The Plympton report, not quite one week late

As previously noted here, animator Bill Plympton showed a selection of his movies at National Geographic on March 19th. He appeared somewhat uncomfortable introducing his films, but loosened up in the Q&A session.

The films shown were: Lucas the Ear of Corn (1977, 4 min) A young ear learns the meaning of life.
25 Ways to Quit Smoking (1989, 5 min) Smoking "cures" that can't fail.
Smell the Flowers (1996, 2 min) A busy executive gets a visit from a nature-loving bird.
The Exciting Life of a Tree (1998, 7 min) A tree's point of view on centuries of human and animal events.
Parking (2002, 6 min) A blade of grass duels with a parking lot attendant.
Guard Dog (2004, 5 min) Academy Award nominee. An afternoon stroll with an overprotective dog.
The Fan and the Flower (2005, 7 min) The charming tale of an ill-fated romance between a houseplant and a lonely ceiling fan.
Guide Dog (2006, 5 min) The twisted sequel to Guard Dog.

Among interesting points:

Each film costs about $1000 / minute including his studio and assistants. So most films cost him about $5000. He can usually recover that with a sale to a larger animated venue, like the current Animation Show 3.

He's opposed to YouTube because it directly takes money away from him.

Films have gotten much faster to make due to computer technology.

25 Ways to Quit Smoking was made when he did a book of 100 cartoons, but couldn't sell it. So he trimmed it down, animated it and had a big success with it.

The Fan and the Flower was written by a Hollywood sitcom writer who called him up and asked him to animate it, but in a simple line and silhouette style.

The Exciting Life of a Tree was conceived while driving through France and seeing the battlefields of World War I.

The goofyGuard Dog was another immediate hit, and he will be doing a third film, Hot Dog, about the dog as a firefighter. The dog is very easy to animate as it's basically a squared-off circle, and each bounce is only three drawings.

The parking attendant of a lot that his studio overlooked inspired Parking. However, he never saw the film as he was killed in a robbery. As Plympton noted, "It's tragic, but that's life."



The books shown here as well as the movies mentioned above are available at his website.And my friend Doug who went with me beat me to the blogging.

May 5: Free Comic Book Day

Details are online at http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/scoop_article.asp?ai=14877&si=124

Baltimore Comic-Con website up

Randy T. also reports that the Baltimore Comic-Con website is up. This is always a fun convention and I'm sorry that I missed the first few years of it.

Phoenix Comics in Herndon to move

Reader Randy T. passes along the following information from the store, which he typed in from their flyer (get with the idea of the web guys! And Phoenix is not alone with this issue).

WE’RE MOVING!!!
Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Our new location is at the Landsdowne Shopping Center at the Corner of Route 7 and Belmont Ridge Road, at 19340 Promenade Drive, Landsdowne, 20176.

To find our new location from our current location please follow these directions:

West on Eldon Street for .7 mi

Turn Right on VA-606 for 1.9 mi

Merge Right onto Sully Rd VA-28N for 46 mi

Exit Ramp onto Harry Byrd Hwy VA-7W for 4.6 mi

Turn Right at Belmot Ridge Rd .1 mi

Turn Right on Promenade Drive

We’re on the Left next to the Subway, across from Panera!

Subscribers will have their choice of moving their subscriptions to our new location, or you can move your subscription to our Fairfax store, located at University Mall, at 10647 Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA.

Please let us know when you visit our Herndon location beginning on Wednesday April 18, 2007 which location you would like your subscription moved to.

If you have any questions please call us at 703-437-9530, or email us at phoenixcomics@verizon.net. Make sure to keep your eye on our website at www.phoenixcomics.com for updates!

Check out our Herndon store for an awesome inventory blow-out starting April 26, 2007!!!

April 10: LOC - "Of Attitude and Action: William Hogarth the Art of Gesture"

Quick post as I'm on the road.

Hope Saska presents talk "Of Attitude and Action: William Hogarth and the Art of Gesture"
Tuesday, April 10, 2007, at 12 noon
Dining Room A, James Madison Building, 6th floor, 101 Independence Avenue SE
Co-sponsored by the Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon and the Prints and Photographs Division

In an illustrated public lecture, Swann Fellow Hope Saska will focus on the relationship between the world of theater and the work of William Hogarth (1697-1764) and other British satirists. At a time when actors were urged to study the fine arts, particularly history painting and ancient sculpture, for examples of gesture and expression to enliven the characters they portrayed on stage, Hogarth turned to theatrical metaphor to describe his two-dimensional *performances* on canvas and the engraved page.

Big Planet Comics creator appearances

March 28, 2-4 PM
Derek McCulloch (writer) and Shepherd Hendrix (artist), will be signing copies of their graphic novel, Stagger Lee, inspired by the classic folk song, at Big Planet Comics, 4908 Fairmont Ave. Bethesda, MD, 301-654-6856.

April 11, 6-8 PM
Bryan Talbot will be signing copies of his new graphic novel, Alice In Sunderland, at Big Planet Comics, 4908 Fairmont Ave. Bethesda, MD, 301-654-6856.

April 28, 2-4 PM
Nick Bertozzi will be signing copies of his new graphic novel, The Salon, at Big Planet Comics, 4908 Fairmont Ave. Bethesda, MD, 301-654-6856.
--

Joel Pollack
-=--=-=--=--
BIG PLANET COMICS
4908 Fairmont Ave. Bethesda, MD 20814
301-654-6856

Also affiliated with:
BIG PLANET COMICS
3145 Dumbarton St. NW
Washington, DC 20007

BIG PLANET COMICS
426 Maple Ave. East
Vienna, VA 22180

April 11: Bryan Talbot at Big Planet Comics in Bethesda

Bryan Talbot's new book, Alice in Sunderland came out today, but I put off buying it as he'll be appearing at Big Planet Comics in 3 weeks. In the meantime, you can read this interview with him by Swamp Thing artist Steve Bissette.

Post sacrifices ass't Style editor on comics altar!

Well, perhaps not, but yesterday Deb Heard, Assistant Managing Editor, Style took questions online. Lots of Mary Worth fans out there...

...including Wonkette's Comics Curmudgeon.

Coming soon - a report on Plympton's appearance.

Walter Reed political cartoons

By definition, many political cartoons tend to be about the place with the greatest (largest? most visible?) collection of politicians - DC. As such, I haven't been going out of my way to note cartoons about the city. However, regarding the ongoing Walter Reed hospital scandal, Daryl Cagle did so for us at his Professional Cartoonists Index which is a great resource. I'd encourage everyone to sign up for his newsletter.

March 19: An Animated Evening with Bill Plympton REPOST

An Animated Evening with Bill Plympton at National Geographic at 7:30 pm on March 19th. Plympton will show eight of his short animated films - oddly enough this might not be appropriate for children. $14 for members, $17 for non-members. I'm still planning on going; Plympton's work is sickly amusing.

On March 24th at 11 am, an Animated Environmental Film Festival has six films for $8 for adults and $6 for kids. The films are Gopher Broke, The Girl Who Hated Books, Tree Officer, Badgered, Turtle World and First Flight.

April 14: Fifth Annual Cherry Blossom Anime Marathon

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(March 18,2007)

CONTACT: vickto@si.edu or 202.633.4880

Fifth Annual Cherry Blossom Anime Marathon
In Person: Satoshi Kon!
Saturday, April 14
In celebration of this year’s Cherry Blossom Festival, the Freer presents a day-long festival of four Japanese Anime films. As a special treat, famous anime director Satoshi Kon will be on hand to discuss two of his films. The DC Anime Club will also present an interactive display of the evolution of anime fandom throughout the day. For more information please visit www.asia.si.edu.

Tickets for all films (two per person) will be available on a first-come, first-served basis beginning at 10:30 AM. Tickets for all films will be available throughout the day.

All films are in 35mm, in Japanese with English subtitles, unless otherwise indicated.

This event is made possible by the Japan Information and Culture Center of the Embassy of Japan, Otakorp, Inc., and Sony Pictures Classics.

11:00 AM
Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Movie
Fans of the wildly popular manga and card game will love this animated adventure, directed by Hatsuki Tsuji, in which a picked-on high school student unexpectedly becomes “the Game King,” and must battle the forces of evil. (2004, 90 min., English, video, rated PG)

1:30 PM
Amazing Lives of the Fast Food Grifters
From anime visionary Mamoru Oshii, director of the classic Ghost in the Shell, comes this wildly experimental fusion of traditional Japanese storytelling, live action, and advanced animation techniques, which takes a humorous look at post-war Japan through the antics of some offbeat characters on the hunt for free grub. (2006, 104 min., appropriate for children 12 and older)

4:00 PM
Tokyo Godfathers
Join Satoshi Kon as he introduces and discusses his charming and visually arresting fable about three homeless people who discover an abandoned baby on Christmas and set off on a journey of wonder through Tokyo in search of its family. (2003, 91 min., rated PG-13)

7:00 PM
Paprika
For the crowning event for this year’s marathon, Satoshi Kon will also introduce and discuss his latest film, a surreal sci-fi adventure about a machine that can record dreams that falls into nefarious hands. (2006, 90 min., rated R)

Christopher Wanamaker
DC Anime Club President
http://www.dcanimeclub.org
202 262 2083

We read the Post so you can find the good bits...

...Like this nice Douglas Wolk centerspread review in Book World - Apocalypse Then, Now and Always: Worlds destroyed, new ones made and superheroes run amok. Of the four books reviewed, I have an older edition of Gilbert's Heartbreak Soup and recommend it wholeheartedly. I've been meaning to pick up the DMZ compilations for a while, but haven't found the time yet, and the other two books sound good. In fact, I'll be calling Big Planet in a few minutes specifically for the De Crecy book.

The Source section has a review of The Care Bears, but this new book and record store, the Red Onion, sounds more interesting.

I've already mentioned Richard Thompson today, so have that weekly duty out of the way, but his cartoon yesterday about Irish bars was hilarious.

Finally, the Corcoran's Modernism show looks awesome. Blake Gopnik, one of the Post's best critics, has a piece on it today. The show is from London's Victoria and Albert museum, with American additions. Anyone who saw the excellent Art Nouveau show by the same team at the National Gallery of Art a few years back should keep this one in mind.

A Short Interview With John Cuneo

Off-topic, but Richard Thompson emailed me a link to Tom Spurgeon's interview, with his friend John Cuneo. Enjoy.

AAEC Sunshine Week includes Washington cartoonists

Aside from local lads like Matt Wuerker and Tom Toles, Richmond's Jen Sorenson contributed her Slowpoke cartoons, and Herblock 2007 award winner Jim Morin sent in three cartoons. Sorenson usually appears at SPX, and I always buy her new book. Ted Rall's got a cartoon here too, which won't appear in DC any other way since the City Paper dropped him. Check them all out here.

Toles Strikes Back

Slightly over a year ago, the Joint Chiefs of Staff took the probably unprecedented, and certainly questionable step of sending a letter into the Post condemning a Tom Toles cartoon.

Reprehensible Cartoon, Washington Post Thursday, February 2, 2006; A20

We were extremely disappointed to see the Jan. 29 editorial cartoon by Tom Toles.

Using the likeness of a service member who has lost his arms and legs in war as the central theme of a cartoon was beyond tasteless. Editorial cartoons are often designed to exaggerate issues, and The Post is obviously free to address any topic, including the state of readiness of the armed forces. However, The Post and Mr. Toles have done a disservice to readers and to The Post's reputation by using such a callous depiction of those who volunteered to defend this nation and, as a result, suffered traumatic and life-altering wounds.

Those who visit wounded veterans in hospitals have found lives profoundly changed by pain and loss. They also have found brave men and women with a sense of purpose and selfless commitment that causes battle-hardened warriors to pause.

While The Post and some of its readers may not agree with the war or its conduct, these men and women and their families are owed the decency of not having a cartoon make light of their tremendous physical sacrifices.

As the joint chiefs, we rarely put our hand to one letter, but we cannot let this reprehensible cartoon go unanswered.

PETER PACE
General, U.S. Marine Corps
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

EDMUND P. GIAMBASTIANI JR.
Admiral, U.S. Navy
Vice Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff

MICHAEL W. HAGEE
General, U.S. Marine Corps
Commandant of the Marine Corps

PETER J. SCHOOMAKER
General, U.S. Army
Chief of Staff

MICHAEL G. MULLEN
Admiral, U.S. Navy
Chief of Naval Operations

T. MICHAEL MOSELEY
General, U.S. Air Force
Chief of Staff
Washington
Today Toles struck back. Yee-hah! Toles' cartoon refers to the brewing controversy over General Pace's expressing an opinion about the morality of homosexuality and the military.

Since this blog didn't exist - here's a bit of the coverage at the time (which was also at the height of the Danish Islam cartoon controversy).

Joint Chiefs Fire At Toles Cartoon On Strained Army by Howard Kurtz, Washington Post Staff Writer, Thursday, February 2, 2006; C01.

PAULA ZAHN NOW - U.S. Military Up in Arms Over Political Cartoon, Aired February 2, 2006 - 20:00 ET has a transcript of an interview with Toles.

Tom Toles's Cartoon: Offensive or Incisive? Washington Post Saturday, February 4, 2006; A16 printed reader's letters.

Fred Hiatt, editorial page editor of the Post said in "The Goal Of These Pages," Washington Post Sunday, February 5, 2006; B07

But that leads to an important distinction: The freedom to offend brings with it a responsibility not to offend gratuitously. That is the line that we at The Post were said to have crossed last week. The first alleged transgression was a cartoon by Tom Toles last Sunday. It took off on a comment by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who had denied that the Army was stretched thin and described it instead as "battle-hardened." The cartoon showed a quadruple amputee in a hospital bed, with "Dr. Rumsfeld" saying, "I'm listing your condition as 'battle hardened.' " The chart on the bed identified the patient as "U.S. Army."

On Thursday we published a letter describing the cartoon as "reprehensible," "beyond tasteless" and "a callous depiction" of wounded soldiers. The letter was signed by all six members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, something that doesn't happen often and that certainly got our attention.

Toles is on the staff of The Post and participates in our editorial board meetings, but he operates independently; I don't tell him what to draw. On the other hand, I am responsible for what appears on the editorial and op-ed pages; with Toles, as with independent columnists, it's my job to make sure the gratuitously offensive doesn't appear.

So why this cartoon? I respect the views of the chiefs, and of others who echoed their criticism, and I understand their reaction. But I don't agree with their reading of the cartoon. (Nor, by the way, did many other readers, who wrote to support Toles or take issue with the chiefs.) I think it's an indictment of Rumsfeld, who is portrayed as callous and inaccurate in his depiction of the Army and its soldiers. Whether that's fair to the defense secretary is a separate question. I don't believe Toles meant the cartoon to demean the soldiers themselves, and I don't think it did.

And Fox News weighed in with a moderate article: As Violence Continues, U.S. Cartoonists Refuse to Draw the Line, Fox News Tuesday, February 14, 2006, by Greg Simmons.

March 15: Environmental Film Fest starts with animation

There's a couple of animated presentations tomorrow for the DC Environmental Film Fest.

MLK Library at Gallery Place at 10:30 AM -

Come On Rain! - note the comic book artist Jon J Muth did this
(USA, 2003, 7 min.)

Tess knows that the only thing that can fix the sagging vines, the cracking, dry path, the broiling alleyway and her listless mama is a good, soaking rainstorm. "Come on, rain!" she whispers into the endless summer heat. When it finally comes, there is shouting and dancing as everyone and everything spring to life. A joyful production with swinging music that is as cool as rain.

Narrated by Leila Ali with music by Jerry Dale McFadden, Weston Woods Scholastic Animations. Story by Karen Hesse, illustrated by Jon J. Muth. ALA Notable Video.

Pipsqueak Prince, The (Le trop petit prince)
(France, 2002, 7 min.)

A clean little boy decides the sun could use a bath when he notices all the dirty spots it has. After he wipes the sun clean, it sets behind the earth and all is right, until the little boy forgets where the sun goes at night! This film is about innocence and keeping the environment clean.

Directed by Zoia Trofimova. Winner, Certificate of Excellence, Animated Short Film or Video, 2003 Chicago International Children's Film Festival.

Japan Information & Cultural Center - 6:00 PM (reservations required - 202-238-6901)

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
(Japan, 1984, 116 min.)

One thousand years after the "Seven Days of Fire," an event that destroyed human civilization and most of the Earth's original ecosystem, scattered human settlements survive. They are isolated from one another by the "Sea of Corruption," a lethally toxic jungle of fungus swarming with giant insects that come together to wage war. Nausicaä is a charming young princess of the peaceful Valley of the Wind who is humane and peace-loving but also a skillful fighter noted for her empathy toward animals and humans. The Valley of the Wind becomes threatened when two rival states, Pejite and Tolmekia, battle to possess the "God Warrior," a lethal giant bio weapon that has landed in the Valley, and the fighting escalates out of control. The story holds a deeper meaning beyond war, however. Even the insects seem to be working toward some secret harmony and the lethal fungal forest seems to have a vital role in Earth's new dominant ecosystem. As she helps prisoners, villagers, enemies and mutant insects, Princess Nausicaä becomes a Joan of Arc figure–a warrior maiden inspired by a vision to defend all life against destruction.

Directed, written and illustrated by Hayao Miyazaki. Produced by Rick Dempsey and Isao Takahata.

TOONS THAT KILL draws response from Canadian cartoonist

Literally.

Steve Mielczarek sent me the cartoon to the left, but without any note attached beyond a "Comics DC" subject. When I queried him as to why, as this seemed to be a cartoon about the Danish Islam cartoon controversy, he replied:

I'm not sure. I read William Woodward Jr.'s story on your site.
I thought my cartoon was up the same alley, different topic.
I just thought I'd maybe inject some food for thought.
Here in Toronto it's "multicultural" this, and "multicultural" that.
"Multicultural", "Multicultural" all over the place.
One race is pretty much as good as another race, I guess.
I mean, Winston Churchill said it best:
"We are all worms."
But let me offer up one caveat.
I say: "We are all more like dogs."
And,
like dogs, display different temperaments.
Here's the rub:
Multiculturalism is like going to the Humane
Society to adopt a dog.
The pit bulls are best kept away from the poodles
and chihauhuas, lest they eat them up alive.
Different dogs are trained differently, and
act accordingly...

I don't know. Maybe I'm mental.
"Oh look! Over there! It's Ann Coulter!"

I dream of being a cartoonist...
Steve,
Feral Insight.

Thanks for writing in and sending the cartoon, Steve. We're ranging a bit afield beyond Washington, DC, but I appreciate it.

TOONS THAT KILL

"Tabloid Newspaper's Cartoon Incites Allegations of Racism", the story the Post ran about St. Mary's Today staff artist William Woodward Jr.'s cartoon of three young black men as bank robbers has legs as AP picked it up. The newspaper has posted ... let us call it a rebuttal... on their webpage. Ladies and gentlemen ... TOONS THAT KILL.

And let's not forget the cartoon itself.

Tempest in a teapot in my opinion, as no one would have blinked twice if this was a movie, but it's nice to see an editorial cartoon pissing off somebody. And I've got to appreciate such a spirit defense of the First Amendment.

Post changes comics without asking readers!

Shocked! I am shocked! The Post has unilaterally made a decision about its comics pages without polling its readership.

A NOTE TO COMICS READERS
Washington Post
Monday, March 12, 2007; Page C10


Beginning Monday, March 19, you'll notice that the daily comics pages have a new look and three new comics.

Two new strips will join our lineup: "Agnes," by Tony Cochran, about a witty young girl who is poor but wise beyond her years, and Tim Rickard's "Brewster Rockit: Space Guy!," which features a captain and a crew of misfits in the space station R.U. Sirius.

One new panel, "Brevity," an irreverent take on almost anything, also joins the lineup, alternating with "Close to Home." And "Speed Bump" will now run seven days a week. (We're leaving the panels out this week to announce the changes, but they will return on Monday.)

The Scrabble Gram and Stickelers puzzles will become regular features six days a week.

To make room for these changes, we will say goodbye to three strips, "Mary Worth," "Cathy" and "Broom Hilda," and two panels, "The Flying McCoys" and "The Other Coast." Those comics will continue to be carried on our Web site at http://www.washingtonpost.com.

Finally, on Sunday, March 25, we will debut "Lio" as a Sunday-only strip. Creator Mark Tutulli chronicles the adventures of Lio, a curious young boy with a vivid imagination.

We realize change is unsettling but trust that you will quickly adjust to the new lineup. We hope the new design will make your favorite features easier to find. As always, we welcome your comments. Call our comics hotline at 202-334-4775, e-mail us at comics@washpost.com or write Comics Feedback, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071.

Actually, I'm not sorry to see any of those strips go, especially Cathy which I actively do not read. I don't just ignore it like I do Mary Worth - I make my eyes go around it. Unfortunately, I'm not sure Agnes is ready for primetime (so to speak). I've been disappointed by Watch Your Head which seemed promising during its test last year.

Also in today's Post, Wiley took a shot at this Albany Times Union blog which suggested that product placement might be raising its ugly head on the comic strip pages, not just in comic books and movies.

March 23: Wonder Woman writer Jodi Picoult at Baileys Crossroads Borders

Jodi Picoult is signing her novel Nineteen Minutes at 7:30 pm on Friday March 23rd, but she's also the new writer on Wonder Woman and one could probably ask about that. The comic apparently won't be out until March 28th unfortunately.

5871 Crossroads Center Way (ie the intersection of Columbia Pike and Route 7), 703-998-0404.