Glenn Vilppu's Tokyo Drawing Masterclass at Suidobata Fine Arts Academy

A second home-run thanks to master draftsman, painter and illustrator  Glenn Vilppu and the Suidobata Fine Arts Academy.    A four-day intensive drawing seminar in Tokyo on figure drawing, and drawing the human head, Glenn Vilppu, gave an amazing class to students, professionals and teachers from both Japan and abroad.  Some students came as far as from Kyoto in order to attend. 

This was Glenn Vilppu's second collaboration with Master Drawing Japan but his first (of hopefully many ) at the Suidobata Fine Arts Academy in Tokyo.

"The people who developed animation, were taught by people who never studied animation."  - Glenn Vilppu

Glenn Vilppu, who has taught drawing in the  animation industry for over 20 years (notably the Disney Animation Studio) made this note about the tools and terminologies that are used in animation which were carried over from classical painters and illustrators.  Essentially the aim the the same:  to create a sense that something is believable and living before an audience.  

As noted in an earlier blog, there is a new generation of artists coming up in Japan with a very hungry interest in the western approach towards art and animation.   Master Drawing Japan will provide for this need with more seminars with noteworthy professionals in the film and animation industry in the very, very  near future.

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

Nine Old Mad Men?

Just finally read John Canemaker's, "Nine Old Men and the Art of Animation". So well written and good reading. After reading this as well as several volumes of "Walt's People" edited by Dider Ghez, this just confirms for me how compelling and dramatic the lives and relationships of these artists were. I still say these stories (as well as other noteworthy people at Disney's) would make an awesome biographic miniseries. There's sexism, substance abuse, racism, backbiting, competitiveness but above all that you have this art form rising above all that to tell great stories.

Who wouldn't be interested in seeing the stories of the people who literally created modern animation as we know it? Especially noting the heavy drinking, chain smoking, foul mouthed, competitive atmosphere at the old studio in contrast to the "Mouse and Fairy factory" image the general public has.

Again as I noted this somewhere in some forum before but someone responded that today's Disney executives would probably never let it happen for those very reasons.

Anyway, it's an idea. That's where all things begin. Naysayers or no.

Nine Old "Mad Men", anyone?

Verisimilitude...can you spell it Disney?

Animator Bruce W. Smith gets an "A". If there was a category for Best Supporting Actor in an Animated Role, he'd certainly win. Why? Aside from amazing draftsmanship and great animation, his handling of the character, Doctor Facilier in Disney's "The Princess and the Frog" was the most believable character in the whole film for me.

However, "Princess and the Frog" fails for me with a solid "C" ranking.

I SO much wanted to like this film. Especially because, yes, it was the first Disney hand-drawn animated feature with an African-American lead; yes, because this was the first time we've seen hand-drawn animation in YEARS; but mostly because....well it's Disney. But the mouse house has forgot one magic ingredient with this one: believability.

Even though this was an animated feature, an emotional sense of verisimilitude is vital to make your audience care.

This film had wayyy to many gags. Many of which involved bodily fluids, flatulence innuendos and derriere gags. I've seen Warner Brothers animated cartoons that had more sincerity and taste. And that's not sarcasm.



The meeting notes of some Disney exec., "more gags, more gags!" was throughout the film. Of all the people who really wanted to see hand-drawn animation make a comeback, this was a real disappointment.


Brad Bird's Ratatouille is a good example of what a successful animated feature should be. Ratatouille was successful not because of CG animation, but because it was a good story and emotionally, a believable story...despite being about a rat who could cook. Which is no less plausible than a prince who gets turned into a frog. But how do you handle that story is the question. Intelligently or with sight gags? "IF a rat could cook, well, this is probably the most believable way it would happen."



Ratatouille worked in CG and would have worked in hand-drawn and I even as live action film. And would have been just as compelling.


Animation is good animation when you forget you are watching animation.


Princess and the Frog didn't work not because it was a hand-drawn animated feature, but because it was a caricature of one.

Pandora's Box Opened

Hollywood is truly the land of sharks indeed. Ha. Ha.

In 1975, I begged my father and mother (I'm dating myself....I was 4) to take me to see the first movie I remember. Steven Spielberg's, "Jaws".

This was the birth of the summer blockbuster. Others would follow. Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark. In the 70's and 80's never, and I mean never did Hollywood imagine a film making several hundreds of millions of dollars at a time like this. Movies grossing ten, fifteen times it's budget. The concept of "movie franchise" was still undiscovered country.

James Cameron's "Avatar" grossed almost $1.5 billion dollars in almost less than a month of its release.

What kind of Pandora's Box (no pun intended) has been opened? What expectations of success are going to be expected in the future? Don't get me wrong, who doesn't love money? But is greed going to win out over....yeah, I'll say it: integrity?

Thanks to a friend, I discovered a great documentary called, "Dream On Silly Dreamer". A 40 minute documentary about the "death" of traditional animation at Walt Disney Animation Studios greatly in part to....yes, the blockbuster.

After viewing this, Hollywood and Disney executives would do well to revisit one noteworthy classic fable: "The Goose That Laid The Golden Eggs".

If you search around "Dream On Silly Dreamer" can be found on the net in its entirety. But I recommend buying the the DVD.