Friday, February 29, 2008
Mailbag: Nice Surprises From Our Friends
We received a couple of nice surprises in the mail in the last week...
A couple of weeks ago, John Canemaker was in town to receive his career achievement, Winsor McCay Award at this year's Annie Awards... Here's ASIFA-Hollywood board member Frank Gladstone presenting John with his award...
John has been a supporter of the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive since we started. You might remember the article on Bill Tytla that he shared with us last year... (Bill Tytla Part One and Part Two) John stopped by the Archive on his latest trip to see in person what we were working on, and he followed up his visit with this kind note...
Thanks for the kind words, John!
Yesterday, a courier stopped by the Archive with a package for us from Ralph Bakshi. Ralph has also been following our progress at the Archive from his home in New Mexico. One of the first articles I wrote here was a Tribute to Ralph, illustrated with Bakshi phone doodles. Later, Ralph himself contributed a two part article addressing the kids in the trenches in the CGI world. (Bakshi on 2D vs 3D Part One and Part Two). Now he sends us a copy of his new book...
BUY THIS BOOK!
If all you know about Bakshi is his rotoscope pictures, you're in for a surprise. Ralph is one of the most innovative and wildly creative geniuses of recent times. His influence on animation is immense. On the back cover, Frank Frazetta is quoted as saying, "Ralph Bakshi is one of the finest artists I've ever met." He isn't exaggerating a bit. Take a look at this incredible stuff...
This book is packed with incredible pictures like this! Artwork by Frank Frazetta, John Kricfalusi, Barry Jackson, Louise Zingarelli, Michael Ploog, Ian Miller, Irv Spence, Robert Dranko, Mark Kausler and Ambi Paliwoda.
UNFILTERED: The Complete Ralph Bakshi isn't one of those "art books" with postage stamp sized pictures floating in oceans of tasteful white space or huge text blocks of psudo-scholarly blather that crowds out the images. It's just pictures, pictures and more pictures... along with just enough text to put them in context. The book is organized to show Ralph's career from his earliest days at Terry-Toons, to his groundbreaking features, to his revolutionary TV work, to his most recent fine art paintings. Even if you think you know all there is to know about Bakshi, this book will grab you by the lapels and shake you and show you things you've never seen the likes of before. Click through the link to pick up the Bakshi book at Amazon.Ralph Bakshi is animation's greatest living artist and one of the most influential animators in the history of the medium. If you don't realize that yet, READ THIS ARTICLE.
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
.
Labels: annie awards, bakshi, books, john canemaker, winsor mccay award
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posted by Stephen Worth @ 3:29 PM
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9 Comments:
HOOORAY!!!! The new Bakshi will soon be MINE!! Anyway, these are great pictures. I can't wait to get this book. Ralph bakshi is an amazing cartoonist. Thanks for sharing with us Steve. My day just became one bit better.
I can hardly wait for the Ralph Bakshi book! His films, I think, are among the coolest ever done in animation and I bet the artwork (not just the ones displayed now) is gonna be absolutely mind-blowing. He is my new hero!
Hey Steve....how about actually mentioning the nice folks who are responsible for making this book? After all...they're the ones that brought the spotlight back onto Bakshi great work.
Wow, I have read his articles. They are really interesting!
He is sure scary looking, but definitely an artist's artist. Those layouts from 'Fritz' are interesting studies of New York.
BTW, Stephen, I have a question: Did Ralph ever give you the impression that he might explode at any given moment, or is he really a jolly fellow?
Thanks for your time, and the best of luck for your organization.
You’re certainly helping me, for sure.
From an inspiring artist/ cartoonist.
Ralph can be a jolly fellow, or explosive. It depends. He's pure passion when it comes to his art. When he's making a picture, he's making love to it like Valentino, defending it like a grizzly bear protecting its cubs, fretting over it like a Jewish mother, delighting in it like a kid with a new bicycle, fighting for it like a knight in shining armor, and overall... rejoicing in the process of creation.
When Irv Spence received his Annie Award, he didn't talk about Tom & Jerry. He marched up to the lip of the stage and yelled out, "Lemme tell you about Bakshi! He's first and foremost an ARTIST. There aren't enough ARTISTS in this business."
The reason Ralph is so amazing isn't just that he's a remarkable character with a personality the size of Mount Everest. It's that he takes a medium that most people see as a forum for talking ducks and two dimensional heros in blue underpants, and he makes ART (with a capital A) with it. We need more Bakshis to keep the business honest.
See ya
Steve
"The reason Ralph is so amazing isn't just that he's a remarkable character with a personality the size of Mount Everest. It's that he takes a medium that most people see as a forum for talking ducks and two dimensional heros in blue underpants, and he makes ART (with a capital A) with it. We need more Bakshis to keep the business honest."
It may be a grand task, but I'm up for it.
This book is long overdue. It's about time this mans artistry and contributions were celebrated. Thanks for letting us know Stephen.
Hey Steve,(off topic question) is the latest 'Woody Woodpecker and Friends' the best copy to get? Or are there better editions?
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