DUCK-WALK

I'm over here now

2007-10-18T22:34:00.000-07:00

DUCK-WALK has moved!

I'm over here now: duck-walk.com

Hope to see you there...

dere iss no law vot couldt shtop you

2007-10-05T18:57:00.000-07:00

Wanna help contribute to the greatest cartoon resource in the world?
Donate to the Archive!

And while you're at it, you can take -

THE MARC DECKTER CHALLENGE!

Curious?

Learn all about it on Steve's latest post...

Grim Natwick's dancing waiter

2007-08-04T08:18:00.000-07:00

If I could only take 5 cartoons to a desert island, the Fleischer's 1930 Talkartoon DIZZY DISHES would be pick #1.

One of my favorite elements of this cartoon is the Grim Natwick animation. To give you an idea of what Grim would do with a scene, first take a look at this clip of Bimbo the waiter being handled by another animator:

WAITER ANIMATION - not by Grim

Bimbo moves to the beat in a rhythmic, on-model and distortion-less manner, and as a result the animation doesn't really provide any surprises pulsating with life. It's your regular mechanical rubber-hose fun - which I have no problems with of course!

But check out what happens when the waiter is put into Grim's hands:

WAITER ANIMATION BY GRIM NATWICK

Wow! He's so alive! Don't you love how he twists and turns and taps his feet? The way he shifts his weight back and forth seemingly effortlessly all the while playing with a turkey on his head - and on top of all that, rolling his eyes around - amazing! Grim's straight-head animation is filled with surprise and magic.

SKILL + CREATIVITY

One of the reasons Grim's animation is so alive is no doubt due to his expert skills as a draughtsman. He studied life drawing in Vienna, and according to Shamus Culhane's book he was a much stronger artist than the other Fleischer animators at the time.

CHECK OUT GRIM'S ANATOMY STUDIES HERE
(courtesy of Steve Worth and the ASIFA Archive)

Grim was able to translate that knowledge and understanding of human anatomy to the rubber hose anatomy of Bimbo.

This combination of DRAWING SKILLS plus CREATIVITY is unstoppable.

Well anyways, here's more Grim waiter animation for you to enjoy:

MORE WAITER ANIMATION BY GRIM

DIZZY DISHES can be found on VHS tape 1 of the Betty Boop boxset on Amazon here:

And check out John K's post on these Grim Natwick clips as well:

ALL KINDS OF STUFF: GRIM NATWICK - DRAWINGS AND IDEAS ARE PART OF WHAT ANIMATION IS

Stay tuned - more hidden gems from DIZZY DISHES to come!

Coming Soon...

2007-08-02T19:51:00.001-07:00

... a series of analyses and appreciations of my favorite cartoons...

Fleischers
Paul Terry
Van Beuren
Walter Lantz
Otto Messmer
and more

TUNE IN NEXT WEEK!

Mashed Potatoes and White Rice

2007-08-02T18:18:00.000-07:00

"Marc Deckter has the makings of a top Hollywood animation executive...."

- John Kricfalusi (August 2nd, 2007)

Wanna read more?

Check out the latest post on ALL KINDS OF STUFF and find out why John refers to me as the Champion of the Bland!

Three-Headed Nintendo DS Salesdragon

2007-07-16T13:55:00.000-07:00

CHECK OUT THE COMCAST COMMERCIAL HERE!!!

READ ABOUT THE CREW HERE!

READ THE COLD HARD FLASH INTERVIEW HERE!

relaxing

2007-07-02T23:08:00.000-07:00

~~Memphis ducks~~

Canadian Geese (thanks Joe!)

Quack! Quack! Quack! Quack!

2007-05-22T00:51:00.001-07:00

Well what are you doing standing around here? Go check out Steve's newest MILT GROSS SUNDAY FUNNIES POST!!!!

OHBOYOHBOYOHBOY!!!!

2007-03-02T14:34:00.000-08:00

Raketu_SodyPop
Uploaded by chuckchillout8

"What's cooler than the ice on your grill, fool?!?"

2007-03-01T06:26:00.000-08:00

RAKETU!

The Sody cartoon can be watched here too: SODY CARTOON

Friends in Blogville

2007-01-27T21:10:00.000-08:00

Well, as my blog has been collecting dust, it seems that some friends I went to school with have started their own - check'em out!

daisychurch.com

Flash animating and Fire dancing friend Daisy has added a blog to her arsenal of websites, and she has taken on the impressive challenge of posting a doodle a day. Good luck Daisy!

constipanimated

Fellow Buzz Osbourne listener and buddy Greg Araya has started a blog that will follow the production of his radioactive piñata-flavored MFA thesis film. Greg is a great problem solver and innovator - I'm sure there will be plenty to learn following his production! There are only a handful of posts so far, and I have already learned how to add a click track to a timeline...

"Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya punk?"

2007-01-23T22:15:00.000-08:00

image from Cartoonbrew

I hope these Oswald toys become available!

What a great character!

It's exciting, of course, that Disney will release Oswald cartoons on a future Disney DVD set....

... but what about the Lantz Oswald's!!!! The handful of Lantz Oswald's I've seen are hysterical. Everything a cartoon is supposed to be.

late Bar Mitzvah caricature from the amazing Marlo Meekins

2006-11-08T10:06:00.000-08:00

One of the many perks from working on the Classico project was finding this great M&M post-it waiting for me at the studio one morning!

Even my name got caricatured!

Thanks Marlo!

CLASSICO IS UP!

2006-10-31T10:26:00.000-08:00

Boy am I proud that I got to production assist/coordinate on this cartoon!

It was amazing watching a John K. project from start to finish. In basically two and a half months this 1-minute burst of cartoon energy was conceived, produced and realized.

And look at all these fine folks I got to work with !
(some directly, some indirectly...)

John K.
Eddie Fitzgerald
Nick Cross
Jay Li
Rex Hackelberg
Marlo Meekins
Chad Coyle
Eric Bauza
COPERNICUS (Juan Cruz, Murray Bain, Andrew Holland and more...)
Kristen McCormick
Pringle
Steve Worth & The ASIFA Archive
Kali Fonteccio
Chris Cannati

(Did I miss anyone?)

This music video has practically everything I want in a cartoon:

funny animals...

funny mouths...

funny actions...

musical timing....

ClassicoPencilTest_seq8
Uploaded by chuckchillout8

beautiful background paintings...

bounce cycles...

and, of course, ducks...

If you're over 18, CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO!

RIDIN' DIRTY

2006-09-28T21:51:00.000-07:00

The new album is great!

Check out the Chamillionaire parody on Al's My Space page HERE

The R.Kelly parody "Trapped In The Drive-Thru" makes me laugh the hardest....

Weird Al is the greatest. No one can replace him! I listened and memorized the lyrics to all his cassettes back when I was growing up - in fact, a lot of times I knew his parodies before I ever heard the actual songs he was parodying! That was definitely true of "Stop Draggin' My Car Around."

PICK UP HIS NEW ALBUM HERE!

DUCK DRY

2006-09-23T14:33:00.000-07:00

(This post accompanies John K.'s "Acting - Bashful Buzzard (1945) & Baby Bottleneck (1946) McKimson and Scribner" post.)

More duck drawings from Scribner's telephone scene in Clampett's "Baby Bottleneck"....

JIM SMITH CARTOONS

2006-09-13T09:04:00.000-07:00

Hey, look who started a blog!

CLICK HERE TO GO TO JIM SMITH'S BLOG!

And while you're at it, pick up his sketchbooks at ASYLUM PRESS...

...and it looks like he's got a third sketchbook coming out this month!

NAKED ARE THE NUDE!

Studying Construction with Robert McKimson

2006-09-08T00:19:00.000-07:00

I made these McKimson Fudd Sheets to study from, so I figured I'd go ahead and share them with the blogosphere as well.

These screengrabs are all from Clampett's "An Itch In Time."

Enjoy!

Let's Keep the Archive Alive!

2006-07-12T20:42:00.000-07:00

Hey - sorry for the long disappearance! I've suddenly found myself very busy these days, but I'll try not to let this blog get so dusty in the future! Thank you everyone for the comments in the last post - I will try to respond to them all tonite!

Just wanted to plug the most recent post at the ASIFA ARCHIVE BLOG. The top ten reasons to donate to the archive. I have really enjoyed my time spent volunteering at the archive and being exposed to so many great cartoons that are so difficult to see these days. The archive is doing a great service and I really hope it can continue to exist.

(Be sure to check out previous posts at the ARCHIVE BLOG too, there's tons of great stuff! )

Here are links to some of my favorite posts so far....

Bill Nolan's Cartooning Self Taught
Swing, You Sinners
Barnyard Actor
Ralph Bakshi's Phone Doodles
Mel Crawford's Rootie Kazootie
Jim Tyer Comic Books
Milt Gross' Cartoon Tour of New York
Mariutch

And I learned that this is my favorite Mary Blair book...

Let's keep the Archive alive!

Berdfried the Berd Puppet, 3

2006-06-19T11:14:00.000-07:00

What's Up, Doc?

2006-06-15T08:27:00.000-07:00

A Wild Hare (July 27th, 1940)
Directed by Tex Avery
Animated by Virgil Ross

(Dates and credits from Dave Mackey's Warner Brothers Cartoon Filmography.)

This post accompanies John K's "Bugs Bunny Evolution - Egg Shaped Head, Robert Givens Design" post.

Spinning out of the rabbit hole...

What's Up, Doc?

The kiss...

And according to comic book artist Shawn Dickinson, "The 'kissing as an insult' gag was first used by Charlie Chaplin in The Floorwalker, 1916."

The skunk gag...

The good old fake dying routine...

And of course a kick in the butt...

...followed by dancing off into the background...

Cool, Calm and Confident

2006-06-15T08:04:00.000-07:00

Elmer's Candid Camera (March 2nd, 1940)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Animated by Robert McKimson

(Dates and credits from Dave Mackey's Warner Brothers Filmography Site.)

(This post accompanies John K's "Bugs Bunny Evolution - Egg Shaped Head, Robert Givens Design" post.)

In Chuck Jones' Elmer's Candid Camera we have the grey bunny from Hare-Um Scare-Um again, but his personality makes a pretty major change - instead of being so wild&crazy, he is now much more cool, calm and relaxed.

Even though Elmer has clearly invaded the rabbit's space, look how patient proto-Bugs is with him...

A good hearty laugh after kicking this intrusive photographer from behind!

Berdfried the Berd Puppet, 2

2006-06-13T21:33:00.000-07:00

GEEKAPALOOZA!

2006-06-09T11:09:00.000-07:00

If you live in Los Angeles, this looks like a fun way to spend Saturday!

Here are the details I found on Michelle Klein-Hass' blog:

An event to remember for all folks who love cartoons, comics and Rock N' Roll!

Saturday! Saturday!! SATURDAY!!!! June 10th!

Join Jim Smith and Freehead, John K., Frank Forte, Robert Rhine of "Satan's 3 Ring Circus of Hell," animation historian Steve Worth, and possibly even Slash (Yes! that Slash!) for the first annual Geekapalooza at world-famous Taix Restaurant's Taix Lounge!

Taix Restaurant is at 1911 Sunset Blvd. in fashionable Echo Park!

Signings will begin at 4pm, music will begin at 10pm!

NO COVER CHARGE but the food is so good and the drinks are nice and strong, so why not eat, drink and be merry with the elite of comics and animation!

Face front, true believers!
posted by Michelle Klein-Hass @ 6:30 PM

So can we expect to hear one of my favorite guitarists Slash doing a guest solo with Freehead on 'The Ren and Stimpy Theme Song'? Haha - I hope so!

BENTBILL THE SAILOR

2006-06-04T23:50:00.000-07:00

MARBLE MEMO MADNESS

2006-06-03T01:54:00.000-07:00

I started using these really small MARBLE MEMO notebooks (4.5x3.25 in) that I found at Albertson's grocery store. It's a great size because it fits nicely into my pocket, so I can take notes or scratch down a doodle whenever necessary.

hanging towel
A lot of these drawings are actually done in the morning, like a zombie, while making my coffee.

Two-Can Sam I Am Got-Damn

Strawcubby BearStrawbarney Bear

Shakespinich

Cooking

Experimenting with Contrast

To see some GREAT pigs, check out the amazing Jim Tyer comic "Charlie the Chef" (courtesy of Kent Butterworth) that Steve recently posted at the ASIFA-Archive blog.

And here's some envelope pigs...

Berdfried the Berd Puppet, 1

2006-05-31T17:06:00.000-07:00

Frogs, Effeminate Walks and Mae West

2006-05-31T01:31:00.000-07:00

SODA SQUIRT (October 12th, 1938)
Directed by Ub Iwerks

(Dates from The Big Cartoon Database.)

This post accompanies Uncle Eddie's A GRIM NATWICK WALK post.

Uncle Eddie pointed out to me this amazing Grim Natwick(Irv Spence?) animation in Ub Iwerks' Flip the Frog cartoon "Soda Squirt."

This cartoon has a lot of funny celebrity caricatures and cartoony animation in it, but the best scene by far is Grim's (Spence's?) animation of the effeminate man walking into Flip's soda shop.

I love the curves and the strong gestures in these drawings. And check out how Grim (Spence?) can create such a graceful and delicate walk, while at the same time making it fun and cartoony - amazing!

The handkerchief makes for a great prop in accentuating these nice curves...

Well, enough talk - on with the screen grabs!

Flip Meets Mae West...

Well look who's here...

Such expressive hands...

Nice three-shot...I love his reactions in the back...

Can I get some service please!??!

Check out that upset mouth!

Is it just me, or does this customer with the handkerchief remind anyone else of...

...Cesar Romero?

"What A Great Idea For A Gag!"

2006-05-30T11:38:00.000-07:00

If you had a chance to make it to the John K. Retrospective this past weekend at the Aero Theatre, you got to see the Mighty Mouse cartoon "Mighty's Benefit Plan" presented on the big screen with the energy of an audience of fans - it was great!

During the Q&A at the show, John K. and Jerry Beck were explaining to us the state of animation in the 80's before Ralph Bakshi's New Adventures of Mighty Mouse came along.

Mighty Mouse was much different than these other animated shows because it was actually a CARTOON.

Created by CARTOONISTS!

After Marc Crisafulli mentioned to me this really funny scene in the episode "Catastrophe Cat" (October 10th, 1987) - I knew I had to do a post about it!

Every time the hic-upping "Catastrophe Cat" walks by --- bad things happen.

Towards the beginning of the cartoon, this cat walks by Earth (he's out in space) and moments later a meteor is headed straight for Earth! And where is this meteor heading? Towards a cartoon studio of course!

The cartoonists don't realize the meteor is coming their way...

Hey, who's this?

Why it's everyone's favorite UNCLE EDDIE!

"What a great idea for a gag!" Eddie exclaims.

We then get to witness the sacred ritualistic dance-like-performance of cartooncreation in full rubbery & joyous momentum...

"You're fired!" says the piece of paper in the voice of Ralph Bakshi.

Big Thanks to Marc Crisafulli for pointing this hilarious scene out to me!

Roll Over, Beethoven

2006-05-27T22:52:00.000-07:00

Buck Teethed Grey Rabbit

2006-05-25T11:22:00.000-07:00

Hare-Um Scare-Um (August 12th, 1939)
Directed by Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton
Animated by Gil Turner

(dates and credits from Dave Mackey's Warner Brothers Filmography Site.)

(This post accompanies John K's When Cartoons Evolved 3 - First Bugs Bunnies post.)

In Hardaway and Dalton's Hare-Um Scare-Um, the white magician rabbit from Prest-O Change-O has become grey, and has developed two giant buck teeth.

This grey rabbit still acts like a 'duck in a rabbit suit' - he is wild, crazy and 'darn fooled!'

Watch him jump, splash and dive into the background - you can almost hear him yell "Woo woo! Woo woo!" can't you?

Here he treats us to a fun song and dance number...

But the singing and dancing can't last that long!

This image of the rabbit showing how thin and unappetizing he is proves to be particularly disturbing...

...and a friendly jolt of a handshake!

More Magic from that Crazy White Wabbit

2006-05-25T11:13:00.000-07:00

Prest-O Change-O (March 25, 1939)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Animated by Ken Harris

(Dates and credits from The Big Cartoon Database)

(This post accompanies John K's When Cartoons Evolved 3 - First Bugs Bunnies post)

In Chuck Jones' Prest-O Change-O, the white rabbit from Porky's Hare Hunt returns! In this cartoon, he is the great magician Sham-Fu's rabbit.

He's up to the same old tricks as the gopher in Get Rich Quick Porky --- tormenting a dog...

Well, let's take a look at some scenes...

I love this entrance!

...and look how cool it is when he falls from the coat rack like a piece of clothing!

...now for a familiar little disappearing act...

Well where'd the vase go?

Nothing like laughing at your victim when he's down...

Well now, this "spinning-out-of-his-hole" entrance looks familiar...

He can not only make objects vanish into thin air, but he can also make objects...

What a sweet little bunny rabbit...

What's this? More magic?

Well where'd he go!?!?!

Follow The White Rabbit

2006-05-25T11:07:00.000-07:00

Porky's Hare Hunt (April 30th, 1938)
Directed by Ben Hardaway
Animated by Volney White

(Dates and credits from The Big Cartoon Database).

(This post accompanies John K's When Cartoons Evolved 3 - First Bugs Bunnies post.)

In Porky's Hare Hunt, we meet the magical white rabbit for the first time.

Although he seems less like a rabbit, and more like a duck in a rabbit costume!

He's wild, crazy and darn-fooled - just like Daffy Duck or Woody Woodpecker.

Here's some screengrabs:

It's A Snap!

2006-05-24T16:47:00.000-07:00

Hey all you Mac users out there!

Just in case anyone has been wondering how I make all these cartoon frame grabs - I use the only screengrab program I have ever been able to find for Mac.....

...SNAPZ!

It's not shareware, so you do have to pay for it --- you can download a free trial version of it, but after a week or so all your screengrabs will have watermarks on them. You can buy a $30 version of it that just takes images, or a $70 (!!!) version of it that creates quicktime movies as well.

YOU CAN BUY SNAPZ HERE.

UNCLE EDDIE'S THEORY CORNER!

2006-05-23T21:41:00.000-07:00

New blog from Master Cartoonist Eddie Fitzgerald!

CHECK IT OUT HERE!

This is good news for cyberspace, good news indeed....

How To Clean A Giraffe

2006-05-23T20:22:00.001-07:00

I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles (1930)
Paramount Pictures, Fleischer Studios, Screen Songs

(Information from the Big Cartoon DataBase.)

This post accompanies the ASIFA Archive's Filmography: I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles (Fleischer/1930) post.

Exciting News! We have begun digitizing the Fleischer Screen Songs at the Archive!

(The screengrabs in this post are all from the quicktime Steve uploaded here.)

I love these old Fleischer cartoons.

Why?

To see cats being washed by a mouse...

Drunk dogs...

Solutions to difficult tasks - like a mouse figuring out how to wash the neck of a giraffe...

Dice magically transforming into a dog bone...

And of course - the amazing Fleischer mouths!

I love how the rabbit suddenly has pupils in these last 4 frames!

Hooray for Screen Songs!

Wouldn't it be great to see these in a packed theatre and hear a big crowd singing along?

ckdu-aklw

2006-05-18T20:08:00.000-07:00

EL-WEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

2006-05-17T17:47:00.000-07:00

Mighty's Benefit Plan (December 5th, 1987)
Ralph Bakshi Animation Productions,
Bakshi-Hyde Ventures,
Viacom Productions Inc.

These images accompany the "John K. Retrospective May 28th - Santa Monica" post on all kinds of stuff.

Ralph Bakshi's Mighty Mouse cartoon "Mighty's Benefit Plan" is a parody of "The Alvin Show." Instead of Dave Seville being the manager of three high-pitched chipmunks, we have Sandy as the demanding manager of this trio of rock n' roll tree weasels.

Enjoy!

Teeny Bopper Removable Head Dancing!

Yes, that's cereal on his tongue...

"El-weeeee!!!!!"

Swimming through the air...

Sandy meets the tree weasels...

Check out the "Free Inside" Prize on the cereal box...

The orphan mice are adopted by big forest animals

Family hug!

Well who's that in the pizza box?

~~Roadkill the Narrating Cat!~~
"The Road kill is Mashie The Pup, not a cat." - John K.
(Thanks for the correction!)

Ah ha ha ha!

I'm Popeye The Post-It Man

2006-05-17T14:39:00.000-07:00

This is the result of being inspired by Gabe's Post-It Sketches and Oscar Grillo's unique take on my favorite cartoon character, Popeye.

More Missing MGM Characters...

2006-05-16T12:34:00.000-07:00

This is a continuation of my "Variations on a Theme" post where I began comparing the original 1945 version of Preston Blair's "Animation" against my own modern copy of the book.

(Images on the left are from the original, images from the right are from my copy)

Is the running boy in the original from a cartoon? Anyone know?

Whoa!

And don't forget to check out screengrabs from these MGM cartoons that Clarke Snyde has posted at The Inspiration Grab-Bag!

Animation School Lesson 1CONSTRUCTIONThe Head (morning)

2006-05-16T10:52:00.000-07:00

Animation School Lesson 1CONSTRUCTIONThe Head (evening)

2006-05-15T22:47:00.000-07:00

Animation School Lesson 1CONSTRUCTIONThe Head

2006-05-15T11:39:00.000-07:00

Snooty Penguins

2006-05-12T16:19:00.000-07:00

These are a couple of snooty penguins I designed for the 2005 Orinda Film Festival.

I had a really great experience working on this project (Thanks for bringing me on board, Sam!), and I plan on showing some concept&development sketches in future posts.

We also made several animated commercials for the festival using my penguin designs - I'll show the making of those as well!

Bunny Prototype - Gopher Does Magic Tricks

2006-05-09T23:06:00.000-07:00

Get Rich Quick Porky (August 28th, 1937)
Directed by Bob Clampett
Animated by Chuck Jones

(Dates and credits from The Big Cartoon Database.)

(This post accompanies John K's post on When Cartoons Evolved - Bugs Bunny Prototypes.)

In Bob Clampett's directorial debut, Get Rich Quick Porky, we are introduced to a heckler gopher character who looks and acts a lot like a famous rabbit we all know.

Let's take a look:

The famous "spinning-in-and-out-of-the-hole" routine...

Magic tricks!

Tormenting!

Calm, cool and confident...

Can you picture this gopher with a pair of bunny ears?

Crazy Darn-Fool Duck

2006-05-09T22:17:00.000-07:00

Porky's Duck Hunt (April 17th, 1937)
Directed by Tex Avery

(Dates and credits from The Big Cartoon Database)

(This post accompanies John K's recent post on When Cartoons Evolved - Bugs Bunny ProtoTypes)

Porky's Duck Hunt is an important cartoon in the development of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. In this cartoon, Daffy actually shows hints of what eventually evolve into Bugs Bunny's calm&cool heckler personality, and Daffy's darn-fooled crazy personality.

(I hope they put this cartoon on the next Golden Collection - these are the only clips I've ever seen!)

Porky initiates a rivalry with a little black duck...

Look what happens when Porky sends his dog out to retrieve the duck!

Calm, Cool and Confident...

Here's a scene animated by Bob Clampett of that darn-fooled duck...

More craziness...

This pig is just digging himself into a hole...

And a layout drawing!

Booze, Giant Eyeballs and Animated Morphs

2006-05-08T17:24:00.000-07:00

It's Bob Clampett's Birthday Today!

And to continue the list John K. started on his blog, Clampett has given us...

More booze...

More giant eyeballs...

More suicide...

More rubber legs...

More naked pigs...

More pigs turning into fish...

More men turning into seals...

And more super-fast song&dance numbers...

Thanks for all the laughs, Bob!

Variations on a Theme

2006-05-05T20:59:00.000-07:00

Steve Worth has just posted the first half of the first edition of Preston Blair's Animation book over at the the ASIFA Archive blog.

Steve explains,

When Blair put the book together in 1947, he used the characters he had animated at Disney and MGM to illustrate the various basic principles of animation. Apparently, the rights to use some of the characters were revoked after the book was already in the stores. Publication was halted for a time, and he was forced to redraw most of the MGM characters, replacing them with generic characters of his own design.

You can check out screengrabs from the MGM cartoons these characters are originally from over at Clarke Snyder's Inspiration Grab-Bag.

And over at all kinds of stuff, John K. explains how to use this book to learn about construction of the head.

And here at DUCK WALK, you can check out the generic characters of his own design that appear in my copy of the book!

(Images on the left are from the original, images on the right are from the currently available yellow-covered version)

The duck on the left is a thousand times cooler than the goose on the right!

...and now watch me change this chicken into a rabbit, right before your eyes, folks...

Hey, where'd Thumper go?

2006-05-05T19:17:00.000-07:00

Em Eye See!Kay Ee Why! EM OH YOU ESS EE!

2006-05-02T20:01:00.000-07:00

This post accompanies John K.'s "Design Appeal - Mickey Mouse Club - Cute and Wonderful Mickey" post.

Monday's intro
"Song and Dance Man Mickey"
Animated by Ollie Johnston

Tuesday's intro
"Concert Pianist Mickey"
Animated by Ollie Johnston

Wednesday's intro
"Sorcerer's Apprentice Mickey"
Animated by Hal King

Thursday's intro
"Trombone-Playing Bandleader Mickey"
Animated by Hal King

Friday's intro
"Rope-Twirling Cowboy Mickey"
Animated by John Lounsbery

Funny Birds

2006-04-30T18:22:00.000-07:00

This post accompanies John K.'s "What Do Cartoon Directors Do Anyway? Ask Bob and Tex" post.

These screengrabs are from Tex Avery's "Aloha Hooey" (1942).

Some underwater Scribner acting...

Moths, Veronica Lake and Butt Fights

2006-04-30T00:42:00.000-07:00

"Eatin' On The Cuff"
Warner Brothers, Looney Tunes
August 22nd, 1942

Supervision by Robert Clampett
Animation by Virgil Ross
Story by Warren Foster
Musical Direction by Carl W. Stalling

(Dates and credits from Jerry Beck and Will Friedwald's
A Complete Illustrated Guide To The Warner Bros. Cartoons)

This post accompanies John K.'s "What Do Cartoon Directors Do Anyway? Ask Bob and Tex" post.

"Look, a man!"

Who's Veronica Lake?

"I don't want to set the world on fire..."

"...but it says a moth's attracted to a FLAME!"

The Butt Fight!

"Confidentially speaking..."

"...she STINGS!"

Archive Inspiration, 01

2006-04-28T09:52:00.000-07:00

These envelope doodles were inspired by some of the Jim Tyer and Dan Gordan comics that Kent Butterworth so generously donated to the ASIFA-Archive.

Thanks Kent!

Rubber Hose Animation"Swing, You Sinners"

2006-04-26T21:48:00.000-07:00

The following 4 posts all accompany John K's upcoming articles on Rubber Hose Animation

Swing, You Sinners (Fleischer Studios, 1930)

These screengrabs were take from the quicktime file uploaded at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive Blog.

Rubber Hose Animation"The Plow Boy"

2006-04-26T21:47:00.000-07:00

The Plow Boy (Walt Disney Studios, 1929)

Rubber Hose Animation"Barnacle Bill"

2006-04-26T21:45:00.000-07:00

Barnacle Bill (Fleischer Studios, 1930)

The thunder and lightning scene...

Rubber Hose AnimationFleischer Studios Crowd Scenes

2006-04-26T21:43:00.000-07:00

Betty Boop's Bizzy Bee (1932)

Boop-Oop-A-Doop (1932)

The Bum Bandit (1931)

A Hunting We Will Go (1932)

Betty Boop For President (1932)

Silly Scandals (1931)

By the power of Berdskillz...

2006-04-26T09:15:00.000-07:00

...I HAVE THE WEBSITE UP AGAIN!!!!!

Well, I've changed web hosts - so now the castle should be functioning properly again. Please let me know if you have any trouble with pages not loading or anything.

Oh yeah, the "intro cartoon" and the "store" are not up yet, either....but those should be soon to come....

So howdya like the business cards? These cards are from Series 1.....

Leftovers

2006-04-24T01:25:00.000-07:00

As I was making my Pac-Man painting last year, I used lots of scrap paper to practice brush strokes. Once I was finished with the painting, I ended up with a huge stack of these scrap papers.

So of course I had to doodle on them.

Here are some of the results:

Have a nice Monday!

Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde

2006-04-20T11:36:00.000-07:00

And some doodles with Pac-Man, too....

...and there's still more to come!

An art show inspired by videogames of the 80's

2006-04-18T13:22:00.000-07:00

If you live in the L.A. area - here's a show you'll want to check out! The opening reception is tonite, April 18th, from 6pm-11pm. The exhibition will continue thru May 19th, 2006.

Here's the official website.

Gallery nineteen eighty eight
7020 Melrose Ave. LA (323)937-7088

And hey, if you don't live in the area - you can always pick up the "I AM 8 BIT" book that's just been released!

Pac-Man #1

2006-04-18T12:27:00.000-07:00

Well, unfortunately I didn't get my act together to submit any artwork to the I AM 8 BIT show that premieres tonite, but I thought I'd share some of the sketches and roughs from the painting I did last year.

I came up with ideas for several different video game paintings, actually. Here's a Pitfall idea I had:

I also had ideas for a Donkey Kong painting, a Frogger painting and others - but I ended up just getting one Pac-Man painting done. I'd like to do the others in the future though!

I decided that my painting would be based on the cabinet art that appears on Pac-Man at the arcade:

Here are some of the early doodles I came up with while brainstorming:

"Honey, I'm Home"

"I think we lost'em boys"

A framing idea

Pac-Man the Yellow Ocotopus

"Ulp!"

Coming Up Next: Pac-Man Ghost Sketches!

eggsBUNNYyesterday

2006-04-18T10:38:00.000-07:00

T.S. Sullivant

2006-04-12T19:55:00.000-07:00

Supplemental images to go with John K's Origin of Styles posting.

Gallery Show - REAL LIFE WIZARDS

2006-04-11T13:32:00.000-07:00

If you live in L.A., this is a show you'll want to check out!

Taken from the meathaus website:

"The magical time is nigh. The REAL LIFE WIZARDS have been preparing their art show to hang in the hallway at Nickelodeon studios in Burbank. The show has a little opening with tequila next Thursday April 13th after the working day is done, about 5 to 7 pm, 231 West Olive Ave., Burbank, CA. More info soon.

Real Life wizards in the show include R. Cory, Chris McD, Farel Dalrymple, James Jean, Chad Coyle and a few more probably."

OUT TO LUNCH

2006-04-11T10:16:00.000-07:00

Well, castleBERDskillz is temporarily down right now - but I hope to have it back up by Friday! This is too bad, especially after the nice plug The Gagaman(n) just gave the site! Thanks GagaMan(n)!

Humorous Phases of Funny Bird Faces

2006-04-10T10:08:00.000-07:00

About four years ago, in school, I decided to make a film that would include everything I wanted in a cartoon.

This was a mistake.

I packed way too many ideas into this cartoon and it just never got finished - the animatic is 12 minutes long! But one of the nice things about preparing for this film was that I designed a bunch of characters that would play small roles throughout the piece. One of these characters is named Greenbird.

When I designed him in 2002, he looked like this:

As you can see, he's not based on a real bird at all.

Here are some rough ideas of how he might look when emotional -

Looking back at these drawings, it is clear to me that there just isn't enough specificity in the design. The character would work as a graphic that could do funny walks and dances, but the design won't allow me to do any really intense and emotional acting. I mean, he has no facial structure!

Fast-forward to 2005.

In 2005 I decided to re-design Greenbird for television pitching. I decided that this time, I would begin the design by caricaturing an actual, specific bird. Well, Greenbird is supposed to be green - so I modeled him after a parrot.

I googled a bunch of parrot images, and here are some of the drawings that resulted:

I really like that sharp angle on the top of the parrot's head, so I tried to keep that in the design. I also realized that the tiny eyes are part of what makes a parrot look like a parrot, so I tried to keep those too.

This next step is the most crucial step in turning an animal into a cartoon animal:

Adding the hat and moustache.

How about a shirt and tie, too?

As you can see on one of my post-it notes, I realized that the little eyes were not going to be expressive enough. But everytime I drew the eyes bigger, I felt like I was losing too much of that original parrot.

Now I'm not exactly sure what happened next - I think I started focusing on the Preston Blair book more intensely in an effort to strengthen my skills in cartoon construction. But the following designs basically ended up being my final designs. I realized that soft and round shapes would animate much better than the designs I had been working on before, and also that with these new character constructions I would be able to study classic cartoons and apply what I learn to Greenbird more easily.

He now has facial construction...

And his body has volume....

And look, he can even turn around now!

This latest version of Greenbird is succesful, to me, because I can now put him in poses and twist him around and give him much more specific facial expressions that just wouldn't have been possible with the original designs. I really like the realistic parrot drawings, but I don't think they are as practical for cartoon animation.

The most fun of this whole process, actually, was drawing the real parrot and then trying to caricature its features! Here are some more drawings from that period:

No moustache!

I'm not sure if there is anything to learn from this post - but I just thought I'd share my experience designing Greenbird.

So what kind of processes do you go through when designing characters?

Thanks for your comments!

2006-04-08T06:48:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who commented on the "rubbery cartoon dancing" post! And thanks to Amid at CartoonBrew for plugging the post as well!

There were several cartoons mentioned in the comments that I hadn't looked at in a while, so I pulled out the ones I had in my collection to re-watch.

I figured I'd go ahead and post some screen grabs too - here ya go!

Wackiki Wabbit (Warner Brothers, Merrie Melodies, 1943)

Skeleton Dance (Walt Disney Studios, Silly Symphonies, 1929)

Mysterious Mose (Fleischer Studios, Talkartoons, 1930)

Stimpy's Invention (Spumco, Ren and Stimpy, 1992)

The Shindig (Walt Disney Studios, Mickey Mouse, 1930)

The Goddess Of Spring (Walt Disney Studios, Silly Symphonies, 1934)

Billboard Frolics (Warner Brothers, Merrie Melodies, 1935

Wow, inspiring stuff.

Stop by Monday - I'll be posting about the development of one of my characters...Greenbird!

INSPIRATION: Rubbery Cartoon Dancing

2006-04-05T18:46:00.000-07:00

Warning: Long Post Ahead

One of the reasons I love the cartoons from the 30's is because there is so much attention spent on characters dancing.

I realize, of course, that there is dancing in cartoons from the 40's and on - but I specifically like the rubber hose jazzy dancing of these earlier ones. Many of my favorite cartoons are the ones with no real story - just songs, rhythms, often times surreal imagery, and dancing. Some of my favorite sequences include......

1) The waiter, Bimbo, in the Fleischer's "Dizzy Dishes" (1930)

This is my favorite cartoon ever, by the way. The waiter does so many cool little moves as he "glide dances" to the hungry customer's table! I believe that these dance sequences were animated by the great Grim Natwick (please correct me if I'm wrong). Part of the reason this sequence is so successful, in my opinion, is because Grim is such a solid draftsman that he is able to draw this waiter in practically any pose and at any angle. Grim captures every little twist and turn and weight shift convincingly - thus creating this really beautiful, believable and fun dance walk. And even though the dance is animated on ones and the moves are pretty quick, all the poses and gestures read instantly - nothing is unclear.

And to top it all off, the poses are all so fun and full of energy! What a masterpiece!

2) The nightclub entertainer, Goopy Geer, in the Merrie Melody "Goopy Geer" (1932)

3) Flip the Frog in Ub Iwerks' "Fiddlesticks" (1930)

Notice how at first Flip is hopping just like a normal frog...

But then the real fun begins!

"Fiddlesticks" was the first Flip the Frog cartoon ever made, and boy - it sure doesn't get any better than this! This first scene of just Flip doing his dance is really all I need in a cartoon. Perfection.

4) Cab Calloway rotoscope animation in "Minnie the Moocher" (1932) and "Snow White" (1933)

What I love about this animation is that the timing of Calloway's movements is all maintained realistically (through rotoscope), but the character designs are so cartoony! The result is almost creepy - very cartoony characters moving not like cartoons, but like real people. And then on top of that - the animators add in all these crazy surreal metamorphosis type things throughout the performance! This beautiful combination of realism and imagination creates pure magic . The result is timeless - I never get tired of watching this stuff.

5) The scarecrow in Ub Iwerks' "Big Bad Wolf" (or "Little Boy Blue") (1936)

More rotoscoped dance movement. We don't get the crazy metamorphosis additions in this performance, but it's still really fun just seeing this pumpkinhead move so cool.

6) Noah and all the animals (and even his chair) dance in this Van Beuren Aesop's Fable "Noah Knew His Ark" (1930)

7) Dancing birds in Van Beuren's "A Romeo Robin" (1930)

More fun cartoony dancing.

On a side note - these last two Van Beuren frame grabs are taken from the amazing "Aesop's Fables" DVD produced by Thunderbean. I would just like to mention that I am eternally grateful that Steve Sanchfield releases these DVD's - without his effort I would most likely never get to see all these amazing cartoons! I have bought every one of his Thunderbean DVD's so far and none of them dissapoint - you can find his website here:

http://www.thunderbeananimation.com/

One of the great things about volunteering at the ASIFA Animation Archive is that I have access to lots of these cartoons with great dancing in them. There's Harman and Ising's "Swing Wedding", Freleng's "Hittin' the Trail for Hallelujah Land," Fleischer's "Swing You Sinners" and many of the black&white Terrytoons have great rubberhose dancing as well.

Here's some notes I took at the Archive while studying Isadore Freleng's "Hittin' the trail For Hallelujah Land" (1931). It's a dancing duck!

So what are some of your favorite dance sequences?

Strawberry Bear

2006-04-04T19:19:00.000-07:00

This character's name is Strawberry Bear. He is a big friendly bear from another planet: Checkerstrawbeariya. He likes to sing. He's similar to cereal cartoon characters - just like the Trix Rabbit goes crazy for Trix, or the Coo-Coo Bird is insane for Coa-Coa Puffs, Strawberry Bear goes ga-ga for Strawberries.

These screengrabs are all from my interactive website castleBERDskillz.

Look, he's singing!

Strawberry Bear even has his own 8-bit videogame!

I am planning on sharing a lot of the preliminary drawings, sketches, ideas and development of this scene and more from castleBERDskillz in the near future......

Stay tuned!

Figure Drawings

2006-04-03T06:04:00.000-07:00

Here are some drawings from the past several years - all from the Sunday life drawing workshops that Corny Cole organizes at Cal Arts. I met Corny 5 years ago, when I first arrived in California, and since then he has become a great mentor and friend to me.

Come back soon for more stuff!

Introduction

2006-04-03T05:31:00.000-07:00

Hello, my name is Marc Deckter and I am a freelance artist working in the animation industry in Los Angeles. I was planning on making a website to show my portfolio and demoreel, but I decided that a blog would be just as good - if not better.

I plan on using this blog to post sketches, doodles, artwork from various projects I've worked on, studies in cartooning, pencil tests, audio experiments, stuff that inspires me, and anything else that might come to mind.

Thanks for visiting - come back soon!

Aduck Swim

2006-03-29T17:52:00.000-08:00

Michael Cheque

2006-03-29T17:29:00.000-08:00

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