Oscar winners John Lasseter (Disney-Pixar CCO) and Ed Catmull (Disney-Pixar president) will participate in a live panel discussion celebrating the 20th anniversary of Toy Story - the world’s first entirely computer-animated feature film. The creative duo will take the stage - on Thursday, October 1st, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
Actor-director Jon Favreau will moderate the panel, which will also feature additional guests to be announced.
Twenty years after they collaborated on the game-changing, multi-Academy-Award-winning film, director and co-writer Lasseter and executive producer Catmull (who also created the digital animation program that made Toy Story possible) will share behind-the-scenes stories about the challenges they faced as they imagined, invented and problem-solved their way into motion picture history.
Pixar Animation Studios, founded in 1986, was at the vanguard of the computer animation revolution that blurred the lines between art and technology. Toy Story was the company’s first feature film, after years of creating revolutionary software, animated logos and television commercials with Lasseter and Catmull leading the way. The film earned Oscar nominations for Original Song, Original Musical or Comedy Score, and Original Screenplay (the first for an animated film); Lasseter shared in the screenplay nomination as well as received a Special Achievement Award for his inspired leadership of the filmmaking team. Catmull went on to receive an Oscar for his contributions to RenderMan, the software that was instrumental to the creation of Toy Story and the countless computer-animated films that followed.
Tickets for "Toy Story: 20 Years of Being an Animation Game-Changer" are $5 for general admission and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID, and may be purchased online at oscars.org starting today. The Samuel Goldwyn Theater is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills.
Toy Story: 20 Years of Being an Animation Game-Changer
Animation legend Glen Keane has become an unlikely evangelist for bridging the gap between traditional drawing and new technologies.
Over nearly four decades at Disney, Glen Keane animated some the most compelling characters of our time: Ariel from The Little Mermaid, the titular beast in Beauty and the Beast, and Disney’s Tarzan, to name just a few. The son of cartoonist Bil Keane (The Family Circus), Glen learned early on the importance of holding onto your childhood creativity -- and how art can powerfully convey emotion.
In 2012, the 38-year former veteran Disney animator launched his own production company, Glen Keane Productions, in order to explore new ways to bring animation to life. His first independent project was the Oscar nominated animated short film Duet produced by Google’s Advanced Technology group and available via app for Google and Motorola's interactive storytelling initiative Spotlight Stories last year. Now, for his next experiment, he’s embracing 3-D virtual reality drawing tools, the subject of a new short, Step Into the Page, featuring some of his best known characters, as shown in the video in the player below:
This new, five-minute original clip is created as a promo to coincide with his upcoming appearance at the fourth edition of the invitation-only Future of Storytelling (FoST) Summit that takes place October 7-8 in New York City, with additional Google Spotlight Stories filmmakers still to be announced. The annual Future of Storytelling Summit is always a fascinating event for the insights it offers into the evolving technology and art of storytelling.
The Summit gathers leaders in communications, media, entertainment, and advertising to explore the evolution of storytelling from all angles: creative, technology, critical, formal and financial. Glen is a featured speaker at the summit and is sharing his views on the potential of animation and storytelling with respect to virtual reality technology.
Instead of a paper and pencil, Keane draws life-sized versions of Ariel and Beast in the short with an HTC Vive headset and the 3D painting app called Tilt Brush, (which is now owned by Google). Rather than just being static on a page, he's able to walk around his characters as if they were fully three-dimensional. While drawing in 3-D space is not a new technology, it’s novel to see someone like Keane, who is considered a master of hand-drawn animation, play around with the tools.
For details on the summit, visit its website at www.futureofstorytelling.org.
Original Force, one of China’s leading, most successful and well-established digital animation service studios with a roster of TV and video game clients including Disney, DreamWorks Television, Sony, Tencent, Activision and Electronic Arts and backed by Chinese Internet giant Tencent Holdings, has launched a new U.S. based motion picture division and initiated moves to enter the global production scene on its first three animated feature films. Harley Zhao, President and Founder of Original Force, publicly unveiled the features at SIGGRAPH in Los Angeles.
To support the company's expansion to Hollywood, Original Force has appointed two of the industry's most respected animation production veterans Sandra Rabins and Penney Finkelman Cox as co-presidents and opened a new production office in Culver City. Rabins and Finkelman Cox were instrumental in the launch of DreamWorks’ and Sony Pictures Animation’s animation branches.
While this is Original Force’s first foray into producing their own features, the studio is hardly a newcomer to the animation world. Founded in 1999 by Harley Zhao, Original Force has become a CGI leader creating high-quality state-of-the-art animation and currently employs over 1,000 people at its offices in Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, and Chengdu. Original Force made its first foray into Hollywood as the lead animation studio for DreamWorks Animation’s Dragons: Riders of Berk, a television spinoff of DWA’s 2011 Academy Award-nominated feature How to Train Your Dragon. The studio also does a lot of video game work, and has created in-game animation and effects for titles including Grand Theft Auto V, Need for Speed: The Run, League of Legends, and The Sims 3.
One of the most accomplished and successful executive teams in the industry, Rabins and Finkelman Cox have overseen such beloved animated films as Shrek, Prince of Egypt, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Open Season, and Surf’s Up, among others. At Original Force, they have already tapped an accomplished team of veteran artists, writers and filmmakers for their inaugural slate.
First out of the gate, the studio is currently in production on Duck Duck Goose. The film will be directed by Chris Jenkins, who produced DreamWorks Animation’s recent hit feature Home and prior to that had worked as an effects animator at Disney in the 1980s and ’90s. Jenkins wrote the script with Rob Muir (Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue). Finkelman Cox and Rabins are producing the feature along with Viola Chen.
After he’s grounded by an injury, a high-flying bachelor is saddled with two wide-eyed orphans as they come face-to-face with the dangers and beauty of the outside world in the funny and touching animated feature, Duck Duck Goose. Our free-wheeling hero, Peng, rejects the community of his tight-knit flock of geese in an attempt to live life on his own terms. But after he narrowly rescues two young ducklings, Chi and Chao, from an eccentric but deadly cat named Banzou, the two latch onto the Goose like a surrogate father; and with a paralyzing winter on the horizon and the departure of both their flocks, Peng agrees to look after the ducklings out of fear his injury might be discovered by Banzou, and other predators who would prey on a goose who cannot fly. The makeshift trio embarks on a beautiful and dangerous journey through mountains and lakes, bamboo forests, marble caves and deep river valleys to get back to their respective flocks. On the way, Peng must learn to care for the two ducklings despite his independent attitude, all the while evading the hungry and relentless Pallas Cat, who’ll stop at nothing to claim the ducklings he feels entitled to. Peng’s biggest challenge is learning to shed his selfish ways and become the responsible “parent” no one ever thought he could be, including himself.
“There is no one more talented, skilled or experienced in leading animated films than Sandy and Penney,” said Original Force founder and president Harley Zhao in making the announcement. “Each has had an extraordinary career and their track record co-running DreamWorks Animation and Sony Pictures Animation has given them a completely unique perspective on building a contemporary animation studio from the ground up. They have a love and respect for great stories and relatable characters that is incredibly infectious and which drives our production philosophy. Original Force is proud to have two partners with such impeccable credentials guiding our film team.”
Key Original Force Animation staff (l. to r.): Sandra Rabins, Bob Bendetson, Harley Zhao, Chris Jenkins, John Eng and Penney Finkelman Cox
“When Harley approached us with this unique opportunity, he told us he wanted to build a new creative home for the world’s best storytellers, writers, directors, animators, digital artists and designers,” said Finkelman Cox. “Original Force Animation is a true global operation with a world perspective and whether you are an established filmmaker or an emerging artist with a distinctive and fresh new voice, we want you to think of our company as a new destination where your best work can be nurtured and flourish.”
“Harley has organically grown his business from a small start-up of four to a thriving world-class animation services and production facility that is operating in five cities with a talented team that is nearly 1,000 strong,” said Rabins. “After years of successfully working as a studio-for-hire, Original Force is creating its own content and global IP and we believe we have an inaugural slate that will resonate all over the world.”
Original Force has also announced being in the early stages of development and pre-production on two other features, with the goal of releasing one CG-animated feature approximately every 18 months. OldZilla is directed by Bob Bendetson (a producer on ALF, Home Improvement, and The Simpsons) and co-written with veteran TV sitcom writer Art Everett (Married… With Children). A parody of kaiju and assorted vintage monster movie cliches, the film is about an aging monster who attempts to rally other monsters at a retirement home to terrorize Atlantic City one final time. (The film includes a real estate developer named Ronald Rump…get it?)
King Saurus, the self-proclaimed “Lord of the Stomp,” is unwilling to admit Father Time is nipping at his heels. He wears a scale toupee and spends his days watching newsreel footage of his past destructions. Finally, he leaves his cave and moves into Fading Fast (a senior community in the Bermuda Triangle built exclusively for the “vintage” Chinese monster). The place is run by Miss Petfarkin, a monster who’s obsessed with order and rules. King Saurus is stunned by the listlessness of his fellow behemoths and attempts to liven things up. He ultimately convinces Icarose and Birdy, an old married monster couple, to travel with him to Atlantic City to interrupt the grand opening of Rump Mart, the mega-store of mega-stores. This one last attempt at terrorizing ends up biting these senior citizen behemoths in the butt when Ronald Rump, the tyrannical owner of Rump Mart, brings in King Saurus’ old nemesis, the elderly Chinese monster hunter, Dai Anu. Anu, along with his daughter and granddaughter, arrives in America in order to battle and finally defeat the Lord of the Stomp. The film is produced by Finkelman Cox and Rabins. QQ Speed, a co-production project with Tencent Holding Limited, based on a popular Chinese online racing game of the same name, will be directed by John Eng (co-director of Rugrats Go Wild); the thrilling action-adventure motion picture concerns a brother-and-sister racing team who risk everything to protect a family legacy.
After legendary racer John Speedman dies during the high-stakes Super Speed Cup 500 race, his son Matt raises his younger sister, Orange, and keeps the doors of famous Speedman garage open. Fourteen years later, Orange has grown into a willful 19-year-old with her father’s passion for fast cars. With the business in trouble, foreclosure seems inevitable until Orange decides to enter the Super Speed Cup 500 and vie for enough cash that would solve their financial woes. At the wheel of her father’s prototype car, Orange is guided by an experimental computer that speaks with John’s voice, personality and racing experience, giving the young woman her first chance to bond with the father she barely knew. But in order to win, she will have to defeat not just the other drivers, but her father’s old rival, Munikula and his son Tristan.
In addition to the three in active production, other films announced in active development include Where The Mountain Meets The Moon based on the Newberry Honor Book by Grace Lin; and Riding Giants, to be adapted by Greg Johnson from his original manuscript.
Original Force is also animating the upcoming Ratchet & Clank feature, a co-production with CNHK, Rainmaker Studios and Blockade - based on the popular Sony Playstation sci-fi/adventure game, in production. Ratchet and his robot pal Clank go back to their roots in this fun and action-filled origin story about the two unlikeliest heroes in the Solana Galaxy. When the pair discovers a nefarious plot to destroy every planet in the galaxy, they enlist a team of colorful warriors known as The Galactic Rangers to stop the evil Chairman Drek from carrying out his deadly plot. Along the way, they learn the value of true friendship, what it really means to be a hero and the importance of knowing yourself. Paul Giamatti, John Goodman, Rosario Dawson, Sylvester Stallone, Bella Thorne, James Arnold Taylor, David Kaye and Jim Ward are doing voices.
Marketing expert Peter Adee, formerly president of marketing at Universal and MGM, is consulting with Original Force on the launch of their initial releases.
There is a growing trend for Chinese studios to bring aboard Americans as producers and directors. Mandoo Pictures’ upcoming Rock Dog also boasts an American director, Toy Story 2 and Surf’s Up co-director Ash Brannon.
The Chinese feature animation industry business is rapidly booming over the last few years and the country now produces more animated features than the United States — in 2013 Chinese animated films totted up about $250 million, which doubled to about $500 million last year and is expected to reach $900 million this year. 2015 has so far seen the unprecedented success of Tian Xiaopeng’s CG family film Monkey King: Hero is Back, which went on to become the highest-grossing animated feature in Chinese box office history, surpassing every American animated movie ever released in China. Produced by Zhejiang HG Entertainment, the flick has grossed $139 million so far, which is over 50% more than the now No. 2 toon, Kung Fu Panda 2.
Sunday morning, award-winning animation legend Richard Williams (The Thief and the Cobbler, Who Framed Roger Rabbit) released the first look at his new, long-awaited six-minute animated short film Prologue. The hand-drawn film, which first debuted at Annecy in June, is a feat of animation mastery; as he has done throughout his illustrious career, Williams pushes the craft in directions that few others dare to venture.
In the preview traler below, the three-time Oscar recipient Dick Williams explains the impetus for Prologue, interspersed with footage from the finished film, and shares his vision on what he's trying to achieve:
In the film, which was conceived as part of a larger project that Williams jokingly refers to as, “Will I live to finish this?,” Prologue depicts a war incident of 2,400 years ago where Spartan and Athenian warriors are locked in a gory battle to the death while witnessed by a little girl. The dialog-free project utilizes natural sounds to complement the intense animation. Williams — who is best known for his work as animation director on Who Framed Roger Rabbit, unfinished feature The Thief and the Cobbler and Academy Award-winning A Christmas Carol adaptation — has worked on the film for a many years in between other projects. It was begun in Canada, continued in west Wales and finally completed this year at the Aardman studios in Bristol, U.K.
The film’s well-received U.S. premiere took place this weekend at the Telluride Film Festival. Prologue, directed by Williams, will begin its Oscar qualifying engagement run beginning this Friday at Laemmle’s Royal Theatre in West Los Angeles. It will play from Friday, September 11th (beginning at 1 p.m.) through September 17th. It'll screen once a day - but no show times for the matinee screenings or which film its playing with have been announced yet. When I find out more information I will post it in the comments below.
“I’ve gone back to 1900 and drawn each shot on a new sheet of paper. Then it’s polished with state of the art technology. It has taken over 6,000 complex animated life drawings to create this film,” said Williams. Inspired by the works of Kurosawa and silent films, the short breaks animation convention and innovates with movement and space to achieve a dramatic, masterly effect.
Also of note, Imogen Sutton, the producer of Williams’ latest film and longtime collaborator (not to mention his spouse/wife), will be speaking at a Women in Animation event in Burbank tomorrow. More details about how to attend the event can be found on the WIA website.
Click below for a hi-res version of the film’s poster, provided by Richard Williams:
Following up Disney Television Animation’s most successful year ever, the company has made several key executive appointments to help further the content development pipelines at Disney Junior, Disney Channel and Disney XD.
In recognition of the bold innovation going on at TVA, Eric Coleman has been named Senior Vice President, Original Programming and General Manager, Disney Television Animation; in addition, Jonathan Schneider has been promoted to Vice President, Strategy; Aaron Simpson has joined the company as Vice President, Development; Shane Prigmore has been appointed to the role of Vice President, Creative Affairs; and Bonnie Lemon has joined the company as Vice President, Production.
“Through Eric's selfless leadership and firm grasp on every aspect of storytelling, Jonathan's extraordinarily collaborative style, and Shane's incredible artistic talent, the TV Animation team, led by some of the most innovative minds in the animation industry today, is poised to continue delivering the highest quality creative content,” said Gary Marsh, President and Chief Creative Officer, Disney Channels Worldwide, in making the announcement. “We're thrilled to welcome Bonnie and Aaron to our Production and Development teams to expertly manage the complexity of TVA's productions, both in development and on air, as we continue to expand our content slate.”
Eric Coleman, who has spearheaded the revival of the division since joining from Nickelodeon in 2008, will lead the TV animation studio as it embarks on a diversified slate of programming. He will continue to lead Disney's animated television development, casting and music for series seen on Disney Channel and Disney XD. Coleman has spearheaded the development of the Emmy and Annie Award-winning Mickey Mouse cartoon shorts and Gravity Falls and new series Star vs. The Forces of Evil, which with its recent premiere became Disney XD's number-one most watched animated series debut ever in Total Viewers. Coleman, who was previously senior v-p of original series for DTVA, will continue to report to Marsh.
In addition to Coleman’s promotion, two new execs have joined the company and two other people have been promoted. Coleman and crew will be called into service for the studio’s forthcoming series, including The Lion Guard, Elena of Avalor, Tangled, DuckTales, Mickey and the Roadster Racers, and Pickle & Peanut.
Clockwise from upper left: Shane Prigmore, Bonnie Lemon, Jonathan Schneider, Aaron Simpson.
Here are the new Disney TV Animation appointments:
JONATHAN SCHNEIDER has been promoted to vice president of strategy. Schneider, who joined Disney Television Animation in 2010 as Director, Development and most recently served as Executive Director, Development, will now be responsible for developing and implementing strategic direction and optimizing business operations across the television studio. He will continue to report to Coleman.
AARON SIMPSON has joined the company as vice president of development. Simpson joins Disney from Mondo Media where he served as Head of Development and executive-produced Fusion TV sketch series Like, Share, Die. He has also produced animation for Warner Brothers, Kids WB, Jib Jab and Sony, and is founder of popular animation websites Cold Hard Flash and Line Boil. In his new role, Simpson will oversee all development activity, both long and short form, manage the development team and work closely with current series in order to ensure a smooth transition of each property from pilot to production. He will report to Coleman.
SHANE PRIGMORE has been appointed to the role of vice president of creative affairs. Prigmore, who joined Disney Television Animation in 2014 to develop and act as Co-Executive Producer and Creative Director on Tangled, the TV studio's upcoming series based on Walt Disney Animation Studios' acclaimed feature film, will now provide creative input across multiple departments including development, current series and production to spearhead the TV animation studio's efforts to further expand its roster of world-class artists. An Annie Award-winning character designer, Prigmore's credits prior to Disney include The LEGO Movie, How to Train Your Dragon, Coraline and The Croods. He will report to Coleman.
BONNIE LEMON has joined the company as vice president of production. Lemon joins Disney from DreamWorks Animation where she most recently served as production executive on feature films including Kung Fu Panda 3 and The Penguins of Madagascar. In her new role, Lemon will manage both in-house and outside productions across the Disney Junior slate, streamlining the process from development through post production. She will work closely with key executives, department heads and creative teams and will report to Lisa Salamone Smith, Senior Vice President, Production for Disney Television Animation.
Disney Television Animation is an industry leader in the production of quality animated properties across Disney-branded channels and platforms worldwide with hit series, including the Emmy Award-winning Phineas and Ferb and Sofia the First, the Emmy-nominated Jake and the Never Land Pirates, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Wander Over Yonder. The television studio's recently announced upcoming series include The Lion Guard, Elena of Avalor, Tangled, DuckTales, Mickey and the Roadster Racers, Pickle & Peanut and Future-Worm!, as well a Haunted Mansion TV special.
Disney Television Animation recently added ‘The Lion King’ spinoff, ‘The Lion Guard,’ to its upcoming lineup.
Robin Williams with animator Bruce Smith at Raleigh Studios during the production of the Walt Disney World theme park film "Back To Neverland" (1989)
The Genie. Popeye. A friend to animation. Robin Williams forever changed the very nature of comedy - but he also changed the way we listen to animation voice over.
Actor Robin Williams died a year ago on August 11 at the age of 63. He appears to have committed suicide by hanging himself, according to the LA Times.
I was so heartbroken when I learned of the death of voice-over icon Robin Williams, as was widely reported. Numerous news outlets have been paying tribute to him yesterday. Since he was an important key figure to animation, I thought I should do one too.
Like Mork, the character he first played on an episode of ABC’s Happy Days, this utterly original comic and movie star appeared on our television sets seemingly out of nowhere, almost as if from outer space.
But, by 1978, when ABC’s Mork & Mindy arrived on screens, Robin Williams soared to superstardom faster than you could say “Na-Nu-Na-Nu,” “Shaz-bot,” or any of the other catchphrases the improvisational comic made part of the pop culture lexicon of the late 1970s. Within two weeks of the show’s premiere, Robin was hailed as a new star. Little could we have known that he was just getting started.
Genie (in Disney's 1992 animated classic feature Aladdin) was a tour-de-force vocal performance by Williams (and visually by animator Eric Goldberg) but it was an important landmark in two ways. First, it was the first to break the structured script-driven vocal performance (compare it to Williams earlier recorded V.O. in Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest, also from 1992). Allowed to break free and improvise upon the written dialogue, Williams created a character that will live forever - and be forever tied to his unique genius.
It also began a practice that continues today - to allow the actors to go off script during the recording sessions - a practice that has enhanced the performers and their performances all for the better ever since.
Williams also brought a then unheard-of star power to the animated film. For good or ill, before the Genie, no one came to a cartoon feature to specifically hear Robby Benson as The Beast. Oh there were Hollywood movie stars in past animated features (Judy Garland in Gay Purr-ree; Bette Milder in Oliver and Company, et al), but people came out to hear Robin Williams as the Genie.
And he did it without star billing (remember that?). It was practically an open secret he was in the film. Talk about "stealing the show".
Robin was born in Chicago, Illinois, on July 21, 1951, the son of an automobile executive and his wife, a former model. He was raised in Chicago and Detroit, moving with his family to the San Francisco area during his last year in high school. A gifted student, Robin majored in political science at both Marin and Claremont Colleges. While at Marin, he won a scholarship to Juilliard in New York City, where he studied with the legendary John Houseman, along with Christopher Reeve, with whom he remained lifetime friends.
Critics waxed euphoric in their attempts to describe Robin’s stand-up comedy work, a craft he turned to with vigor and perfected in the years following the conclusion of Mork & Mindy. “An outstanding lunar Wildman, out of Jonathan Winters by way of Lenny Bruce with a touch of Richard Burton thrown in,” is how one critic enthused about Robin’s performances. “An engaging, bright, and inventive actor,” said another. After taking in the sight of the deliriously manic comic’s nightclub act on an HBO special, The Hollywood Reporter characterized the incendiary performance as “unadulterated brilliance.”
Film critic Leonard Maltin stated, “I felt lucky every time I got to chat with Robin Williams, but when I once said, ‘I’d love to get inside your brain,’ he replied, ‘Leonard, you don’t want to go there.’ We’ll always be able to see him, thank goodness, but now the experience will be bittersweet.”
In 1987, Robin trained his talents on live-action and animated films and almost immediately became one of America’s biggest stars. Beginning with his Academy Award®-nominated performance as Adrian Cronauer in Touchstone Pictures’ Good Morning, Vietnam, Robin starred in an impressive string of Disney films. They included the haunting portrayal of teacher John Keating in Dead Poets Society, a hilarious voice performance as the Genie in Aladdin, and high-caliber performances in Flubber and Bicentennial Man.
“If I had only watched Robin Williams on the TV screen, in the movies or on stage, I would consider myself blessed for having simply experienced his brilliance, his joy, his humor and his heart,” composer Alan Menken says. “The fact that I had the honor of sharing the creative process with him is an honor and a privilege that I will cherish for the rest of my life.”
Along the way, Robin starred in several seminal films, including Moscow on the Hudson, for which he earned his first Golden Globe® nomination, Miramax’s Good Will Hunting, for which his nuanced role as grieving psychologist Sean Maguire earned him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and Mrs. Doubtfire, which earned him his third Golden Globe—this time for Best Actor-Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.
Other Disney appearances include a reprise performance as Genie in Aladdin and the King of Thieves; Hollywood Pictures’ Jack, directed by Frances Ford Coppola; and the 2009 comedy Old Dogs.
Disney paid tribute to Williams on its official Twitter account with a GIF of Genie, captioning it, “He was a true Disney Legend, a beloved member of our family, and he will be sorely missed.”
Williams voiced the shape-shifting, multi-voiced and highly entertaining Genie. He was also a big fan of animated filmmaking. He portrayed the titular hero in Robert Altman’s 1980 live-action feature film Popeye.
Williams was a go-to presenter for animation-related Oscars. Robin Williams was also a real friend to the animation community. He was honored to present the honorary Oscars to animation legends: Warner Bros. animation director Chuck Jones (see below) in 1996 and animation producer Walter Lantz (also below) in 1979, as well as special achievement Oscars to Richard Williams and John Lasseter.
In the course of his decades-long career, in addition to his role as the Genie, Williams surprised and delighted audiences voicing dozens of other beloved animated characters, including Batty Koda in 1992's Fern Gully, the penguins Ramon and Lovelace in the Happy Feet series, Fender in Robots, and the kiwi in the TV special A Wish for Wings That Work. Williams also voiced the cartoon characters in the Chuck Jones-directed opening of Mrs. Doubtfire.
He appeared alongside Walter Cronkite both in person and as an animated character in Back to Neverland, an animated short providing a humorous look at the animation process that played at Disney/MGM Studios’ Animation Pavilion, and provided the voice of the Timekeeper for the attraction of that name at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. The director of that project, Jerry Rees, has a page on his website documenting its making.
Director Jerry Rees and Robin Williams.
Williams also supported several independent animators, and spoke highly of the films of Faith Hubley, once telling an interviewer:
“My kids discovered her when I asked my son if he wanted to go watch a Disney movie and he said, ‘No, I don’t dad.’ So I put in a Faith Hubley movie and he would just watch it like he was seeing Picasso moving. He would watch her movies over and over again, and they were magnificent because they would talk about all these different careers and religions, history— it was like Elmer Fudd doing A Street Car Named Desire.”
Williams was also a fan of anime, and incorporated references to anime into his films. For example, in One Hour Photo, he added a reference to the Japanese series Neon Genesis Evangelion:
The following official statements from Eric Goldberg, John Musker and Ron Clements released by Disney Studios in the wake of the tragic death of celebrated actor and comedian Robin Williams:
Eric Goldberg, Supervising Animator Of "Genie" In "Aladdin":
"I am beyond devastated. I cannot express how influential and important Robin was, and will continue to be, to me and countless other animation artists. Robin gave those of us who worked on the Genie so much humor, inspiration, and just sheer delight, that we were always spoiled for choice whenever we came back from a recording session. Like the Genie, Robin's immense talent could not be contained in the lamp. I think we all knew, as the world does now, if there was ever a person who was tailor-made for the medium of animation, it was Robin.
We have lost not just a great voice, though. We have lost a warm, human, miraculous person whose numerous and amazing talents will continue to inspire people for generations upon generations."
John Musker and Ron Clements, Directors, "Aladdin":
"We had the thrill and privilege of directing Robin Williams in Aladdin. We wrote the part with him in mind, but his performance, complete with his brilliant, improvised flights of fancy, took us and the character far beyond what we had imagined. Robin's genie defied space, time, and physics, and so did Robin's talent. Like the genie it was immeasurable, thrilling, a cosmic explosion of wit and warmth. Robin brought magic into our lives, to his animator/other half, Eric Goldberg, and to the scores of artists who brought the genie to such vivid life on the screen. But, most of all, Robin's magic touched millions of viewers who laughed and were moved by him. We will cherish the memory of this ever-giving man who made every life he touched, including our own, better."
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences referenced Williams’ role as the Genie in their condolence tweet:
Robin Williams is gone but will never be forgotten. As a memorial, below are some animated highlights from his animation career (yes, and including a clip from his live action role of Popeye - probably the only A-list actor who could have pulled that off). Rest in Peace, Mr. Williams - and thank you.
Below: An animation sequence from Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) where Williams played a cartoon voice over actor. Directed by Chuck Jones.
Below: An animation sequence from Fern Gully (1992) where Williams played "Batty Koda". Directed by Bill Kroyer.
Below: An animation sequence from Happy Feet Two (2011) where Williams played "Ramon". Directed by George Miller, Gary Eck, and David Peers
Below: Theme Park film Back To Neverland (1989) where Williams appears in both live action and animation. Directed by Jerry Rees
Below: And yeah, Williams even voiced Mork on Saturday morning cartoons.
Below: In Robert Altman's Popeye (1980)
Below: As the Genie in a series of interstitials for ABC Saturday mornings, "Great Minds".
Animation historian John Culhane serving as model reference for Mr. Snoops in Disney’s “The Rescuers” (1977). Click to enlarge.
DisneyA publicity still issued by Disney for the original release of "The Rescuers" (1976)
John Culhane, a veteran journalist and author, best known for his pioneering and trailblazing work as a Disney animation historian who penned numerous books, taught animation for many years, as well as being caricatured by animators and the inspiration for the characters of Mr. Snoops in the 1977 Disney animated feature, The Rescuers and Flying John in the "Rhapsody in Blue" segment of Fantasia 2000, passed away at his home in Dobbs Ferry, New York, according to an obituary in the Lower Hudson Valley Journal News. The cause of death was complications from cardiac failure and Alzheimer's disease. He was 81 years old.
Culhane distinguished himself as a writer for the Chicago Daily News and went on to have a successful career as a freelance writer and journalist by trade, working for such major and prestigious publications as Newsweek, The New York Times Magazine, Readers Digest, Saturday Review, Signature, and American Film, however he is known to the animation world for his work as an animation historian. A cousin of Disney animator Shamus Culhane, John was one of the first entertainment writers to properly acknowledge the work of individual animators in the mainstream media. He also wrote acclaimed books on the subject of Disney animation including: "Walt Disney's Fantasia" (1983), "Aladdin: The Making of an Animated Film" (1992), and "Fantasia 2000: Visions of Hope" (1999). For over four decades, Culhane also contributed to the industry and inspired many up-and-coming animation students as a teacher through his spirited classes on the history of animation at New York City's School of Visual Arts, Manhattan's Fashion Institute of Technology, Mercy College in Westchester County, and for a dozen years at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.
John Culhane served as the model for Mr. Snoops in “The Rescuers.” (Click to enlarge.)
In addition to his literary contributions to the art of animation, Culhane also wrote acclaimed books about the circus ("The American Circus: An Illustrated History"), and special effects ("Special Effects in the Movies: How They Do It: Dazzling Movie Magic and the Artists Who Create It" (1986)).
Commenting on Culhane's passing, Oscar-winning filmmaker and animation historian/author/professor John Canemaker said, "John Culhane was an extraordinarily communicative teacher. In 1997, I hired him to teach History of Animation at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. For nearly a dozen years thereafter, John’s enthusiasm for, and knowledge of, the subject captured not only his students’ attention, but also their imaginations. He dazzled an always-packed classroom with tales of his first-hand journalistic experiences meeting giants of animation (including Walt Disney). He was magical, unorthodox in his teaching methods in bringing animation history to vital life. More than one student each fall semester sent me evaluations saying that John’s warmth, ebullience and supremely positive approach to life, changed their lives.”
John Culhane’s seminal 1983 book on the making of Disney’s “Fantasia.”
Veteran Disney animator and director Eric Goldberg ("Fantasia/2000," "Pocahontas"), added, "John Culhane was an ardent, enthusiastic and informed supporter of animation in general, and Disney animation in particular – no surprise, given his pedigree. He was also a good friend and great cheerleader to my wife and collaborator, Susan, and to me, and our various projects at Disney – so much so, that we paid him the compliment of caricaturing him as the character 'Flying John' in our 'Rhapsody in Blue' sequence for 'Fantasia/2000.' He previously had the honor of being given the Disney treatment as the character 'Snoops' in 'The Rescuers.' It gave us great pleasure to continue meeting with him over the years, and to receive hand-written letters from him signed, 'Flying John.'"
Culhane (left) as 'Flying John' in the "Rhapsody in Blue" segment of "Fantasia/2000"
Don Hahn, producer of such popular films as "The Lion King," "Beauty and the Beast," and "Maleficent," noted, "John's ceaseless enthusiasm for animation was a natural match for his personality; one of the most animated men ever to stand at the corner of Mickey Avenue and Dopey Drive. How lucky we are to have known him, and been affected by his insights into the art of Disney, and by his witty, charming, loving spirit.”
John Culhane was born in Rockford, Illinois on February 7, 1934. He met his idol, Walt Disney, in 1951 at the age of 17, during a trip to California. Introduced by Walt's daughter, Diane, and over the course of a conversation that lasted several hours, Culhane got the best advice of his lifetime. Walt told the aspiring writer, "Work for your hometown newspaper, write for your neighbors -- and just keep widening your circle." After a Jesuit education at St. Louis University, graduating in 1956 from studying writing and European history, he went back to his hometown and became a reporter and daily columnist for the Rockford Register-Republic. This was followed by a stint as an investigative reporter for the Chicago Daily News from 1962-1968. He went on to become Media Editor of Art and Leisure at Newsweek, and a Roving Editor at Readers Digest from 1979-1996. For the latter, he wrote a series of intimate profiles (part of the "Unforgettable" series) that included such major personalities as Jim Henson, Danny Kaye, Laurence Olivier, and Emmett Kelly, among others. In his post-university career, he also penned over 20 articles for the New York Times Magazine, including important landmark pieces about Disney animation that gave unprecedented recognition to Walt Disney's legendary "Nine Old Men," as well as to the Studio's next generation of artists and animators in the 1990s.
In the 1970s, Culhane was enlisted by the Walt Disney Company’s publicity department on several occasions to help mark milestone events. In 1973, he moderated a celebration of the Disney Studio’s 50th anniversary at the Lincoln Center in New York, and was tapped to lead Mickey Mouse’s 50th birthday in 1978 by traveling on a five-day fifty-seven-city, whistle-stop train trip with Mickey and legendary animator Ward Kimball across the United States from California to New York.
Disney animator/director Ward Kimball (l.) with John Culhane in 1978. (Photo: Ward Kimball Family collection.)
In 1981, Culhane was the host for a series of college campus forums touring across the country promoting a new slate of Disney film projects including "Tron," "The Black Hole" and "The Black Cauldron." In 1983, he wrote and starred in "Backstage at Disney," a special episode of The Disney Channel's "Studio Showcase," which featured a behind the scenes glimpse of a young Tim Burton working on his first film, the stop-motion animated short, "Vincent," the first part of which can be seen below:
During his time at the studio, he also worked as an uncredited writer on the 1983 Disney live-action feature, "Something Wicked This Way Comes," and with Oscar-winning animation director Richard Williams on the feature, "The Thief and the Cobbler."
Culhane, however, may be best remembered for his appearances in Disney features, beginning with his “role” as "Mr. Snoops" in "The Rescuers" (1977). In a 1976 article for an in-house Disney Studio publication, Culhane explained how he came to be the model for the character:
“While snooping around the Disney Studio on previous assignments, I had gotten to know Milt Kahl, a master animator who also designed many of the characters in the Disney cartoons. In May, 1973, Milt gave a guest lecture to a class I was teaching and agreed to draw a poster to announce the event. In the poster, he caricatured both himself and me. When Milt got back to the Studio, the artists working on 'The Rescuers' were searching for a look for one of the villains. In the script he was described as nervous, indecisive, and domineered by Medusa. The short-legged fellow with Milt in the poster looked to director Woolie Reitherman like that kind of guy, and they named him, after my profession, ‘Mr. Snoops.’ Even before I saw him on the screen, I realized that Snoops did indeed look like me because, wherever I went in the Disney Studio that year, artists passing me in the halls would do a double take, then say to each other, ‘It’s him, all right — it’s Mr. Snoops.’”
Milt Kahl’s drawing of John Culhane that inspired the Mr. Snoops character.
Flying John in 'Fantasia/2000.'
Culhane again became the inspiration for an animated character when director Eric Goldberg turned him into Flying John in the “Rhapsody in Blue” segment of Fantasia 2000. Goldberg provided this remembrance of Culhane:
John was joyous, ebullient, tenacious, and so full of life and enthusiasm for the medium of animation that it is almost impossible to imagine him gone. When Susan and I were at Disney doing projects together, he was one of our strongest cheerleaders. At the time, we were trying to get a variety of things off the ground, and John was an avid supporter of all of them. It gave us no end of pleasure to receive letters from him signed “Flying John.” Every time we met at animation events (we even taught animation classes together down at Disney World in Florida!), he and his wife Hind were always gracious and a bunch of fun to be with. Truth be told, John was one of the very first writers one could call an “animation historian,” and practically the first to have his writings about the subject taken seriously. If one looks at the time line of fashionable Disney-bashers in the 70′s (The Disney Version, anyone?), John was one of the first to step forward and say, “No. Appreciate what beautiful, sincere, passionate artistry went into the making of these films.” And for that, we should all be forever grateful.
“Flying John” from “Fantasia/2000″ was based on John Culhane. (Click to enlarge.)
Former Disney animator Andreas Deja, who animated Culhane’s “Flying John” character interacting with a monkey, told:
I knew John Culhane as an enthusiastic animation historian and teacher. He was a fountain of knowledge, having met Walt Disney and all of the Nine Old Men. John was immensely proud of having been the inspiration for the character of Snoops in the film The Rescuers. He would frequently offer his autograph with the note “from the model for Milt’s Mr. Snoops.” His passion for the medium was infectious; he will be missed.
Among his other credits, in the late '70s, Culhane also collaborated with his late cousin, veteran animator Shamus Culhane, on three animated primetime television specials for NBC: "Noah’s Animals," "King of the Beasts," and "Last of the Red-Hot Dragons" (for which he also supplied the dragon’s voice).
John Culhane was a fan of musicians Leonard Cohen and George Harrison and enjoyed listening to songs from Culbrain Records. Besides Disney animation, he loved watching the TV show Drinks with Writers and reading fanzine, Famous Monsters of Filmland; his favorite movie and book are The Matrix and The God Delusion, respectively. He was also a Democratic and supporter of Barack and Michelle Obama and politician Deval Patrick.
Culhane is survived by his wife of nearly 55 years, Dr. Hind Rassam Culhane of Baghdad, Iraq (a former dean of the school of sociology and behavorial sciences at Mercy College), and two sons — Michael Culhane, a Los Angeles-based songwriter, music producer, and performer (and his wife Amy Weingartner, a writer and former Disney publishing editor), and Dr. Thomas Henry Culhane, professor of sustainable development at Mercy College (and his wife, Sybille and their children, Kilian and Ava Culhane). Other survivors include brother Dick Culhane and his wife Lee, sister Mary Ella Stone and husband David Stone, sister Libby Keating and husband Joe Keating, brother Mark Culhane and his wife Cheryl. Funeral services were held on Monday, August 3, at Our Lady of Pompeii in Dobbs Ferry, NY. Plans for a life celebration will be announced at a later date.
