Philo

It's been forever that I have posted to this site, and the last thing was about my personal short animated piece called Philo.  It was a cathartic experience that let me recapture the joy of animation and find the things that attracted me to the art form originally.

Since childhood I watched cartoons and was moved emotionally by the imagery and the music.  I  saw the potential to touch people in a way that live action movies could not.  Animation seemed then, and now to be the culmination of all the arts: Cinema, music, dance, painting, writing, etc.

As I was making Philo I tried to pay homage to the studios and individuals who influenced me.  I am an admirer of Walt Disney of course, but also the renegades, who broke away from the emulation toward realism, that birthed the stylized look of UPA.  Artists like Art Babbitt, Jim Tyer, Chuck Jones, and writer Michael Maltese, along with John and Faith Hubley, Ward Kimball, Bobe Cannon, were and still are reasons why I became an animator.  Another early influence for these people as well as myself were the works of the early silent comedians like Charlie Chaplin and the great Buster Keaton.

If you are familiar with any of these, you will immediate see the influence.   

Philo from Joel Brinkerhoff on Vimeo.

General Reel From Yesteryear

General Reel From Yesteryear from Joel Brinkerhoff on Vimeo.

This is a mix of computer, stop-motion, and drawn animation from various projects I've worked on.  All the animation is mine, most of it very old.

Highjacking Ward Kimball

                                                                                                                          Ward Kimball

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/disney/advance-praise-for-the-book-that-disney-doesnt-want-you-to-read-73722.html

Above is a link to an article on Cartoon Brew talking about the difficulty author Amid Amidi is having with Disney not signing off on his book "Full Steam Ahead!", the biography of animator/director Ward Kimball.

There have been other books about the Disney staff that somehow reached print even though the individuals were depicted warts and all, so I don't know why Ward is being scrutinized and sanitized.

I was given a unique opportunity to spent two weeks with Ward and Betty Kimball back in 79.  While there Ward managed to introduce us, (I was with two other workmates), to Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston while they were busily compiling material for their book "The Illusion of Life".  I was struck by the contrast between these gracious soft spoken gentlemen who behaved like loving grandfathers and Ward who wore a head band and implied he smoked weed when we were first introduced.

I was taken aback by much of Wards honesty and surprised by Betty's tolerance of Wards vulgar humor, (Someone had sent him a toy train to 'personalize'.  He said he was going to cut it in half and put a condom in it.)  Now you don't expect that from a Disney artist and truth be told I don't think he saw himself as that.

It's widely known that Walt Disney thought of Ward as a genius.  Ward had established himself as a successful musician and bandleader recording 13 Dixieland albums with his band The Firehouse Five Plus Two, (Frank Thomas played piano), and authored two books.  He was open minded and interested in almost everything including UFOs. 

I came away from my visit with admiration and awe.  Here was a man who deeply enjoyed life and had the confidence and self security to tackle and conquer many disciplines and yet was raw and unpretentious, willing to deflate and cut through social mores and expose the humanity.  I made a vow to try and enjoy life and have as much fun as Ward.

I really want to know what made this man tick and I haven't looked forward to a book like this since "The Illusion of Life" which was a two year wait.  I hope "Full Steam Ahead!" doesn't turn into another multiple years wait.  I've already pre-paid for it when it was first announced.

Update:  Well, Disney has won and Chronicle has killed the book.  Amid assures us the book will be printed but for those who prepaid outside of Amazon, like me, the task will be more complicated.  Personally I won't be prepaying on any books before they hit the stores again.

Merry Christmas!

I saw this on Cartoon Brew and couldn't resist. Of course that's Ward Kimball on the trombone and Frank Thomas on piano. Merry Christmas!

Disney Family Album

Animator Steve Vitale has posted many of the Disney Family Albums which feature some the major animators who defined the look and style of the studio. You can find it here: http://loosetoon.blogspot.com/2007_02_01_archive.html

Soup Scene

Speaking Of Ward Kimball, here is the scene he did that was cut from Snow White. It's nice but I can understand the reason it was taken out. It fell right on the heals of the 'Washing Song',(which was a better tune), and really didn't advance the story or character development. This and another Kimball sequence involving a bed built for Snow White were cut because they slowed the movie down. Walt felt badly about the cuts and gave Ward many opportunities to try and make up for it.

Ward at Play

The lens on this picture makes the room appear much larger than it actually was, but here is Ward Kimball with his toy trains and airships. I had the privilege of a two week visit with the Kimball’s where I saw this and his other detached building of Disney Memorabilia first hand. The time spent with the Kimball’s made an indelible impression and I hope to enjoy life and work with as much integrity and fun as he seemed to.

Picture by L.A Times

Click on image to enlarge.

Ward on Illusion of Life

Animator Colin Giles uploaded this video of Ward Kimball from the Disneyland TV show. Colin also has a great clip of legendary animator Marc Davis that you can watch here: http://cartooncolin.blogspot.com/2007/02/disneys-illusion-of-life-tv.html

Illusion of life3
Uploaded by cartooncolin

Adult Ward Kimball

I saw this film at Ward’s home in 1979. He showed it on his own 16mm projector for us. It typifies his humor and shows a more earthy side than the Disney work allowed. I remember seeing an original Herriman Krazy Kat framed on his living room wall hanging right next to an original Robert Crumb orgy scene that was very graphic. It told me a lot about Ward and his wife Betty. I hope to have as much fun out of life as he seemed too.

More Ward Goodness

Most everyone knows two of the Disney Nine Old Men were Frank Thomas and Ward Kimball. Not everyone knows they also played in a band made up of other animators call The Firehouse Five. Here’s a sample and description from boberwig. Thanks!

Everybody loves my Baby Firehouse Five plus Two 1951
One of the American West Coast Dixieland Jazz Bands in the fifties was the Firehouse Five Plus Two. Here you see a filmclip from 1951 of Ward Kimball's very popular band. Ward on trombone, with Danny Alguirre on cornet, and Clarl Mallory on clarinet. In the rhythm group we see Frank Thomas piano, Harper Goff on banjo, Ed Penner on tuba and Monte Mountjoy on drums. They play "Everybody Loves my Baby"

Everybody loves My Baby
Uploaded by boberwig

Happy Birthday Ward Kimball

When i see an elephant fly
Uploaded by thadk

One of my favorite sites is Animation ID hosted by Thad Komorowski. He has a brilliant on going break down on what animators did what scenes. This is part of a tribute to Ward Kimball that he posted on Wards birthday March 4th. Please visit the site for more wonderful Kimball animation and other great stuff. You can find it here: http://classicanimation.blogspot.com/

Sentimental Journey…

Going through a book of mine for reference I glanced at the autograph at the front and recalled the great opportunity of meeting this legend of Animation. It suddenly dawned on me that I’ve been blessed to have met three of Disney’s Nine Old Men: Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, and Ward Kimball, all in good health and productively vibrant. Here are others I’ve met and am glad I shamelessly asked for autographs: Chuck Jones, Ray Harryhausen, and one I treasure for the brief time I spent with him, a fellow fan of Laurel and Hardy, Joe Ranft. Thanks guys, for inspiring us all.