The New 'Tude

Imagine if you could be this cool?

Pete Emslie Wants To Share

Pete sent me this picture. At first I thought it was an ad for a glass eye manufacturer.
Pete: "I'm certainly more the Disney fan than you are, but even I'm getting really bad vibes about this film. "

How Many More Decades?

How long do you think it will take before they get tired of doing this? Or do they even realize that it's the same every time?

I mean you gotta wonder, if you have hundreds of millions of dollars to spend and years on end to make a movie, surely you could come up with a new design and expression.

Why aren't they embarrassed?

The Best Bugs - Pre 'Tude

This is one of my all time favorite model sheets and I can't figure out why they don't draw Bugs like this any more. Look how appealing he is!
It's a model sheet drawn by Bob McKimson for Bob Clampett's unit. There is an earlier version of the same sheet, also drawn by McKimson where he doesn't look as distinct. Clampett went over it and made Bugs' eyes splay at the top and gave his head more planes. Bugs became less egg-shaped. They also beefed up his cheeks, making him cuter. This design is full of tricky subtleties. He's not easy to draw.Maybe that's why he never looked quite like this except in Clampett's cartoons. Chuck came close in a couple cartoons-Hair-Raising Hare for one.It's funny, almost every classic WB cartoonist I met said that once they found this model, they never again strayed from it - when they all obviously did. Tom McKimson told me that he and his brother were the only ones that stuck to the Clampett model for the rest of Bugs' career. Chuck said it too. They also all said that everyone else changed the model except them. Friz never quite got the hang of it.
Shortly after that model sheet, Clampett and his animators made Bugs a little taller.Note how much more active and playful Bugs was in the mid 40s than what he has become. No damn 'tude for one thing! This Bugs is the one that made the character become the most popular in history, not because he had 'tude, but because he was actively mischievous and devious.

This Bugs actually did things in the cartoons. He didn't win by default. He went out of his way to cause trouble - and did it in a very likeable way. The 'tude Bugs is completely unlikable. He doesn't do anything to win. He just wins because the rules say so. It's like he was born an aristocrat who deserves to win because he's the star character.


Here he is cocksure and still playful, which is different than 'tude. 'Tude didn't happen till the 50s when Chuck turned Bugs smug and snooty like himself.

I wonder why they don't make merchandise and t shirts out of this Bugs. Who wants Bugs with 'tude? He may have started it, but now almost every character has 'tude so it's not unique anymore.

Here's Bugs Frog in the latest movie 'tude.

They oughta go back to the Bugs Bunny that made WB cartoons the most popular in the world, the one who did funny things, not the one who just stands around looking smug.

And they really should never team him with Daffy. That worked in 1 cartoon, but quickly became a predictable formula.

IMPORTANT NOTE TO ALL CARTOONISTS!

Cartoonists, Lumberjacks and Middle Meddlers: Chainsaws 3

What a modern day lumberjack would be like. But let's go back in time, shall we?

Now George Liquor has a natural talent for cutting down trees. In fact, some say he was born with a chainsaw in his mouth. He has been chopping down trees every day since he was a wee lad. And boy, was his Ol' Man proud.
He has even won the medal of freedom for his great contribution to the depletion of our essential resources.

And in free moments, when he finds himself without a chainsaw in his hands, he studies the history and techniques of the great lumberjack heroes that inspired him. So should we let him get to the job God put him on this earth for and let him take down a couple of His precious rainforests in a day or 2? No sir, this is the 21st Century and we don't do things that way anymore. We are much more scientific now. We still wanna take down the rainforests, but we need to do it with the aid of inexperienced experts who can do it sloppily in a much longer period and at 50 times the cost.

No pinkies that wrote these instructions have ever been tainted by the roughness of bark.
Those who can't do surely must make the rules, because after all, they are not prejudiced by old-school practical experience. They obtain their immense knowledge in the abstract, through market research.
Well no one can say ol' George ain't the sporting type.
He's willing to give the new cumbersome ways a shot.
My gosh, what a mess we have to clean up! But that's how we do things in our modern world.
Moral of the story:

Today we spread the decisions. It's only fair to all the people who do not have the blessings of a natural ability at something.

This Pretty Much Says It All

The poor guy has to practice performing his whole life just to get to juggle 7 balls and 2 bowling pins.

A writer can ask for as many balls as he wants because he doesn't have to do it himself.

Sound familiar?

I wonder who wrote this 'tude and the backwards pants.
Probably made as much as the genius who came up with "Got Milk"

Is This A Work Of Cartoon Genius?

I must be one of the world's biggest cartoon fans, but rarely do I find a cartoon that I think is brilliant. Something that covers all the great things a cartoon can do that separates it from other forms of entertainment. I think this Don Martin comic meets and exceeds the highest cartoon criteria.

First, it's drawn funny. Really funny - and in a totally unique style. I love the early Martin stuff best because it hadn't found a formula yet. It's still searching and so has less rules and more variety.
The concept of the story is really funny. The people are generic (for Martin's world) but still bizarre - and meant to be typical normal humans. That whole approach is so unique in itself! We're supposed to instantly identify with these everyday normal people that only exist in Don Martin's world.
Martin is presenting a gag and story that couldn't possibly be done as well in any other medium- including animation.
The gag is built around a growing crowd. Crowds don't work in animation. Imagine the amount of time it took to draw just one of these crazy panels. Now multiply that by 24 frames a second for film. Then having to animate each of these characters doing something somewhat different than each other - as is indicated in the poses. This would not only take Herculean labor, it would also be totally wasted because all the stuff would fly by so fast you couldn't take it all in. With still pictures, you can slowly go through the panel and see every funny detail.
These birds are stylized and hilarious at the same time. They work both as a group, and as individuals. You can stare at each of these panels forever and find humor within the overall gag situation and in the minute details. Each little character is drawn with thought. Martin didn't just draw a ton of birds in the same pose.
The gag builds to more and more heights of preposterousness. It is structured.
Goddamn, these are some weird creatures! What a mind!

I love the crazy eagerness of the human characters eating the delicious popcorn.
Nice stubbly chicken butt.

The frenzy keeps on building, even when you think it can't get more nutty.



Wouldn't you kill to have this painted as a mural on your wall?

And of course he ends on a morbid joke, because he is aiming this at little kids to get them in trouble with their Moms. This psychology makes the comic even funnier.A masterpiece of inspired and original cartooning!

One more thought: Don Martin doesn't design his humans to keep up to date with what is supposed to be "cool" or hip. No 'tude. His characters exist in a timeless world so that anyone can identify with their situations. The fact that they are so uncool makes it all the more pure and inviting. We know he isn't trying to talk down to us, like so many cartoons today made by nerds who are trying to be cool.