Thursday, September 29, 2016

THE "OLD GUYS"

In the 1990s, quite a few of the original animators were alive, and some of them working. But the new hotshots nor the studios gave a damn. Norman McCabe was at WB TV doing exposure sheets. The young Turks were threatened by him, or something; McCabe found himself on the receiving end of nasty office politics, and ended up leaving. It was the same case at the "new" WB for Maurice Noble, whose designs were paid lip service, but never followed. Friz Freleng was called in for one meeting planning the 1990s PINK PANTHER show, and actually donated a boxful of art from the original series for the new studio to follow, but his suggestions were ignored.

It's only been since these men died that animation became all about "studying" the old techniques. Now every animator (whatever that means now) wishes they could speak to an old timer.

5 comments:

nodnarB said...


That's insane! Mccabe was just filling out exposure sheets? Not drawing in the cartoon at all? I've read that the same sort of thing happened to Jack Kirby when he got older. It seems he still had a large hardcore fan base, but the new artists and editors thought he was "old hat".

Milton Knight said...

By this time, it was mostly the old & experienced who could be relied upon to do sheets competently. Many of the young hotshots didn't know how.

nodnarB said...

Ah, it has been a lost art for quite some time now. It is pretty amazing to be able to visualize the action, time it out in your head, then write it down as little marks on a big sheet that someone else relies on when animating.

paul said...

Hey Miltie, this is Poly, nice post tonight.

Norm McCabe, old hat, that's crazy! You can't replace him! He's irreplaceable! When because you're young and new to the business in animation, you're better, which is crazy. And if you're over 30 or 40 you're dead, which is also crazy. You can't replace the old guys! They invented the animation business and the art form!

paul said...

Hey Miltie, this is Poly, nice post tonight.

Norm McCabe, old hat, that's crazy! You can't replace him! He's irreplaceable! When because you're young and new to the business in animation, you're better, which is crazy. And if you're over 30 or 40 you're dead, which is also crazy. You can't replace the old guys! They invented the animation business and the art form!