A New Week, Another Round Through the Same Studios

On the animated feature front:

The Simpsons feature cnotinues to crackle along, with the picture up on reels and going through revisions. Over at Rough Draft -- the Glendale studio aiding and abetting the larger Simpsons crew over on Hollywood Way-- some animators have been cycled off the production as key domestic animation winds down a bit...

At the House of Mouse (feature division), Frog Princess, American Dog (expect a new title soon) and Rapunzel are all working their way from storyboard to story reel. One of the story persons on Frog enthused to me that everyone is free to improve story elements as they go along, and that group story sessions are yielding good ideas everytime the crew gets together.

It's a lot like it used to be way back. People are throwing out lots of different ideas and the good ones are getting incorporated into the boards..."

Walking out at lunchtime with a couple animation veterans, I spied an exhibit of Marc Davis's animal studies. Which reminded me of a Marc Davis story told me a while back by Marc's widow Alice:

Marc, when he was designing exhibits and rides for WED (the Disney subsidiary that developed attractions for Disneyland), one day found himself in an artistic fight with superiors over designs. Ken Anderson, then on loan to WED, was involved in the argument and sided with Marc.

When the meeting was over, Ken said to Marc: "You and I don't need to take this kind of stuff! We should both quit! In fact, let's quit together!!"

Marc, carried away by Ken's passion, decided that was a good idea. So he cleared out his desk and left.

The next day, however, he had second thoughts, and decided to go back to WED and talk to the supervisors with whom he'd had the fight.

When Marc got to WED, he happened by his old office. To his surprise it wasn't empty. There, behind the desk that had yesterday been his, sat Ken Anderson.

Ken, you see, after talking Marc into quitting, had hurriedly recquisitioned Marc's office.

Hope your Monday is a happy one.