February '10

From FLIP #27, regarding...

I enjoyed reading your Cal Arts student's varied impressions and memories of my dad. From his perspective, I believe his years at Cal Arts were some of the most enjoyable of his life. As your former students figured out, his years at Disney were pretty mixed. Few people get to make their living for 40 years using their skills with a pencil, and he certainly knew some amazing people through the years, but the creative compromises of constantly coping with major egos within a corporate environment were significant. It is true, he never quite believed in the Disney magic. As a father with four kids to bring up, survival was the goal, and keeping a low profile his chosen strategy--obviously not without its price.

As his daughter, I can't judge the quality of his animation, but the birdcage comment does seem to be a cheap shot. I know he worked on mice in "Cinderella", Smee in "Peter Pan", and godmothers in "Sleeping Beauty", as well as adapting the Tinkerbell for the opening of whatever Disney TV show was being presented in the 60s. In his later years at Disney, the description of him as a "reanimator" does seem to be accurate. He did know how to mine that "morgue."

As for being the butt of all student jokes, my opinion is he was in on being the joke, and at that point in his life, I don't think he cared. If the students needed him as a character to power their creativity, he could handle it. As noted, his ego had been subdued over the years by far greater pros than them. He did have a strong work ethic, a real love of animation itself, and an ability to adjust to a changing environment. I'm sure he was conservative to students, at the time he was in his seventies, and he was there to teach character animation. But he was also well aware that the classic Disney style was the past and not the future.

I have the original of the photo cutout of Bob sitting on the table kicking his feet from "Toby." I also have photos of the plaster statue with pigeons. Somebody went to a major effort to pay attention as Dad was leaving Cal Arts. I appreciate having context for these relicts. And, thank you for making the effort to remember Bob McCrea, "dubious" or not.

Alexa McCrea

From FLIP #12, regarding...

Barry Hummel stated: "[W]hen 'Pinocchio' was produced, no one truly understood the health problems associated with tobacco use...Those fleeting images of Lampwick and Pinocchio smoking on Pleasure Island, seen one time in a theater in 1940, are burned into the brains of children today with repeated viewing on DVD, frequently without adult supervision. Have we all discussed the dangers of smoking as a result of Pinocchio's smoking? Not Likely. Are we better off because the scene was included? Not likely."

What Dr. Hummel forgets is that smoking a cigar made Pinocchio ill (his wooden face even turns a shade of green). The puppet was also urged to smoke by the delinquent child Lampwick, who turns into a donkey as punishment for his sins. When Pinocchio sees this transformation he tosses away his cigar. The scene is hardly an endorsement for smoking. 

There is also an overly moralistic anti-smoking cartoon starring Porky Pig, made in 1938, called Wholly Smoke. The MGM cartoon Pipe Dreams (1938) and the Puppetoon Good Night Rusty (1943) are also of the anti-smoking genre. 

Mark Colangelo

From FLIP #17, regarding...

I've been reading your webmag for a while, and it's been pretty terrific stuff, especially this particular issue with the infamous CalArts Halloween parties. The parties were so notorious..I remember locals crashing the parties....and their reactions. The Masturbation Box was a particular favorite - guys grabbing girls and tossing them into a giant box to see a guy....well, you know...and them running out screaming. I went a couple of times, and had a pretty good time.

Norma Rivera

From FLIP #16, regarding...

COVER PHOTO "The Kids in A-113"

Just so ya know,iIn the picture of "Kids in A-113" supplied by
Harry Sabin, Leslie Margolin is wearing an original and illicit CalArts t-shirt created and produced by me, Barb Eddy, and Rick Probst. We designed a swingboard airbrush process so we could do five colors and mass produce them for the Spring Fair. Made a killing before Diz shut us down because we used "The Mouse". Was fun to see that someone had a picture of it!

I loved the article on Esther Barr and the discussion with Carolyn Bates et al. Did you see Esther's originals? Pretty amazing. Anyway, Flip is great so thanks for an interesting and DIVERSE mag from the animzone and for continuing to expose the multiplicity of creative outpourings in which you and peers are thriving!

Barb Eddy

From FLIP #7, regarding....

Today I just finished reading the TOP SECRET Pod John story and I couldn't stop laughing out loud. Thanks for reminding me why I got out of "the business". I have had many studios meetings that left me scratching my head and questioning my decision to pursue animation as a livelyhood, but none were quite as proposterous as this.

It is clear to me that the only fictionalized part of this story is the blow-up pool in the corner. It was a cute invention, but honestly, the truth is soooo much more entertaining.

By the way, have you seen that the Sock Monkey is directing a new picture at Dreamworks?

Bob Seeley

From FLIP #16, regarding...

Bugs Bunny is Dead

Bugs Bunny Lives!
Also Goofy, Donald, and Daffy.
Any reports of their demise have been greatly exaggerated.
In animation, we refer to some characters as 'good actors'. This means that the character can provide a good range of body actions and facial expressions. It also helps if its voice isn't forced or artificial (Donald is a wonderful pantomime actor, but you wouldn't give him long speeches since it's a bit hard to listen to him for long periods of time. Mickey Mouse is a notoriously hard character to 'act' since he has very little vocal range. I liked him best as the boy-adventurer in films like THRU THE MIRROR, and incidentally, he has only a few lines of dialogue in that film).

Bugs Bunny is a Protean character who can change into anything he needs to be--a woman, a magician, a Genie, whatever it takes. Bugs is timeless. He's a marvelous character to work with and I would love to do so again. He can play anything!

As to whether these Thirties and Forties characters can be updated for what is laughably termed 'modern tastes'--I refer you to the Little Movie That Could, known more familiarly to you as A Goofy Movie. It was fun, it was entertaining, it showed Goofy's terrific acting range...and it was a terrific hit. As it turned out, his Mambo dancing dates less and is 'hipper' today than son Max's Powerline act.

Yes, the great characters can still be entertaining today--just give them good stories.
 
Nancy Beiman

In response to "Is Bugs Bunny Dead?" I would like to remind everyone of "MouseWorks" and "House of Mouse". We brought the characters into the current world by retaining what was good about them, and the show (MouseWorks) was voted, not by studios, not by executives, but by animation peers, as the best show for the year 2000. Unfortunately, the Disney company was afraid of having the mouse be beaten in the ratings by "Pokemon" so it got a noon time slot, which was usually preempted for local college football, and has yet to release it on DVD, so that people can remember that these were good cartoons. There are a few examples on YouTube, but they are in French.

Tony Craig

 Mouse Works - best show for the year 2000.