tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22406604.post8466994563505713533..comments2008-02-23T00:04:34.508-08:00JohnKhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14033480276168015590noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22406604.post-83064400878716436142008-02-22T23:55:00.000-08:002008-02-22T23:55:00.000-08:00

Great characters still need a well-thought-out story. They can't survive without it.Look at Fauntleroy Fox and Crawford Crow. I defy you to watch TOLL-BRIDGE TROUBLES or MR MOOCHER, or read the Bob Wickersham or Karp/Davis comics, and not love those characters. But aside from a very few shorts (like the two cited above), the Columbia crew in the 1940s had a generally terrible story sense. The

ramapithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01751343744514656549noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22406604.post-70418770811295498512008-02-22T09:31:00.000-08:002008-02-22T09:31:00.000-08:00

James, do you really think brad bird has great characters? They all seem really stock to me. But I haven't seen all of the iron giant, so I don't know about the characters in that movie.

Timefishbluehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08714482646891891835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22406604.post-58522420678723255602008-02-22T08:09:00.000-08:002008-02-22T08:09:00.000-08:00

Actually I came to thank you for your valuable inputs. Like I said I was called for a two day seminar on content development for animation at an Animation University here and I was able to share many of the valuable points that I learned from you.Especially about character development and the potential of a content developer who is an animator too. I was able to drive home the point how many

deadmanswillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07977831864547813603noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22406604.post-89703235948582696662008-02-22T07:46:00.000-08:002008-02-22T07:46:00.000-08:00

I believe you are right in that for animation a good character is a great starting point.Just yesterday I was trying to drive home the point to a 80 odd animation students whom I was called to address regarding concept development for animation movies.I was stressing the importance of character for an animated movie. Though a character is important to for live action movie too, but for animation

deadmanswillhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07977831864547813603noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22406604.post-65371280946004063922008-02-22T05:17:00.000-08:002008-02-22T05:17:00.000-08:00

'I think Brad Bird really emphasized this a lot unfortunately when he did his interviews for the "Incredibles". He must have said the word "story" 45 times rapid fire. A lot of young aspiring "animators" who look up to him saw that movie and listened to him and it was like an overnight thing. Its all I hear now. "Does is have a good story? Gee I hope the story is good." "Yes, but wheres the story

James N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/04938979989958769590noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22406604.post-46634742894187740672008-02-22T01:22:00.000-08:002008-02-22T01:22:00.000-08:00

I love this blog! Thank you John and all your contributors. I wanted to be an animator since I was like 5 or so, and my first influence was the HB cartoons that aired on "Sheriff John" (you old LA area farts should remember it) and I always loved the simple cheeriness of them. This site is a treasure trove - the Art Lozzi background posts alone are priceless. It's also nice to know that there are

DonkleDuckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04797628629616961171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22406604.post-70487176658313782732008-02-21T23:23:00.000-08:002008-02-21T23:23:00.000-08:00

That is the best Yogi bear I have ever seen. If he looked like that all the time, I might watch more of his cartoons!

tedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16803774166906370964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22406604.post-48249387840350793942008-02-21T22:22:00.000-08:002008-02-21T22:22:00.000-08:00

Hi johnK im JohnBweird i know.Im 17 turning "18" in april 2008.I was always interested in animation before my time and always will.I dislike the new flash animation not the animators or the program itself but the companys that are behind the whole cheaply done crap for melting kids minds. Anyways im creatig a sketchblog,But am worried people will try and copy my art.my email is john_cb@live.caand

JOHNCBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16357842332036135997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22406604.post-12604409248604609762008-02-21T21:44:00.000-08:002008-02-21T21:44:00.000-08:00

Hey! THe name is different than who you thanked earlier! I'm confused! Thanks David then???

Kali Fontecchiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11203562437910689569noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22406604.post-46739352276472090352008-02-21T21:15:00.000-08:002008-02-21T21:15:00.000-08:00

The characters are the reason you care what happens.The story is the reason you care what happens next.The sensations are the reward you get for paying attention in the first place.That's my theory.

Raffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03572774347485509691noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22406604.post-74869155009365625412008-02-21T19:37:00.000-08:002008-02-21T19:37:00.000-08:00

"Hey Roberto, I didn't do that much to this bumper - it was already good looking. It was just stored on the disc in a weird way (NTSC 3-2 Pulldown) and I re-interleaved the fields to get the original clean jaggy-free film frames out of it."My humble apologies, David. I am glad you cleared that up, though.

Robertohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06568334293949939359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22406604.post-84848144542813841772008-02-21T19:16:00.000-08:002008-02-21T19:16:00.000-08:00

What's interesting is how fast the folks at H-B lost it when it came to appealing designs on Yogi. The 70s and 80s stuff were bad, but even in the third season of cartoons done for the 1961 debut of his own show there's just something missing from the work during Seasons 1 and 2 (including the Huck bumpers). By 1961, the layouts weren't as sharp, as if they seemed to think that Yogi's happy/

J Leehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15175515543694122729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22406604.post-2112869651874003552008-02-21T17:48:00.000-08:002008-02-21T17:48:00.000-08:00

Everything meshes so well. Pencils, inks, colors and layout. Each aspect seems to compliment the next.

Jeremy Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10323932427927282543noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22406604.post-61652845294286629642008-02-21T17:02:00.000-08:002008-02-21T17:02:00.000-08:00

Stories are for the Birds...

Marc Deckterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917697016899142228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22406604.post-27273796338192785692008-02-21T16:49:00.000-08:002008-02-21T16:49:00.000-08:00

Hey Roberto, I didn't do that much to this bumper - it was already good looking. It was just stored on the disc in a weird way (NTSC 3-2 Pulldown) and I re-interleaved the fields to get the original clean jaggy-free film frames out of it.

David Mackenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11415521113299930033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22406604.post-86443256338230991062008-02-21T16:15:00.000-08:002008-02-21T16:15:00.000-08:00

This bumper is already looking nice and slick, and I haven't even seen the real thing! The nicely inked thick and thins add to the slickness. It would be interesting to see an in-depth post on how David McKenzie does it."believe it was Mark Twain who said "a good novelist is not just someone who comes up with a good plot. It is rather someone who can put two or more characters into a situation

Robertohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06568334293949939359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22406604.post-85813697229652713162008-02-21T14:43:00.000-08:002008-02-21T14:43:00.000-08:00

"I personally believe it all starts with a good character."That's why I love Pulp Fiction and the big Lebowski so much!Great post.

Mitch Lhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03748196647137310735noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22406604.post-41589566243529314532008-02-21T14:20:00.000-08:002008-02-21T14:20:00.000-08:00

Even in novels, where the conventional wisdom holds that a good one is so because of the story, it is actually about the characters. Tale of The Genji's stories have no plot. War and Peace is long and has no plot, yet it's very good.The plot is an art itself, but between it and the characters, the former can be done without.. not ever the latter!

pinkboihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00798338019604653118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22406604.post-27918956675814148202008-02-21T13:33:00.000-08:002008-02-21T13:33:00.000-08:00

Charles Schulz used to say people don't remember gags, they remember characters.

Larry Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02796712092304761340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22406604.post-52553094582725556682008-02-21T12:53:00.000-08:002008-02-21T12:53:00.000-08:00

...but not so stylized as to become abstract graphic symbols. I think kids would rather see cartoon characters that seem alive, rather than cartoons that are overly design conscious. Kids aren't art directors. They want to believe in the characters.Not just kids. Almost anybody would, most of the time. Graphic symbols are intellectual. Characters that seem real are visceral.

I.D.R.C.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08204918752374858278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22406604.post-9124245665970482502008-02-21T12:40:00.000-08:002008-02-21T12:40:00.000-08:00

There's seldom any story to Clampett's cartoons. They're usually just lively fun characters in a setting of some sort. Then gags are strung in according to the character and the setting.Right? Am I the only one to think there's hardly any story in the best cartoons?- trevor.

Booo Tooons Ltd.http://www.blogger.com/profile/08554109671909765241noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22406604.post-25270350191136269842008-02-21T12:24:00.000-08:002008-02-21T12:24:00.000-08:00

Its true John. That's all I hear about from everyone I work with to every thing you hear from Pixar and all the other "animation studios", to all kinds of discussion groups around the net, etc. I think Brad Bird really emphasized this a lot unfortunately when he did his interviews for the "Incredibles". He must have said the word "story" 45 times rapid fire. A lot of young aspiring "animators"

Anthony P. Rizzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17791792665466204307noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22406604.post-19525915288686835612008-02-21T11:55:00.000-08:002008-02-21T11:55:00.000-08:00

I love the early HB thick ink-line designs. I shutter with queezy disgust every time I think about the 1970s Yogi's Gang version of the characters.

Larry Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02796712092304761340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22406604.post-79354737739284939672008-02-21T11:52:00.000-08:002008-02-21T11:52:00.000-08:00

I love these bumpers (I gotta start placing them on my own blog)! When did HB stop doing them? The appeal and charm in these is outstanding.And as for the part about good animation beginning with a good story. I am sure it all depends on what comes first for whoever is in charge (artistically that is). It could be vice versa. Unfortunately, the failure of HB's later shows was the reliance on

Emmetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02550182438003731076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22406604.post-3921215863691234512008-02-21T11:37:00.000-08:002008-02-21T11:37:00.000-08:00

Wow...Yogi's drawn so well! I love this version of him.Thanks for sharing.

Pathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05474426989493027469noreply@blogger.com