&&&&&& replies with some info about the pencil tests etc.
>>I'm glad you enjoyed it. For me it's like a time
machine. The tape was started just a little bit before
I was hired and at several points I can remember when
other animators were hired, doing their first scene.
I had totally forgotten about that tape, found it by
coincidence. Too bad it was to late for your cut.
> It's nice to see Russell Hall interviewed, and to
> hear of Dick's enthusiasm for Norman McLaren.
>>What's hilarious is how inbetween the lines he is not
exactly praising the work of the other film makers. I
remember another occasion and I hope to find it some
day where he was asked to introduce some animated
shorts in a similar way where he advised the (absent)
creator not to give up his day job.
> The pencil test from the witch with the Enchanted
> Ogre Prince was amazing to see - the end of that was
> new material to me. Wish I knew what she was saying.
> Do you remember?
>Sorry, no.
>
> There was also that strange, LONG Zigzag
> monologue
> which looked like Art Babbit's work to me.
>Dick got very disentchanted with Art Babbit's work as
>he was starting to get it out of storage. He said at
>the time he was too much in awe of the guy, but was
>very upset when he realized in 90,91 that a lot of the
>work was not usable. Much different with Ken, who
>produced first rate stuff til the end.
> The live action reference that shows up
> occasionally
> was surprising ... D.W. Griffith's "Intolerance,"
> eh?
>There was a lot more. Oliver Hardy footage was used by
>Dick for Zigzag's hopping around after stepping onto
the tack. He used a scene out of a Marx brother's film
for part of the Thief/Cobbler chase, where they run
zigzag down the stairs. For Zigzag entering the Throne
room with the Maiden of Mombasa Dick used a scene with
Conradt Veidt I believe, one of the films where he
plays an officer. He would make video printouts of
every frame and tape them into a corner of his
animation paper. As he was flipping the drawings he
would look for the changes between poses and apply
those to his animation. A much more flexible method
than straight rotoscoping, which is hard to do if the
character he draws has strange proportions.
Another interesting one is the laughing brigand. You
might want to look at Sleeping Beauty when Maleficent
realizes that her men have been searching all these
years for a cradle. Her men join in with her laughing.
Look at one of the guys with a pig face. Milt Kahl's
work.
> "A Film by John Patrick Shanley --
> Once there was a guy named Joe, Who had a really
> crappy job, And they lived happily ever after, The
> End" .... Wonder what that's about?
>John was hired as a screen writer on the Thief to
>rewrite while incorporating all the thief stuff, sort
>of write s.th. around all that had been animated or as
much as possible. he was also preparing to direct his
first film which became Joe Versus the Volcano and
Dick did this title work for him as a personal favour.
--- So there you have it. The tests are for the titles for the Tom Hanks film Joe Versus the Volcano. Hm!