Tuesday, July 7, 2009

wow! pete docter called...

the director of Pixar's latest marvel UP.
we reminded each other of an early encounter
backstage at a krimson concert in the 80's.
pete said he was with andrew stanton,
another of the creative main springs of Pixar.
turns out they are both fans of my work.
I couldn't begin to stress what a fan I am of theirs!

most people know I'm more child than adult.
I still have my fascination firmly intact.
but did you know this: all my life
animation has been one of my biggest fascinations.

it started with saturday morning showings of looney tunes.
my dad would often go to a place next to our junior high
school called the purple patch, our local donut shop.
he would bring home donuts and we'd watch bugs bunny,
foghorn leghorn, sylvester, and the gang all morning.

I loved imitating the voices (and I still try)
which is why I've listed mel blanc as my favorite
vocalist of all time. mel breathed life into more
than a thousand characters in his lifetime. incredible.

for many years of my adult life with some exceptions
there was a lull in the world of animation.
I had to get by watching re-runs of the frog singing
"hello my baby, hello my honey,
hello my rag
time gaaal"..

then came Pixar.
I saw the very first Pixar short film at a short
animation film festival and life was forever changed.
I've seen everything they've made since
many times over.
needless to say they make my favorite films.
their animation is truly amazing. great stories,
memorable characters, perfect music, etc.

so imagine what an honor it is for me to hear
pete docter and andrew stanton are fans.
they are two of the top creators at Pixar!
(look them up on wikipedia. you won't believe
all the stuff they've done)

when pete called I wasn't feeling well.
the next day I went to see UP (in 3-D)
and I felt like a kid again.
wowee!
all I needed was donut from the patch.

9 comments:

  1. Looney Tune music was really good and what set them apart from Disney. The use of color was/is amazingly good. I know a designer who uses those cartoons as reference for color combinations. I've been watching the Looney Tunes as an adult and have noticed a lot of adult visuals in the background that I didn't see as a youth. There are pin-up calenders on the walls, even some of the cracks in the walls are formed like shapely nude women. They are on screen for less than five seconds, but they are there. Soooo amusing for this Tune fan. My wife met Mel Blanc when she was a child, he did several of the voices for her and totally blew her mind. Thanks for making me think of the Tunes today. And the donuts too!
    Steve

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have a six-year-old daughter, and I recently introduced her to the joy that is Looney Tunes. She's becoming quite the Bugs Bunny fan. And thanks to her, I have an excuse to see all the Pixar movies, as well. Ah, who am I kidding? I would've seen them anyway!

    Until Pixar, I often lamented that they simply didn't make cartoons the way they used to. The new 'toons lacked detail, dimension, and depth. Then came Pixar. There's cause for hope after all.

    Ade, let's hope they ask you to write the music for one of their features someday.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey Adrian,
    I think it's great that the Pixar guys love your stuff too. I'm a big fan of animation as well. Loney Tunes, Pixar, Wallace and Gromit, Miyazaki, and Harryhausen are all regulars on our dvd players. I've been slowly educating my 5 and 8 year olds with all the classics and they're eating it up.
    Pixar has been my favorite animation co. since the early shorts as well. My wife and I would catch Pixar films anywhere we could even before our boys came along.
    I sure hope that the Pixar guys ask you to contribute something to one of their works. That would be a perfect match.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I just saw Up the other day... a beautiful, funny, exciting, and touching film... they just keep hitting home runs, them Pixar guys...

    It's easy to imagine that such a great group of creative folks would be fans of yours, Adrian...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yo Adrian, (sorry bad reference choice), I was on the fence about Up but with your raves I think I fell over to the other side, I'll have to make a point of seeing it. I was always a fan of Bugs Bunny and Roadrunner and the WW1 flying ace Snoopy. Imagine a doghouse that flies! I'm not ashamed to admit I have a sculpture of him flying his bullet riddled doghouse-a prized possesion. Looking forward to seeing the Trio again with new material at King's NYC. It's a good thing you snatched them up otherwise Julie & Eric would probaly be playing The Who Reincarnation Tour. Keep Townsend away from your shows!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Donuts and Looney Tunes...what a lovely memory!

    ReplyDelete
  7. i am a "chicken hawk"---"are you a chicken?"---
    next line said in that wonderful voice---of MR
    LEGHORN----"NO THAT'S A CHICKEN "----as he points to the Dog---------yeah--nothing better than Mel---we watch--on pbs every christmas---
    a great Jack Benny--christmas special---and the "master"-MEL----plays a department store clerk-that Jack drives so insane-----Mel-in the last scene--shoots himself in the head-(offscreen)--but you hear the BANG------anyway
    -----great stuff-------love mel blanc---i wonder where "e" is-----------and is "e"-----
    on the way---------love-peace------gary

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love Foghorn Leghorn when the goose-mother is trying to woo him and the goose-mother's son who is obviously some kind of boy genius is playing with his chemistry set and Foghorn Leghorn tries to get him to play baseball but instead the baby goose boy genius hands him a test tube full of fizzing stuff and Foghorn Leghorn says: Watch it fizz! And he puts his thumb (do roosters have thumbs?) over the open end of the test tube and shakes it really hard and it goes BOOM! right in his face.

    And Mel Blanc was a genius and it's really great that all this stuff is preserved so it will always be with us.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I hope they use you in the way they did Peter Gabriel in Wall-E. Pretty damn well!

    ReplyDelete