Hope for Hand Drawn Animation: Minkyu Lee's "Adam and Dog" trailer

Traditional character/hand-drawn animator (and current Disney visdev artist) Minkyu Lee has been working on a personal film over the past two years, a short that from the looks of the footage I've seen proves it's possible for beautiful and polished work to be achieved by a very small number of individuals, if the people involved--and especially the person in charge--has the chops to pull it off.

Obviously Minkyu Lee does. This has the look of what we tend to call "classical animation". By the way, Minkyu painted all the backgrounds himself. There are only 6 key animators listed in his credits, all are friends and fellow CalArts grads with the notable exception of James Baxter(I think his work is immediately apparent in the short trailer). In additon, a dozen more artists not listed below, all of an obviously high caliber, helped finish it on their own time and in addition to their day jobs.

This is really something else.

Adam and dog Trailer from Minkyu on Vimeo.

Here are the credits as listed on the trailer's page:

Written and directed by Minkyu Lee

Animation by:
Minkyu Lee
Jennifer Hager
James Baxter
Mario Furmanczyk
Austin Madison
Matt Williames

Associate Producer:
Heidi Jo Gilbert

Technical Direction:
Ethan Metzger

Score:
Joey Newman

Film consultants:
Glen Keane
Thomas Ethan Harris

A complete list of everyone who contributed is on the film's Tumblr page, which is also where I got the accompanying artwork I've posted.

Merry Christmas from a couple of legends

 

A Christmas card from Ray and Charles Eames

Last night for their season finale, the PBS series American Masters aired a new documentary about the work and lives of Charles and Ray Eames, called "America's most important and influential American designers" in the PBS description--a claim I'd be hard pressed to argue with. Watch the trailer for the film here:

Watch Charles & Ray Eames: The Architect and the Painter on PBS. See more from American Masters.

Bob Wirth

There's a brief shot of the two working around what looks for all the world like Ward Kimball's train room, though I'm pretty sure that's just a coincidence of layout and fun functional organization. Who knows. Most famous for their eponymous chair, the couple did much more than that, and if you don't already know them, you should. Everything about this pair seems stimulating.

Also displayed are two other holiday cards that were sent to the couple, from the collection of the Library of Congress:

Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock

Icons of Animation-another great Fred Moore piece going, going...

Profiles In History's "Icons of Animation" auction is happening right now, 11am PST, Saturday the 17th, so you still have a shot at acquiring the Fred Moore piece pictured above.
[5pm PST: it sold for the low-end estimate of $3,000]

Christmas in Manhattan, 1934

...as imagined by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Woody Van Dyke, inspired by Dashiell Hammett and interpreted by Myrna Loy, William Powell and Asta, I give you Christmas morning with the Charles family.

A Merry Christmas from Disney's in 1955

 This is a repost of one of my earliest entries, shortly after I began this blog in 2005. I think it suits the season and so merits an encore.


This is the front of the Disney Studio's 1955 Christmas card.  It's quite a beautifully done thing; printed on a soft, high-quality paper, it's a large card that opens into a double-spread of the brand-spanking-new Disneyland, with a calendar running down the sides.  I was unable to scan the entire thing, as it's just a bit longer than my scanner is.  Great artwork--I don't know whose...anyone have any ideas?


May your fifty-years-on New Year be merry and bright!

Bravery

Although it won't be on shelves for another seven months, last week Amazon put up the cover art and a short description for "The Art Of Brave", which I had the pleasure of authoring. It's going to be quite a beautiful book, one that I only wish could have been twice as long as its 160 pages. I'll write more about it here as publication time draws nearer.

In other Brave-related news, Brenda Chapman began using Twitter and has started a Tumblr blog. There's not much there yet as she only just began it, but it does link to a new, very good two-part interview with Brenda on the site Pixar Portal. Her thoughts on art, work and storytelling are a must-read.

The Story Man, or Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

Heck Allen, Tex Avery's story man, in 1953. He stands outside the MGM animation building. This and many others are from Michael Barrier's indispensable animation history blog .

It's always a little startling to look at color images from periods of history that we're used to seeing in only grey tones, especially scenes and people engaged in ordinary, everyday pursuits. Just about the only color photographs one does see are holiday snaps which are usually not the best quality. So what a pleasure, and how fascinating, to be treated to glimpses of the MGM animation staff taken on 35mm color slide film, by the late, great Ed Benedict.
Ed gave his slides and other photographs to Michael Barrier for inclusion in his book of animation history, "Hollywood Cartoons". They didn't make it in then, but happily can now be enjoyed gratis thanks to Mike's posting them here:
Michael Barrier's unpublished color photographs of Tex Avery's unit, taken by Ed Benedict.
Even in their early-fifties sartorial splendor of coats and ties, color seems to make the subjects younger, livelier, more real than is usually the case(I'm sure posing for their buddy Benedict didn't hurt either). But what really jolted me from out of the past was the portrait of lanky Heck Allen, gagman extraordinaire, pictured above. The only thing that distinguishes him from story guys walking down the hall from me today is the crease in his pants. History repeats itself-in some things, at least.

 

And here's the man himself, Tex Avery, from that same collection on Barrier's site. Look at that high stack of scripts-or script notes-or annoying memos from Quimby on the desk. And what's in those boxes to his right?

Go, go, go right away and look and read what else Mike's been posting. I promise you, if you have a real interest in animation history-Disney, Warner Bros, golden age comics-you'll be glad you did.  I always am.

Fred Moore's 100th

 Moore with his wife Virginia and baby daughter in the late 1930s

Robert Fred Moore, animator, was born on this day, September 7, 1911. 100 years on and his influence is still meaningful in the films he worked on, the characters he helped define, and the effortless joy of his draftsmanship. Happy Birthday, Fred!
Edited to add: I wrote this before seeing the wonderful post Andreas Deja wrote to mark this occasion. Andreas is a great admirer of Fred's work and has one of the finest collections of animation art in private hands-including a large selection of Fred's animation work and personal drawing. The prostrate figure below is one I've never seen before (I'm guessing it came to Andreas through his friend and former colleague, Ollie Johnston). Typically lovely. Head to Andreas' blog to see much more of Fred's art: Deja View

The Fred Moore Expert: Tim Walker's new book and booksigning

James-also known as Tim-Walker holds one of Fred Moore's original, well-worn pencils, along with a photo of Fred advising Ollie Johnston

One of the oldest friends of the Blackwing Diaries is a gentleman I met through our mutual interest in Fred Moore.  I'd heard of him in the 1990s mentioned at Warner Bros as a guy who knew funny timing--as in Bob Clampettesque funny--so I already liked him, but it wasn't until five years ago, after reading an essay about the late, great Moore on these pages, that we met. He immediately offered to share his amazing collection of Fred's drawings, as well as many of his private photographs, with the readers of this blog.  Talk about riches...

I've known quite a few collectors in my time, some with world-class collections that have taken years and a lot of money and effort to acquire, but it's not terribly common to find one with the open-hearted generosity of Tim Walker.

Tim's an animation artist of the old school, and his puckish sketches are all the more remarkable for having been done by completely re-training himself to draw using his left hand after he began to lose the use of his dominant right hand to the Parkinson's disease.

 Parkinson's is a dread scenario for anyone in any walk of life, and for an artist using his hand and arm in his work it's particularly tough, but Tim refused to stop drawing, forcing himself to use his left hand instead.  That's pretty astonishing, and inspiring.
He's collected a sketchbook of his called "Drawings From The Left, or Parkinson's Pictures", and it's filled with his buoyantly rounded, charming drawings. Tonight from 6:30-9 he's having a signing in Studio City.  Highly recommend you drop in, hang out and chat a bit about drawing, cartoons, or maybe about some of the golden age Disney artists Tim's an expert on.  He's a very cool guy.

Chouinard Art Institute Redux: Dig This

Some time back I posted a page from a vintage Chouinard course pamphlet. Here's one of the covers:

Chouinard's class catalog, circa 1951
Those were the days at Chouinard-even their disposable, flimsy paper class lists sported designs like this. Two of these were inherited by story artist Justin Hunt via his great-uncle, a student of advertising in 1950, and last month he posted them in their entirety-along with a bit of the history attached-on his blog Buttermilk Skies.
Here's another cover:

Justin has excellent taste and a keen eye for vintage books, especially those that contain great drawing; along those lines he's posted loads of excerpts on his blog. Worth the trip.

Random Fred Moore

While on a Google search for Wilfred Jackson I happened upon this image, part of a terrific post of screen grabs Michael Sporn did back in December. Here, from 1951's "Operation Wonderland", is Fred Moore and Johnny Lounsbery. Artfully lit, they're looking offscreen as they go through the promotional motions, drawing the soundstage antics of the actors used for reference on "Alice In Wonderland".

As an aside, Mark Mayerson comments on Michael's blog that this might be the latest picture of Moore he'd ever seen. I think that distinction might actually belong to this shot of Fred with John Sibley taken outside the Burbank animation building, posted here in 2006(from the collection of James Walker).
In any case, it's hard to believe that the man shown here is barely 40 years old. This is the visible toll years of hardcore drinking can take.

Walt Disney sends his regrets, 1938

click to enlarge

The original of the letter shown here was an item for sale at the bookshop I once worked in, Larry Edmunds in Hollywood (still there, and still well worth a visit). At $400 dollars my 21 year old self couldn't think of buying it, but at least I made a copy. It must have been a quite a soiree for Walt to have been invited; he certainly took some pains to produce an elegant reply.

The woman he's responding to, Carrie Jacobs Bond, was an author of popular songs famous in the first half of the twentieth century. Wikipedia cites her best-known composition as that wedding stalwart "I Love You Truly", but my favorite would be "A Perfect Day".

I happen to know that one because it's beautifully performed in a favorite film of mine, the Mitchell Leisen-directed "Remember The Night"(1940). For an added Disney Studio connection bonus the singer is none other than Sterling Holloway--the voice of Disney's Cheshire Cat, Kaa and Winnie the Pooh:

Dave Pimentel published a lovely book: "Evoke"

I've written on these pages several times already about my colleague Dave Pimentel.

Dave is a story artist who's probably the loudest cheerleader I know for drawing, drawing, drawing--at all times, in all places and with all media--and he's got the tweets, posts and sketchbooks to prove it.

He was lucky enough to be in the late Walt Stanchfield's gesture drawing classes at Disney. Stanchfield's philosophy and approach had a profound effect on him (as on so many others), and in the spirit Walt embodied he loves to share with and encourage other artists. He genuinely gets a charge out of not only creating his own work, but by seeing what everyone around him comes up with, whatever their take might be.

When I first started working with Dave I'd seize the chance to flip through his sketchbooks. He always had at least one in progress and a stack of what he'd just filled up on a shelf in the office. Each page was fun to look at, and each page was drawn from life. In fact, it was on those pages that I got to know his family before I'd actually met them--from the beautifully observed and executed sketches of them at the park, the bookstore, the beach, in the car...just engaging in ordinary everyday pursuits, but made to seem lyrical and alive on paper. The same was true of the anonymous passersby in his world, caricatured just enough to be recognizable as unique individuals. They all contained stories.

I hoped he'd self-publish a book of his drawings, and he has--he's also made it not only good to look at but to feel; it has a tactile, hard cloth binding with one of his ink brush drawings embossed on the oversize cover. He wanted it to resemble like the kind of 1950s-era books that all artists are drawn to(in my experience anyway) and it succeeds.

In addition to the many sketchbook excerpts he wrote a about a dozen pages containing the tips and ideas he uses in his gesture classes and applies to his own work. It's 100 pages of a very handsome and inspiring call to the pen, the pencil, and the sketchbook. Looking at it will make you feel good. And you'll really want to draw.





You can buy it from him here: EVOKE: The Art of Dave Pimentel

Chouinard Art Institute Brochure circa 1950

Submitted for your approval: the back cover of Chouinard's list of class offerings for the 1950-51 school year.

How many of the instructor's last names can you recognize--and what would you pay for a time machine to take you back to the Westlake District of Los Angeles and register?




This rarity along with an earlier brochure are the property of a colleague and animation artist whose uncle attended Chouinard during this time. Want to see more?










(click to enlarge)

Lee and Mary Blair's 1939 Los Angeles Home On the Market: (UPDATED)

I can think of an awful lot of people who are going to enjoy this.

The Hollywood Hills modernist home designed in 1939 by architect Harwell Hamilton Harris for Disney artists Lee and Mary Blair is for sale, listed at $725,000.
Harris worked for two of the greatest talents of the age and area, Richard Neutra and Rudolf Schindler, before starting his own firm in 1933.

The realtor's listing describes it as three levels "incorporating an entry, open plan living/dining area, bedroom, bath, and studio or 2nd bedroom and bath at the top". I think we know what the Blairs used the top floor for, and it wasn't a bedroom.

It's a wonderful space in a wonderful location, just what one would imagine for a couple like this. And it looks today much as it must have when they moved out, thanks to its current owner who obviously appreciated its value-sadly, not often the case in southern California.

Edited to add: an excerpt from Lisa Germany's book "Harwell Hamilton Harris"(2000):

Mr. and Mrs. Lee Blair were directors for the Walt Disney Studios who had been interested in a house by Harwell Harris since 1937. He had, in fact, designed a house at that time that was canceled due to an uncertainty in their work(of the five Disney clients Harwell had during these years only two would see their houses reach the construction stage). In 1939 they returned with a new lot and he started over again. This lot was extremely steep and Harris designed the tiny, one bedroom house with three stories sheathed in horizontal redwood siding. Each of the three blocks of the house rose another step up the hill. At its rear, each floor rested on the natural level of the ground and at its front it rested on the rear edge of the block below it. Thus, the second story used the roof of the first story for a roof terrace, and the third story used the roof of the second story for its roof terrace. So high, in fact, was the studio that the clients had a spectacular view of Los Angeles and even of the cowboy and indian movies being filmed at Fox Studios.
The Blair house followed all the rules of Harris' nine-point plan. The same finishes--grass matting, plywood walls and Celotex ceilings--were used thoughout, and each room had one wall of glass opening into a garden or terrace. This allowed not only for a more generous display of the floor but also showed the Alvar Aalto chairs and Harris-designed couch and dressing table to their full advantage.

A correction, and a note: the Blairs were not "directors" at Disney's in 1939. The Blairs' unbuilt property that fell through in 1937 was on Beech Knoll Road in Laurel Canyon.

Fellow Dreamworks story artist and author/illustrator Scott Santoro (who lives near the Blair's former residence and has seen the exterior) writes:
"It's the first time the house has been on the market since 1955. The lot is large, steep and rangy with a switchback stair to the front door. I'd hate to move things in and out of there, though it does have a funicular [probably what's more often called a hillevator-ed]. The garage sets into the slope and has a grass roof."

The images above are from the sale listing and are recent. Below are photographs taken both in the Blairs' time and today. The circa 1939 color photo of the living area features what looks like a watercolor by one of the couple near the fireplace. The chairs in the Blairs' living room are are by Finnish architect and designer Alvar Aalto











Here are some views from the street of the Blair residence garage, the "hillevator" and exterior taken on November 6, 2010 by Scott Santoro. Thanks again, Scott: