Today is the 90th birthday of American treasure Jack Davis. One of the founding artists of MAD Magazine illustrator of countless movie posters, magazine covers, advertising illustration, books, trading cards, and yes, even designs for animation, Jack Davis has been a part of the American pop culture scene for many, many decades. What makes it even sweeter is that he is so modest about his work, and such a gentleman.
Back in 2006, I was part of a team that put together a banquet for Jack as the first recipient of the Comic Art Professional Society’s (CAPS) Sergio Award, named after his former MAD colleague Sergio Aragonès. Jack was such a gracious guest, and never tooted his own horn. He didn’t have to – his work does all the tooting for him, not to mention that night there were tributes from artists all over the country, a commendation from the mayor of Los Angeles, and letters of congratulations from past United States Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, both of whom Jack playfully skewered on TIME Magazine covers.
Jack Davis sitting in his Georgia studio holding a copy of “The Sakai Project” book of which we were both a part.
I have known Jack and his sweet wife Dena for almost twenty years, and only regret that I haven’t known them longer. His work has meant a lot to me personally, having been an inspiration to always try to draw better – something I expounded upon in a Monster Month post this past October. Not only that, they are also lovely, genuine people.
Jack Davis and yours truly taken in Jack’s studio in September, 2014.
So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the greatest southern gentleman I know! Thanks for all the years of showing us how it is done, but most of all, thanks for your friendship.
Several weeks ago on a visit to one of my favorite jaunts, a little restaurant known as Chili John’s in Burbank, California, I doodled a monster on one of their paper placemats. It was just one of those things that happened when a ball point pen met a piece of paper while I was enjoying conversation with the great folks who work there. They liked it, and pinned it up on their wall which in a way is a challenge to anyone else who comes in to do better.
You can see that I am a very neat eater – no chili spills on the placemat.
To “do better” is not very hard in this eating establishment, because cartoonists from all the animation studios sit at Chili John’s lunch counter each and every day. They are always doing drawings, most of which go on display in the back room for the amusement of the owners and staff.
Chili John’s is the second oldest restaurant in Burbank (only The Smokehouse is older) established in their current location in the 1940s. The fare is simple – good solid no filler spicy chili in beef, chicken, vegetarian, and here at Thanksgiving – turkey. You can have it served over rice, spaghetti, beans, a chili filled tamale, or a hot dog. That’s it! The food is good, and the clientele from all walks of life come in to dine. It is not unusual to see their share of famous people past and present such as Tom Bosley, “Weird” Al Yankovic, Grant Show, Roseanne Barr, Greg Proops, Anne Hathaway, Daniel Roebuck, and any number of recording artists who inhabit the hidden studios along Burbank Blvd. Just last week the CBS show CSI was taping two doors down at the hobby shop, and cast & crew kept coming in for some of that good ol’ chili! It got to where the Craft Services cook came and got a supply to put on the buffet outside. Even Guy Fieri featured it on his show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on the Food Network. But I digress.
So, back to the monster sketch! Someone DID decide to pick up a pen and meet the challenge. In my absence, Delilah – age 8 – came in with her mother, saw my monster sketch, and decided she was going to draw him, too. She studied and concentrated and came up with her own beautiful version of my beast. She also one-upped me by giving him a name – Lumpy!
Delilah has an eye for monsters, but also a taste for excellent chili!
I LOVE IT Delilah – whoever you are! Well done! Please keep drawing and drawing so that one day I can copy your work, ok? Hopefully sometime we can meet each other there at Chili John’s. We can enjoy a bowl of hot chili together and laugh at each other’s placemat doodles. Then maybe Anne Hathaway will have to follow in OUR footsteps. 😉
This past weekend my mind wandered to a show I started working on for Disney about seven or eight years ago. It was the CG animated My Friends Tigger & Pooh. It was such a delight to draw Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, Eeyore, Rabbit, Kanga, Roo, Lumpy, and anyone else who came to the 100 Acre Wood during those two and a half seasons that we created their adventures. You, however, only were able to watch two of those seasons. We actually were halfway through planning the third season before the network decided that the first two were enough.
We did something in our show that seemed to polarize the Pooh fans, though. Christopher Robin was not included. Instead, we introduced a little girl named Darby to the stories. Darby was voiced by Chloë Grace Moretz when she was just a wee lass. She has gone on to bigger things working in movies with directors like Tim Burton and Martin Scorsese, but once upon a time she delivered great enthusiasm in her conversations with Pooh and Tigger.
Despite all of Darby’s cuteness and charm, fans missed Christopher Robin, including Queen Elizabeth who purportedly had an aide call the Disney Channel suggesting that Christopher Robin be returned to the Wood. Regarding the young boy’s absence, “the Queen is not amused,” was the rumor floating around the studio. So, while Darby remained, Christopher Robin did return for a few episodes, though one time the gang spent an episode calling a frog “Christopher Robin” thinking that the boy had turned into the amphibian, naturally.
Another element of this series was that Darby led Tigger and Pooh as the “Super Sleuths.” It was a fun device where something would happen, and the residents of the woods needed help solving the problem. Every episode they would don their Super Sleuth outfits, then go off to “think, think, think” in an attempt to find the answer, often causing more chaos in the process.
After my work on the show ended in 2008, I created a series of watercolor sketches (such as this one) based on the show just for the fun of it.
You know, while working on the show, my mother sent me a drawing that I did at the age of 5 of Disney’s Winnie the Pooh. It was so surreal to see I had an interest in him all those years ago, and then was making a living drawing him. I tease you with that, however. Little Chad’s art is not available to share with you here at this time, but eventually it will find its way here on the ol’ blog.
My Friends Tigger & Pooh really was a delightful show, and had some really wonderful scripts by our writers led by Brian Hohlfeld and Nicole Dubuc. It was a treat working with everyone, and especially getting to see the great Jim Cummings work his magic as Pooh, Tigger, and the Beaver, Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime) who was Eeyore, Ken Sansom who (though now deceased) was Rabbit for many years, Rob Paulson (famous for Pinky from Pinky & the Brain) who did a raccoon, Max Burkholder (from TV’s Parenthood) as Roo, Dee Bradley Baker who was an amazing dog (Buster), as well as even Mark Hamill (yes, Luke Skywalker himself) who did a recurring character of a turtle.
It is available on DVD. Settle down with your little ones, put on your thinking caps and watch all the charming adventures of Darby, Tigger, Pooh and the gang!
On the evening of November 2, friends and fans of the great Stan Freberg descended upon Hollywood’s Egyptian Theater to honor him for his seventy years in show business. Stan’s career began at the age of 18 as a voice actor for Looney Tunes cartoons, work he got through a talent agency that had been located mere blocks from where the evening’s tributes took place. From voice work, his career blossomed into other areas such as radio, television, movies, comedy albums, and advertising.
The poster for the evening’s event designed by editorial cartoonist Michael Ramirez.
The tribute was hosted by Harry Shearer who himself is known not only as being one of the members of Spinal Tap, but also for his possibly hundreds of voices for The Simpsons such as Mr. Burns, Smithers, Principal Skinner, and the list goes on and on. Other participants on stage that evening were “Weird” Al Yankovic, Micky Dolenz, Leonard Maltin, animation historian Jerry Beck, animator and director Eric Goldberg, animation director Bob Kurtz, and Stan’s lovely wife Hunter Freberg.
Throughout the evening, clips were played from all his various careers. We heard some of his wonderful comedy routines from his records, watched his television appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, his work with Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent and Dishonest John from the original live puppet version of Time for Beany, The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., The Monkees, The Frank Sinatra Show (where through his puppet Orville the alien, Stan sang a duet with Frank), The Dick Cavett Show, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, and many of his cartoons (including his work as the beaver in Lady & the Tramp) and hilarious as well as thought provoking commercials.
There were even video tributes sent in by some of Stan’s fans who could not make it that evening. They began with a few words from Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner, followed by the ever energetic Dr. Demento, the magical Penn Jillette, and from the set of their movie currently shooting in Berlin – Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks who both had grown up with Stan’s records.
At the end of the evening, Stan and his wife Hunter took to the stage for a few parting tales which ended in a thunderous standing ovation, one of three or four for him throughout the proceedings.
Perhaps you might like to see a little of what went on there instead of just reading about it. Here are a few photos to make you feel as though you were there:
Before the doors were opened to the public, Stan was able to mingle with those involved in the evening’s program as final preparations were being taken care of.Disney animator and director Eric Goldberg chatting with Hunter Freberg.Movie critic Leonard Maltin with “Weird” Al Yankovic.Animation director Bob Kurtz with voice actor Harry Shearer (“The Simpsons”) and Leonard Maltin.A group shot before the doors were opened to the public. Back row Harry Shearer, Micky Dolenz, “Weird” Al Yankovic, Jerry Beck, Leonard Maltin. Front row: Bob Kurtz, Stan Freberg, Hunter Freberg, and Eric Goldberg.Mark Evanier, who was one of the evening’s organizers and producer of the “The Garfield Show” show that Stan has done voices for recently, with Stan Freberg in the green room of The Egyptian Theater before the show started.Harry Shearer who did a fantastic job as host for the evening’s proceedings.Jerry Beck presenting the animation segment of the show with Eric Goldberg.Eric Goldberg praising the vocal prowess of Stan Freberg who did the voices of Pete Puma, Junyer Bear, and countless others for Looney Tunes cartoons.Freberg’s recording career doing parody songs back in the 1950s and 60s paved the way for artists like “Weird” Al Yankovic who publicly thanked Stan for his work. Stan even had been on Al’s children’s TV show back in the 1990s.Hey, hey! It’s a Monkee! Micky Dolenz told the audience about working with Stan back in the 1960s on his show “The Monkees.”Film historian Leonard Maltin introduced filmed tributes from famous fans of Freberg who could not be there in person.Bob Kurtz who broke into a great impersonation of Freberg while telling us about some of the animated commercials they made together.After all the accolades, it was Stan’s turn to take the stage with a standing ovation from the audience and his wife and Harry Shearer.Hunter Freberg telling tales about her wonderful husband, Stan……with Stan just drinking in every word from his sweetie.Two time Pulitzer prize winner for editorial cartooning Michael Ramirez with Al Yankovic. Michael was the creator of the great poster used to promote the evening’s tribute.At the end of the evening, Freberg sat in the lobby greeting fans and signing autographs. He even had drawings he had done of Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent, a character he originated in puppet form back in the 1950s.One parting shot of myself with the Frebergs at the end of the evening.
It was a delightful evening for all, and especially for Stan & Hunter. Thanks so much to Howard Green and Mark Evanier for producing the show, and thanks to Arthur Greenwald and Joe Campana for their invaluable participation as well.
And now, here giving the final word of the evening…
Welcome to the final selection in my 2014 Monster Month series of creepy crawlies and things that go bump in the night. As you can see, this grand finalè is autobiographical. Well, at least it is how I remember bedtime to be when I was a child.
I was that kid who would look pensively into his bedroom to make sure no monsters were peeking out of the closet or rumbling under the bed. If the coast looked clear, I would run full tilt into the room and leap onto my bed so fast that the monsters beneath had no chance to reach out and grab my ankles. Of course the mattress was off limits to them, so if I made it there safely, the monsters were powerless to attack me.
However, those monsters knew they would have their turn – a moment when I would be the most vulnerable. It was that moment in the middle of the night when one would have to get up to go to the bathroom. You wake up, and are too groggy to realize that you are sliding out of bed to go into the hall, which also means you are too groggy to think defensively. The monsters take that moment to SPRING out from the abyss beneath the box spring and munch on their midnight snack of a wailing child.
The next time your children wet their beds, don’t get angry at them. They are just protecting themselves from going down the gullet of a hungry monster. Instead, be thankful you still have your children and applaud them for their defensive thinking.
Buckle up. It’s going to be a bumpy night.
Well, thank you for joining me again on this year’s monstrous journey. It was fun letting my mind wander to create these creatures. Hope you enjoyed them as much as I did in drawing them. Keep coming back throughout the year to see what other goodies I unleash, and feel free to click on the Monsters category on my blog homepage to see what beasties you may have missed in the past!
While he is small, this is NOT Tiny Tim. This particular Tim was a piece I created a few years back when I was trying to get a short cartoon off the ground with my friend Brian Joseph Ochab. Narrated by Sir Christopher Lee, it was going to be a magnificent stop-motion tribute parody of Tim Burton’s early short film for Disney called “Vincent”. Through various efforts to get it off the ground, our “Tim” did not happen, but some fun artwork was left behind. This is a piece I never shared here before.
If you would like to see more of my development art for our short and even a video of when the project was talked about on TV, CLICK HERE!
You be the one to water that tree. Not me.
Return tomorrow for our grand finale piece in this year’s MONSTER MONTH!
We are down to our last three monster posts for the month, and it’s about time we classed up the joint.
Not all monsters are, well . . . monsters. While some roam the countryside making mayhem wherever they please, others are of an upper crust upbringing and behave in a quite dignified manner. They abhor the besmirching, (yes, I said BESMIRCHING) of the monster species by the uncouth antics of a few.
So, without further ado, may I present monsters who enjoy some rarefied air…
Thankfully, this is not a musical and they won’t break into song. Whether classy or not, all monsters are tone deaf.
Tomorrow is a Throwback Thursday offering – a piece from a project from a couple of years ago.
Sometimes it is just fun to sit in a comfy chair and let your hand and mind go nuts on a page in the ol’ sketchbook. Such is the genesis of today’s Monster Month offering. Purple pencil, blank page, and some unhinged mental musings…
Best to get these out of my head BEFORE going to bed.
