This has nothing whatsoever to do with Mr. Magoo or Christmas but if you're a fan of Jay Ward you might want to check out the latest post at artofjayward.blogspot.com where I show very rare images from the original Dudley Do-right pilot produced in 1948, 13 years before he first appeared on The Bullwinkle Show. The above image is NOT from the pilot but drawn by UPA and Ward director, Pete Burness.
Readers of either of my books, Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol, The Making of the First Animated Christmas Special or The Art of Jay Ward Productions will instantly recognize the name Gerard Baldwin. Baldwin was responsible for directing and animating the highly memorable, show-stopping sequence featuring the Despicables in Christmas Carol. For Jay Ward, he directed and animated many of the best episodes of Fractured Fairy Tales, Aesop & Son and Dudley Do-right at Jay Ward as well as animating several pilots such as Hoppity Hooper, Super Chicken and George of the Jungle. Baldwin had a flair for turning the limitations of low-budget animation into assets while squeezing out the highest possible entertainment value.
Now, you can learn a little bit more about the master himself in his new book, From Mister Magoo to Papa Smurf, A Memoir by Gerard Baldwin, available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Beginning at his beginning, Baldwin recounts growing up in New York, his decision to become an artist and his sideways move into the medium that would define his career, animation. You'll read about his early days as an inbetweener at UPA, his military service, his return to UPA and his rise as an animator and director in the TV animation industry, culminating in becoming a producer on Hanna-Barbera's The Smurfs. Between his stories from the animation trenches and his wry observations, there are a number of charming drawings illustrating anecdotes from his life.
During it's baby boomer heyday, television animation was usually looked down upon, especially by those in the industry. Consequently, very few animators and directors from that era put their experiences and thoughts down on paper; this is rare insight into the art and commerce of 1960s animated cartoons that is of interest to not only those that grew up with the cartoons but for anyone who follows pop culture. You can buy it here.
I thought I would provide just a little update on my next book, "The Art of Jay Ward Productions" for the few followers of this blog. The book covers the years from 1958 through 1984, and will include pages of artwork from virtually every show the studio produced as well as lots of never-before-seen art from unsold series. I'm even hopeful that the cereal companies will grant permission to use
images from many of the commercials Ward produced for them over the
years, but it's been a slow process so far. The book's scheduled release has been pushed back from October 2013 to February 2014 in order to coincide with the release of the Dreamworks feature, Mr. Peabody and Sherman. While it provides me with a little more breathing room, there is still much to be done. At this point, I anticipate the book having more pages and artwork than even the limited edition of Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol. The manuscript is now complete and has gone through the editorial pass. I'm about halfway through rough layout, which has been a time-consuming job simply because I've amassed over 4000 images over the last six months, with more pouring in each month. I'm still on the lookout for original production art featuring Rocky and Bullwinkle, Dudley Do-right and Tom Slick to fill out a few blank spots in the book. I'm open to any other interesting finds so if anyone out there has Jay Ward art hiding in their collections or knows anyone who collects Ward art, please contact me at your earliest convenience. Although I have many crew photos, I'm also on the lookout for more, so if you know someone who worked for Ward or if you're a family member of someone who worked there, I'd like to hear from you. Below is a list of people I need photos for:
If everything falls into place, it appears that the follow up to the making ofMr. Magoo's Christmas Carol book will be a book on the art of the Jay Ward studio. As I mentioned in the previous book, both UPA and Ward shared a number of key artists throughout the early 60s. One of those artists, Shirley Silvey, kept a lot of material from her days at both studios and as I began sifting through the material, it occurred to me that there was a book in both her life and work as well as a book on the visual aspect of the one studio, who more than any other, tried to keep 'funny' alive in TV animation. I proposed the book to Classic Media and the Ward estate, who are tied together as Bullwinkle Studios; both were enthusiastically behind it.
This book won't be a history of the Jay Ward studio, Keith Scott's thorough examination of the Jay Ward studio, The Moose That Roared, has already covered that topic and covered it exceptionally well. This is meant to be a visual encyclopedia of the art created by some of the industry's most talented designers and boarders within the context of TV animation's 'golden age'. The reason I'm devoting space to on this blog is that although I've collected a lot of images for this book already, I'm asking any and all collectors of Jay Ward art for scans of their art for use in the book in order to make it as complete as possible. This call includes original storyboards, model sheets, layouts, cels, backgrounds, pitch art for unsold pilots, promotional art, ad art, the Bullwinkle comic strip and comics, etc.
I realize that much of the early Ward production work was done in Mexico making it extremely difficult to locate, if in fact it still exists. However, more often than people realize, episodes, titles and bridges were animated in Hollywood and every so often, an artifact from those productions shows up. If you're a collector of Jay Ward production art or know someone who is, please have them contact me here. And if you know family members of artists who worked at Jay Ward, please send them my way.
To be clear, I'm not looking for scene cels, art that was manufactured for the retail market. It's unclear as to whether or not General Mills or Quaker Oats will cooperate with this venture so for the time being, I'm focusing on the entertainment side of Jay Ward productions rather than their commercial productions like Cap'n Crunch or Quisp and Quake. The book is scheduled to be published late next year.
