Sullivant and Milt Gross all the way through the present day. I really don't need to say anything else about John's blog, except to say that it is essential reading for all animators.

Michael Sporn's SPLOG

Michael Sporn's Splog is to independent animation what John K's blog is to cartoons. Sporn has had a long career in animation, going all the way back to the days when he worked with John and Faith Hubley, Richard Williams and R. O. Blechman, before creating his own studio. His blog is anecdotal and varied, as a forum for a creative artist's reflections should be, with commentary on the current animation scene, reflections on his own past work, and analysis of the importance of great animators from the past. Sporn's understanding and appreciation of the art of animation radiates through every post.

Jenny Lerew's BLACKWING DIARIES

Jenny Lerew's blog is indispensable reading for all animators for two reasons... First, for the well articulated analysis of the creative process in animation. Her articles on the art of pitching a storyboard, the importance of simplicity, and the need for likeable and honest protagonists in animated features are clear and direct and derive from practical experience and a firm foundation in the history of the medium. Secondly, her research into the life and work of Freddie Moore have been shining new light on a major talent. Moore's work illustrates vividly what is missing from a lot of animation today. Students of animation would be well advised to follow Jenny Lerew's blog closely.

Marc Deckter's DUCK WALK

Marc Deckter is one of the handful of people who form the core of the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive project. He's an animator himself, and has great appreciation for the history of the artform. He recently became inspired to create his own blog, Duck Walk. Although there are just a few postings so far, his article on rubber hose animation, and his collection of images by T.S. Sullivant are already tops on my list of great blog postings. Marc donates time each week to help us catalog the material being inducted into our digital archive. Through his work at the archive, he sees more cartoons and artwork than anyone else in town. You'll want to read what he has to say about all of it.

Clarke Snyder's INSPIRATION GRAB BAG

Clarke Snyder's approach to animation blogging is very similar to my own. In each of his postings, he focuses on a single artist or film. He provides an introduction to put the work in context, and then provides a long stack of jaw droppingly beautiful images. He's done features on many of my favorites... Virgil Partch, Mel Crawford, Floyd Gottfredson, and Milt Gross... as well as some of the best looking animated films ever made... Gerald McBoing Boing, Deputy Droopy and Betty Boop in Old Man of the Mountain. If you find the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Blog to be useful, you need to follow this one as well.

Amid Amidi's CARTOON MODERN

Amid Amidi has been working on a book dealing with 50s animation design for several years now. I shared some of my own original artwork from UPA with him back when he was first starting on the project. Since then, he has amassed a remarkable amount of information on an area of animation that has been relegated to the back chapter of too many history books for too long. The stories of Disney and WB have been told... It's time for books that tell the rest of the story. Cartoon Modern features info on great artists like Bobe Cannon, Ed Benedict, Mary Blair and Tom Oreb. The focus is on a very narrow time frame and range of styles, but it's invaluable research into an area that's been neglected in the past.

Dan Goodsell's A SAMPLER OF THINGS

Dan Goodsell, the author of Krazy Kids' Food! Vintage Food Graphics for Taschen, was our first Archive Alliance member. Dan's personal collection of pop culture graphics, cereal mascot material, and just plain crazy wonderful stuff is monumental. His blog, A Sampler of Things is a showcase for his own comic work, The Imaginary World of Mr. Toast, and a way to share images of material from his collection. Dan's eye for quality is unerring, and he has grouped items from his collection to reveal a context that one wouldn't normally see viewing them in everyday life. That's the mark of a truly brilliant collector.

P-E Fronning's group blog, MARTIN KLASCH and his scrapbook blog MUSSELOPPANS VANNER

I know nothing at all about P-E Fronning except that he lives in Sweden, and his blogs consistently unearth remarkable examples of photography, illustration, industrial design, popular culture, animation and comics. It's rare when every single posting in a blog fascinates me, but this blog succeeds at that. I could easily spend an entire day just navigating through all the links in the sidebar. Along with Boing Boing, this is the blog I find myself reading most often.

These are just a few of my favorite blogs. You'll find more, including great animation news sites and artists' personal blogs in my Technorati Blogroll.

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive  ¶ 11:56 PM   

  Stuff From the Email Bag:



Here is another event that might be of interest. I don`t really think many of you are going to hope a plane to Italy for a Cartoon and Comics Festival (it would be nice) but maybe you have a film you might want to enter in competition. Hey, no entry fee!

International Cartoons and Comics Festival, Dervio, ITALY - 8th edition

The 8th edition of International Cartoons and Comics Festival in Dervio (Como Lake, ITALY) is coming: the official competition will be from 14th to 22th July, 2006. If you have an animation film and you want to participate, you can download Regulations with entry form from site www.dervio.org (also available in
English).If you need more information please write us at festival@dervio.org

No entry fee is required. Entries will be open till 30th April, 2006.

  ¶ 6:51 AM   

  Archive: Milt Stein's Supermouse Today, we posted scans of a spectacular funny animal comic from the collection of Kent Butterworth... Supermouse Comics No. 4 drawn by Milt Stein.



Media: Milt Stein's Supermouse Comics No 4

There's very little information available on the web about great artists like Stein. In the coming weeks, we plan to introduce you to more incredible cartoonists you never heard of before.

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive  ¶ 8:59 PM   

  A Look Behind the Scenes at ASIFA-Hollywood:

I have been emailing back and forth with Mark Kausler of late on film preservation issues. ASIFA-Hollywood has always been active in animation preservation but of late other things seemed to have taken precedence. Sometimes it is like that guy on Ed Sullivan trying to keep all of the plates spinning in the air.

The thing is, the clock is always ticking on old film stock so I have been trying to move the ball forward on a number of one-of-a-kind films in Mark`s collection so that they can be viewed by future generations.

I have talked before in these pages about Mark`s 1938 Cinecolor Mexican sound cartoon The Bees that is currently in the pipeline at UCLA. That one is safely on its way to preservation.

I have also talked a little bit about MARS (Universal Oswald 1930, 16mm) the one-of-a-kind Walter Lantz film taken from a Nitrate print that has since fallen to dust.

Other films from Mark`s collection that exist nowhere else (or not is this good of a copy) are THIS AND THAT FROM HERE AND THERE (John McCrory, 1930, 35mm nitrate print, sound, about 600') an Untitled 35mm Nitrate negative with footage of a couple of cartoon kids, silent, Academy aperture with missing sound track. And this Gem a 35mm Nitrate print of A KICK IN TIME, with full Paramount logos both front and rear, and only a couple of splices.

A KICK IN TIME is a Fleischer cartoon I have never seen. It is a Hunky and Spunky cartoon from 1940. There are not that many Fleischer cartoons that I have not seen so I really think this one needs preserving. Mark has been unable to find any other print of this cartoon in any of the film archives so this is very possible the only print in existence. Mark tells me that the Nitrate stock seems to be stable and the print is in great shape but as with any film this old the time is mounting up.

This is your money at work. That is right, part of your membership dues goes to the Preservation Fund. So if you are a member of ASIFA you are helping to save our animation film heritage. If you are not a member of ASIFA-Hollywood here is another great reason to join. And, of course, if you want to send money to the Preservation Fund earmarked for the animation preservation that would be okay too.

ASIFA has been talking about putting out a DVD of the animations we have preserved over the years. It is quit a large number including a lost Emile Cohl film. So in the future you might be able to see your money in action at home in your own DVD player not just in the Jerry Beck AFI screening. I will update you as the story develops. And don`t forget the ASIFA members meeting and screening tonight at the Glendale Library (see details below)  ¶ 8:39 AM   

  Calling All ASIFA Members:



ASIFA-Hollywood Annual Meeting

Thursday April 13th 7 PM
Glendale Public Library
222 E. Harvard Street
(Validated Parking across the Street in the Parking Structure)

Get the scoop on ASIFA`s 2005 activities
Learn about our plans for the future!
Ask questions and make suggestions
Eat cake and enjoy the show!

Special Program For the Evening:

The world and work of RICHAR NOEL (DICK) BROWN creator of SYNCROVOX

A NEVER BEFORE SEEN RARITY!
Dick Brown`s half hour demo, complete with clips from all your favorites, as well as RARE CLIPS FROM UNAIRED TV PILOTS and pioneering COMPUTER ANIMATION from the early 1970s!  ¶ 9:53 AM   

 
I have been getting stuff ready for the ASIFA Comic Con Booth, banners and the like. While working with the ASIFA logo I finally gave in to a whim and animated the sucker. I have been meaning to do it for a long time and just could not put it off any longer.  ¶ 12:12 PM   

  Archive: Grammar of Ornament Part Two Today, I posted another group of images from the landmark design book from 1865, "The Grammar of Ornament"...



Check it out at...

Media: The Grammar Of Ornament Part Two

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive  ¶ 10:31 AM   

  Blogger has been acting up for the last day and a half. Just managed to get the Friday Blog to post.

Yesterday I went out to see Curious George. I liked it. Fun little film and not just because it is 2-D hand drawn. There is some very nice animation on the screen. Thought the characters were true to the books with the update to PC nature of how George and the Man in the Yellow Hat got together the only off note. My wife had problems too with Man in the Yellow Hat having a name but you can`t please everybody.

I`m a little beat, I just finished 2 syllabi for classes that start next week. Still have to sort videos for my Monday and Tuesday classes. And I have to go pick up my son from college testing. So I am going to sign off.  ¶ 11:20 AM   

  100th Birthday Pictures! Last night's birthday party for animation was a huge success. We estimate we had between 60 and 75 people packed into the archive over the course of the evening. I'm not great with names (I often forget my own!) so I'll fill in what I know right now. If you see yourself or someone you know, email me the info and I'll add it. If you have more pictures, email them to me so I can share them here. Thanks for the wonderful turnout! --Stephen Worth sworth@animationarchive.org


Jim Smith, the man who brought you Ren & Stimpy's
Untamed World, and soon to bring you Chestacles,
with Bob Miller and Fred Ladd in the background.


Kevin Koch, president of Archive Sponsor, The Animation Guild.


Bronnie Barry and director, Bruce Woodside


Mike Fontanelli, whose comic "Barber Shop" has been
featured at John K's blog All Kinds of Stuff shares a laugh
with his buddies Mark Shirmeister and ASIFA-Hollywood
president, Antran Manoogian


Animation Nation stalwart, Eric Hedman
samples a hot dog with Jack Daniels mustard.


The man who put the whole party together,
Archive volunteer Marc Deckter, who has
a new blog, called Duck Walk.


Luke Cormican and Katie Rice,
from the brilliant blog Funny Cute
along with a sly looking David Gemmill,
the proprietor of the CartoonDavid Blog..
Thanks to independent film producer and director, Kent Butterworth (Atilla the Ham) for taking these great pictures!.

Two more pictures from Marc Deckter!


The cake! (It was a lot bigger than it looks here.)


Expert hot doggery by Wienermeister,
Jon the Food Slob of Hot Dog Spot..

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive  ¶ 7:50 PM   

 
click for full size view

He started his career as a Vaudeville drag queen rapid sketch artist. He was friends and business associates with Thomas Edison. He built one of the largest and most powerful pre World War I movie studios in America and the world. He died a penniless bum run down like a dog on Pico Boulevard by a bus. And along the way he did the first known film animation, taught Winsor McCay how to animate. And helped launched the film and animation industries. And a lot of you out there are going J. Stuart Who-the-hell-are-you-talking-about?

Tom Sito salutes J. Stuart Blackton (cartoon above) and the 100th birthday of animation. Come on out to the ASIFA-Hollywood archive tonight, April 6th at 6 PM to 9 PM (2114 W. Burbank Blvd, Burbank, CA) for cake, light refreshments, and talk about the past 100 years and maybe the next 100 years. With luck, no one will be run over by a bus.  ¶ 8:42 AM   

  Thursday April 6th: Archive Open House Party 100 years ago on April 6th, 1906, J. Stuart Blackton created the first animated cartoon, giving life to a new medium. Leonard Maltin writes, "The first examples of animation fascinated and delighted audiences and that appeal has never waned in the past hundred years. Animators continue to explore and develop new technology, but the goal of entertaining an audience hasn't changed very much since the days of J. Stuart Blackton."

Join us on April 6th, 2006 from 6pm to 9pm, when the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive will be hosting an Open House Birthday Party for Animation's 100th, complete with cake and refreshments. Make plans now to attend and help us celebrate the art form we all love. Please email your RSVP to animations100@animationarchive.org.

For more information, see our 100th Birthday Party Invitation.


The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive
2114 Burbank Bl. Burbank, CA 91506.
Help us promote Animation's 100th Birthday...


Please put this button on your website and link it to... http://www.animationarchive.org/animation100

The press release for Animation's Centennial Celebration is at...
http://www.animationarchive.org/animation100press  ¶ 1:10 AM   

  Archive: The Grammar of Ornament Today, we began digitizing a 1910 edition of the granddaddy of all design books, The Grammar of Ornament by Owen Jones. First published in 1856, this book in an early printing like this sells for thousands of dollars. We've provided clickable high resolution scans so students and artists can download the images and print them out for easy reference.



Beautiful stuff. Check it out at...

Media: The Grammar of Ornament Part One

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive  ¶ 1:05 AM   

  Happy Birthday Animation:

This Thursday, April 6th from 6pm to 9pm, at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive (2114 W. Burbank Blvd., Burbank, CA) we are holding a birthday party for the film animation process. We are marking the date from the release date of J. Stuart Blackton`s Edison film Humorous Phases of a Funny Face.

Of course, marking the birth of animation is a hard trick. Filmmakers in all countries backdated their first works to claim that title. Talented people told big lies to claim the name.

I have video of a 2,000 year old Egyptian tablet that has been filmed under an animation stand and it sure looks animated to me. As does the animation stand captured works of Eadweard Muybridge.

Cave painters tried to show movement in their paintings, And Emile Reynaud with his 1892 Theotre Optique, all hand painted on celluloid, was surely animated but it was not done on film.

Winsor McCay boldly claimed on the titles of most of his animated films that he invented the animated process with his his first animation the 1911 Little Nemo. But Emile Cohl (Fantasmagorie 1908) did not believe McCay and neither do I. The fact that Blackton was co-director on McCay`s first animation (read this as teacher) also tends to put the lie to this overblown McCay title grab.

Why Blackton? Why his 1906 Humorous Phases of a Funny Face as the first film animation? There had been object animation before, movement of real world objects between frames. And that is surely a type of animation. Blackton himself had done that as had many others.



It is the cut out arm transformation in Funny Face that does it for me. I am a huge Emile Cohl fan, I staunchly defend Cohl as the first working animator and a massively undervalued founder of this process I love so much. I truly think that there should be an Annie Award named after Emile Cohl. But all that aside even I have to admit that this J. Stuart Blackton 2-frame cut out replacement arm movement is animation.

Blackton may have treated Humorous Phases of a Funny Face as just another one of his trick films and he may not have pursued his discover but he sure as hell did the first known film animation.

J. Stuart Blackton influenced the animation works of Emile Cohl and Winsor McCay. And these 2 influenced everybody else who followed. So this Thursday we are holding a birthday party.   ¶ 10:03 AM   

  ASIFA Comic Con Up:

It is getting to be Comic Con time again. By that I mean that it is close enough to the July 20th to 23rd event to bring all my dealing out in the open and talk about them. I have been steadily working on Comic Con all year long (it is that kind of event) but in the background., off line, setting up presentations and getting panelists signed up.



Friday I got the beginnings of the ASIFA @ ComicCon website uploaded. There is a link on the right hand side bar of the Blog to our annual ASIFA Comic Con website dealing with the ground work of the presence of ASIFA-Hollywood at the country`s largest popular culture convention. (you can also click the image above to go to the site)

We are currently recruiting volunteers in the following areas:

• Booth Workers
  
• Video Crew (need Mini DV camera)
  
• Flyer Table stocking
  
• Presentation Helper
  
• Art Table
  

The Art Table is a new feature for ASIFA this year. We want to get artists drawing caricatures and sketches to help bring in customers and money to support the ASIFA work. If you are going to be at Comic Con and you are an artist and you want to help us out at the Art Table I would love to hear from you. larry@agni-animation.com

If you are thinking of going to Comic Con you might want to check out our new Comic Con website for hints on the best way to get registered. More on all details of the great San Diego Madness and ASIFA`s part there in later.  ¶ 10:22 AM