A Few Words on the Oral Histories

How did these get started?

Back when I was running for re-election, it dawned on my that one of the things I (we) should be doing was sitting down with as many of the pillars of the animation industry as I (we) could and collecting their recollections. And sharing them, since they're no freaking good to anybody if they are recordings gathering dust on a closet shelf ...

I figured there was an inexpensive way to do the work, and I was right.

Me and a hundred-buck digital recorder.

So here we are, recording and recording and recording. The interviews have been a kick and a half to do, although I'm still feeling my way about mic placement and ambient noise. (You charge into oral histories with the talent and equipment you have ... etc., etc.)

How long will they continue?

Until I'm carried out of here on my shield, or leave voluntarily. Or everybody who I ask to do an interview starts turning me down. (No turn-downs yet, thank God.)

You going to interview John Lasseter? Jeffrey Katzenberg?

We've no plans to do that. (Of course, they call up and ask real nice, who knows?)

On the serious side, our purpose here isn't to interview Animation Big Shots, although that might happen from time to time. The main reason we're doing this is to get a perspective on the industry from the people who are down in the trenches, actually performing the work. There are animators ... and assistant animators ... and directors, board artists and designers who have a wealth of knowledge about how the business has been over the last twenty or fifty years. But because their names aren't Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston or Chuck Jones we haven't heard from them.

We're making it our job to give these folks a small megaphone.

And we'll put their interviews up here, mostly unedited, so that you can listen to the stories, and hopefully go away with insights and knowledge you didn't have before.

That's the goal, anyway.

You've been putting up one interview a week. You going to keep doing that?

Not necessarily. They'll go up soon after we do them, whenever we do them. (Might be one a week, might be one a month. Who knows?) Since we don't believe in a lot of tweaks, you'll hear them the way they went down: with the swear words, my high-pitched hyena laughter, and the unvarnished opinions.

Okay, no fixed routine. But when does the next interview go up?

Tomorrow. And there's one scheduled for the week after that. Beyond those two, I have no idea what the calendar might hold.

So don't anybody hold their breath.