THE HAND BEHIND THE MOUSE: The Ub Iwerks Story (1999, Leslie Iwerks)

The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story / DIR: Leslie Iwerks / WRITTEN: Leslie Iwerks / PHOTO: Shana Hagan / EDIT: Stephen Myers; Seth Flaum / NARRATION: Kelsey Grammer / MUSIC: John Debney; Louis Febre / PRD: Leslie Iwerk Productions / 1999 / 1h 30m.

INTERVIEWEES: Ollie Johnston; Chuck Jones; Mark Davis; Ed Friedman; Mark Kausler; John Lasseter; John Hench; Richard Edlund; Don Iwerks; Virginia Davis; Roy Disney; Leonard Maltin, Russell Merritt, and Joe adamsom.

Who was Ub Iwerks? A pioneering animator? An Special Effects Technician? A great and generous teacher? A fast work at drawing? A free-spirited Artist? Through the years a man's work comes to form his face; looking at his photo I think it's possible to have a glimpse of Ub Iwerks life. He was all of that and more: he was a Genius.

Leslie Iwerks made her directorial debut in 1999 with this documentary about the achievements of his grandfather, the animation legend Ubbe Eert Iwerks (1901-1971). Overcoming a tough childhood; Ub learned the basics of animation in a comercial art job; where he got to know Walt Disney. Together they planted the seeds of an empire: they were two sides of the same passion. Like Walt, Ub was obsessed with perfection, and like him he was not marked by conformity to customs: he didn't rest on his laurels.

An inside look into the art of Iwerks. The "circle drawing, perfect perspective, rithmic animation". His legendary ability to draw faster and better than anyone: an average of seven hundred drawings per day for Plane Crazy (1928); Gallopin Gaucho (1928); and the first Silly Symphonies totally animated by him - layout, design, animation-, including masterpieces like The Skeleton Dance (1929).

You'll see him experimenting with the mixing of live action and animation. From the rough techniques used in the Alice's Comedies of the 20's; to the subtle and fluid illusions of The Three Caballeros (1945) and Mary Poppins (1964). Remaining loyal to Disney when the Charles Mintz / Oswald the lucky rabbit affair. Of course, creating the Mickey Mouse character. Breaking with Walt a couple of years later to make his own path with the opening of a Studio, Celebrity Productions (selling up his shares of Disney). There he nurtured some future talents: Shamus Culhane, Irv Spence, Ed Friedman, Grim Natwick, Steve Bosustow, and Chuck Jones. And his work would become a tour de force of the improvisatory, anarquist and surreal animation style: Flip The Frog, Wille Whopper and the Comicolor Cartoon's.

Finally you'll see him retiring from animation, and becoming the head of the photographics FX laboratory back at Disney's; where he earned the reputation of great creativity for solving technical problems: helping with the development and improvement of the multiplane camera, the Xerox's inking process, the sodium vapor travelling matte...

A captivating documentary; with some flaws (like Walt's southern accent off-voice used to read the letters) but made - you can tell - with love for the subject. (by pelida77)

AVI / 800 MB / 1h 31m / Audio: Eng / (5 RAR parts)
Video: MPEG-4 / 720x480 (3:2) / 1069 Kbps / 29.970 fps / 0.103 Qf
Audio: MP3 / 48.0 KHz / 137 Kbps

Part 1...
Part 2...
Part 3...
Part 4...
Part 5...

THE PIXAR STORY (2007, Leslie Iwerks)

The Pixar Story / DIR: Leslie Iwerks / WRITTEN: L. Iwerks / CINEMATOGRAPHY: Suki Mendencevic / EDIT: L. Iwerks; Stephen Myers / NARRATION: Stacy Keach / MUSIC: Jeff Beal / PRD: Leslie Iwerk Productions / 2007 / 1h 27 m.

NOTABLE INTERVIEWEES: John Lasseter; Steve Jobs; Edwin Catmull; Andrew Stanton; Pete Docter; Brad Bird; John Musker; Lee Unkrich; Jim Murphy; Ron Clements; Frank Thomas; Glen Keane; Joe Grant; Tom Hanks; Tim Allen; Billy Crystal; Roy Disney; Michael Eisner; Randy Newman; George Lucas; Dennis Muren.

This is a tale about three guys, an unemployed artist, a computer geek, and a cheated entrepreneur, coming together to form the most successful pioneering animation studio since Walt Disney days. Pixar has rocked our world, presenting us the legacy of 20th century animation under new creative forms. This documentary tell us the whole story right from its beginnings; exploring the careers of this three Key-man of the Studio.

You will get to know the inventiveness of Edwin Catmull, a Ph.D in Physics and Computer Science, and a passionate admirer of animations; Working for George Lucas Special Efects department and developing CG tools to assist the animators.

Also, the vision... the Balls really!... of Steve Jobs; investing for a decade more than 10 million dollars of his own money in a very risky - non profit at all - enterprise. Keeping the boat afloat with the financial assistance of The Walt Disney Company; and when that media mega-conglomerate threat on retiring that suport, planning the public offering of Pixar stocks for more than 100 million, forcing Disney to sign a 50/50 partnership.

But what this documentary is really about, is the will of an artist: John Lasseter. A story of determination, of keep struggling against all odds. You'll see him being elected as one of the young promising talents by "Disney's animation program" in CalArts; and winning two consecutive Student Awards. Applying for a job at Disney, working his way up from the theme park attractions to the animation studio: where he got to watch Tron (1982) and acknowledged the potential of CGI. And the birth of a dream: to make the first computer animated feature. But things at Disney weren't the way they used to. Many were afraid of losing their jobs because of this new technology, and so... He got fired! A very touching moment in the documentary. Can you imagine what was that like for John? Getting kicked out of the animation Mount Olympus to an exile land, the reality, where nobody cared about the virtual world?(... a little melodramatic, here)

In the darkest hour of his career, John would unite forces with Ed Catmull: Little he knew, that this was just the beginning... (by pelida77)

MP4 / 573 MB / 1h 28m / Audio: Eng
Video: MPEG-4 / 480x360 (16:9) / 767 Kbps / 23.976 fps / 0.185 Qf
Audio: AAC / 44.1 KHz / 132.3 Kbps

Part One...
Part Two...
Part Three...
Part Four...

MARAVILLAS DE LOS DIBUJOS ANIMADOS (1968, Bob Thomas)

Bob Thomas, Maravillas de los Dibujos Animados, Valencia, Gaisa, 1968.

JPEG / 66 MB / Spanish - Espanol / 185 pp / (A scan made by Ernest Pfluger)

This is the spanish translation of The Art of Animation (1958, Bob Thomas) The original english book is no longer being published. (If you can't read spanish, you'll still be able to enjoy the art, and inside-studio photographs.)

Like the Thomas and Johnston Illusion of Life, this is an absolute classic of animation literature. This book inspired a whole generation to become animators. John Lasseter once said that through this book he realised that people made cartoons for living... and of course, that's what he wanted to do. The book was used as an advertising teaser for the upcoming release of Sleeping Beauty (1959); which is treated as the pinnacle of Disney's Art form, and so this movie serves as a unifying theme for the book. Each chapter focuses on a particular aspect of the animation process; explaining its history, with recurrent memories about the old days, how things were made in the 20's (or even before) and how far with Sleeping Beauty they've come.

This was the first Disney book that gave partial credit to the artist (though it's funny-awkward how Walt Disney is depicted as someone that would actually make the drawings; and every now and then we get a boss ass-kissing sentence). Of course the nine are credited Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas, Les Clark, Marc Davis, Milt Kahl, Ward Kimball, Wolfgang Reitherman, John Lounsbery and Eric Larson; and other famous artist like: Ub Iwerks, Fred Spencer, Wilfred Jackson, Albert Hurter, Gerry Geronimi, Fred Moore, Norm Ferguson, Burt Gillett, David Hand, Ham Luske, Byll Tytla... And more. But also some forgotten figures, like: Don DaGradi (writer); Webb Smith, Ed penner and Joe Rinaldi (Storyboards); Tead Sears and Dick Huemer (ex Fleischers animators). A MUST in your collection. (by pelida77)

Do you want to read this book? You could follow this link...