Animated Thoughts: HerStory

A rather unique exhibit opened on June 6th at the Muskegon Museum of Art. Titled "HerStory of Animation", this exhibit covers the oft neglected history of women who work (or have worked) in the field of animation. Curated by filmmaker, author, and animation historian Mindy Johnson, the women on display ranged from animators (both independant and corporate), ink-and-paint girls, concept artists, inbetweeners, directors, and producers, among others.

The exhibit itself had a really nice flow to it as we were introduced to some of the earliest animation devices, like the mutoscope and the motion picture camera, which seguewayed into some of the earliest animators, like Helena Smith-Dayton, a woman who--as far as we know--is the first woman animator. 

Being someone who collects her artwork, I loved seeing these surviving 'mud people' statues made by Helena early on in her career when she was using them as photo-illustrations for her stories that were published in magazines like Puck.

Was fun to see this particular painting of Helena's from the Mindy Johnson collection. We had actually been bidding on this at the same time when it went to auction. Had I known at the time that she was the person I was going up against, I would've bowed out earlier and saved her a little money--professional courtesy and all that. After all, I do have a number of Helena's paintings in my personal collection already (though this one would've looked beautiful hanging on my wall).

One of the things that I really liked is how the exhibit mixed the current day with the historical. There was a really nice section covering Lotte Reiniger that had a basic model of a silhouette film set-up--which also displayed how her proto-multi-plane system worked. 

But the exhibit also had this nice montage near the end showing current day animators and directors like Brenda Chapman, Lorna Cook, Vicky Jenson, Candy Kugel, Jennifer Lee, and more. It was a really nice look at the women of today and the work that they're producing.

But one of my favorite sections was the concept art section. Mary Blair's work was simply breathtaking--like this painting from her work on Alice in Wonderland.

Or this one from Sylvia Holland on Fantasia.

I really only have two quibbles about the exhibit, and they're really more theoretical than practical: first, I wish that Mindy Johnson's next book, "The Only Woman Animator" (which covers the works of Bessie Mae Kelley), had been available at the time. I've found Mindy's work to be very well researched and approachable. Would've liked to walk out of the Museum with a copy tucked under my arm, but excellence takes time and based on Mindy's prior work, I'm confident it will be well worth the wait.

The second is that I would really have liked to see some footnotes on the placards. There were a fair number of women whom I had either not heard of before or had only seen a little information on over the years--like fellow Michigander Faith Rookus. 

I know that most museums don't do this, but I would love it if the placards had this QR code that could take a person to something like a bibliography webpage or a 'want to know more' webpage. Would be so awesome for people like me who saw the information in this exhibit as just the appetizer! Needless to say, I took lots of notes on the women in this exhibit for future research. Heh, augmented reality can't show up fast enough! Put on those AR glasses and take a stroll through the museum, learning more about the subjects only limited by the speed of your internet connection.

This is a rare exhibit that covers an understudied facet of the history of animation, and I really hope that a lot of people will take the time to see it before it leaves the museum. I personally made a 180 minute round trip drive to Muskegeon just to see this exhibit and it was well worth the time spent.

'HerStory of Animation' will be on display at the Muskegeon Museum of Art until September 27, 2026.

Thanks to Mindy Johnson and the Muskegeon Museum of Art for bringing this exhibit to Michigan.

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Animated Thoughts: No Dungeons, just Dragons!

Well the Sloan Museum of Discovery over in Flint had an exhibit that I just couldn't miss: "The Lost World of Dragons!" As I walked from display to display, I quickly realized that twelve year-old me would've been jumping out of his skin with excitement at seeing dragons and learning about them.

Fifty(ish) me was initially geeked about the animatronics. And then I saw how much the curators wanted the public to engage with this exhibit. The displays were very well constructed and geared for interactivity--lots of buttons and levers and video screens and hidden lights and sounds. But they also had taken a couple pages right out of Lotte Reiniger's book "Shadow Theaters and Shadow Films". Stationed within the displays was a station where you could film your own stop-motion video with dragons in Lotte's silhouette animation style.

Two animation workstations, one on each side

Multi-jointed winged dragon model

Additionally, there was a backlit stage with simple dragon puppets where you could put on a traditional shadow theater play.

There were also some other highly interactive displays, like a puppet show stage complete with simple sound-effects and puppets as well as a virtual-reality headset with this dragon rider game. There was also a station at the entrance where you could pick up a card and watch a video explaining the exhibit and the "Dragon Challenge" game. At various displays, there were symbols to find and copy to your card. At the end, you'd enter them into a display and receive a prize after watching a closing video.

The Dragon Challenge game

They did a really good job on the historical/educational information, not just with the info presented, but how they organized it regionally with dragons from Asia, the Mediterranean, Mesoamerica, and various parts of Europe.

Rating all the museum exhibits I've ever been to, this is definitely number two on that list.(1) It's highly interactive and each station has a lot of documentation with tons of historical information. There are puzzles to solve, artwork to enjoy, and lots and lots of giant dragons! 

It'll be around until September 13th, if you have a kid, or are a kid at heart yourself, I cannot recommend this exhibit highly enough.

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(1) Number one: the Musee d'Orsay's impressionist art collection, Number three: the 'Watch Me Move' animation exhibit at the Detroit Institute of Art.

Animated People: Erik Timmerman

There are certain moments where, when you call them up from your memory, they arrive with such a measure of clarity it's as if you were right back there in that moment. The first meeting we had with Erik on our first day of grad school at R.I.T. was one such moment. I vividly remember him as he stood there at the front of the classroom while all seven of us sat at attention, taking in every word.

During his lecture about what the program entailed, Erik cleared his throat and stated matter-of-factly:

"Graduate school is not about how little you can do, it's about how much you can do."

Of all the wisdom Erik imparted upon me over the next three years, this is the statement that I still think about the most--the statement that meant the most to me if I'm being completely honest. During that first quarter at R.I.T., I had difficulty getting traction as I was thrust into such a new environment. I fell down far more than I ran. But by second quarter, I was learning how to apply his advice towards our classes, and specifically the Photo Core II class is where it really clicked. As Erik was teaching us about the principles of animation, and we were required to animate examples in order to illustrate our understanding, I started pushing the assignments further. Starting with simple animations that just showed the principle, I soon branched out into creating gag films and adding more complex stories and editing. By the end of my third year, I had translated Erik's advice into a five minute hybrid hand-drawn/CGI film that pushed my skills beyond their limits.

Life being what it is, it is not always easy to maintain that level of dedication and focus on projects and on life. But when I find myself lagging behind, Erik's words are still there encouraging me to do more and be more.

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Animated Thoughts: Pow! The Art of Comics

It's shaping up to be a good year for animation and animation-adjacent arts here in Michigan. Over in Muskegon, they had a special exhibit highlighting comic book art at the Muskegon Museum of Arts.

Titled "Pow! The Art of Comics", this exhibit was a good look at the experience running from comic strips to comic books, the memorabilia and props as well as their impact on popular culture.

Above and beyond the animation cels and model sheets, what I enjoyed the most was the frames upon frames of concept art and storyboards for feature films. They definitely hit some of my favorites including the Matrix films, the live-action Speed Racer, and a couple of the Marvel films.

'Nebuchadnezzer'
The Matrix, 1999

'Mach 5 and Racer X Trading Paint' by Warren Manser
Speed Racer, 2008

A classic painting by artist Julie Bell shows the far reaching nature of comic book art as inspirations stretch into the realm of fantasy.

Pegasus Befriends the Muses
2018, Julie Bell

And it wouldn't be a comic book exhibit without Batman!

The Batcave, complete with the Batmobile, circa 2015

The Super Friends cartoon from back in the 1970's. Boy does that take me back. Hal Jordan as Green Lantern, who remembers? I love looking at model sheets from animated films. Really shows the thought that went into developing the characters and ensuring consistency across a series.

Ah, Red Sonja, the 'She Devil with a Sword'. I'm only three issues from completing the 1977-1979 Marvel series and two issues away from having their 1983-1986 series completed in my collection. Below is a classic John Buscema panel from the first Marvel series, circa 1979.

Red Sonja Vol.1 #15 Page 7, 1979

Loved perusing their section on Vintage comic strips, especially the section on Terry and the Pirates. The skill that is displayed in the rendering of these images still leaves me breathless. I'm consistently in awe of the drafting skills that these men and women developed back in the days before computers.

Terry and the Pirates, George Wunder, 1951

For years, I've looked to the larger more well known museums for special exhibitions and rare film screenings. As of late, I have been learning to appreciate the smaller regional museums and keep their calendars on my radar for those exhibits that are closer to my interests.

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Animated Thoughts: Realms of Wonder

After a quick lunch and a nice walk at Meijer Gardens, I drove over to the John Ball Zoo. It was time for the annual lantern festival. This year was... interesting. They didn't have the Chinese acrobat show when I was there last year. It didn't feel like they had as many of the sensor-activated animatronic statues. But what they had was enjoyable.

The "Realms of Wonder" had three sections this time around: Underwater, Cultural and Fantasy. Obviously, my favorite was the fantasy realm.

I made my usual two passes through the Zoo, once in daylight and again in darkness with all the lanterns lit up. 

The best animatronic statue there was the ice dragon--though the sensor to activate it was a little frustrating. They had this "gravity sensor" in front of the dragon but it was a little difficult to get the timing right--activating it once it stopped moving. I kept asking little kids to step on the sensor so I could get pictures and video. Fun for them once it started roaring and breathing smoke at least.

The gravity sensor was new. I'm used to those pressure plates that are hidden under mats. This one was a circle that would light up when stepped upon. 

Haven't decided yet, but am debating the merits of going back in June before the event closes. Would really like to take a closer look at the sensor arrays and compare them to the Detroit Zoo's "Dinosauria" animtronics. Sometimes the "how it works" is just as interesting as the end product itself.

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Animated Thoughts: Unexpected Finds in Unexpected Places

"Follow your nose!"

Every so often you find an unexpected find at an unexpected place. Every couple of months, the Lansing Collectable Toy, Comic and Record Show is held at the Okemos Conference Center. It's one of those fun events to wander around and look at the nostalgia. People are there selling records, comicbooks, old G.I. Joe, Micronauts, Shogun Warriors toys and much, much more. There's no admission fee, just come in and browse. I'm usually on the look for the old Marvel Red Sonja comics from the 70's and 80's at a reasonable price. My plan is to donate my comic book collection to the Wallace Library at R.I.T. when I die, so I'm looking to complete the full run of those two series along with a couple others.

Well this time, there was a guy who had included a box of animation cels with his toy selection. Lots of Filmation stuff: He-Man, She-Ra, Conan, Ewoks, and My Little Pony. But stuffed in there was a single bag with about forty production drawings from a couple of Kellogg's cereal commercials.

Now animation cels are wonderful for framing and hanging on the walls, I'm in total agreement with everyone on that score. But I still love production drawings more. Mainly because you can really see the mind of the animator at work in the different shades of pencil that make up the drawings, the areas that have been erased and redrawn, and the notes that they leave behind--in the above and below cases: a timing chart written in the margins.

You can also see scene instructions like "Reg BG4". This one puzzles me. Could be a notation on what background cel to use. Could be something else. Would really love to see the X-Sheets for this commercial.

I'm slowly working on an assignment for my animation history class that deals with how animation was used in advertising. These drawings will make for some great examples to show my students, even moreso if I can track down the commercial that utilized these drawings. There are a fair number of 'how we made it' videos on YouTube from feature film and short film productions; not so many videos on 'how we made that cereal commercial'--which makes production drawings like these all the more valuable to people like me.

A most excellent find, if I do say so myself.

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Animated Events: Butterflies are Blooming, part 1

It's March and that means two things: taxes and butterflies!

One of the things that I teach my students during my end-of-semester professional development lecture is the importance of having a good accountant. I understand the desire to save money and do things yourselves, but I cannot stress how important it is to have someone double-checking your numbers. I manage my own books for Smudge Animation, but my accountant is the person who keeps me from making mistakes. So the drive to Grand Rapids every year is well worth the time.

Now, if I'm going to be on the west side of the State, I like to visit some artistic venues and recharge my batteries after the long, cold winter. I normally maintain a yearly membership to the Detroit Institute of Arts. This year though, I decided to let it lapse and reallocate those funds to the Frederik Meijer Gardens. Nothing against the DIA, but they're doing a lot of construction and it's affected a number of the displays that I like to frequent. Some have been moved to less accessible rooms, others taken off exhibit for the time being. So, I'm kind of staying out of the way while they get the renovations completed and the artwork back to their usual rooms. 

Looking for alternates, I reviewed what Meijer Gardens was offering this year and quickly determined that there were four upcoming events that I'd like to see. There was my two yearly visits to see the butterflies which coincide with the meetings with my accountant. However, this year they're bringing back the indoor/outdoor Chihuly exhibition. Last time Dale Chihuly's works were on display at the Gardens, I didn't learn about the exhibition in time to drive out there. So, I'm not missing out this year. I won't say that I'm an expert on his artwork, but I fondly remember seeing the glassworks that the students were producing back in the '90's when I was at R.I.T. and that fondness for glass and ceramics hasn't dulled over the years. Look for those photos later this year. So there will be more than enough going on in Grand Rapids to justify the cost of a one-year membership.

And for the rest of this post, here are some of the best photos that I took with some very agreeable butterflies.

Zebra Longwing
Heliconius charitonius

Doris Longwing
Heliconius doris

Tiger Longwing
Heliconius ismenius (possibly)

Postman
Heliconius melpomene

Doris Longwing
Heliconius doris

Banded Orange heliconian
Dryadula phaetusa

And here's the obligatory lunch photo from the cafe. They've done some remodeling recently. Not sold on it yet, but the menu is still solid.

Yup. That was one tasty burger. Granted, it wasn't a Kahuna Burger, but still... And I always appreciate how they go the extra mile for the butterflies event. Usually it's butterfly-shaped cookies, this time it was a flower-themed chocolate cupcake with a gummy butterfly.

Feeling the internal artistic batteries charging.

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Animated Thoughts: The 2026 Academy Award animated short films

The Oscars are March, 15th. For those of you who are interested in watching the Academy Award nominated animated short films, a number of them have been posted on YouTube for the time being--so I'd watch them sooner rather than later as they may be removed soon. 

I had two opportunities to see these films in the yearly Shorts International program: at the local theater and at the DIA. Unfortunately, some personal life events took precedence so I had to cancel my plans and make alternate arrangements in order to watch the films before the awards ceremony. Fortunately for me, I was able to watch them through my membership with ASIFA/Central, on YouTube, and by attending the Ottawa International Animation Festival last year.

Butterfly

Beautiful film that tells a tragic tale. This paint-on-glass film did what a good historical docudrama should, it inspired me to do some research on the story behind the story--in this case, Alfred Nakache, an olympic swimmer who was sent to Auschwitz by the Nazis. Watch the fill movie here: Butterfly.

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Forever Green

Nice enough film, although a bit schmaltzy. The story of a bear and his tree... or is it a tree and his bear? Regardless, this was a well produced film. Though my initial analysis of the story didn't match the actual moral of the story. I personally saw it more as the story of a parent and the sacrifices they make to protect their children. Watch the full movie here: Forever Green.

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Retirement Plan

Retirement Plan had this Fired on Mars (2016)' quality to it. Or maybe Nick Fox-Gieg's The Orange (2009). What I liked most about it is that as the story progressed, the character continued to age. It wasn't a pie-in-the-sky daydream. It honestly reminded me of How to Train Your Dragon when Hiccup lost his leg at the end of the film. There were actual, lasting consequences to the events in the film. It was very refreshing. Watch the full movie here: Retirement Plan.

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The Girl Who Cried Pearls

I'm assuming that this film will be on the NFB's website and YouTube channel soon, so I recommend keeping an eye on their website or the YouTube channel so you can watch this film as soon as it goes live. Fortunately for me, I got to see this film at last year's Ottawa International Animation Festival. It was a solid production and, much like the NFB's Madame Tutli-Putli (2007), it integrated stop-motion with some non-standard digital and practical effects. I highly recommend watching the following two-minute documentary where the Technical Director describes how they merged 3d CG animation with the stop motion animation. You can see it here on the NFB YouTube channel.

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The Three Sisters

Unfortunately for everyone, Konstantin Bronzit hasn't uploaded The Three Sisters as of yet. Hopefully sometime in the future. Based upon the name and the trailer, I was actually expecting this film to be more in tune and tonality with Chekhov's story. It ended up being an interesting look at human dynamics when routines are disrupted and with a very hopeful ending.

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All-in-all, this year's selection was pretty solid and very approachable. I'm looking forward to seeing which one takes home the Oscar. Congratulations to the nominees.

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Animated Thoughts: The 53rd Annual Annie Awards

My yearly thoughts on the Annie Awards...

• Only real issue I have with these student films is finding ways to watch them! There's so much creativity and skill in these films, would really like to have a showcase where we can see all the nominees.
• Best Short Subject... Gah! Other than the Girl who Cried Pearls, I haven't see any of these shorts. We need a shorts program that shows the Annie Award student nominee and professional nominee films, much like Shorts International does with the Academy Award nominated short films!
• Nice to see Aaron win the Annie for 'Snowbear'--and his Winsor McCay award from last year. His online classes have been a great source of instruction over the years.
• Well, at least we got though eleven minutes of the show without politics.
• Love, Death + Robots won Production Design in an Animated Television/Media Production, congrats to Blur Studios and Gigi Cavenago.
• Production Design in an Animated Feature goes to Sony for KPop Demon Hunters. Wonder how many they're going to win tonight?
• Y'know, I swear I've seen "Trek" somewhere before, but I can't place it. Hrm. Off to YouTube! Yup, I've seen this before. No idea where though... Ottawa maybe?
• Bobby Chiu! Glad to see him get an award. Have loved his Schoolism.com workshops.
• Music in an Animated Feature goes to KPop Demon Hunters. Called it. Though figured Zootopia 2 would give them a run for their money.
• Best Character Design TV/Media goes to Love, Death + Robots for '400 Boys'. Awesome! Though this category was really tough to predict. Some really top shelf designs there.
• Best Character Design for an Animated Feature. That was another tough one to predict. Though once I saw KPop and Spongebob on the lineup, figured it be either one of those two. Turns out I was right again. Think we're going to see a sweep of the Annies with KPop Demon Hunters. Wonder if they'll match Arcane's record of awards? Hrm Arcane was nominated for nine, how many was KPop  Demon Hunters nominated for? Ten?
• Heh. Good one Aubry! Wah-com. Now do GIF! ;)
• We love you Brock Sampson!
• Character Animation in a video game... wow! Just wow! The skill that is on the screen. Not sure how the judges could pick the winner in this category.
• Character Animation in TV/Media, not gonna lie, was kinda hoping for Asterix & Obelix...
• Best Character Animation - Feature: KPop Demon Hunters...? Yup. Though this was another tough one to call: Zootopia, Bad Guys, Little Amelie... 
• I make a mental note to check out Spice Frontier and WONDLA...
• Best Animated Effects - Feature... KPop Demon Hunters. Going to have to check out In Your Dreams though.
• Best Editorial - TV/Media... sorry, gotta give this to Invincible or Splinter Cell.
• Best Editorial - Feature... we know it's going to be 'KPop', but wouldn't mind seeing Little Amelie or Olivia & las Nubes win this one.
• Happy to see Michaël Dudok de Wit win the Winsor McCay Award, his film The Monk and the Fish is the last film I show in my Animation History class every year.
• Best Voice Acting - Animated Feature: KPop Demon Hunters. Closing in on Arcane...
• Not going to lie here, I liked 'KPop', but I was really hoping that Mamoru Hosoda would win the Writing in an Animated Feature Annie for Scarlet.
• Awesome! Another win for Love, Death + Robots! Storyboarding in an Animated TV/Media Production.
• Directing in an Animated Feature Production... was still rooting for Mamoru Hosoda.
• Best Animated Independent Feature goes to Arco. Hrm. Might be worth a look...
• And KPop Demon Hunters sweeps every category it was nominated in ending up with a total of ten Annies.

Congratulations to all the nominees and winners, the accolades are well deserved. And thank you for ASIFA Hollywood for bringing us the Annie Awards.

Animated Events: the 53rd Annual Annie Awards

Just a reminder: The 53rd Annual Annie Awards will be streaming this Saturday, February 21st on the Annie Awards website.

Congratulations to all the nominees!

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