The Butler that didn't...

"Edgar" in Disney's THE ARISTOCATS is one of those great tour-de-fource Milt Kahl characters that shows off the animator's raw talent and skill in a less-than-excellent film. I've always like the character tho, who was voiced by British comedian Roddy Maude-Roxby, and probably modeled more or less on Arthur Treacher, the gold-standard bearer of Hollywood character actor English butlers. Disney legend Burny Mattinson once mentioned to me that around the same time there was an ongoing interest to get Robert Morely, another great UK talent to do a voice for a Disney character over the course of several films, but Mr. Morley, whose mobile face was even more expressive than his spectacularly unique voice, was apparently completely dis-interested is seeing himself animated. Still, possibly Morley's paunchy frame and expressive face guided this character to some extent...

Michael Hordern, a less well known but every bit as wonderful actor always somewhat reminds me of "Edgar"as well, but I have no idea if he provided any influence. Hordern was a masterful UK stage actor, featured in many great Shaekspearean roles on stage and the small screen, but his movie appearances were generally 2nd or 3rd tier supporting character roles. One memorable such performance can be seen in Richard Lester's uneven but enjoyable adaptation of the Broadway burlesque A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM (1967), where Hordern plays the horny, hen-pecked head of a household next door to a tempting brothel. I have seen that show performed on stage many times and the father is always played as the broadest comic character in a show full of broad and comic types, but Hordern goes about it in his signature understated style that steals every scene he's in.

Co-incidentally a Netflix search of his name turned up an intriguing made for TV comedy from England called FUTTOCK'S END starring Ronnie Barker. I can't reccommend it, it is singularly lousy and boring, but in the story (played entirely in pantomime) Hordern plays a dodgy butler who goes about on a motor scooter, albeit one without a sidecar. I was kind of flabbergasted at some of the similarities to the ARISTOCATS' character even still. Here's a few frame grabs...

Butler Hordern in FUTTOCK' END

Did this influence the cartoon character? Not terribly likely: both films were made at the roughly the same time and released in the same year (1970). Although MONTY PYTHON would be a cornerstone of PBS a few years later, English comedy shows were rarely shown on TV in the USA back then so it is doubtful anyone laboring away in Burbank would have seen it. It still is a funny co-incidence. Almost as intriguing as this one was a model sheet I once saw for Milt Kahl's conception of "Flewder Flamm," the bumbling bard in THE BLACK CAULDRON. That design looked for all intents and purposes EXACTLY like Michael Hordern to me. Maybe Milt Kahl liked this actor too, but who knows? That design was unused, (I don't own a copy of it) and both men are long gone, alas. 

Skribblz

I like to think that I'm never too busy to doodle, but lately that's the case. These are mostly from way back in May I think...

JIM TYER FANS REJOICE: ASIFA Hollywood Archive delivers!

My pal Dave Nethery has directed our attention to the esteemed Asifa Hollywood Archive blog, where a series of Jim Tyer storyboard drawings are on display! Not quite the same as having actual animation ruffs, but in any case, we get to see both ruff and finished artwork by him, both of which offer a peek into his process. Check it out....LINK!

Tyer-less Tyer

Fan art only. Character is copywritten property of Disney. No wagering please.

Lately I have wondered what it would have been like if Jim Tyer had ever drawn Disney characters.

I have been on a Tyer kick lately and it only got more intense when Kevin Langley posted THIS quintessential Tyer epic, one of the last (if not THE last) theatrical MIGHTY MOUSE shorts.

I loved Terrytoons as a kid, they were in heavy rotation on Saturday morning TV in the early 1960's but then they kind of disappeared until Turner revived them in the mid-1980's. By then I was already a working animator and when I saw them as an adult I was mesmerized by Tyer. I still am. There was nobody like him, before or since in a century of animation (Emery Hawkins is probably the closest cousin). I don't think Tyer could have achieved his ultimate signature style in any other studio, probably because no other studio was so cheap, so driven by deadlines and cost cutting measures, and so beleaguered by hackneyed gags and characters. And all of that inverted discipline of making the bottom line work at all costs allowed Tyer's nutty character to evolve to unparalleled heights.

Which remains a funny comment on the nature of creativity.  The subjects of the shorts were so weak that he had considerable liberty to be so funny in his execution. We can't really know for sure, but if the characterizations or situations had required something more crisp and specific from a conceptual standpoint, he might not have been able to be as loose and spontaneous. Fortunately, the gags are almost always routine, tame, lame, derivative and stupid, but Tyer takes this as an excuse to let his animation chops run wild. When his scenes come on, it's almost as if the cartoon suddenly gets drunk; everything from the lip sync to the locomotion goes completely haywire, and yet somehow makes its own strange sense. It is almost as if he spent his formative years learning the basics of the craft and then just said "Ah the hell with it" and just allowed the muse to guide his errant pencil wherever it wanted to go. It is savant-like animation, almost completely devoid of technique (he has some trademarks but he rarely does anything the same way twice) and more vividly expressionistic than any other mainstream artist has ever achieved. Add to this that his work has an effortless, off-handedness and you have one of the most unique careers in animation. I doubt he ever expected to have his name whispered in reverence by so many ardent fans so long after his passing, but happily his cult continues to grow.

Like I said, he probably would have been fired at any studio where discipline and "artistry" were held in any esteem, which says something wonderful about a schlock-house like Terry and the oddball atmosphere that permitted his diamond-rare style to flower. It also says something about the youth of the medium even back then (the late 1940's thru to the 60's) : today the mainstream studios have gotten so systematized that it is hard to picture someone as individual as him being allowed to so wantonly violate norms of the trade...

Doggypuppy: Revised model 9/7/10

Slowest...blogging season...EVERRRRR!

Despite global tensions on many fronts and seemingly in all quarters, personally this has been a mellow, pleasant summer for me and my family, something I don't take for granted. It has also been a busy one. This has led to slower blogging than ever but although the internet has been labeled officially dead (really? it seems more comatose to me), I haven't given up yet. I thank all readers and viewers here for your continued and patient support...

Since I don't have a TwitBook account, here's some bit-sized reflections on events of recent weeks:

1. Pres Romaillos, who died in July, was a phenomenally talented artist, a dedicated member of the animation community, and a kind, good natured, sincere human being. I remember him as a young student barely out of school eager to learn and eventually ranking in the top of the heap as a Supervising Animator on films like MULAN and SPIRIT. My thoughts and condolences go out to his family. Like anybody who knew or worked with Pres, I will miss him.

2. On my son Danny's birthday in July we all saw DESPICABLE ME and it was a huge hit in this household and obviously many more. Simple story, fun to look at and lighthearted cartooniness. 3 qualities rare enough in animated features, and this one was a monster hit to boot! Maybe this will help re-define what an animated movie can be: in other words: not overly gross but certainly not too precious; off-beat in topic, setting and execution (the minions were happily unexplained and entirely accepted by audiences everywhere), and generally not overly grounded in the typical animation "reality." Kudos to the film makers, not least of which was the incomparable Sergio Pablos, who came up with the original story.

3. Despite my crabbing about the publicity art, I did in fact attend the Chuck Jones exhibit at the Motion Picture Academy here in Los Angeles, (the exhibit closed today), which was, in fact quite good. I went several times and it never fails to inspire when a selection of original art from the golden era is on hand to see. Oddly, they did have the Friz Freleng cel I griped about back in April, but what the hey, most of the artifacts were choice: from Mike Maltese's thumbnails for WHAT'S OPERA DOC? to the first model sheet of Pepe LePew to a good number of sketches, character layouts, washes and doodles by Jones himself.

4. Having finally caught on to 2009's A TOWN CALLED PANIC, I have also downloaded Season One of the film's precursor TV series and tracked down some other choice clips by the creators Stephane Aubier and Vincent Patar . Here's my favorite: an early entry of PIC PIC THE MAGIC PIG. They've artfully married Tex Avery craziness to the deadpan post-modern humor of Gary Larson. Why isn't more animation like this?

5. I recommend the book WALT IN WONDERLAND (out of print, but worth looking for) as a insightful companion to viewing the early ALICE and OSWALD Disney silents, which I did recently. The authors make some salient and objective points about Disney's faltering first seven years as an animation producer, notably tracking the development of certain gags and themes as well as mis-steps and dead ends.

6. I immediately followed up checking out the Disney silents with a re-viewing of the black & white Mickey Mouse shorts. If the previous films had been an uneven training ground for Disney, Iwerks & co, Mickey comes on the scene with unprecedented authority: the first five films (the ones Iwerks had the most influence on) are, in my opinion the best of the lot. Later films piled on more technical advances and artistic enhancements, but few to none capture the crisp purity of PLANE CRAZY, GALLOPIN' GAUCHO, STEAMBOAT WILLIE, THE BARN DANCE and THE OPRY HOUSE. After these films and Iwerks' early departure, the drive to increase the amount of visual detail (both in the graphic vocabulary and the animation mechanics) ironically makes many of the subsequent films feel more crude; (Iwerks own studio films suffer identically, IMO, so the trend must have been endemic). It's strange but it seems to follow a persistent pattern: something starts out raw and scrappy and instantly pleasing, then success ushers in an era of technique heavy improvements that often obscures the original charm. It's too bad.

Last but least, I have found a few odd moments to do some unpaid drawing here and there, although a full work load has limited my time for that. I will sift thru the bunch and post a few in the near future if anything stands out as worth sharing...

Cheers!

God's Gift to the Animated Movie

Without a doubt, one of the most original films I have ever seen, animated or otherwise. Recklessly and relentlessly funny and oddly touching at the same time; it's a triumph of pure and simple film technique and outrageous narrative originality. My highest praise really can't do it justice. My admiration to the filmmakers.... This is one of those movies I wish I had seen in the theater first, but check it out on DVD... You aren't likely to be sorry...