Disney Veteran Ron Husband is Coming to Tokyo!

"The animator must be a keen observer of action and must understand and remember it, for he never knows when we will find in it the inspiration for the entertainment he puts on screen." 

- Eric Larson

"The first and most important things for an animator to know is how to draw." 

-Walt Disney

This June, Disney veteran animator Ron Husband, (otherwise known as "Huz" to those close to him) will be coming to Tokyo,  touring and giving a series of seminars on quick sketching, and traditional hand drawn animation.  

Ron Husband was part of the first generation of animation artists to be passed down the torch of animation by Disney's greatest animation directors, sometimes known as Disney's Nine Old Men. 

Ron learned from some of Disney's best, such as Eric Larson and assisted legendary animator, Frank Thomas.   

Ron started with Disney in its training program in 1975 as many of the artists who established modern American animation as we know it today were retiring.  For the artists who brought life to Walt Disney's greatest films, such as Pinocchio, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White, the sun was setting.  However,  a new dawn of animation was on the horizon.  

Ron Husband's peers would include now legends in animation such as Glen Keane, Andreas Deja, Ron Clements, John Musker,  and John Lasseter just to name a few.   Their names would be associated the Disney Renaissance films such as "The Little Mermaid", "Aladdin" and "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Little Mermaid".  

In addition to being Supervising Animator on films such as "Fantasia 2000",  "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and "Atlantis the Lost Empire",  Ron is notorious for his passion for drawing.  Recently Ron has published his book "Quick Sketching" which has become a much coveted book by professional artists and animators and has been translated into several languages including Japanese.  

Asia is entering the animation market on an international level.  Which means having a better understanding of the Western approach towards animation, which tends to gravitate towards "three-dimensional" forms with "two-dimensional designs" and "acting" as opposed to iconic, purely two-dimensional, (almost notan-like) designs often seen in Japanese comics and animation.  

The first seminar will be held on June 18th at The Waterrace and the second seminar will be held on June 25th and 26th at the Sokei Academy of Fine Art and Design.  

This will be Mr. Husband's first tour in Japan. 

Why Does Japan Love Disney So Much?

ディズニー夢と魔法の90年展　スッキリ!! 20140320 投稿者 dm_5232ea58af3f6

Matsuya Ginza department store is holding yet another Disney event on it's exhibition floor in Tokyo's Ginza district.   Disney's 90 Years of Dreams and Enchantment.  Definitely worth taking a look. 

There is a story about Walt Disney who sat through a storyboard pitch for a cartoon involving Mickey, Donald and Goofy by one of his directors.  The director decided to take a different turn in the characteristic approach of what Disney's headline trio were known for.  I'm certain as in many cases the director was nervous about approval from Walt.  However during the pitch, Walt apparently couldn't restrain himself from laughing at the gags proposed in the cartoon.  Even to the point where Walt was in tears from the laughter.   Surely the director had a "hit" on his hands. 

The director closed his pitch and likely waited for Walt to catch his breath and wipe the tears from his face before asking, "So you like it right?!"  

"NO", Walt responded.  "You killed my characters!"  

Despite the fact the fact it was funny it was a string of "gags" that likely could have been done with any character and it out of the context of the individual characteristics Mickey, Donald and Goofy were known and appreciated for.    

The anecdote is because (and this is not a criticism) but you couldn't stand anywhere in the exhibition without hearing   Kawaiiiiiiiiiiii!  (Or, Cuuuuuuuute! In English) squealed  every 30 seconds by not just Japanese schoolgirls but greatly housewives and OL's (Office Lady).    Again it's no criticism because Disney characters ARE cute and appealing, but there was no further elaboration about what exactly is "cute" about them outside of how they are rendered.    I hope the greater appeal is in what they DO not just how they look.   

(The Walt Disney anecdote above can be found in the volumes of Didier Ghez's, "Walt's People".)

My Dad, WALT DISNEY

Diane Disney Miller (1933 - 2013)  was the oldest and until recently the only surviving child of Walt Disney.  Diane Miller was a keeper of the flame not just for Walt's professional life but for also for the understanding that he was a human being and a family man.

Her dedication dates back as far as 1956 when she was only twenty years old and wrote for the Saturday Evening Post a profile sketch of what it was like to have Walt Disney living at home with her.

For the few of us who have parents in the public spotlight or who have gained some sort of fame (or infamy for that matter), they are not that public figure.  For us, they are just "Dad" or "Mom".  Truth, no matter what they are famous for, their achievements as a parent far more heroic, substantial and admirable than any bit of so-called fame they have.

So I asked a crucial question,  "Daddy are you Walt Disney?" 
"Yes, honey", he replied.
"I mean are you the Walt Disney?"
He nodded.  So it was true!

"Daddy," I said, "please give me your autograph."

- Story recounted by Diane Disney Miller, My Dad, Walt Disney, Saturday Evening Post Nov. 17, 1956

Tokyo Celebrates Walt Disney's 110th Birthday

Once made the mistake of telling a Tokyo resident that Walt Disney couldn't actually draw Mickey Mouse well.  She never spoke to me ever again.  Seriously.

The image of Walt Disney is damn near sacred in Japan.  Or Tokyo anyway.  It's difficult to leave your house and not see at least one Disney related image between home and your final destination.
In honor of Walt Disney's 110th birthday, the Disney Family Museum put on an exhibition with the Matsuya Ginza department store in the high-end shopping district of Ginza.

Occasionally pedestrian, but it was  very much worth taking a look (despite the aftertaste of the sledgehammer merchandising).  Lots of artifacts from Walt's personal possessions as well as artifacts from the past and wall in the Bambi section that paid tribute to Tyrus Wong that was nice to see.

Below are some shots from the exhibition.    Apparently Walt's early drawings of Mickey Mouse were there, but I didn't get to see them.  They closed the doors on me.   Retribution for spoiling someone's magic I guess. That's what I get.  

 

Happy 110th Uncle Walt -The Greatest Artist To Draw Without a Pencil

It's a day late here in Tokyo, but December 5th, 2011 marks what would have been Walt Disney's 110th birthday.

This is not Disney-phile rhetoric, but Walt Disney was a great man. In my Disney history snobbery I've said too much about his drawbacks: his attitudes towards people of color and women, his business policies, his *cough*, draftsmanship.

But none of that is really important ultimately.

Even the people who had reservations about Walt quickly admit he was brilliant and his contributions to the institution of film (and yes, world culture), immeasurable.

As I like to say, Walt was greatest artist to draw without the use of a pencil.

Cartoon Brew has a worthwhile link and note to his birthday, here.

Hero.

The photo above I shamefully swiped from Apple.com so I could make this post. As the icon landed on my desktop I saw that whoever named the file didn't label it with a random series of alpha-numeric characters. The file as was named: "Hero".

Steve Jobs, 1955 - 2011 was indeed one of the few true great innovators remaining from the 20th Century, perhaps the most culturally, technologically expansive centuries known to mankind.

American illustrator, J. Scott Campbell in his tweet about Jobs' passing called him, "the Walt Disney of technology". He is so right. Aside from his key role in the development of Pixar Animation, he like Disney, and many other visionaries, furthered the technology of his industry as well as the culture surrounding it.

When I think of the innovators I respect, I notice that they all have this in common: they have created their own universes and were driven by indomitable passion to follow the voice of what they felt to be important and what made them happy. Even when they failed (and think of those innovators you admire) ....failure didn't stop them.

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." - Steve Jobs

Bill Melendez

Maybe not a household name, but his work has been a staple of household pastime for over 40 years.

Jose Cuauhtemoc Melendez, otherwise known as "Bill" Melendez (a name "given" to him by folks at the Disney studio) was the first animation director to put together the first prime-time animated special for American television. It all started with " A Charlie Brown Christmas" in 1965 for CBS. The only man Charles M. Schulz would ever personally trust to bring to life Charlie Brown, Snoopy and mini-universe of characters in his comic strip, "Peanuts".

Bill Melendez was the director and producer all the animated Peanuts animated specials, movies and commercial projects while Charles Schulz was alive.

The Archive of American Television on YouTube has an amazing 4-hour interview with Mr. Melendez online. In this interview he talks about his beginnings in animation with Walt Disney's studio, his time at the Warner Bros. Animation Studio, work at UPA and finally establishing his own animation studio.

Art Babbit, Norm Ferguson, Bob Clampett, Chuck Jones, Frank Tashlin, are just some of the names that he goes into detail recalling his early experiences in animation. in this 8 part interview Bill Melendez explains his experience and participation in the Disney Animator's strike of 1941.

Bill Melendez played a part in developing my interest to draw and to communicate through art.

Bill Melendez passed away in 2008. Bill Melendez is responsible for creating the animated visualization of Peanuts. The image that people still have in their minds today. He deserves much more praise for the impact that he had on the television animation industry as well as the role he played in creating priceless childhood and family memories of watching the Peanuts animated specials.