#Windsor McCay

[driveintheaterofthemind]

Vintage Comic - Little Nemo In Slumberland Sunday Comic (April29th1906)

Art by Winsor McCay

[balrog-slayer66]

Concept art from the development of the 1989 Japanese/American animated film "Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland" by Moebius

[adamwatchesmovies]

Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland (1989)

What Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland does successfully makes it worth seeing. Keep that in mind as you make your way through the rough patches. When this movie is bad, it weighs so heavily on your nerves you can’t stand it.

Young Nemo (voiced by Gabriel Damon), is brought to the dream kingdom of Slumberland by King Morpheus (Bernard Erhard). As the king’s new heir, Nemo's job is to guard his future subjects against the Nightmare King, the terrifying demon-like ruler of Nightmare Land. When Nemo accidentally opens the passage between the two worlds, he, his no-good friend Flip (Mickey Rooney) and Princess Camille (Laura Mooney) are Slumberland’s only hope.

This is a great-looking movie. It’s filled with stunningly complex shots, all of which have been brought to life by talented animators. As we navigate through a variety of inspired locations, we meet inventively designed characters and creatures. When the film is solely about movement, action, and our hero's adventure, it’s great. The images and animation have aged remarkably well and the special effects are top-notch. Something is refreshing about seeing a meticulously assembled animated picture like this one where you know each frame was hand-painted and hand-drawn. The gags that hit their mark help as well. If you’re passionate about animation, you should track this film down and take a look… once.

“Little Nemo” is meant for kids. LITTLE kids. Much of the dialogue in the first 30 minutes is disposable. People explain to us what we’ve already deduced from what’s happening on-screen, or we’re simply hearing Nemo say “wow!” And “yippee!” as his bed flies him through the air. You’re begging for him to have a friend or sidekick to bounce conversation off of. ANYTHING to stop the inane sounds coming from the boy’s mouth. Be careful what you wish for. Eventually, we’re introduced to Nemo's flying squirrel sidekick, Icarus (Danny Mann). the rodent is the definition of annoying and his character so useless to the plot you’ll look back fondly at the pointless non-dialogue we left behind. Unfortunately, he isn’t the only animal sidekick. Little ones may not mind the introduction of one goofy character after another but every grown-up will. It’s bad enough the plot is simplistic to a fault and the characters juvenile to the point of being unrelatable to anyone over the age of 8 but they undermine anything that might’ve been cool to the rest of us. Combined with the dreadful soundtrack courtesy of the usually bankable Sherman Brothers (who do not offer us a single memorable note or verse), you'll be tempted to put the film on mute. There's got to be some kind of soundtrack that will synch up to the tone of the images somewhere....

Rewatching Little Nemo, the visuals still dazzle but the annoying bits are so egregious it made me wonder how I managed to sit through it not once, but twice. At least the film is obviously bad - at least story-wise -, which will hopefully prepare you for the overall experience. And yet, what's on-screen is so striking you're compelled to keep watching. Perhaps it isn’t so bad after all. I’d hate to dissuade you from seeing it in case it sparks that bonfire of imagination within you. Consider yourself warned but encouraged. (On DVD, May 24, 2019)

[krafty1]

The Daily Panel 12/7/24

Image Credit: Blackthorne Publishing

[vincent-marie]

Throwback to my animation major days. In animation history something we did was draw turnarounds of the same character based on what era we were learning about at the time.

First was the standard (this was before I had nailed down Bianca's character), then in the style of Windsor McCay, then 1930s rubber-hose animation

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[librarycomic]

Comics 1964 - 2024 edited by Thierry Groensteen, Lucas Hureau, Ann Lemonnier, and Emmanuèle Payen. Thames & Hudson, 2024. 9780500028407. 288pp.

I didn't get to see the exhibit at the Centre Pompidou this book is based on -- it closed in November 2024 -- and I was about to order myself a copy of the French edition for my birthday when this arrived in the mail from the publisher. All by way of saying: I was overly inclined to love this book when it arrived, and I did. You should get a copy for your public library shelves, too, especially if you have a decent graphic novel collection for adults.

Worth noting: There's more than a little adult content in the original art featured in the book. Most are in English, French, or Japanese. While a working knowledge of these languages might help in appreciating the work a bit more, it's not necessary -- the book is spectacular in terms of visuals alone.

I didn't read much of the essays; they seem like a great introduction to comics from the period, but mostly they let the art do the talking. The book opens with chapters about comics as art and the exhibition, and cover the rise and evolution of comics. "An Evolving Artform" contains original art from Windsor McCay, Clair Bretécher, Fred, Chris Ware, Bill Waterson, and Brecht Evans. "Counterculture" has art by Gilbert Shelton, Kuniko Tsurita, Susumu Katsumata, Shin'ichi Abe, Nicholas Devil, Robert Gigi, Jean-Claude Forest, Georges Pichard, Nicholas Devil, Guido Crepax, Caza, Georges Wolinski, Jean-Marc Reiser, Fred, Gébé, Willem, Robert Crumb, S. Clay Wilson, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, Art Spiegelman, Jay Lynch, Kiki Picasso, Loulou Picasso, and Olivia Clavel. (If at this point you're wondering if superheroes figure into the exhibit at all, there is some art from superhero comics in the "Science Fiction" chapter, along with spectacular illustrations by Moebius, including the art used on the book's cover.)

I had never heard of some of the creators in the book, and I don't love everything in it. There's a huge amount that wowed me, and enough that's new to me that I find myself looking through the book over and over. The first book on my list that I need to read after seeing the art in here: Forest's original Barbarella comics.

The List of Exhibited Works at the end of the book is organized by chapter , and then by creator or publication within each chapter. (I believe this mirrors the organization of the exhibit itself. I've included an image of the Table of Contents with the review if you're curious about it.) When a creator's work is in the book, a page number is listed. Dates, materials, where a work was originally published, and other information is included about most of the art. It gives a sense of how amazing the exhibit itself was, and the lengths the curators went to to organize it.

Also: If you're now wishing you'd made it to the exhibition, too, there's a short tour at www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEcyXFSWDzY

[balu8]

Frank Pe's Little Nemo After Windsor McCay

by Frank Pe

 Magnetic Press 

[tenjad129]

PLANET OF THE TOONS POSTER CONCEPTS 1-30 (January 4, 2022 - April 4, 2024)

Now that I got all sixty mockup poster design conceptual artwork done thus far for my Planet of the Toons epic work still in progress thus far, may I present, ladies and gentlemen, young and old, the first 30 poster conceptual artworks done by me for my Planet of the Toons epic in progress done between January 4, 2022 to April 4, 2024. (though this may be very rough at the beginning, yes, and sure, even the live actors represented may not be the final actors for the roles that I have in mind for this.)

Now, PLANET OF THE TOONS is one of the most amazing, incredible, awe-inspiring, unusual, interesting, remarkable, extraordinary, phenomenal, extra-special, and uniquely entertaining films of any kind that we’ll ever see in a very long time.

Being Timothy Robert McKenzie's (or I'd rather make that MY) monumental epic of good versus evil as well as of life and adventure being lived on so many different levels among all different kinds of races and species of fantastic beings and creatures - many of them being played by all kinds of cartoon characters and personalities from all across the history and world of animation art - it is a gigantic saga chock-full of action, adventure, romance, drama, pathos, and the occasional cartoon comedy slapstick humor and anarchy that one would still expect from something straight out of the Golden Age of American Animation, while also being very steeped both in the tradition of epic fantasy and science fiction as well as in the history and world of  animation and cartoons of any kind in America and elsewhere.

All of these things are meant to be highly entertaining and enjoyable in a very good way.  And while many of the more full-blooded epic moments of action, adventure and drama are strange, unlikely territory for any type of cartoon characters that has had their original roots in early 20th Century vaudeville and silent film as well as classic slapstick comedy, some are meant to illustrate, even in the near, middle, or far future, the true determiners of a heroic civilization across the stars, such as the struggle of right and wrong, courage in the face of oppression, the willingness to sacrifice one’s self for the greater good, and the belief that good will ultimately triumph over evil. 

And think of it all as like a sweeping 21st Century combination of “The Lord of the Rings” and “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” (with some elements of Dune, Star Wars, even James Cameron's AVATAR movies being thrown in for good measure!), only set on another planet just like our own planet Earth, but located on the faraway edge of the universe out in space. 

Among the living ink-and-painted cartoon beings and creatures appearing in this rousing, action-packed, vividly told, and breathtakingly awesome epic tale of otherworldly visitation includes (but are not limited to): Bugs Bunny, King of Rascals and Tricksters, Daffy Duck, his greedy rival, Elmer Fudd, the not-so-mighty hunter prowling through Acme Forest (all three of whom are of Looney Tunes fame), Gertie the Dinosaur (the first cartoon character with a personality, created by Windsor McCay of Little Nemo fame), Popeye the Sailor, Olive Oyl, J. Wellington Wimpy, Bluto (all four of whom were once worked on by the Fleischer Bros. and created by E.C. Segar), Ali Baba’s Forty Thieves (probably from some old 17-minute-long Popeye color cartoon from 1937), Dexter the Boy Genius, Dee Dee, his sister (of Dexter's Laboratory fame), Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, Jiminy Cricket (of the Disney Pinocchio fame), Scrooge McDuck (all of them Disney characters, though Scrooge McDuck himself actually originated in a comic book by Carl Barks), Mandark Astronomenov, the Dark Lord of the planet and Dexter’s jealous and hateful rival (of Dexter's Laboratory Ego Trip infamy, that is), and Fievel Mousekewitz and Tanya Mousekewitz, the brother and sister mouse pair decreed by an ancient prophecy, along with one of three visiting astronauts from Earth, to save the PLANET OF THE TOONS around them all from the long-standing and destructive evil unleashed by Mandark many centuries ago. 

The magic is that even in the future, heroes still come in many shapes, sizes and species, and that’s perfectly fine. And very soon you along with your friends and loved ones can enjoy this gigantic, sweeping epic of a wondrous, heroic civilization where cartoons and humans - okay, and still-living dinosaurs, too! - share a faraway planet of color, sound, and vision, where good and evil struggle for control of all around them, and all in the comfort of your favorite movie theater near you...and ON YOUR PLANET. 

Anyway, hopefully, you will see the last 30 poster concept art for my Planet of the Toons epic in progress on the very next post coming up...

[teomodo]

they had to hit me with a blowdart sedative and drag me out of my local comic shop in a big net for making a scene because all they had was marvel comics and papergirls they didn't have any george herriman or windsor mccay they didn't even have any yellow kid

[k00295632]

Week 1: Secondary Research & my Idea.

These are some of the different artists I was looking at during the week.

This is Stuart Blackton, the first person to use pixilation and the creator of the "the enchanted mirror". He would "interact" with the drawing, even "removing" parts of the drawing and making them "reappear" as real objects, and would make the face "react". He would stop the recording, make his changes, and continue as before.

This here is Windsor McCay, american cartoonist who created "Gertie the dinosaur", the earliest cartoon to ever feature a dinosaur. This was also the first film to ever use Keyframes, Registration marks, Tracing paper, Animation loops, and Mutoscope action viewer. He would similarly interact with the animation, "throwing" an apple onto the screen and pocketing it when no one looked while an "apple" would appear on the screen, or he would walk behind the stage and "reappear" on screen and ride Gertie.

Georges meileis "trip to the moon (1902)", the first film to use Double exposure, Stop motion, and Slow motion. He was a illusionist film maker and a magician. The film took 3 months to make and was filmed in a greenhouse like building to get as much light as possible.

"Loving Vincent" directed by Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman, the worlds first fully painted film with over 65,000 frames. The they would record the actors dressed as their characters , and would use a projector to project the frames from the video onto the canvases and the animators would paint each frame in Van Gogh's art style.

I briefly looked at Jan Svankmajers "Darkness light Darkness", its a very peculiar piece of media, and it is a 7 minute clay stop motion animation. Its just a body reconstructing itself in a miniature house and figuring out where everything goes.

How does this relate to my project?

Well my idea is to create a mixed media short film based in a haunted art gallery/museum ( some place with a lot of artwork) with a security guard monitoring the building and the strange occurrences within its walls. The main focus will be the different security cameras, which will be changing perspectives a lot, and even the p.o.v of the guard. The centerpiece will be an an animation of a portrait crawling out of the frame, but the first part of the animation will be painted like in "Loving Vincent", but as the creature begins to leave the frame it transforms into stop motion animation with clay. I was thinking that since the creature is made of paint it would make a wet sound when it moves, which is where I want to incorporate foley sound, and leave traces of itself around the building. In the background I want to create other spooky visuals like other paintings distorting or objects from paintings disapearing and showing up in the wrong places like in "The enchanted mirror". I want to experiment with different Camera trick to create different visuals and create suspense like the dutch tilt. I want to slowly unnerve the viewer, using different visual affects and changes in each camera.

There's a lot of work to be done and I'm looking forward to see how I'll incorporate the different workshops into it too

[bonyfish]

A fun thing about me and Nik is that I'm the one with the comics degree, but Nik has almost certainly read more comics than me by like, an order of magnitude. I reference Windsor McCay's "Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend" in casual conversation more than the average person but Nik can tell you what year Tony Stark got his terrible perm.

[driveintheaterofthemind]

Vintage Comic Strip - Little Nemo In Slumberland (Dec09th1906)

Art by Winsor McCay

[itslegribou]

Little Nemo and his purple blanket par Windsor McCay, 1905.

[dzmoot]

Developing a new story to come out in a few weeks, this one sorta a Little Nemo inspired story set on Namasis. Yes, Aiken Drum is returning and our beloved Tuuns will also cross paths with our new story’s protagonist, Norbert! I’ve always been a fan of Windsor Mccay so this will be a interesting experience.

[corpusplastique]

Gertie the Dinosaur, premier film d'animation, Windsor McCay, 1914

Mélange d'images animées et de prises de vues réelles, travail étendu sur 6 mois.

[archivist-dragonfly]

Book 486

Little Nemo: Little Nemo in Slumberland / Little Nemo in the Land of Wonderful Dreams - 1905-1914

Windsor McCay / introduction by Bill Blackbeard

Evergreen 2000

So, this is a really great one-volume collection of Little Nemo, and if you can only have one Nemo collection you could do a lot worse. I think Evergreen was a bargain price imprint of Taschen, so the quality of this edition is fairly high. The colors and lines are clearly reproduced, and with a trim size of approximately 10x13, the pages are given just enough space to be legible. However, given that these incredible strips were originally intended to be newspaper size, it’s still a bit uncomfortably small to be read easily. Ultimately, I ended up getting a much larger Nemo volume, which I’ll get to later, so this is somewhat redundant in my collection. But as a convenient one-volume collection, it’s solid.