Animated Thoughts: Bakshi and Brenda

So for years now I've watched Ralph Bakshi dipping into his vault of production material and offering it for sale on eBay. I vividly remember being at Ottawa thirteen years ago when Ralph was brought in as a guest. Back then, I paged through a beautiful binder of cels and production drawings from his films like Hey Good Lookin', Lord of the Rings, and Wizards, all for sale. Sadly, they were out of my price range--at that time, I wouldn't be free from my student loans for another two years. Still, I kept an eye on his eBay account while slowly buying DVDs of his films for my personal collection.

Still patiently waiting for Spicy City to be released on DVD.

Well last month, Ralph pulled out a gem that I couldn't ignore: a production drawing from Wizards which was created and signed by Brenda Banks. Now back in February, I had noticed his post about this particular drawing on his Facebook account, so I knew to keep my eyes open over the following weeks.

As far as historians know, Brenda Banks may be the first African-American woman animator. And in a special features video on the Wizards DVD, Ralph states a few facts about Brenda and how they met, as well as some recollections about working with her--specifically her work on animating the Goons, these characters that we see in her production drawing.

So when it went live on eBay, I quickly bought the drawing and had it shipped to Michigan. Now when you buy a cel or a drawing, Bakshi Productions offers to have Ralph autograph them before delivery. But I politely declined, making the request that the drawing be delivered in as close to original condition as possible since I would be having it framed and using it as a visual aid in my animation history class.

Turns out, this struck a chord with Eddie and Liz Bakshi (Ralph's son and wife). Turns out Liz had attended Michigan State University back in the '60's and when she saw my Michigan address, she decided to do me a solid. Liz and Eddie took a couple photographs of the production folder from Wizards that contained the drawing I had just purchased. It had Brenda's name written on the front under "Animator"--a little something extra to authenticate its history.

A week later, the drawing arrived in a full-sized priority shipping box. Inside, it was sealed carefully between two sheets of cardboard which were taped to the box's interior in such a way that it wouldn't rattle around during transit. At Bakshi Productions, they really go the extra mile to ensure that these works of art from the history of animation arrive in mint condition. And there it was, under the Goons at the bottom of the page: Brenda's signature.

Why did I need this treasured piece of artwork in my permanent collection? In my animation history class, I have no small number of African-American women who want to be animators and graphic designers. When I talk about Brenda Banks in my class, they always sit up a little straighter and furiously scribble notes. I honestly don't know how many of them dig into Brenda's history after my class is over. And there's not a lot of information out there, Brenda was apparently a very private woman who seemed to prefer letting her body of work speak for itself. But I've wanted to have something special, something tangible on hand to inspire those ladies, something that would help connect them to their cultural heritage. I see how the other ladies in my class light up when I bring in an actual oil painting from Helena Smith Dayton (as far as we know, the world's first woman animator). So I hope that when I show them this production drawing in all its glory, it will inspire them not just to watch Wizards for the scenes that Brenda animated, but that they will be inspired to make their own artistic dreams happen, much like Brenda did.

Know your history. Find your voice. And tell your own story.

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Animated Shorts: Bøygen by Kristian Pedersen

I just learned that three months ago Kristian Pedersen uploaded her experimental animated short film Bøygen in its entirety.

It's been years since I saw this at the Ottawa International Animation festival, but it is still one of my favorites. Bøygen is a little under 6 minutes, but the motion, the shading, and the music are just esquisite. As I watch it, I see influences of Oskar Fischinger and Walther Ruttman in her work. Over years of attending animation festivals, experimental animation has grown on me and it's films like Bøygen that have inspired me to do more research into visual music and grow my appreciation for this form of filmmaking. Special thanks to Chris Robinson, Kelly Neal, and the rest of the crew at the Ottawa International Animation Festival for their continuing support of experimental animated films. I could put this film on repeat and watch it for hours on end. Hope you all enjoy.

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Animated Events: Ray Harryhausen in Kalamazoo

I gotta say, I know some great people. My friend Oren sent me a message on Facebook about an event in Kalamazoo that slipped under my radar. At the Kalamazoo Valley Museum, they brought in a special exhibit on Ray Harryhausen.

This production was a collection of movie posters from films he worked on as well as notes, storyboards, drawings, sculptures, and models he had produced over the course of his career.

I especially liked this one, where it diagrammed out his Dynamation process. Would've loved to have some of these drawings on hand when I explained Dynamation to my students in previous classes.

Now, the exhibit runs until the end of April--April 27th to be exact. So you've still got time to get down there and take in the sights. Best of all: entry into the museum (and the exhibit) is free! Though they do take donations at the front desk if you'd like to help support their efforts to bring cool stuff like this to the people of Michigan.

Skeleton Models from Jason and the Argonauts 
and 7th Voyage of Sinbad

The display cases were filled with treasures from my childhood memories, however, some of them were more recent memories: like these skeletons from Jason and the Argonauts. Every year, I show the skeleton battle from that film to my students. I never would've thought that I'd get the chance to see them first hand.

They also had another sketch of how the Dynamation process worked. I'm planning on integrating these photos into my class. A lot of my students struggle with understanding how Dynamation worked--especially the use of mattes. Every extra thing I can do to help them learn... I think I might use these drawings to make a scale model of Harryhausen's setup that the kids can look at.

Creating the Homunculus - Key Drawing
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, c.1971

Wow, seeing the Homunculus was such a good experience. I vividly remember watching the Golden Voyage of Sinbad on cable television back in the late '70's when I was a kid who loved to draw dinosaurs and monsters.

Model of the Homunculus
The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, c.1972

Unfortunately it highlighted a weakness in my DVD collection. I've got some films like Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Jason and the Argonauts, Valley of Gwangi, and 7th Voyage of Sinbad, but I'm missing the rest of the Sinbad trilogy and classics like Mysterious Island and Clash of the Titans. Going to fix that soon.

Fortunately, Amazon has a good Harryhausen film collection on Blu-Ray and Clash of the Titans is affordably priced. Gives me something to save up for. Maybe by Memorial Day I'll do a Saturday "Creature Feature" marathon where I binge watch all three Sinbad films, Mysterious Island, and Clash of the Titans...

Speaking of which, initially, I was a little surprised at the scale of some of these models. The Kraken (below) was about the size of a small cat. But it makes sense. I once talked to stop-motion animator Tom Brierton about animating the robot models for Robot Jox and he said that the models were so big that it took him and several assistants to accurately move it from position to position. Now that I've had time to mull it over, it makes a lot of sense--finding that balance between the sets being too big and expensive to be practical and yet still having a model that is easier to manipulate. There's a lot to ponder and learn here.

Model of the Kraken
Clash of the Titans, c.1980

If you do end up attending the exhibit, take a moment to look at the book that Ray's daughter, Vanessa, published. It's a thick, coffee table-size book filled to the brim with stories about Ray and photos of Vanessa's favorite items from the Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation's collection--many of which were on display.

After perusing the book at the museum, I had to have a copy for my personal library, so I snagged one of the last ones on Amazon. Have already done a little digging into some of my favorite films but plan to do a deep dive into the tome before going back to Kalamazoo. This exhibit is worth multiple visits. 

Hare and Fox Puppet Heads
Fairy Tales (The Tortoise and the Hare), c.1958

While I took tons of photographs during my trip, I really just want to share enough to whet your appetite. You really need to see this exhibit in person. Ray Harryhausen was one of those giants upon whose shoulders modern stop motion animators stand--and a lot of 3d CGI animators as well. The legacy he left behind is well worth serious study for any student who wants to become an animator.

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