FLIP Interview

Thought I'd let you know that I'm this month's featured artist for the excellent online magazine, FLIP. Editor Steve Moore interviewed me about my style, how I approached my style, and my graffiti background. Hopefully I didn't ramble. Well, hopefully I didn't ramble too long. I'm very honored to be included in such a fine online publication! Many thanks, Steve!

Monster Cereals Disco

Okay, so I'm trying my best at not getting riled up by the fact that General Mills (the company behind such wonderful cereal products as Cocoa Puffs, Cookie Crisp and more) seems to completely ignore the Monster Cereals. Even though the cereals are still being made (evidence here), the powers that be at GM still won't make any new animated commercials for the cereal line. Why is that? Look, guys. It's a no-brainer: three cereals (originally five: Fruit Brute and Yummy Mummy aren't made anymore) that have a built-in audience - an audience, mind you that is now grown up and has children of their own. This audience ("Gen-X"ers, I guess you could call them) share a deep devotion to their childhood (well, who doesn't, right?). I'm pretty sure there's a story to be told from anyone who grew up watching Saturday morning cartoons during the 70's and remembers these three colorful monsters gracing their television set: Count Chocula, Franken Berry, and Boo Berry. For me, I was a big fan of Franken Berry (never liked how Count Chocula tasted). However, what I really, REALLY wanted was Boo Berry. But it was not to be. For some reason Boo Berry was never available in the metropolitan area of Atlanta. Why? What was so bad about Atlanta that General Mills deemed it Boo Berry free? I had no idea. With each viewing of every Monster Cereals commercial, my anger raged at the fact that Boo Berry would never be in my grasp. It was my white whale. I know, obsessive Ahab tendencies at such a young age.

Back to the moment at hand: there are some who want the Monster Cereals back on the small screen and have started a blog totally devoted to the ghastly three: Monster Cereals Blog. There, you can check out lots of images and movies and anything related to Count, Frank, and Boo. If you're an artist, it might be of some interest for you to know that October is Fan Art Month. I'm thinking of participating. Once I find the time, of course!

Anyway, what I want to share with you all are a couple of videos that these particular Monster Cereal fans have made, each sharing the same audio (with voices taken from various commercials and from a flexi-disc record that was free on the back of boxes in 1979 - hence the disco reference), but having two entirely different visuals. The first features original animation by...well, I don't know. Anonymous? Checkit out:



For those who remember the commercials, you'll dig the second, "classic animation" version, featuring a wide assortment of clips throughout the years. Ahh, yes:



I want to see the Monster Cereals back in action on TV. Badly. So, here's the thing: word has it that if there's enough interest in these videos, in the blog, in the Monster Cereals Facebook page, etc. - if there's a big enough ground swelling of Monster Cereals Mania, then there's a possibility that General Mills might cave in. I want them to cave in, see. I want them to cave in BIG TIME.

Pass the word on.

Tipping My Hand

Since my last post, I've received some great responses through comments and emails about my thoughts on sharing what I'm concocting animation-wise down in my basement. I appreciate the dialog and the feedback. It's what I was striving for when I decided to write that post -- to get the word out there and see what others think. I guess that would be my main gist for going 'live' about my short film in the first place. Sometimes as animators, we tend to be holed-up as we work on our projects and maybe lose track or sight of the initial vision, and here, I just wanted to get it out there. Let the people know, sort of thing. As I mentioned in my post, I was thinking about having my production blog available for public viewing at a later date. I've since decided against this because I feel that this would ruin the surprise. I think now what I'll do is make the pro-blog public AFTER I have the film finished and officially released. That way, if you happen to catch it at a festival (wishful thinking) and wanted to find out more about it (more wishful thinking), then you could do a google search and stumble upon the blog. Think of it as an online Bonus Features of sorts.

I had a couple of people respond to my complaints of not finding any time to work on the film. Noting the fact that, well, you're spending time right now talking about it, why not use this time wisely and actually work on the thing? I just had to laugh because I was very well aware of this realization -- why aren't I doing something constructive with my time here?

Actually, my answer is simple: the time spent talking about my film actually counts as working on it. There might be some ideas that I need to bounce off of someone and to be able to have some sort of platform to do so is indispensable. I consider myself lucky to have as many readers as I do who could offer me some productive feedback.

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On my previous post, there was a comment left by 'SD' that was rather lengthy, yet very informative. Instead of replying to his/her comment in the comments section, I've decided to answer some of the questions here.

Regarding the notion that I might be "tipping [my] hand too soon, or to the wrong audience can potentially kill [my] own momentum in unexpected ways", I would have to say this: no worries, I don't plan on revealing too much up front anyway. Especially now, since I've had some time to think this through. Like I mentioned before, I'll most likely reveal bits here and there, but nothing that would ruin the entire experience for anyone.

Right now, I'm riding on some great momentum, thanks in part to the fact that I've pretty much finished the writing stage -- there's still some things that need to be sorted out, but the main section that was going to be the main hurdle for me story-wise has been crossed and am now ready to start on storyboards. Of course, once I 'board out the thing, there'll be some changes made, story- or gag-wise. Can't avoid that. That's a given! That's the nature of the beast.

For the rest of SD's comment, SD wanted to know some "non-specific generalities of [my] impending project", asking so many questions that I decided to answer them in a Q & A format. Call it an 'instant interview' if you will. Here ya go:

What medium & production process do you intend to work in?

My short film will be animated traditionally, with pencil on paper. Backgrounds will be either drawings scanned and then painted digitally in Photoshop, or actual paintings (gouache and/or cel vinyl paint -- of which I've recently discovered and am head-over-heels in LOVE with it), or a combination of both. I haven't decided yet. I'll then composite everything in After Effects.

What pre-production elements have you pinned-down so far and what's your process been like in developing your idea?

The basic idea was something that I've had swimming in my brain for a very long time but it wasn't until two years ago when I suddenly remembered it. It's been itching to get out there and finally I'm doing something about it.

How long of a project are you aiming to create?

I expect the final film to be about 6 to 7 minutes long. I'm paying homage to the great cartoons of the past, so I'm guessing that the film will be about this long as well. Honestly, right now, I have no clue how long it'll be. It's up in the air for me. Once I do a scratch track, I might have a better idea, but again, I won't know for sure.

How many characters?

One main character, with several side ones.

Do you plan to incorporate dialogue? Or narration? Or music alone? Or sound-effects alone?

This will be the first film of mine that will have dialog. My previous efforts were merely pantomime, with no words at all. In fact, those two films started out as a visual concept, and were 'written' out solely through storyboards. Nothing was written down, story-wise. This new one is completely opposite of that. I've been writing everything out first (with a couple of ideas drawn out), and will soon be storyboarding it all. I can't wait to get started on that! Music will be a big part of this film. I've got a great source I'm tapping into, but I can't really say who or what for fear of exposing too much.

Will you use a sound studio for your audio work?

See above.

Will the project be executed entirely by you in your basement -- or might you rally assistance from friends and/or other professional services?

I've thought about accepting help from others, but it's way too early in the process for me to know just how much assistance I'll eventually need.

As you alluded to with your study of "Symphony in Slang" & other golden age cartoons, are there any specific shorts or illustrations or stories that you look at as having similar qualities to what you're aspiring to make?

Tex Avery is king to me, so I'm really studying up on anything that he's done. His timing, pacing, camera moves, etc. I've also bought several DVD sets that have been extremely helpful in my research. I recently bought the Tom & Jerry Spotlight Collection Vol. 1, Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. Three (and soon, Vol. Four), not to mention this great set: Warner Brothers Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection - 15 Winners, 26 Nominees (award for the longest DVD title EVER). That last one has some classic stuff on it! Highly recommended.

(For the record, I'm holding off buying the Tex Avery's Droopy - The Complete Theatrical Collection -- word on the street is that there's been some terrible film transfers for many of the cartoons in this set, including several that exhibit the awful DVNR process, which basically ruins the quality presentation when it comes to any animation on DVD.)

What sort of finishing style & technique & aesthetic texture & colorization values do you plan to implement?

Wow. Good question. One that might not be answered at this stage, though. Even though I plan on emulating the look and aesthetics of classic, golden age cartoons, my goal isn't to copy those films outright -- I'll give this film my own distinct look, with characters and backgrounds designed by me, done in my style.

What medium & style for backgrounds?

I think I answered this earlier on.

How ambitious or complex is the animation you envision?

The animation will be full -- a combination of ones and twos (one frame per drawing or two frames per drawing for those unschooled in animator-speak), but I plan to utilize some limited animation techniques here & there. It'll be a nice combination -- hey, whatever is needed to make it look good, you know?

What sort of editing pace/scene count for the piece?

It'll be brisk, but I do plan on having some mellower scenes to balance the piece out. But really? Still too early to know. Again, once I have a rough scratch track made and then an animatic, I'll know for sure how everything's coming together. But, yeah. Way too early to know for sure right now. Stay tuned!

Based on your current notions, what length of time do you plan/hope to be in production?

I don't want to place a time frame on this. I'm no good when it comes to schedules -- even more so when it's a home project. I might put some general deadlines out there for me to try and hit, but it's not worth all the trouble.

Allow me to end with a quote from a post on the production blog:

I've been working on the story a little bit each day. Some days, I'm on fire. I get several pages done. Other days, nothing. It's been a slow and arduous process, but I think it'll be worth it in the long run. I'm on no particular schedule with this -- I didn't establish a deadline for this film on purpose because I don't think I need one. Why set a deadline when I KNOW I'll never reach it? I have no clue just how long everything is going to take to get done, so there's no need for any sort of scheduling. I'll work on it when I can. Honestly? I get more work done on something that I feel real strongly about, and recently I've been getting more done on [the film] than ever before. The more it's in my head, the better. I'm allowing it to progress on its own, and it's been very fulfilling so far.

Primal Screen DVD Show Reel

I designed and animated these characters for the company I used to work for, Primal Screen, in 2006. It was for Primal's DVD Show Reel. I loved working on these guys. Loads of fun. I animated them in pencil and paper and then had the drawings scanned into Photoshop, composited together in After Effects, and then exported QT movies into Flash. There, animator Joe Kubesheski traced over my rough pencil animation to create the final look of the characters and their movements. He did some tweaking here and there, as well. Both he and Jeremy Seymour worked on Flash animation. Overall design and concept by Rick Newcomb (he was also the art director). Sound design by Stephen Mank. He's the man.

I originally uploaded this on YouTube, but DANG. This looks much, much better. I'm impressed. I know that a lot of people are down on Flickr for adding videos, but hey, I'm okay with it if they can keep the quality of the videos looking like this. Very nice.

Here are some screen grabs:




The concept called for four different types of characters, with each having their own way of transitioning to a separate menu. The transisitions had to be original and take the viewer completely by surprise. I had a great time brainstorming, trying to come up with some fun ideas for these guys. For the blue guy on the far right, I thought it would be funny if when you select him, you somehow disengage his hovering ability. That's why he falls right away and reluctantly gets up.


Here's the inside menu for the blue guy, designed and animated by Rick. In fact, Rick did all the internal menus for all the characters. Wonderful work. Below is the menu for the dual-faced orange guy. He was originally designed by an intern, but I went in and re-designed him so he'd better fit with the look of the other guys.


This is my favorite transition:



Poor guy. I think we dubbed him "Cuddles." There's so much pathos going on with this green one. When you see him walk up to the main menu, he's walking very intently, like he's a man on a mission. Like someone wronged him and he's fixin' to go all Bronson on 'em. But his demeanor totally changes once he plops down and starts to caress his tail. That tail -- what a strange relationship Cuddles has with his appendage. Do you find it interesting that the same thing that provides security and comfort for him also takes his head off? So, it's a false sense of security, I guess. Go figure. Kinda demented, but cute. He's my kids' favorite, of course.

During repeat viewings, be sure to check out how each of the characters exit the scene when a particular section is selected.

Cuddles' menu:



This is the menu for the dude on the left. I love his transition, too. It was a stroke of luck for me to have his nose become some sort of alternate arm, making it easier for the guy to pry himself apart. Playing around with some visual trickery there.


For the easter egg part of the DVD, when you select the Primal Screen logo up at the top, you're taken to a whole different world (dimension?), featuring one final character. Here's the menu for that guy.

Once I posted it up on my YouTube last week, Aaron of the excellent all-Flash blog, Cold Hard Flash, immediately posted about it, scooping me on my own content! Oh well, it's nice to be noticed, anyway. Thanks for the mention, Aaron!

This project has been winning design awards left and right, including The Art Directors Club (this link features more details about the project), The Create Awards, and BDA/Promax (where it won a Gold).

It was also featured in last year's How Design Annual, voted "Outstanding Motion Design" in the April '07 issue. Designer Jeff Andrews was kind enough to scan the page from the magazine and post it on his blog. However, I'd love a copy of this magazine for myself. Anyone got an extra copy? I'll pay ya for it. The cover can be seen on the left there. Many thanks!

One last thing: If you go to Primal's website, there's a splash screen featuring other characters designed by me that were featured throughout the show reel. They just weren't on the main menu.

RIP: Ollie Johnston

The big news in the animation industry is the sad passing of the last of Disney's Nine Old Men, the great Ollie Johnston.

My heart goes out to his immediate family and friends during this time of mourning. It's never easy when a loved one passes on -- and for someone who was 95, there's so much history there. Ollie's life was full, vibrant, and touched millions of people on this earth. Not many can said of this achievement. I have so much gratitude for this man. He'll certainly be missed.

May you rest in peace, Ollie.

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I wrote about meeting Ollie and his co-hort in animated crime, Frank Thomas, back in 2005: Meeting Giants.

More on Ollie's life and career can be found here:

Cartoon Brew: Ollie Johnston 1912-2008

Animation historian John Canemaker sent in a wonderful tribute to Ollie on Cartoon Brew: Canemaker on Ollie Johnston.

Cartoonist and caricaturist Pete Emslie has a great remembrance of Ollie on his blog: The Cartoon Cave: Ollie Johnston.

Ollie's work is extensive. Here's a quick lowdown of what he's accomplished:

His Disney feature work.
His Disney shorts work.

Ollie on Wikipedia.
Frank & Ollie: Frank & Ollie's official site.

Symphony In Slang Layouts

This is the second post for my continuing series on Tex Avery's SYMPHONY IN SLANG (1951). In the first post, I featured frames from every single shot of the cartoon. This time around, it's layouts. For some unusual reason, a great deal of Slang layouts have survived throughout the years. I wonder if a majority of them were saved by one person and then a couple were later passed around to others here and there. Whatever the reason, I'm glad they've survived. I didn't have to go too far to find all these images you see below.

There are three very good sources for Symphony In Slang layouts:

1. Tex Avery, by Patrick Brion. This is the most extensive resource not to mention the most expensive. Luckily, I was able to borrow a copy from my good friend Dave, aka. Dr. Strangetoons. (Thanks, Dave!) What's remarkable about this book is that all of the layouts are actual size and are all printed on nice toothy, thick paper and not the thinner, glossier kind the rest of the book is printed up on. Makes it look like they grabbed the original layout drawings and bound it just for you in this book. Probably why it's been out of print for over 20 years. That and it's entirely in French. Strictly for hardcore animation book completists (you know who you are).

2. Tex Avery: The MGM Years, 1942-1955, by John Canemaker. This came out in the mid-90's and features some great artwork, ranging from original animation sketches & layouts to original production cels. One interesting thing is that this book also features some "recreated" cels -- paintings that look and feel like the real thing but have been recreated from original production drawings. There were a couple of decent Slang layouts I scanned from this book.

3. Tex Avery: Les Dessins, by Patrick Brion. Not as hard to come by (and certainly not as expensive) as Brion's other book, "Les Dessins" is a soft cover book that features animation drawings and layouts only. No color, save for a second color of red for whenever there were some director notes scribbled in red. Again, everything printed in this book looks to be life-sized and not reduced. There's even a couple of multiple fold-outs of background pan layouts that are very impressive when you unfold them. Most of the Slang material in this book were of, surprisingly enough, scenes cut from the final film. (More on that later.)



A note about these layouts: What's exciting for me when I scroll through these images is the fact that the rough layouts were most likely drawn by Tom Oreb himself. You can just tell in the quirky way that the characters were drawn and how Oreb utilized the pencil to create shading and blending effects. There's a certain looseness, yet direct quality in his designs here -- very simple and effective. When I study these layouts, I'm noticing how each character is staged, and how the action is going to play out. For this cartoon, camera movement was pretty much kept to a minimum, allowing us, the viewer, to take in each gag as it's presented. Again, simple and effective.

You'll notice that there'll be other layouts that are cleaned up, with red pencil used to signify character movements. No telling who did these drawings. An assistant, most likely, but there's a slight chance it could've been Oreb, tracing over his own rough layout drawings. Slight changes are sometimes made from the rough to the clean version, based off of any director's notes. Not sure just how much could've been changed for this cartoon, but at least it looks to me that a good amount of the scenes featured here were identical to the final version.

Onto the LAYOUTS:

From "Tex Avery", by Patrick Brion:



The "John" mentioned here on some of the scribbled notes was probably background painter John D. Johnson, who worked with Tex Avery during his MGM years. You can see some more of his work here. He did the "Red Hot Riding Hood" backgrounds in the first part of the post.










This is my favorite gag in the film.












From "Tex Avery: The MGM Years", by John Canemaker:







There were many more slang terms that were not used in the final film. Whether it was because of timing or just not good enough gags, there's no way of telling. Either way, it's fascinating to see just how many of the layouts for these cut scenes survived.

Take this scene, for instance:

I'm thinking that the line would've been "The judge gave me life!" Compare this rough layout to the cleaned-up version below:


You can see changes made to the judge, probably to get the best possible pose in this shot. That's my guess, at least.

Here's some more cut gags/scenes:


"Fate brought us together..." I can see why this wasn't used. Everyone has their own interpretation of "fate" (isn't it usually depicted as a female?), so maybe this was cut because of it not working out. Maybe. Anyway, I like "...and then our eyes met," much better.


"Drinks were on the house!" Item worth noting: this gag was used in another Tex Avery cartoon: "The Shooting of Dan McGoo." Checkit at 3:30 into the cartoon.


"Played with the One Arm Bandit," I'm assuming. Corny gag.


"She had him eating out of her hand." It probably worked better story-wise for the guy to have the upper hand, don't you think? This gag gives Mary control, and not the other way around.


"She was a chain-smoker." Ha -- I like this one. Too bad it was cut. These last two were from "Les Dessins", by Patrick Brion.

There are plenty more layouts (along with many other images) from this wonderful cartoon on my Symphony In Slang Flickrset. Hope you enjoy.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, this is all part of research I'm collecting for a super secret side project I'm currently working on, paying homage to the great cartoons of the past. A short film that's being concocted down in the basement right now.

Up next: Backgrounds!

New Apple Ad

Well, whaddya know. Check out who did the latest "Get a Mac" ad for Apple. Titled "Santa Claus", and directed by Drew Lightfoot. Characters designed by Shane Prigmore. Download the spot HERE.

Click on the image for spot stats. TBWA/Chiat/Day is the agency responsible for this campaign. Whether you love or loathe Apple (or this ad campaign in general), this spot is brilliant. My two cents.

Symphony In Slang

SYMPHONY IN SLANG (1951, dir. by Tex Avery) holds a special place in my heart. Back in the late 80's, when I finally realized that I wanted to be an animator, I bought some VHS tapes to analyze and study. One of them was Tex Avery's Screwball Classics, with Symphony In Slang included. I immediately fell in love with this cartoon. It was so different and opposite from the other fare that I had been watching at the time. A nice breath of fresh air. To me, the idea of visually recreating slang terms was so perfect for the cartoon realm -- most of the gags you would see in cartoons (especially in Avery's) were visual puns anyway. So it all made perfect sense to me.

Done as a one-shot, with all original characters who never appeared in any other MGM cartoon, Symphony is pretty much an anomaly in Avery's canon. What makes it even more so is the fact that Avery hired designer Tom Oreb to design all the characters and layout for the entire film. Just for this one cartoon. That's it. Why? Why did he hire an outside artist out of the blue, it seemed, to work on this one and only short for him? Oreb had been working at Disney pretty consistantly at the time, but left the company in the early-50's. To my knowledge, Oreb worked with Avery at MGM for this one cartoon and then went back to Disney where he designed characters for such projects as Toot, Whistle, Plunk & Boom, Sleeping Beauty and One Hundred and One Dalmations. I asked Amid Amidi about Oreb during this time:

"The only thing I'd say is that Oreb's history is very sketchy at this point. I believe he'd left Disney and was freelancing around. He designed a number of commercials for Ray Patin around 1952-1953, and I think he was in and out of Disney's at this time, if not completely gone. But it's not like Symphony was the only non-Disney project he did around 1950-1952. It's all a bit of a mystery at this point."

So Oreb didn't go off to do this one cartoon and then come back. He worked at some other studios as well. But what was the deal? What was Avery's intent for hiring Oreb for this one cartoon at MGM anyway? Well, here's my humble opinion on this matter:

Tom Oreb's style was unique, angular and highly stylized. It would be considered "modern" and contemporary at the time: cool, hip, new. On the other hand, most of Tex Avery's cartoons at the time were part of the MGM "house style", if you will -- Droopy, The Wolf, Red, all were products that came from the classic, rounded, traditional style of character design, along with semi-realistic painted backgrounds. These two opposing styles play an important part in Symphony, supporting the story on visual terms. When our main character (John) dies and approaches the Pearly Gates in the beginning of the cartoon, he's surrounded by lush backgrounds and well-rounded characters, such as St. Peter and Noah Webster. But he's not of this world. John's a hipster, a jazz kat. He's of the New Order, speaking in tongues with his hep-jive vocabulary. Our guy is definitely a fish out of water, designed in the flat-like stylized modern look by Oreb, while everything else is not. When we see John's life story visually played out in Webster's mind, his world is flat and angular, with bold colors. Webster is visualizing John's world in this new, modern style. John is the antithesis of the Old World. When John reaches Heaven, the two worlds collide. Just as the two opposing worlds clash, so too, does their visual styles. Hiring Oreb was clearly intentional on Avery's part, knowing that Avery probably wouldn't be able to pull off that "new look" on his own. I think it was a perfect decision; a match made in Heaven.

The story is simple: A young man, John, dies and is approached at the Pearly Gates by St. Peter who is baffled by his strange use of language: "What's cooking? How's tricks?" Obviously unaware of current slang, Peter asks Noel Webster what he can make of it. When Webster asks John to proceed with his life story, we witness Webster imagining every single slang term (along with other expressions and sayings) that this guy utters. From being "born with a silver spoon in my mouth", to "hanging out with the boys", to "going through a bunch of red tape" while trying to get out of jail, we witness these things literally. By the end of it, John has "died laughing", bringing us up to current. He then asks Webster, "So, what'dya think?" When Webster finds it hard to answer, John then asks, "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" Sure enough, the camera pans over to a little cat (with a halo, of course), holding a pink tongue in his paw. It's a simple concept, but brilliant through Avery's direction. With the use of limited animation, the movements are executed in a simple manner, basic and to the point. The concept is the main star here, with every gag being visually presented verbatim. The pacing is not as quick as Avery's usual fare, with the dialogue being very straight forward. As John says his line, the scene is presented thusly. No quick cuts, no complicated camera moves. Save for a few pan shots, and the occasional zoom out, the camera is mostly stationary.

Below, I have put together the entire cartoon of Symphony In Slang through frame grabs of each and every scene. Some scenes have two or more frames, if there was a camera pull out, for example. I put all these frames together so I can see Symphony in its entirety, to see any patterns that may be evident, to see the choices being made for layout, composition, character posing, camera positions, and so on. It's fascinating to see it all laid out. There were much more scenes in this cartoon than in your typical cartoon of the time, because of the nature of the story. I think that I counted over a hundred and twenty frames (not including the multiple ones for the same scene). That's quite an undertaking for our man Oreb. But if you notice, every background is executed with style and panache, only in the way that Oreb could do it. It's also interesting to see just how much the animators kept to Oreb's original designs. That's unusual for that time. By the time the director gets the characters and adds his two cents and then passes them off to the animators who add their two cents, the overall designs most likely become watered down. But not here. This is pretty much Tommy's baby, through and through.

The stats on the film:

SYMPHONY IN SLANG
(Released June, 6th, 1951)
Direction: Tex Avery
Animation: Michael Lah, Grant Simmons, Walter Clinton
Layout and Design: Tom Oreb
Writer: Rich Hogan
Music: Scott Bradley
Producer: Fred Quimby
6 minutes, 43 seconds
Released by MGM

Here are the frames (click on each to view larger):































UPDATE: I've since uploaded more images from this cartoon in the Flickr set: Symphony In Slang. Total number of images: 77.

These images taken from a VHS copy of the French laserdisc version of the cartoon. I have reason to believe that these colors are not correct. They're too contrast-y and the whites are too white (or, as we say in the biz, the "whites are too hot").

Until someone gets smart and releases a bunch of Tex Avery stuff on DVD (remastered, please -- and no DVNR either), the only way to view Symphony In Slang is to view it on YouTube (ugh...) or simply order it on VHS:




This is the first part of a series on Symphony In Slang here on The Ward-O-Matic. It's all part of research I'm collecting for a super secret side project I'm currently working on, paying homage to the great cartoons of the past. A short film that's being concocted down in the basement right now. More to come soon.