A-HAA Podcast 004: Eddie Fitzgerald II / Spike Jones

A-HAA Podcast
Episode 004

49 min / 24.9 MB / AAC
03.09.10 / RSS Feed
MP3 Version

INDEX

00:00:00 News with Michael and Danny
00:02:30 Eddie Fitzgerald Interview Part II
00:30:15 Breadcrumbs with Skip and Steve: Spike Jones
00:47:23 Closing notes with Michael and Danny

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ABOUT THE GUESTS

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Eddie Fitzgerald is a renaissance man among cartoonists. He is an animation director, story artist, philosopher, historian and all around great guy. On his blog, Uncle Eddie's Theory Corner, he has discussed everything from poetry, ballet, philosophy and music to Mad magazine, the unique shapes of ears, vintage men's magazines, Italian insult gestures and how to make the perfect hamburger. Eddie is most famous for his "Fum-Eddies", comic strips made from photos he creates on the iSight camera of his Macintosh. In his Fum-Eddies, he has travelled around the world, back in time to the old West, through the magic of dreams to Neverland and even via rocket into the deepest reaches of outer space! If you haven't bookmarked his blog yet, do so. You'll be glad you did.

Skip Heller is a multi-talented composer, arranger and musician who has worked in a diversity of styles, from punk rock to orchestral music to jazz to old time country. He is a wellspring of information on the history of music and the people who play it, and shares his encyclopedic knowledge daily on his blog at SkipHeller.com.

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ABOUT THE HOSTS

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Danny Young: A very sympathetic person once told me, "You have the perfect body for podcasting." And while I don't like to boast, the seat of my chair has almost completely taken on the shape of me. I'm always cruising the internets for savvy cartoon info and I'm ecstatic to be here co-hosting the fruits of my labor with you, and sharing in the wealth of animation knowledge there is to find. I sincerely hope that we all can become better artists because of it.

You can reach Danny at... dannyyoung@animationarchive.org

Michael Woodside: I'm a relatively new Californian, having recently moved from Central Florida. After volunteering at the ASIFA-Hollywood Archive, I realized pretty quickly that I basically knew a fraction of what was to be known about the world of animation. This podcast is a means for me to uncover these topics and to share them with people like you. So stick around, because we are gonna un-dumb ourselves at an alarming rate!

You can reach Michael at... michaelwoodside@animationarchive.org

Stephen Worth is the Director of the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive. He's a well known expert on vintage animation art with over 20 years of experience as a Producer for Bagdasarian Productions, Ralph Bakshi and John Kricfalusi's Spumco. He is the recipient of three Annie Awards, including the June Foray Award for significant and benevolent impact on the art of animation.

You can reach Stephen at sworth@animationarchive.org

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RECOMMENDED RESOURCES

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News Segment

ANNIES: 37th Annual Annie Awards Webcast
EVENT: 2009 Afternoon of Remembrance

Eddie Fitzgerald Interview

WWW: Uncle Eddie's Theory Corner

Breadcrumbs: Spike Jones

AMAZON: Spike Jones: The Legend DVD
AMAZON: The Best of Spike Jones DVD
AMAZON: The Best of Spike Jones CD

AMAZON: Dr. Demento 20th Anniversary Collection: The Greatest Novelty Records of All Time
AMAZON: Simcha Time: Mickey Katz Plays Music for Weddings, Bar Mitzvahs and Brisses
AMAZON: America's Song Butchers: The Weird World of Homer & Jethro

GROOVESHARK Playlist: Spike Jones
WWW: Dr Demento's Website (Streaming Shows!)

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CREDITS

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Produced by Michael Woodside and Danny Young
© 2010 The International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood

A-HAA Podcast Theme composed by Christopher Heckman (Sarra Hey, Clarinet, Rachel Woods-Robinson, Trombone)
Breadcrumbs Theme "The Collector" by Skip Heller from the CD Lua-O-Milo
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Stumble It!

Screening: Pop Cultural Literacy 101

FREE SUMMER SCREENING AT WOODBURY FRIDAY NIGHT!


The Marx Brothers
"I was teaching my animation history class and I overheard one of the students telling his friend about this great anti-war film he had just discovered... Duck Soup!" --Tom Sito overheard at an ASIFA meeting

Pop Cultural Literacy 101
A Series of Summer Screenings
Friday, July 10th, 2009
Friday, August 14th, 2009
September Date To Be Announced
Short Subjects Start At 7pm, The Feature Film Starts At 8:30.
Admission FREE to the animation community
Woodbury University
School of Business / Fletcher Jones Foundation Theater
7500 Glenoaks Bl
Burbank, CA 91510
(Click for printable map)


The Three Stooges
Music is the life force of great animation, and last week I posted a teaser about some of the great music we'd be featuring in the series of screenings at Woodbury University that begins this coming Friday. Today, I'm going to talk a little bit about the comedians we'll be seeing.


Harold Lloyd
That image up there is one of the most iconic in all of silent comedy, but I bet you have never seen the film it comes from, nor any of Harold Lloyd's other films for that matter. It's not your fault. The downright lousy programming on cable TV over the past decade or so has cheated a whole generation of cartoonists out of the opportunity to explore the world of the incredibly talented comedians of the past. I'm going to take a stab at rectifying that wrong at Woodbury University this summer with a series of screenings designed to give young animators a random sampling of great stuff that will amaze and inspire them.


W. C. Fields
Obviously, it's impossible to pack everything that was good in the 20th century into a few short hours, but my goal is to drop bread crumbs like in Hansel and Gretel which can act as a trail for artists taking their own trip of discovery through some of the best entertainment ever created.


Laurel & Hardy
You've probably seen caricatures of most of these famous faces in old cartoons. The animators didn't just caricature them because they liked their films, they analyzed and broke down their technique to refine their own comic staging and timing. Although the subject matter of these films may be dated, the techniques are not. These films are an encyclopedia of ideas for creating comedy.


Our Gang
There will be assorted musical and comedy shorts beginning at 7pm, and a classic feature at 8:30. Even if you've seen some of this before, it won't matter, because these are the kinds of films that you can watch over and over and still find new things in them.


Buster Keaton
This screening is presented FREE to the creative community by the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive, Woodbury University and the Walter Lantz Foundation. Come on out and bring your friends. No RSVP is needed. Parking is free. Try to find a better way to spend a Friday night... You can't!

Pop Cultural Literacy 101
A Series of Summer Screenings
Friday, July 10th, 2009
Friday, August 14th, 2009
September Date To Be Announced
Short Subjects Start At 7pm, The Feature Film Starts At 8:30.
Admission FREE to the animation community
Woodbury University
School of Business / Fletcher Jones Foundation Theater
7500 Glenoaks Bl
Burbank, CA 91510
(Click for printable map)

See you at Woodbury this Summer!

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

Many thanks to Dr. Macro's High Quality Movie Scans for the wonderful photos that illustrate this post.
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Pop Cultural Literacy 101: Summer Screening Series At Woodbury

Spike Jones and Doodles Weaver
Spike Jones: Clink, Clink Another Drink
Spike Jones: Pass The Biscuits Mirandy
Doodles Weaver: A Day With Doodles
I've written before about the creative explosion in the arts that occurred around the first half of the 20th century. It always surprises me when I meet a college student who is studying animation who doesn't know anything about the music that came before the Beatles or movies before Star Wars. This Summer, thanks to Woodbury University and the Walter Lantz Foundation, I have a chance to share the work of some of the most amazing entertainers who ever lived with a new generation of artists.


Maria Callas
Maria Callas: Habanera From Bizet's Carmen
The Golden Age animators knew and loved these performers. They studied them and incorporated elements of their style and caricatures of them into their cartoons. There is a lot to learn from this old stuff. The first thing you will learn is that it is surprisingly skillful and entertaining. Isn't that something you want your animation to be?


Buck Owens
Buck Owens: I've Got A Tiger By The Tail
Buck Owens: Foolin' Around
Another thing you'll discover is that the music of the 20th century is unbelievably diverse. Today, we have a million names to describe basically the same type of music. Back then, the names defined a myriad of sounds... country, opera, jazz, folk, blues, rock and roll... more kinds of music than existed in any other time period. We'll sample a little bit of this ocean of great stuff in a series of screenings this Summer at Woodbury.


Cab Calloway
Cab Calloway: The Reefer Man
Cab Calloway: Minnie the Moocher
In this post, I've given you an idea of the musical performers you'll discover at these screenings, but there's much more... rare examples of dance, comedy, drama... all kinds of entertainment that directly applies to your work as an animator... up on the big screen the way they were intended to be seen. I'll tell you more as the time gets nearer. Mark these dates down on your calendar, and plan to attend. It's FREE to students, the animation community and the general public courtesy of the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive, Woodbury University and the Walter Lantz Foundation.


Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters: Hoochie Coochie Man
Muddy Waters: I Can't Be Satisfied
Pop Cultural Literacy 101
A Series of Summer Screenings
Friday, July 10th, 2009
Friday, August 14th, 2009
September Date To Be Announced
Short Subjects Start At 7pm, The Feature Film Starts At 8:30.
Admission FREE to the animation community
Woodbury University
School of Business / Fletcher Jones Foundation Theater
7500 Glenoaks Bl
Burbank, CA 91510
(Click for printable map)


Dave Brubeck
Dave Brubeck: Take The A Train
Dave Brubeck: It's A Raggy Waltz

See you at Woodbury this Summer!

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

Many thanks to Dr. Macro's High Quality Movie Scans for the wonderful photos that illustrate this post.
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Animation Salon: Acting For Animation Feb 21st

Woodbury University has graciously invited ASIFA-Hollywood to host events at their newly opened Fletcher Jones Foundation Auditorium. For the next several months, the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive will be hosting Animation Salons on the third Saturday evening of every month. These events are free and open to the animation community.

AN ANIMATION SALON


Jean Francois de Troy, "Reading from Moliere" 1728
On Saturday, February 21st at 8pm, we will be holding an Animation Salon on the subject of...

Acting For Animation
What is "acting"? What constitutes a well acted performance?



What are the differences between acting for animation and acting in live action?



Are there things that can be done in live action that can't be done effectively in animation?



Are there are other ways to convey mood, emotion and personality besides acting?



What sort of inspiration did golden age animators look to for creating an animated performance? What do these models of pantomime acting have to inform modern animation?

Who was the greatest actor of all time? Was it John Barrymore who received acclaim for his performances in Hamlet and Richard III?



...Or was it the "wascaly wabbit", Bugs Bunny?






Acting For Animation
John Barrymore "Twentieth Century (1934)
Bugs Bunny in "Tortoise Wins By A Hare" (1943)
(Quicktime 7 / 6.7 MB)

PLEASE NOTE The text and media files on the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Blog are not to be duplicated, redistributed or hosted on other websites without the prior written permission of the Board of Directors of ASIFA-Hollywood.

We'll be discussing and screening examples related to these and many more topics at Woodbury University on February 21st. I hope you can join us.

SPECIAL GUEST: EDDIE FITZGERALD


Joining us for this Animation Salon will be cartoonist/story artist Eddie Fitzgerald, the creator of Uncle Eddie's Theory Corner and story artist on Ren & Stimpy. Eddie will be screening one of his favorite films and sharing his theories on acting and building a characterful performance.

Don't miss it!

Animation Salon: Acting For Animation
Saturday, February 21st, 2009 8pm
Admission FREE to the animation community
Woodbury University
School of Business / Fletcher Jones Foundation Theater
7500 Glenoaks Bl
Burbank, CA 91510
(Click for printable map)

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
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A Gift From the Crew of Coraline

A mysterious present arrived at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive from the crew of Coraline at Laika in Oregon.
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