Les Clark

Les Clark is one of the lesser known of the Nine Old Men. Les was once an ice cream server, which was where he met Walt. Shortly after that meeting, when Les was graduating from high school, he asked Walt for a job. Walt had him bring in some drawings, and then hired him for a short stint at the studio. The temp job turned into a career.

The cartoon shown above is from 1927, the year Les started at the studio. He went on to create many memorable performances, including Mickey Mouse in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" from "Fantasia", and the show opening featuring Tinkerbell from the classic Disneyland TV series.

I plan on doing a post on each of the Nine Old Men over the next few weeks. Keep watching this space.

Ren & Stimpy premiered this day in 1991

Happy birthday to one of the best (if not the best) animated, animated television series in modern history.

Mechanical modeling and cartoony action

Here is a sneek peek at our work on the animated opening for Nickelodeon/Frederator's "Random Cartoons" cartoon show. The logo itself is made up of ping pong balls aranged in a random pattern. The device pictured above is how the ping pong balls get hurled around the room.

You can see a WIP animation of the contraption here:

http://www.bishopanimation.com/movies/random/random_anim_test.avi

The contraption was designed by J Chad Erekson
Modeled by Veronica Harper and Mike Kopa
Rigged by Chris Boylan
Animated by Kevin Wisdom

Let us know what you think!

Happy Birthday, Saturday morning kids shows!

56 years young!

The American Broadcasting Company first aired Saturday morning television shows for children on August 19, 1950. The network introduced two shows: Animal Clinic featured live animals, while the variety show Acrobat Ranch had a circus theme. Placed against a Western backdrop, acrobats Tumbling Tim and Flying Flo lent an air of spectacle to Acrobat Ranch. In one segment, Host Uncle Jim presided over a game in which children from the studio audience competed for merchandise prizes.

Back from Siggraph

Whew! We're back from Siggraph, and what a week it was! There was so much to see, and so many new pieces of software to check out. While Maya 8 was impressive, and the Davey Jones presentation was very cool, I think the best bit of animation I saw at the show was from the upcoming Sony movie "Open Season".

I saw a presentation at the Houdini booth, showing how Houdini was used for a water sequence. Although it was high technology, it looked like a bear and a deer going down a river on a log. The technology served the story, and not the other way around. Very nice. I'm looking forward to this film now more than any other upcoming film.

Speaking of CG, check out the new Disney logo:

I like it alot. It reminds me of the old Disney shows hosted by Walt Disney. If the presentations on "Meet the Robinsons" are any indication, the future of Disney Animation is very bright.

Siggraph in Boston

We're headed up to Boston for Siggraph. It should be a good time. If you're up there, stop by the http://www.colonnadehotel.com/ and say hello. If you're looking for work, drop off your reel at the front desk.

If you aren't going to Siggraph, or would rather not carry around reels, go ahead and mail us your work:

Bishop Animation
ATTN: desired position (ex: "attn: rigging")
214 Ninth Street
Honesdale, PA 18431

Cats playing ping pong... for no particular reason.

Siggraph 2006: Boston

So the biggest computer graphics get together of the year is in Boston this time. Bishop Animation will be heading north. If you plan on being there, let us know so we can meet up!

Floyd the Fruit Fly

A character with great character

There aren't too many cartoons today with characters that are as well animated as Tom & Jerry. Take a look at the model sheet for Jerry. Every drawing on there gives a great sense of what the character is thinking or feeling.

We've got a few projects right now where we are trying to capture that same sense of character through posing, but using the tools of today to try and do it in 3D.

It's really tough.

How tough? It's so tough that our main rigger (Chris Boylan) has pulled out so much hair, he now has a mohawk.

It's much easier to put in a little bit of fat here or there using your pencil rather than with polygons, but I think we're getting very close though to the poseability that was impossible in CG only a few years ago. Keep watching this space for updates.

Hot enough for you?

I think it was a billion degrees today. It was really only about 93 degrees, but it felt very hot. hopefully tomorrow is cooler. Hooray for Air Conditioning!

"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" - some of the best CG I've ever seen

When you do CG as a career, you look at movies in a different way. You can sometimes see some subtle hints as to how things are done, whether it's make-up, compositing, digital doubles, etc. I had no idea while I was watching the film how they were making this character happen. ILM did a fantastic job with this character. If they don't win an Oscar for this phenominal work, there is no justice.

When I saw "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest", I was blown away by the character of Davey Jones. If you like adventure movies, pirates, or special effects, you'll really enjoy this film. Go see it if you get a chance.

The film is the sequel to "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl". Both films are based on the Disneyland ride "Pirates of the Caribbean". Go to http://www.tellnotales.com to learn more about the ride that inspired the films, and see some of the incredible talent that helped create the attraction.

Evening news getting worse and worse

It looks as though things are bad in a lot of different places right now. It reminded me of this song. If you're in any of the rough spots in the world right now, take care.

-Floyd

On the road again...

There was lots of driving on Monday. We had a meeting in Connecticut, and then I had to go to a wake that evening. I drove a total of 365 miles. Fun fun fun.

-Floyd

More images of Amber

Give me a hand

Meet Veronica's friend Amber. Veronica is modeling Amber using a variety of anatomy sources, including anatomy books, photos, and Victoria Secret catalogs. As we finish Amber, she'll be decked out in a variety of ways. We plan on putting realistic hair and clothes on her. Her first task will probably be one of a Greek or Roman goddess.

We do a lot of cartoon stuff, which we enjoy greatly, but Amber is our way of showing that we are capable of realism as well. Let us know what you think!

A face only a mother could love

Recently, we had a challenge to create an appealing character based on a fly. This is the microscopic photo of a fruit fly... not exactly a golden retriever puppy.

I saw a bit about Ward Kimball designing Jiminy Cricket and how he had struggled to get a nice looking character from an animal so repulsive. At first, I thought it wouldn't be too tough, but it's harder than it sounds.

If you strip out too much "flyness", you end up with something that doesn't read as a fly. If you keep too much "flyness", you get something that is not too appealing. Hopefully I can post some of the stuff that J. Chad came up with here soon.

Great music for the 4th of July

Happy 4th of July. Have a listen to some music from a somewhat happier time: The Firehouse Five Plus Two.

The Best Chicken Possible

We've pushed back our self-imposed deadline for "Poor Professions for Poultry" in order to create the best chicken we possibly can. Factor in the backyard BBQ's and parties for the 4th of July, and it's going to be a little while before we finish off the project.

In the meantime, here is a link to some delicious grill recipes for grilled chicken:

Grilled Chicken Recipies

My own personal preference when grilling chicken is to use a rub, consisting mostly of Jerk Spice. You can't go wrong.

"One Cab's Family" - a great example of animated cars.

Long before Lightning McQueen and Benny the Cab, there was "One Cab's Family"



Although this film came out the same year as Disney's "Susie The Little Blue Coupe" (1952), I think "One Cab's Family" is more successful. It's got a lot of great gags, but a lot of emotional impact as well.

Cars were much more expressive fifty four years ago for some reason.