Fortune Teller
Monday, 14. January 2008, 05:09:01
Posts tagged with "comics"
Donald Duck (3) - Walt Disney
Friday, 10. August 2007, 05:28:31
Walter Elias Disney was born in 1901 and died in 1966.Many seem to think that he did actually draw all the Disney characters himself, but he didn't.
He made up Mickey Mouse with another cartoonist, Ub Iwerks, back in 1928. The first hit he got with Mickey Mouse was "Steamboat Willie", which was his first cartoon with sound. Disney himself provided the vocal effects for the earliest cartoons and performed as the voice of Mickey Mouse until 1946.
A funny thing is, that Mickey Mouse was first called Mortimer Mouse, but Walt's wife, Lillian Disney, thought that Mickey was a better name. Now it is Minnie's ranch-owning uncle, who is called Mortimer Mouse.During the 1930s more and more of the famous Disney characters showed up: Donald Duck, Pluto and Goofy. Pluto and Donald got their individual cartoons in 1937, and Goofy got solo cartoons in 1939.
Of all of Mickey's partners, Donald Duck ~ who first teamed with Mickey in the 1934 cartoon Orphan's Benefit ~ was arguably the most popular, and went on to become Disney's second most successful cartoon character of all time.
Disney did also invent a series of musical shorts called Silly Symphonies. The first of these was entitled The Skeleton Dance and was entirely drawn and animated by Iwerks, who was also responsible for drawing the majority of cartoons released by Disney in 1928 and 1929.
Iwerks was growing tired of the temperamental Disney, especially as he was doing the majority of the work, and so was lured by Powers into opening his own studio with an exclusive contract. Disney desperately searched for someone who could replace Iwerks, as he was not able to draw as well or as quickly; Iwerks was reported to have drawn up to 700 drawings a day for the first Mickey shorts!! Disney never forgave Iwerks that he left him, and they never worked together again after that.
This could be a very long post if I was going to describe all of Walt Disney's life. Let me just conclude that he was a very productive person, with many great ideas, who made the Disney empire so huge! It ended for Walt Disney in late 1966; after many years of chain smoking he died from lung cancer.
Donald Duck (2) - Carl Barks
Friday, 27. July 2007, 06:20:43
You can't talk about Donald Duck and the rest of the that universe, without mentioning Carl Barks.
For those currently drawing Disney Duck comics, the influence of Barks cannot be overstated. He has been a great inspiration to many Duck-cartoonists, for instance Don Rosa (I have written a post about him recently - go back and look
)
In November 1935, Carl learned that Walt Disney was seeking more artists for his Studio, and he decided to apply. He was approved for a try-out which entailed a move to Los Angeles, California. Carl was one of two in his class of trainees who was hired. His starting salary was 20 dollars a week. He started at Disney Studios in 1935, more than a year after the debut of Donald Duck on June 9, 1934 in "The Wise Little Hen."
Barks quitted his job in 1942 due to bad working conditions. He started to work with Western Publishing, who mainly wanted him to make duck stories. People who worked for Disney generally did so in relative anonymity; the stories only carried Walt Disney's name and (sometimes) a short identification number. However, through the sheer quality of his work, people started realizing that a lot of the stories were written by one person, whom they started referring to as the Good Duck Artist. Later it was discovered that the Good Duck Artist went by the name of Carl Barks. He drew Donald-stories at the Western Publishing for three decades, and he retired in 1966, but he kept writing stories for them for a while longer. He also started making oil paintings, and they are worth quite a lot today.
Barks' stories often exhibites a wry, dark irony, and that may be the reason why I like his stories so much!
Carl Barks was born in 1901 and died in 2000. All honour to his memory!
For those currently drawing Disney Duck comics, the influence of Barks cannot be overstated. He has been a great inspiration to many Duck-cartoonists, for instance Don Rosa (I have written a post about him recently - go back and look
)In November 1935, Carl learned that Walt Disney was seeking more artists for his Studio, and he decided to apply. He was approved for a try-out which entailed a move to Los Angeles, California. Carl was one of two in his class of trainees who was hired. His starting salary was 20 dollars a week. He started at Disney Studios in 1935, more than a year after the debut of Donald Duck on June 9, 1934 in "The Wise Little Hen."
Barks quitted his job in 1942 due to bad working conditions. He started to work with Western Publishing, who mainly wanted him to make duck stories. People who worked for Disney generally did so in relative anonymity; the stories only carried Walt Disney's name and (sometimes) a short identification number. However, through the sheer quality of his work, people started realizing that a lot of the stories were written by one person, whom they started referring to as the Good Duck Artist. Later it was discovered that the Good Duck Artist went by the name of Carl Barks. He drew Donald-stories at the Western Publishing for three decades, and he retired in 1966, but he kept writing stories for them for a while longer. He also started making oil paintings, and they are worth quite a lot today.
Barks' stories often exhibites a wry, dark irony, and that may be the reason why I like his stories so much!
Carl Barks was born in 1901 and died in 2000. All honour to his memory!
Donald Duck (1) - Don Rosa
Tuesday, 3. July 2007, 05:25:35
I have mentioned many cartoonists here on my blog. Skilfull creative persons, that can bring a smile on my face.
This is my first post about the Donald Duck universe. Donald was "born" in 1934, in the cartoon "The Wise Little Hen". According to "The Chronological Donald - Volume 1", Donald was created by Walt Disney when he heard Clarence Nash doing his "duck" voice while reciting "Mary had a little lamb". Donald is usually easygoing, but his most famous trait is his short and often explosive temper. He is also sometimes portrayed as more crafty and cynical than other characters in his universe. I like that. It brings another dimension into the duck'ish universe.
Well. This post shouldn't really be about Donald, but about one of his drawers, one of the most famous of them, namely Don Rosa. He was born in 1951 in Kentucky, and is actually mostly known for his stories about Scrooge McDuck.
Rosa joined the Danish publisher Egmont in 1990 and has been working there as a freelancer since then. In 1991 he started creating The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, a twelve chapter story about his favorite character. The series was a huge success, and in 1995 he won an Eisner Award for best continuing series.
During early summer 2002, Don Rosa suddenly laid down work. As an artist he could not live under the conditions Egmont was offering him, but he did not want to give up making Scrooge McDuck comics either. So his only choice was to put down work for a while and try to come to an agreement with Egmont. His main issues were that he had no control over his works. Don had discovered far too often that his stories were printed with incorrect pages of art, improper colors, poor lettering, or pixelated computer conversions of the illustrations. Another matter was that his name was used in promotion of books and collections of stories without his agreement and without sending royalties to him.
He came to an agreement with Egmont in December of the same year, which gave him a bit more control over the stories and the manner in which they were publicized.
Don Rosa has a special way to draw the Disney caracters, but what I like most about his work is his sense of humour. It fits mine just perfectly!
This is my first post about the Donald Duck universe. Donald was "born" in 1934, in the cartoon "The Wise Little Hen". According to "The Chronological Donald - Volume 1", Donald was created by Walt Disney when he heard Clarence Nash doing his "duck" voice while reciting "Mary had a little lamb". Donald is usually easygoing, but his most famous trait is his short and often explosive temper. He is also sometimes portrayed as more crafty and cynical than other characters in his universe. I like that. It brings another dimension into the duck'ish universe.
Well. This post shouldn't really be about Donald, but about one of his drawers, one of the most famous of them, namely Don Rosa. He was born in 1951 in Kentucky, and is actually mostly known for his stories about Scrooge McDuck.
Rosa joined the Danish publisher Egmont in 1990 and has been working there as a freelancer since then. In 1991 he started creating The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, a twelve chapter story about his favorite character. The series was a huge success, and in 1995 he won an Eisner Award for best continuing series.
During early summer 2002, Don Rosa suddenly laid down work. As an artist he could not live under the conditions Egmont was offering him, but he did not want to give up making Scrooge McDuck comics either. So his only choice was to put down work for a while and try to come to an agreement with Egmont. His main issues were that he had no control over his works. Don had discovered far too often that his stories were printed with incorrect pages of art, improper colors, poor lettering, or pixelated computer conversions of the illustrations. Another matter was that his name was used in promotion of books and collections of stories without his agreement and without sending royalties to him.
He came to an agreement with Egmont in December of the same year, which gave him a bit more control over the stories and the manner in which they were publicized.
Don Rosa has a special way to draw the Disney caracters, but what I like most about his work is his sense of humour. It fits mine just perfectly!
Rune T Kidde
Saturday, 2. June 2007, 12:24:43
The next Danish cartoonist I will introduce you to, is Rune Torsten Kidde. When he was born in 1957, there was hardly anyone who could have imagined that he would become one of Denmark’s most singular and original comics creators. If the extracts from Rune Kidde’s school grade books in the album "Gal og normal" (Crazy and Normal) are to be believed, one might conclude that those around him doubted that he would amount to anything. The word "passive" appears in several places. Few would call Rune Kidde passive today. Since 1976 he has been among the most active, and a great asset, in the Danish comics field.
The album "Eventyr Evergreens" (Fairytale Evergreens) appeared in 1987, with the subtitle "Den lilla møghætte og pulven" (Purple Biting Hood and the Polf), in which the old fairytale classics are the butt of Kidde’s clever satire. This album is no less than genious!
Because of failing sight and eventual blindness, Rune Kidde was forced to give up drawing and to concentrate on writing from 1990.
Rune Kidde was the first to receive the Danish comics award, Ping, a fully deserved award if you ask me. I find Rune's humour hilarious, and I have read most of his works.
Peter Madsen / Valhalla
Friday, 18. May 2007, 18:45:30
I have been writing about my favourite cartoonists, and all those I have mentioned so far, have been foreigners. Now it's about time I introduce you to some Danish artists as well, bacause in my opinion we have a few worth mentioning.The first one I will introduce you to is Peter Madsen. He was born in 1958. He started on drawing the Valhalla albums about the old Nordic Myths in 1977. There are now published 13 Valhalla albums, number 14 is on its way, and the last one will be number 15 and the title will be "The twilight of the Gods", a reasonable ending to a series of exellent stories.
Peter Madsen's artistic development can be seen in many other publications than Valhalla. Several of his drawings and comics from 1975-82 appear in the album Along the road (Hen ad vejen). In 1988 he produced two beautiful and poetic contributions to Bogfabrikken publisher's erotic comics anthology, Danish Delights (Danske fristelser).
In 1995 The Son of Man (Menneskesønnen) was published, the result of three years of intense work. In it, Peter Madsen gives his comics interpretation of the New Testament for the Danish Bible Society. He was given a free hand for his interpretation which, after a great deal of research, figure studies and sketches, resulted in a comic told in 136 pages of beautiful and atmospheric water colour paintings.
Peter Madsen is really a talented artist. Valhalla has been published in 10 different languages, so check him out in case you don't already know him.
Far side again
Saturday, 12. May 2007, 11:31:58
Oh my!!!
The Far side does really exist! Someone made the cartoons real:
The Far side does really exist! Someone made the cartoons real:
Far Side & Ernie
Saturday, 12. May 2007, 05:58:12
I bought some comics today, which leads me to write just a little bit more about my favourite cartoonists.
Among some other stuff I bought a couple of "Far Side Gallery" magazines.
The Far Side Gallery is drawn by Gary Larson, an American cartoonist born in 1950. He has the weiderst sense of humour, and his cartoons can alway make me either smile or laugh. It is so crazy that the name "Far Side" is very well chosen. These drawings are really on the far side!
The magazines I bought did also contain some of Bud Grace's first cartoons. Bud Grace is also American, and born in 1952. He got a Ph.D. in physics in 1971, and practiced as a nuclear physicist at FSU before turning cartoonist 1979. He draws the cartoon "Ernie" - that changed name shortly after to "The Piranha Club". He draws under the name Bo Grace, and do often make appearances in his own comic strips, where he often ends up in a straitjacket.
Among some other stuff I bought a couple of "Far Side Gallery" magazines.
The Far Side Gallery is drawn by Gary Larson, an American cartoonist born in 1950. He has the weiderst sense of humour, and his cartoons can alway make me either smile or laugh. It is so crazy that the name "Far Side" is very well chosen. These drawings are really on the far side!
The magazines I bought did also contain some of Bud Grace's first cartoons. Bud Grace is also American, and born in 1952. He got a Ph.D. in physics in 1971, and practiced as a nuclear physicist at FSU before turning cartoonist 1979. He draws the cartoon "Ernie" - that changed name shortly after to "The Piranha Club". He draws under the name Bo Grace, and do often make appearances in his own comic strips, where he often ends up in a straitjacket.Showing posts 1 - 10 of 13.
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