2007 Review: 9 Cultural Literacy

As the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive completes its second year in operation, it's time to review the accomplishments of the past year. Here's a countdown of the ten most important subjects we've covered in 2007. See if your list matches mine. (View the complete list.) Click on the link to see more on this topic.



NUMBER 9: CULTURAL LITERACY

One of the most important posts of the last year was one that didn't even deal specifically with animation... It was titled, "Live The Fabulous Lifestyle Of A Hollywood Cartoonist", and it spoke about the importance of cultural literacy.


You probably know every sordid detail of the lives of Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears. It's hard to avoid filling up your brain with useless trivia about talentless celebrities. Every few years, the old ones are relegated to the rank of "has been" and there's a whole new bunch to learn about. But as an artist, you need to dig below the surface drek and expose yourself to vivid personalities and talented performers that can inspire you in your work. The history of popular culture of the past century is packed with amazing artists. Why waste your time with crap?


Zutty Singleton, Cootie Williams, Zoot Sims, Bubber Miley, Papa Jo Jones and Dizzy Gillespie weren't just guys with funny first names... they were some of the most creative individuals who ever walked the earth, working in the greatest new artform from the past 100 years... Jazz. And they weren't the only ones worth studying. The 20th century sparked an explosion of creative expression in the fields of filmmaking, music, the performing arts and dance. All of these have a direct relation to your work as an animator.


If all you know is movies released since Star Wars and music since The Beatles, you don't know the first thing about the culture your art is based upon.


I'm constantly running into students of animation who are well aware of the history of animation, but are woefully ignorant of the broader artistic culture that animation fits into. This is an area I plan to work on in the coming year. I'll be announcing a new screening program soon that will feature the best of 20th century drama, music, dance and comedy, featuring the performers that inspired the animators of the "golden age" of animation.


How many of the geniuses pictured in this post can you name? Are you familiar with their work?

"Live The Fabulous Lifestyle Of A Hollywood Cartoonist" March 30th, 2007

Several of the images in this post are from Dr. Macro's High Quality Movie Scans. If you don't know about this site, you should... It's a wonderful place where you can get lost for hours viewing all the amazing images... just like the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive!

Go To Number 8 on the list of Top Ten Subjects of 2007

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
.

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Tangent: Live The Fabulous Lifestyle Of A Hollywood Cartoonist

The other day, a student at Woodbury volunteered to help build out our database. His name is Jo-Jo. He told me how much this blog, along with Eddie Fitzgerald's and John K's, has opened his eyes to how great cartoons were in the 30s, 40s and 50s. He had a sketchbook full of Preston Blair drawings and enthusiasm for Fleischer, MGM and Warner Bros cartoons. So I asked him what kinds of music he listens to...

"David Bowie mostly."

My jaw hit the floor. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I gave Jo-Jo the best tip he'll ever get...

Cartoons aren't the only things that were better back in the first half of the 20th century.

Mike Fontanelli stopped by later and pointed out that somebody should write a book titled "The Golden Age of Everything". Sure, there are things today that are incredibly great... computers, the internet, iPods, frost-free refrigerators, etc... but music, dance, illustration, writing, movies and cartoons were all better back then. Cartoonists should be aware of this, and they should absorb all of the greatness of the past. It will make them better cartoonists.

Today, I'm going to talk about music...



I know that someone out there is going to post a comment saying that there's still great music being made, it just isn't mainstream. I'm fully aware of the fact that there are talented musicians working today. But in the 30s through the 50s, incredible talent was a given. Performers, from the top of the heap to the bottom- from most popular to least- were all capable of making you do a double take and say "wow!".

When I ask kids what kinds of music they listen to, I usually get the response, "All kinds." But "all kinds" usually turns out to mean a million shades of the same color... current rock music. There are so many names today for the same kind of music. For the life of me, I can't tell the difference between rave, techno and electronica. In the past, there really were a million kinds of music... pop vocals, hot jazz, country western, big band swing, folk, rhythm & blues, bluegrass, mambo, dixieland, rock n' roll, sweet orchestral, be bop...

I could talk for hours about this subject, but the best proof is seeing what I'm talking about...

JAZZ
Lucky Millinder & Sister Rosetta Tharpe
"Four Or Five Times" (Soundie/1941)
(Quicktime 7 / 5.5 megs)

COUNTRY MUSIC
Larry Collins & Joe Maphis
"Under The Double Eagle" (Tex Ritter's Ranch Party/1959)
(Quicktime 7 / 5 megs)

THE BLUES
Leadbelly
"Gray Goose" "Pick A Bale Of Cotton"(1950s)
(Quicktime 7 / 10 megs)

POPULAR MUSIC
Les Paul & Mary Ford
"The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise" "Amuka Riki" (Grand Old Opry/1959)
(Quicktime 7 / 12 megs)

If you are a student planning to be a professional cartoonist, listen to music that relates to your work- read books that inspire cartoony ideas- watch movies to learn cinematic techniques that can be applied to cartooning- LIVE THE FABULOUS LIFESTYLE OF A FAMOUS HOLLYWOOD CARTOONIST!

By the way... Jo-Jo is a big Fats Waller fan now!

Let me know in the comments if you'd like more posts about other tangential subjects related to cartoons.

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

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