Here's a picture of Clampett animators Rod Scribner and Manny Gould (click to enlarge). No doubt you've already seen it on Mike Barrier's site or, duped from Mike, on John K's blog. It's making the rounds, no doubt about it. I reproduce it here out of gratitude to a friend who has a laser printer and who gave me a copy on the best possible glossy paper. The picture reproduces so big that it required four letter-sized prints to get the whole thing, which I promptly taped together to get one poster-size picture. During the week I'll find a nice frame for it.
I'm in heaven! A picture, beautifully composed, of the greatest funny animator and animation cartoonist who ever lived, Rod Scribner. It doesn't hurt to have ace funny man Manny Gould leaning over him. Gould's smile is radient. He must have been a real nice guy. Thanks, Mike, for putting this up!
While I'm at it, I should mention the "Pink Elephants" board (above) on Michael Sporn's site together with some Great Steig and Popeye (Below). And what about John K's recent post analysing the takes in "Tale of Two Kitties"? This is a great time to be on the net.http://www.michaelspornanimation.com/splog/
http://www.johnkstuff.blogspot.com/
26 comments:
"A great time to be on the net" are very, very true words. 10 years ago, you could have never found screencaps, essays, commentaries, ANYTHING on old cartoons and films. Now there's new stuff popping up every day. Hoooray!
Hi Eddie,
thanks, but it's Tale Of Two Kitties, not Gruesome Twosome.
Kohn: Aaaargh! Thanks, I just changed it to the correct name.
rod is amazing!
my friends and i are always talking about who would star in a movie about 'termite terrace' and rod scribner is one who never gets cast, because we never have pictures of him.
now that i see him i'm thinkin' zach braff.
- trevor.
ps: in every incarnation, jack black is tex avery. i doubt you'll disagree.
Rod has always been a given, but Manny was always one of my favorites, Mike Kazaleh and i would spend hours, talking about and dissecting his stuff back at WB. I'm glad you guys are giving him some recognition .I just love the guys work.
Manny Gould was fond of telling any artist he found hunched over, drawing with his or her nose too close to the paper in a serious mode to sit back, enjoy it and have fun. Harry Love used to say "I'm doing Manny Gould when I tell you guys the same thing."
Apols for changing topics, Eddie, but I have recently watched (albeit on YouTube) the first 16 episodes of the 1960s-1980s era Russian cartoon "Nu, Pogodi!". I was wondering if you have seen this series, and what comments/thoughts you have on it. (Or, for that matter, J.K.'s comments/thoughts.)
hey Eddie,
will you do a post on "Bacall to arms"? Its a great film, and I'd do a post on the many things i dug, but i think you'd be able to sum up its genius better than anyone.
Criminy. That looks like a fun place to be. Cartoon characters all around you, drawings of naked ladies and smiling hairy cartoonists. I'm sure the place was mayhemic.
There is more genius in that single photo than in any animation studio or school today.
I always find it shocking that Manny Gould, who spent all of his career previously on the abominable Krazy Kat series, could animate so beautifully. I hate to think of all the other artists that worked on films that didn't take advantage of their talents.
In addition to art from "The Great Piggy Bank Robbery", you can see some great early models from "Kitty Kornered" and "The Big Snooze" there too. Man, Mike can't be thanked enough for posting this at such a high resolution!!
And how about all those pinup studies around Scribner's desk? I wish stats of those were going around.
Great post Uncle Eddie. Please keep'em coming.
Charlie J., I would also like to see a post on "Bacall to Arms". It's one of my favorite Clampett cartoons because it's so strange.
what are your thoughts on the whole "furries" phenomenon?
Those weirdos have completely turned me off ever drawing anthropomorphic animal characters
Hi Eddie, how's it going?
I have a couple of questions, in which I hope you could answer:
- I had always wondered, after McKimson had taken charge over Clampett's unit, what ever happened to Scribner?
-Presently, I'm lacking motivation. What’s worse, my portfolio is due within the next four weeks; any advice to cure my condition?
I know perfectly well, for a man of such stature and importance, you can be very busy with your own affairs (that, and your a human, not a goddamn reference book,) but it would be much appreciated if you could help me. Thanks again, and I wish you the best for the oncoming year.
From an inspiring cartoonist/ artist
P.S. For compensation for giving you such annoying questions, I thought I’ll give you two funny videos for you to watch. Enjoy!
Gregg, The Grim Reaper
The Playmates: Beep Beep!
EO: I'll look it up as soon as I'm able!
ANON: I used to hate furries until Kelly admitted to being one. Kelly charmed mr into silence.
Bruce: I'm so busy right now that I don't even have time to click on the links. I'll return to this in a day or two.
> I had always wondered, after McKimson had taken charge over Clampett's unit, what ever happened to Scribner?
Art Davis took over Clmapett's unit, and Rod Scribner hated Artie, so he moved into McKimson's unit. He animated there for awhile, and then he went over to UPA. He did alot of commercials and things of that nature there. He died in 1976.
His personal life is alot more lurid.
Oh, btw, he had TB between 1946 and 1950.
Some: His personal life was lurid? I've heard people say that but I don't know what it refers to. Please explain!
Bruce: A lot of work to cram into four weeks? About the only advice I can offer is to remove any distraction that might tempt you not to work. Move your books, TV and computer to a friend's house. Keep your house and especially your working space clean.
The grim reaper character was great!
EO: "Nu, Pogoni" was really popular in Russia at one time. Even politicians used to wear the wolf pin on their lapel. One of the animators on it is really good.
Charlie: "bacall" is indeed a great cartoon! I'll keep it in mind!
Eddie, Rod was schizophrenic. Here's an excerpt from Barrier's interview with writer Lloyd Turner.
"Lloyd Turner: Nobody really hated Artie, but nobody really liked him. I'll tell you a Rod Scribner story. Rod was thoroughly crazy; you know that. He ended up in a looney hatch somewhere; burned down his house and did a lot of bizarre things. Rod was a weird guy. Artie'd been on his ass a lot—no, I beg your pardon, it wasn't Artie. He was still with McKimson.
Barrier: Scribner was in Clampett's unit when Davis took over, but he went immediately into McKimson's unit. Then he was out for about two years with TB, and he came back—
Turner: Into McKimson's. It must have been the brief exposure he had with Artie; something ticked him off with Artie. He was always bum-rapping him, even though he wasn't working with him. Anyway, Rod was very irresponsible, and would do anything. Anything he did wouldn't really shock you. We were going out the back door, through the lot, going to lunch, a group of us; Rod and I were hanging back. We see Artie go into the phone booth, right there by Johnny Burton's office—just a phone booth, sitting in the hall. It's not attached, except a few wires going into the wall. Rod elbowed me and said, "Watch me fix Davis." So he goes around to the other side of the phone booth and gets it, and tips it at a 45-degree angle. Inside that booth, it sounded like a bomb had exploded. Knees, elbows. Scared Artie absolutely to death. Rod tips it back up, laughing like he was possessed, and he runs out the door. Davis comes out of there—he was petrified—and what he saw was Rod running and laughing. Oh, he was really mad. They gave each other a wide berth for a while; but that was Rod. It was kind of an unfunny prank."
They took him into a mental institution after he burned down his cabin (he had been suffering from post-divorce depression)
He escaped from the instituion and animated modern commercials while on the lam for UPA and Melendez. One of his employers said he would sporadically receieve packets of finished animation work from him in the mail. I think he escaped a few times, too.
Anon: Holy Mackeral! A fascinating story! Many thanks for putting it up!
I love McKimson but I can't find it in my heart to forgive him for what he did to Scribner. Scribner was at, or close to, his height when he went to work for Mckimson and MK forced him to supress his style and tone everything down. No wonder Scribner was frustrated! He was all geared up to write his name in posterity and then he falls into the clutches of anal-retentive McKimson...that's terrifying to think about!
If Scribner also had TB then that makes matters even worse. You wonder if all the professional anxiety he felt contributed to his medical problem. If the anxiety drove him to drink (I'm just guessing), and if that contributed to family problems (guessing again), then you'd have a blueprint for disaster.
Some Guy: Holy Crap on a stick ! Poor Scribner !
Oh Uncle Eddie and John. I finally bought da fif' Looney Tunes Golden Collection and listened to the Buckaroo Bugs commentary. Fan-damn-tastic ! Great yob to both of you and Kali. And you better watch Eddie or Kali might surprass you in guffaw's per minute.
Good lord.
I never knew all that had happened to him, and now I feel bad for asking what had happened to Scribner. However...
Some Guy: It was grand that you were able to reply to my question, so it would give some understanding of his fate, disturbing as it was.
What’s interesting with the photo, Rob doesn’t look like he should belong to an insane asylum, nor that he could be angered easily.
Uncle Eddie: Thank you for the advice. I was able to store my books (text books are an exception) and my DVD’s to one of my buds, so no distractions. Oh, and my apologies, but I made the mistake of my deadline; it’s twelve weeks, not four. Regardless, there’s no time to throw away!
The pink Elephant storyboards were just the thing to kick me into high-gear. Thank you for the heads up!
Also, I’m glad you enjoyed the videos I’ve sent to you, and wish you the best in your career.
From an inspired cartoonist/ artist
P.S. How about doing a post on meeting your heroes of animation? Or maybe some more wacky stories from the days of Mighty Mouse and Spumco (your tales of Ralph's Key's and "Ralph's Look" were hysterical, although I'm now a bit nervous of actually meeting the big fella, when that day comes.)
Good luck!
Bruce
I feel bad for airing out Rod's dirty laundry in public. The only thing I care about is the work, anyway. He was a tremendous talent that we should thank the Lord for blessing the Earth with.
Eddie, I must take issue with your criticism of McKimson toning down Scribner. Sure, McKimson didn't like Scribner's wild style, but EVERY director except Clampett toned down Scribner, including Tex Avery. Scribner still did good work for all three men.
Sort of OT but last night I watched the 2000 documentary "Chuck Jones - Extremes and In-Betweens, a Life in Animation". It was great doc, though I could have done without the celebrity input. I was also bothered by the fact that Bob Clampett was not mentioned, especially since Chuck animated for him. Clampett did inlfuence Jones and it's pretty obvious IMO. When Jones got the director's chair one year after Clampett, his work was tedious and boring. After Clampett really started upping the bar, Jones had no choice but to put up or shut up. Of course he didn't just copy Clampett, he established his own style successfully.
Whats up with Jones/clampett, the few times Jones ever acknowledged clampett it was with a snide comment about how "vulgar" he was etc.
I like Jones for the most part but I hate how most "film historian" type people who dont know jack about animation have the tired old "Tex Avery and his wacky off the wall animation on one end, and Chuck Jones master of subtlety and the single raised eyebrow on the other" perception of warner bros.
Even Film critics I really admire like Ebert have this view.
It also bugs me how most film critics tend to judge animation as if they were critiquing graphics in a video game
WOW! I want that picture of Snake-Eyes Scribner's got tacked up from "The Great Piggy Bank Robbery".
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