ASIFA Creative League

Saturday I had the great pleasure of attending a meeting of the ASIFA Creative League, a group of people who work in or are fans of animation that meet bi-weekly to watch and discuss animated films. The topic of discussion on Saturday was Acting for Animation, and we had a terrific program picked out by Steve Worth, the director of the ASIFA Animation Archive.

We began by watching some silent movies, including Chaplin. Most animators of the golden age have admitted to borrowing heavily from Chaplin when it comes to pantomimic performance. We also watched some films that seem to have good animation acting, but actually let the music and the color of the scene do the work. We're looking at you Dumbo.



We completed the program by watching a scene starring John Barrymore in a film called Twentieth Century, which I had never seen. It features some pretty amazing acting by Mr. Barrymore, and I immediately added the movie to the top of my Netflix cue when I got home. After that scene we watched a Warner Bros. short starring Bugs Bunny, comparing Bugs' performance to John Barrymore's

Animators are often called actors with pencils, and watching Bugs Bunny's performance right next to one of the greatest actor's of all time like that really made it clear how talented those golden age animators actually were. Bugs' performance is just as deft and just as captivating. Though, I don't think Bugs Bunny's drinking problem was quite as bad.

For more information about the ASIFA Creative League, visit animationarchive.org and be sure to join them on Facebook as well.

CG

The Duality of Life Through Toons

People often ask me, since I love cartoons so much, what is my favorite cartoon character. That's such a tough question. Since cartoons are such a big part of my life, it's tough to say what my absolute favorite cartoon character is. That's like asking a mechanic what his favorite kind of car is or a physicist who his favorite coil inventor is. (Hint: everyone thinks it's Tesla, but it's not.)

Over the years I have developed and answer to this question that I feel satisfied with: I have two favorites. The first one is Disney's Goofy, and the other is Warner Bros.' Daffy Duck. The reason is that I identify with both of these characters more than any other. Goofy and Daffy represent the duality of my nature. Goofy and Daffy are my yin and yang.

Goofy is hapless and innocent. He is certainly not dumb. A lot of people think Goofy is dumb, but he most definitely is not. Simple? Yes. Dumb. No. But even through this innocence a simple nature he is courageous. He is always trying new things. He is always attempting to learn how to do more things. Who could forget Goofy's How-To shorts from the forties and fifties? He has a terrific heart and is loyal to his friends. He will do anything to help a chum, even when that chum, like Donald Duck, may not always have his best interest at heart. And when we see him in later years as a family man we see that he is a very loving and supportive father, who wants only the best for his children. Goofy is courageous and simple, yet curious and, above all, selfless.

Daffy on the other hand is the opposite pole. Daffy is selfish and self involved. He is incapable of trusting others. He sees everyone as out to get him, and when something goes wrong for him, he is quick to place the blame anywhere but on his own shoulders. He is jealous of Bugs Bunny, when he feels that Bugs is getting to much of the spotlight, yet he is afraid of his own success. Daffy is hot-tempered, cynical, and self-serving.

I see a little bit of myself in both of these characters, both the bad and the good. And I imagine if anyone were to take a good long look at himself he would find himself fluctuating along this same Daffy/Goofy continuum. Some days making sure everyone has an equal share; some days grabbing for more than your own fair share. The Goofy-Angel and the Daffy-Devil on our shoulders are ever present, and who we are depends on who's advice we're taking at the moment.
CG

It's the 350th in Dog Years

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the release of the Walt Disney animated feature 101 Dalmatians. This has always been one of my favorite animated films. The story of two dalmatians' (Pongo and Perdita) harrowing quest to find their puppies after they have been stolen by the sinister Cruella De Vil to be made into coats!

In addition to being a really great film, it is also a landmark film in the process of cartoon making. Up to this point, animators would make their drawings on paper and then an inker would would trace the drawings onto the clear celluloid. And even though, the idea was that the line would be identical, animators were always aware of changes that had been made to their lines. This is especially annoying to an animator. After all in animation the slightest "adjustment" of a line makes a difference in the final movement or even emotion of the character.

After years of tinkering with the technique, animation technician and animator Ub Iwerks was finally able to introduce the process of Xeroxing the drawings directly onto the cells. This had two major benefits. One, the final product would show the actual drawings made by animators, and two, this was a tremendous time and money saver since now inkers were no longer required to trace these lines.

Though some people have spoken against this style over he years, saying that it gives the films a "sketchy" quality, I personally appreciate the less-than-polished style. I think it gives the films more character. As a fan of this style, I certainly also appreciate the recently Oscar Nominated film The Illusionist, which incorporates the same style of Xeroxing technique.

I would of course be remiss in not mentioning the stellar voice cast in 101 Dalmatians as well. You will recognize Disney veterans J. Pat O'Malley (Jungle Book, Alice in Wonderland) and Thurl Ravenscroft (Haunted Mansion Attraction, Pirates of the Caribbean Attraction) in there. Also Ben Wright, who plays Roger might also be recognized years later as Grimsby in The Little Mermaid. And of course Rod Taylor (Pongo) is recognizable as the male lead Mitch in Alfred Hitchcock's classic thriller The Birds, and recently as Winston Churchill in Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds.

This has always been one of my favorite movies. Not only is the story sweet, Cruella De Vil one of the greatest movie villains of all time, and the animation technique a breakthrough, there is a personal connection to this movie as well. When I was ten years old I saved up my allowance money and bough the VHS version when it came out, after having seen it in a theatrical re-release months before. This was the first movie I ever bough with my own money, and I still have that VHS.

So happy 50th anniversary to this film, and in tribute do as I did and go out and make an article of clothing out of your own college roommate's pets. Wait, is that the point of this movie? I might be wrong. You know what, just watch the movie. I might have some apologizing to do.

CG

Not Just the Merry-Go-Round Broken Down

I am not usually a reader of the Huffington Post. Hard to believe, I'm sure, from someone as politically with it as I am. Someone passed this article on to me today, though, and I thought it was a perfect thing to share. A graphic designer named Markus Hofko has created some intriguing three dimensional breakdowns of a few beloved Disney cartoons. Of course, I love it when I see artists use cartoons as an inspiration or source of their own art.
I'd love to see more of these maybe some Looney Tunes or some old Walter Lantz characters. Hey, you know what? Why wait around for more to be made? I'm going to take inspiration from his work and make my own.
I'm kidding of course. I do think these are very cool pieces and offer a new way of looking at some old favorite characters. I've reposted a few of the photos here, but please take a look at the article on Huffington Post as well, and check out Markus' other projects on his web site.

CG

So What is a Cartoon Guru Anyway?

That's a good question, no one. Let's see, well, where to begin? First of all, I have been obsessed with cartoons for as long as I can remember. Now when I talk about cartoons, I don't mean animation in general. I don't know much of anything about video games. I don't know anything about special effects animation or motion capture. And, though I can certainly appreciate the artistry, I know little about the art and craft of animation itself. Cartoons to me mean shorts, features, or television that is animated and usually comedic and usually hand drawn (2D). I say usually in both cases to make room for exceptions. Pixar movies are cartoons; so are the Madagascar Penguins even though they are CGI. Also An American Tale and The Secret of Nimh are cartoons, though little traces of comedy are in them.

In short, it's pretty arbitrary. If I think it's a cartoon, then it's a cartoon.

So now that we have covered what a cartoon is, what is a Cartoon Guru? Well, The Cartoon Guru is a moniker I adopted for myself several years ago when I realized that most of the stuff you need to know in life, I learned by watching cartoons. I began offering this advice up to people, and The Cartoon Guru was born.

So that's what we're going to be doing here. Talking about cartoons. This is not a blog about the latest and greatest news stories in animation. For that, see a site like CartoonBrew. For the artistic legacy of animation, see the Animation Archive. Those guys are great. Also, I have no sort of journalistic integrity, and you shouldn't expect any sort of objectivity. My posts are rife with my opinion. So if you like me and think I'm funny, and you like cartoons, this is the place for you. Let's have some conversations and chat about cartoons.

You bring the coffee.

Later,
CG

Introduction

Hello out there Internetland! Welcome to an all new blog by your friend the Cartoon Guru. After much pressing from friends and fans, I have decided to lend my cartoon wisdom™ to the blog-o-sphere.

For those of you who don't know, your Cartoon Guru is Mike Funt, a voice actor and animation historian in Hollywood, CA. I am an encyclopedia of cartoon knowledge and I use that knowledge for the greater good doling out words of wisdom so that you too can have "better living through cartoons."™

Check back here every so often for new advice, reviews, games and more. I look forward to hearing from you and I hope you look forward to hearing from me.

Later,
CG