 June 14th, 2007
A Bi-Weekly Update On What's New At The ASIFA-Hollywood Archive
Filmography: The Little King in On The Pan 1933  The early sound cartoons that came out of New York have an indescribable quality that is sorely missing from animation today. The best way I can describe it is "fun factor". New York cartoons are gritty, unpredictable and outrageous with jazzy music forming the foundation for the action. There are no pretentions to be anything other than seven minutes of cartoony joy. This cartoon is no exception... Comics: Virgil Partch's Wild, Wild Women  Vip Partch's style is so streamlined and simple, it's easy to overlook the depth of thought beneath the surface of his cartoons. His compositions always read beautifully with clear silhouettes, appealing shapes and interesting negative spaces. The lines define a solid form and simple visual clues indicate rock-solid perspective... His drawings never seem flat, no matter how stylized they are. There's a wide variety of ways of depicting different facial expressions and expressive personality that is obviously observed from life. It doesn't get better than this! Illustration: Tenggren's D'Aulnoy and Good Dog Book  Just in case you aren't convinced yet that Gustaf Tenggren is one of the most amazing children's book illustrators of all time, here are two more persuasive arguments. These two books were published in 1923 and 1924, a very busy period for Tenggren. He had recently relocated to New York City, and he illustrated no less than eight books in a very short period of time. Make sure to click through the links to our other Tenggren posts at the bottom of this article to see more of his beautiful work. Comics: Dudley Fisher's Right Around Home  Dudley Fisher was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1890. He studied to be an architect, but dropped out to take a job as a layout artist at the Columbus Dispatch. After returning from WWI, Fisher created a comic strip called "Jolly Jingles". Year after year, he cranked out rhyming verse until he couldn't stand it any more. In December of 1937 he decided to take a break from jingles and draw what Christmas on his grandmother's farm would be like (if he had a grandmother and she lived on a farm!) He drew it as one big full page panel and readers immediately took to it and clamored for more. King Features picked up the strip and titled it "Right Around Home". These great Sunday pages date from early in the run- 1939. Terry-Toons: Carlo Vinci Notes  Last Friday, archive assistant Amir Avni, John Kricfalusi and I took a trip out to visit Carlo Vinci's family at the home of his wife, Margaret. Mrs. Vinci graciously welcomed us into her home for a tour of her collection of artwork belonging to her late husband. Carlo's animation desk, which he designed and built himself, still stands in his office just as he left it, with caricatures by co-workers hanging above it on the wall. Every room in the house has beautiful artwork filling the space. It was an awe inspiring experience to get a chance to see it all. Auction: Milton Caniff Steve Canyon Original Artwork  The Milton Caniff Estate recently allowed The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive to auction a select number of original hand inked dailies by Milton Caniff from the Steve Canyon newspaper strip. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this art was contributed to the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive. Many thanks to the Milton Caniff Estate. Biography: Milton Caniff: A Remembrance  Milt had the ability to talk to you and remember almost everything you said. He picked the brains of everyone he spoke with and was able to fit almost any conversation into his strip in one form or another. It mattered not if you were a general or a private. To my knowledge Milton never put any idea down on paper that went into his files. It mostly came from his head and went into the strip as he drew it. I found no notes or other papers that would give a clue as to what Milt had in mind or what future strips would show. -Harry Grant Guyton (Milton Caniff's nephew) Theory: Parody- More Whack Comics  With this post, we present more parodies from Whack comics... But first take a look at the picture above. It's an an early advertisement for the Joe Kubert School. 3D comics and movies were all the rage then. Television was beginning to cut into ticket sales at theaters, and producers were looking for a technical advantage over TV to give them an edge. But the fad quickly fizzled out. Movie audiences and comic book readers were more interested in the quality of the movies and comics than the number of dimensions. Design: UPA Done Right  Tex Avery was the one cartoon director who was able to incorporate modern design sensibilities, while still maintaining the entertainment value and humor of classic cartoons. Here's a great series of commercials... which were directed by Avery at Cascade studios and animated by Rod Scribner. Not only is the character design modern in the "UPA style" but the movement has been stylized in a complementary manner. Why don't the current "Flat" cartoons move like this?! Auction: Jim Smith Ren and Stimpy Layout Drawings  Jim Smith is one of the most talented artists I've ever had the pleasure of working with. Jim heard that the Archive was doing a fundraising drive, so he dug in his closet to find drawings for us to sell for him. These sketches were recently auctioned and a portion of the proceeds went to support the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive. Thanks Jim! Pinups: More Of Kurtzman and Elder's Little Annie Fanny  Little Annie Fanny by Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder was a mainstay of Playboy magazine for decades. From 1962 to 1988, they produced 100 episodes, assisted by guest artists like Jack Davis, Russ Heath, and Al Jaffee. This crack team also worked for Mad magazine and Hugh Hefner's short-lived humor magazine, Trump. Here are three great stories from the late 60s. Comics: Milt Gross Sunday Pages Part Four  Do you love Milt Gross yet? If you've been following the Animation Archive blog for a while, you know how great he is! Here's another batch of prime Gross. Illustration: The Genius of Miguel Covarrubias  Miguel Covarrubias was one of the most famous artists of his day, but chances are you've never heard of him. Caricaturists know his work- Al Hirschfeld studied under Covarrubias and shared a studio with him in 1924. He spoke of Covarrubias' talent in the same breath as Daumier and Hogarth. Ethnologists and archaeologists know the name of Covarrubias as well. His analysis of pre-Columbian art and the culture of Bali led to books on the subject that have become classics. And his reputation as an anthropologist rivalled any of his peers in that field. Illustrator, caricaturist, anthropologist, author and educator... It's high time you knew about Covarrubias too! Newsletter Archive 05.14.07 04.17.07 04.01.07 03.15.07 03.01.07 02.16.07 The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Stephen Worth, Director 2114 W Burbank Bl Burbank CA 91506 818.842.4691 www.animationarchive.org sworth@animationarchive.org © Copyright The International Animated Film Society: ASIFA-Hollywood. This material is protected by copyright. It is not to be copied or distributed without the prior written authorization of the Board of Directors of ASIFA-Hollywood. |