Bold in Bronze?

Years ago, after Frank Thomas passed away, I came up with an interesting yet crazy thought of how to commemorate the legacy of each of the Nine Old Men: by erecting statues of them. I thought it would be really nice if 9 statues were grouped together in a large open courtyard where people can come & see them. Or they could each be spread out around one of the theme parks or around the Walt Disney Studios Lot, so people would have to go & find each of them individually.

One idea was to have each animator standing with one or two of the characters they brought to life beside them (ex: Eric Larson holding Figaro, John Lounsbery with Ben Ali Gator, Ward Kimball with Jiminy Cricket on his shoulder, etc.). There would be small, weatherproof TV screens around them showcasing some of the scenes they animated. Below the statues, there would be little plaques with their names & a quote of theirs.

Here's an example of a variation of one of the sculpture concepts, this one commemorating Ollie. Pardon the sloppiness, I drew/colored it very quickly.

Ollie Johnston Memorial Tribute - Part #4

Well, after almost a month... here's part 4 of my tribute to Ollie Johnston.

:00 - :30 -- Mickey Mouse's Tuesday Introduction (Mickey Mouse Club 195?)

:30 - 1:50 -- Pinocchio Tells a Lie (Pinocchio 1940) (*Pinocchio Only*)

1:50 - 2:43 -- Orville Sucked into Medusa's Swampmobile (The Rescuers 1977)

2:43 - 4:50 -- Three Caballeros' Serape ride through Mexico (Three Caballeros 1944)

4:50 - 7:28 -- Smee 'cares' to sick Hook (Peter Pan 1953) (*Smee Only*)

7:28 - 8:02 -- Sir Hiss Drunk (Robin Hood 1973)

8:02 - 10:35 -- Uncle Waldo (The AristoCats 1970)

Like I said in my last Ollie post, it's getting very difficult to order these clips as I make these videos. Right now, I'm swamped with almost 10 minutes of Jungle Book footage, 2 Song of the South clips & a few random bits, which quite frankly will be a real pain in the ass to make work! If I had more clips or a better idea of what scenes he did then it would be all "hunky-dory", but it ain't.

Quite unexpectedly, these videos haven't made a single dent in the animation/blog community & I haven't gotten much from anyone, not even a single comment (well actually I got 2 on the first one, but one was from a friend & the other was from a random commenter... the other two videos went completely unnoticed). Sure, they're very nice thank-yous, but it ain't quite what I expected.

I know Hans Perk probably feels the same way I do about the reception the Sleeping Beauty drafts he posted are getting. I know that people are watching my video(s) & reading his drafts, but aren't sending feedback or comments, which I admit feels quite discouraging in the long run, especially when you put a lot of work into something.

Like I said a few posts ago, all the visitors I get to my site are only here to watch the Bambi's Mom video from various furry sites & the Goofy Holler video via Wikipedia. The latter being the one that really irks me, because all the comments I recieve are "You forgot this one..." or "They also did it here...", which I did expected to get, but are still just as annoying to read.

After I got plugged on Cartoon Brew a few months ago, I felt like I was in the spotlight for a little bit, but now I realize that my 15 minutes of fame are over & that's that. I could make another "Disney's Gettin' Lazy", but it probably won't get the response the original 3 got, just like the other 2 'holler' videos didn't get feedback like the Goofy one did. Still if I feel up to it, I'll make another one to put up for some to see. I'm probably sounding like a spoiled little 5 year old in WalMart begging his mother "I Want This!" or "Buy Me That!", but what the hell.... I had my moment in the limelight for a bit. As long as people visit my site, view it's contents & comment every once in a while, I'm satisfied.

Back to Ollie... since these videos are tough to cobble together, the next one'll probably be the last. I was gonna push for another 2-3, but I'm givin' up. I'll make the next video a bit longer than the others (10-15ish minutes) just to get it outta the way.

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Once again, special thanks goes to Hans Perk, Mark Mayerson, Michael Sporn, John Canemaker, Thad K., Mike Barrier, Howard Beckerman & Emily Plassman for helping me through this (directly or indirectly).

**As it says in the video, all characters, scenes & films shown in the tribute are rightfully owned by the Walt Disney Company. No harm is intended. All rights reserved. **

Ollie Johnston Memorial Tribute - Part #3

Sorry for being so late with Part 3. Better late than never!

0:00 - 1:37 -- Bambi's first walk through the woods (Bambi 1942)
1:37 - 2:31 -- Prince John & Sir Hiss greet fortune tellers (Robin Hood 1973)
2:31 - 4:05 -- Mr. Smee shaves Capt. Hook (Peter Pan 1953)
4:05 - 8:23 -- 'Bare Necessities' sequence (Jungle Book 1967)
8:23 - 10:05 -- Donald Duck VS. the Pinata (Three Caballeros 1944)
10:05 - 10:45 -- Bernard & Bianca say goodnight (The Rescuers 1977)

It's getting harder & harder to put these videos together because I'm running low on clips! I still have roughly 20 clips left to post, but it's hard to put them in a fashionable order without going too far over the 10-minute limit I put for myself. At least I got that long 'Bare Necessities' scene outta the way.

Also, I'm gonna have to go back & snag more clips for the tribute. As of now, I have NO clips from Cinderella, Lady & the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty or any of the later shorts he took part in (Susie the Little Blue Coupe, Ben & Me, the Winnie the Pooh shorts, etc.) It's not that I'm too lazy to get the footage, it's just that I HAVE NO CLUE WHAT HE DID IN THOSE FILMS!!! I know he animated the stepsisters in Cinderella & the Good Fairies in Sleeping Beauty, but I just don't know what SPECIFIC scenes he himself did. Please.... if ANYONE can clear these things up for me & can help me out, it would be greatly appreciated... not just for me, but for the sake of Ollie, too.

Also, since I have a lot on my plate right now, the next part will be a little late as well. But I'll try my best to get it done ASAP.

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Once again, special thanks goes to Hans Perk, Mark Mayerson, Michael Sporn, John Canemaker, Thad K., Mike Barrier, Howard Beckerman & Emily Plassman for helping me through this (directly or indirectly).

**As it says in the video, all characters, scenes & films shown in the tribute are rightfully owned by the Walt Disney Company. No harm is intended. All rights reserved. **

Stay Tuned for Part #4!!!

Ollie Johnston's Legacy Tribute - Part #2

Here's Part 2 of Ollie's Tribute comin' right at ya!

--:05 - :32 - Mickey Mouse's Monday Introduction (Mickey Mouse Club 195?)

--:32 - 1:35 Orville's Takeoff (The Rescuers 1977)
--1:35 - 2:10 Cupids & Centaurettes (Fantasia 1940)
--2:10 - 4:22 Gabble Sisters teach O'Malley to swim (The AristoCats 1970)
--4:22 - 4:53 Brer' Fox Introduction (Song of the South 1946)
--4:53 - 6:21 Prince John & Sir Hiss at archery tournament (Robin Hood 1973)
--6:21 - 6:56 Chicken Little learns the sky is falling (Chicken Little 1943)
--6:56 - 7:47 Baloo Introduction (Jungle Book 1967)
--7:47 - 8:03 Aurora Miranda kisses Donald Duck (Three Caballeros 1944)
--8:03 - 9:43 Peter goes forth to hunt the Wolf (Make Mine Music 1946)
--9:43 - 10:47 District Attorney makes his case (The Adventures of Ichabod & Mr. Toad 1948)

Once again, special thanks goes to Hans Perk, Mark Mayerson, Michael Sporn, John Canemaker, Thad K., Mike Barrier, Howard Beckerman & Emily Plassman for helping me through this (directly or indirectly)

**As it says in the video, all characters, scenes & films shown in the tribute are rightfully owned by the Walt Disney Company. No harm was intended. All rights reserved. **

Part Three will be coming up as soon as possible. Stay Tuned!

Ollie Johnston's Legacy Tribute - Part 1

Well, after all this time collecting, organizing & compiling, here's part one of my tribute to Ollie Johnston & his life's work:

:20 - :46 -- Ollie's first credited scene from "Brave Little Tailor" (1938)
:46 - 1:27 -- Introduction of Mr. Smee from "Peter Pan" (1953)
1:27 - 4:07 -- Introductory scene of Prince John & Sir Hiss from "Robin Hood" (1973)
4:07 - 5:12 -- Thumper's 'Eating Greens' scene from "Bambi" (1942)
5:12 - 6:00 -- Archimedes laughing from "The Sword in the Stone" (1963)
6:00 - 6:34 -- Pinocchio coming to life from "Pinocchio" (1940)
6:34 - 8:05 -- Orville's introduction from "The Rescuers" (1977)
8:05 - 9:13 -- Female Reason & Emotion from "Reason & Emotion" (1943)
9:19 - 9:56 -- Pongo comforting Perdita from "One Hundred & One Dalmatians" (1961)

Like I said in my other post, this tribute is going be in multiple parts, each about 10 minutes in length. In the end, there should be about 9 or 10 parts. Expect Part 2 in the next couple of days (if not sooner).

Special Thanks to Hans Perk, Mark Mayerson, Michael Sporn, John Canemaker, Thad K., Mike Barrier, Howard Beckerman & Emily Plassman for your help & information. Without your help, writings or knowledge, none of this would be possible. (Since I'm limited to 10 minutes for these videos, you're names will be listed in the credits on the last video).

As it says in the video, all characters, scenes & films shown in the tribute are rightfully owned by the Walt Disney Company. No harm was intended. All rights reserved.

Stay tuned for Part #2....

Disney Bastardization #4 - Pinocchio's Early Demise + An Update on Ollie

I haven't done one of these in a while...

Here's another Disney Bastardization by Yours Truly. This time, the film Pinocchio gets the pie in the pants. The big question here is, what would happen if Pinocchio accidentally encountered the bad end of a wood chipper?:

& I know what some of you are thinking: "#4? Wasn't that perverted Dalmatian calamity the fourth Bastardization?". Well, I've had the idea brewing for this one long before the Dalmatian one. I actually was working on this one at the same time, but I could find the right sound effects, so I put it off 'til now.

Since I couldn't find the right sound of a wood chipper without too much ambient noise or distortion, I had to make the sounds myself. For the wood chipper grinding Pinocchio to toothpicks, I mashed together the sound of an electric pencil sharpener in one hand while crumpling some candy wrappers, tin foil & drawing paper in the other. The siren & scream were not me.

After tooling around with this video, I think I'm done with Windows Movie Maker. I'm sick & tired of it! I couldn't slow some bits down to the speed I wanted, I couldn't zoom in on Pinocchio during "Taps", & I can't overlay multiple sounds on top of each other without some sort of problem. I also wanted to add the effect of sawdust flying up from the bottom, to make things a bit more clear to understand, but that's way out o the question. Until I get my hands on a Mac with iMovie &/or AfterEffects, I'm through with this program!

Sadly, I still have one more project to finish with this god-awful program: The Ollie Johnston Tribute. I've been sounding like I was full of hot air these past few weeks mentioning this thing, with no physical proof to show, but I have been working my ass off on it. I've just finished going through all his films & now I have to properly order & organize all the footage into a streamline tribute. Sounds simple, right?... W-R-O-N-G!!!

I thought that this tribute would be 10, maybe 15 minutes tops. It's ending up being roughly ONE HOUR LONG!!! & to compensate for all the footage, I'm splitting the video into 5-6 parts, each 10 minutes long (there's no way anyone is gonna sit for almost an hour staring at this PowerPoint-quality tribute without getting antsy). Luckily, thanks to some help from people like Hans Perk & his drafts as well as the videos, blog posts, drafts, mosaics, essays & books by Mike Barrier, Thad K., Mark Mayerson, Michael Sporn, Howard Beckerman & John Canemaker as well as support from numerous others, I think I'll be able to make this tribute a well-done one.

So, over the next few days, I'm gonna be continuing writing on 50+ index cards & Post-it notes trying to organize this "film" into an appropriate order. My studio will be covered in yellow for days! I'll try to have Part 1 at least up by the end of next week (if all goes well).

Thanks for being so patient & understanding!

Tribute Trouble

Like I've said a million times before, the Ollie Johnston tribute is still underway. Unfortunately, I've had my fair share of problems.

Immediately after I decided to do a tribute, I went to SVA's two libraries (regular & film) to see if they had copies of Ollie's films I didn't happen to own myself. Luckily, they had a copy Robin Hood which I got his Prince John & Sir Hiss footage from, but unfortunately that's all I could get out of the trips. Neither library had AristoCats or (shockingly) Pinocchio on DVD! Right after that wild goose chase, I jumped onto Amazon.com & ordered a copy of Pinocchio on DVD. Since the film has been LONG out of print, I had to order it from a seller. Everything seemed to work out fine, until another problem arose a couple weeks later.

The DVD never came. I had it shipped to my dorm on Lexington Ave. in the Apple & every day I'd go to the front desk, but there was no package for Room 318. After checking Amazon again, I discovered that the delivery estimate was between then (April 26th) & May 9th, which would be long after school was over & I moved back home. I ran down to the front desk & told them the story. I asked them since I'll be outta there within a week, but was only a 40 minute train ride away if they could call my cell once they received the package & I could pick it up. They didn't care one bit, saying if the package comes & I'm not there, then they'd send it straight back to the seller. Either way, I left them my number, but I haven't gotten a single call. $20 bucks plus shipping right down the drain.

If anyone has a copy of Pinocchio &/or AristoCats on DVD & can rip DVD footage onto their computer, please send me an email (using the address in my profile). Specifically, I need the scenes of Pinocchio coming to life to the end of the "Let Your Conscience be your Guide" sequence & the scenes from when Pinocchio is locked in Stromboli's cage between when Jiminy Cricket comes to help him out to when they both escape. From AristoCats, I need is the scene(s) of the two girl geese's introduction to after Uncle Waldo & them leave. The videos are going to be compiled in Windows Movie Maker, so the files should probably be AVI. Thanks!

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Also, I need your opinion on this last thing: I've decided since there's a LOT of Ollie footage to go through, I'm going to have the tribute be in multiple parts (at least three parts), each about 5 minutes in length. The main problem is how I should compile the scenes. Should I do them in order, from his first scenes to his last or should the scenes be completely random? Leave your opinion in the comments.

Thanks again everyone for your patience & cooperation. I'll try my hardest to get this tribute done as soon as possible. Better late than never!

A DELAY + SOME NOTICES + A REQUEST...

THE DELAY

Hey everybody, I've got some good news & some bad news...

Let me start off with the bad news: because of the final end-of-the-year school workload I have here at SVA over the next week or so, the Ollie Johnston tribute is going to be temporarily delayed until at least the middle of May. With all the final exams, 8-page reports & the short film I need to complete, I just don't have the time or energy to work on it at this moment. Same goes with the FortheBirds Masterpiece Collection paintings as well as the Disney Reuse & Bastardization videos. Until I'm out of school, those things will be temporarily put on hold.

Now for some good news: Once I'm out of school, I've got a seemingly infinite amount of free time & space to do those things and more. That means more videos, more drawings and more posts, possibly with some added goodies thrown in for good measure. Just imagine: 4 straight months of free time to draw, paint, compose & post on this blog.

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THE NOTICES

Here are a few notices on news & things around here:

- NIN10Doh!, the little film I had a small part in making, has won three awards (the daily, weekly & monthly award) on Newgrounds.com! Congratulations to the rest of the NIN10Doh! crew & staff! I had a lot of fun animating and voicing for it, & thanks to that little gig, I'm starting to do some of my own Flash animations. I'll post some of them here for you to see over the summer!

- Remember Toon Platoon, that old art contest site I had running a while back that mysteriously stopped running for no apparant reason whatsoever? Well it's back & better than ever! We've got new topics, new artwork & even some new members! Check back every once in a while to see some of the great artwork the members are putting up, & while you're at it, help out by voting in the weekly polls. The link to the site is on the right, so make sure to stop by from time to time, as well as checking out the other member's blogs!

- Some of you may be wondering/asking after seeing the first paragraph on this post: "Wait, you're doing a short film? I wanna see it!". Well, I am doing a short film , & I'll try to post it sometime in May when I'm done. I'll also put up some behind-the-scenes drawings/concept sketches/thumbnails as a bonus along with it.

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& THE REQUEST

I'm letting this out there once again: I REALLY need you're help with the Ollie Johnston tribute! I've got plenty of Ollie's scenes set up in my database ready to be compiled into the video, but it's not enough. If any of you know any SPECIFIC scenes Ollie animated (besides the ones I listed below) please let me know. & don't send me a link to his IMDB page, 'cause that doesn't help me much. Thanks to the Frank & Ollie DVD, John Canemaker's Nine Old Men book, the books written by Frank & Ollie (Illusion of Life, Too Funny For Words, etc.), Hans Perk's animators drafts, Mike Barrier's ''Song of the South-Running Away'' draft & the Disney Family Album episode put up on Youtube, here's a list of the scenes I have so far:

- Thumper's "Eating Greens" speech from Bambi
- Brer' Rabbit struggling with the Tar Baby + various bits in the "Running Away sequence" of Song of the South
- The Bare Necessities sequence, Bagheera & Baloo's conversation & the ending scenes in Jungle Book
- nearly ALL of the Prince John & Sir Hiss scenes from Robin Hood
- some animation from Reason & Emotion, Chicken Little & Brave Little Tailor cartoons
- Pongo comforting Perdita under the stove + miscellaneous scenes from 101 Dalmatians
- various scenes from Alice in Wonderland, Three Caballeros & Pinocchio
- Archimedes laughing in Sword in the Stone
- Rufus comforting Penny & some Orville animation in The Rescuers
- Drunken Smee in Peter Pan
- Mickey Mouse's Monday & Tuesday introductions of the Mickey Mouse Club

So far, these are the only scenes I know Ollie did, but I know he did a lot more. What other scenes did he do in films like Robin Hood, Jungle Book, Sword in the Stone, Bambi, Song of the South & Peter Pan? What about the films I didn't mention...like AristoCats, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Lady & the Tramp, Snow White, Winnie the Pooh, the shorts & the package films? What about the TV shows & specials? This information is essential to making this tribute a complete one!

I'll level with you... if you give me some credible, definite information about Ollie's scenes, I'll give you credit on the tribute in a "Special Thanks" section at the end of the video. How's that?

Thanks again everyone!

HEY EVERYBODY, I NEED YOUR HELP WITH THE OLLIE TRIBUTE!

Like I said in my last post, I wish to get started on a tribute video to Ollie Johnston but before I do I need your help!

I know plenty of scenes Ollie has animated (Thumper's blossom/greens speech, Archimedes laughing, the Bare Necessities scene, etc.), but it would be a great help if you guys could let me know about as many other Ollie scenes as possible. If you can, send me an email (use the link on my profile page) listing as many specific Ollie scenes that you can properly identify so I can choose and compile them appropriately. Consider it as making a large collaboration to pay tribute to Ollie's legacy from all of us!

I wish to get started by the beginning of next week, so let me know ASAP. Thanks everyone!

Goodbye Ollie...

I spent all day today in the animation studio here at SVA working on my final project for the year. As I was animating, I was watching some Disney animation on my iPod for inspiration (& entertainment) to help me get through the day. I studied some of my favorite scenes: Orville the albatross getting sucked into Medusa's swampmobile & Rufus comforting Penny in The Rescuers, Brer Rabbit struggling with the Tar Baby in Song of the South, and Sir Hiss tickling Prince John's ear in Robin Hood. Then I felt a cold chill...

Coincidently, those scenes I mentioned were all animated by Ollie Johnston, who sadly passed away last night. To many, Ollie was an incredible inspiration. His characters have made us laugh, made us cry & made us believe. The Illusion of Life (which he co-wrote) is our Holy Bible & his many words and teachings have been invaluable to us. He was a great animator, author, husband, father and friend.

At least now, Ollie is at peace. & even better, he is finally reunited with Walt, the rest of the Nine Old Men, his wife, and his best friend, Frank.

God Bless You, Ollie! Thanks for Everything!

I plan on doing a tribute to Ollie, so keep your eyes out over the next week or so!