Archive: Dulac's Tanglewood Tales Animation will be celebrating its 100th Birthday this April. But in all that time, the way an animated film looks has not been explored nearly as much as it should have been. From a design standpoint, cartoons have always been very imitative... In the 1930's dozens of characters looked like Mickey Mouse. Today, the main characters of animated features all look about the same. There's no reason why this has to be the case.

The purpose of the reference material I'm providing isn't to give you, the artist, a "cop file" that you can duplicate in your own work- It's to break down the essence of animation design... caricature, stylization, color, shapes, etc... so you can create new ways of seeing for those of us in the audience.

With that said, I offer these scans from Edmund Dulac's last great illustrated book, Nathaniel Hawthorne's Tanglewood Tales....



The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Blog

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive  ¶ 9:07 PM

  Winkler and Lantz Oswalds Now Orphans:

I have come to highly respect the opinion of Mark Kausler when it comes to all matters dealing with Animation History and animated film.

I was overjoyed when I first heard the news that Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was returning to Disney. It seemed so right coming on the heels/heals of the Pixar / Disney deal.

But what does it mean for the other Oswalds, the ones created at the Winkler and Lantz studios? The deal was for the underlying rights to Oswald i.e. the rights to the Disney/Iwerks Oswalds. That leaves the Winkler and the Lantz Oswalds up a tree.

Universal, all those years with full rights to the character of Oswald, has done nothing with him, zero. Now with only limited rights to the Winkler and Lantz Oswald cartoons, as Mark put it, what are the chances that they will do anything with the orphan Oswalds? Yeah, that is what I think too.

Since Mark has the only known copy of a Lantz 1930 Oswald entitled Mars that is in need of preservation that kind of leaves the unlucky rabbit out in the cold yet again.  ¶ 7:19 AM

  Archive: Mexican Cinema Exhibit



On exhibit at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive throughout the month of March is a comprehensive collection of original lobby cards from the golden age of Mexican cinema. Included in the collection are cards designed by Mexico's greatest caricaturist, Ernesto Garcia Cabral.

Almost unknown in the United States, Cabral and the other illustrators working in movie publicity in Mexico during the 1940s and 50s created a style of cartooning that was uniquely their own. Bold colors and dynamic designs, combined with cartoony caricature drew audiences into theaters to see films by Mexican comedians like Cantinflas, Tin Tan and Resortes. Echoes of this style of cartooning exist to this day in Mexican movie posters and television show ads.

The exhibit is free and is open to the public during office hours... Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1pm to 9pm.

For more info, see the Exhibit Calendar Entry

The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive depends on donations from people like you to put on programs like this. The Board of Directors of ASIFA-Hollywood encourages you to generously support this project in its crucial first few years. Please send your donations, large and small to... ASIFA-Hollywood, 2114 Burbank Bl. Burbank, CA 91506. Please write "Archive Donation" on the subject line of your check.

The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive thanks its Project Sponsors: Sony Pictures Classics, The Walter Lantz Foundation, and the Animation Guild (MPSC Local 839).  ¶ 7:42 PM

    ¶ 2:45 PM

  Artchive: Eldon Dedini Many thanks to everyone who came out to our fundraiser at the Van Eaton Galleries tonight.

Today. we digitized more cartoons from the 1960s Playboy magazines loaned to us by Chad Coyle. Today we focused on Eldon Dedini...



Dedini was a story man at Disney in the mid-1940s. He did cartoons for Colliers, The New Yorker and Playboy. He passed away a couple of months ago.

Check out the posting at the...

ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Project Blog

Tuesday, I'll be back at the archive digitizing a new book illustrated by Edmund Dulac. We have an exhibit of artwork from the Fleischer studios and an amazing collection of Mexican lobby cards... nearly 100 of them. If you are in the area, stop by the archive and see.

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive  ¶ 11:39 PM

  I think that we have turned a corner with the ASIFA Animation Archives. The Herb Klynn pitch listed below is something new and something important. It is what didn`t get made.

For every animation that goes into production there most be 500 to 1000 pitches that do not get made. They are part of the times, they are important, but nobody has a record of them. Has even tried to make a record of them.

We have other pitches in the archives. And some day I would love to see an exhibit of pitches and pilots that never got picked up. I think it would be an important show for the ASIFA museum space or even a traveling exhibition making its way around animation schools. But that is for the future. That is where we are going.

What makes the Herb Klynn pitch of MANEMON so important is the added layer of archives process. Don`t get me wrong, this is a major find on many levels that have nothing to do with how it got to our door.

But if you have been following these pages then you followed the whole process from start to finish. You got to see the donating family and volunteers and then the report on the A.R.T. move of the donation from storage to archives and now you get to see something that has not been seen 30 years scanned and posted. This is animation history. And it is happening before our very eyes.

If you love animation, you have to be involved in the Animation Archives. It is the history of animation happening in a way that up until now was only experienced by top-level animation historians like John Canemaker and Jerry beck. If you do not live in the LA area and can`t get involved on a grass roots level you can still donate to the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archives. (archive PayPal button bottom of page) Then when you watch events like this take place in real time on the web, you can be part of the process.  ¶ 4:36 AM

  Archive: Herb Klynn I was too busy to mention it here the other day, but on Tuesday, I posted an interesting pitch by Herb Klynn's Format Films for an erotic Japanese themed animated feature. Klynn shopped this idea around in 1970 in the wake of Fritz the Cat, but it never got made.

The interesting thing about it is how similar it is to certain types of modern anime. In 1970, the only Japanese animation that most people were aware of were Astroboy and Kimba. This concept of Klynn's was ahead of its time.



I just posted a couple of buttons for people to put on their site to help spread the word about our project...


Please link this one to http://www.animationarchive.org

This one promotes Animation's 100th Birthday...


Please link this one to http://www.animationarchive.org/animation100

I will be back at the archive tomorrow. Remember Jerry Beck's event at the Van Eaton Galleries tonight (Thursday).



Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive  ¶ 10:28 PM

  I got a little bit of a chance to check out the local Antique stories in High Springs today while my sister took my mother in to see the doctor in Gainsville.

Picked up a Popeye Big Little Book

GW188 1405 POPEYE AND THE JEEP

Big Little Book; 1937. Hard cover. Standard size 3 5/8" x 4 1/2" x 1 1/2"; 432 pages. Author/Artist: Elzie Crisler Segar. COLLECTOR'S NOTE: Reprinted from the daily strip beginning March 3, 1936 and ending in June 1936.

Will show photos of same when I get back to California  ¶ 6:03 PM

  I was running around High Spring Florida all day with my sister and my mother taking care of family business. I got back to find corrections on my post. Jason Plapp, who is in development on a show with Angelo di Nallo, also Came along and helped out on the move of the Herb Klynn donation. I have taught with Jason at Brooks College for a couple of years. Thank you Jason.  ¶ 6:06 PM

 

DATE LINE: High Springs, Florida:
A.R.T. (Animation Rescue Team) is the active volunteer arm of the ASIFA Archive Project. I set up an archive move last week before I left California on family business. Being out of state I did not get to take part in the actual move. Here is a report from Jon Reeves, point man on the recent A.R.T. move of the end of the Herb Klynn collection that took place this last Monday in West Los Angeles.

Three paintings, not heavy, but large - just barely fit in Linda's SUV (and only because we put her rear seats in our cars). Also 2 small tables that Steve identifies as being from UPA, three portfolio cases (2 had complete pitches - in one case, with story outline - for unrealized features - much nice artwork there). Three or four boxes of artwork and posters. Bunch of spare black mattes with Format logo. One set of transparencies that had Steve drooling. A few wedding photos (spare, I assume). Also one ATAS jacket.

Jon Reeves
The Internet Movie Database http://imdb.com "My God! It's full of stars!"

If you would like to be part of this team of front line animation rescuers email me at mailto:larry@agni-animation.com and be sure to put the words Animation Rescue in the subject line of your email.

Yes, there is work involved in these moves but they are also exciting and a lot of fun. It is like Christmas morning, you never know what is going to be in the boxes.

  ¶ 2:20 AM

  ASIFA Animation Archive Announces Animation Centenary On April 6th, we are reaching an important milestone in the history of animation, yet there are no events planned to celebrate it, there has been no press coverage, and even most animators are unaware of it.

Animation is celebrating its 100th birthday.

James Stuart Blackton was a "Lightning Sketch Artist" in Vaudeville billed as "The Komikal Kartoonist". Inspired by Thomas Edison's recent invention of moving pictures, Blackton teamed with Albert E. Smith to form the first movie studio, Vitagraph Motion Pictures.

Smith and Blackton created what were then called "Trick Films"... the camera was stopped for a moment while the scene was changed, making things magically appear and disappear; images dissolved from one to another; and shots were double exposed to create ghostly images. In 1900, Blackton experimented with putting his lightning sketch act on film in a movie called "The Enchanted Drawing", but it was in April of 1906 when he made his most important breakthrough. In a trick film titled "Humorous Phases of Funny Faces" Blackton created what is regarded as the first American animated film.

The hand of the artist draws faces and characters on a chalkboard. They come to life- smile and wink- a man smokes a cigar and blows smoke in a lady's face, a circus clown leads a small dog to jump through a hoop... By today's standards, the animation is quite primitive, but to audiences to whom live action films were still a marvel, they were magical. Imagine it... Drawings that move.

Although there were many early films that experimented with stop motion and other techniques related to animation, Blackton was the first to create "drawings that live"... sequential drawings of characters acting and reacting to each other. The word "animate" literally means 'to give life to'. Blackton gave life to a whole new artform with his pioneering efforts.

Take a look for yourself, courtesy of the Library of Congress...

Humorous Phases of Funny Faces (1906)
(Quicktime / 26 Mb)

Animation is one of America's greatest contributions to the arts, second only to Jazz. On its 100th anniversary, I hope you will take a moment to consider what animation means to you and all of the magical animated images you've seen in your lifetime. I've created a birthday card for animation in our discussion forum. I hope you will sign it. Tell your friends too. the address is...

www.animationarchive.org/birthdaycard

What's a birthday without cake?

On April 6th from 6pm to 9pm, ASIFA-Hollywood's 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. We will be posting more info on this party soon.

The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive is dedicated to promoting and preserving animation and its history. There's no greater birthday present you could give animation than to support the archive with a donation.

Please Note: If you would like to refer to this post in print or link to it from your own site, you can use the shortcut URL..

http://www.animationarchive.org/animation100

The press release for Animation's Centennial Celebration is at...

http://www.animationarchive.org/animation100press

Thank you
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive  ¶ 12:46 PM

  Archive Benefit Screening Hosted By Jerry Beck

This Thursday night, February 23rd, animation historian Jerry Beck will be presenting a program at the Van Eaton Galleries in Sherman Oaks, CA. The event is a fundraiser for the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive, and it looks like it will be a lot of fun.

Jerry will be discussing the studios we don't usually hear enough about... Harman-Ising, Lantz, Terry, Fleischer and Columbia, among others... and he will be screening choice films from his personal collection. Mike Van Eaton will have amazing original production artwork from the films on display, and tasty refreshments will be served. Bring along your copy of Jerrry's books, Animated Movie Guide, Animation Art, The Pink Panther Guide or Looney Tunes: The Ultimate Visual Guide. He'd be happy to autograph them for you.

Great cartoons, amazing artwork and finger food... What more could you ask for?

Admission is $8 and seating is limited. If you plan to attend, you must RSVP to vegallery4@aol.com. The fun begins at 7:30pm, Feb. 23rd, at Van Eaton Galleries, 13613 Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks. Please come out to this event and support the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive.  ¶ 11:14 AM

  New Message Board We are introducing a new message board system to facilitate communication between the organizers and friends of ASIFA-Hollywood. There are forums devoted to ASIFA Events, the Annie Awards and a forum for the use of supporters of the Animation Archvie Project.

Here is your opportunity to discuss the activities of ASIFA=Hollywood, make suggestions and share your ideas. Please visit the board and register to participate...

ASIFA-HOLLYWOOD MESSAGE BOARD

If our readers support this forum, we will expand it to include general subjects related to animation. If you have ideas about how it should be structured, post your suggestions.

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive  ¶ 9:27 PM

  The Photo Page for the winners of the 33rd Annual Annie Awards is up at the Annie Awards web site. More photos as they come on line.


here is an example with the winners of the Gaming Animation Award for Activision/Treyarch The Ultimate Spiderman Game.

Since this gives me a reason I am going to post a few more photos from the Annie pre-show set up. Maybe not really a reason but I am doing it anyway.






David Soto and Lynn Kubasek, 2 of my students from my old State Funded CCROP Animation Program (program ran from 1995 to 2001)



My family all dressed up Raven, Ruth, that wierd guy with the hat, and Tobias



Lynn Kubasek, banned artist and good friend



Marcus Adams, at this point he is not sure if he or his tie is going to win.



My daughter Raven looking far too grown up.




Tom (Spong Bob) Keeny not living up to his What Me Worry? T-shirt. He put in his worry before the show by making sure everything was good to go. Then he didn`t have to sweat it once the lights went up.  ¶ 1:09 PM

  What Happened to the Monthly Volunteer Meetings?

I have gotten a number of questions about the ASIFA monthly volunteer meetings and when we are going to start them back up. Good question and I hope I can come up with a good answer.

The Annies took their tole on these meetings as they always do. But in past years the meetings were only down for one month and that meeting was replaced by an Annies volunteer meeting. So no one even noticed. But this year the January meeting was cancelled and Annies volunteer meeting was at Annette`s house.

The problem is that we have to find a new meeting place to hold the volunteer meetings. The Animation Archive has grown to the point where is can no longer be used as a clubhouse / meeting room. We knew this was coming but now it is here and we have to deal with it, I have to deal with it.

So what does that mean? There will be no volunteer meeting in February (I`m going out of town next week) but I will be trying to put together a volunteer meeting for March to deal with the upcoming Comic Con.

That is kind of an answer. It is not a good answer but it is the best I can do at the moment. I will keep working on it and I will keep you informed. Please stay tuned and don`t touch that dial.  ¶ 10:59 AM

 

Disney Collectibles Come to the 99 Cent Only Stores  ¶ 5:20 AM

  Archive: More Great Cabral Lobby Cards Today we digitized more of the wonderful Mexican lobby cards designed by master caricaturist Ernesto Garcia Cabral...



You can see the collection online at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Project Blog, or come down to the Animation Archive in Burbank and view an exhibit of lobby cards and posters by Cabral that is now on display (along with a collection of original production artwork from the Max Fleischer Studios...)

The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive is located at 2114 Burbank Bl (just East of Buena Vista) and the hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1pm to 9pm.

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive  ¶ 11:06 AM

  Herbert Klynn Donation:
Mini biography
As an animation producer, Mr. Klynn helped create several award winning cartoon shorts: "Mr. Magoo", "Gerald McBoing-Boing", "Madeline and Christopher Crumpet". Also worked as an animation director for the U.S. Army Signal Corps motion picture unit in Los Angeles during World War II. Also known as a graphic designer, Mr. Klynn created the opening for the "I Spy" TV Series. Founded Format Productions in 1959, which created more than 1, 000 productions for over 23 years.

I am late in posting today because I have been working the phones in my capacity as Director of the ASIFA Animation Rescue Team, putting together the last move of a donation from the children of Herb Klynn.

I have been dealing with Gail Stindler, daughter of Herb Klynn, a very pleasant lady and a follow educator. Thank you Gail. I want to also publicly thank Linda Lee, Jon Reeves, and Angelo di Nallo for volunteering to lug paintings. You are the people that are always there. Always willing to go out of your way for the love of animation and the people who made the history of animation.

After putting together one of these rescue missions I feel good about myself, like I have done something important for this field that I love so much. Accomplished something with my few small phone calls and asking time and favors from my friends in animation. I have a feeling that Linda, Jon and Angelo feel the same way because they keep volunteering their time and equipment. Bless you.  ¶ 11:42 AM

  Archive: Edmund Dulac's Poe Today we posted images from an incredible book from the golden age of illustration... Edmund Dulac's The Poetical Works of Edgar Allen Poe...



You can view the image gallery at The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Project Blog.

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive  ¶ 7:51 PM

  Has the Pixar-Disney Merger Made It Safe For Silly Dreamers?



I got an early valentine gift yesterday from Dan Lund and Tony West, an advanced copy of their wonderful DVD Dream On Silly Dreamer. I have long defended this work from those who fear connection and contamination with anything that might make a Hollywood studio unhappy.

This is Hollywood or Burbank and the animation business is small, small, small and we do have to work and live with these people. So I understand why so many people try to distance themselves from anyone telling unpopular trues.

Enough! Give it a break. This is a major work and now that Emeryville and Burbank have married and animators are back in charge of Disney Animation maybe we can put this work in the proper perspective and on your DVD shelf where it belongs. Silly Dream is in the Disney film library now. So I, for one, am going to stop all my butt-covering statements when talking about this film.

This is a great film and you should buy it. I am already showing it to my students, okay upper class students. (maybe not something to show beginning animation students the first week of school) I had a good long talk with Dan the other day. It seems that Disney, the studio, has not really reacted in any way positive or negative to their documentary. But that has not stopped 31 Film Festivals from rejecting or uninviting they film basically out of fear that they will hurt the feelings of a major studio and therefore hurt their own profits.

That being said let`s look at what is on this long awaited disk.

• The Award Winner documentary Dream on Silly Dreamer


• The Alex LA Premiere (yes, the first thing I did was look to see if I was in the footage - I wasn`t)


• Premieres & Festivals Slide Show (I was in the slide show standing next to Roy Disney)





• BBC and other Radio Show interviews


• Extra footage and the full, before edit, interviews


• News Scrapbook


• Department Goodbyes


• Buying Our Desks


• Poster Concept Art


• Early Animation Tests


• Still Art Gallery


• Original Score


• A list of all Film Festivals that rejected or uninvited Dreamer


• Some Hidden Stuff I haven`t Found Yet


• What Joey Midenberger was making in his woodshop


• And what Jacki really said in the Tom Meeting

Buy Dream on Silly Dreamer at www.dreamonsillerdreamer.com

or

At www.amazon.com  ¶ 8:36 PM

  Interview With Cartoon Wars Released Prisoner: Oswald



The great news for me this week is that Oswald the Not-So-Lucky Rabbit has been released after 78 years of imprisonment. Mister Lucky-Rabbit, a first cousin of the world famous Mickey Mouse, was reached by this reporter today at his temporary burrow under the Disney Magic Hat Building.

LL: Mister Lucky-Rabbit, do you mind if I call you Oswald?

OL-R: No, not at all. That is my name.

LL: It must be very strange to be free after all these years? What was captivity like?

OL-R: It was not good Larry. For the last 50 years they had me locked in a dark, airless, vault. I was being guarded by out of work Universal Monsters. The Invisible Man was the worst. He has a real inferiority complex. Thinks he`s always being overlooked. Talk about your Geneva Convention violations.

LL: You lost your freedom in December 1927 in a hostel takeover engineered by Charles Mintz. What was that like?

OL-R: It wasn`t too bad at first. I was still working with the same support staff minus Ub. I missed Ub a lot. Still Rudy (Ising) and Hugh (Harman) and Friz (Freleng) were always good to work with but I couldn`t get along with George Winkler at all. The guy was a suit, a professional relative. He didn`t know the first thing about running a studio. I kept trying to tell him that the secret is Story. But he wouldn`t listen. Rudy tried to tell him too, but no, George won`t listen to the professionals. We had to do it his way. Feed his ego. He fired Rudy as a Christmas present in 1928 and most of the studio walked out. Next thing I knew I was working for Laemmle`s poker buddy.

LL: That was Walter Lantz. How was he to work for?

OL-R: Walter was a great guy. Now there was a guy who was really lucky. Started out as an auto mechanic until a customer liked his drawings and got him a job at the newspaper. We use to go bar hopping after work. But he pretty much had to do what Laemmle said in those days and the next thing I knew I was wearing body makeup and trying to pass as white and playing second fiddle to my own dog.

LL: That just about killed your career and they locked you away. What did you miss the most?

OL-R: I thought I could have done some good work during World War Two. Bond drives and the like or going up against the enemy in the Pacific like my kid sister`s first husband, Bugs.

LL: So you were related to Bugs Bunny?

OL-R: Only by marriage and that didn`t last long. Bugs kept wearing her dresses and makeup. But he was a good guy even if he was a little strange. Never forgot my birthday or Christmas.

LL: So what is in the future for the Lucky Rabbit?

OL-R: Well, I`m reading scripts. I would love to work with my cousin, Mickey. And I hope to get lucky.

LL: Thanks Oswald, I`m sure you will!  ¶ 9:19 AM

  Busy week trying to recover from the Annies. Have not put much in these pages but have been busy. Touched base with a number of cool people at the Alex last Saturday. Called up or emailed some of them this week to continue half finished conversations started in the press of the crowd.

One such conversation was with Dan Lund, Director of Dream on Silly Dreamer. Really good news, Silly Dreamer is coming out on DVD next week with all kinds of cool extra features including lots of interviews and footage from the Alex screening.

As I have said before, Silly Dreamer is a documentary of major importance and should be seen by everyone in the field of animation. I know that I am going to be showing it to my students.

Speaking of Silly Dreamer, people in the industry press are still combining my award and the award for Dan Lund and Tony West. I had to send it a correction to Variety this week. Can`t blame them, there was an early ambiguous press release that started this whole mess off.

One of the disappointments at last week`s Annie Awards is that I did not get to meet Ian Mackinnon & Peter Saunders the winners of the Ub Iwerks Award for their outrageous clockwork stop motion armatures for Corpse Bride. The crowds at the Alex were too large and I never got to run into them. I have been emailing back and forth to Ian and hopefully I will be able to interview them for these pages at a later date.

Now that we are on the subject of Corpse Bride, I picked up the Wide Screen version of same this week. The extras are very nice with a whole section on the armature magic of Mackinnon & Saunders. The stuff they are doing with secondary action animation devices like the brides vial and dress is unbelievable. The animation in this movie is a major breakthrough. I loved the story too.



I finished sawing up my guest speakers for my Laguna College of Art & Design History of Animation class this week. This is one of the best classes I`ve had in a long time, very smart, very dedicated. I had students arranging animation report subjects in the second week of class for a report that is due in week ten. I`m very impressed with the whole LCAD program. More details on guests later.

Last Wednesday night was the post mortem on the 33rd Annie Awards. A very good job was done by everybody involved. Looks like we are starting to strain at the seams of the Alex Theater a little. Gretchen Dixon and Annette O`Neil did a wonderful job making the Annies happen. Many thanks to IDT for the Annie Screening reel editing. They did a beautiful job. All the volunteers where champion. Special thanks toEd Gonzalez and his video crew, great work very professional. Of course it is now time to start planning next years Annie Awards but first I have to get Comic Con up and flying. More on that later.  ¶ 7:45 AM

  Archive: More Artzybasheff Today, we continued scanning Boris Artzybasheff's eye popping book "As I See"...



Check out the scans at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Project Blog

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

  Archive: Artzybasheff's Neurotica Today we posted the first in a series of posts dealing with the illustrator Boris Artzybasheff.



In animation, anthropomorphism is a commonly applied aspect of caricature. Animals and teapots have faces and dance around the screen. Boris Artzybasheff was unique because he took anthropomorphism to its ultimate degree... illustrating ideas and states of mind.

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

Thank you
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive  ¶ 11:24 PM

  Kausler Trivia Puzzle Answered:

Robert Palmer of San Carlos, Ca. guessed the answer to the trivia question. It is Benny Rubin, originator of the "Yankee Doodle" laugh that both the Gremlin and Ignatz use in their respective cartoons. Congratulations Robert!
Best, Mark

An original It`s The Cat cel setup goes out to Robert Palmer and I add my congratulations.  ¶ 9:13 PM

 

Mark Kausler`s Animation History Puzzler. Here are the rules.

Puzzle Rules

1. You have 2 weeks from today to answer this question
   
2. The first right answer wins the prize
   
3. The prize is a cel setup from Mark`s great independent short It`s the Cat ($100 value - that is what he sells them for and they are very nice; painted production cel, original artwork, and reproduction of the background art)
   
4. The winner will be announced on Feburary 20th on these pages.
   
5. If no one gets the right answer then the answer will still be announced in these pages on the 20th (and I will be glad to take the prize if no one gets the right answer. No problem at all, I will be glad to help out)
   
6. send answers to: Mark Kausler
   
   

   Puzzle:

   What do Ignatz Mouse from the 1936 Columbia cartoon L`il Anjil and the Gremlin from Bob Clampett`s 1943 Warner Bros. cartoon Falling Hare, have in common, and what or who is it derived from? Hint: It's vocal.

   
   

  ¶ 6:43 PM

 
Were Rabbit jumps all over everybody at the Annies. Big night for UK power house Nick Park and Steve Box. It was a clean sweep for Curse of the Were Rabbit



Annette O`Neil, Coordinator of Volunteers and Annie mainstay.



Bill Plympton and John Canemaker (the New York boys and front runner in the Short Animation category. Plymptoons The Fan and The Flower took the honors)



Jon Reeves, long time ASIFA volunteer wearing plaid tie



Gretchen Dixon, the lady that makes it all happen. Gretchen has been event planner for the Annie Awards for a number of years and she makes it all happen. Great show and very good job well done.



Corny Cole with some of his students. We would need a really wide lens to get all of his current students in the picture and I don`t think the Alex is big enough to fit all the students he has taught.



Patrick Warburton, voice actor, actor, nice guy.



Ed Gonnzalez and Margaret Kerry (Tinker Bell) Ed is the director of this year`s video shoot and Margaret is a director of ASIFA-Hollywood and everone`s sweetheart.



Some same strange guy hanging with the birds and I don`t mean Brad. Brad Bird was here but I didn`t get to talk to him this year.



Kevin Alteri (Batman, Rat Bastard, Gen 13, etc.) and friends. Kevin and I use to set next to each other at the Kubert School when both of us had a lot more hair and both of us were sure that we knew a whole lot more than we do today.



Dori Littell Herrick (Chair of Woodbury University Animation Program) and Jack Bosson also of Woodbury with Pam Thompson looking on.



Mike Mallory, Annie Award Director



Not sure who this guy is? The acceptance speech went as planned. At the last minute I decided to leave out the call for Comic Con volunteers. I almost stepped on Bill Shatner on the way to the stage. He was just getting back in his seat after coming from the stage.





Larry Loc, Dan Lund and Tony West. I love Dream on Silly
Dreamer. It is a very important work that looks at an important time in animation in a very fair way. As we left the stage I bottonholed Dan and Tony to get them to bring Dreamer to Comic Con.  ¶ 12:14 AM