McKimson's gift to Dads - humanity

Y'know, when you read a lot of animation histories or critiques, you find that the animators that get the most points among the critics are the ones who seem to have invented the most stuff, broke ground or bucked the establishment. Skill at entertainment is not high on the list of praise and I think that's an injustice. (just look at what wins animation academy awards)

To me, all art and entertainment should aim at communicating with humanity and speaking truth to human nature. Yes, great innovators are to be admired, but so are great pure entertainers. Entertaining at the top levels requires great talent and skill and love of the audience, and most of the audience is not made up of critics or art historians. It's made up of us people who have real lives and all experience universal emotions and situations.

Kids look for certain things in their entertainment that is different than what the adults need, and certainly different than what the critics need. The general perception of cartoons today is that it's a medium for kids, but it wasn't always that way.

Most grown up men aren't that into what cartoons are all about - fantasy, silliness and wild imagination. They certainly aren't looking for art and imaginative flights of fancy.

After all, they have to be mature and bring home the bacon, shave 4 times a day, raise smart ass kids, worry about rent, taxes, Liberals, stocks and pensions. They are slabs of meat riddled with real life stress.

So what do men find entertaining? The essentials: Fear, pain, stupidity and abuse.

These are all universally funny and that's why the 3 Stooges are the most popular comedians in history and Bob McKimson is the greatest cartoon director for the unwashed capitalist masses.

McKimson delivers the goods and I'll bet he made the most popular WB cartoons after Clampett left the place. Mckimson is the Jules White of the cartoon world.

This is top level fear.

This scene completely says it all:

http://www.cartoonthrills.org/blog/McKimson/UpstandingSitter/FearIntoAbuseclipsmall.mov

Nothing is funnier than a good ass beating with a board...except when it's a beating that's the result of causing a burly male to experience extreme fear.
What else do regular guys need from entertainment?

WHY DONT WE HAVE DISCLAIMERS LIKE THESE?

*** These frame grabs are from a remastered cartoon. The lines have been ridiculously thinned. Note how jagged that makes them. The colors have been "modernized" by taking out all the subtleties and pumping up the primaries and secondaries. It makes the cartoon strobe when you watch it on TV and flattens everything out, but this is all you get to see because we have removed the Film-maker's version from history."

Honeymooners - "The Babysitter" - Ralph hits Norton

These are my best friends.


How many different expressions does it take before you finally beat your best friend?




Look at the pain Ralph feels as Norton drives him to violence.



Jackie Gleason has a million very specific expressions and gestures! He never seems to run out of them, and that's where most of the fun comes from good sitcoms-from the rich acting.


Cartoon expressions-even in really good cartoons are rarely specific. They usually are just simple symbols of happy, sad, mad, pain etc...just enough to get the general point across, but not enough to be entertaining by themselves. There are some exceptions of course-in Chuck Jones' work, Clampett's and even some of Avery's.







Captain Hook here is really well drawn and the expression is almost specific, at least for Disney, but not compared to live actors or real people in real life.

Foghorn Leghorn - McKimson - kicks and smacks dog

I think we should bring back some strong cartoon traditions-like beatings!

No one directed beatings better than Bob McKimson. His characters are big and heavy; his drawings so solid and animation so powerful that you can feel every whump, bang and stab.

"Walky Talky Hawky" (1946)




It's kinda extra funny that the abuse in his cartoons is not very cartoony. Other cartoons use ridiculous things like bombs and dismemberment as visual metaphors for suffering. Crazy things that are hard for kids to emulate in real life. McKimson has loads of punishment that you could easily imitate and really hurt someone (or yourself) in the process! Thank God for McKimson, Popeye, UFC and the Three Stooges.

McKimson helps you get a real view of the hard and painful world. He's lookin' out for us!

CLICK HERE FOR FUNNY BEATINGS!

Let's put violence back into the cartoons where it belongs and get it off the street.

Today we have morals in cartoons and more violence than ever in real life. I bet there is a correlation.



I bet the Ultimate Fighters all revere Foghorn Leghorn as their inspiration.

ANIMATION STUDENTS! WALK CYCLE AND RUN CYCLE

Hey if you are learning animation, there is a great walk cycle and a great run cycle in this clip.


The run cycle (after he smacks the dog's ass) has 3 frames for each step-a total of 6 drawings, shot on ones and repeated for a few steps until he runs toward camera and off screen.

The walk cycle (after he slaps the dog around at the end of the scene)

is slower and uses more drawings for each step. 12 frames for each step.
Freeze frame them and copy them and you will learn a lot!