Archive for the ‘storyboard’ Category

Tuesday, January 31st, 2023

Story: The Greatest Cartoon Writer Of All Time

Warren Foster

The other day, a discussion on cartoon writing erupted in response to recent posts on the subject in John Kricfalusi’s blog. One of John’s main points is that the golden age cartoons that we all regard as the greatest cartoons ever created were written by cartoonists as storyboards, not written in words as scripts. In support of his argument, he presented video clips of Walt Disney and Walter Lantz discussing the qualifications of the people who wrote their cartoons. (See also, Page 5 of the 1938 Disney Training Manual).

typewritertypewriterThe scriptwriters in the comments dismissed John K’s points as old fashioned and irrelevant to the current scene, while expressing respect of a general sort for the classic cartoons of the past. They claimed that it was just a matter of John’s personal tastes, not a reflection on the effectiveness of the process itself. They never seemed to address the fact that prior to 1960 stories for cartoons weren’t created and developed with words in script form- they were drawn. In listening to these arguments by current cartoon scriptwriters, I began to wonder how much they really knew about the process used to make the classic cartoons they expressed respect for. I posed a simple question…

Who was your favorite golden age cartoon writer?

It’s a fair question- one that I’ve heard animators discuss and argue about on many occasions. Surely current cartoon writers would have golden age writer heros, just like animators study golden age animators like Milt Kahl or Grim Natwick

Disney Story Dept

Disney story man, Joe Rinaldi

But none of the scriptwriters participating in the discussion could name a single golden age cartoon writer. The only names they could mention were other current scriptwriters, or novelists, journalists and live action screenwriters who worked in totally different media. They had no idea who pioneered their profession and the process these people used to create cartoons for nearly half a century. To be fair, this sort of ignorance of the history of our craft isn’t just limited to writers. I’ve heard the same sort of admissions of ignorance from producers and directors, as well as artists and animators.

Here is an example of a story by my favorite golden age story man… Warren Foster.

Warren FosterWarren Foster Warren Foster is responsible for writing many of the greatest cartoons ever made… He started as a gag man on Fleischer’s Popeye series in New York, and moved West in 1938 to join Bob Clampett at Warner Bros. He wrote a string of classic cartoons… "Coal Black And De Sebben Dwarfs", "Birdy And The Beast", "Falling Hare", "Baby Bottleneck", "The Great Piggy Bank Robbery", and perhaps Bugs Bunny’s most shaded performance, "Tortoise Wins By A Hare".

After Clampett’s departure from the studio, he wrote for McKimson ("Gorilla My Dreams", "Easter Yeggs", "The Foghorn Legorn") and Freleng ("Ballot Box Bunny", "Bugs And Thugs", "Birds Anonymous"). Freleng said that Foster was the best story man he ever worked with. In the TV era, Foster wrote episodes of Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, Quick Draw McGraw, The Jetsons and The Flintstones.

Here is a storyboard by Foster from his days at Hanna-Barbera. This is a model of clarity and simplicity, designed to meet the stringent economics imposed on TV animation at the time. This is a board from the pilot episode of The Yogi Bear Show.

Warren Foster
Warren Foster
Warren Foster
Warren Foster
Warren Foster
Warren Foster
Warren Foster
Warren Foster
Warren Foster
Warren Foster
Warren Foster
Warren Foster
Warren Foster
Warren Foster
Warren Foster

WHAT ABOUT ADVENTURE SHOWS
AND COMIC STRIPS?

In his article, "Detour Guide For An Armchair Marco Polo", master comic strip storyteller, Milton Caniff writes…

There has been a tendency recently for artists to automatically assume they cannot write their own stories because they see so many double by-lines. I contend that any man who can invent pictures can invent situations and dialogue. In fact, it should be easier for the artist to pilot his own action because he is not likely to write himself into one of those undrawable dilemmas in manuscripts about which illustrators have complained for years. –Milton Caniff

Sound familiar?

Stephen Worth
Director
Animation Resources

Animated CartoonsAnimated Cartoons

This posting is part of the online Encyclopedia of Cartooning under the subject heading, Animation.

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Wednesday, June 15th, 2022

Story: Terry-Toons Storyboard by Jim Tyer

Jim Tyer Storyboard

Archive supporter, Wynn Hamonic shared a real treasure with us today. This is a complete storyboard by Terry-Toons’ most unique animator, Jim Tyer. It’s a great batch of drawings. Terry-Toons art is very scarce, and complete storyboards are even scarcer.

Around 1959 Tyer did storyboards for at least three films in the format of Paul Terry’s early Aesop’s Fables cartoons. The first one, “The Tiger King” (1960) was released, the other two were unproduced. This storyboard, titled “Blood is Thicker Than Water” is particularly interesting because it includes both finished panels and roughed out ones. This gives us a chance to examine Tyer’s working process and see how he planned out his compositions. At Terry-Toons, storyboards were done on full sheets of animation paper and attached to the wall by binder clips. You can see Carlo Vinci and Connie Rasinski pitching a board at Terry-Toons in this photo…

Terry Production Process

It appears that Tyer swept through the board quickly with blue pencil first, roughing in the basic compositions and poses. Then he (or his assistant) went back and began to tighten up the drawings in black pencil over the top of his roughs.

Jim Tyer Storyboard

The cartoon was evidently designed for fairly limited animation. It would even have worked well as an animatic in the style of the earliest Crusader Rabbit cartoons. The story is told primarily in voice over narration- see the breakdown of the VO script at the top. Tyer’s amazing expressions and fun designs make the whole thing work beautifully.

I’d like to thank Wynn Hamonic for giving Animation Resources the opportunity to digitize this important piece of Terry-Toons history for our permanent collection. Enjoy the genius of Jim Tyer!

Jim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard
Jim Tyer StoryboardJim Tyer Storyboard

Stephen Worth
Animation Resources

Animated CartoonsAnimated Cartoons

This posting is part of the online Encyclopedia of Cartooning under the subject heading, Animation.

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Friday, August 30th, 2019

RefPack029: Toby Bluth’s Storyboard Collection

Reference Pack

REFPACK 029
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Members Only Download

Every other month, members of Animation Resources are given access to an exclusive Members Only Reference Pack. These downloadable files are high resolution e-books on a variety of educational subjects and rare cartoons from the collection of Animation Resources in DVD quality. Our current Reference Pack has just been released. If you are a member, click through the link to access the MEMBERS ONLY DOWNLOAD PAGE. If you aren’t a member yet, please JOIN ANIMATION RESOURCES. It’s well worth it.


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PDF E-BOOK:
Toby Bluth Storyboards

Toby Bluth Storyboard Collection
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Fantasia / Pinocchio (1940)

From his childhood years in Texas on through to his family’s move out to Los Angeles, Toby Bluth was enamored with the animated films of Walt Disney. Their story sense and striking visuals would inspire him to a long career in creating beautiful imagery. He went on to design and direct over one hundred stage productions; he illustrated numerous children’s books; and he worked on countless projects in animation. Some highlights include winning the Hollywood Drama-Logue Critics Award four times, and being named Disney Fine Art’s top selling artist for a number of years. He also was art director for the Disney animated films The Tigger Movie and Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers.

Toby Bluth Storyboards

In his later years he would refer to the first five Disney animated features as his greatest inspirations. His intense love led to a close study of these films, and their influence can be seen in just about everything he created in his life. Even his home, with its wooden corbels and stained glass windows, were reminiscent of something out of Pinocchio.

While working as the art director on The Tigger Movie he had copies made of nearly every layout drawing from Snow White that was in the Disney Animation Research Library. Now I don’t know how crucial those were as reference for the look of this particular Winnie the Pooh feature, but Toby didn’t miss his chance to be able to study these rare treasures. He certainly had an eye for the good stuff!

Toby Bluth Storyboards

This collection of storyboards is a vivid example of the sort of reference material that inspired and influenced Toby’s art. These vintage photostats were used in the production of the films, and were among his most prized posessions. The clarity of staging and lighting in the early Disney features is something Toby always strived for in his own work. When explaining the appeal of his drawings and watercolor paintings he would refer to the importance of light and air. He would often refer to chiaroscuro, the treatment of light and dark, and its importance to his technique.

In Toby’s paintings, the highlights and shadows defined both mood and form. When he began a painting, he would always paint the atmosphere first. He would achieve this by laying in a wash to represent the shadows in a complimentary color to the source light. Next, he would glaze in the local color in layers, one after another. His pencil drawings would be also be completely rendered to show form and depth, a standard practice for the early Disney films, but not always done in later animated productions. You can see this wonderful examples of these rendered layout drawings in some of the storyboards contained in this collection.

I’m sure Toby would be happy to know his collection can now be shared with other students of fine image making, and likely for the very first time. I hope they inspire you as much as they did him! –Colby Bluth

Many thanks to the family of Toby Bluth for sharing this important collection of vintage storyboard photostats with us. This e-book is set up to be printed single sided on 11 x 17 inch paper, so you can print it out, pin it up on cork boards and break down the structure to learn how to apply the techniques to your own work.

REFPACK029: Toby Bluth Collection
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Adobe PDF File / 86 Pages / 316 MB Download


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Toby Bluth StoryboardsToby Bluth StoryboardsToby Bluth StoryboardsToby Bluth StoryboardsToby Bluth Storyboards


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