Below are more of John Hubley’s model drawings from ROOTY TOOT TOOT. His gestural designs are so incredibly rich and give the animators so much to work with; it was a real treat to finally see this film projected on the bigscreen at the Egyptian last weekend. These drawings were originally in color, like the image from the post below, but who knows where the actual artwork is. Thankfully, artists like Alan Zaslove and Pete Burness saved tons of photostat model sheets from UPA, giving us access to at least black-and-white versions of Hubley’s drawings. If anybody out there is handy with Photoshop and wants to try restoring the red color and black ink lines, feel free to give it a shot and if it’s accurate, I’ll post the version up here.
UPDATE: Woodrow Phoenix took me up on the offer and colorized the Hubley model sheet. It looks much better now. You can compare it to this original Hubley drawing in an earlier post. Thanks Woodrow!
(click on image for larger version)
And if you prefer the black-and-white photostat, here’s my original scan:
This artwork is beautiful. The stop and start brushed ink lines are interesting. Whose drawings are they?
Comment by Michael Sporn — March 28, 2006 @ 5:38 am
Oh, you said - John Hubley. Sorry, they didn’t look like his work. The brush strokes are so purposeful. Very interesting
Comment by Michael Sporn — March 28, 2006 @ 9:19 am
John Hubley rocks. One of my most favorite of animation geniuses (I tipped my hat to Hubley with the inclusion of a clip from a fantastic Marky Maypo ad in IRON GIANT). I’ve gotten a huge kick out of this wonderful blog’s focus on ROOTY TOOT TOOT, which is one of my favorite shorts of all time. One of the many things I’ve always admired about Hubley’s work (beyond its sophistication and spontaneity) is that none of his attention to design came at the expense of animation, which was always–from his UPA work through his independent films– a cut above. When I was a kid Hubley came to Portland, Oregon and showed many of his films, and I was fortunate enough to meet him. As much as I admire his (post UPA, pre-independent shorts) commercial work, I bemoan his early exit from UPA and all the wonderful films that were never made. The loss of Hubley spelled the beginning of the end for UPA, whose great period only lasted those first few (Hubley-led) years. Sigh. At least we can enjoy this wonderful art.
Comment by Brad Bird — March 31, 2006 @ 5:32 pm
Can anyone help me find a copy of Rooty Toot Toot?
Comment by andrew lyndon — September 7, 2006 @ 10:25 am