No, it's not "The Incredibles"...

Waaaaaay back in 1998, I came up with an idea for an animated superhero movie. In '99, I was given the chance to pitch it as a project that I might write and direct. The big challenge: Sell Tom Schumacher, (the head of Feature animation at Disney at the time) on the idea. Now Tom was famous for hating comic books in general, and superheroes in particular. He felt that superhero movies were too dark, too violent, and not emotional enough. Hence the challenge. With the help of some incredibly talented colleagues, (including our own Mr. Skribbl), I put together a story that would satisfy the superhero fans (like myself) but still had, as Tom himself said "Disney warmth". Tom loved it.
Unfortunately, Brad Bird had just signed on at Pixar to produce "The Incredibles", and Tom just could'nt see his way to putting both films into production. He also sighted several similarities between the two stories which he would'nt and could'nt divulge. When I finally saw "The Incredibles", I was able to see what he meant. In my story, I had a former sidekick that turns bad and, as away of winning the public over, stages a battle with a giant robot!
Oh well. The work I did on the story convinced Tom that I could, in fact, direct so when a certain cow movie went off the rails, he made me one of the directors.
I still want to do a superhero movie some day.
I'm a geek, what can I say.
By the way, "The Incredibles" is one of my favorite movies of all time.

When my mind wanders...

When working hard on a sequence, sometimes I have to switch gears and just draw a few things that have nothing to do with the movie I am working on. It keeps me sane, and keeps my mind open to new ideas that might not have occured to me otherwise. Here is a couple of those little "doodle pages".

Christmas Story

Every Christmas, I do a little drawing for my wife that is inked, watercolered, and well, as finished as I can possibley make it. The problem is that I never like these as much as the quick, spontaneous drawings I do at work.
So this year, I did something different. I wrote a story and did little story sketches to illustrate it.
This was more work than you can imagine. I will never do this again.
These are just a couple of them.
I did these with a Pitt brush pen. I'll color them later, if I have time. I still have to wrap her presents. Crap.
Chrismas is hard.
Merry Christmas!!

At a meeting...

This was a quick sketch I did during a meeting. And yes, I was trying to do my best Ronald Searle. Why not shoot for the best? Even if I don't make it all the way, I mean c'mon, there's only one Searle...

Chris Sanders

Chris Sanders is best known as the creator, screen writer and co-director of the Disney movie "Lilo and Stitch". Chris began his career doing character models at Marvel productions on "The Muppet Babies". From there, he went to Disney where he has worked as a visual development artist, production designer, character designer, story man, and director. I met Chris back in '93, but I'd been a fan of his stuff since saw some of his story boards in the Beauty and the Beast book. I could'nt take my eyes off of it. I'd never seen anything like it; appealing, lively, unique. I had an opportunity to work with Chris on Mulan, and he taught me more about drawing in a year than I learned in 3 years at CalArts.
Chris is an incredible draftsman and an equally talented writer. He is also one of the funniest people I have ever met. As you can see, he also draws incredibly cute girls.
I'll post more of Chris's stuff at a later date, and maybe include a few anecdotes. Working with Chris is an amazing experience. It's both fun and frustrating. It's fun because jamming with Chris on ideas is a kick. You hit a zone and you start laughing so much that your jaw hurts. It's frustrating because his mind work so fast that sometimes it's all you can do to keep up with him.
It must be all that sugar he eats. I've never seen anyone eat that much candy. His favorite is jumbo Pixie sticks.

Thanks to Skribbl!!!

I'd like to thank Skribbl for inviting me to be a part of this fine Blog!!! I will visit and post as often as possible, talking trash about some former employers and singing the praises of current and past colleagues!!!
Hey, this IS fun! Come on everybody!
LET"S BLOG!!!!!

Art is Long

When I was working at Disney I had the pleasure of knowing and working with Animation Legend Joe Grant. Before I left I wanted him to do a drawing for me. After lunch one day I found this message on my desk. It was from Joe. I was a little dissapointed that he didn't do a drawing but instead a calligraphy piece. I was thankful that he did it but a little bummed. I wanted a drawing dammit!! So I didn't say anything to Joe about it. I left Disney and I started a new job. About a year later Joe passed away. At Joe's funeral I found out that he loved calligraphy more than drawing. Wow. I was an ungrateful dick! He gave me something really special. Something he loved and also some poignant words to live by.

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