FRANK AND OLLIE (1995, Theodore Thomas)

Frank and Ollie / DIR: Theodore Thomas / WRITTEN: Theodore Thomas / PHOTO: Erik Daarstad / EDIT: Kathryn Camp / MUSIC: John Reynolds / PRD: Kuniko Okubo; Theodore Thomas / 1995 / 1h 29m.

INTERVIEWEES: Frank Thomas; Ollie Johnston; Jeanette Thomas (Wife); Marie Johnston (Wife); John Canemaker (Animator, Critic); John Culhane (Critic); Andy Gaskill (Animator); Glen Keane (Animator).

A documentary on this notable pair of animators, among the most talented and famous of Disney's so-called "Nine Old Men". And sure they have earned this reputation: main animation in 23 film features!!! In this doc what I really like, is how they edited the acting of Frank and Ollie with its animation counterpart; so you get to see what's behind animation, and how all the classical Disney scenes were born in their minds. (In their books they insist on how an animator is really an actor)
They will share their memories on: Alice's Queen; Pinocchio's nose; Bernard the janitor; Prince John thumb sucking problem; Bambi and Thumper; How Mowgli got "lured" by woman. The spaghetti scene in Lady and the Tramp; How Captain Hook managed to play the piano; and many more...

There's also a segment dedicated to their colleagues and mentors: Norm Ferguson; Ham Luske; Freddy Moore; Bill Tytla. You can tell how deeply they respect them. Ollie recall the huge impact that the flypaper scene in Playful Pluto had on him. Frank shows Freddy's pencil and reveal us that there's still some of Moore's talent on it. They loved everything about their jobs.
If you are an animation fan, you'll like this documentary. So, enjoy! (by pelida77)




AVI / 1.08 GB / 1h 29m / Audio: Eng / (6 RAR parts)
Video: MPEG-4 / 856x480 / 1478 Kbps / 25.000 fps / 0.144 Qf
Audio: MP3 / 48.0 KHz / 256 Kbps

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HOW TO MAKE ANIMATED CARTOONS (1941, Nat Falk)

Falk Nat, How To Make Animated Cartoons , New York, Foundation Books, 1941.

JPG images / 10 MB / Eng / 73 pp (A scan made by animationresources)

The people from animationresources scanned this book, one of the very first on animation history.
A foreword was made by Paul Terry, which is real funny because he talks about the artistic possibilities of cartooning: animation as an art form! ... I mean, this comes from the same cheap bastard that proudly used to said: "If Disney is making chicken pâté, then we are making chickenshit!"
In the first chapter we have a brief history of the attempts to give illusion of movement to drawings: from the Altamira cave pictures till Emile Cohl's animated cartoons. A sweet mention to the Big Four: John Bray, Earl Hurd, Raoul Barre and... Paul Terry of course. According to the book he was the greatest pioneer of them all (I'm not being sarcastic here, I sort of agree with that). So Terry got the most pages and attention: Little Herman, Farmer Al Falfa, and the Aesop's Fables. And then the usual topics: McCay's Gertie the Dinosaur, Felix the Cat, Max Fleischer and Walt Disney (didn't give his permission to show pictures of Disney characters, BOO!!).
In the second chapter we take a journey through each of the "seven major" cartoon studios at the time: The Fleischer Studios; Walt Disney Productions; Terry-Toons; MGM cartoon Division; Walter Lantz Productions; Leon Schlesinger Productions and Screen Gems.

At the end of the chapter Walter Lantz explains how he created Andy Panda (But I'm not sure that he's telling the truth, cause I've once heard a very different story about the origins of Andy).
The third chapter is about the animation production process. Story and Gags, Design, Animation and Layout, Music and Sound Effects, The inking process... etc.
In the last chapter, there's an explanation on how to make your own animated cartoons... How to draw cartoon characters, Squash and stretch, etc. (There are hundreds of books that teachs you that, but the lessons here are made with...Famous characters, like Popeye!)

So, this book is awesome!!! (by pelida77)

Do You Want to read this book?, You could follow this link...

W. DISNEY: The Triumph of American Imagination (2007, Neal Gabler, *Audiobook)

Gabler Neal, Walt Disney: The Triumph of American Imagination, London, Vintage, 2007. "This is audible" :) Narrated by Arthur Morey.

Some critics describe Walter Elias Disney as a greedy capitalist, a mercenary butching fairy tales for profit. Intellectuals prefer to see him as a cultural pollutioner manipulating masses into merchandising consumption. "He wasn't an animator. He couldn't draw, not even his own signature" - they say - Always reminding us some sad story about employees working for pennies or how he was an abusive boss bully, a conservative dickhead, an anti semite nazi...!!!
This book is not a simple biography, it's a very well founded defense of the genius that was also a man; the most positive biography on Walt I've ever read (hear really) but not at the risk of losing objectivity: you'll know about his outbursts of wrath (sometimes his cruelty), the fierce oposition to laborist activism ("Commies sons of the bitches" used to said; Walt was a fervent hater of anything he though was communist influenced).
But beyond the shadows of the man's life there are some fine examples of his initiative, risky spirit, obsessive perfectionism, and inventiveness; all of which can be found on this book: Inverting the live-action animation relationship (Alice's Series). Giving Oswald personality. A bet on sound animation (Mickey). Mickey inbetween of Charlie Chaplin - Douglas Fairbanks type of heroe. Donald as an anti-Mickey (a bad-ass duck). Conceiving excellence as a corporate value. Insisting on specialization (extremes - inbetweens); Art classes for animators. Investing on colour. A full length feature cartoon, a perfect movie (Snow White). Colaboration with Lepold Stokowsky. Animation as an art experience: Fantasia. The Studio war output. Controversy about Bambi as reflecting negatively on hunters. Using "quickies" to finance quality on better pictures. The release of Song of the South in a socially unstable country. Failed project with Salvador Dali. Nice anecdotes (They hired real life dwarfs to draw them for Snow White!), some very obscure: Walt's mother died from monoxide poison. Wildlife documentaries with the Disney touch. 1st big studio producing for Television. The creation of a cultural icon: Disneyland...
This book has all of this and much more; a fascinant reflection about Walt Disney overcoming the myths and rumors surrounding his public persona and his own inner shadows: a real triumph to his unlimited imagination.
(by pelida77)





AUDIOBOOK / MP3 / 700 MB (180 MB X 4 parts) / 33hours / Audio: Eng
Narrator Arthur Morey /(Sample) 16.0 KHz / 48.0 Kbps.
4/4 parts (RAR container)

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