Table of Contents

NOVEMBER 2000 VOL.5 NO.8 4 Editor’s Notebook A new, healthy beginning…

5 Letters: [email protected] TELEVISION

6 Belphégor,The Renewed Legend The legend of Belphégor has entranced France for years. Now France 2 and 3 bring the mys- terious dark figure back to television, only this time, it’s animated. Annick Teninge reports.

11 No Boundaries:An Interview With Eric Radomski From Batman: The Animated Series to Spawn and Spicy, Eric Radomski has always been testing the limits of animated TV, while being very vocal about what makes and breaks a show. Amid Amidi passes on the insight.

19 Primetime Animation Fills Growing Niche TV Gerard Raiti studies the migration of animated primetime programming from the major net- works to more specialized networks and reveals that maybe 2000 wasn’t such a bust after all, rather just a shifting of sorts.

2000 24 The Good,The Bad,The Butt-Ugly Martians The Butt-Ugly Martians are about to invade Earth and the World Wide Web simultaneously. Paul Younghusband investigates this strategy’s development and implementation process.

26 Boom and Doom Did primetime television animation fail because it was animated or because it was on big time network TV? Martin Goodman offers new insight on the pressures (and ignorance) influencing the bust of 2000.

30 Tom Snyder Productions Goes Scriptless Sharon Schatz goes behind the scenes at Tom Snyder Productions and learns how this surpris- ing little company has been hitting winners ever since its inception.

34 The Purpose of That X-Chromosome Oxygen’s flagship showcase of animation, X-Chromosome is almost a year old. Designed to bring the female viewpoint to television, Heather Kenyon reveals that it is doing even more than that.

38 The Music,The Pageantry,The Fourth Grade… Disney’s Teacher’s Pet is all the rage, and Joan Kim finds it easy to understand why. The combi- nation of unique style and great writing bring this crazy cast to life. ADDITIONAL FEATURES FEATURES

41 Last Exit on St. Laurent Street Chris Robinson delves into the bizarre story of Ryan Larkin, once an Oscar nominated National Film Board of Canada wunderkind, now a homeless man living in Montreal. How did incredi- ble talent, guilt, drugs, alcohol and the quest for freedom bring him to the last exit on St. OVEMBER Laurent Street?

49 David Bowers: Creating Shelf Space for Casper Joan Kim interviews David Bowers about Casper’s Haunted Christmas’ final challenge: finding shelf space and effective promotions. N

© Animation World Network 2000. All rights reserved. No part of the periodical may be reproduced without the consent of Animation World Network.

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November20002 Table of Contents

NOVEMBER 2000 VOL.5 NO.8 FILMS 52 Mark Dindal’s Place in the Sun Q: What do some non-dancing cats and a llama with an attitude have in common? A: Mark Dindal. Here the director of Cats Don’t Dance and Disney’s upcoming major holiday release, The Emperor’s New Groove, sits down with Joe Strike and talks and talks and talks…

63 Out of Character:The Making of Joseph When Jeffrey isn’t jumping for joy after the first test screening what do you do? Go back to the draw- ing board? No, go back to the script. Co-director Robert Ramirez recounts his experience wrangling together the timeless story of DreamWorks’ new straight-to-video release, Joseph: King of Dreams. GUEST EDITORIAL EDITORIAL

67 The Animation Pimp The first in a provocative series (or is it just wild ranting?), Chris Robinson proposes that whether one is a festival director, working animator or studio executive, we are all simply prostitutes. FOCUS ON… ON...

69 A Lessening Dichotomy: China 2000 Frank Gladstone recently traveled to China for a conference and two studio tours. Here he reflects on the experience of visiting a giant on the brink of taking a great leap. FESTIVALS & EVENTS& EVENTS

74 The Ottawa 2000 Scrapbook: Featuring the 3D Photographs of Gary Schwartz Did you miss Ottawa this year? Thinking about attending next year? This selection of over photos will hopefully make it a must stop for you in 2002!

78 The Daily Report: I Castelli Animati, Genzano Di Roma Italy’s free-wheeling I Castelli Animati was packed with surprises…including a very special visitor. Animation legend Marv Newland reports.

82 MIPCOM 2000:A Report from the Front Across the board, MIPCOM 2000 proved to be a much livelier market than in past years. While there are still some worries and complaints…most people could still find something positive to report.

GAMING

87 Video Games: Not Just For Males Ages 12-24 Anymore While our first assumptions about gaming lead us to thoughts of a violent, action-packed, male dominated past-time, Jacquie Kubin reveals why it is important never to assume anything as the numbers certainly do not support this ideal anymore. NEWS

90 Animation World News Phil Roman Entertainment Teams With C-3D TV & Internet, German TV Loonland Acquires Sony OVEMBER Wonder, Showtime Wants To Showcase Your Toons Online, WB Set To Start Live-Action Scooby- Doo Feature, ASIFA-Hollywood Annie Awards Are The Toon Land’s Top Honors and much more.

93 Next Issue’s Highlights

N This Month’s Contributors Cover: Belphégor, the story that has fascinated the entire country of France since the ‘60s, comes alive again with a new animated series. © France 2 and 3. © Animation World Network 2000. All rights reserved. No part of the periodical may be reproduced without the consent of Animation World Network.

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November20003 mates had terrible internships where all they learned was exactly Editor’s Notebook how certain executives liked their tuna sandwiches (think Swimming with Sharks), and one poor soul by Heather Kenyon even had to bail out a convertible that had been left open in a rain- A new, healthy beginning… Fox…well, it takes focus and com- storm! No one ever yelled at me mitment. Unfortunately, now because I forgot mustard. In fact, his year I consider that many have been burned and they even bought me some trail primetime animation has won’t be coming back to anima- mix because I wouldn’t take lunch Tbeen kinda like a rock star tion anytime soon. Moreover, as and they felt sorry for me. In or movie star that has hit super Martin “Dr. Toon” Goodman Hollywood, that’s true concern. I stardom and then doesn’t quite explains in “Boom and Doom,” it did coverage, filed, entered info know how to handle it, resulting takes more than a dog and pony into the database and was encour- in a fiery crash to rock bottom. show to produce animation. aged to ask a lot of questions. The Animation became red hot, and in Experience is vital and several of other internship was at Turner all the craziness that ensued…we this past season’s shows have Feature Animation (TFA) and the went down in a fiery crash. (How proven that you are asking for project that was in production was else can you explain cancellations trouble when you have an ani- Cats Don’t Dance. After complet- almost before the shows even mated show that isn’t backed by ing my coverage, I would get to aired?) Now, like the big bang industry veterans. Hopefully, if net- look at artwork, sit in on story theory the explosion is coming works have learned anything this meetings, and on really great back down, and I think this will past year, it is to look before they days, I’d go over to the main TFA lead to a more stable industry, if it leap. There is still more animation building and follow around the doesn’t completely implode! being produced for primetime key players, one of whom was Rather than having two or three than ever before and with shows Mark Dindal. I had no idea how high profile shows on the major like The PJs and Home Movies find- lucky I was at the time. If I had networks, I’d rather see the indus- ing new network homes after some questions about character try have four or five shows on being cancelled proves that it isn’t design, the next week they’d smaller networks continuing at a “our” animation that failed, it was organize a chat with character steady pace, building a following the placing and approach. designer and CalArts’ instructor and audience for the networks. If When I was in college two Robert Lence. The next week I had animation can help build a market events influenced me to go into questions about acting and ani- for burgeoning networks as animation. The first was a “Writing mating, so in I’d go to Lennie Gerard Raiti suggests in his article for Animation” course I took with Graves who was Sawyer’s lead ani- “Primetime Animation Fills Ernie Pintoff. For a bunch of kids mator. ‘How do you put the whole Growing Niche TV,” then that will raised on Saturday morning car- thing together though?’ I pon- only help animated programmin- toons, Ernie’s selection of art films dered. Well, what I didn’t glean expand and in turn provide jobs. with favorites from UPA and the while being a fly on the wall of the Animation producers are NFB blew us away. We were conference room from Mark and always complaining about “suits” wowed. And I was impressed. The the Turner executives, I could get that don’t understand animation second event was my experience by asking a few questions of art and make their lives hell by poking over the course of one summer director Brian McEntee. What a their noses into the shows they are regarding two separate intern- summer! It was then I decided that producing. Well, I think after this ships. The first one was at a very I wanted to go into animation past television year, a lot of net- high profile ultra-cool live-action because the folks were so friendly work suits have definitely learned feature company run by a very tal- and interesting. Forget a snooty their lesson. Animation is its own ented writer/director/producer commissary and assigned parking special breed and to capture and team. They were very nice to me. I depending on your rank and use it like Cartoon Network and really can’t complain. Other class- file...let’s walk across the street

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November20004 together to the Crest market and away photos with wild abandon. get a sandwich. I’d tag along lis- But not just any photos mind you tening and absorbing and loving — 3D photos! I do hope you can it! I can really say that the people see the stereoscopic effect and of Turner Feature turned me onto take full advantage of “The Ottawa one of animation’s greatest facets 2000 Scrapbook: Featuring the 3D — its people. Photographs of Gary Schwartz.” Finally, we all had a Enjoy! ANIMATION WORLD NETWORK 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 600 great time up at the Ottawa Los Angeles, CA 90036 International Animation Festival Until Next Time, Phone : 323.634.3400 Fax : 323.634.3350 from September 19 - 24, 2000. Heather Email : [email protected] Four AWN staff members traveled up north, which was a delicious P.S. Oh, and in addition to a preview of fall weather and had us blender, DreamWorks’ new all bundled up. My only regret is straight-to-video production that I didn’t realize there were marsh- Joseph: King of Dreams is on my [email protected] mallows to roast at the picnic until it holiday wish list. Check out co- PUBLISHERS was almost too late…and everyone director Robert Ramirez’ article Ron Diamond, President knows one roasted marshmallow “Out of Character: The Making of Dan Sarto, Chief Operating Officer is far too few. Gary Schwartz was Joseph,” because in my opinion EDITOR-IN-CHIEF also in attendance and snapping this production is quite special. Heather Kenyon ASSOCIATE EDITOR Rick DeMott [email protected] EDITORIAL ADMINISTRATOR Joan H. Kim

Something’s Fishy Here… than hype. We don’t need that CONTRIBUTORS I quote from your article any more. Amid Amidi Mike Amron “Shockwave.Com: Fun and Skepticism of a company’s Rick DeMott Games on a High-Flying Hub” claims is healthy. For a journalist Frank Gladstone Martin "Dr. Toon" Goodman (Dannacher, 5.01): “To date, the it’s essential. Heather Kenyon Flash software player has been Joan Kim successfully downloaded by over Sincerely, Jacquie Kubin Marv Newland 200 million users around the Rob Andrew Osmond world. This means that veritably Gerard Raiti ______Robert Ramirez 90% of the people on the Net Chris Robinson now have Flash.” Dan Sarto Sharon Schatz The reason this seems pre- Hooray for Harry Gary Schwartz posterous is because 200 million We enjoyed your interview, Joe Strike Annick Teninge downloads have been recorded “10 Questions with Harry Shearer, Paul Younghusband — not 200 million individual Web Springfield’s Finest,” (Singer, 5.01) users as your article claims. Most of with Harry Shearer. Your Website is OPERATIONS them are people downloading a outstanding. We just discovered it Annick Teninge, General Manager newer version or trying to get it and will come back frequently. DESIGN/LAYOUT again after a Net failure. Keep up the great work! Alex Binotapa It’s great that you are pro- WEBMASTERS moting Web animation and I Best, Jeremy Keller develop my Web animation in Rich Davis and John Sprengelmeyer Alex Binotapa Flash and Director, but ridiculous Captain RibMan Comics ADVERTISING SALES claims make the industry and your http://www.supercomics.com Jay Stokes magazine look like nothing more

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November20005 layered stories that drag you along, losing you in the complexi- ty of the characters and the excite- ment of the story and mysteries. A public television network, The Renewed Legend France Television is the leading fin- ancier of animation programs in by Annick Teninge France. They are currently co-pro- ducing fourteen animation series, he story of Belphégor has representing 116 hours of pro- fascinated the entire coun- gramming. France 2 targets 12-18 Ttry of France since the year olds, while France 3 targets ‘60s, with the introduction of a the 4-10 age group. France live-action television series that Television centers its children’s pro- now belongs to France’s cultural gramming around two artistic inheritance. Based on a novel lines: impertinent humor with written by Arthur Bernède in the series such as Baskerville: une ‘20s, the author took a mytholo- famille d’enfer, Momie au pair and gical character from the recesses Norman Normal; and action and of antiquity and assigned him an adventure, colored with French identity that captured the imagina- and European cultural inheri- tion of the country when brought tance, illustrated by Belphégor, to television. Corto Maltese and Lucky Luke, Today Belphégor is a 26 x among others. Les Armateurs, 26-minute animated series co- Belphégor’s executive producer, is produced by France Television a French production company (France 2 and France 3), Les © Les Armateurs/ France 2/ founded in 1994 by Didier Armateurs (France), Toocan France 3/ Tooncan. Brunner. Among others, Les (Canada) and Price RG (Korea). series, with a strong graphic style. Armateurs co-produced Michel The story is of a mysterious phan- It successfully recreates an eerie Ocelot’s famed Kirikou And The tom, Belphégor, that haunts Paris, universe, where even the city of Sorceress. They are currently work- from the Louvre museum to the lights becomes a haunting charac- ing on Michel Ocelot’s Princes & Opera House to the city’s cata- ter. The series is also characterized Princesses, as well as Sylvain combs, while being pursued by by very ambitious scripts — multi- Chomet’s Les Triplettes de the Paris police chief and two Belleville, an animated feature valiant journalists, Jacques and based on characters from Sarah, who try to confound his Chomet’s award-winning short evil plans…Gérald Dupeyrot, who The Old Lady and the Pigeons. is also the script director, created Creator Gérald Dupeyrot the series. Jean-Christophe Roger agreed to share his thoughts on directs it and Frédéric Bezian is the his work: artistic director. The first episodes will broadcast on France 2 at the Annick Teninge: How did you get end of this year, while France the idea to bring back this mythic Television Distribution has just television series? Were you wor- released the first video of two ried it would not be equal to your episodes “Le Fantôme du templier” memories, and the viewers’ mem- and “La preuve par 24.” ories, even if this concern was irrel- The animated version is a Belphégor, the phantom that haunts evant for today’s generation? modern, expressionistic adapta- Paris. © Les Armateurs/ France 2/ tion of the live-action Belphégor France 3/ Tooncan. Gérald Dupeyrot: To begin with,

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November20006 On the opposite, it allows one to render a different vision of reality, to give more meaning to life by refining it and only keeping what is essential, and by playing with the time, etc. Of course, this is assuming one knows how to use it and has enough resources to reach the effect required. Films such as Jin Rô convinced me that animation has started to explore new roads that will become fabu- lous means of expression.

AT: Can you explain this?

GD: Jin Rô is Japanese director Hiroyuki Okiura’s first feature. It is set in an imaginary post-war Japan, where a conspiracy threat- Jacques and Sarah, two journalists following the mysterious Belphégor. ens both police combat troopers © Les Armateurs/ France 2/France 3/ Tooncan. and anti-government activists. it was purely commercial. The pro- ty. We had to be daring, but in a Although, the technique is tradi- duction company was looking for different way. This is why I made tional, the style is very innovative an idea for a TV series. First, they Belphégor what it is. in the way it uses a sharp, realistic considered Fantomas but the Once Pathé was con- graphic style to translate the rights were not available. Then, vinced, we worked on a pilot, atmosphere. Belphégor became an option. I which was presented at the But, back to Belphégor: I pitched the idea to Pathé, the Cartoon Forum in Connemara was getting nowhere with the rights holders, and Arthur [Ireland, 1996]. The day after the graphic design. We were only Bernède’s heirs. They accepted it. presentation, France 2 and France receiving proposals with very clas- However, for moral reasons, it was 3 announced they were willing to sical character design. They all out of the question that Belphégor join the venture. Yet, the pilot looked like Titan A.E. or characters would kill, or even be a thief. We was quite awful! I would like to say from semi-realistic-type movies. were told that no distributor that our partners at France 2/3 How could we transform these would go for that. Even a project have been fantastic, especially characters into a consistent uni- with “Robin Hood” in the title had considering the particular nature verse? Which backgrounds would discouraged investors, not to of this series. fit in? This is when I suggested mention a thief! Plus, the C.S.A. bringing in Frédéric Bézian, a (Conseil Superieur de AT: From an artistic standpoint, comic book artist I really liked and l’Audiovisuel) [French Audiovisual did you feel that an animated ver- considered one of the most Council, a regulation authority] sion would bring some limitations bewitching artists, although he had recently frowned on several — to translate the mysterious did not have many fans at the projects with bad heroes and we aspect, among others — or allow time. His style, and the atmos- needed to be very careful with the more creativity? And how did you phere in his comic books seemed story line. And it was out of the choose the artistic director, who is to match perfectly my idea of question to follow the book, extremely talented from my point Belphégor. Luckily, Frédéric because it ends with Belphégor’s of view? accepted my proposal and death. The rights holders also became the artistic director of the imposed other constraints, such as GD: I have always felt that anima- series. He has been fantastic. Not never revealing Belphégor’s identi- tion doesn’t bring any constraints. only did he successfully adapt his

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November20007 GD: Our Belphégor is quite differ- ent from the book character or the previous TV series. Plus, the story takes place in this day and age. I think that if we are true to some- thing, it is to the atmosphere, to a character that is elusive — physi- cally and in his motivations — unsettling, unpredictable. We devoted a lot of time to the writ- ing. As opposed to the book — where Belphégor’s sole goal is to run off with a Merovingian treas- ure hidden in the Louvre museum — our goal was to tell not one but twenty-six stories! And for each of them, to find a motivation which was not based on greed or the The city takes on an eerie character of its own in the stylish new animated series. need for power, and did not por- © Les Armateurs/ France 2/France 3/ Tooncan. tray him as capricious or pusillani- relatively complex drawing style to quite threatening. This, plus the mous. The writers, Marc Larmigny, the simplification needed in ani- fact he is facing two positive and together with Sébastien Viaud and mation, but he also appeared to very endearing people (Sarah, one Séverine Vuillaume, were able to be extremely painstaking in his of the two journalists, most invent stories which didn’t look work, and thoughtful of other specifically), should prevent like we’d seen it all before, people’s work. He is an incredibly children from identifying while integrating all the exist- talented professional. with him and make them ing constraints. identify with his pursuers AT: Belphégor, the title character, instead. It was interesting From one episode to who has supernatural powers, is for us to see how Sarah another, one will notice the bad guy. That’s unusual stood out as we were that Belphégor chal- compared to superheroes like working on the charac- lenges people and situa- Superman. Was the objective to ter development. She is tions all the time; one will show that children shouldn’t the most impulsive and conclude that he is a idolize superheroes just because the most daring of the player, or a manipulator; they possess supernatural powers? duo, and I believe chil- or maybe that he dren, especially girls, behaves like an entomol- GD: Belphégor doesn’t have will strongly identify ogist. He fits in with the supernatural powers. His ring with her. history, with who transfixes and temporary neutral- Belphégor is, way before izes people. But this already exists AT: How close did you the book. He is a diaboli- in military lab and is not very stay to the book and cal character who is also sophisticated. It was mostly added the original TV series? In an enlightener of peo- to emphasize the spectacular your script, the connec- ple’s personalities. By pro- aspect, to make him more fright- tion between the “old” voking them, he makes ening. Belphégor’s real weapons Belphégor and today’s is them experience things are his strength and his cleverness, made through his reap- © Les Armateurs/ that help them to grow, like France 2/France which — I’ll grant you that — is pearance, 30 years later. 3/ Tooncan. in real life! totally unusual in superhero sto- Did you play with that One episode, “La ries. Indeed, he is a “bad” hero, aspect — the time lag — in Vengeance de l’Etoile Bleue,” but his elusiveness makes him the script? [The Revenge of the Blue Star]

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November20008 people have the ability to go through the paintings at the Louvre museum — it is the only time where the transgression of physical laws leads to this level of fantasy — and I got the idea while thinking of one of Jacques Drouin’s films Le Paysagiste (The Landscape Architect). Thus, I fig- ured it was just fair to pay tribute to the author by naming the “magic painter” after him. But, apart from a few animation groupies like you and me, had we not mentioned it, who would have noticed? Same thing with Gerard Magix, a transparent allu- sion to Gerard Magax, a fearsome destroyer of telekinesis in the ‘70s. Belphegor’s mark, the tanit sign is seen in the design of the floor. And there are many of them. But, © Les Armateurs/ France 2/France 3/ Tooncan. in most cases, they are veiled mes- gives away another essential trait GD: I don’t know where this cita- sages to nobody. It’s just that, at of his personality. It was not possi- tion comes from. What’s for sure is some point, you need to come up ble to explain it literally, because that, from the antiquity, the name, with a name. For instance, I the viewing audience is mostly Belphégor [Baal-peor] refers to named the main female character children. However, we understand one of the avatars of the God Baal. Sarah, and her surname is that Belphégor has suffered a And quite a few authors, including Kozminsky. Who knows why? bereavement that took away his Machiavel, have portrayed him. At reason for living. And instead of the beginning, Belphégor was a Visit AWN online to see Belphégor overcoming his mourning, or demon from an ancient civilization clips at: becoming insane, or an alcoholic, in the Middle East, and his name http://www.awn.com/mag/issue he steps aside and settles on the means “Demon of the mountain.” 5.08/5.08pages/teningebelphe- edge between life and death. He Then, we track him to Carthage, gor.php3. is constantly provoking life, as if he hence the Tanit sign, which is is waiting for a sign from her that Belphégor’s mark. This is not clari- Interview with Gérald Dupeyrot might provoke an emotion within fied in the series, however the conducted in French and trans- himself. Naturally, we could not Tanit sign can be compared to that lated by Annick Teninge. translate these complex feelings in of Belphégor’s imploring doll, with the film. So, we merely acknow- her arms up in the air, and to his Annick Teninge is the general ledge the effects of the distance he music box. If both of them are manager of Animation World puts between himself and rest of superposed, their shape matches Network. A French native, Annick the world. the Tanit sign. This doll is part of began her animation career as Belphégor’s mystery. Obviously, it Assistant Director at the Annecy AT: Is it true that, in the antiquity, is a relic from the time when his International Animation Festival, a Belphégor was pictured in two frosty desperation arose. post she held for six years. quite different fashions: “as a beautiful naked woman and as a AT: There are quite a few veiled Note: Readers may contact any monstrous, bearded demon with references: Jacques Drouin, Animation World Magazine an open mouth, horns, and Gerard Magax. contributor by sending an e-mail sharply pointed nails. Belphégor to [email protected]. was Hell’s ambassador to France”? GD: That’s true. In one episode,

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November20009 THEANIMATION FLASHwww.awn.com/flash

TheFlashisthebestnewsletterinthe “ cartoonbusiness.Ittreatsthenewsof animationwiththerespectitdeserves. Ilookforwardtogettingiteveryweek. FredSeibert ExecutiveProducer/Creatorof"OhYeah!Cartoons!"” Nickelodeon “ Ithasreallyproveditselfasaone-stop resourceforinternationalanimation news,informationandcommentary. JerryBeck ” AnimationHistorian Stayup-to-dateonthelatestanimationindustry newsfromaroundtheworld.GettheAnimation Flash deliveredeachweekstraighttoyourE-mail.

Advertising: Jay Stokes [email protected]@awn.com Subscriptions:Subscriptions www.awn.com/flash Editorial: Heather Kenyon [email protected]

AWNHeadquarters,5700WilshireBlvd.,Suite600,LosAngeles,CA90036,USAtel++(1)3236343400-fax++(1)3236343350 -URLwww.awn.com somebody who loves the classic Warner Bros. shorts and Disney No Boundaries: features, speaks his mind freely, and most importantly, isn’t afraid An Interview With Eric Radomski to push the animated envelope and explore the vast possibilities of by Amid Amidi this art form. ark, intense and brooding Amid Amidi: You were painting are not words often used backgrounds on Tiny Toons when Dto describe an afternoon they started developing the ani- animated TV series, but the Caped mated Batman at Warner Bros. I Crusader’s adventures proved to understand that you weren’t a par- be just that when Batman: The ticularly avid reader of the Batman Animated Series premiered in fall comics like Bruce Timm was, so of 1992. The show radically rede- what was it that initially attracted fined the medium of television ani- you to the project? mation eschewing the tradition of mediocrity while proclaiming that Eric Radomski: I think I’ve always From comic book to television an afternoon cartoon show could screen,Todd McFarlane’s Spawn. favored more of the dramatic in be atmospheric, moody, mature © 1996 Home Box Office. terms of storytelling. As a kid from and entertaining to both kids and Batman. Originally from the lower east side of Cleveland, adults. This triumph of TV anima- Cleveland, Ohio, a decidedly non- inner city kid, I saw the Godfather tion was a team effort, and one of animation town, Radomski when I was like 11, and I was into the crew leaders was Eric entered the business in the early mob and war films, and enjoyed Radomski, who along with Bruce ‘80s as a cel painter and office boy that sort of drama. The previous Timm and Alan Burnett, served as at a hole-in-the-wall Cleveland incarnations of Batman I’d seen the show’s executive producers. commercial studio run by Rick growing up, the Filmation animat- His invaluable contributions to the Reinert. As most animation artists ed version, that series they did show ranged across the board eventually do, he found his way to from the artfully designed title Los Angeles working at various cards that introduced each outfits on the feeble cartoon out- episode to the series’ minimalistic put of the ‘80s before ending up art direction that suggested and at Warner Bros. with his chance-of- hinted at details rather than a-lifetime opportunity on Batman. spelling it all out for the audience. Following his illustrious However, Eric Radomski’s tenure with the Dark Knight, career did not begin nor end with Radomski became the supervising director of HBO Animation in 1996. There he was responsible for two high-profile series: Todd McFarlane’s Spawn and Ralph Bakshi’s Spicy. Sadly the studio folded before it had reached its full potential, and Radomski has since redirected his focus toward Film Roman where he is currently exec- utive creative director. Not know- ing what to expect before our first meeting, I soon discovered Eric to Director, producer Eric Radomski. Radomski hard at work. Photo courtesy of Film Roman. be a genial and genuine creator, Photo courtesy of Amid Amidi.

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200011 with Adam West, they were all just advantage to have a producer a bunch of goofs. They were assume an artistic and creative role dopey versions of a character that in the creation of an animated could be really strong and dramat- series? ic, and when I saw Tim Burton’s movie, I thought that was a good ER: Having a very involved and way of looking at this character. comprehensive knowledge of the process was completely beneficial AA: To get on the project, you to me. It allowed me to talk to any- made some preliminary studies one from prop designers to the using colored pencil on black directors. I could explain and paper… request things very specifically as to the way a sequence should be ER: That’s a painting technique directed or what needed to be that I had done previously in my indicated in the storyboard so that own personal paintings where I there wasn’t confusion when they was trying to work with limited sent it overseas. I was also able to lighting and examining how light- relate those same concerns and ing actually works at nighttime Following the popularity of thoughts to the writers on the Batman:The Animated Series, with the effects of the moon and The WB presented the New show, and the writer/producer such. Literally the first piece that I Batman/Superman Adventures Alan Burnett, and later Paul Dini. did was lights of a city reflected on program hour. © Warner Bros. To be able to troubleshoot an a wet pavement, and that was were offered to produce it. Here, episode in script form, we were also inspired by the drama of Bruce and I are looking at sixty-five able to resolve issues and not com- Burton’s movie. But I never episodes, neither one of us ever promise the content of the scripts. thought that they would go that having been in that position of The problem comes when far in a cartoon. They attached to responsibility, and we just never folks are given a producer title and this look immediately, and that thought about it. Just took it one it’s not warranted. As we see in a was exciting for me. I thought, episode at a time. lot of the primetime shows, any- Well, at the very best I’m going to one who writes is a producer, and get to paint or set the style for the I think the ability that’s fine to have that title or cred- show,” but it also opened the door it, but it doesn’t relate to the for me to exercise skills that most to bring together responsibility of that producer. At everyone didn’t know about. I the writers and the end of the day, it’s a visual knew how to organize projects medium, and while writing is very because out of necessity, I had the artists, and important to it, in order to make been so hands-on in the previous the crew in the best possible piece of enter- studios that I’d worked at so when tainment, you have to be able to they asked us to produce a couple general, was one look at the big picture and know minutes of animation, that was like of the biggest how you’re going to get to the a walk in the park for me. Bruce end of the line. Not just have a and I basically organized this two- accomplishments cool idea and go, “Oh yeah, we’ll minute presentation piece in a with Batman. have these wacky animators come month and a half. Bruce boarded up with some gags or funny draw- it, and he and I did layouts from AA: Speaking to your role as an ings, or direct it with great timing the boards, and I did all the origi- executive producer on Batman, so that the comedy comes off.” nal backgrounds. I had a friend up you came from an artistic back- That’s fine but that’s a lot of in Canada, Greg Duffell, who had ground, whereas many TV anima- assumption. If you don’t know a commercial studio, and his crew tion producers today are not as how to get there or convey that, animated the whole thing. Based versatile in basic cartoon funda- you’re asking for big trouble. on the strength of that piece, we mentals. Do you think it’s an Subsequently, you see some of

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200012 these primetime shows that just cost oodles of money and the product is really pretty weak. It’s a system out of balance. Primetime television sort of adopted anima- tion and to them it’s just a tech- nique. A good portion of the ani- mated primetime shows could just as well be done live-action. I mean there are a couple exceptions but for the most part, it’s not what car- toons were originally meant to be. Cartoons aren’t meant to lip sync dialogue that’s written by stand-up comics, which is what seems to dominate the primetime market. HBO’s Spawn — animation capable of giving viewers a story in a single frame. For me, unless you do that © 1996 Home Box Office. extremely well, it’s always going to was to stand on our own. We did- the ability to bring together the be less than interesting to watch. n’t want to just rely on the success writers and the artists, and the of the movie; we wanted to distin- crew in general, was one of the AA: With shows like Batman and guish ourselves not only as [a rep- biggest accomplishments with Ren & Stimpy, it seems that when resentation of] the character Batman. We eventually created 85 the producer is an artist, it can Batman himself, but as an animat- half-hours in the first incarnation of avoid a lot of problems down the ed project. It was an opportunity the series, and subsequently line… to say we’re going to do this dif- they’ve done Superman and ferently. Speaks directly to what Batman Beyond, and they’ve held ER: It’s unfortunate but exactly as we just spoke about, artists/pro- consistent. Really strong narrative you’ve said, really heavy duty pro- ducers being involved in a project. and absolutely terrific graphics. It’s ducers from the live-action world I think the biggest accomplish- a wonderful testament to a team are trusted more by executives so ment, whether we set out to do it working together, which is a rarity they’re put in a position of power. or not, was that we proved that if in animation. But they really don’t understand artists/producers were allowed to the process and the animators are handle a huge franchise show, we AA: From a viewer’s perspective, left a lot of times fixing things that could deliver both visually and sto- there’s not really a whole lot to are broken rather than concentrat- rywise. complain about, but from your ing on making them better. So you perspective, if you could go back, end up with an end product that’s AA: How involved would you be what would you improve about half of what it could have been, in the actual writing of the show? the show? had it been trusted in the hands of the animation folks. ER: We didn’t sit down and write ER: Without stooping to the levels them, but Bruce and I were very of using foul language or showing AA: Batman has proven to be one involved with a lot of the scripts. nudity, I think we could have of the seminal TV shows in anima- We not only pointed out the pit- pushed a lot of the elements to a tion history. What are you most falls, but also had a strong, secure greater degree more adult, and I proud of about your association writer in Alan Burnett to invite us use that term very loosely because with that show? into the process, and invite our I don’t think it has to be blood and opinions in, so that when we had guts but I think it has to be real for ER: The live-action movie had an idea for a sequence in a show, the audience to buy it. There were done very well and Batman was or changes to story, it wasn’t a couple episodes that probably very much in the limelight, so I about fighting over it, or egos. It spoke truest to the goal that we guess the biggest effort we made was about making it better. I think would have set for ourselves in

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200013 terms of overall quality. We were She gave me the Spawn art direction to look like on the fortunate enough to win an comics and when I read them, I piece. As with Batman, I was for- Emmy for part one of Robin’s found Todd’s writing in the books tunate enough to generate some Reckoning. It was the back story of to be kind of sophomoric. Very material to be able to convince the death of Robin’s parents, a young for the opportunity that he Todd and HBO that this is the way touching story about a kid losing had. It’s not all about ripping guy’s I think the show should look. his parents. That took animated heads off. You’re talking about the Production moved along fine, and storytelling to a new height Devil and there’s nothing juicier as we were tailing out on Spawn, because it wasn’t about selling than that. We wanted to get to Bakshi’s Spicy came by and that toys anymore, and it wasn’t about the romance story; it’s a guy who was another juicy bit. being wacky cooky, and it wasn’t lost his life, wants to get back to about Batman always winning; his wife and he’s got a kid. Can’t this was a story about the birth of ask for better drama than that. It a superhero, of Robin really mak- was continually an education ing decisions in his life, and it was process to say, “Look, Spawn does- quite dramatic. n’t get mad and put his fist through the wall, he takes a AA: It would seem then that the moment here and there.” That move you made to HBO was a was really important to convey real freeing transition in terms of to Todd. the content that you were allowed to do? We specifically

ER: Absolutely, knowing that HBO went for material was definitely interested in push- that was going to ing their shows to an R-rating was Ralph Bakshi’s Spicy City. © 1997 Home Box Office. music to my ears. be more adult, but that doesn’t AA: HBO seems to be the ideal AA: What specifically took you outlet for adult animation, and there? mean adult in a you had two pretty successful shows in Spawn and Spicy, so ER: Spawn was their first project bottom of the why is it that HBO Animation did- they had optioned, and HBO had barrel sense which n’t survive? brought in Catherine Winder with the project. They originally sub- 95% of the stuff ER: We hit a huge bump in the contracted work out to an off-site on the Internet road when Catherine and I made studio and had gotten about three a request to have a story editor or four months into development currently is. come in on Spawn because no and pre-production, but Todd one was too happy with the McFarlane , who created Spawn, Most of the material that scripts that were coming out, and and the studio, which shall remain had been created by the other what we inherited was some exec- unnamed, had a real difficult time studio didn’t work for my plan. I utive producer that came in from getting along because the materi- wanted to go for something much live-action, speaking back to our al being generated wasn’t up to more dynamic, much more graph- earlier conversation, and just pro- Todd’s standards. So Catherine ic. The material I had was very ceeded to really dismantle every- made a suggestion to HBO, to illustrated and not very animat- thing we had built. And unfortu- bring the work in-house. She and able. It was even beyond manga, nately, he had one HBO executive I met somehow, and it was perfect it was just so complicated. I had to believe that he had a better way of timing for me because I was then convince Todd that I wanted to doing things even though the directing Freakazoid and very simplify, but to keep in mind the show was already successful. anxious to get out of Warner Bros. big picture of what I wanted the Slowly things started to decline

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200014 direction, he bought the drama. He had a commitment to making something that was different. He didn’t want to do a typical show in any form. Out of lack of a better term, because of his ignorance, he was open to the process and able to allow us to produce something special. Now conversely, with Ralph, he had absolute respect and trust for the talent involved. He basically handed it over and said, “This is your project, I’ll tell you what I want, you guys go do it.” That was great, but on the downside, HBO was very demanding about the content so Spawn battles the forces of evil on Earth — and in himself. © 1996 Home Box Office. scripts that came in early on from internally at HBO for our little unit, with. Not only do they allow and Ralph, not known for being a and by the end of it, I took my trust you to do what you do, but great storyteller, needed changes. name off of the third season of six they’re really smart. They know And Ralph is not a guy that likes to episodes because I refused to be good entertainment and it’s so compromise. If this is the way it’s associated with them and what refreshing because a large part of written, and you point out that it’s was going on. the industry simply doesn’t. That’s not working, hope you get him on why we have so much crap on tel- a good day because if you don’t, AA: What do you think of your evision. You’d sit in a notes meet- you’re going to hear about it. I time at HBO? ing with them, and actually come think that’s to be admired that the away with useful ideas. Typically guy has survived in the industry ER: I was absolutely under the you’re looking at notes and going, for so long and done his films his impression that HBO Animation “What the hell are they talking way. But it’s less likely that you’re had arrived, and this was the about?” It was a great experience, going to be allowed to make deci- place to be. We had even gotten and inspiring if nothing else, sions the way you need to to the point of development, and because now I continue to work because it’s somebody who’s been we had probably eight or ten titles towards getting back to producing through it and has a specific way that we had optioned from vari- at the level that I had at HBO. of thinking about how animation ous sources — underground should be produced. comics, independent creators, etc. AA: You had a unique situation at and there was a nice mix of mate- HBO because you’re working with AA: And what would be the rial that we were going for which Todd McFarlane, a creator inexpe- downside to working with Todd? was very much adult. It took me a rienced with animation, and Ralph long time to get over that because Bakshi who probably knows too ER: The fact that Todd didn’t I was so absolutely excited to be much about animation. As a pro- understand animation, had no working in R-rated mode and ducer, who did you find easier to experience with it, was a lot of being trusted to do things the way work with? work on my part as a producer to that I wanted to do them. help him understand how things I’m speaking to you from ER: I would probably lean on are produced and how to trust Film Roman, but if I had an oppor- the Todd side because it’s a without seeing, because basically tunity to work on another HBO strong idea and he was absolutely he wouldn’t know anything until show, I’d do it in a minute. I think supportive of pushing the he saw it come back on film. He they’re a fantastic group to work envelope. He bought the art would have to trust me that the

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200015 pause and slow moment there and the shot in black with just a lit- tle bit of light was going to speak volumes.

AA: As a comic artist he’s used to drawing the final product himself and seeing it immediately on the page in front of him . . .

ER: Exactly, and a lot of the comic art is in the artist’s head. The audi- ence is invited in and if you get it, fine, and if you don’t, you’re gone. We’re speaking to a much broader audience, a pretty good chunk of Radomski introduces a 2D, 3D, live-action combination technique in Mindless Bob. © and ™ Film Roman. them who’ve never seen the book and who don’t care about the was wonderful, the closest that that I don’t see in animation. Do book. They’re watching a piece of I’ve come to really doing my own you think an adult animated late night animation and it better piece. I could not wait to get to drama has a place in animation? tell them a story. They don’t care the editing room and try a million about the cool drawings in the different things. I can’t tell you ER: I think there’s definitely a place book. They don’t care about draw- how many times I begged and for an animated adult action- ings at all as long as when they pleaded with Catherine to give me drama. Everything doesn’t have to come away from it, they’re hope- more time in the edit room revolve around fairy tales and fan- fully affected in some way because I had absolute visions of tasies. Animation has always, at emotionally or just entertained in how some of this stuff was going least for as many years as I’ve seen, general. to play before I even saw it, and it been relegated to marketing and just took a lot of time. merchandising. I think Blade AA: Both with Batman and the Literally, there would be Runner could exist as an animated HBO shows, the cartoons had times where within a twenty two- film, or a Blade Runner-esque type more of a cinematic live-action feel minute episode, I’d have a thou- of film. It’s futuristic, they’ve got to them than traditional fare. Was sand cuts because a lot of it was vehicles and they’ve got action this something you were con- half frames, re-uses, flips and flops, characters. If you want to make sciously aiming for, or did this style effects, and the like. It was all done your merchandising, that’s great. It evolve out of necessity for the type after the fact. Typically with anima- just hasn’t been given the oppor- of stories that you were telling? tion, you send stuff over and what tunity. No one is trusted enough; it you send you get back. Here I was always has to be justified with ER: Spawn was a natural exten- doing almost special effects in the how much money the film will sion or evolution from Batman, to Avid, because there was no way I make merchandising-wise. There’s take it not only cinematic but also could convey those thoughts in no reason that you couldn’t do an get into a real stylistic approach. my exposure sheets. I had to do it absolute all-out animated action- Batman had the traditional three- in the edit room so it was very drama, and let it compete against act setup, but with Spawn, having much a live-action mentality of any other live-action film. only six episodes in each season, it having a cutting room floor except was an ongoing and everchang- it was all digital. AA: What sort of a role do you see ing storyline, with the core being the Internet playing in the future this guy who has a mission which AA: Following along these same of animation? is to find his wife and see if there’s lines, when I see some live-action any possible way he’s going to be films, I see a level of depth in the ER: A lot of the material that’s on able to get back what he lost. It characterization and storytelling the Internet now is place holders

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200016 as far as I’m concerned. It’s deriva- long term. tive of television. Right now the Mindless Bob was a short best use for the Internet is to sort film that I directed for Level13. We of incubate ideas. To put up a had a relationship with Mark short, and get a real good sense of Mothersbaugh and he had an whether your idea’s working and idea and basically told me what he whether the audience likes it. wanted to do. I came up with a Beyond that, delivering on-going new technique that’s a 2D, 3D, content on the Internet is limited live-action combination. It’s real so you have to surrender yourself strange, esoteric, weird, but we to that, and do something that’s never had the opportunity to pretty much verbal graphics. But develop the character further into embrace the fact that it is a reality the sort of Marx Bros./Three and it’s not going away. The tech- Stooges personality we had nology is coming, and artists cre- planned. The set-up was that ating material for the Internet wherever Mindless Bob went, should be prepared to throw away Doomsday is hopefully soon to chaos followed. He literally caused all of the limitations that television be underway. © Film Roman. the destruction of the Earth in the places on animation, and just get site Level13.com? first piece by setting off a nuclear back to making good product. warhead through his ignorance. The Internet will allow audi- ER: I was responsible for the direc- ences to pick the material they like. tion and attitude of the entire AA: You’ve also been associated People that know the material will Level13 project. With Level13, we with Film Roman’s Howard Stern pass around the word and even- specifically went for material that project. tually creators/producers/directors was going to be more adult, but like myself will be trusted to make that doesn’t mean adult in a bot- ER: We sold Doomsday about a stuff that can exist on the Internet, tom of the barrel sense which 95% year ago to UPN. The show is cre- and can be directly marketed to its of the stuff on the Internet cur- ated by Tracy Torme and Howard audience. I believe that will play a rently is. Not just a bunch of jokes is attached to it as an executive big role in moving entertainment, about excrement, nudity, foul lan- producer. I helped Tracy develop a especially animation, forward. guage and racist jokes. A little bit bit of the animation style, and also of that is fine for people to exercise helped put together about a 10- AA: How involved have you been their point of view but it’s not minute animatic that basically tells with Film Roman’s entertainment going to hold up over the the story and introduces all the

3D animated science fiction spoof Trippin’ the Rift and Doug Lawrence’s Hair Balls are both in development. ™ and © Film Roman.

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200017 main characters. However, what AA: And what are some other optioned content that we had. It we pitched was a 2-minute trailer projects you’re currently develop- was originally part of another that we cut movie fashion. UPN ing at Film Roman? show that had this as an insert. A was never satisfied with the pilot cartoon within a cartoon. script, and they pushed us in ten ER: We’re working with Norman different directions about how Lear to develop Till The Fat Lady Go online and see a QuickTime clip of they wanted the family treated. So Sings, which will be taken out this Spawn at: we decided to take a break with it, year to pitch as a series. It’s about http://www.awn.com/mag/issue5.08 and since then UPN went through folks that live in a senior citizens /5.08pages/amidiradomski.php3. some changes with the merger so home and it’s quite funny. There’s Amid Amidi is the publisher and who knows what’s going to hap- Trippin’ The Rift, a 3D animated editor of Animation Blast pen with them as a network. science fiction spoof currently in Magazine. He is currently lobby- Either way, a new writer/producer development as a series for cable. ing The Walt Disney Company to was brought on recently to start I didn’t have much to do with that produce more Humphrey the the production up again. Tracy will other than making sure the atti- Bear merchandising in honor of still be an executive producer and tude and the content was appro- the character’s fiftieth birthday. Howard is still very much involved. priate for what we were doing. We’re hoping to get back under Doug Lawrence’s Hairballs is being Note: Readers may contact any way writing the pilot script and developed for the Internet, and Animation World Magazine developing it in the next month. possibly a cable series. This show contributor by sending an e-mail There is a series that will be made. was rescued out of the batches of to [email protected].

Bonus HTML Features Every on-line (HTML) issue of Animation World Magazine contains additional features not found in the download or print Acrobat version, such as QuickTime movies, links to Animation World Network sites, extended articles and special sections. Don’t miss the following highlights that are showcased exclusively in this month’s Animation World Magazine HTML version:

• No Boundaries: An Inteview With Eric Radomski From Batman: The Animated Series to Spawn and Spicy, Eric Radomski has always been testing the limits of animated TV, while being very vocal about what makes and breaks a show. Amid Amidi passes on the insight. See a QuickTime Clip at: http://www.awn.com/mag/issue5.08/5.08pages/amidiradomski.php3.

• The Ottawa 2000 Scrapbook: Featuring the 3D Photographs of Gary Schwartz Did you miss Ottawa this year? Thinking about attending next year? View this year’s selection of over 60 photos and find out why you have to make it a must stop in 2002! Includes special 3D shots by Gary Schwartz at: http://www.awn.com/mag/issue5.08/5.08pages/ottawascrapbook.php3

• Belphégor, The Renewed Legend The legend of Belphégor has entranced France for years. Now France 2 and 3 bring the mysterious dark figure back to television, only this time, it’s animated. Annick Teninge reports. Check out the QuickTime clips at: http://www.awn.com/mag/issue5.08/5.08pages/teningebelphegor.php3.

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200018 Primetime Animation Fills Growing Niche TV by Gerard Raiti od, the Devil, and Bob U.S. television and has been a few, there is a plethora of different cancelled after NBC aired defining phenomenon in the animated styles designed to satisfy Gfour episodes. Sammy and world of entertainment. Since this everyone. Nevertheless, not all Clerks cancelled after two once poorly animated sitcom on animated series perform like The episodes. I refuse to mention Thursday nights has impacted the Simpsons, just as all live-action Stressed Eric! Does anyone else world in such a profound way series do not perform like Seinfeld. see a trend out there? If so, then as “D’Oh!” many have tried relent- Many shows are simply bad. But cross off “Television Executive” lessly to duplicate its success. while primetime animation has from your list of would-be Consequently, there is cur- failed on ABC and NBC, FOX, The professions. rently more primetime animation WB and Cartoon Network have than ever before, which is both had repeated success. (CBS has extremely exciting and dangerous wisely chosen not to partake in the based on how the networks treat primetime animation melee and it. Between Futurama, The focus instead on the highly lucra- Powerpuff Girls, King of the Hill, tive reality TV market.) In addition, Daria and Dilbert to name just a Cartoon Network astonishingly

Stressed Eric stressed NBC executives! © NBC, Inc.All rights reserved.

My fellow Americans, the state of primetime animation is not good. The four aforementioned shows represent the best prime- time animation that ABC and NBC have produced since 1998. This is a tragedy disenchanting to fans of animation, none of whom like to see animation repeatedly sullied across the broadcast world. Nevertheless, the last few years have seen a formidable ren- aissance in primetime animation heralding back to the glory days of the 1960s with The Flintstones and The Jetsons. In 1989 as The Cosby Show was winding down, Matt Groening and FOX ushered in a brilliant, new epoch of come- dy with The Simpsons. Currently, it The Powerpuff Girls is just one of Cartoon Network’s well performing shows. is the longest running sitcom on © Cartoon Network. ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200019 posted the highest primetime rat- always been difficult to do. The ue to air them.” Fair enough — ings of any cable network during Simpsons is an anomaly.… It will that is an obvious reason to cancel its most recent quarter. Therefore, go down as one of the greatest any show. To demonstrate how primetime animation can be suc- shows in the history of television. poorly they performed: in late- cessful on non-major networks. Some people have it even higher March, God, the Devil, and Bob This is the trend that can be suc- than that on the list. It raises the received the lowest ratings in NBC cessfully mimicked and is proven. bar to a very high level. All the history for an 8:30 Tuesday night shows that have followed have timeslot. Ouch! Nearly 50% of been judged against The viewers of The Drew Carey Show Simpsons. I think primetime ani- chose not to watch Clerks — an mation is hindered because The abysmal percentage! Meanwhile Simpsons is so clever and well Sammy had a household rating of defined. Nothing can quite live up 3 during its second episode… to it. That’s not to say that prime- However, this hat trick of time [animation] will not work.” fiascos could have been avoided because these shows should never have been aired in the first place… Daria continues a steady performance God, the Devil, and Bob for MTV. © MTV Networks. premiered superbly in March A Discrepancy Between Majors 2000, miraculously garnering and Minors 14.42 million viewers, sand- Regardless whether a tele- wiched between “Must-See” pow- vision show is animated or not, its erhouses Friends and Frasier. success is dependent upon two More impressively, those ratings variables: the show’s quality, and came despite nine NBC-affiliates the timeslot and level of pro- refusing to air the cartoon due to motion the show receives. religious concerns. Now, if nine Network executives are respon- network affiliates refuse to air a sible for both since they select show before it premieres, is that which shows are picked up and not a clear indicator that the show how the network will promote is destined for failure and should them. not be broadcast? Isn’t it surprising According to Linda that no one at NBC realized reli- Simensky, Vice President of gious humor would be deemed Original Animation at Cartoon offensive by many Americans? Network: “Networks are not taking Especially in light of recent events into account that animated shows where media draws political cor- are different than live-action rectness accusations at the drop of ones... [Primetime] animation a hat. Star Wars Episode I: The needs to be developed and pro- UPN gave Dilbert several tries to draw a Phantom Menace received com- duced differently. The networks crowd. © UPN.All rights reserved. plaints from nearly every religious are not seeing that.” and ethnic group on the planet it Brad Turrell, Executive Devout Cancellation seems. Moreover, the most whole- Vice President of Network So what went wrong with some of the wholesome, Disney, Communications at The WB, primetime animation on ABC and can’t escape as lyrics were even shares Simensky’s views and NBC? A spokesman for NBC states changed before the release of acknowledges other causes for that God, the Devil, and Bob, Aladdin. On top of that however, inconsistencies in primetime ani- Sammy and Stressed Eric were Caryn James of The New York mation: “Primetime animation is cancelled because “ratings were Times wrote in March 2000: very difficult to do these days. It’s not at a satisfactory level to contin- “Beneath [God, the Devil, and

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200020 Bob’s] supposedly risky premise, the series is just one more benign and stale family sitcom.” Now, let’s take a look at Sammy. Family dysfunction is never fun. Whether it is live-action or animated, a father deserting a family and returning only upon a child’s fame and fortune a hilarious comedy it does not make. Didn’t anyone think that this wouldn’t ring true to the traditionally sappy U.S. primetime audience? In their ways, both Homer Simpson and Hank Hill are sincere family men just trying to get along, be happy and capture a little part of the American dream for their families. The PJ’s are now on the WB. © 2000 The WB Television Network. The NBC spokesman tried celing a show after two episodes is Not to justify ABC and to explain: “If a show is funny or practically unheard of in live- NBC’s respective decisions, but compelling, we look at it, regard- action. (That is not to say that it many of their executives were less of whether it is animated or never happens as the case was unaware of the lead-time that not. We picked up those particular last season with FOX’s P.L.AY.) goes with animation. When a net- shows because we thought they Generally, it takes at least a month work picks up an animated show, were different and had a chance.” for many viewers even to discover the network orders six to thirteen But were they really different? new shows, especially if the episodes roughly six months prior These shows were different replacements come mid-season. In to the premiere of the show. This is because they were animated but June 2000, Clerks creator Kevin a partial cause for the cancellation not really “different” in television Smith voiced his disdain with ABC’s of primetime animation because if form. They are still a type of sitcom premature cancellation of his an element in the cartoon is — a common form of television show: “What more can I say about deemed unacceptable, a network programming with which the tra- the wonder boys in charge of ABC of ABC or NBC’s caliber cannot ditional networks are very comfort- that I haven’t already?… I know afford to lose six months of ratings able. However the sitcom may not the ratings weren’t great, but there on the gambit that an alteration be the best forum for animation. were only four more [episodes] to will work. The NBC spokesman Cartoon Network’s Simensky go. It was about the only bone confirms that, “[Lead-time] pres- explains: “There’s something about they could’ve thrown us.” With ents problems. In a live-action the cartoon format that does not Smith’s cult following viewership show, if you see that certain format well as sitcoms. Cartoon might have increased if his fans scenes are not working, you can characters throughout history are had been given time to find the re-shoot if you have to. That is just complex. Animation works when show and turn their friends onto something that can’t be done with it’s character driven…. Sitcoms are it. The Simpsons was not a hit the animation.” often about one-dimensional char- first time it aired. It was several sea- acters. So-and-so lost his keys and sons into its now astounding run A Growing Niche is locked out. How many times has before it became a worldwide FOX was a young, punk that been done! Character is most icon. This is something executives network when they gambled on important — much more than the tend to forget. There was a time The Simpsons and it worked. situation…. Networks are trying to that insiders speculated The Today the pattern is repeating make animated sitcoms, and Simpsons might die due to a itself. Due to the proliferation of they’re not working.” change in the day that it aired. It channels, television is generally Despite poor ratings, can- takes time to build an institution. becoming increasingly specialized.

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200021 The non-major networks are suc- however, performance is a relative show — unlike Sammy. And unlike ceeding because animation is thing. For example, The PJs lost its Bob, God and the Devil, these helping to define the specific home at FOX after last season, but characters are shown attending niche audience they are trying to The WB wisely gambled and church and holding Bible study.) capture and they can afford to picked it up. “We thought it was take the risks. Imagine media’s evo- funny,” said Turrell. “We thought it Feeling a Little Blue? lution from Hunter-Gatherers to was innovative [and] had a lot of The newest kid on the Division of Labor: each network is life left in it. It had only been on block is The WB’s Baby Blues, now assigned a specific group-tar- the air for a season and a half. It’s based on the comic strip from Rick geted genre — the premise on now our highest rated show on Kirkman and Jerry Scott, and which cable television was found- Sunday.” However, The PJs’ ratings developed and executive pro- ed. NBC, for example, targets, on The WB are actually lower than duced by Jeff Martin (The “Adults 18-49. NBC has a some- its ratings last season on FOX. Part Simpsons) and Pete Ocko (Weird what more upscale profile than of the reason for this dip, could be Science, Dinosaurs). In September, other networks. We’re looking for the fact that a lot of fans are still The WB announced its pickup of a shows about young urbans like trying to find the show and are second season of Baby Blues. So Will and Grace or Friends, or more unaware that it has started again far it has been one of the highest sophisticated comedies like on The WB. “It’s successful from rated comedies in the history of Frasier,” whereas The WB targets [The WB’s] point of view. That’s The WB. Part of Baby Blues’ suc- 12-34 year olds. According to how we have to look at it.” cess is attributable to The WB’s Turrell, “85% of our revenue is Hopefully, as the network keeps acquisition of Sabrina: The derived from that… We’re more the show on, word of mouth will Teenage Witch from ABC. specifically targeted.” spread and it will build a loyal fol- Together, they are establishing The This specialization of televi- lowing. (Another point that is WB as a contender on Friday sion and animation is paying off worth re-pointing out here is that nights. Turrell explains that Baby for Cartoon Network. Simensky while this show is set in the proj- Blues was actually picked up more explains that Cartoon Network’s ects, the show still focuses on very than a year before it premiered, ratings proliferate during the sum- real human relationships and the but “[The WB] didn’t have a good mer since children are not at protagonist, Thurgood, while at time slot for it. We needed shows school. Moreover, this most recent times bumbling, has a heart of that were compatible, but we did- summer proved interesting as gold. Underneath the neighbor- n’t have anything on the network adults comprised a third of hood drug addict, this is a sweet that fitted. We have a night with Cartoon Network’s primetime rat- ings. Simensky attributes this to Cartoon Network’s variety and superior quality of original enter- tainment. “Everything we do here is about the couple new shows [we add] each year. So we go above and beyond the call of duty.… Adults tune in [over the summer] when repeats are on net- works. They get an evening of original shows mixed in with clas- sics like Bugs Bunny and Tom and Jerry, and early signs show that those viewers are staying.” The primetime animation that is surviving on network televi- sion is not performing stupen- dously, i.e., ranking in the top ten; Cartoon Network’s anticipated new hit, Sheep in the Big City. © Cartoon Network.

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200022 Coming soon to the WB, Film Roman’s animated comedy, The Oblongs. © 2000 The WB Television Network. lots of drama; then an Urban rected in the spring of 2001. It a loyal following. Has the year Comedy night; and then some would be nice if someone re- really been so much of a disaster? more drama.… [Baby Blues] has picked up Mission Hill. Despite No, it’s been more of a learning done well warming up for the winning many awards, including experience — one that if it had teenage-girl market which Sabrina Italy’s Cartoons on the Bay, the been intelligently studied months has brought us. Maybe around show has still fallen by the wayside. ago would not have even been midseason we’ll move it after The WB’s Turrell says, “We necessary. The fad of primetime Sabrina.” like the fact that the other net- animation is over. It has come back For the time being, ABC, works shot their shows, so the to an intelligent center, a much NBC and CBS are staying away landscape is not filled with a lot of better place for animation to prove from animation. It took ABC eight primetime animation. The itself as a viable primetime form years from the failure of Capitol Simpsons and one or two [animat- of entertainment. Critters to venture with Clerks, and ed] shows on The WB can work prior to Sammy, primetime anima- [successfully].” However, the sum Gerard Raiti, a resident of tion had not been made exclusive- total of this equation is an abun- Baltimore, has reported on ly for NBC since 1964’s Mr. dance of primetime animation — animation, Broadway musicals Magoo. Fox will be airing Gary just in different locations and at a and comic books for various and Mike and The WB has picked softer volume. As the smaller net- publications including up Film Roman’s much anticipat- works try to build a strong specific AnotherUniverse.com ed, politically incorrect Oblongs. audience they are using animated and Newsweek. Cartoon Network is anticipating a shows in the mix to attract and hit from the forthcoming Sheep in grow their demographic. Luckily Note: Readers may contact any the Big City by Mo Willems, and for the shows, these networks can Animation World Magazine have picked up UPN’s cancelled also keep them around for more contributor by sending an e-mail Home Movies, which will be resur- than a few episodes to try to build to [email protected]. ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200023 in mind,” says Wilf Shorrocks, CEO The Good, The Bad, and founder of Just Group. “Kids are far too savvy today to be satis- fied with a traditional promotional The Martians Website. It’s easy to get their atten- Butt-UglyButt-Ugly tion but producers must push the boundaries and explore new terri- by Paul Younghusband tory to ensure that we keep their attention — and that’s exactly what we promise to do with Butt- Ugly Martians, both literally and figuratively speaking!” So the producers of Butt- Ugly Martians developed their Website side-by-side with the tele- vision show. This means that the online presence is not just a pro- motion of the TV show, it’s an extension of it. And as Bill Schultz, producer of Butt-Ugly Martians explains: “Today’s kids’ familiarity, if not fascination, with the Web 2T,B-Bop and Do-Wah do the Butt-Ugly Martian salute. © Mike Young Productions. makes the reference points in the he year is 2053. I’m grey As you’ve probably guessed show that much more relatable. In and old (or possibly by now this isn’t a premonition of addition, the series is very high- Tbald…but definitely old) the future — it’s a description of tech in look and feel, with numer- and enjoying my retirement. But Just Entertainment, Mike Young ous space-age characters, gadgets my afternoons spent reminiscing Productions and DCDC Studios lat- and vehicles — all very consistent of the “olden days” when 3D ani- est action/adventure/comedy 3D with the high-tech aspect of the mation was all done by people animated television show Butt- Internet.” (and not killer robots) are about to Ugly Martians. The first 26 episode But how did the creators be interrupted. That’s right — the series is a U.K./U.S. co-production, create a Web presence that raises Martians are coming! and it will air in the U.K. on CITV in the bar and truly is an extension of The Evil Emperor Bog has January 2001. But as I discovered, the TV show? We’re constantly decided to invade earth, and he the Butt-Ugly Martians aren’t just being told that everything starts has sent teenage aliens B. Bop-A- invading our television screens (oh with the story, and in this case, Luna, 2-T Fru-T, Doo-Wah-Diddy yeah, and our planet), but they’re that couldn’t be truer. “We write and their robot canine, Dog, to also taking over the World Wide each show to integrate some kind take over our humble little planet. Web too. of unique Web-related storyline Unfortunately, there’s a slight prob- into each episode,” states Bill lem. The youthful Martians have A New Twist Schultz. “And we’re constantly no real intentions of enslaving the Most TV shows have pro- traveling between outer space human race — they have a far motional Websites — they can and cyber space in our minds in stronger desire to experience play an integral role in attracting order to provide maximum enter- Earth’s pop culture...things like viewers and providing information tainment value to both the view- root beer floats and Britney Spears about the show — but the pro- ing audience and the Web visitor,” CDs. And when they discover that ducers of Butt-Ugly Martians took adds Wilf Shorrocks. This means Earth is even better than they a different approach. “From the that Web visitors will have a reason thought, they decide to stay and beginning of the creative process, to watch the TV show, and TV protect our planet from the evil we developed the television series viewers will have a reason to visit scum of the universe. with a strong Internet component the Website. It isn’t TV show and

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200024 Website integration, but ative and entertaining. more a mutually benefi- Later in the year, original cial coexistence — they Webisodes of Butt-Ugly work together in a fun Martians will be a regu- and entertaining way. lar feature on the site, and if the TV show is as Co-Habitation In Action superb as it looks and Take the televi- sounds, they should be sion show, for example. a huge hit. The 3D ani- When the Butt-Ugly mated series features Martians decide to stay some top voice talent: on Earth they turn Emmy Award-winning Zapz, an abandoned Rob Paulsen (The Mask), Laser tag emporium, TV star Charlie Schlatter into their home base on (Diagnosis Murder) and Earth. And in cyber- Jess Harnell (Who space, you’ll find that Framed Roger Rabbit?) Zapz also represents the play the aliens, with Web environment for Rugrats’ Kath Soucie, the Butt-Ugly Martians Disney Channel on-air Website. Web surfers host Ogie Banks and can play a variety of Emmy-Award winner arcade games similar to Robert Stack (The those on the TV show Untouchables, Unsolved and in doing so can Protectors of Earth: the Butt-Ugly Martians! Mysteries) portraying the score “Martian points.” © Mike Young Productions. earthling youngsters. Butt-Ugly Martians’ very own tech- where visitors can trade in their Wilf Shorrocks admits that, nical officer, T-2 Fru-T acts as Martian points for movies, images, “This might all seem alien at first, Webmaster for the site, and also as audio, wallpaper, screensavers but I suggest everyone get their a tour guide. T-2 gives commen- and merchandise. butts in gear now before it really tary and advice as Web browsers And as if that isn’t an excit- gets ugly this fall!” plough through the site unscram- ing enough crusade, the Butt-Ugly bling words and definitions in the Martians also have to steer clear of Check out Butt-Ugly Gibberish Decoding System, play- Stoat Muldoon, a zealot who Martians’ Website at www.butt- ing cool games and solving puz- hunts aliens and has his own cult uglymartians.com and Stoat zles. cable show, Stoat Muldoon, Alien Muldoon’s site at www.stoatmul- When the Butt-Ugly Hunter, where each week he doon.com. Butt-Ugly Martians Martians team stay on Earth they investigates sightings of suspicious will air on CITV in the UK in befriend three human teenagers extraterrestrials. Stoat is a crazy January 2001. — Mike, Angela and Cedric. In adventure-driven character. This their adventures they defend their show within the show also has its Paul Younghusband is human friends from more evil own real Website to accompany it. editor-in-chief of Visual Magic invaders, not eliminate them as Web surfers can learn more about Magazine, a publication focusing promised to Bog. So they end up Stoat’s mission, access secret files on the 3D graphics and making phony videotapes of about the Butt-Ugly Martians and digital effects industries. themselves destroying Earth and other aliens, read transcripts of taking human children as prison- online chats with Stoat and see Note: Readers may contact any ers, which they send back to previews of his upcoming TV Animation World Magazine Emperor Bog as progress reports. shows. contributor by sending an e-mail On the Website, one of the teens, The Butt-Ugly Martians to [email protected]. Cedric, hosts a section of the site Web presence is innovative, cre-

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200025 miered during the past year strove mightily — and failed — to match BBoooomm aanndd DDoooomm the average market share of those two bellyflops. Several of them could have finished fourth or fifth by Martin “Dr. Toon” Goodman in the Saturday morning ratings, and one — poor Mission Hill — time animation? Was it so long would have struggled to beat out ago when every network press kit, Lady Lovelylocks and the Pixietails, animation magazine and newspa- were that wretched show still per was touting the Primetime in existence. Clearly, no one is Toon Boom? Pick up your local TV laughing now. Guide or hit your remote channel menu today and you will find nary a sign of this plethora in pen-and- These unfortunate ink. In the beginning there was shows will be The Simpsons and King of the Hill, and so it is again. Armageddon recalled by most Mike Judge’s King of the Hill, one of has befallen the Great Toon Boom. Fox’s sustained successes. ™ & © 1997 network execs in 20th Century Fox Film Corp.: Immediately only Futurama has All rights reserved. emerged alive (and with some the way that his past summer we bore promotion) as from a blasted shel- witness to one of the great ter, a dazed survivor blinking Chernobyl is Tturning points in the histo- painfully in the cathode-ray light remembered by ry of television entertainment. (I’ll believe The PJs are back when What a concept! Take nearly a I actually see it – What? It is back? Greenpeace. dozen distinct entities, place them Where was that promoted?). In in a cutthroat environment in com- every direction, failed series litter How Did This Happen? petition with one another, and the ruined landscape, never to be There is nothing sadder watch as one by one they disap- seen again. There was a time than a post-mortem, yet in this pear. Some are ejected almost when the mere mention of Capitol case the situation begs one. How immediately, others after slow Critters or Fish Police was good for could so many hopeful projects deliberation. The tension builds as a sarcastic howl among animation meet such utter destruction in so we wait to see who remains, and insiders; well, most of the prime- short a time? Many analyses have who is vetoed into obscurity. time animated series that pre- been offered already, all worth Finally, the audience is asked to considering. In a Los Angeles become the final arbiter, and the Times article dated April 22, sever- winner receives riches, recognition al insiders offered insights into the and licensing opportunities slaughterhouse that was once a for...oh, at least a year or so before boom. An unnamed NBC exec the next Celebrity-Of-The- stated that, “I really don’t get the Nanosecond comes along. What’s feeling that viewers wanted to see that you say? Survivor? No, no, cartoons on network television.” not at all; the above is a near-per- Mike Lazzo, Cartoon Network’s fect description of the past year in senior VP of programming, mused primetime animation and next to it that hits such as The Simpsons island beetle larvae taste like escar- tended to spawn imitators quickly, gots à la chablisienne. many of which were destined to Fox’s undisputed leader in primetime Was it only July of 1999 animated series, The Simpsons. “fall by the wayside” since “...it’s when I did a column for this mag- ™ & © 1997 20th Century Fox Film not good to mindlessly rush into azine lauding the advent of prime- Corp.:All rights reserved. anything.” Warner Bros. Television

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200026 president Peter Roth offered a sim- given above are valid, but it seems ilar insight: “Whenever there is a that something important was left success, everyone wants to clone out of these perceptive and it...Everyone thinks there is a cogent analyses: the fact that magic formula. But it’s never about these series were produced for the form, it’s about the content.” primetime TV. Is that important? Tom Turpin, CEO at Will More than anyone might realize. Vinton Studios, opined that the very novelty of animation had Taking Risks…With Experience worn off due to stylistic similarities In the days of Termite between the various series. AP Terrace and Hyperion Ave., car- Walt Disney’s classic Mickey Mouse. Television writer Frazier Moore, in toons were produced in a totally © Disney.All rights reserved. a nationally syndicated article, different context. At Warner’s, for fancy, or to abandon them all in seemed to simply consider the example, the short films that are so the name of character develop- entire toon bust as the death of a beloved today were produced ment. Bob Clampett was allowed fad, saying, “...primetime’s cartoon under a system that allowed a to slather rapid-fire pacing, meta- craze was its own undoing, as great deal of creative freedom. morphic distortion and bombastic crazes usually are. On TV, there’s While it was true that certain struc- gags over any plot he wished. Friz never enough of anything new tural parameters in the form of ani- Freleng tinkered with the intrica- and different until it’s all old and all mation units had to be utilized in cies of musical timing, while Frank the same.” In short, quite a few order to ensure organization and Tashlin developed a cinematic qualified network insiders and production, Leon Schlesinger gen- touch. media analysts had their say on erally stayed out of the director’s Walt Disney spent much of the meltdown of primetime toons, way and let the animators be. As a his career taking risks. Whether it and these unfortunate shows (sev- result, the Warner cartoons under was making a synchronized sound eral of which died after less than his reign tended to reflect the cartoon, absorbing the extra cost three episodes) will be recalled by highly personal styles of those of color, gambling on a feature- most network execs in the way directors and their units. Chuck length film, or abandoning a suc- that Chernobyl is remembered by Jones was free to exercise whatev- cessful formula in order to pro- Greenpeace. All of the viewpoints er artistic pretension caught his duce an unprecedented merger of animation and classical music, Walt’s vision always came first. Disney wagered that if the story and animation were uniformly excellent, the public would always prove him right. History emphati- cally records who won that wager. Then there is the case of Tex Avery, whose reality-defying shorts earned nothing but enmity from MGM producer Fred Quimby. This mattered little to Tex, who contin- ued to perfect his high-speed assaults on logic and narrative. In countless interviews, histories and biographies one unifying theme can be noted about this diverse group of artists: they made their cartoons in order to please them- Walt Disney setting precedents back in 1938 with the production of Bambi, the first animated film for which he brought in live animals for the animators to study. selves. Whether they were given © Disney.All rights reserved. the freedom to do so or took risks

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200027 without any comprehension of what they are getting into. When stand-up comics, sitcom writers, would-be film auteurs and semi- experienced trend-riders sign con- tracts to produce animated proj- ects for primetime the result is an embarrassment for all concerned. Mike Judge was correct when he told the Times: “The ones I’ve seen lack a heart and soul. They look like they’ve been made by a committee.” When stand-up Bill Hanna and Joseph Barbera’s original creation, Scooby-Doo, is still drawing new comics, sitcom audiences on Cartoon Network. © Cartoon Network.All rights reserved. in the name of their art, each man sors and advertisers, pressure by writers, would-be mentioned above was his own networks to come up with imme- film auteurs and most reliable test audience...and diate hits, and demands for a harshest critic. show with licensing and merchan- semi-experienced dising potential it becomes almost trend-riders sign Experience is a impossible for anyone who isn’t a seasoned veteran to succeed. In contracts to bigger factor far too many cases, however, an produce animated than the ability idea or concept was sold by peo- ple whose experience consisted of projects for to be hip, cool, some storyboard work, a couple of episodes in a director’s chair and a primetime the self-referential or nose for the latest fad. In some of result is an cognizant of the the worst cases, ideas were pitched by self-promoters who embarrassment… latest trends and had virtually no experience in the field, impresarios who would Experience is a bigger fac- buzzwords. swear that Scooby Doo was hand- tor than the ability to be hip, cool, drawn by Walt Disney. self-referential or cognizant of the When Fools Rush In If that sounds too far- latest trends and buzzwords. Mike The world of primetime TV, fetched, I refer my readers to the Judge, quoted above, actually however, is another story. In this latest issue of TOON Magazine. does have a successful primetime realm of test audiences, market There you will find a biting editori- animated series. However, he also share, ratings, networks that sell al written by editor-in-chief spent years as an independent eyeballs to sponsors and program- Michael Swanigan, an animation before creating Beavis and ming execs who don’t understand professional who actually wit- Butthead, a learning experience animation in the least, a cartoon nessed one of these misbegotten that was not without travails and series has the same chance to projects firsthand. Swanigan controversy. Only after gaining flourish as a dead geranium plant- applies Willy Wonka’s admonition that experience did Judge give us ed in battery acid and watered to a misbehaving child (“Oh, I King of the Hill. Consider the case with iodine. When one adds the wouldn’t do that. I really would- of The Flintstones, TV’s first animat- effects of TV station censorship, n’t...Stop, don’t.”) to studios that ed primetime hit: Bill Hanna and creative control exercised by spon- blithely finance animated series Joe Barbera first broke into the

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200028 business in the 1930s, paid innu- extensively in the field and under- non did not simply happen on merable dues before teaming up stand what makes an animated demand. The executives scoffed, at MGM and winning seven show successful, or are they simply writing him off as lazy and Oscars before they ever pitched an people who believe they can write unimaginative. If one fact is evi- idea to a network. By the time funny stuff? Did the creator(s) dent concerning the Crash of they did, their cumulative experi- believe that animation has a 2000, it’s that the song remains ence in the animation business unique style and sense of timing the same since Culhane sat down totaled sixty years, and they that has evolved over decades, or with Paramount. The difference is, already had one certifiable prime- do they believe that all they need Culhane knew better due to his time success to their credit with to do is draw funny-looking char- vast experience in the business. Huckleberry Hound. acters and give them a live-action Today, dozens of power-lunch, script? These are good questions media-wise hipsters would have for the networks to ponder come besieged Paramount with some If one fact is the next “boom.” stand-up, postmodern version of evident concer- Bugs who riffs like a sexually depraved Tarentino hood. ning the Crash of Paramount would have bought 2000, it’s that the whole idea and then watched in horror as the show was the song remains switched off by one local station after another before choking after the same since three episodes. In pace requiescat, Culhane sat down say the jittery sponsors, and better luck to us next time. with Paramount. Martin “Dr. Toon” Goodman is a Stop, Look and Listen longtime student and fan of ani- The Primetime Crash of mation. He lives in Anderson, 2000 was due to many factors, Indiana. but one of the most important Note: Readers may contact any may have been overweening Animation World Magazine eagerness on the part of the net- contributor by sending an e-mail works and big studios. While they to [email protected]. cannot be blamed for wishing to Television’s first primetime animation ride a hot trend, it seems that in success, Hanna-Barbera’s The Flintstones. most cases they did so while seem- © Cartoon Network.All rights reserved. ingly lacking an insider’s view of the animation industry. Therefore, One of my favorite ani- questionable choices were made mation anecdotes concerns the about which series to sink their legendary animator Shamus dough into. One-shot wonders Culhane . After Culhane was hired can and do happen, but most by Paramount in 1965 to rejuve- good series are carefully devel- nate their failing cartoon studio, oped and have answers for the he met with the sales department most important questions of all and presented some of his newest before they make the grade. Net ideas. The Paramount execs execs should have asked: Is this a shoved them aside and ordered unique vision and a labor of love Culhane to create the next Bugs by the creator(s), or a hit-it-big Bunny. Culhane, who had been in hopeful? Did the creator(s) study the business all his life, attempted animation and its history, work to explain that such a phenome-

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200029 Tom Snyder Productions Goes Scriptless by Sharon Schatz y the end of this In 1992, on a whim, A Different Kind of Writing scene you guys need Snyder asked one of his artists, While making Dr. Katz, “Bto be kissing in an Annette LeBlanc Cate, to help him Snyder developed his trademark elevator,” Tom Snyder instructs his create a five-minute animated “retroscripting” technique, which voice-over actors, “but that’s all you short. Little did he know, this entails writing a story outline for need to do.” How they’ll wind up rough demo called Shrink Rap each episode, but relying on smooching to Muzak is anyone’s would evolve into the highly improv to fill in the gaps. Snyder guess. Snyder, founder and cre- acclaimed Dr. Katz series. “I said, quickly realized the value of going ative director of Tom Snyder ‘Hey Annette, you want to come scriptless: “With that freedom we Productions (TSP), uses this in this weekend? I want to record could achieve a really live and nat- improvisational “writing” method a crazy scenario and have you ani- ural conversational comedy that to create witty, offbeat and down- mate it,’” Snyder recalls, “So, we you don’t get when you’ve got a right hilarious animated comedies. did a show about a shrink and a script pumping in the back- It was during the production of his kid. I changed my voice digitally so ground.” Melissa Galsky, an associ- quirky hit series Dr. Katz: I could sound like a couple of dif- ate producer for Dr. Katz remem- Professional Therapist that Snyder ferent people. I sent it off to my bers, “We were using standup discovered that by “retroscripting,” friend in L.A. He sent it off to comics and people who impro- creating an outline and relying on another guy and then to a pro- vised a lot. There was just so much the cast’s ad-libbing abilities, he’d duction company who sent it to funny stuff, we figured, ‘Why write hit upon something incredible. Comedy Central. I think six months a script?’” Improv is used to some from then we had an Emmy!” degree in just about all of Snyder’s properties. For a single episode, Dr. Katz in Session actors might spend up to four The road to Dr. Katz was a hours in the studio improvising learning experience for Snyder. scenes. When Comedy Central first responded after viewing Snyder’s demo, their industry lingo threw Jonathan Katz with Laura, the him for a loop. “They said, ‘What intimidating secretary, and slacker you really need is talent.’ I was so son Ben. Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist. © Tom Snyder Productions. hurt!” Snyder laughs. When he learned that the network meant Getting Started that he needed professional In 1980, Snyder, a former actors, Snyder recruited veteran science and social studies teacher, comic Jonathan Katz, and comedi- At the heart of Squigglevision is founded TSP, which began as an ans Jon Benjamin and Laura Science Court, a courtroom drama illustrating scientific principles. educational software firm. Most of Silverman. Some of the show’s © Tom Snyder Productions. Snyder’s products targeted the famous guest stars include kids’ market and involved the use Whoopi Goldberg, Steven Wright Sometimes a script is neces- of animation. As the Boston-based and Janeane Garofalo, among sary, depending on the network’s company flourished, Snyder want- others. Dr. Katz soon had a cult requirements and the nature of ed to expand his work outside the following and won several presti- the show. Dr. Katz, which ran for education arena. gious awards. six seasons (‘95-‘99), was created ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200030 almost entirely from outlines and Brendon Small (played by the best of both worlds.” actor improv, as was The Dick & actor/comedian Brendon Small) Also in production is Hey Paula Celebrity Special which ran who deals with his problems Monie, the first network animated on F/X in 1999. Dick & Paula was through the lens of his video cam- series about an African-American an animated series about a hus- era. Paula Poundstone plays woman, which will air on the band and wife talk show team Brendon’s single mother. UPN can- Oxygen network. This retroscript- who interview deceased and fic- celed the show because it wasn’t ed show was originally a five- tionalized celebrities. TSP pro- bringing in enough male viewers. minute short on Oxygen’s X- duced a children’s series about sci- Snyder claims that when the net- Chromosome series. Hey Monie ence called Squigglevision (former- work initially picked up the show, was picked up to become part of a ly Science Court) for ABC which they were trying to attract female new Oxygen show. The new just completed its three-year run in viewers. He comments, “UPN episodes will be 11 minutes in September. Galsky, who was the was changing before our very length. So far, the network has show’s associate producer, com- eyes into a pro wrestling, young ordered ten 11-minute episodes. pares it to the other TSP properties: male audience.” “Squigglevision stuck to the script The Story of Squigglevision the most because we had the TSP is also known for educational aspect. When you’re Squigglevision animation. Snyder talking about science, there isn’t created the process himself. “I’m much improv you can do without not an artist,” he says, “but I used confusing children!” to be a programmer. I’d stay up late at night drawing little stick fig- ures and seeing what I could have a computer do to speed up the The domestic world of Brendon, insanely long production time in Paula and baby Josie in Home Movies. © Tom Snyder Productions. animation. One night, I just drew this little figure…I kept on drawing Cartoon Network bought the same figure on top of itself and the original five episodes and then had the computer memorize ordered eight more to complete each of these [drawings] and then the season. Recently, the network flip through them. What it created ordered an additional season of was a very human-like energy that 13 episodes. According to Linda made the character pop out Simensky, Cartoon Network’s VP of because it was continually cover- Original Animation, “We had a ing and uncovering bits of the bunch of episodes to screen for background.” Mike [Lazzo, Senior VP of Cartoon Network’s Programming] and by only the second episode, he rendon Small, the third grader with an obsession for movie making. yelled, ‘Buy it!’” © Tom Snyder Productions. The biggest change in the new episodes is that they are Current Projects going to be scripted. However, the TSP currently has two TV improvisational element will still be series in production. The first is preserved. Galsky, one of the Home Movies, which appeared show’s producers explains the new More than just good friends, Melissa and briefly on UPN in 1999. The series regimen, “What we do now is we Jason comprise Brendon’s cast and crew. Home Movies. © Tom Snyder Productions. has since been picked up by go in and we [record] the script. Cartoon Network and is slated to Once we have that take, we’ll go In addition to creating a air in April. Home Movies features in and improvise a little bit. Then, unique look, Squigglevision saves an awkward third-grader named the audio editors paste together time and money. Snyder explains,

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200031 “[It’s] a nice cheat because it Network.com. Snyder plans to implies a lot of motion that’s actu- retain the company’s television ally not there. Therefore, there are focus, but will continue to dabble fewer redraws and fewer pixel in the Web world. With a unique changes than you have in a lot of approach, a flair for quirkiness, conventional animation.” Snyder’s and a knack for finding actors who company has perfected the style can wing it, TSP is sure to ad-lib over the years. He comments, their way into continued success. “The newer looks that we have One of Squigglevision’s attorneys, that still use a squiggling theme Doug Savage, lounging by the pool Sharon Schatz is a writer/editor at are a lot easier to watch. It’s with movie star J.C. Cramwood. a major kids’ television network become a lot more painterly and © Tom Snyder Productions. Web site. She is also a freelance more interesting.” The company arena. He recently won an award writer based in Los Angeles. has also created several non- at the First World Internet Squigglevision TV pilots and Web Animation Competition, for World Note: Readers may contact any toons. Internet News, a two-minute Animation World Magazine parody of the BBC News. The contributor by sending an e-mail Looking Ahead company has already created to [email protected]. Snyder is thrilled to have several shorts and series for expanded his work into the online Shockwave.com and Cartoon-

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200032 ANIMATORS, DON’T MISS OUT!

Sell your artwork, videos, books and other merchandise on the Internet in the Animation World Store

Featured in the Animation World Store: Richard Condie, Sally Cruikshank, Bill Plympton, Raoul Servais, Best Of Festival tapes, Classic Limited Editions, and more... www.awn.com/awnstore

Animation World Network, 6525 Sunset Blvd. Garden Suite 10, Hollywood, CA 90028, USA Tel. ++ 1 323 468 2554 • Fax. ++ 1 323 464 5914 • [email protected] today and watch just one.) In early The Purpose of That June the cable channel’s first primetime animated series for women and about women, X- X-Chromosome Chromosome had been announced and a few early pilots went into production. Based on by Heather Kenyon the quality of Our Stories, anticipa- tion was running high. “Our goal is to create the first animated tele- vision series for women, exploring issues from a female point of view. We also wanted to build an outlet specifically for female animators, whose distinctive voices will help us develop a unique Oxygen ani- mation style and outlook,” said Geraldine Laybourne at the announcement. Now this sounds like one of those promises that never comes true. However, in this lucky case, X-Chromosome has come true, and has flourished under Kit Laybourne and executive produc- Hey Monie introduces the first network animated series based on an er Machi Tantillo, who came to the African-American woman and her friends. © Oxygen Media.All rights reserved. upstart company after six years at n 1998 when Geraldine Carsey, Tom Werner, Caryn MTV Networks. She left as the Laybourne, the creative spark Mandabach and Oprah Winfrey, Director of MTV Animation, co- Ibehind children’s powerhouse Oxygen quickly proved that it was supervising the production of Nickelodeon, decided to start her anything but kid’s stuff, and every- MTV’s animated series, fea- own cable network dedicated to one in the industry kept an ear out tures, specials and shorts. X- the needs and views of women, for the latest developments. Chromosome combines a mix of 3 the buzz was incredible. A true to 7 minute segments into a va- media company for the new cen- New Voices riety type show. “It was conceived tury, Oxygen Media began with a Kit Laybourne, Oxygen’s as a place to incubate new ideas collection of Websites focusing on Head of Animation and Special and new talent,” explains Kit issues ranging from parenting and Projects, in keeping with the com- Laybourne. “We think it is impor- health to money and home repairs pany’s overall vision, vowed to cre- tant because animation has been as they pertain to women. The ate animated programming pre- an area of programming that has Oxygen cable network launched dominately by women, for allowed a number of different on February 2, 2000 (Get it? women. Our Stories hit the cable companies to break out — 02/02/00) through a U.S. cable Website in late June 1999 with the things like Beavis and Butthead, operator, MediaOne, to over 1 mil- tag line, “Your Stories + Our Nickelodeon with all the Nick lion subscribers, and offers a vari- Technology” and brought short Toons and Comedy Central with ety of diverse programming, all minuets of real women telling sto- South Park has proven this.” focused toward meeting women’s ries and experiences recreated Produced in a number of unique needs and presenting their using different mixed media. They different styles the stories all have point of view. Backed by a promo- are short, funny, insightful, brilliant one thread in common — they are tional partnership with America little bits. They are also addicting. (I sincere stories that come straight Online, and partnered with Marcy dare you to go to oxygen.com from the heart. “The biggest part

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200034 of it is, when we pick a pitch we believe it is expressing what Oxygen wants to express to women through animation,” explains Tantillo. “Is this character relatable? Is this what the creator is looking to do and does it reflect Oxygen’s vision? What comes first in our mind is the story, the voice and the point of view of the lead character. The style of the anima- tion? We just want to make sure it is doing a service to the story.” In the same vein as Our Stories, X-Chromosome segments feel as though they have been done by one woman in her living room, using a style that she has A fresh form of portraiture, the Drawn from Life series communicates that the just kind of “made up.” Now that ordinary can be extraordinary. © Oxygen Media.All rights reserved. isn’t saying that the shows look process for just a few of the seg- on the life of the writer and lead unprofessional, rather they just ments. The Ruth Truth started as actress Sheila Head. The series aren’t what one would expect an animated on-line series and won Shockwave.com’s World from a slick media company that is made its TV debut on X- Internet Animation Competition’s on a schedule. These aren’t your Chromosome on Saturday, July awards for Grand Prize, best in all typical cartoons and they aren’t 15, 2000. The show chronicles the categories and the best “Mixed- your usual subject matter. Before adventures of Ruth Decker, an Media” produced for the Web. The sitting down to X-Chromosome be actress/comedian who lands a job show uses Jen Taylor and Randy prepared to laugh, cringe, be working undercover for a detec- Lowenstein’s new technique to embarrassed and cry. “The tive agency that specializes in bust- morph one still image into anoth- Oxygen team is small and so is the ing vendors who traffic in counter- er to tell the story. The duo devel- show’s creative team, usually just a feit designer goods, and is based oped a system that combines pho- writer and director, so it is very inti- mate and direct. We aren’t weav- ing through notes from 20 million different filters,” says Tantillo. The results are shows that are lively, fresh and pertinent to today’s view- ing audience. Tantillo laughs, “I’ve watched shows with people and they are actually talking to the tel- evision. They jump up and yell, ‘What are you doing that for?’ which is a really good sign!”

New Style But X-Chromosome does more than give a voice to the female experience. It is subtly intro- ducing an array of animation Bitchy Bits, another successful series featured on Oxygen based on the styles to the U.S. viewing audi- award-winning comic-book series Naughty Bits by cartoonist Roberta Gregory. ence. Let’s look at the production © Oxygen Media.All rights reserved.

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200035 maybe I’m making this up - but it seems to ring true that it is nice to watch a show and say, ‘I liked that one. This one didn’t work for this reason. I loved this one.’ It is like a buffet and I think people like that,” says Tantillo. With show’s some- times coming in from outside pro- duction companies directly to the editing bay creating the flow of each episode is a challenge that also keeps the show fresh and varied.

New Season Some of X-Chromosome’s “stars” have been split out and will Avenue Amy, like the character, is intelligent, self-aware, analytical and a big hit on X- appear as longer segments in the Chromosome. © Oxygen Media.All rights reserved. upcoming season. “We have a tos and vectors to create a new combined 2D animation with live- bunch of contenders! We backed form of animation in which the action and After Effects-enhanced some wonderful talent, much of it outlines of photo-painted ele- visual effects. very experienced talent, women ments are morphed into each Bringing all these unique who have been working a long other. This technique is now a styles to X-Chromosome in a vari- time and just waiting for an patent pending system called ety type format is teaching viewers opportunity to be allowed to do Liquid Lines. that animation doesn’t have to just what is really close to their heart Avenue Amy is produced look like “cartoons.” Tantillo and by offering them a platform to by Curious Pictures and directed agrees, “What we have heard do that, and getting out of their by Curious Pictures’ Joan Raspo from our focus groups and our way, we’ve been able to benefit and written by Amy Sohn, based own guts is, ‘Use styles that are from their wonderful creativity,” off of her New York Press column. innovative and present styles that enthuses Kit. However that doesn’t The satirical show brings to life the are not the same old thing. We are mean that they are no longer look- daily trials and tribulations of a in the midst of a digital revolution ing for great ideas. woman’s life in the Big Apple in a and while I am a big fan of tradi- “We have, what we hope is unique way. It sets brightly col- tional animation and I love pencils an innovative way of shaking out ored, rotoscoped actors against and papers, it doesn’t ever hurt to the trees. We call it the RFP, the live-action photo collage back- employ what is out there. All those request for proposal, and that is a grounds. You have to see it to people that have been innovating document that introduces the ani- believe it. Of course another star new techniques and styles and mation community and beyond to of X-Chromosome is Hey Monie, mixed up mediums can only make Oxygen and X-Chromosome. It which uses Tom Snyder it more interesting and people are establishes what we are, and then Productions unique Squigglevision looking for new styles and innova- breaks down our deal picks right technique and “retroscripting” tions.” While the show’s bumpers out front. We have three deal process. (It is also the first network and ID’s have been carefully creat- offers and everyone in the whole animated series based on an ed to showcase the individual seg- wide world gets the same three African-American woman and her ments and create a cohesive deal picks. It also explains what we friends.) Closet Case, a pilot by whole, the fact that the segments are looking for. We don’t like to Theresa Duncan, was done in a are so different is exciting, leaving narrow it down too much, but we water color technique, enhanced the viewer wondering what is try to describe the type of content by After Effects, while another pilot about to come next. “People like to we are looking for,” explains Female Trouble, by Amy Sohn and choose. They like to have the Tantillo. John Raspo of Curious Pictures, option. It is a psychological thing - Kit Laybourne continues,

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200036 “We are just beginning to figure out what new kinds of program- ming have the most potential. I think we have done some cool things, but I also think we can go a lot further. And that’s what keeps us all jumping out of bed to come in every day to see where we can go further. It is energizing to have this freedom. You realize what a rare opportunity it is to be in a place where you can innovate and where innovation is normative. If it isn’t innovative people here would look down on you!” Going into the New Year, Hey Monie’s central character Simone, explores the life and longings of a Laybourne explains how X- single,African-American professional woman in the big city. © Oxygen Media. Chromosome, and in turn anima- All rights reserved. tion at Oxygen, will be changing: very progressive at crossing pro- and that is often missed by peo- “We will be growing it in three gramming over from one platform ple.” These digital tool sets are also ways. We will be taking some of to another, the case of The Ruth offering the X-Chromosome cre- the work we did before and put- Truth is one such example, they ators an advantage, as Laybourne ting a little more Miracle Grow on are working toward further inte- explains, “It is very empowering it. And then we have some new gration and using this unique for the creators because they can seedlings that we don’t want to advantage to offer their audience try something and, the next day, announce yet because we are still more. “We are trying really hard to change it, and try something com- piloting. But they are clearly some figure out how to use the Web to pletely new. The cycle of self-learn- new voices, or new plants, that promote television and storytelling ing is so much faster.” we will start watering and giving and creativity in general among Tantillo finishes by saying, sunshine to. Another thing that women. And it is really, really “We hope we can get the word we are interested in doing, that promising but what it requires is a out and let people know this is the we didn’t do too much of the first deep level of tools and we are still place to come.” I think the content time around, is to cull the world building that infrastructure. It takes is telling them just that already. around us for interesting things a long time to build these things, that would be appropriate for X- because to really be able to offer Heather Kenyon is editor-in-chief Chromosome. One of the things people a chance to create, you of Animation World Network. that’s happened in the year and a need to give them some wonder- After receiving her B.F.A. in half since we started this process is ful tools. We are aware of that and Filmic Writing from USC’s that the Web has become a won- we are working on it. The online School of Cinema-Television, she derful dynamic source of innova- world is showing us some really went to work for Hanna-Barbera tion. We are trying to concoct a important things about connect- Cartoons. Currently, she is an number of different ways that we ing to our audience and about International Board Member of can tap into the power of this how to work really fast. It is also Women In Animation and on emerging creative group.” pushing us toward these wonder- the Board of Trustees for Trees ful new digital tool sets that are for Life. Using the New In New Media really deeply interesting. There is a The folks at Oxygen are pot of technology that gets stirred Note: Readers may contact any also making it clear that they aren’t up just because we are working Animation World Magazine forgetting why they are unique, on the Web that guys who are in contributor by sending an e-mail offering both Websites and a cable a TV studio don’t get exposed to. It to [email protected]. channel. While they have been really helps us in profound ways,

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200037 sole human emissary to the world TheThe Music,Music, of fuzzy (and feathery) critters. Yes, he can talk to the animals. His TheThe Pageantry,Pageantry, attempts to avoid being the teacher’s pet are abruptly, and ironically, alleviated by the exem- TheThe FourthFourth Grade…Grade plary academic performance of the new kid — his dog — who by Joan Kim ends up becoming the teacher’s pet. While of course comedic situ- ations arise, the stories always end in lessons being learned and intel- ligent realizations made to medi- ate all the canine madness.

If the Dog Could Only Talk Co-creator and co-execu- tive producer Gary Baseman is known for his creative genius. One can see his works in esteemed periodicals like Time, Rolling Stone and The New York Times, and he has done commer- cial artwork for clients such as Nike and Microsoft. He’s an accom- plished and talented artist but stroking aside, here’s the really amazing part — there was a par- ticular moment when he looked down at his cocker spaniel, Hubcaps, and the seed of a simple story was planted. Baseman has maintained that the tag line for his work is, “Where the line between genius and stupidity has been Spot in his school guise, sports a sassy pair of red trousers and comfortable shoes. smudged beyond recognition.” © Disney.All rights reserved. He also offers that, “I’ve always rriving on Disney’s One wants to be a boy. Leonard is try- strove for a balance between a Saturday Morning lineup ing to be just a regular fourth very adult, sophisticated sense of Athis past fall, Teacher’s Pet grader — normal in the blandest esthetic mixed with images that delivers the rich and playful ani- way possible — but between the are stupid and absurd.” In the April mation of Gary Baseman and the antics of Spot and the fact that his 2000 issue of Communication Arts experienced storytelling of Bill & mother teaches his class and peri- he goes on to assert that, “The Cheri Steinkellner. The series intro- odically humiliates him by calling most important thing I’ve learned duces viewers to its endearing cast him “doodlebug,” he’s having a in communication, in making mes- with the flare of a Broadway musi- tough time. His difficulties multiply sages, is to be able to push but- cal. Central to the story are the when, much to his horror, he real- tons. Understand who your audi- desires of a boy, Leonard, and his izes that the new boy in school, ence is, whether it’s you who I’m best friend, his dog Spot, but Spot Scott Leadready II, is Spot! His goal talking to right now, or to a million isn’t an ordinary dog. Spot, in fact, of being “normal” is further con- people or even a TV show — doesn’t even want to be a dog. He founded when he becomes the what’s going to make them happy,

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200038 by Leonard, of course. As writers, the Steinkellners find a perfect vehicle for exciting learning in the natural characteristics associated with the lovable canine. Cheri Steinkellner states, “We love a character who’ll drive a story and really push it forward with energy and enthusiasm. These are very dog-like qualities. All the tail-wag- ging and jumping up and down and slobbering. What fun to take all that puppy hyper-joy and make it about something not traditional- ly viewed as a joyful experience — like the fourth grade.”

Truth is Stranger Than Fiction In their role as co-creators and co-executive producers, the Emmy Award-winning writing team, Bill and Cheri Steinkellner (Cheers) revel in the ability to place into the mouths of the characters words that are derived directly

Bunkmates in the Helperman household, Leonard and Spot share more than a room from their own experience as par- ever since Spot started to talk. © Disney.All rights reserved. ents. Cheri comments, “Things will what’s going to make them miser- continue eating doggy treats or to come out of their mouth and go able, where their touchy subjects grab a backpack and go to school. right into our scripts. We get story are and not to do it maliciously, Decidedly, Spot undergoes an ideas just from hearing about their not to hurt somebody. I love get- inspiring transformation when he day. Something dumb happens at ting a rise out of people. I love jumps into Leonard’s trousers, school, we talk it through, try to making them think. And hopefully dons a cap and in Clark Kent fash- work it out, then say, ‘Hey, what if maybe they learn from it.” ion puts on a pair of glasses. The that happened to Leonard or His unique visual style and pearls to his outfit? The bunny Scott?’ It helps put the dumb stuff attitude is not lost in the cartoon. backpack selected by Mrs. in perspective, and dumb stuff Timothy Bjorklund who directs the Helperman, predictably rejected usually makes for great stories.” series vividly translates Baseman’s Working together with artistic vision. “Tim has really Baseman, their combined skills sought to ensure every frame of produce a show that avoids being the show — and that’s 12 draw- flat or heavy educational fare with ings per second — looks like a burdensome lessons presented in Baseman painting,” says Baseman. textbook manner. Rather, the In addition to show’s Steinkellners produce characters unique visual style, the that build stories which are engag- Steinkellners’ writing expertise ing for adults and children alike. In marries together a particular blend the episode “Being Mrs. of craziness and credibility. In the Leadready,” Spot finds himself Gripping a bowl of grub and watching playing the role of dog, mother first episode, “Muttamorphosis,” as some television Leonard, Spot, Mr. Jolly the title suggests, we encounter and Pretty Boy actually have a lot in and son. The over-achieving dog Spot deliberating over whether to common. © Disney.All rights reserved. isn’t able to keep up the farce, but

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200039 from the beginning we get a clear Jerry Stiller (Seinfeld) as the voice home, and not at school. Unlike sense that his time is not wasted. of the napoleonic family bird, their friend Spot, the two find their It’s a pleasure to see Spot’s attempts Pretty Boy; David Ogden Stiers hoots and hollers in the safety of to pull off his deception and the (M.A.S.H) as the Helperman’s the Helperman home. In addition simple lessons that come forth plump, neurotic cat, Mr. Jolly; Rob to the trials of Spot and Leonard, when he realizes and considers Paulsen (Pinky and the Brain) who the other members of the house- the impact of his actions. Spot’s supplies the voice of know-it-all hold learn equally valuable lessons determination and intensity is classmate Ian Wazselewski; and about themselves along the way. always counterbalanced and tem- Wallace Shawn (Toy Story and Toy pered by a genuine caring for his Story 2) portraying the cat-loving, master, Leonard, and his ability to overlord Principal Strickler? recognize his own dynamics with- Together, the characters that pop- in a group. Spot’s horrible tummy ulate the show create a diverse ache resulting from eating too group of dynamic personalities. many liver wraps and the sincere Mr. Jolly, the cat, and Pretty Boy, regret he exhibits for overextend- the canary, along with the rest of ing his ruse is sufficient enough to the pack, make a spirited addition teach us all a good lesson. to the central story line. Often cranky and overly opinionated, Pretty Boy’s call-it-like-I-see-it men- tality consistently clashes with Mr. Jolly’s far more gentle and careful sensibilities. The model pupil, Scott outshines the “Pet Project,” yet another other students in the classroom. clever installment of the Teacher’s © Disney.All rights reserved. Pet series, has Leonard and Spot vying to win a writing competi- One More Thing tion. Each needs to decide which As difficult as it is for me to admit pet will serve as their muse in — I catch myself singing the forming pages of flowing prose. theme song for this show a lot — The competition is brought to an borderline annoying, but catchy unexpected turn when the pets nonetheless. Teacher’s Pet airs on are invited to the classroom to ABC Saturday mornings. Times are Spot showing us that we can be who we serve as visual accompaniment to available at: want to be. © Disney.All rights reserved. the written works. The press will www.disney.com/teacherspet. be there, prizes are to be awarded If the Cat Could Only Talk…Uh, and the pressure is on. Pretty Boy Joan Kim received her B.A. in and the Canary Too and Mr. Jolly after all their squawk- English Literature from UCLA and So, what else can you add ing back and forth prove that they currently is the editorial adminis- to an already exceptional educa- are equally good at being friends trator for Animation World tional and informational program as they are at being rivals. Pretty Network. Previously as a graphics created and produced by the likes Boy steps up to protect Mr. Jolly consultant she produced several of Baseman and the Steinkellners? when Ian Wazselewski’s snake tries company reports and manuals How about the voice talents of to intimidate him. The snake’s sim- and continues to pursue an edu- Tony Award-winner Nathane Lane ple rebuttle is to chomp Pretty Boy cation in computer graphics. as the rambunctious four-legged up in one gulp. Mr. Jolly is quick to scholar; Shaun Fleming (Once recover and rises faithfully to the Note: Readers may contact any Upon A Christmas) as Leonard; occasion, jumping onto the surly Animation World Magazine Debra Jo Rupp (That ‘70’s Show) serpent causing him to belch up contributor by sending an e-mail as Leonard’s mother and fourth Pretty Boy. In the end, the two to [email protected]. grade teacher Mrs. Helperman; friends decide that they belong at

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200040 Last Exit on St. Laurent Street: The Wonderfully Fucked Up World of Ryan Larkin by Chris Robinson “Being an artist doesn’t take quite. Yes, as we shall see, Larkin much, just everything you’ve was a cokehead and drinker (but got.” not a drunk), but there is a much — Hubert Selby Jr. deeper and more traumatic episode behind all of these kay, to avoid any poten- escapes. Larkin was very close tial construction of with his older brother. “I had a rock Opathos, let’s cut to the and roll teenage hood. I played chase. In the 1960s, Ryan Larkin drums, was in rock bands. My was a 19-year-old protégé of older brother was very popular in Norman McLaren. With McLaren’s the area. He drove a convertible support, Larkin was given a rare and always had girls around him. I carte blanche at the National Film looked like a greaser punk and Board of Canada (NFB) and made was the typical younger brother, one of the most influential anima- always hanging out with him.” tion films of all time, Walking During the summer of 1958, (1968). By 1999, Larkin was living Larkin, his brother and friends are on welfare in a mission house and playing on a boat in the lake. panhandling for spending money. Ryan Larkin. Photo courtesy of and Something goes wrong and How the hell did this happen? © National Film Board of Canada. Larkin’s brother is dead. “It was a Who knows? NFB types say one All rights reserved. terrible boating accident. I was thing, Ryan says another. The real- and at 13 was accepted into the unable to save him. We were very ity is likely, as usual, a combination prestigious Montreal School of close. It hit me very hard. I was on of the two stories. I’m not out to Fine Arts. The school was already the boat and was physically turn Larkin into a victim or a mar- very familiar to Larkin. As a child, unable to save his life. It was a tyr. He made choices…well, actu- his father used to drive him there major block for me. I felt terrible ally it was his inability to choose every Saturday for classes. One of and missed him greatly.” This, that caused the problem. He is his early artistic influences was his more then snorts and chugs, living with his indecision. teacher, Arthur Lismer, who was caused his eventual spiral. Cliché #1: “Must have also a well-known Group of Seven come from a broken home.” Not painter. At the school, Larkin A Bright Start so. Larkin’s family lived in a classic received an extensive education in With the help of his father, 1950s suburb of Montreal, Dorval. classic forms: life drawing, sculpt- Larkin got an interview at the NFB His father was an airplane ing, oil painting. Larkin excelled at and surprisingly, given that he had mechanic and his mom worked as the school and within a few years no animation experience, got a a secretary. Right from the begin- he was being considered for a job job at the age of 19. He initially ning Larkin (the middle of two at the National Film Board of worked as an animator on educa- brothers) proved to be a special Canada. tional films for the army and navy child. By the age of about 10, he Cliché #2: “He ruined his including the spine tingling epics was already doing oil paintings, life with drugs and booze.” Not Ball Resolver in Antic (1964) and ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200041 Syrinx. © National Film Board of Canada.All rights reserved. There is a much deeper and more traumatic episode behind all of these escapes. The Canadian Forces Hydrofoil huge libraries and invited me test that involved taking a cut-out Ship: Concept and Design (1967). home and showed me their of a round ball and shooting it sin- The work was generally mindless libraries. It was fascinating. I was gle and double frame.” Each artist crap requiring Larkin to follow sto- just working class. In my house we was given a roll of film to shoot ryboards and do tracing and had pictures of airplanes.” Larkin whatever they wanted. Animation painting for other animators. absorbed books, paintings and came as naturally to Larkin as During his 2nd or 3rd year classical music. “I was young and drawing. “Norman said I had nat- at the NFB, Larkin became a friend really impressed with all this new ural control over timing and pac- of Norman McLaren and his information.” ing over any given object.” At the “gang” including Guy Clover and Within the after-hours ses- same time, Larkin developed a Grant Munro. McLaren had recent- sions, McLaren set up a project for unique technique involving stop- ly begun holding an after-hours the eager young artists (including frame action with charcoal that session in a small room at the Pierre Hebert, Co Hoedeman and was easy to erase. Using a strong Board. The relationship with Ralph Abrams). “He’d give us sheet of paper, Larkin was able to McLaren opened Larkin up to a 16mm cameras and teach us the draw deeply into the paper and completely new world. “They fine aspects like calibration and still erase it. Utilizing this new tech- were sophisticated. They had how to use our senses. He had a nique, Larkin made a one-minute ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200042 Syrinx. © National Film Board of Canada.All rights reserved. test film called Cityscape. This dark, taken by its originality. McLaren reeds and turns them into an nightmarish view of the city is filled approached Board producers and instrument. with animation and a melange asked that Larkin be given carte Larkin faced a number of of strange characters coming blanche to make any film using problems before completing the and going. Finally, the main char- the charcoal technique. “They film. The music was a key ingredi- acter finds solace in a country said, ‘Here’s a budget. You’ve got ent and had to be carefully time landscape, alone. It is hesitant three months to make any film.’ I and paced. Unfortunately, there and sloppy at times, but it is spent a week wondering what I wasn’t enough money in the also a shocking, raw and was going to do. One of Norman’s budget to buy the music so they almost paranoid portrait of the friends presented me with a solo were forced to find a member of cement garden. flute piece called Syrinx by Claude the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Larkin shot Cityscape single Debussy. A French flutist recorded to record it for less. Meanwhile, frame and “the whole thing went it and that was my starting point.” Larkin discovered he had to re- whizzing by in 30 seconds.” So to Using the flute piece, Larkin then shoot the film. “First time I got off enhance the film, Larkin took it to turned to the Greek story about track and the images weren’t com- an optical imager, reprinted the Pan. In this tale of stalking, Pan is ing off as beautiful as I wanted. I frames and cross mixed them constantly hasslin’ the hotty Syrinx was getting nervous but Wolf while developing short cross dis- for a little love. Tired of his come- [Koenig] and Bob [Verrall] said, solves to give the film a natural ons, Syrinx asks Gaea for help. ‘Go back and re-shoot the whole looking emotion. People at the Gaea then turns Syrinx into a thing.’” Ah, the fortune of a court Board noticed Cityscape and were clump of reeds. Pan then takes the artist! Larkin re-shot the film, this ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200043 time concentrating more on the After Syrinx, the producers work with water colours, and the images and the body of Syrinx. told Larkin that he had to go back human figures and the way that The final product received excel- to applying his talents to industrial anatomy works, expressions of lent reviews and Syrinx won films. He made a variety of educa- human behaviour, how funny awards all over the world includ- tional films for St. John’s they look sometimes when they’re ing the Grand Prize at a children’s Ambulance, an elaborate colour trying to impress each other with festival in Iran. pastel clip on preventing forest certain movements. I wasn’t doing fires, and a contribution to the any rotoscoping, I was doing a lot Becoming Established NFB’s exhibition at the Montreal of self-study. I had mirrors in my lit- Larkin was now living a Expo. “The Board had its own tle office, and I would go through princely life in downtown pavilion, called Labyrinth, and certain motions with my own Montreal continuing to paint and they had multi screens. I was body and was just going with sculpt and surrounded by many asked by Roman Kroiter and Colin pencil, ink and paper.” In concen- friends. “I was always good at Low, to put in a Labyrinth, the old trating on motion and the details sculpting and doing three dimen- Greek idea, using the same style as of the figures, Larkin abandoned sional sculptures. I began to see Syrinx.” background movement instead animation as a form of sculpting.” choosing a blank white screen. Larkin had a few small exhibitions The result of this two-year and many people at the NFB pur- project was Walking, one of the chased his drawings and paint- most celebrated films made at the ings. Larkin gleaned his inspiration NFB and one that remains a major in cafes and bars watching and influence on animators to this day. absorbing the way people walked Using a combination of line draw- and talked and moved. He loved ing and colour wash, Larkin to watch people and would make observes the movements of a vari- sketches of people walking or get ety of urban characters. Larkin friends to pose. Larkin’s friends weaves colours and sounds with were also doing more than pos- an extraordinarily detailed visuali- ing, doing what kids were suppos- zation of faces, bodies, gestures edly supposed to do: drugs. and postures. A vivid imagining of Ironically, Larkin wasn’t into drugs the city and those within it. at the time and instead was a Walking received an Oscar Virgil to his LSD induced mates. nomination and Larkin travelled to “They would experiment and I Hollywood with his girlfriend, wouldn’t. I made sure they didn’t Felicity. The Oscars provided Larkin fly out windows.” Things would with a chance to put his beatnik soon change. Despite the wealth persona and wild wardrobe to of friends and success, Larkin practice. Larkin had hair that was remained lonely. The death of his Walking. © National Film Board of about three feet long and made Canada.All rights reserved. brother had quietly fractured the his own clothes. “I would sew family. “Because I was on the boat Following the Expo exhibit, together my own pair of pants in nobody knew what happened, Larkin put in a proposal to do a special colours. It was coming out but somehow I failed to save my film based on sketches he had earlier I think, I was always per- brother.” Something changed. “I drawn of people walking around. forming, trying to look outrageous was always the goofy little guy The proposal was accepted and by whatever standards were estab- and they figured I goofed up Larkin was given a year to do the lished, just being a punk.” For the again.” Nothing was ever said to project. However, dreading the Oscars, Larkin selected a flashy silk, Larkin but he nevertheless felt eyes thought of repeating himself, the wide sleeve shirt and tight fitting scorching him. Larkin, a man who film took two years as Larkin took pants with bright colours. could bring images to life, could time to perfect new techniques. “I Walking didn’t win. Disney, not save a life dearest to him. was developing my Oriental brush who had died a year earlier, won

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200044 Larkin’s work though you can feel the hesitancy. The film ends rather awkwardly with the last image stopping to wait for the music. “What happened was, I ran out of ideas and I didn’t know how to end the film, so I just ended it on a strange little character, wiggling away in his little dance, in a way suggesting that, ‘This is to be con- tinued.’” Structural critiques aside, Street Musique is a toe tappin’, knee slappin’, barn burner of a film solidifying Larkin’s talent as an artist and animator. Street Musique did the festi- val circuit and won a Grand Prize at an Australian film festival. Larkin is particularly fond of this award because it was a live-action festi- val. “It was a ten minute film up against all kinds of complicated Walking. © National Film Board of Canada.All rights reserved. feature films.” Larkin received for Ward Kimball’s It’s Tough to be the students to find their own $3000 with the prize, and a Bird. But Larkin had a great time voice no matter how wild their because he had a regular salary he and a rather strange experience. experiments turned out. Among often supported other young While in a hotel lobby, a man these young voices, Larkin met a artists with his prize money. “I had approached Larkin and said, “Hey, group of street musicians. “I decid- a nine room flat in Montreal that I I know you. I’ve seen your heli- ed that they would make a great was renting for $100 a month, if copter up on the roof. I want to focal point for my abstract images. you can believe it, and I’d give introduce you to the senator of There was a whole little gang of money to certain young people to New Mexico.” The man then led them with their own children and experiment with their art and their Larkin over to a crowd of people stuff, hippies I guess, really good music. I’d give them free room and including the Senator. The man musicians.” Larkin’s encounter led board to hang around. In a sense introduced Larkin to the Senator: to his next film, Street Musique. I had my own school.” Sadly, “Well, you’ve seen him on the Ed Very much a film in search Larkin’s generosity with people Sullivan Show playing his little of itself, Street Musique opens with would come back to haunt him. ukulele.” Larkin of course was mis- live-action footage of two street taken for another flowery figure: musicians, before changing into A Turn Tiny Tim. an awesomely animated stream of Following Street Musique, Following Walking, Larkin conscious piece. A variety of crea- Larkin was assigned to a feature once again returned to NFB indus- tures and figures float through the film that the Board was working trial films before being loaned out screen and undergo a continual on called Running Time. Larkin to a Vancouver art school (maybe metamorphosis. Street Musique is was asked along with Co Emily Carr, but he can’t remem- loosely divided into about five or Hoedeman to do three short ani- ber). For eight months, Larkin ran six segments all determined by the mation sequences combining the an animation workshop. Each stu- pace of the music. One of the actors with animation images. dent worked in their own studio most dazzling scenes comes in However, Running Time soon and Larkin would travel around segment two with a series of turned into a nightmare for Larkin: visiting them, hanging out and extraordinary landscape impres- “I was trapped into it for four years directing them. Larkin encouraged sionist paintings. As with most of because the executive producers

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200045 other.” Larkin had experimental voice actors to re-create the ‘bab- ble.’ He had originally hoped to record actual dialogue, but noticed that people froze up so he dropped that idea. He also select- ed swing music for the sound- track: “There was a beautifully organized music library at the Board, made to provide filmmak- ers with soundtracks for any sub- ject. I selected that material and edited it myself. So I had edited my soundtrack but I didn’t have enough animation drawing. I had drawn my characters, about five. It was a very abstract, poetic thing. I Street Musique. © National Film Board of Canada.All rights reserved. had a storyboard and filmed still kept putting it on the shelf, then approval from upstairs.’” Rather images, but there was no actual there were endless committee than sit around the Board offices animation movement.” meetings. I was getting pissed off doing nothing, Larkin worked at By this time, Larkin was a because I was on hold. I had no home on his next film, a project he coke addict. Coke was a big attrac- other budgets or work to do. anticipated would be approved by tion to Larkin. It was a magical, Frustrated, Larkin began working the NFB. The situation was ideal almost spiritual experience. “The at home on his next project, Ding for Larkin because if he woke at 2 cocaine was giving me incredible Bat Rap. This decision has led to am he could simply work on his insights into human behavior and one of the myths surrounding film. This was something he could- very acute sensitivities towards Larkin. n’t do at the office. Larkin also what constituted human behav- In the book Cartoon notes that the producers knew ior.” But, contrary to Heraclitus’ Capers, author Karen that he was doing research and thoughts, the way up was not Mazurkewich claims that drugs development for Ding Bat Rap at nearly the same as the way down. and depression got so bad that home while the feature was on With the high, came the low. The Larkin exiled himself to his home. hold. “That seemed to be okay neurological stimulation gave way For two years, the NFB sent him with them since I was not able to to backlash. A flood of ideas cheques by taxi. He was then work on the project.” drown the mind. Larkin discov- fired. According to Larkin, things About a year later, Larkin ered a confidence he never knew, didn’t quite happen this way. finally received a budget for Ding but the pace of the magic locked “Well, what happened was, I was Bat Rap, but he continued to work Larkin into a fantasy world. A seeing this feature film just flying at home. “I told my producers to magician trapped within the allure away and in the meantime, I was trust me, I was working on the of his illusions, Larkin was no developing my own idea, and I project, so they sent me my longer able to work. had my own setup in my apart- cheques.” Larkin paid for the cab. Meanwhile, the program ment. I had two apartments, one Ding Bat Rap was to be Larkin’s committee was none too thrilled that I lived in and one that I used first ‘talkie.’ The film was to be set with Larkin’s project. What Larkin as a studio. I was developing my in a bar with a bunch of regulars saw as a satire on ethnic groups own new film but I couldn’t get a sitting around talking nonsense and nationalism was viewed with budget to work on it, and the with great earnest. “A lot of people disdain as a reactionary, almost executive producers of this feature talk and talk without saying any- racist vision. “I was making sound film were saying, ‘Well, wait a cou- thing. They make gestures with and visual jokes against all people ple of weeks and just stand by their hands, give meaningful looks that were too full of pride. There because we haven’t got the back and forth towards each was an anti-Muslim thing, and

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200046 Larkin’s girlfriend at the time convinced him that he should work in the private industy on fea- ture projects. (Odd advice given Larkin’s experience with Running Time.) Nevertheless, Larkin head- ed to Toronto where he worked for a short time as a storyboard artist at Nelvana. Larkin worked for two months storyboarding the final sequence for the feature film, Rock and Rule. Unfortunately, Larkin wasn’t around to see if his work made the credits (it didn’t). One night Larkin was working late, probably snorting some lines and sippin’ on some beers, when something fell on his head and knocked him out. He ended up in the hospital for stitches. The next day, Nelvana quietly and quickly put Larkin on a train bound for Ryan Larkin with some of his works behind him. Montreal. Photo courtesy of and © National Film Board of Canada.All rights reserved. It’s not really clear what anti-Christian thing. I was trying to Larkin, the NFB became increas- happened, but Larkin admits that put down the nationalistic attitude ingly restrictive. A coked up, con- his girlfriend would come around that was happening at the time.” fused, talented Larkin wanted his at night, he was still doing coke, Even McLaren backed out of freedom back; whatever the hell and he was rarely without a drink Larkin’s corner. “Norman was also that was. in his hand. Turns out, in addition sort of shocked by my heavy punk to coke, Larkin was also an alco- material.” In Larkin’s mind, he was A Different Path holic. Unlike coke, Larkin accepts making unsafe work for a conser- Never one to forget the his drinking condition with the vative institution. But he also encore, in 1975 Larkin was invited greatest of ease, in fact he claims it acknowledges that he was burn- to create a mural for the NFB. makes him healthier. “I’ve been ing out. “I was losing my edge What he drew was likely not what doing it ever since I was a child. because I’d been there for too they had envisioned: an adoles- When I was ten the doctor told my long. I was having a creative block cent with an erection who may or mother that I should drink 1-2 that was probably the result of the may not have been ejaculating. beers a day to put on weight.” coke.” In a sense, Larkin was The mural was 20 x 15 feet. “It was Larkin continues this ritual to this unable to grow up or at least fit meant to be a satirical commen- day and rightly claims, “I’m an the model of maturity prescribed tary on masculinity because at the alcoholic, not a drunkard.” by the society around him. He was time there was a year long festival Well anyway, after a brief pushing forty, but living like a going on about women’s rights. It period working on a variety of punk. He was playing in rock was supposed to be a comical odd jobs including Heavy Metal, bands. He was still hanging out relief from all their terrible, self-con- Larkin realized that his finances with younger people, financing scious seriousness.” Ryan Larkin’s were out of whack. The gal he their bands, writing lyrics. He was tenure at the NFB ended. No one was shaggin’ with was controlling a godfather to the punks. really seems to know what hap- his money and apparently ripping Nevertheless, it was clear that pened, but whether fired, him off. “In the early ‘80s, I was Larkin and the Board were no resigned, whatever, Larkin was getting angry with her, accusing longer good for each other. For free. So he thought. her of stealing from me. I realized

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200047 she was a thief. I tried to get rid of little pop bottle for his daily beers. remains an artist. This is not to say her, which resulted in some Many people have tried to help that Larkin is content with his life. kitchen violence. Being a woman him over the years, but Larkin is He isn’t and still suffers from bouts with a child by another man, she either unwilling or unable to of depression. Whatever may hap- was able to get the upper hand accept. pen down the road (currently the with the authorities and the Ottawa International Animation police. I was thrown out for being “I realized Festival and Quickdraw Animation a violent man, but I wasn’t.” Society are working toward get- At the same time, Larkin, that even ting Larkin back on the filmmaking admittedly without many options, track), Larkin has left the world gave up on the film industry: “I though with a quartet of passionate, deli- realized that even though I had I had made cate visual poems. Beyond that, made some good films, I was not he makes life better, if only for a a good filmmaker. I couldn’t meet some good second, for those walking, weary deadlines. Other people were souls on St. Laurent Street. What pouring out bullshit. I was becom- films, I was more is there? ing disheartened with the whole not a good process of films, I was getting paid a salary for junk films.” So Larkin filmmaker.” Chris Robinson is executive direc- returned to his first love, being an tor of the Ottawa International artist. Has Ryan Larkin’s life taken Festival and the founder and a downward spiral? It’s really hard director of SAFO, the Ottawa Today… to say. When you watch his films, International Student Animation For a short time, things especially Walking and Street Festival. He is also a board mem- were okay. Larkin fell in love with a Musique, they seem to foreshad- ber of ASIFA International. man who put him up in a studio. ow his flaneur existence. The lack Robinson has curated film pro- “I did a lot of good paintings in the of structure, the random, carefree grams (Los Angeles, Norway, ‘80s. I moved all of my work down nature of his films seems to mirror Korea, Holland, Estonia, to this beautiful home. This lasted his own refusal of order in life. Singapore, Vietnam and several for about 8 years, but he finally Today he seems to have found other places), served on juries wanted to get rid of me. I’m very some sense of freedom. He con- (AnimExpo, World Animation attractive, but evidently, I’m unde- trols his time and actions. His days Celebration), and written articles sirable after awhile.” The 1990s now consist of a regular shift out- on animation for Animation found Larkin, now coke free, start- side a Montreal restaurant where World, FPS, Plateau, Animation ing over again on his own. His he performs mime, dances and Journal and Take One. He prefers generosity with people resulted in draws for change. He continues to writing over cartoons. He also a variety of folks taking advantage play in rock bands as a drummer. irks a lot of people with his often- of his home. Paintings, drawings Would life for Ryan Larkin be any inflammatory opinions about and sculptures were stolen by better if he had remained a court many things. friends in need of a fix. Eventually artist at the NFB working away for penniless and alone, Larkin was a nice salary on crappy projects? Note: Readers may contact any tossed out of his home. He lived Our conventional, constructed Animation World Magazine on the streets of Montreal briefly beliefs would be that his life has hit contributor by sending an e-mail before moving into the Old rock bottom, but I don’t buy it. to [email protected]. Brewery Mission where he current- Everyday we see miserable souls ly resides. Virtually all of his art is drifting sleeplessly through life gone now, pawned for dope, from meaningless job to lonely tricks or whatever help the home. Unhappy travellers caught strangers needed to survive. He in a web of material constructions. now carries only what he can: a Larkin may not have a home, he few clothes, some books, and his may not have a job, but he

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200048 ince the success of Harvey’s made for video release SCasper: A Spirited David Bowers: Beginning and the made for TV movie Casper Meets Wendy, the Creating Shelf Space company that started as a comic book company in New York, has for Casper re-emerged and is aiming to become a staple in children’s video by Joan Kim collections. In 1999 a new man- agement team headed by Roger A. Burlage (Chairman and CEO) and Rick Mischel (President and COO) redirected Harvey’s trajecto- ry and continues to re-position Harvey in today’s market hoping to take advantage of new media channels. Maximizing the already established family branding associ- ated with the Harvey classic char- acters, their marketing plan attempts to match itself to the new media age and secure its share of shelf space when Harvey’s all CGI production Casper’s Haunted Christmas comes to stores this fall. David Bowers, Harvey’s senior VP marketing, shares some insight into the marketing and distribution of Harvey’s classic character. First, however, let’s get to know a little Casper Timeline. © Harvey Entertainment. about David Bowers… created all publicity and promo- line-ups. Some of the com- In addition to playing a key tion campaigns for theatrical, panies include Mattel, Hallmark role at Harvey Entertainment, home video, international and cor- Properties, Coleco and Hasbro. David founded The Bowers Group porate divisions. in 1998 providing full-service Bowers spent the mid Joan Kim: How long have you entertainment marketing and pub- to late ‘80s as the senior vice been with Harvey Entertainment licity for clients who include president at J2 Communications working on marketing and distri- Artisan Entertainment, PM /National Lampoon responsible bution? Entertainment, The Leslie Greif for all marketing and publicity of Company and Trimark Pictures. their home video product and was David Bowers: I’ve been with Prior to joining Harvey, integral in the purchase of Harvey for the last year. Bowers served as executive vice National Lampoon Magazine and president of marketing services its subsequent update and launch. JK: What are some of the chal- and publicity at Artisan The early ‘80s were spent at lenges you’ve encountered this Entertainment (formerly LIVE Quinn, Brein, Inc. as vice president past year in marketing a classic Entertainment) specializing in the of the Family Entertainment character that has already been development, implementation Division where he created and branded and recognized by the and supervision of their theatrical implemented publicity and mar- public? marketing and publicity cam- keting campaigns for major toy paigns. There he supervised and companies introducing product DB: Well, there are a couple of

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200049 challenges. The first one is that the very good look. It’s an excellent Randy Travis on television shows. marketplace is extremely glutted quality film. Having said that, the He sings the soundtrack for Casper with product this Christmas sea- retailers have jumped on this, and he’ll be appearing on shows son. You have everything from because there is so much product like Rosie O’Donnell targeting our major theatrical releases like out there that perhaps doesn’t moms. And then we have a pretty Chicken Run to home video releas- have quite the quality. Retailers are good Internet campaign set up. es like Aladdin 2 or Little Mermaid looking at something that they During the last two weeks of 2 or Land Before Time 7. There is perceive as a great value. October and the first two weeks of so much sell through product November kids will be able to visit coming out that the shelf space is their favorite Web site and see very limited for a lot of the titles. behind-the-scenes footage of One of the biggest challenges we Casper’s Haunted Christmas. have is making sure that the retail- We’re also producing a Flash- ers and ultimately the public are based Internet game with excited enough about this title Sarbakan Entertainment. The that they want to clear off space game will feature characters from for us. the movie and will be freely distributed online. Casper calls a meeting in Casper’s Haunted Christmas. © Harvey Entertainment.

At the same time, Casper is turning 60 this year. A large pre- mier on the 20th of October cel- ebrating his 60th birthday at the Television Academy of Arts and Sciences is planned followed by the kickoff of the video, which © Harvey Entertainment. comes out on October 31st. To help celebrate Casper’s birthday, JK: Are you guys going with any JK: There is an assortment of hot, Harvey and Sight for Students, a fast food chains or anything new properties that have come non-profit charity, have teamed like that? out this year that are doing well. up to distribute over 60,000 pairs Are there any specific challenges of eyeglasses to kids across the DB: We’re not selling the video you have in trying to update country who are neither covered there, but we do have two major Casper to compete in today’s by insurance, or do not qualify tie-ins. One is at Orange- market? for government assistance such Julius/Dairy Queen. They’re giving as Medi-Care. Each participating away Casper product in all their DB: That has not been a problem, child receives a free eye exam kid’s value meals. We also have a because all of our research has through a local ophthalmologist, major tie-in with Baskin-Robbins indicated that children absolutely free eyeglasses, free eye cases nationwide. They’re putting a love this character. We have some- and free follow up exams. We’re coupon in the video for free ice thing that a lot of other products tying in with them and the slo- cream sundaes. In all their stores don’t have, which is that the par- gan is, “Everyone deserves to see they have counter cards promot- ents grew up watching it, so they Casper.” Under that umbrella, ing the video and they named a are really familiar with the product. we’ll be launching a huge mar- new ice cream flavor for three What we have done is completely keting campaign starting in months called “Chiller Thriller” to updated the character and how it October. promote Casper. looks. This film was all computer- The 60th birthday will seg- animated, a là Antz or Toy Story. way straight into the home video JK: “Chiller Thriller” going along So, it’s a whole different look. It’s a release. We will also be putting with the Halloween theme.

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200050 DB: Right and it comes out the markets — where they’ll be giving which is a 15 minute special that 31st. So Halloween will give us a away Casper grand prizes to the we’re using a lot on the Internet. great opportunity to promote the Saturday morning children’s view- We also have a gentleman over ghost. At the same time, the video ing public. We’re also going to be here by the name of Sid Jacobsen comes out just shortly after that for working with the Cartoon who was the original editor and Christmas and will be on the Network and Nickelodeon. So, edited all the Casper comic books shelves for the next 2 and half we’re doing a lot on TV. through the years and he also cre- months. ated the character Richie Rich. So JK: Will any of the Casper films, he’s been with Harvey forever and like Casper’s Spirited Beginning, be he’s going to be doing interviews airing this holiday season? with the printed press and on the Internet to talk with people about DB: No, but we will be airing the the history here at Harvey and his new video release Casper’s experience with it. We’re really Haunted Christmas on the USA excited and we’re expecting well Network, so that’ll be a big boost over a million units initially shipped for the video sales. We’ve created for this holiday season. a lot of account specific promo- tions. For instance, with Wal-Mart Joan Kim received her B.A. in © Harvey Entertainment. if you buy the video there, you can English Literature from UCLA and JK: With the direct to video and get the soundtrack. One song currently is the editorial adminis- various promotions you’ve been from the soundtrack, “Deck the trator for Animation World focusing on, what are some of the Halls” sung by Randy Travis, will be Network. Previously as a graphics promotions we’ll see on television? attached to the video. So we’re consultant she produced several doing a lot of account specific pro- company reports and manuals DB: We’re spending about 2.5 motions as well. and continues to pursue an edu- million advertising dollars to adver- cation in computer graphics. tise the video during the holiday JK: Is there anything else, you’d season. In addition to that, as I’ve like to add about Casper? Note: Readers may contact any mentioned, we’re tying in with all Animation World Magazine the local TV stations, one in each DB: Well, we did a “Making of contributor by sending an e-mail major market — I think the top 50 Casper” that will be on the DVD to [email protected].

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200051 Mark Dindal’s Place in the Sun by Joe Strike he hotheaded young test chilling full-screen legend, “Heute pilot won’t give in. He Europa, Morgen Die Welt” [“Today Twon’t return the experi- Europe — Tomorrow The World”]. mental rocket backpack that has “It cost a man’s life to get fallen into his possession, even this film out of Germany,” notes Director Mark Dindal. though a Nazi spy ring will kill to Hughes. Photo courtesy of Disney Enterprises, get their hands on it. Finally, its Inc.All rights reserved. inventor — aviation pioneer Who Is This Man? a still for a yet-to-be released ani- Howard Hughes — shows the Well, not really. The eye- mated feature: a female cartoon pilot a movie he hopes will catching 47-second animated cat posing wistfully by a street light change his mind. The room grows sequence in the midst of Disney’s against a stylized urban setting. dark and a cartoon appears 1991 live-action adventure film Her defiantly non-Disney appear- onscreen… The Rocketeer was actually the ance (a bold-featured, oversized Art deco chiseled, rocket- work of Mark Dindal, a creative head with solid coloring and pack-equipped soldiers fly across and ambitious young staffer at the strong outlines), the subtle color the screen in multiplane forma- Disney feature animation studio. scheme and the strength with tion…a swastika spreads tentacle- Animation buff that I am, I made a which the picture conveyed its like arrows of domination that arc mental note of his name as the emotional content piqued my across the Atlantic and stab into film’s closing credits rolled by… interest. I made another mental the U.S…battalions of flying and then promptly forgot all note to see the film, something stormtroopers fill the sky as the about him. called Cats Don’t Dance, upon its U.S. Capitol building goes up in A few years later, in a trade release; this time I didn’t forget. black and white flames…and an magazine article on computer- The 1997 film, a funny and unfurling Nazi flag gives way to a based ink and paint systems, I saw heartfelt valentine to the golden

Disney’s latest, The Emperor’s New Groove. © Disney Enterprises, Inc.All rights reserved.

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200052 Joe Strike: So how did you get into this line of work?

Mark Dindal: As far back as I can remember, this was just something I wanted to do. Through grade school, high school, I just drew. I collected all the Disney books and any sort of animation books I could, which weren’t very many at that time. I remember the one with Mickey on the cover holding a paintbrush. [Christopher Finch’s The Art of Walt Disney.] Then I was lucky that my Dindal’s work in Disney’s Rocketeer powered his career in animation. guidance counselor’s secretary © The Walt Disney Company.All rights reserved. had a nephew who went to age of movie musicals, lived up to Warner Bros. somehow decided CalArts. She just happened to the promise of that one photo- the film wasn’t worth its time of overhear a conversation and rec- graph. It followed the travails and day, and after a cursory theatrical ommended it, so I came out with ultimate triumph of Danny, a run and video release it dropped my dad to visit the school and somewhat naïve “song-and-dance- off the radar screen of public ended up going. That was just a cat” just off the bus from Kokomo awareness. (It can still be found in dream come true, because there and out to conquer 1939 the video stores, usually with me was still Ken O’Connor, the layout Hollywood. By the end of the film nearby trying to convince total man, Elmer Plummer, all these Danny has bested evil child star strangers to rent or buy it.) Disney veterans who were teach- Darla Dimple, put an end to the ing at the time, so I got a chance second class status endured by Let’s Get Talking to be exposed to them before they animal actors and won the heart About a year ago I learned retired. of the beautiful Sawyer, the that the next feature in the Disney wistful cat in the above-mentioned pipeline was to be called Kingdom publicity still. of the Sun, and would be co- directed by the self-same Mr. Dindal, together with The Lion King’s Roger Allers. ‘That’s it,’ I said to myself, ‘I’ve got to talk to this guy.’ Thanks to Animation World and Walt Disney Studios’ publicity department, I was able to do just that on September 12, 2000. In the interim Kingdom of the Sun Darla Dimple, child star, laughs at Danny and Sawyer’s dreams of stardom. had become Kingdom in the Sun, © Turner Feature Animation. and ultimately The Emperor’s New Did I mention Cats Groove, but I was to learn far From CalArts to the effects Don’t Dance was directed by more had changed than just its department working on The Fox and the Hound Dindal made it to Disney. © Walt Mark Dindal? title. First however I wanted to Disney Pictures.All rights reserved. For sheer entertainment trace the steps and choices that value and as a beautifully animat- had brought Mark Dindal to After a couple years there ed film, Cats Don’t Dance holds its arguably the peak of the anima- at the school I got offered a job as own with any of Disney’s contem- tion profession: directing a full- an effects animator on The Fox porary releases. Unfortunately, length Disney feature: and The Hound in 1980. Ken

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200053 a director, to have some knowl- JS: Workbook? edge. I couldn’t tell you everything that they do, but at least I know MD: After the storyboards are the main gist of what they have to done but before they prepare for do, so it was a good path by the actual, full-sized layouts, they which I ended up here. go back in and do thumbnail-sized layouts for an entire sequence. It JS: Was there some point where helps you see the flow and conti- you had to show somebody, ‘I can nuity or if there are any problems Mark was the effects supervisor on animate a character, I can get an in the cutting. I actually found The Little Mermaid. © Walt Disney emotion across?’ some in the morgue that Ken Pictures.All rights reserved. O’Connor did on Peter Pan, so O’Connor helped me out a lot; MD: It was after Little Mermaid. it’s something they did quite a even though his specialty was lay- That was such a pinnacle of effects while back. outs, he knew a lot about animation. There were so many the effects world as well and things in there; it just ran the JS: Did this give you the experi- really was my mentor through gamut. I felt at the end of that ence to say, ‘I can do this — I’m that. movie that I had done everything I good at this?’ That’s how I got into wanted to do in that category. But Disney. The effects department the experience of being in a lead- MD: It was more a matter of draw- wasn’t very big at that time — ership position was something I ing, thinking in a way I hadn’t about 5 people total. I stayed with wanted to pursue further and be done to that point. I remember that for quite a while, working my more involved with the story early on thinking, as all artists do way up through the ranks until I aspects of a film. when you’re starting something was the effects supervisor on I talked to Peter Schneider new, ‘Boy, I really shoulda stayed The Little Mermaid and ran the [head of feature animation at where I was, because I can’t draw department. Disney] about it and he was very this sort of thing.’ It was more a supportive, but how old was I at case of moving into a new area JS: I’m trying to find the point the time, 27 or 29? Of course you and trying to gain confidence. I where you made the leap from want to go from effects supervisor was just trying to feel comfortable effects animation — which could to director right away. There’s not doing that job. be a possible career dead end if a whole lot of patience and I you get too good at it — to work- probably had less than the usual JS: Sort of jumping into the deep ing with character and story person. end? development which is a whole Peter was aware you can’t different area. make that kind of jump all at once, MD: Yeah, it really felt that way but you had to move slowly over. because everybody I worked with MD: What I think was good about So he helped and got me to the had a lot of experience. I was being in effects was in that capac- next step, which was really the working with Don Gibbons — he ity you were involved in all the way to go. could draw the classic characters phases of production quite a bit. and was a real fan of Carl Barks. Maybe not so much storyboard, JS: What was that? His drawings were so dynamic. He although we could sit in on story- could handle the classic characters board pitches to anticipate the MD: I went to Mickey’s other just fantastically. work that was coming. You got featurette, not Christmas Carol, I was sharing the room the chance to see the production The Prince and The Pauper. I there with Don and I already felt in both directions: the production worked on that in kind of a dual like, ‘Boy, this is a new thing for part as well as post-production. layout/workbook phase and did me,’ and then to come in and So it gave me quite an some storyboarding as well. I got work side by side with someone awareness of what everybody exposed to that side of it, which like that —it was even more intim- does, which I think is important as was a whole new angle. idating. But he was very support-

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200054 they are now. That was when Jeffrey Katzenberg was at Disney, and his taste was for things that were much more ‘real’ and literal. We pitched a couple of things, and had the ‘gong shows’ as they called them. We tried to pitch an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Matilda. There was something with drag- ons that was on a more serious note, and then there was a comic version of that as well. All of the ideas I was work- ing on had more of a cartoon sen- sibility than where he wanted to Another scene from the live-action feature that fueled Dindal’s career. go at the time. So it didn’t seem © The Walt Disney Company.All rights reserved. like I was a match and I ended up ive and very helpful. of [Disney’s World War II-era short] leaving and trying to make some- So little by little I moved Victory Through Air Power. thing happen — elsewhere. This along. I started doing some story- was in ’92. It was one of those board work, and then got a little MD: Both of those influenced the things where it wasn’t under the piece of animation in The sequence. I had all the Max best circumstances that I left. Rocketeer. Fleischer Superman shorts on When I look back, I think, ‘Why did tape. We also saw a little bit of you go about it that way?’ I would JS: How did that come about? [director Frank] Capra’s Why We know how to handle it a lot better Fight series — they have the same now then I did at that time. MD: I had spent a lot of time talk- sort of arrows in there as well. I needed to go, I felt I had ing with Tim Engel, who is one of to go, and I sort of wrestled my the senior finance officers at the JS: Where did you go from there? way out and ended up at Turner studio now. I had just finished on Cats Don’t Dance. I wish it had- Prince and the Pauper and I think MD: From there I went over to n’t happened that way, but the les- I said to him in passing that I was development and tried to develop sons I learned by having gone out dying to try something a little dif- feature ideas. We were all in a and now coming back to Disney, I ferent, a little unusual. I might brick building off the lot. There don’t know that I would’ve had have even said, ‘I wish I could do wasn’t anything definite that I this perspective that I have any something in black and white’ off worked on. I just remember I was other way; at the end it was valu- the top of my head; a couple probably even more impatient able for me. of days later he said, ‘Well, than I was before, wanting this there’s this thing over in the live- opportunity. I was probably 30 or JS: Lessons in company politics, or action division…’ so. I remember feeling, ‘It just isn’t relationships… I don’t think the whole going to happen here as fast as I thing took more than 3 months or would like it to.’ I felt like I wanted MD: In just sort of everything. The so. The piece wasn’t very long, but to go on somewhere else and pur- way to make a movie, the way to it was exciting to be a part of a sue this — I didn’t have the understand what the artists need, live-action film. It was fun and a patience to wait there. what the management is trying to very unusual type of thing. deal with — just having more of a JS: Were they shooting down global awareness of the whole JS: The first time I saw it, it remind- ideas, or was it just a slow process animation industry. So you’re not ed me of the Fleischer Superman to move anything ahead? wrapped up in the one little thing shorts, but more recently the MD: At that time they weren’t that you’re doing and throwing a spreading arrows made me think making the number of movies fit and not realizing why things

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200055 are. Even when you find out why things are it can be frustrating, but that’s just sort of life on Planet Earth. In the end it ended up being a good thing. I wouldn’t want to go through it again, but I think I’m smarter for having done it that way.

JS: Was Cats Don’t Dance a Turner property or did you come to them with it?

MD: No, they had it. They were developing it at the time. It was a much different story and had 5 Woolie, the musically gifted elephant, confides his dreams to his friends Danny the other songs; Randy Newman was cat and Pudge the penguin in Cats Don’t Dance. © Turner Feature Animation. not involved. JS: But a lower class kind of of those things that all the people individual. working on it could feed ideas JS: What was the original into. That’s when you know you’ve concept? MD: Right. So we were all excited got something that has potential; about taking it to the furthest you’d say, ‘Oh, I know, this could MD: It was more of a Broadway extreme and have it be in the happen,’ and you start drawing show and not the sort of Singin’ in world of people. It just was more pictures and generating images…. the Rain movie that it ended up fun and it made it quite a bit dif- being. The songs they had were ferent: it went to the notion of JS: The characters don’t look written by Richard Maltby Jr. and being typecast simply by what you ‘Disney’ at all, which is usually the David Shier, who had worked on appear to be on the outside. look other studios aspire to; was it the stage musicals Big and Baby. hard to convince Turner to go in a There are stray cats that live different direction? among the sets and studio back- lots and the film was originally a MD: Oh no, I don’t remember that story about the lives of those cats. being an issue at all. When we So the original story had actual worked on character design it was cats on 4 legs that could speak; it about giving them appeal. was more along the lines of Lady Whichever way you arrive at that, and The Tramp. be it classic Disney or classic I remember we did this big Warner Bros., or anything, it was sort of analysis while we were just trying to go for an appeal that pitching the idea of all the differ- had the potential… ent ways that animals can appear in a movie. You had everything JS: Did a sort of WB look work its from an animal that doesn’t speak, way into the film? but behaves in an intelligent, ‘Benji’ sort of manner, all the way Pudge and Danny share a cup of tea MD: When I grew up I was influ- up to a Bugs Bunny universe in Cats Don’t Dance. © Turner enced first by the Disney movies. I where the animals coexist with Feature Animation. think my grandmother took me to humans, and no one says, ‘I can’t JS: It started taking off at that Sword in the Stone when I was 3, believe I’m talking to a rabbit.’ point? which might’ve been one of the You’re accepted as another indi- first influences to set me down vidual. MD: Yeah, quite a bit. It was one that path. Then I was exposed to

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200056 the Warner Bros. cartoons on JS: It looks pretty seamless. duction, my voice wound up stay- Saturday morning TV at the time. ing in the film. So I think those were the two MD: It was rocky going. There biggest influences for me. were some drastic suggestions, JS: Gene Kelly is credited with the Probably Cats Don’t Dance reflects like changing it from the ‘40s era film’s choreography. Did he have kind of a blending of what I liked to 1950s rock & roll, pretty much an active role in its production? about both of those styles. in the middle of the movie. It’s pret- ty hard to try and keep what you MD: We probably saw him three JS: The snappiness of the action, have finished so far, and then sud- or four times. I think we first met the quick cutting and posing denly transition into a different him a little more than a year reminded me of [WB animation period of time or introduce a dif- before he died. It wasn’t like he director Bob] Clampett. ferent character or have a com- would demonstrate steps or any- pletely different ending that does- thing — we talked more about the MD: Yeah, we looked at those — I n’t seem to fit the beginning you philosophy of approaching musi- liked the heightened reality that have. cals and what they were originally they achieved in those cartoons. thinking back when musicals were One thing we’re always trying to JS: Were the end posters showing being made all the time. do is increase the productivity of the film’s characters starring in It was interesting, because the animators without making it modern-day films a result of last he said, ‘Now we’re in a very ana- obvious to the audience that you minute tinkering from on high? lytical age, because there’s so had to cut corners. Something many books to read and films to that Chuck Jones was very clever MD: We had all the characters watch.’ I got a similar response with was putting a lot of attitude done up in classic movies — to us from Ward Kimball when I asked and a lot of entertainment on the they were so much more fun. him the same question. But at that screen. When you actually studied They were films like Casablanca, time there wasn’t the history we those cartoons you’d see how that everyone knew. I think Singin’ have now, so they were just trying long he would actually hold in the Rain was the only one that things. They basically said, ‘We things. The style in which the char- made it into the film. It was funnier would try stuff, and if it worked acters would move would still be to see these guys having taken we kept it and if it didn’t we would very entertaining, but they were those roles, as opposed to try something else.’ far more economically animated Grumpy Old Men or Twister, but than in a feature production. that was one of those ‘how to sur- JS: Was there anything that just vive’ decisions. The films we ended didn’t work in Cats Don’t Dance? JS: Was it smooth sailing once you up using were all Warner Bros. or took the story in this direction? Turner titles. If we used others, we MD: Oh, yeah, but I can’t remem- would’ve had to pay fees for the ber anything in particular…and MD: The person that was in rights to use them. At that point on New Groove too. Again, that’s charge of the Turner animation there was just enough money left part of the process that you have division changed several times. to finish it in color. to go through en route to the final There may have been at least five product. It made the people with- different people over the course of JS: Well, you said you wanted to out the experience at Turner nerv- the production, and with each work in black and white… Was ous, because obviously money’s person came a new take on how providing [Darla’s evil, gargantuan going out the door and you’re not we should do the story… That butler] Max’s voice yourself a seeing any results. At Disney they tended to slow the process down. director’s perk? realize there’s gonna be a certain amount of that. They’re not stupid, JS: Was this during pre-pro- MD: I recorded a temporary they’re not just gonna let things duction? scratch track for Max, which we go out the door endlessly, but intended to replace with a profes- they realize that’s part of it. MD: Oh no, we were right in the sional actor later on. When we ran middle of it. out of money at the end of pro- JS: An investment, sure.

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200057 desire, to do that — this is what I’d like to do. You remember The Ed Sullivan Show where they had the plate spinner? I remember as a kid thinking one of the most exciting things on TV was watching that guy. At times during Cats Don’t Dance I felt just like him; we would have several ‘plates’ going and then they would all start wob- bling at the same time. In the end we got it all to Introducing Kuzco, an emperor transformed into a llama, voiced by David Spade, and Pacha, a good-hearted peasant, voiced by John Goodman, in The Emperor’s New Groove. come together. And again, I think © Walt Disney Pictures.All rights reserved. it was a valuable experience — it MD: And that it will pay off. If got came too late to have a posi- contributed to the great apprecia- you’ve never done it before, you tive effect. The first responses from tion I have now for the way the think, ‘Oh my gosh, the meter’s test screenings were very rough process works at Disney. running and this guy’s not driving because the film was still very at all.’ rough — a lot of sequences were JS: They’re more supportive here? still only pencil tests. I don’t know JS: Do you think it was Turner’s if most audiences can look at this MD: Yeah, they’re aware of the lack of experience in animation, or black and white coloring book process and they trust the process. the Turner merger into Time they see on the screen and imag- They know what to expect it to Warner that deprived Cats Don’t ine what it’s going to look like look like, what’ll work and not Dance of a bigger opening? when it’s finished. work, because they’ve been So the test screenings didn’t through it. MD: Well, when we were at go very well. All of it just pointed Turner I certainly got the feeling to not throwing too much money JS: What happened after Cats that it was going to be a major at the film. But after it was released Don’t Dance? Did Time Warner launch, that it was a bigger fish for there were quite a few reviews close down the Turner animation them. I was much more encour- that were very favorable. It unit? aged with what they were talking would’ve helped had they come about doing, how they were out earlier. MD: They didn’t close it down, but going to position it. it just seemed to all of us there that At the time they had suc- JS: Was Cats Don’t Dance a labor the future was really uncertain. I cessfully launched quite a few of love? had had enough of trying to push things with effective ad cam- a movie through under those cir- paigns. But when the film went to MD: It had to be because it went cumstances. Then I got a call from Warner Bros. everybody felt it was through so much ‘changing of the a friend at Disney, Randy Fullmer. going to become a smaller fish guard.’ We had so many problems We had known each other for and it would get lost; I was trying in making it, and this went on for quite a while, 10 years or so since to remain optimistic that it would- a little over five years. That was a we worked together on Little n’t happen. long time to be hanging with that, Mermaid. He was going to pro- I think very objectively they and so — it was a labor of love. All duce Groove and he gave me a looked at it and decided there of us really liked it. We wanted to call to come back over to Disney. wouldn’t be a market for it. It was- make a movie that wasn’t just an I felt I had gotten all of the n’t something they responded to, ‘edgy cartoon’ and they kept push- ‘roaming’ out of my system, and they didn’t think people would eat ing that. It was a family movie, had really learned a lot of valuable it up. and not Beavis & Butthead. I don’t things, and I was really ready at All the good reviews we have the taste, I don’t have the that time to come back to a place

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200058 that had a history and understood MD: The prince did turn into a as the vain Prince Kuzco]’s were the process of animation. llama — that was one of the few the two characters that survived things that remains, but once he our changes. JS: When was this call? turned into the llama he was mute, so he didn’t speak through JS: I understand Allers isn’t MD: That was the beginning of the rest of the movie. The prince involved with the film at this point. ’97, when we were finishing CDD. was not really the main character; I finished and then two months it was Pacha the peasant. In New MD: No. When we shifted the later I started at Disney. I didn’t Groove he’s played by John film’s focus it turned into some- take much time off — Groove was Goodman, but originally it was thing he didn’t feel a connection something they were already supposed to be Owen Wilson, to anymore. He moved on and working on. I just got on — I felt who was a kid at the time, so he’s now developing another film like it was an opportunity I didn’t it was just a different movie of his own. want to pass up. altogether. JS: The current crop of Disney fea- JS: The kid became the llama’s tures seem to alternate between protector? serious films with comic elements like Lion King or Tarzan, and more MD: No it was more like The humor-driven efforts like Aladdin Prisoner of Zenda or The Prince or Hercules. The Emperor’s New and The Pauper where the kid Groove definitely belongs in the substitutes for the prince; it latter category. The studio was was a completely different story satisifed this was the best direction altogether. to go with the project?

MD: As we worked on it, there Kuzco and Pacha sizing up the were several notes in the original situation. © Walt Disney Pictures. All rights reserved. version that couldn’t seem to be addressed. So we just took a very JS: They basically said, ‘Would you bold move and went to a different like to direct this for us?’ direction altogether, and that became the thing that people MD: Well, I started as a co-director responded to and liked. Once we with Roger Allers from Lion King. did that it really took off; it was less

He had been working on this idea Pacha helps Kuzco get a handle on things than two years ago that the for at least a year or a couple of in The Emperor’s New Groove. © Walt change was made. years. I was to come on and be a Disney Pictures.All rights reserved. co-director, which was kind of an JS: That’s a very short time to turn apprentice to a director type of JS: Turning into a llama doesn’t around a feature. role, plus it was an opportunity to sound like the premise for a seri- get back into the Disney studio. ous story. MD: It really was. There was a lot JS: I understand it started out as a of development art that had been more serious story. MD: It wasn’t a serious drama like done for the earlier version that Prince of Egypt. It had comic ele- inspired things and definitely MD: It was originally much more ments of which the prince’s trans- helped, but as it changed its tone epic. Sting was writing songs for formation was one. But it had big- people just jumped on. it, but it was still more of a serious ger life or death stakes; the serious It’s an amazing bunch of movie. moments were much more serious people at the studio. If you give than what we did. It did have them a clear idea of what to do, JS: It still had the prince turning Eartha Kitt playing the evil charac- you just do that and step out of into a llama? ter [Yzma]; hers and David [Spade the way. It’s not just the talent

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200059 the movie. We had several choices that we came up with for a new title. They were presented to sev- eral small focus groups that includ- ed kids 6 to 8, all the way up to adults around 45. We got to watch behind the glass. They were told the story, shown the characters, given cards with the different titles on them, and this is the title that in 8 or 9 focus groups was chosen by the majority. It was really interesting with Kuzco and Pacha working together in The Emperor’s New Groove. the children. I heard certain adults © Walt Disney Pictures.All rights reserved. say, ‘I don’t even know what that that’s phenomenal, but there’s all of us had this notion of taking it in means,’ and when the moderator the support as well. If you focus this direction. We went with it and asked the children, ‘What does it on what you want, it can really there was definitely nothing to mean? Do you understand it?’ happen quite fast. lose. They went, ‘Oh sure!’ So it was another one of those things JS: Was there a ‘eureka’ moment JS: Was the title change dictated where kids aren’t so wrapped up when you realized a humorous by the film’s new direction? in all this stuff that they can’t approach worked best with the understand something. They go, story? MD: Definitely. It was formerly ‘Oh yeah, he’s like changing his Kingdom of the Sun. attitude.’ I thought, ‘Wasn’t that MD: For me that’s the stuff where nice? They just get it.’ There’s no my instincts lie. So when we were JS: Then the pronoun changed. fuss about it; they were pretty given the opportunity to make clear. They just looked at each that shift, or at least explore it, I felt MD: Yes, to Kingdom in the Sun. other like, ‘Why wouldn’t we liberated. That’s just where I tend Kingdom of the Sun sounded understand that?’ It was really kind to go. much more dramatic. In certain of fun to watch their faces as they translations around the world it were given the question. JS: When did it happen? would almost take on a religious tone and that made it sound even JS: From the trailer I can see it’s MD: That was September, 2 years more dramatic and not repre- coming from a very tongue in ago [‘98]. sentative of where we were taking cheek direction.

JS: What was the catalyst for that? MD: It’s meant to be fun. It’s gonna come out at Christmas — it’s just MD: The thing just wasn’t jelling. It the perfect time for families to go wasn’t coming together to [Walt and have a good time. There’s a Disney Studios chairman] Peter message there that’s moral and [Schneider] or [Feature Animation valid, and it should be fun. I think president] Tom [Schumacher]’s sat- that it sets you down that path. isfaction. So we needed to do something, or I think there was JS: The characters look very angu- the option that they would just lar, their design is very sharp- shelve it and the film simply edged; at first glance it doesn’t wouldn’t be made. So something Kuzco and Pacha. © Walt Disney Pictures. resemble what one might think of needed to be done, and a couple All rights reserved. as the house ‘Disney style.’

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200060 MD: Perhaps when you see more relationship between Pacha and just babbling on about something, of the style of the backgrounds. Kuzco. He also wrote the song completely oblivious to the fact Peter Pan was an influence in that Tom Jones sings at the begin- that the other two characters are terms of the brighter colors we’re ning and at the end that book- watching him and realizing some- using, and in what we call the ends the movie and describes the thing very strange is happening. ‘pool of light’ look. It’s very theatri- character’s transformation. cal — they’ve lit the set for the JS: In Saludos Amigos Donald place where the character is going JS: You’re talking about his emo- Duck has a run-in with a llama… to perform. When you look at tional transformation as opposed the backgrounds without the to his physical one. But there MD: Yeah, we saw that too. characters, they feel like an empty aren’t songs or production num- What I really liked in that film was stage waiting for the actors to bers throughout the course of the the way they caricatured the come on. film; there hasn’t been a song-free South American landscape. Some Disney cartoon since The Rescuers of our people who went down Down Under in 1990. there said it’s not caricatured all that much; it’s a very dramatic MD: If you don’t count the Pixar landscape with breathtaking films. mountain shapes. I wanted to get that impact — not to repre- JS: I’m talking about the tradition- sent anything completely photo- ally animated features. Were there realistically, but to have a sense any qualms about that? of how, in your imagination, it seems to be; to create that MD: They definitely were aware heightened reality that you see that they had played that hand when you go to Disneyland or Dindal relates the backgrounds of Peter quite a bit, and they wanted to Disney World. It’s the way it Pan to an empty stage waiting for actors to perform. © Walt Disney Pictures. move into different areas using looks, but it’s better. All rights reserved. music. But the music’s very impor- tant. Everyone realizes the value of JS: You feel good about the film. Character design-wise, all music, and the emotional poten- the characters were designed by tial of having strong music in a MD: Yeah I do. As we finish it up Joe Moshier, who was very influ- movie, so I don’t think music will we’ve been listening to the score enced by the later years of Milt ever be completely absent. It’s just that’s being composed by John Kahl [directing animator and char- too valuable. So I think you’ll see Debney. As I was saying earlier, it’s acter designer on Disney’s different applications of music and amazing what an effect music has Sleeping Beauty and The Sword in songs in the next movies that are upon the picture. It really helps the the Stone]. There was a sense of coming up. audience know how they’re sup- having a straight look and not an posed to feel, because music cer- all-round, curved kind of design. JS: The idea of someone turning tainly gives you that cue. The He touched all the characters, into a llama reminds me of pieces that we’ve heard either cre- even the smallest and most Lampwick’s donkey transformation ate such dramatic weight or emo- insignificant walk-ons. He did in Pinocchio; was that an tional weight, or they let me know them all and it looks really nice to influence? its okay to laugh at this point, that have them have that angled look. Kuzco’s being mean but you’re MD: We definitely looked at that. supposed to be amused by it and JS: I understand there aren’t any That was much more of a horror not appalled by it. songs in the body of the movie. moment; this is played for the It’s really fun to watch comedy. Kuzco’s completely because we had a terrific scratch MD: Sting is still in the film — he unaware that he’s changing. He score on the movie, but when you has a ballad over the closing cred- continues to be the arrogant get somebody who’s really tailor- its that’s about the friendship, the insensitive person that he is. He’s making it for the movie itself with

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200061 a 90-piece orchestra, boy what a jump it is — it feels like a film. Movie music sounds a certain way and does a certain thing.

JS: What’s next?

MD: We’ve already started to explore the next project Randy and I would like to work on. We want to get back into the produc- tion rotation as soon as we can. I don’t want to wait too long, because for one thing I want to be busy. Also, the more you go through the process of making these, the more you learn when The Emperor with Kronk, voiced by Patrick Warburton, whose brawn is equally you go from start to finish. So I matched with the brains of Yzma,the Emperor’s advisor, voiced by Eartha Kitt. don’t want the finish of the next © Walt Disney Pictures.All rights reserved. one to be too many years away. MD: The caliber of talent support things, so it ended up being a at Disney is a big part of what fun production. People did a lot made this so enjoyable for me. I of terrific work on it. The only was the sole director on this, thing left now is for folks to go instead of being part of a team. see it. Even though it could have been overwhelming, I just can’t say Joe Strike is a writer and TV pro- enough about the ability of the ducer with a lifelong interest in people here to make movies. And animation. His work has that made it so much fun. It never appeared on Bravo, USA got to be something like, oh my Network, the Sci-Fi Channel and gosh, I felt like I was drowning. It’s many other outlets. His articles really something to see what they on film, TV and popular culture Mark Dindal with producer Randy can do. It’s completely fascinating, have been published in numer- Fullmer. Photo courtesy of Disney Enterprises, Inc.All rights reserved. really enjoyable. ous trade and general interest publications, including the New JS: Isn’t it usually a 5-year span JS: The way you describe it York Daily News, Starlog and the from conception to release? reminds me of the old Disneyland Village Voice. He lives in New TV shows where Walt would take York City with his wife Deena and MD: We may be able to cut that you behind the scenes to show sons Max and Ben, all of whom by maybe a year, but it’s still good animators doing sketches and have caught his cartoon bug. to keep thinking and moving on, working on the next film. and not take too much time off Note: Readers may contact any sitting back and taking a break. MD: It was really fun like that. Animation World Magazine I’ve been on things where it contributor by sending an e-mail JS: Is your next project anything doesn’t end up being that enjoy- to [email protected]. you can talk about right now? able, but that’s the face you put on for the public. But this actual- MD: It’s still too far in the future at ly was. It could be that having the moment. experienced the other thing at Turner, I was just in a different JS: Any last words? place to be able to appreciate

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200062 through a film well over a hun- Out of Character: dred times. After a while, scenes that once felt dramatic feel flat and jokes fizzle. So what did the early The Making of Joseph press reviews reveal? The reviews for Joseph by Robert Ramirez have generally been very good, but instead of going on about the Editor’s Note: When I sat down positive press it’s received, I’d to watch DreamWorks’ Joseph: rather dive into a period years ago King of Dreams, I expected a when the film was not working typical direct-to-video production. very well, when the storytelling In fact, perhaps I was even more was heavy-handed, klunky and skeptical due to the subject mat- what we discovered as a crew that ter that could have been dry and made it a whole lot better. But first, stilted, toeing a careful line so as a brief synopsis. to not upset anyone. However, Joseph: King of Dreams is what I saw on my little screen based on the Bible story found was so much more than I expect- early on in the Old Testament (not ed. The story was vibrant and the campy Andrew Lloyd Weber touching, the relationships real musical). Joseph was a spoiled and the lessons learned an seventeen-year-old boy who was organic experience, not a preach- adored by his father, Jacob, and ing morality tale. From the ima- loathed by his brothers. Who ginative dream sequences to the could blame them? While they stylish design work, I was Director Robert Ramirez. had to work all day in the scorch- impressed! Luckily, co-director Photo © 2000 Dreamworks LLC. ing fields, Joseph learned to read Robert Ramirez was willing to important is not being realistic. Of and write, and pranced around in share his creative experience… course reviews are important. An a luxurious coat his father had honest movie critic with no agen- given him. To make matters worse, t was a Tuesday afternoon in da can give a filmmaker some- Joseph had vivid, wild dreams that September when I heard the thing he or she has lost a long foretold his rise to greatness above Ithud on my front porch. Before time ago: objectivity. Because of his family, so his brothers did what I opened the door, I knew what it the process, a filmmaker might sit any group of sniveling siblings was. DreamWorks’ Publicity Department had messengered over a compilation of early press reviews on Joseph: King of Dreams, a film I had spent almost three years working on. I noncha- lantly took the package, slowly went upstairs and closed my office door. The moment I sat at my desk, I cut the act. I shredded open the envelope the way the Tasmanian Devil tears through trees. What did the first non-ani- mation industry movie critics think? Did the story work? Were the characters interesting? Joseph gets a better look at the special coat his mother, Rachel, weaves for him. Whoever tells you reviews are not ™ and © 2000 Dreamworks LLC.

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200063 conference room (which for me felt miles away). When we all sat down, Jeffrey looked up and said three words: “Nothing made sense.” He was right. Nothing made sense. We followed the Bible story tightly. The script had structure. We storyboarded it word for word, yet it fell flat on its face. It all suddenly felt like a horri- ble, horrible disaster, and the worst part of it all was that I didn’t know how to fix it. I was deeply Joseph, alone and alienated from his brothers. ™ and © 2000 Dreamworks LLC. confused, and our aggressive pro- would do. They sold him into slav- assembling a very talented story duction schedule didn’t allow for ery, tore up his coat, doused it crew that included artists that had the story re-working that usually with sheep’s blood, and told their both television and feature experi- takes place on a theatrical feature. parents that Joseph was killed by ence. We had a script that was Share Stallings, one of our creative wild animals. (Very Jerry Springer.) well-structured and followed the executives on the project, was In Egypt, Joseph’s charm Bible story fairly accurately. Once very supportive and offered and dream-reading talents the First Act was storyboarded, we encouragement to the crew. She allowed him to prosper and even- filmed the panels, recorded a assured me that at least two tually rise up to be second in com- temp vocal track with music, and sequences could be saved by clar- mand over the great nation. His edited it all together to create the ifying some visuals and re-writing life seemed complete once he storyreel. We were excited and some dialogue. I couldn’t see it at found a loving wife and started his ready for our First Act screening the time, although she turned out own family, until a great famine for Jeffrey Katzenberg, which was to be right. The only thing I could struck all of Egypt (as he had pre- set for an early weekend morning think about was that “nothing dicted) and a familiar group of in the New Year of 1998. made sense.” strangers showed up begging for The following Monday food. These “strangers” turned out morning I was going over the to be his brothers. Now it was notes compiled after the First Act Joseph’s turn. Would he follow his screening, when I heard a group initial gut instinct and enslave gathering outside my door. It was them? Abuse them? Kill them? Or the story crew. They were dying to would he rise above hatred and know how the screening went. I forgive them? In a nutshell, that’s wasn’t sure how to approach what the crux of the story is about: telling them the bleak news. forgiveness. Should I sugar coat it? Should I tell December of 1997 was a them it was a disaster? I was well great time on the production. aware of the fact that morale was While the script was being fleshed Co-directors Robert Ramirez and Rob high prior to the screening, and I out, Paul Duncan (the head back- LaDuca. Photo © 2000 Dreamworks LLC. didn’t want to send it suddenly ground painter) and Brian crashing down. (It’s been my expe- Andrews (story artist) were creat- After the Screening... rience that unhappy crews don’t ing some phenomenal conceptual When the lights came on in make good movies.) Yet still, I had artwork. Francisco Avalos and the screening room, the silence to tell them the truth. Nasos Vakalis were doing story- was deafening. All the execs put “What do you mean, it boards based on a rough story down their yellow legal notepads bombed?” asked a board artist outline. Weeks later we started and headed down the hall to the who two weeks prior to the

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200064 screening had pitched a successful personalities, we started making and what made them tick, the sequence. “The sequences are some important breakthroughs. scenes had a new spark of life that based on good ideas...good con- It all starts with asking the right had been missing all along. The cepts, but when we cut them questions. characters were now driving the together they don’t connect,” I What does Joseph want? scenes, instead of vice versa. responded. “Something’s missing.” To be a part of his brothers’ lives In time, ideas that were born After having some intensive and reunite with his family. What out of character helped blend story meetings with Steven does Judah, Joseph’s older sequences so that they flowed into Hickner and Penny Finkleman-Cox brother, want? He wants the love each other instead of feeling (Executive Producers), I knew we and positive attention that his disconnected. had to throw away 90% of what father Jacob reserves only for we had. They both brought great Joseph. What does Jacob want? knowledge and experience, and Jacob wants to show the world proved to be the driving forces how much he loves his favorite behind the project. They directed son, Joseph. Why does Jacob love our attention toward focusing Joseph so much more than more on the characters and their his other sons? Because Joseph is relationships to each other, instead the spitting image of his favorite of always thinking in terms of plot wife. He’s the first-born son of and structure. the woman he waited for all his life to marry. Once we discovered the “wants” of the main characters, it was simple to figure out what actions they would take to satisfy them. Different characters often have opposing wants to each other, which leads to conflict. Coming to video this holiday season, Joseph: King of Dreams. ™ and © 2000 How the conflict is resolved is Dreamworks LLC. the story, the heart of the movie. Another important disco- There is an unfortunate

Joseph and his young family in Egypt. ™ very was finding the voice of misconception that plagues many and © 2000 Dreamworks LLC. each individual. Dialogue is animated productions. Whenever action in its purest, simplest form. a script isn’t working, the usual Character:The Missing Piece Think about your own voice for plan of action is “fix it in the story- What is a story? To break a moment. How do you speak? boarding process.” Oftentimes, it down to its simplest definition, Do you generally give long, this leads to giving the board a story is a character who wants rolling answers to questions, or artists the burden of fixing the for something so badly, that he do you prefer to give short, holes in the story. From there, the or she is willing to do anything to curt responses? The way we baton gets passed down to edit- get it. That’s what stories usually speak says something specific ing. “We can move things around come down to: satisfying a want. about our nature. Do you like to in editing,” is an overused mantra When we started analyzing use soft sounding words, or do that gets dumped on the smallest the characters in Joseph, we you generally use sharp sounding department with the least amount began to work from the inside consonants? When writing a of time. The lead editors on out as opposed to just putting character, it’s not what a character Joseph — Mike Andrews and together a story. I learned that sto- says that tells us the most about Greg Snyder — often had only a ries just don’t happen. Characters their personality; it’s how they few days to cut music and edit make stories happen. Once we say it. many sequences that were delved into the minds of these Once we had a deeper constantly being rewritten even as characters and dissected their understanding of our characters they dropped in the last few

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200065 sound effects for the next day’s development of digital technology Robert Ramirez has directed three screening. Although these last- is growing at a mind-boggling feature-length animated films minute procedures are part of the speed, I hope that we don’t lose including Joseph: King of production process, a great deal sight of our main objective as film- Dreams, Brave Little Toaster to of time (not to mention a film’s makers: creating compelling char- the Rescue and Brave Little budget) could be saved by starting acters and telling a story in the Toaster Goes to Mars. He is cur- out with a tighter, more thought- best way possible. It may be that rently developing a screenplay in out script. We’ve all heard it it’ll take more production time up- the UCLA Master Sequence in before: “If it ain’t on the page, front in the script development Screenriting Program. it ain’t on the stage.” stage but, as experience has The next time I’m on an proven, it’ll save a great deal more Note: Readers may contact any animated film and run into the down the line. Animation World Magazine inevitable problems that come up Joseph: King of Dreams will contributor by sending an e-mail in the story process, it’s good to be available November 7, 2000 in to [email protected]. know where I might find some U.S. retail outlets, with other terri- answers. In this age where the torities soon following.

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200066 TheThe AnimationAnimation PimpPimp by Chris Robinson The Animation Pimp: rambling, jerks didn’t attract the public who much money I will have. So provocative (see drunken and idi- don’t seem to understand the term maybe I’m just jealous (then otic) observations of the animation ‘animation.’ Should we use again...Europe has more bodies scene. Animation Film Festival anyway? then Canada). Maybe Cartoon Festival is more The Ottawa Festival is a ew years back was planning public friendly. Yeah... Inter- crapshoot. We plan the pro- a piece ‘bout (not boot) national Cartoon Film Festival. grammes, hire staff, invite pro- Ffestival directors bein’ The (point) being that the grammers and guests but have no pimps. Johns and hoes are inter- festivals were elitist. clue if we will make enough changeable (e.g. Joe animator is a Then Big Bird convinced money. “Yeah,” says Terry John looking for a hand-job from a Siebert that cartoonies could in American, “but you’re government studio and also a ho offering the fact sell coolness and More Tittie supported up dere in your socialist studio guy/gal themselves as a Visuals were born. And so began country.” A fallacy. Twenty percent whore/john, a tidy, quick piece the wallpapering of animation. of our budget is covered by the o’ meat). The whole shaaaaabang Festivals changed. Suits started government: $24,000 (City of of them (whether Russian ani- comin’. Students came to find Ottawa), $90,000 (Telefilm mators or California buyers) jobs, not ideas ‘cause ideas don’t Canada), $15,000 (National Film straddle the line. This was about buy Nikes (i.e. coolness). Studios Board of Canada), $4,500 (Region ‘96 when festivals became a site came to show their ‘human side,’ of Ottawa-Carleton). Considering of decadence. headhunt, steal new styles (ya our size, history and importance in ever notice that Rugrats, Duckman North America these numbers are Few years and the whole Csupo look bor- disgusting. rows a bit from a well known back was Estonian animator who influenced The Ottawa planning a the Ukes who were lushingly lured to Hollywood?) and wank. festival is a piece ‘bout Nuttin’ wrong with that s’long as crapshoot. they payin’. (not boot) Same time governments My demonic inner voice, festival turned right and figured that while dropping the kids at the cartoons weren’t no important pool, yells, “IF WE WERE IN directors ‘ding to be payin’ for so might as TORONTO!” Of course, the funny well let da’ mouse cover it. thing is that we work hard to bein’ pimps. Welcome booths. avoid showing ‘cartoons’ and try Ottawa is not so bad I to convince people that animation Figured festivals were/ guess because Annecy has is an art form. This never works should be galleries, museums, whored itself worse than any of us and in the end if we simply resort- venues for artists to gather and (Roy Disney! Give me a fuggin’ ed to showing funny cartoonies share ideas, work and expe- break.). But hell, they attract a shit- we’d be on our way...media atten- riences. I hate galleries and mu- load of people and studios and tion would flow in every direction. seums. Damn stagnant recep- sponsors so I guess maybe it’s a But then where are we? We’ve got tacles for the glorification of the good thing, but I tell you each press but it’s for all the big compa- artist as GREAT (WO) MAN. year I plan the festival’s pro- nies who are getting it already Needless to say these artsy circle gramme with no freakin’ idea how anyway...the independents and

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200067 small companies are left in the grunts, groans. Within the shad- of your own to share? Then visit dark again. ows these sounds bring you closer Chris in the Animation Café at: The media doesn’t care to you and those around you. The http://www.creativeplanet.com/ about Andreas Hykade, Paul rest is just whoring. So in the end communitycenter/ Driessen or Raoul Servais. They are me and my fellow pimps and pim- Chris Robinson is executive direc- more interested in some Ottawa pettes offer everything for the tor of the Ottawa International schmuck who is inkin’ dogs for needy starved festival-goer. If you Festival and the founder and some half-butt TV production. want quick, no bullshit solo action, director of SAFO, the Ottawa we’ve got booths and rooms for International Student Animation you. If you want more intimate, Intermission Festival. He is also a board mem- Whining aside, this is an ok interactive, in-depth experiences ber of ASIFA International. job. I make my hours, travel (e.g. group sex?) we’ve got a nice Robinson has curated film pro- around the world. I write. dark 969 (not shittin’ ya) seat grams (Los Angeles, Norway, Where am I going with this space for you. And if you just want Korea, Holland, Estonia, anyway? I think I was more in love to talk that’s ok too. But no profan- Singapore, Vietnam and several with the title and trying to shock ity. other places), served on juries people than saying anything rele- (AnimExpo, World Animation vant or new. This year, Ottawa felt Hottie Animator ‘o da Month Celebration), and written articles good. We maybe broke even. Anita Beckman. Australian on animation for Animation Maybe I’m suggesting that student, made a beautiful Lenica World, FPS, Plateau, Animation the heart and soul of a festival inspired short Off Ya Trolley. Journal and Take One. He prefers remains in those dark spaces. writing over cartoons. He also Don’t be fooled by the facades of “The Animation Pimp” is irks a lot of people with his often- the suits and the logos. This is just brought to you by AAA Ladies inflammatory opinions about foreplay. The real down and dirty from Shanghai, meeting the sexu- many things. stuff lies within those silent, dark al needs of the animation commu- walls which come alive in a sensu- nity since August 1999. Note: Readers may contact any al play of light and sound that Animation World Magazine bring pleasure, pain, ecstasy, Do you want to continue contributor by sending an e-mail laughter, insight, shock, guffaws, this rant? Do you have an opinion to [email protected].

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200068 A Lessening Dichotomy: China by Frank Gladstone n August first of this year, I was among about Osixty people from the Hollywood film industry who trav- eled to China to take part in the 2000 Beijing Motion Picture and Television Conference, co-hosted by Legends of China, the China Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers and Kodak China Ltd. The purpose of the Conference was to meet and dis- cuss the movie industry with our contemporaries in China. Ideally, cinematographers would be able to meet cinematographers, cos- tumers with costumers and anima- tors with animators. The public for- mat was to be open panel discus- The Science and Technology Digital Film Studio is within this building. sions, with more informal private Photo courtesy of Frank Gladstone. discussions surrounding the three- place. Because of the limited time before any real discussion could day event. we had and the need to present happen. Initially, I was there repre- these formal pronouncements and That is not to say that issues senting DreamWorks Animation the interpretation into each other’s did not come up. In several of the but by circumstance and serendip- language, the panel discussions presentations, speakers were able ity, I ended up being the only per- very nearly always came to an end to intertwine pressing matters into son directly representing anima- tion, per se, at the Conference. Phil Feiner from Pacific Title, repre- senting the digital services indus- try, moderated our panel, and our Chinese counterparts also came from the digital or traditional world. Like many of the panels that occurred during the confer- ence, most of the time was spent introducing each other and going over company history and pur- pose. This is a significant cultural aspect of presentations in China. Formal statements of past achieve- ments and a listing of company assets are almost a requirement before any discussions can take Workstations at the Beijing digital studio. Photo courtesy of Frank Gladstone.

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200069 their narratives. In discussing the tion personnel. She quickly was not yet evident. The studio question of intellectual property, arranged for me to visit the digital supervisor, Su Pingbao, was quick our Chinese speaker was most animation facilities in Beijing and to mention that they are getting forthwith about the problem of Shanghai. ready to expand and they are piracy, even as he traced its histo- Beijing is, of course, the expecting much growth in facili- ry and possible solutions. Some bustling capital city of the People’s ties and capability over the next discussion about royalties, the Republic. The Science and few years. I showed them some state of Chinese art direction and Technology Digital Film Studio, of DreamWorks product. They storytelling did manage to come located in a large building that seemed very impressed and were through. houses several floors of film and almost apologetic about what More interesting discus- film training divisions, seems to they saw as their own humble sions happened outside of the have a good deal of governmental efforts. They expressed a great main hall, where the participants support and perhaps a bit of deal of interest in learning more could be less preoccupied with bureaucratic counterpoise as well. from us. formalities. Here, we found our The studio is well equipped with counterparts to be very frank, curi- SGI workstations, various com- ous and candid about the crafts positing and animation software they share with us. (including Maya) and an adequate data center and film recorder. The Beyond the Conference operation is rather compact, bro- But, in the end, it was not ken into two large open plan areas the Conference where I really got with somewhere around thirty a look at what China is doing workstation cubicles in one, and a with animation. Yu Lee, the series of interconnected offices in indomitable woman who put the the other. Part of the larger room is conference together and did her also cordoned off as a training best to keep it on track, realized area. Work has been pretty Using Maya at the Shanghai Film Studio. some of my frustration at not hav- methodical at the studio. Their reel Photo courtesy of Frank Gladstone. ing the opportunity to have more showed some good compositing in depth discussions with anima- technique, but all out animation The following day, we trav- eled to Shanghai , perhaps the most cosmopolitan city in China. There, we visited the Shanghai Film Studio and were given a tour by the studio president, Zhu Yongde, and the director of opera- tions, Eddie Lee. The Shanghai operation, while also tacitly sup- ported by the government, has taken a very aggressive attitude toward digital production. Beginning in March of 1999, the studio prepared offices, bought and installed equipment (some- where close to seventy worksta- tions, a data center, film recorder and very extensive motion-capture stage) and software (Maya and Lightwave technologies), trained their crew and began producing A little bit of home — McDonald’s are everywhere! Photo courtesy of Frank Gladstone. 22 episodes of animation for tele-

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200070 point to stress that while having digital technology was important, it alone was not a “magic-box” that would somehow give China an edge in animation. In fact, I took pains to say that soon technology will be available everywhere (if it is not already) and that China must not only look to its expertise in mastering machines and software, but also find other ways to make their animation stand out from the rest, either in its economy, its mas- tery or, most importantly, in its abil- ity to put across a story. China has a long and beau- Frank Gladstone helping to illustrate the facial capture set up at the tiful narrative tradition and it has a Shanghai Film Studio. Photo courtesy of Frank Gladstone. soulful, creative and resourceful vision. Presently, they are in the brought along, the entire digital population. With the coming of midst of another series and are studio had been brought in and the WTO and favored nation trad- producing special effects for com- were waiting for us! It was a ing status with the United States, mercials and feature films as well. pleasure to talk with them. China will have even more of an At the time we visited, they had opportunity to act as a contract just completed about nine min- Developing A Voice entity, producing product initiated utes of digital work for a China- So, how is animation in in other countries. That is all well produced action-adventure film China? Well, I certainly cannot and good (and something we all called Crash Landing. Their reel, claim to know exactly the state of must recognize as our business especially for a studio so new, the industry there. I only saw two becomes ever more globalized), is impressive. digital studios and did not have an but, if China really wants to make Shanghai, perhaps because opportunity to visit any other sites, its mark in animation, I hope they of its more entrepreneurial history, either traditional or CG based. will find a way to be more than its worldly, mercantile flavor, Even while the Beijing and contract labor, initiating their has generally a more aggressive Shanghai studios continue to own projects designed to bring outlook toward progress, driven, grow and expand, other studios to the world some of the of course, by very ambitious are in the works as well. inventiveness and artistic tradition studio leadership. What they Nevertheless I did make it a that is so much a part of the have done in so short a time is Chinese culture. remarkable, yet they too want to China is on the brink of a learn all they can, realizing, like great transformation. For many their peers in Beijing, that they hundreds of years it has been, for are really still in the midst of the all intents and purposes, a feudal, training curve. isolated society. Now, at speeds And they are quick to that can make your head swim, it respond. We arrived a bit off the is beginning to emerge as a truly cuff, as the studio only learned we modern county, connected to the were coming the day before rest of the world. Not everything is (which was actually the week- in place yet but everywhere I end). By the time we had toured looked the dichotomy between the facility and were ushered into new and old was incredibly strik- a room to look at the tape of The Shanghai skyline. Photo courtesy ing. (The image of a three- DreamWorks animation I had of Frank Gladstone. wheeled rickshaw driver talking

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200071 Frank Gladstone has been work- ing as a professional animator, producer, director, writer and teacher for more than twenty-five years. For fifteen of those years, he managed his own award-win- ning studio and has since worked for the feature animation divi- sions at Disney, Warner Bros. and DreamWorks SKG. Besides his stu- dio credentials, Frank has taught at animation schools and institu- tions around the country, in the Caribbean, Europe and Asia, The real face of modern China. Photo courtesy of Frank Gladstone. including the University of Miami, on his cell phone comes to mind, into some of the traditional as well VIFX, Cinesite, UNICEF Animation almost as a metaphor.) There is as CG areas, Zhu Yongde’s eyes Workshops, Gnomon School of much to do and much that will widened. As we parted he said, Visual Effects and UCLA. inevitably change, but the one with a great deal of enthusiasm, Currently, Frank is the Head of sure thing is that the possibilities “Now I see. This is wonderful. You Artistic Development at are tremendous. are not just involved with the tech- DreamWorks SKG Animation. About two weeks after my nology here. For you, this is also return to Los Angeles, Zhu Yongde art!” When China incorporates that Note: Readers may contact any and Eddie Lee from the Shanghai kind of thinking into their anima- Animation World Magazine Film Studio visited DreamWorks. As tion, we should see some magnifi- contributor by sending an e-mail I showed them around, peeking cent work indeed. to [email protected].

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200072

TheOttawa20002000 Introduction by Dan Sarto Scrapbook

rom September 19 - 24, AWN has put together a 2000, participants at this photo gallery of this year’s Ottawa Fyear’s Ottawa International Animation Festival. In addition to Animation Festival were treated to photos shot by AWN staff, anima- a well rounded program that tion instructor Gary Schwartz mixed light and fluffy humorous chronicled much of the festival work right alongside more serious with his vintage 1950s 3D cam- and provocative pieces. Several era. Make sure to visit us on the thousand animators, industry pro- web at: www.awn.com/mag to fessionals, educators, students and The view from the capitol building view our Stereoscopic Image fans converged on the lovely in Ottawa. Photo courtesy of Gallery featuring Gary’s photos. Canadian capital’s National Arts Heather Kenyon. Like the Viewmasters we fondly Center for five days of workshops, “Derf Beer” Viking-themed recep- remember from our youth, these panel discussions, product demon- tions. The AWN sponsored closing 3D pictures don’t just capture a strations and, of course, animation party concluded the festival in fine scene, they bring it to life. screenings. Festival director Chris form, though a few seasoned fes- Robinson kept the nightly compe- tival veterans managed to crawl tition screening crowds enter- back to the festival’s Chez Ani tained with his unusual selection lounge for a last round of ciga- Gary Schwartz is an award-win- of off the cuff remarks and anec- rettes and beer (or if you were sit- ning filmmaker, who has held dotes. Some of the most promi- ting with the Russians just straight faculty positions at CalArts, USC, nent names in animation were vodka). AFI, UCLA Extension and others. there, including the legendary Through his company Single Gene Deitch, René Jodoin, Piotr Frame Films, he has produced, Dumala, Wendy Tilby, Marv designed and directed animation Newland, Bill Plympton, Jerry for Disney, Fox Television, Beck, Chris Landreth, Pritt Parn, Sesame Street, MTV and the Igor Kovalyov, Paul Fierlinger, Jan Corporation for Public Lenica and naturally, Heather Broadcasting. Schwartz is based “That Blond Lady” Kenyon. Festival in Los Angeles and conducts ani- registration also entitled each par- mation workshops throughout ticipant to ample amounts of wild- the United States and beyond. eyed revelry that lasted way into He can also free view the follow- the wee hours of each morning. ing images in 3D from across the Eager throngs of festival-goers room and when only half trying. imbibed oddly named spirits like He’s the master! “Ketel One” while rubbing elbows and swapping opinions about the most depressing Eastern European animated film ever made. Fred Note: Readers may contact any Armstrong from Animatus Studios Animation superstars Gene Deitch and Animation World Magazine Zdenka Deitchova visit the AWN booth kept many of us well lubricated at the Ottawa Festival. Photo courtesy of contributor by sending an e-mail with his nightly home-brewed Heather Kenyon. to [email protected].

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200074 ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200075 ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200076 ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200077 Oscar Grillo was intro- The Daily Report: duced prior to the screening of his beautifully produced and very sen- sitive art film Monsieur Pett. Oscar, I Castelli Animati, born in Argentina, wore a home- made nametag with my name on Genzano Di Roma it. I told him I would not mention this incident in my daily report. by Marv Newland End

Day 2: 5th of October 2000 The morning began with films like Gianni Lucches’ Opus and a 28-minute film by Daniela Trastulli titled Osvaldo Cavandoli. Un artigiano dell’umorismo, Cavandoli is well-known in Italy, and in many parts of the world, for his animated films which are created out of single horizon line, usually white on a solid colour field. Minimalist humor. Retrospectives of Koji Morimoto and Julian Nott went off today. Koji directs the extravagant science-fiction series Eternal Courtesy of Marv Newland. Family, a non-stop bombardment Day 1: 4th of October 2000 with introductions by festival direc- of images and clips of explosions, Today international guests tor Luca Raffaelli. There is a Paul futuristic television control rooms of I Castelli Animation Festival Driessen retrospective with a and one memorable sequence in arrive at Fiumicino, Rome’s largest dozen of his films being screened which a man with his head on fire aeroport which was built by between today and the last day of enters a bathroom, goes immedi- Augustus Caesar in 72 A.D. Most the festival (8th of October 2000). ately to the shower, gets in and guests are greeted by festival coor- A cell phone went off in turns on the water. A woman then dinator, Irene Duranti and then the Cinema Modernissimo just enters the same bathroom, grunt- taken by taxi to Genzano Di Roma prior to a screening of Driessen’s ing and groaning. She pulls the about 70 km south of Fiumicino. Cat’s Cradle. Luca Raffaelli took shower curtain closed and turns The landscape is picturesque; the phone out of the cinema on the hot water. She lifts the toilet farms, orchards, ruins, trees, the and returned soon after to inter- lid and a baby is in the toilet, head Pope’s summer cottage and many view Paul. above the water. She gently roadside pizzerias. The first Concorso removes the baby from the toilet The first program of films Internazionale (competition films) and places him on the bathroom begins at 3:00 pm with an early included: The Man with the floor. She sits on the toilet and con- animated production of Hallo Beautiful Eyes, based on a story by tinues to grunt and groan. Koji Jeep! by Federico Fellini. This is fol- Charles Bukowski; Daddy and I, a cuts wide and we see the lady on lowed by Pokémon 2: The Power Korean film with a strong child the toilet, the baby on the floor of One and the programs contin- abuse theme; and a Russian film, and the man with the burning ue all day, one right after another Let’s Play, by Kiril Kravchenko. head jumping around in a scald-

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200078 ing hot shower. Koji also directed action in another screen. One a program directly following. Please Get the Chicken Insurance. viewing of Seasons is not enough. Flying Nansen is a well-animated Julian Nott composes I Castelli Animati’s programs explorer of the Arctic. Igor’s film is music for Mark Baker and Nick all go off in one theatre, the masterful and may be based on a Park movies. The Hill Farm, A Close Cinema Modernissimo. The true story. The snow-blown epic Shave, The Wrong Trousers and a screenings are continuous from slips into absurdity and seems not few other gems. He is a fan of 10:00 am until 11:30 pm each to get out before it wraps up. Carter Burwell’s musical work for day. Commercials, children’s films, Nansen is eleven minutes of ani- films such as Raising Arizona and retrospectives, interviews with mation pleasure. Eventi Italiani: Fargo. international guests and competi- Cuccioli by Sergio Manfio (2000). In competition today tion screenings just keep on com- Sergio is a well-known Italian ani- among others were: The Periwig- ing interrupted only by the familiar mator and artist. Maker, by Steffen Schaeffler, and musical theme and the fine M.C. After this competition pro- Understanding the Law, a film hosting of festival director Luca gram an episode of The Simpsons, beautifully and madly designed Raffaelli. There are some projection “Treehouse of Horror X,” edizione and directed by Diane glitches to be sure, some catcalls Italiana; meaning, the Simpsons Obomsawin for the NFB in from audience members, crying speak Italian on the soundtrack. Canada. And today, Oscar Grillo children, cell phone noises and at A later competition remembered his name. times the theatre lights may go on /Concorso Internazionale features during a film. There is a snack bar Andreas Hykade’s Ring of Fire, End right outside the theatre’s cur- made in Germany (2000). This is a tained entrance, and two or three stupendous movie, in wide bars and pizzerias nearby. If screen, black and white, full of you do not like what is on screen cowboy bad behaviour, sexual Day 3: 6th of October 2000 just go away for an espresso and imagery, big music, eye popping Today began with thunder- when you return there will be a combinations of drawn and com- storms over Genzano. Real thun- whole different program under- puter animation, more sexual derstorms, not an animated film of way. Understanding Italian imagery and an overall effect of thunderstorms. will enhance anyone’s visit to I grand scale animation production. Paul Driessen’s retrospective Castelli Animati, but if you speak For the Birds, by Ralph Eggleston continues with a very shy anima- only English you will still have a of Pixar Studios (2000), was an tor from Holland being introduced good time. audience favorite. Much laughing into the circus atmosphere of the Some highlights in today’s after this one. Cinema Modernissimo by festival Concorso Internazionale include: Le Chapeau by Michéle director Luca Raffaelli. Paul’s Three Village of Idiots (1999) directed by Cournoyer (1999), made in Misses was nominated this year for Eugene Fedorenko and Rose Canada, is another strong black an Academy Award. Paul has Newlove. This picture is beautifully and white production. Sexual never before been nominated for made using Federenko’s familiar abuse is the theme, or is it? the Oscar despite having the illustrative styling (his work Beautifully made using painted strongest body of work of any liv- appears in New Yorker Magazine, line, The Hat (in English), depicts ing animator, certainly the including covers). It is a very funny an exotic dancer with references strongest body of work of any story about Eastern European to her childhood and the men in independent animator. Later in peasants. Cut-out and drawn ani- her current audience and leaves this day, The End of the World in mation are used, as well as out-of- much for any viewer of this film to Four Seasons is screened. This pic- focus effects and a very ethnically contemplate prior to forming an ture has Paul’s trademark split rich voice narration. opinion. screen or separate screens within Gerry Fournier’s I’m Busy Julian Nott, composer of the screen approach. To Vivaldi’s (1999) also broke up the audi- music for the Nick Park Wallace Four Seasons music, a series of ence. Igor Kovalyov (currently and Gromit short films, was given interlaced dramas unfold with working at Klasky Csupo in another retrospective program action from one screen influencing Hollywood) has Flying Nansen in today, by now 10:55 pm, with the

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200079 This year’s I Castelli Animati International Animated Film Festival program. screening of two Mark Baker scheduled for tomorrow — ence. directed films: The Village and Jolly Convegno: C’e in Italia, ‘Un futuro Killing of an Egg, part of Roger. Julian’s music is just right molte animato’ (which seems to the Paul Driessen retrospective, for these films. Both pictures are mean, ‘In Italy one future with begins the day. It is a simple idea, great examples of Baker’s humour many animators,’ which seems to two and a half minutes long with range and both gentlemen prove be the same future coming to the voices in English, but with a very themselves to be wonderful and rest of the world) — this day is Italian accent, exactly how Paul sympathetic collaborators. The actually the final day of I Castelli made it in 1977. For some audi- Village is lush and quietly funny Animati 2000. ence members this audio twist with slow dawning messages Rumours fly concerning the added spice to the screening. about crime and human errors. possible appearance of Paul Later in the day, Veliki Miting, The music never gets in the way McCartney, a famous musician directed by Walter and Norbert and is simple and only helps the who played guitar in a band Neugebauer in 1951, in Croatia, is story told without dialogue. Jolly called Wings. Before he was good shown to an audience unaffected Roger is a much less complicated enough to play in Wings he cut by the propaganda in the film. An story, very funny, broad and noisy his chops in an earlier band called, animator who worked on the pic- with fighting, action scenes and The Beatles. Paul is the executive ture, Milan Goldschmiedt, was bombastic music by Julian Nott. A producer of a new animated film interviewed by Luca Raffaelli. Veliki great pair of films. directed by Oscar Grillo, the well- Miting’s soundtrack was all in The evening ended with known Argentine born London, Croatian and the following inter- more Italian coming out of the England-based animator and view was all in Italian. mouths of the Simpsons. director. The film, Shadow Cycle, is Another foreign name based on music composed by the appears on this day’s schedule of End late Linda McCartney, who was events, Jan Pinkava. Jan is the married to Paul prior to her too Oscar winning director of Geri’s early death by cancer. The film is Game made at Pixar Studios, and Day 4: 7th of October 2000 not completed and this will be a Jan, despite the middle European Although there is an event first test screening before an audi- moniker, speaks English with an ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200080 English accent, laced with would have had a better time see- a high note. The Italian newspa- California slang picked up working ing Bronzit’s picture after pers all carried the news of around the propeller heads at Driessen’s. Shadow Cycle, Paul McCartney, Pixar. Jan is also on the competi- Wendy Tilby, Canadian Paul’s unofficial translator, Irene tion jury at this festival. There are director/animator was also on the Duranti and the grand work of fes- some sessions with Bruno jury at I Castelli Animati. Her films tival staff members such as: Bozzetto, world famous and as director and When the Day Emanuela Marrocco, Anna always funny director of many Breaks, co-directed with Amanda Castellani, Vincenzo Silvestri and Italian animated films. Bruno has Forbis, also a Grand Prix winner at Fiero Fortini. fallen in love with computer ani- Annecy (1999), were shown I Castelli Animati is a great mation programs and demon- today. Wendy has taken leave festival. It is small, even intimate, strates how he made, Europe & from the National Film Board of but full of animation spirit, live and Italy, a simple and hilarious com- Canada to teach at Harvard. After uniformed brass bands, the M.C. parison between the habits of the Tilby, Bronzit and Driessen talents and canny film selection of Italians and the rest of European homages, a Web animation com- Luca Raffaelli and very appreciative citizens. Evidence of Bruno’s accu- petition was held, and then finally audiences. All the elements racy in describing Italian behav- the awards for this edition of I required for continuing success for iour is on constant display at I Castelli Animati were handed out. any animation festival. Castelli Animati. Between films and After the awards, a speech sometimes during films, lights will by the mayor of Genzano di END/KRAJ go on when they should be off Roma, the host city of the anima- and off when they should be on; tion festival, a screening of Un one cell phone will ring and many Pesce e’ un Pesce by Giulie Gianini people will answer their similar and Leo Lionini, and some shuf- Marv Newland began a career in sounding phones; and wrong fling around near the main the making of animated films and films will suddenly be projected entrance of the Cinema the production of illustrations in with or without sound, and Modernissimo, in walked Paul 1969 following an education in whether or not another film is McCartney. In walked a number of the arts at Los Angeles Art Center already up on the screen. uniformed politizi, some big body- College of Design. He created The Dutch contributed to guards and fewer than two dozen the animated short film Bambi the mayhem by sending Evert de paparazzi, cameras flashing away, Meets Godzilla and designed Beyer’s Characters, instead of Paul a couple of Italian television crews many television commercials until Driessen’s Home on the Rails. In and four or five street urchins. By late 1970 when he moved to Home on the Rails, Paul uses his now, with the awards ceremony Toronto. In 1975, he founded famous trick of having a character running longer than anticipated, the animated film production disappear during a walk from one even by Italian standards, every- company International Rocketship side of the screen to the other, and one’s stomachs were growling and Limited, where he continues to then re-appearing exactly where the heat in the cinema was grow- produce animated short films by and when it should without hav- ing in intensity by the minute. At other directors and is also ing to make all of the ‘getting this time Shadow Cycle went onto engaged in the production of there’ drawings. In the Konstantin the screen. animated films for the National Bronzit retrospective Switchcraft is There were speeches by Film Board of Canada. screened. Konstantin won the Oscar Grillo, Paul McCartney and Annecy International Animation Luca Raffaelli. The mayor of Festival’s Grand Prix in 1995 for Genzano attempted to get up and Note: Readers may contact any this film. Switchcraft is a kind of give another speech, or to repeat Animation World Magazine homage to Paul Driessen, and the speech he gave earlier in the contributor by sending an e-mail Konstantin uses this save the draw- evening, but he was pushed back to [email protected]. ings technique to good effect in into his seat by a group of auto- the film. Too bad Home on the graph hounds headed for Mr. Rails was not sent as the audience McCartney. The festival ended on

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200081 MIPCOM 2000: A Report from the Front

compiled by Heather Kenyon

IPCOM, the international the way broadband and conver- TV stations, heads of acquisitions, content market for TV, gence are impacting the media distributors or other companies Mvideo, cable and satellite industry,” explains Xavier Roy, interested in co-productions — was held in Cannes from October Chief Officer, Reed Midem was great. The feedback from the 2 to 6, 2000, with 11,762 people Organisation. “If content is still people we met with was invalu- converging on the Palais to meet, king, the context in which it is pro- able and being able to wander discuss and conduct business. duced, branded and delivered is around and see what other com- While business has seemed in now playing an essential role. panies were producing was inter- recent years sluggish, this market With MIPCOM, and MIPTV next esting. One of the main points had an energy that was based in April, we are determined to offer highlighted was how necessary it real television and Internet busi- industry professionals a key oppor- is to go to the markets, meet peo- ness; and when speaking of the tunity to take on this new chal- ple face to face, and see what the Internet it was for the first year real lenge.” Focused on television in buyers are buying. We had won- business and not dot.com hype. the new economy, the various dered if we were throwing our- The talk was of taking characters MIPNET panel discussions further selves in the deep end, and we from one medium to the next, enhanced the growing impor- were, but with fabulous results. It using both as a tool to raise aware- tance of convergence as nearly is true the only way to learn is by ness and profitability. 2,000 international television exec- doing, and we now have several There were a lot of first utives gathered at the sessions parties interested in a couple of timers at this market with the total which were spread over three- our products and a possible co- number of stands (494) increasing days. On the floor one could hear production deal. None of this in excess of 7.15% since last year’s people discussing the issues raised would have happened if we had edition (461 stands), while the at MIPNET, especially the worries stayed at home. Compared to number of companies registered of ownership and copyright how I had envisioned it, the mar- at the show (2,924) grew by infringement in this digital age… ket was surprisingly relaxed and 11.90% (2,613 companies at MIP- casual, despite the huge deals COM 1999). The number of buy- ______being negotiated and signed, and ers reached an all-time record as everyone was happy to help in well with 2,895 executives (up MIPCOM 2000 was any way they could. 11.75%). This included a signifi- Momentum Animation Studios first cant increase in Asian buyers, market, and what an experience it Lisa Zerbe, Producer proving that their economic crisis was. We made the decision to Momentum Animation Studios is over. The record number of visi- attend a mere 6 weeks before it ______tors was up 11.45% from last year’s began, and by the time we arrived 10,555, and was attributed to the addi- in France we were exhausted. Organization is the key — tion of new media companies. What followed was five days of we pre-booked our key appoint- “With 22% of the compa- intense learning. We had no real ments first, but left some space to nies involved in new media activi- idea of what to expect, and meet- accommodate other interested ties, MIPCOM 2000 has clearly ing with the main players in the parties whilst at the market. Both demonstrated its ability to address animation game — whether it be MIPCOM Junior and MIPCOM

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200082 were extremely productive, mainly Loonland corporate identity and reaching effects it has not only on due to the fact that we were in the its production output. The recent society but also on the individual. happy position of launching 6 purchase of Sony Music The gates were open again for fully-financed animated properties Entertainment subsidiary Sony real creativity as everyone needs into the marketplace at MIP Junior. Wonder combined with the acqui- original content with its finger on The shows were well-received sition of number one European the pulse. resulting in 19 pages of follow up distribution specialist for Latin There was a clear trend to contact information, most of America Salsa Distribution and UK the ‘70s, and many series had whom we subsequently met with animation house Telemagination “flower power” elements, either during MIPCOM. A very busy and has really established TV-Loonland graphically or as subject matter. rewarding market indeed. as a major player within the inter- There was also a trend toward his- national marketplace. Through torical series. Sure, even new Organization is the these strategic deals, and with the media has to be a part of life-long co-sponsorship of MIPCOM Junior learning! As knowledge changes key — we pre- featuring the super-successful In a quickly, it needs to be continually booked our key Heartbeat and Yvon of the Yukon, updated or deepened. History is the TV-Loonland name was an important theme. Live-action appointments first buzzing around the market to no for teens with good special effects but left some space end. We’re off to the races now and was also well-received. I noticed a already gearing up for Natpe 2001. lot of smart pre-school programs to accommodate — target group fun-addicted adults? other interested The TV-Loonland A surprising market in the most positive sense! parties whilst at name was buzzing the market. around the market Marie-Line Petrequin, Managing — Lynn Chadwick Director Animation & Development to no end. We’re off Igel Media 1. Less Internet trawling to the races now this time and, happily, many more ______seriously interested TV buyers, and already gearing especially from Europe. up for Natpe 2001. StarToons should have 2. A resurgence of interest done MIPCOM years ago. The from Asia — at pains to tell us that — Lisa Hryniewicz contacts were fantastic. However, the economic crisis is now over there’s one thing that disturbed and it’s business as usual. Lisa Hryniewicz,Head of Distribution me about it — which really just TV-Loonland AG shows why I’m an animator and Lynn Chadwick,Vice President not a suit — is the fact that in all Greenlight International B.V. ______our meetings with the wheeler- dealers, the topic of “entertain- ______Both MIPCOM-Junior and ment excellence” or “quality ani- the Cartoon Forum before it were mation production” NEVER came MIPCOM 2000 was a vital distinguished by a “professionalisa- up. These words weren’t in the week for TV-Loonland. Prior to this tion” of the presentation of new running vocabulary of the people market, the TV-Loonland name projects. there. Instead, they talk about “co- and reputation for producing and The Internet has created a production,” “back-end,” “percent- distributing high calibre, original fascinating openness, and a new ages” and “trade agreements.” animation for children, youth and type of input and movement is Yeah, money makes the family was building momentum now possible, both technically world go ‘round, but if the shows but even so, many people were and with content. The Internet suck, what’s the point? And there not making the invaluable, imme- itself is often the subject-matter of are so many “great deals” made diate connection between the TV- series. With this we can see the far- for crappy, poorly executed ani-

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200083 mation material. The trend nowa- RDAStudio’s first to Cannes but we ness model for the near future. days is towards the cheapest crap did have some personal experi- Ever since we first started the market will bear. So you can ence from attending its sister show producing content for POP.com, imagine that as an animator with for the music industry (MIDEM) on people kept asking us, “How do a track record, I felt somewhat out several previous occasions. The you make money with content on of place. show format is almost the same the Internet?” We now believe that Our properties — Tuna and the name of the game is still the answer is a hybrid media Sammich and M7 — were tremen- access. This year, we had great model that combines the strengths dously well received there in luck indeed in setting up meet- of several media into one. TV isn’t Cannes. To make them happen, ings, both with people whom we going to the Internet “as is” and we’ll need to identify a U.S. distrib- wanted to see and with the peo- the Web is never going to succeed utor. It looks as though we can ple who expressed interest in on TV, at least not in its present pretty well get worldwide distribu- meeting with us. Ironically, since form. We now believe that what tion from the people we met we are a Canadian studio and dis- these two industries both are there, but to make it financially fea- tributor ourselves, our most pro- amounts to being reluctant par- sible — at least for a “little guy” like ductive meetings may turn out to ents of a bastard offspring, namely StarToons — we need this to air be the ones we had with other one labeled as “new media,” itself on American TV. Canadian companies and broad- just a child which is still trying to casters, such as Teletoon, Funbag find its way in the economic StarToons and Cochran Entertainment. world. Since our stock in trade should have happens to be Flash animation, For those of us done MIPCOM we noted the welcome presence actually working years ago. of new media companies such as Icebox and Wildbrain. While much in new media, the — Jon McClenahan is still being said these days about content convergence the technical convergence of TV What impressed me most, and the Net, for those of us actu- is right here and while I would sit there on my bed ally working in new media, the right now. at night flipping through French content convergence is right here TV shows, was how much and right now. Websites are no — Robert Leth American entertainment they use. longer relegated to just being They just dub ‘em over in French, “about the TV show.” Rather, the MIPCOM 2000 taught us but they’re our shows. Why? Net is emerging as the pivot play- that we are not alone. There now Because entertainment is one of er in multi-platform production. At exists a real economic potential to the things America does best! This MIPCOM, we were showing a cross-pollinate TV broadcast territo- country needs to wake up and retro-future series based on Dean ries with Internet globalization. In realize that if they give away all Motter’s Electropolis. The print many ways, the future has arrived. their entertainment production to rights have already gone to Image Last but not least, MIPCOM Canada and other countries, there Comics in the U.S. and our studio provided us with access to people just ain’t gonna be much left for us is producing the Internet Flash who have even further access and to offer...besides corn. Being a series, primarily to pre-build a fan people who enjoy connecting like good Chicago boy, I know all audience, prior to print publica- minds and compatible projects. At about grain, OK? tion next May. This has further led the top of our “best citizen of to a TV co-production and anima- show” list would have to be Marie- Jon McClenahan,Animation Director tion broadcast deal that now gives Line Petrequin and the crew at Igel StarToons International us a “triple crown” across all three Media. She personally went out of media. We are very excited about her way to connect us and we are ______the cross-platform synergies this forever in her debt. All that’s left to opens up for the property and see do now is to enter into a deal MIPCOM 2000 was this as becoming the viable busi- directly with each other, and that

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200084 ball is currently in their court. production partner with Robert met (about 30 companies) All in all, “Great show, Leonard and Baby Nessie seemed sincere in wanting to see quality attendance, will be back Entertainment, LLC for an animat- this project succeed. I hope that next year.” ed series, Baby Nessie. We they were this kind to all, but were there looking for distri- secretly wish that these good feel- Robert Leth,Vice President and bution, production and financing ings were a result of our Baby General Manager partners. Nessie project! Next year, I hope to RDAStudio The nice part of having be in Cannes with a distribution appointments was having the full partner to see the show sell. ______attention of the individual you were pitching to. In 20 minutes Jan Nagel, Director of Business This was my first experience you could tell your story and hear Development and Marketing at MIPCOM and I was not there their story. After awhile, however, VirtualMagic Animation, Inc. just as VirtualMagic Animation, a it all started to run together and service provider of digital ink & the pitch seemed scripted, but the ______paint looking for work, but with a opportunity to get an ear and new development for children’s interest in the series in this manner DIC’s experience at MIP- television. was ideal. COM was incredible, especially I was expecting to compare Baby Nessie, an endearing because the company had not this experience with my trips to tale of a baby Loch Ness Monster, had a booth at the market in three NAPTE. Each is an international did get a lot of interest. During the years. DIC has long been known marketplace where deals are market, we were able to get meet- as a leading supplier of quality ani- struck. But MIPCOM, unlike ings based on our presentation mated content for kids so buyers NATPE, is very structured and material and after the show we were anxious to come to our focused. At MIPCOM it is manda- have received several positive fol- booth to find out more about our tory to have appointments to meet low up inquiries from distributors. offerings. We had a tremendous with anyone. They even suggest it We would have never been able response to our three new series, strongly in their registration pack- to present this property to so many Super Duper Sumos, Action Girls, age. Getting appointments prior worldwide in this concentrated and Salem. to the show with most of those we period of time. MIPCOM does In general, the market was wanted to was fairly easy. attract the world. very positive for animation, and I Everyone goes by the appoint- I was amazed by the was impressed by many of the ment sheet. If you do bump into amount of animation that was high-quality animated properties someone on the floor, they’re run- being featured. My low estimate is being offered. ning to the next meeting. 50% of the exhibitors had some The oddest part of the form of animated entertainment Pat Ryan, Executive Vice show was how quiet the floor available for sale. The acceptance President International Sales was. I was fully prepared to be of animation was very high. DIC Entertainment blasted at by hawking and noise I was not surprised to see and I expected to be hoarse after that everyone was very accepting ______the first day. During the market, I of a co-production deal and never felt that I had to yell above encouraged the assembling of the At this year’s MIPCOM, I was the madding crowd, except for right partners for a project. In struck by the continued and grow- these few occasions at parties and some cases, they suggested part- ing presence of the “dot-coms,” in on the street. And many of the ners to pursue. In a couple of spite of recent stock market down- booths are closed during lunch. cases we could hear a note of cha- turns and the shuttering of several What a civil way to attend a show grin from those who have always high profile entertainment and do business! been able to do the whole deal, Websites. For the animation com- As development virgins, but are now resigned to the multi- munity, this is good news because this makes for a great business tiered business plan. the digital media present experience. VirtualMagic is a co- In our case, everyone we outstanding opportunities for

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200085 animation. vitality of the medium. At worst, it chances of keeping hold of those Much of the buzz at the will create a rampant under- hard fought for IPRs will be virtual- market had to do with the conver- ground movement that will be ly nil! gence of television and the new working with almost religious fer- media, thanks at least in part to vor in designing around whatever Sarah Muller, Managing Director the MIPNET conference which methods of protection the industry Elephant Productions Ltd. focused on this subject. I was may devise. asked to participate in one of its Everyone seems to agree ______panels, discussing digital rights that artists need to be paid for management and protection. This their work, and clearly, those who At MIPCOM, I was network- gave me the opportunity to bring finance artistic creativity (e.g., the ing with studios that might have the audience up to date on the studios) need to be compensated an interest in sending their anima- status of several closely watched for their investment as well. The tion productions to our studio in legal cases in the United States. real question is whether the enter- India or even co-production deals The best known of these is the tainment industry and the digital with us. On that level it was very Napster case, in which the lower world will be able to come up successful. Every studio and pro- court found that the creator of the with an economic model that will ducer that we met, were very software and a centralized Website effectively “monetize” digital con- impressed with our set-up. In fact, for individuals to exchange MP3 tent, through pay-per-play, sub- we received our next production files was liable for contributory scription, advertising, sponsorship deal with Rainbow Productions and vicarious infringement of or otherwise, and devise a tech- while there. Our competitive pric- copyrights. This decision is current- nology to implement that model ing and English speaking, full-time ly on appeal. If upheld, this deci- seamlessly and effectively. staff has been our biggest advan- sion will confirm what most of the tage. Moreover, Trivandrum is entertainment industry has felt for Louise Nemschoff, Entertainment known as a holiday resort with a long time — that the unautho- and Intellectual Property Attorney, lovely beaches and waters. What a rized copying and distribution of MIPNET Panelist way for our clients to relax while musical and audiovisual works they work! over the Internet is illegal. ______However, these decisions K. Subramaniam, Creative Director raise a more fundamental ques- Sometimes we Europeans Toonz Animation India tion. Has the industry won some complain like hell about the sched- major legal battles, but lost the uling of Cartoon Forum and MIP- Heather Kenyon is editor-in-chief war? Before the ink was dry on the COM virtually back to back! This of Animation World Network. Napster decision, peer-to-peer file year, however, Elephant were After receiving her B.F.A. in sharing programs were already thrilled to be able to capitalise on Filmic Writing from USC’s available. By avoiding the use of a the good reaction to our presenta- School of Cinema-Television, she central Website clearing house, tions in Visby at the Cartoon went to work for Hanna-Barbera infringement becomes much more Forum and we were actually able Cartoons. Currently, she is an diffuse and enforcement becomes to take one major deal for Johnny International Board Member of more difficult and expensive. In Casanova almost through to its Women In Animation and on the meantime, the legal prece- logical conclusion, which has real- the Board of Trustees for Trees dents engendered by this litigation ly speeded things up! for Life. seems to be progressively limiting My general impressions the application of the fair use were that independent animation Note: Readers may contact any defense and freedom of expres- producers are in for a tough time, Animation World Magazine sion. If the entertainment industry as the big international players contributor by sending an e-mail succeeds in this battle for control swallow up smaller more vulnera- to [email protected]. over Internet access to audiovisual ble companies. One thing is for and musical works, it will end up certain, there will be far less at best limiting the creativity and options open to us and the

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200086 Video Games: Not Just For Males Ages 12-24 Anymore

by Jacquie Kubin

Douglas Lowenstein, President Interactive Digital Software Association. Photo courtesy of BSMG Worldwide. held systems — with the sale of games totaling more than 215 mil- lion units and US$6.1 billion. With the release of next generation gaming consoles — the Sega Dreamcast, Sony Projected to be a guaranteed success, PlayStation 2 and, in the near Sony’s PlayStation 2 finally goes to stores October 26, 2000. future, the Nintendo Dolphin and © Sony Computer Entertainment Sega’s Dreamcast console. © Sega Microsoft Xbox — animators may Enterprises, Ltd.All rights reserved. America Inc.All rights reserved. be wondering how far and varied nimators who want to Software Association (IDSA) the gaming market is expanding. showcase their talents released statistics reveal that 35% Moreover, it is comprised of many Amay want to stop pound- of Americans surveyed identify more games suitable for all ages ing the pavement of the playing computer and video Hollywood movie studios. The games as their top “most fun” video game industry has grown entertainment activity, lagging far by almost unimaginable leaps and behind the 11% still heading out bounds with game studios all over for the movies. the country. “If you watch the evolution Working within the enter- of gaming over the last five years, tainment animation genre no you can see that it has broadened longer requires moving to L.A. or itself beyond the male, 14-24 being able to animate blood. demographic,” says Doug Today’s retail video game shelf con- Lowenstein, President of the IDSA. tains growing numbers of story “There is no question that there driven games that have a tradi- are numerous opportunities to tional animation element to their develop gaming products that are development, even when com- rich in story, animation, education- pleted with the help of the latest al components and movie-like software. Plus, family gaming is qualities and that are suitable for growing in popularity too. all ages.” The video game industry has expanded to include multiple Proof in Numbers Microsoft’s anticipated Xbox. © Microsoft Recent Interactive Digital consoles — computer and hand- Corporation.All rights reserved.

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200087 play, than Mature, Adult Only or within the industry for children graphic coming to the medium? even Teen titles. and family targeted software.” According to the Media During the month of Dominating 1999 sales was Family report “Whoever Tells the September, the Entertainment the hit Pokémon franchise with at Stories Defines the Culture,” by Dr. System Ratings Board (ESRB) rated least 18 game titles selling more David Walsh, “Ninety percent of close to two hundred new titles than 12 million copies. The single teens say their parents never check including those developed for the biggest selling title, however, was the rating before allowing them to new Sega Dreamcast and Donkey Kong 64, for the rent or buy video games, with PlayStation 2. Nintendo 64, selling more than only one percent stating that their While it may seem that the 1.4 million copies for more than parent kept them from buying or teen and mature rated titles for $86 million in retail sales. The most renting a game based on its ESRB these next generation consoles popular M rated title for that peri- rating.” outweigh those rated for “every- od, Half Life, developed by Havas one,” there is a reason for that and Interactive for the Sega only looking at those initial launch Dreamcast, sold just under games provides a skewed view of 500,000 copies. In comparison, the entire industry. In fact, sales of Walt Disney’s summer 1999 ani- video and computer games with a mated hit, Tarzan, realized a total mature rating fell from 2.6 million adjusted gross of less than $175 units in 1998 to 1.2 million units in million. In response to that sum- 1999 (NPD Group). mer movie hit, the video game industry released seven Tarzan games, three for Gameboy color and two each for Nintendo 64 and PlayStation. Jeanne Funk, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Toledo. Photo courtesy of Motophoto.aimed at kids 6 to 8. © THQ,Inc.

“I am not sure that parents are aware of or understand the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, the anticipated ESRB rating system or that they sequel to the original award-winning recognize its value,” explains multi-platform game for PlayStation, Jeanne Funk, Ph.D., Department Dreamcast, Nintendo Game Boy Color and PC/CD-Rom. © Activision, Inc. of Psychology for the University of Toledo. “But it can be invaluable More Family Titles for parents who are not going to “Hard-core gaming enthusi- play games, particularly to the asts, the individuals willing to pay deeper and more difficult levels. upwards of $350 for the new sys- Spider-Man is a free-roaming, 3D The system makes it easier for par- tem PlayStation 2 console, one action/adventure game bringing the ents to buy with confidence.” superhero’s trademark web-slinging skills controller and one game are pri- to PlayStation consoles. © Activision, Inc. Another reality impacting marily males, ages 12 to 24 and the development of video games the games released at console The answer to the question is that for every PlayStation 2 or launch generally reflect that,” says of what is spawning this greater Sega Dreamcast being sold, there John Ardell, senior product mar- number of “family” gaming titles is the possibility that the first gen- keting manager for THQ, Inc. “But depends on the person answering eration PlayStation or Sega con- women and children are becom- it. Is it increased awareness of the sole is being wired to the family ing more prolific gamers. And ESRB rating system, established in room television set, passed on for while PlayStation 2 will not release 1994, or just that there are more younger sibling and parent play. with a Rugrats title, there is room game players from a wider demo-

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200088 which — from the commercials we watch to the games we play — will be interactive. And even with the majority of the games being released appropriate for family play and filled with rich wonderful anima- tions, the question of violence will continue to plague the industry — both for consumers and creators. Part of THQ’s growing children’s segment, Disney’s Little Mermaid II follows the earlier success of Nickelodeon’s Rugrats game for PlayStation consoles “I think there are a lot of aimed at kids 6 to 8. © THQ,Inc. positive things to be said about Kids and Gaming designed for a young audience, video games, including that they Just one of many develop- ages 6 to 12.” Continuing to serve introduce children to technology ers, THQ has grown from a toy this audience, THQ has recently at a younger age,” Dr. Funk says. “I company to a video game devel- shipped on September 25, the also feel that children under the oper releasing children’s Walt PlayStation title The Little Mermaid age of ten are much more suscep- Disney titles such as Pocahontas II, for girls ages 6 though 8, along tible to negative massages. and Toy Story, as well as the pop- with new Nintendo 64 Scooby Do “I would be most protective ular bass fishing games. The com- and Power Rangers titles. of the media experience of chil- pany has also developed titles “Our titles geared for chil- dren under ten, while recognizing based on the World Wrestling dren are designed to involve par- that video games are a part of the Federation (WWF). The Calabasas ents in with the play experience,” child’s life experience. As with any Hills California group reports that explains Ardell. “Parents may be sit- media, television, movies and their Rugrats branded video game ting with them helping them to music, parents need to be aware franchise has exceeded over $100 spot clues or solve puzzles. You of what their children, of all ages, million at retail. must remember that parents have are playing and how much time “THQ’s history has been often gone with the children to they are spending on this one area about not only doing games that see the movies, so they know the of their life.” appeal to the core, 12 to 24 male characters and are equally audience but also for the gamers entranced with the game play.” Jacquie Kubin, a Washington, with unsatisfied needs,” Ardell As new consoles are being DC-based freelance journalist, says. “In 1998, in response to the released, new road is being paved enjoys writing about the electron- popularity of the PlayStation for the entertainment industry as a ic entertainment and edutain- Platform we released Rugrats: whole. Technology is converging ment mediums, including the Search for Reptar as one of the first to provide greater access to elec- Internet. She is a frequent con- video games that was specifically tronic entertainment, much of tributor to the Washington Times and Krause Publication maga- zines. She has won the 1998 Certificate of Award granted by the Metropolitan Area Mass Media Committee of the American Association of University Women.

Note: Readers may contact any Animation World Magazine contributor by sending an e-mail to [email protected]. Based on the new TV series,Disney/Pixar’s Buzz Lightyear of Star Command is a real- time adventure game where players can be the real Buzz Lightyear. © Activision, Inc.

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200089 Animation World News Compiled and written by Rick DeMott Technology news compiled and written by Mike Amron Additional reporting from the U.K. by Andrew Osmond

Get your headline news first every day on-line at http://www.awn.com/headlines Plus, have industry news delivered to your e-mail every week in the Animation Flash,AWN’s weekly industry newsletter. Subscribe today at www.awn.com/flash/

Awards Call for Entries l Disney Announces the 2000 Disney Legends Recipients l Showtime Wants To Showcase Your Toons Online l I Castelli Animati Festival Splits Grand Prize l Highlight Your Work In Front Of The World At Brussels l BAFTA Hands Out Its Interactive Nods l British Academy Awards Entry Deadline Nears l Saint Gely Awards Toon Prize To Adolf l New York Children’s Film Fest Calls For Kid At Heart Flicks l Matita Honors Pleasures Of War With Grand Prize l AtomFilms Wants To Fill Their Savage Sideshow With Your Toons l Portuguese Short A Suspeita Wins Cartoon d’Or 4 http://www2.awn.com/mag/news.php3?item=Call%for%Entries l Oscar For Animated Feature To Be Given In 2002 4 http://www2.awn.com/mag/news.php3?item=Awards Commercials Business l Correction To Sunwoo Article 4http://www2.awn.com/mag/news.php3?item=Commercials l Animation Stock Ticker For Tuesday, October 17, 2000 l Z.com Laid Off Not Laughing l Blur Studio’s Expansion Adds Motion Capture Services Corrections l Phil Roman Entertainment Teams With C-3D TV & Internet l Blur Studio Enlisted For U.S. Army Reserve Spot l Animation Stock Ticker For Tuesday, October 10, 2000 l Quiet Man Uses face2face Technology On K’nex Toys Spot l Eidos Not Game On Takeover Terms l Director Peter Nydrle Turns Cadillacs Into Olympic Swimmers l Cinar Explains Reasons For Delaying Financial Reports l Black Logic Zooms With Second Lexmark Printers Ad l Cosgrove Hall Goes Digital l Steele VFX Strengthens New Jeep Spot l Animation Stock Ticker For Tuesday, October 3, 2000 l ViewPoint Studios Goes Wild With Animal Planet ID l German TV Loonland Acquires Sony Wonder l Spontaneous Combustion Scores For NFL Properties l MIPCOM Preview: The World Converges On Cannes l TOPIX/Mad Dog Bites Termites For Alka-Seltzer Ad l Sony Cuts Holiday PlayStation 2 Orders By Half 4http://www2.awn.com/mag/news.php3?item=Corrections l German Helkon Media Buys Dutch Rubinstein Media l Fox & Saban Sue Universal Over X-Men Videos l Cartoonists’ Union Ratifies Contract Education l Foresight Marketing Forms New Animation Studio l Nick Creates Development Program For TV & Film Writers l ZDF Enterprises Launches New Media Subsidiary 4http://www2.awn.com/mag/news.php3?item=Education l Animation Stock Ticker For Tuesday, September 26, 2000 l Canadian Writers Guild Adds Toon Scribes Under Coverage l Olive Jar Acquired By Red Sky l ASIFA International Selects New Board 4 http://www2.awn.com/mag/news.php3?item=Business

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200090 Animation World News

Events Films l Famed Russian Animator Yuri Norstein Comes To l X-Men Claim More International Victories l Georgetown University l WB Set To Start Live-Action Scooby-Doo Feature l ASIFA-Hollywood Annie Awards Are The Toon Land’s Top Honors l The House of the Dead Game Becomes Feature l Animation Magazine Is Hosting An Animation Business l F/X Flicks Flicker With Lost Souls Debut In Third Tron l Marketplace l Sequel In Works l Yuri Norstein Discussion In Russian! l What Lies Around With Hollow Man Fading l 4th Annual Collectibles Business And Gift Executive Conference l Exorcist Out Scares Digital Monsters Debut l Acting For Animators With Ed Hooks l Mortal Kombat Helmer Takes On Resident Evil l Yuri Norstein Will Be Screening His Work-In-Progress: l Disney Scraps Inappropriate Toon Feature l The Overcoat l Hollow Empties Pockets At The International BO l DreamWork’s Frank Gladstone Presents “What Makes A l Exorcist Repossess #2 At The US Box Office l Great Film Great” l What Lies On Top Of The International Box Office l Cinanima Captures The Art of Animation 4http://www2.awn.com/mag/news.php3?item=Films l Unsold Anime Pilots: See What Never made It To U.S. TV! l AnimExplosion Festival Brings Philippino Toons To Internet and Interactive l The World l This Week’s Web Animation Guide For Friday, October 13, 2000 l UCLA Showcases The Art Of Anime l This Week’s Web Animation Guide For Friday, October 6, 2000! l TAIS Is Holding A Storyboarding For Animation Workshop l Cops Producer Teams With Stan Lee On Webtoon l Flashcore Presents Their Expo Of New Media & l Honkworm Teams With Cartoonist Leib On Jickett’s Speed Shop l Internet Animation l This Week’s Web Animation Guide For Friday, September l Baddeck Brings New Media To Canada! l 29, 2000 l RESFEST 2000 Is Touring The World With The New 4 l Animated Film WAVE TWISTERS http://www2.awn.com/magt/news.php3?item=Internet%and%Interactive l Take A Sneak Peek At Tomorrow’s Superstars At MISAF 2000! l Celebrate The Opening of The Hands-On Animation Lab People l At Toon Sensation Weekend l Disney’s Vice-Chair Walks l Catch A Sneak Peak At New Animation Work From ILM, l Curt Roth Joins Extratainment.com As CEO l PDI, DotComix & Wild Brain l Honkworm Adds Von Funk To Senior Staff l LEAF 2000 Features A Sneak Peak At PDI/DreamWorks’ Shrek l EM.TV’s CFO Steps Down In Light Of Stock Plummet l Holland Animation Fest Adds Indie Toon Competition This Year l Sesame Workshop Names Chrein VP, Global Media l FCMM Celebrates The Cutting-Edge In A State Of The Art Theater l Rhinoceros Adds Director/Designer Dorrington l London International Advertising Awards Puts The l Eidos CFO Resigns l Spotlight On Spots l Dotcomix Fills Key Positions As Co-Founder Leaves l Ajijic Festival de Cine Brings World Talent To Mexico l Brown Takes New VP Post At Sunwoo l Help Cure Ectodermal Dysplasias By Buying Animation Art! l Cornerstone Adds Ellwood To Board & VanBorssum As COO l Learn How To Animate From Don Bluth at TOON-UP 2000! l Emmer Lands Film Roman Rep Post l Jerry Beck’s Obscure TV Toons Is back By Popular Demand! l Solomon Pegged To Victory Board l iMix Brings Interactive TV To The Big Apple 4http://www2.awn.com/mag/news.php3?item=People l visions2000 Celebrates The Unusual World Of l Animated Theatre 4http://www2.awn.com/mag/news.php3?item=Events Licensing l South Park Condoms? 4http://www2.awn.com/magt/news.php3?item=Licensing

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200091 Animation World News

Technology Video l Pixar Pieces l Toy Story 2 Lassoes Video Release Date On Video & DVD l Animation Toolworks Ships The LunchBox Sync l Icebox’s Mr. Wong Direct-To-Video Plans Melt l Will SGI Rebound? l Shamanic Princess Descends Onto Video 4http://www2.awn.com/mag/news.php3?item=Technology l The 8th Volume Of Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040 Hits l Stores Television l Maze Series Wakes Up On VHS l ETA For Spaceship Agga Ruter “Sweet Release” October l WB Orders More Chan Toons l 2000 l Witchblade Now Gets A TV Series l Special Editions Of Nightmare Before Christmas & Giant l Henson Set To Helm Jack & The Beanstalk Miniseries l Peach l British Mr. Bean To Become Cartoon l Scooby Scares Up Direct-To-DVD l Dotcomix’s Sister Randy Brings Habit To BBC America l Blue’s Clues First Feature l Abdul Set To Choreograph New Cartoon l Black Cauldron and Ichabod & Mr. Toad Come To DVD l CBS Seeing Ratings Boom From Nick Jr Block 4http://www2.awn.com/mag/news.php3?item=Video l Cartoon Network Ratings Up 25% l Neptuno Films & Planeta 2010 To Co-Produce Puss In l Boots Series l Cosgrove Hall Animates Fetch The Vet l Chorion Creates $15M CGI Noddy Series l ABC Outbids CBS For Peanuts’ Specials l Aardman Delinquent Breaks Net 4http://www2.awn.com/mag/news.php3?item=Television Animation World SStore http://www.awn.com/awnstore/vilppu Never before available!!!

Glenn Vilppu’s drawing techniques manual and video tapes, used worldwide as course material for animation students.

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200092 Next Issue’s Highlights

Location-based Entertainment, December 2000

ecember will feature articles based on the themes of location-based entertainment and anime. Karl Cohen is profiling Imax — is animation’s next frontier in peril? On the Danime side of things Fred Patten is going to review Vampire Hunter D, the latest anime hit to arrive on U.S. soil. Andrew Osmond is going to be interviewing a number of experts and scholars on the stylistic merits of Japanese animation. In other articles Chris Robinson is back with another “Animation Pimp” — he promises this one will be a bit more “user friendly.” Eric Huelsman is currently having fun playing with the new Lego Mindstorms and will fill us in on the details of these new high-tech versions of the old childhood favorites. Plus, we are going to have an in-depth conversation with voice actor, teacher, director Charlie Adler. From Cow and Chicken to Rugrats you can hear and see Charlie’s work almost every time you turn on the television. Plus we will also have a new Glenn Vilppu installment, an Internet company profile on Urban Entertainment and our monthly gaming column is going to focus on Men In Black. Plus, David Fine is going to review the Week of the Masters being held in Trivandrum, India. Plus, we will have reports from the London Effects and Animation Festival and Portugal’s Cinanima. And, of course, there will be more.

Upcoming Editorial Calendar

Location-based Entertainment December 2000 The Year In Review January 2001 Stop-Motion and Motion Capture February 2001 Production Technology March 2001

ANIMATIONWORLDMAGAZINE November200093