Cartoon Modern

Here’s a regularly updated listing of events where I’ll be doing screenings, lectures and signings related to CARTOON MODERN.

June 25-30 2007
Platform International Animation Festival (Portland, Oregon)
Official Festival Website
DETAILS ABOUT CARTOON MODERN PROGRAMS COMING SOON

Dec. 14, 2006
Disney Feature Animation (Burbank, CA)
(closed to the public) SCREENING OF 50s SHORTS

Oct. 11-14, 2006
Projector Festival (Dundee, Scotland)
Official Festival Website
MASTERCLASS: DESIGN IN 50S ANIMATION on Friday, October 13 @ 5pm
SCREENING OF 50S SHORTS - PART I on Friday, October 13 @ 8pm
SCREENING OF 50S SHORTS - PART II on Saturday, October 14 @ 3pm
The book will also be available for sale during the entire festival at the DCA bookshop.

Sept. 20-24, 2006
Ottawa International Animation Festival (Ottawa, Canada)
Official Festival Website

BOOK SIGNING on Friday, Sept. 22 @ 6pm (NAC - Southam Hall Main Lobby). The book will also be available for sale during the entire festival at the festival store located in the NAC (Southam Hall Main Lobby). Be sure to ask for the exclusive free dvd that comes with each book purchase.

I posted onto Flickr a 1956 article from ART DIRECTION magazine about UPA’s TV commercials. The article includes a reproduction of the storyboards to a Borden’s Coffee spot. The four-page article can be read HERE.

Here’s something a little off the beaten path. Keitz & Herndon was an animation studio started in Dallas, Texas in the early-1950s by Larry Herndon and Roddy Keitz. Their most famous work was the 1960s TV series JOT, though they also created lots of TV and theatrical commercials. I recently discovered on YouTube a theatrical commercial they did for Dr. Pepper. (The spot is featured in the CARTOON MODERN book as well.) I love the design and movement in this spot; it looks and feels completely different from other animation of the time. Rod Keitz told me that they were influenced by UPA and the other animation being produced at the time, but it’s also clear that they were far away enough from the industry that they could develop a unique visual style of their own.

A few frame grabs from the above commercial. Click for large version.

Here’s another spot produced by John Hubley’s Storyboard. The highlight here is Rod Scribner’s genius animation. I’ve pulled some frame grabs if you want to look at the drawings more closely.

The commercial was directed by Stan Walsh, who later became the co-founder of Quartet Films. The idea for the spot was conceived by John Hubley and Robert Guidi, one of the best known West Coast graphic designers of the time. Guidi is a somewhat forgotten figure nowadays, as most mid-century West Coast designers are with the exception of Saul Bass, but he was big during the ’50s and ’60s. Guidi co-owned the highly successful design studio, Tri-Arts, and he was the primary album cover designer for the Contemporary jazz label.

Here’s the first of what will hopefully be many more posts with videoclips. This is a Heinz 57 commercial (ca. 1954-55) produced at John Hubley’s Storyboard studio, while he was still based in Los Angeles. Discussion follows below the spot.

Hubley’s studio turned out one great spot after another, and even this one, which isn’t a classic by any means, is still an amazing piece of work. One of Hubley’s trademarks was his ability to integrate the product pitch into the storytelling which is what he does here; note how seamlessly Hubley tells us that Heinz 57 is made with 17 ingredients and that the sauce tastes good on a variety of meats. A lot of other commercials might have cut to a live-action shot of the product with an explanation of these points, but Hubley makes it part of the story.

Hubley embraces the UPA sensibility and reduces the graphics to their barest essentials. Backgrounds and props are kept to a bare minimum, and the animation is efficient, yet moves beautifully. In the night scene, only the king’s face and hands are shown, yet the character still comes across. In the last scene, the princess is designed as a held cel; only her arm moves when pulled (the accompanying sound effect is funny too). It’s refreshing to see well-designed animation like this: appealing full-animation in the acting scenes alternating with stylized bits of animation. It’s the type of smart animated acting that one rarely sees nowadays.