Animated Holiday Characters And Their Pets

Well, it's time for more musings on Christmas animation as the Holidays close in. In our most beloved Holiday TV Specials and movies, I've finally paid more attention to the ways the main characters usually seem to have a special dog, or some other unique animal companion involved in their story. Most recently, Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas comes to mind, with his poltergeist pooch buddy, Zero. Naturally, Zero leads the reindeer team through through the fog with his glowing pumpkin nose.

(copyright Disney)

 

Rudolph doesn't really fit in this article, since he was ostracized very early on. He didn't become buds with Ol' Saint Nick until much later, when Santa finally appreciated his talents very late in the game. Once in a blue moon, Santa's reindeer do get some comments in, now and then, but they are still basically treated as beasts of burden.

https://animationre-creation.blogspot.com/2021/08/ed-asner.html

Even The Grinch, with his hostility towards Christmas, and just about the entire world in general, still had his friendly and faithful canine companion Max. Since Chuck Jones portrays The Grinch as this cranky, and even somewhat tragic character, the fact that he keeps Max around proves that The Grinch is not a complete monster.

(original copyright Chuck Jones/MGM, now Turner-Time Warner)

 

A bigger leap occurred when Frosty the Snowman was assisted by the cute magician's rabbit, "Hocus Pocus". This new companion, and fellow traveler seemed to be a writer's contrivance, but a good one. The "mystically challenged" magician, Professor Hinkle, throws away his top hat when his magic act for the schoolkids goes wrong. Hocus hops away with the Hat to where the kids have built Frosty, and Karen places The Hat on Frosty's head. After seeing the Hat bring Frosty to life, Professor Hinkle grabs it back when he realizes that the old top hat can actually generate real magic. (The Hat seemed to have some built-in moral compass that resisted Hinkle's selfish motives, but I'm being pedantic here.)

 

Fortunately, with a sneaky, but clever bit of subterfuge, Hocus returns the Hat to Karen to let her restore Frosty back to life. Hocus is the key player in Frosty's origin, but then allows himself to become somewhat overlooked. It's clear that Hinkle and Hocus didn't have a good relationship at the start, so the rabbit is more than happy to join Frosty and Karen on their adventure. Since Frosty is almost a blank slate in this TV special, he comes to rely quite a bit on Hocus for guidance to save Karen while on his journey to the North Pole.

 

(original copyright Rankin/Bass)

 

As characters for the very young viewers to relate to, all the dogs, rabbits and even a penguin become helpers, comrades, and witnesses to the main characters' actions and feelings. They also offer clues and inspiration to the main characters, sometimes accidentally; as with Max landing in the snow, and popping up looking like Santa to give The Grinch his perfectly, wonderfully, awful idea.

Which leads us to the heart of this article:

Scrooge had no dog.

 

After being stranded alone for the Holidays due to Covid last year, the corrosive effects of isolation became painfully apparent for me. No one should be alone, especially during the Holidays. It's a wonder there aren't more Scrooges in the world, and I've seen how becoming like Scrooge can happen all too easily. The usual unreasonable social and emotional expectations of the season are tough enough. In the meantime, let's hear it for those magical fuzzy buddies who are always there to bail us out!

https://animationre-creation.blogspot.com/search?q=buddies

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wp5zCUjjgYU

Lightbox Expo photos

Some snapshots from the first Lightbox Expo held at the Pasadena Convention Center. They had a good sized crowd on Friday. It looks like ProCreate from Apple was a major sponsor. Fun time, lots space, many demos going on. The hosts went all out for a big convention. This may be a rival to the CTN Expo this year.

The burning question: who are the organizers of Lightbox?

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/artist-centric-lightbox-expo-debut-september-2019-1155037  

Jim Demonakos, founder of the Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle, Washington, and Bobby Chiu, who set up Imaginism Studios in Toronto (Ontario, Canada)

https://www.imaginismstudios.com/

https://www.emeraldcitycomiccon.com/

 

I thought this was going to be a much smaller venue, but animation artists, students, schools, studios and vendors were all in attendance. Good mood, lots of energy there. And I only heard about it through Facebook. This event seemed to be arranged and promoted solely through social media. I was just used to the buzz generated around CTN.

Procreate from Apple had the largest display, promoting their artistic app for the iPad.

 Alan Bodner had his table there with his original art, and art from his time as art director at Warner Classic Animation.

Almost continuous demos going on in the hallways...

 Wacom, with their latest Cintiq tablets...

 Sony pictures, with their Oscar winning
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse!

 

 Warner Brothers Animation Group, and their beloved heroes of old...

 ASIFA-Hollywood had a good position with their table...

Netflix, looking for talent, and/or pitches...

 And an amazing amount of crowds in the other hall, waiting for demos and lectures!

Again, to me, this convention seemed to come out of the blue.
And yet, it got some decent media coverage:

https://variety.com/2019/artisans/news/lightbox-expo-spotlights-industry-artists-1203325672/

https://www.animationmagazine.net/events/lightbox-expo-brings-the-ultimate-art-celebration-to-pasadena/

Some more fun stuff:

 From left to right, artwork above by Tuna Bora and Pernille Ørum.

 And from left to right, artwork above by Robert Kondo and Stephen Silver.

Why the giant pug means death, maybe because Hasbro has aquired Death Row Records. 

Whatever you do, don't stare into its eyes too long!

Good mood, and a great creative vibe!

I applaud Jim Demonakos' and Bobby Chiu's success, 

and looking forward to next year.

The first LIGHTBOX EXPO Pasadena 2019

I may check it out...

https://www.lightboxexpo.com/

(copyright LIGHTBOX EXPO)

(from their website)

LIGHTBOX EXPO

SEPTEMBER 6-8, 2019 

"Over 250 of the best artists from the ANIMATION, LIVE-ACTION, ILLUSTRATION and GAMING industries coming together for the ultimate celebration of art."

LOCATION: PASADENA CONVENTION CENTER

https://www.cartoonbrew.com/events/the-first-lightbox-expo-is-taking-place-this-weekend-in-pasadena-179111.html

Raya and the Last Dragon

I'm a couple weeks late on this, but I learned about Disney's upcoming animated feature, Raya and the Last Dragon from a friend on Facebook. And at first I thought "okay, ha ha, cute". Another Disney princess animated feature, it ought to do well.

But then, with the success of anime', and films like Mulan and Kung Fu Panda, it made me realize the size of the business prospects of the southeast Asia movie audience.

(copyright Disney, taken from polygon.com, taken from Twitter during D23 in Anaheim.)

Long ago, TV and movies have made me a fan of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Speed Racer, not to mention Osamu Tezuka and Hayao Miyazaki. Anime and Kung Fu action movies already have a foothold in the U.S. with a healthy fan base, and animated features like Kubo and the Two Strings, and The Princess Mononoke have shown positive and empowering examples of female characters.

While older anime' films and TV shows may have brought a distorted, and cliched view of Asian culture to me and the west, I hope that it has made Americans more aware of current events happening overseas. Not to mention giving Hollywood more cash flow. 'Nuff said!

https://www.polygon.com/2019/8/24/20812723/raya-and-the-last-dragon-disney-animated-movie-release-date

Another factor seems to be the news of protests in cities like Hong Kong show a demand for democracy, although the authoritarian governments there are clamping down hard on free speech and human rights. In a backhanded way, Hollywood may be helping to bring democratic values and human rights to our tattered world.

https://variety.com/2019/film/news/mulan-cast-d23-boycottmulan-1203311115/

https://time.com/5653973/mulan-boycott-liu-yifei/

And then, cliches and stereotypes may be scrapped, and new life may be brought to beloved Asian characters:

https://www.businessinsider.com/marvels-shang-chi-could-be-huge-at-china-box-office-2019-7

But it all comes down to business. I hope they can continue to entertain, while respecting cultures and maybe helping humanity in the long run. I've only scratched the surface on this subject.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/movie-box-office-in-china-now-bigger-than-us-as-domestic-films-draw-big-audiences-2018-05-21

https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-china-movies-20181213-story.html

https://screenrant.com/american-movies-better-china/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_films_in_China

https://variety.com/2018/film/asia/china-box-office-global-biggest-first-quarter-2018-1202742159/https://www.salon.com/2019/07/13/the-international-movie-market-is-transforming-hollywood_partner/

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/filmart-a-market-by-market-169343

Visual Effects Artists Rough Timeline

Here's a rough chart of the visual effects artists and animators I put together during my years at Woodbury University. From what I learned, these are some of the key the people who built the foundations of the computer and traditional animation we have now, and their connections with each other as the film business progressed.

And give a big thanks to organized labor this Labor Day, especially in a business like animation!

Is CGI Getting Worse?

Good commentary by Center Row.

RIP Stan Lee

Here's to one of the greatest parts of my childhood, and development as a cartoonist, and as an artist.

Along with Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and John Buscema, along with an almost endless list of other editors, writers and artists most comics fans will know by heart, Stan Lee created the most beloved and enduring comic book characters to date. Granted, all the Marvel Bullpen artists did their share of the heavy lifting in creating the Marvel Universe, which finally led to a financial empire of toys, knick-knacks, action figures, books, animated TV shows, and finally feature films so prosperous that an unlikely rival media conglomerate, (Disney) could not pass it up.

(original copyright Simon and Schuster)

Stan also served in the U.S. Army.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/marvel-comics-legend-stan-lee-dies-at-95/ar-BBPCSj8?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=mailsignout

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/12/obituaries/stan-lee-dead.html 

 

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/stan-lee-marvel-comics-legend-721450

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Lee

In a Joseph Campbell way, Stan was a modern shaman to me, weaving tales about the Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, and Spiderman, to name a few. Not to mention the X-Men, Thor, Dr. Strange and Iron Man. I plunked down many a quarter, then 35¢, and then well over a dollar to travel off to other worlds of mutants, monsters, madmen and gods. Stan Lee also helped me expand my vocabulary. Where else would a kid in grade school read about a "tumultuous exodus"? It helped drive my teachers crazy. Thank God for such pandemonious puffery! Spellcheckers be damned.

It's tempting to call Stan Lee a modern Shakespeare, with his stories of arrogant men falling, being humbled, and then rising again as heroes. But Lee's heroes also kept all of their quirks, faults and weaknesses, whereas most of the DC Comics universe had heroes who were almost always squeaky clean. How dull. No, in the Marvel Universe, Peter Parker struggled with paying the rent, looking after an aunt who always seemed to be at death's door, and an impossible boss who had a personal vendetta against Peter Parker's alter-ego Spiderman. Soap opera writers must have been jealous.

Tony Stark, Stephen Strange, Ben Grimm and an entire legion of characters were humbled, stumbled and still rose to the occasion when the Marvel villains, most of whom also had their own stories and issues, threatened New York City, the Earth, or even the entire universe. Victories were won, but often at a price, and revelations of the depth of the characters emerged on both sides of the conflict. I seem to be gushing with Stan's "purple prose" here. And maybe some Jules Feiffer.

Got to wrap this up now, but I still treasure these mementos from my childhood. Being able to learn storytelling, draftsmanship, graphic design and even literacy from the humble, much maligned comic book leaves many geeks in Stan Lee's debt. R.I.P Mr. Lee.

Excelsior!

Martin Landau - Artist - Cartoonist!

And a belated tribute to Martin Landau.

(Martin Landau hitting the inkpots! photographer unknown)

I didn't know the commander of Moonbase Alpha was also an artist!
The writers on these links really do him justice.

Rest in Peace Martin Landau, your presence on screen brought me hours of pure enjoyment.

http://potrzebie.blogspot.com/2010/11/martin-landau-cartoonist.html?m=1

http://www.newsfromme.com/2017/07/16/martin-landau-r-p/

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Sneak Peek

Here it comes, Rocket rules!

Matthew Luhn from Pixar at Woodbury University

All day session at Woodbury today with storyboard supervisor Matthew Luhn from Pixar. Some great stuff on storyboarding, especially when he shows how vital it is to hammer out a story before you commit to millions of dollars in animation. Matthew covered things from not crossing the line of action to "stacking" a shot. I'll try to update this post with more details asap. Glad I made it:)

(copyright Matthew Luhn/VanArts)

http://matthewluhnstory.com/cartoons/

http://www.vanarts.com/

Guardians of the Galaxy - Film References Part 1

Guardians of the Galaxy was a nice treat for a busy summer this year. I almost felt like I was watching the original Star Wars for the first time. Nice balance between action and humor. And experience helped me notice quite a few references to other classic movies. These were deliberate tributes, I believe. Such as the classic prison line-up shot:

(All images copyright Marvel/Disney, unless otherwise noted.)

"The Usual Suspects"...

...which comes from classic Film Noir.

(original copyright Bad Hat Harry Productions, Blue Parrot, 
Spelling Films International, Gramercy Pictures, and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment)

Star-Lord, played by Chris Platt, gives us a misfit, wise-guy hero who is still lovable. He's sort of a jerk, but he grows on you the way Han Solo did. Peter Quill/ Star-Lord has the same identity/disrespect issues that Mister Furious (Ben Stiller) had in Mystery Men. His first opponents respond with "You're who?" or the "I don't care” attitude.

The Raiders of the Lost Ark homage didn't register with me. The scene went by too quickly. Star-Lord didn't have too much trouble getting the Orb out of it's force field container, and then he seemed to give up to easily when confronted by Korath The Pursuer.

(copyright Universal)

Neither guy gets the respect he demands. Rodney Dangerfield, look out!

Another movie reference in Guardians gives us the classic "Walk" shot...

Mystery Men had theirs...

(copyright Universal)

Which was a play off of The Magnificent Seven...

(original copyright The Mirisch Company/Alpha Production)

Which in turn was inspired by Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai.

(original copyright Toho Productions)


The bigger theme was the oddball, rag-tag fighters coming together for a common cause. The obvious example was the original Star Wars:

(original copyright 20th Century Fox)

Nothing new under the sun, or the galaxy for that matter.

I don't mean to be critical here, but they may have been trying to squeeze in too much.

In Independence Day we have the giant starship descending on the planet, and the high-tech fighters engaged in a frantic dog fight over the city...

(copyright 20th Century Fox)

 And the similar scenes with Ronan's ship.



The Abyss: Maybe I'm reaching here, but the way Star-Lord rescues Gamora seems like a switch on Ed Harris' Bud Brigman's decision to let his ex-wife Lindsey (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) deliberately drown in hopes that she can be revived later:

(copyright 20th Century Fox)

In Guardians it's sort of the reverse: Peter Quill/ Star-Lord puts his space helmet/ mask on Gamora to save her life, without regard as to how long he can withstand the lack of air in space.

Korath The Pursuer

Korath The Pursuer

Coming up next: Vin Diesel's Groot as compared to his Iron Giant, alien abduction themes, such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and the Dirty Dozen - misfits sent on suicide mission.

Guardians of the Galaxy - original comics

Finally saw Guardians of the Galaxy. It's a great, fun action movie. (Just don't try to sit back and think.) I was a little leery of how the Marvel superhero movies tinker, or mostly just steamroller over their original comics' history. But they did do justice to some old childhood friends. Seeing all these heroes and villains was almost like a family reunion.

Wow, where to start? I still have the Marvel Preview 11 Star-Lord graphic novel from 1977.

(copyright Marvel/Disney)

This comic blew me away. Except for his living starship, Star Lord was a loner, driven by angst over his mother's murder by aliens. I had seen the earlier Star-Lord black and white comics, but the art and story turned me off. Chris Claremont and John Byrne must have known the original Star Wars was on the way, so they carved out this jewel for Marvel. In Marvel Preview 11, Star Lord eventually picks up some allies and discovers his real father was the Emperor of the galaxy.

A lot of water has gone under the bridge at Marvel, and Star-Lord has been revamped over the years. He had gone from being a kick-ass cosmic vigilante to becoming a beat up loser. For superhero movies, being part of a team seems to be a big selling point these days. So, Star-Lord gets thrown in with a group of misfits:

Gamora created by Jim Starlin

Originally trained by the master villain Thanos, Gamora is still green, and deadly enough to give even Star-Lord a hard time in a fight. But she is still one of the underdogs, and has a uphill battle all the way.

(copyright Marvel/Disney)

Drax the Destroyer, also created by Jim Starlin

Drax used to have a lot more cosmic power, and he used to be green. In the Captain Marvel comics, he turned out to be more like Thanos' punching bag. In the film, he remains this noble, stoic character, but he keeps getting pulverized by Ronan the Accuser. I wish they could have stayed more faithful to his original look. Fortunately, Jim Starlin got a screen credit for creating Drax, Gamora and Thanos too.

(copyright Marvel/Disney)

Rocket Raccoon created by Bill Mantlo and artist Keith Giffen

(copyright Marvel/Disney)

Rocket used to have other animal pals that had much more lighthearted adventures. I guess the Beatles never complained. I still have this in my parents' attic somewhere.

Which leaves us with Groot, created by Jack Kirby.

(copyright Marvel/Disney)

I thought Groot was something they made up just for the movie, but he turned out to be "real". Talk about making Mulligan's stew with leftovers, but it works. "GotG" may be the biggest hit of the year. Now I'm trying to imagine these characters working together in their original forms. 

But I never got into the original Guardians of the Galaxy comic. This movie is a far cry from the original comic, and I used to get them confused with the Guardians of the Universe from Green Lantern. Some geek I am.

(copyright Marvel/Disney)

Good thing Marvel held on to this copyright. It must be a nerve wracking experience to decide which property will take off and become a box office blockbuster. The alien archer Yondu got quite an overhaul, going from a superhero to an outlaw leader of a group of "ravagers".

* * * * *

 Bring on the Bad Guys. To my knowledge, Ronan and these characters never crossed paths, at least in the "Bronze Age" of comics.

(copyright Marvel/Disney)
 Special guest villain - Ronan the Accuser.

(copyright Marvel/Disney)
Extra special guest villain - Thanos!

Forty years ago, I could not  have imagined movies like this. The special effects technology simply did not exist. And audiences would have laughed... or yawned at actors running around in tights!
But someone had the drive to put out this film. I haven't enjoyed a movie like this in a long time.