More Than Just The Mouse

First published July 15, 2003

By C. W. Oberleitner

Good news for fans of animation of all kinds. Two new books are or soon will be available about your favorite art form and our man on the West Coast C. W. Oberleitner has the story about the launch of these two volumes that offer their readers a great deal more than just the mouse.

Comic book stores, just about every city in America has one. Few, however, have anything like the pop cultural emporium that is Hollywood's Golden Apple. Golden Apple's Melrose Avenue Mega Store is a well known in Southern California for its clientele -- director Kevin Smith has been known to haunt the stacks -- as it is for its gigantic collection of all things pop culture. From comics to graphic novels, rare editions, collectables and action figures of all kinds Golden Apple is pop culture heaven.

Golden Apple is also known for playing host to a variety of panel discussions and media events. Recently at their new Westside store, which shares space with Rhino Records at 2028 Westwood Blvd. in LA's Westwood district, Golden Apple held an Animation Celebration.

Animation Celebration was an opportunity for toon fans to meet the authors of two new books about the recent history of animation and participate in a panel discussion about the past, present and future of all forms of animation with some of the most influential people in the industry.

Allan Neuwirth, author of Makin' Toons Inside the Most Popular Animated TV Shows and Movies, is a writer, producer, director and creator/developer of animated TV shows, commercials and comics. He has done award-winning work for Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and Sesame Workshop. He has worked in animation both here and abroad. His syndicated comic strip, Chelsea Boys, is seen in dozens of publications in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. In addition, he has lectured at New York University and the School of Visual Arts. He is the owner of Neuwirth Design a commercial animation company.

A self proclaimed "toon-a-holic" since childhood Allan Neuwirth draws (no pun intended) upon his considerable knowledge of both the animation industry and the people who make toons for a living. Makin' Toons is a behind the scenes look at the creation of some of the animation industry's most well known and loved feature films and television shows. It chronicles the creation process from start to finish of such animation favorites as South Park, SpongeBob SquarePants, Beavis and Butt-Head as well as a few Disney favorites like The Lion King and Aladdin.

Jerry Beck is the author of Outlaw Animation Cutting-Edge Cartoons from the Spike & Mike Festivals. Jerry is a well-known and highly respected animation historian and author. His other works include The 50 Greatest Cartoons and Warner Bros. Animation Art. He has been a driving force in animation since 1977 when he first served as a research associate on Leonard Maltin's landmark book, OF MICE AND MAGIC: A HISTORY OF AMERICAN ANIMATED CARTOONS. He is also web master of Jerry Beck's Cartoon Research.

If you've never had the opportunity to take in a Spike and Mike Festival of Animation now's your chance to catch up on over twenty-five years of outrageous film fun. Jerry Beck's Outlaw Animation, due in book stores any day and soon to be reviewed here by our own Jim Hill, is story of how "two stoners from Riverside, California, helped lift this movement (today's renaissance of animation) up from the ashes…" Outlaw Animation not only chronicles the still ongoing saga of the Spike and Mike festivals it also offers insight into the origins of some of today's most popular toons.

Authors Neuwrith and Beck were joined on the Animation Celebration panel by Spike Decker of Spike and Mike Festivals, Paul Germain the creator of Rugrats, and Genndy Tartakovsky the creator of Samurai Jack. Rounding out the panel was the director of Warner Brothers up coming feature film, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Eric Goldberg. The panel discussion was co-hosted by Animation Magazine. Ramin Zahed, editor of Animation Magazine was the moderator.

Long suffering Disneyana fans that have come to lament the rude behavior of "professional" collectors will be glad to know that obnoxious behavior isn't limited to Disneyanamaniacs. One of the first people in line to ask for a dedication warned Allen Neuwirth in a loud voice that he (Mr. Neuwirth) had disappointed him at a previous event.

"I want a better dedication." Demanded the fan. "You're a writer after all."

This fellow didn't stop there. He held up a line of paying customers waiting to collect autographs from the panelists by monopolizing each panelist's time with trivial conversation.

Once the entire panel was assembled it didn't take long for the subject of CGI or 3D animation versus traditional hand drawn or 2D animation to come up. The entire panel dismissed the idea that one form of animation might in some way be superior to another.

Echoing the sentiments of the creative head of Pixar Animation, John Lassetter, to a man the panel agreed that the issue was not one of technique or tools but rather, "story, story, story."

When asked why audiences seem to be embracing 3D films while eschewing traditionally hand drawn films the panelists were quick to point out that audiences were responding to the films not the technology. One panelist went so far as to ask the audience when was the last time somebody came out of a Shrek or Finding Nemo praising the software and servers rather than talking about the film.

"A good story is a good story." Said Allan Neuwirth. "I don't care how it's done."

Genndy Tartakovsky pointed out that currently television animation was more popular than ever, with not one but two cable networks dedicated to the medium. He then added that the overwhelming majority of TV animation was 2D.

The panel was asked how they thought the bidding wars for animation talent, kicked off after the success of The Lion King, was affecting the cost of today's animated films. Eric Goldberg, whose credits include animating the Genie in Aladdin, and supervising the Carnival of Animals and Rhapsody In Blue segments of Disney's Fantasia 2000, was quick to point out that the bidding up of animators' salaries was not the cause of driving up the animation cost factor.

"There are lots of reasons (animated) films are not lean and mean." Goldberg said.

One of his biggest complaints, and a sentiment echoed by several panelists, was the frequent changes mandated by risk-averse studio managers during production. It was pointed out that while animation staffs were shrinking at studios all over Los Angeles the number of managers and executives at those same studios has been and still is steadily increasing.

Historian Jerry Beck reminded the audience that animation, like all parts of the entertainment industry, was cyclical. "What we're experiencing now (layoffs) is just the latest phase of this cycle. This business (animation) has always had its good periods and not so good periods."

Following the question and answer portion of the evening's events participants lined up for autographs. No one was disappointed. In fact fans received not only autographs but in many cases original character sketches as well. Paul Germain signed page 93 of Jerry Beck's book, Outlaw Animation. It is a full-page reproduction of a scene from the first Rugrats short shown at a Spike and Mike Festival.

You can purchase copies of Outlaw Animation and Makin' Toons by clicking on the Amazon link at the bottom of the page. And, in so doing help support this site. Or you can bop on over to Golden Apple and order a copy or two and browse their considerable selection of pop culture merchaindise.

Here are some related sites you might want to browse as well:

Allan Neuwith's Chelsea Boys

Spike and Mike Festival of Sick and Twisted Animation

Eric Goldberg's Looney Tunes Back In Action

C'ya real soon!