Richard Williams Speaks!

Last Monday, I had the privilege to see Richard Williams speak at the MoMA here in New York. Boy was it a blast! 

I almost didn't get a ticket, but luckily me & a few friends rushed up to the museum a few hours earlier to snag tickets before they sold out. I'm really glad I did, because it was a packed house! Everybody & their mother in law seemed to be there. Even a few of my animation professors were there, including Doug Crane, Celia Bullwinkel, Don Duga as well as the likes of Michael Sporn & Tissa David. It seemed almost like a big animation family reunion.

The house lights began to dim, the curtain opened, the screen appeared & we began to watch:

Even though I've seen it so many times, I can never get tired of watching this logo. I still can't get over how simply amazing it all is, especially when watching it on the big screen with an audience. I could stare at that rubber-hose cat, 40's fox & dachshund animation forever. Simply astounding! 

What a night it was! Not only did Richard Williams speak about his career, but he showed clips of some of the work he & his studio did, including the openings to Roger Rabbit & Return of the Pink Panther (skillfully animated by Ken Harris), the bridging sequences of The Charge of the Light Brigade, scenes from Raggedy Ann & Andy & Christmas Carol, a few of his commercials, footage of him studying walks for a BBC special & a rare trailer for his epic masterpiece The Thief & the Cobbler. He also showed a few sneak peeks at his new Animator's Survival Kit 16-DVD boxset, talking about dialogue & flexibility. 

One of the commercials he showcased was one of my all-time favorites of his: the Long Life Beer ad. After it was shown, I was blown away to hear from Dick himself that the whole 90 second commercial was animated in 2 weeks!

Although I feel a bit guilty about doing so, I snagged a few minutes of the show on my digital camera, just for you! In this clip, Dick & John Canemaker point out animators Tissa David & Michael Sporn in the audience & Dick talks a bit about Raggedy Ann & Andy & animator Emery Hawkins. I apologize for the poor sound & image quality. I suggest you should click on the video & select to watch it in high quality there. It helps a little bit.

Man.... what a night it was!

Have I really improved?...

While down in Florida to visit my grandparents last month, they took out & showed me some old drawings I did when I was little. I must've drawn these when I was around 4 or 5, shortly before I decided to pursue a career in cartoons & animation. 

The big question is.... have I really improved?

(click to enlarge to "Dumbo" size)

Sorry I haven't posted much in a while, but "Back to School" time can be very strenuous sometimes. Everybody's busy doing their class assignments that there's barely any time to even sleep, let along blog. Even Toon Platoon has taken a brief unofficial hiatus! But don't worry, I've got posts all written & ready to be put up here, from new artwork to classwork to Richard Williams. Expect to see new goodies within the next week.