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The biggest collection of material ever from the production of the seminal Disney film 'Pinocchio' is currently on display in San Francisco.

The post In Conversation: John Canemaker On The Disney Family Museum’s Massive ‘Pinocchio’ Exhibit appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

"Inside Out" production designer Ralph Eggleston and historian John Canemaker will introduce some of the screenings.

A poignant peek into the mind of a Beatle whose talents extended past creating immortal music.

Historian and filmmaker John Canemaker will host the conversation with the master character animator.

These rare videos document the presentation of the animated short Oscar from 1949 through 2013.

Finding the perfect book for the beloved animation fan in your life can be a big challenge, but these gift-book ideas will inform and inspire anyone who loves animation and drawing.

To honor Gertie the Dinosaur's 100th birthday, John Canemaker will recreate Winsor McCay's original vaudeville act at the Musuem of Modern Art tonight.

To honor Gertie the Dinosaur's 100th birthday, John Canemaker will recreate Winsor McCay's original vaudeville act at the Musuem of Modern Art tonight.

If you're looking for something cartoon-related to watch tonight, Turner Classic Movies is running an entire evening's worth of animation.

Animation historian John Canemaker talks about the process and challenges of creating the monumental new biography "The Lost Notebook: Herman Schultheis & the Secrets of Walt Disney's Movie Magic."

Historian, author and Oscar-winning filmmaker John Canemaker is headed to Los Angeles to present not one, but two animation lectures on the evening of Saturday, September 13th.

Yesterday on Cartoon Brew's Instagram, we offered a small taste of John Canemaker's new book "The Lost Notebook: Herman Schultheis & the Secrets of Walt Disney's Movie Magic," which will be released on May 27.

If you are in Southern California (or Northern California, the west coast or anywhere west of the Mississippi) you are summoned to what sounds like an incredible evening at the Motion Picture Academy in September. Oscar winning animator and acclaimed animation historian John Canemaker will present an illustrated lecture and screening of the lives and work of independent animators John and Faith Hubley on Friday, September 14th, at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in Los Angeles.

Canemaker will host an in-depth, intimate look at the life and work of these two iconoclastic artists, including screenings of Flat Hatting, The Ragtime Bear, Rooty Toot Toot; Storyboard, Inc. TV commercials; Faith Hubley’s Northern Ice Golden Sun; John and Faith Hubley’s Adventures of an *, The Tender Game, The Hole, Windy Day, Voyage to Next, and newly discovered footage of a never-completed animatic by the Hubleys of Edith Sitwell and William Walton’s Facade. Anyone who’s been to any of Canemaker’s lectures know these are not to be missed.

Tickets for An Academy Salute to John and Faith Hubley go on sale later today, Mon. July 30th, online – and you can get yours if you click here. See you there!

Cartoon Brew | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: Faith Hubley, John Canemaker, John Hubley

Once again we are happy to alert you to an upcoming don’t-miss John Canemaker lecture. In conjunction with the Walt Disney Family Museum’s current exhibition of original drawings by German artist and caricaturist Heinrich Kley, Oscar-winning animation filmmaker, author and historian Canemaker presents an illustrated overview of the varied European aesthetic influences that found their way into Disney feature animated films.

Canemaker will discuss the anthropomorphic art of 19th-century artists Heinrich Kley and J.J. Grandville, as well as the expressionistic silent films of German director F.W. Murnau, and how these sources inspired the visual style of SNOW WHITE, PINOCCHIO and FANTASIA, among other early Disney features. He also spotlights the contributions of European artists who worked at the studio, such as Albert Hurter, Ferdinand Horvath, Gustaf Tenggren, Sylvia Holland, and others.

Heinrich Kley and Company: European Influences On Disney at The Walt Disney Family Museum, San Francisco. Saturday, July 14th at 3pm. Tickets on sale now.

Cartoon Brew | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: John Canemaker

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has two different programs – one on each coast – worthy of your attention and attendence:

On Monday October 10th An Academy Salute to John Hubley. It will be hosted by Oscar winning animator, educator and author John Canemaker and co-curated by filmmaker Emily Hubley. The program will include rarely seen films and an illustrated look at his life and his art by Canemaker, Hubley and animator Michael Sporn. Tickets are $5 for general admission ($3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID). It will sell-out. Order your Tickets Online NOW!

Monday, October 10, 7 p.m.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Academy Theater at Lighthouse International
111 East 59th Street (between Park and Lexington Avenues), New York City

On Thursday October 20th, the 17th Marc Davis Celebration of Animation will present Mary Blair’s World of Color; A Centennial Tribute. This panel will feature Pixar director Pete Docter, Disney animator Eric Goldberg, art director Susan Goldberg, Pixar color key artist Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi and character designer Michael Giaimo in a discussion moderated by animation historian Charles Solomon.

Tickets are $5 for general admission ($3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID) and will go on sale starting October 3rd online, by mail, and in person at the Academy Box Office. This too will sell-out. Be there!

Thursday, October 20, at 7:30 p.m.
at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater
8949 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills

Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: John Canemaker, John Hubley, Mary Blair

Don’t even think of visiting San Francisco without a stop at the Walt Disney Family Museum. And if you are in the Bay area on April 16th you are in for a treat as John Canemaker makes one of his visits to the museum to discuss one of the Disney studio’s greatest artists, Mary Blair. The talk begins at 3pm, with slides, clips and Canemaker’s insights and knowledge. Go! More more information and advance tickets, visit the museum website now.

Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation | Permalink | No comment | Post tags: John Canemaker, Mary Blair

If you are in NY tomorrow evening, there is only one place you should be: at MoMA to attend John Canemaker’s lecture about his new book Two Guys Named Joe: Master Animation Storytellers Joe Grant & Joe Ranft. The lecture begins at 7pm followed by a book signing. Tickets, which can be purchased at the door, are $10 for adults or $6 for students.

Also, on Saturday, October 2, there will be two screenings at MoMA themed around the book. The first screening at 2pm celebrates Ranft’s career and includes the super-rare 1982 Disney short Fun with Mr. Future, as well as Luxo Jr., Tin Toy, and Toy Story. The second screening at 5pm revolves around Grant’s work, and features Mickey’s Gala Premier, Who Killed Cock Robin?, Lorenzo, and Dumbo.

More details about the programs can be found on the MoMA website. Also, see our in-depth interview with John Canemaker on Cartoon Brew about the new book.

Animation historian and Oscar winning animator John Canemaker is making several public appearances in San Francisco and Los Angeles to promote his latest (and one of his greatest) book, Two Guys Named Joe: Master Animation Storytellers Joe Grant and Joe Ranft. If you are anywhere near these locations, GO!

First up, Canemaker will present an illustrated lecture at the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco on Friday, August 13, at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday, August 14, at 3 p.m., each lecture followed by a book signing. Seating is limited, so please click here to reserve online now.

Next, John will travel south to sign his book at the Barnes & Noble at the Americana in Glendale, Tuesday, August 17, 7:00 pm. There’s a good chance I’ll be in line myself to get his autograph at this event.

And last, but not least, Canemaker will be at the Happiest Place on Earth – Disneyland in Anaheim (where else?) – on Wednesday, August 18, from 9:00am to 11:00 am in the Disney Gallery on Main Street USA. This should be fun!

John Canemaker’s eagerly anticipated book, Two Guys Named Joe: Master Animation Storytellers Joe Grant & Joe Ranft, will arrive in stores in early August. The book focuses on the lives and careers of two master animation storytellers who passed away in 2005—Disney veteran Joe Grant and Pixar’s Joe Ranft (who also started his career at Disney). Grant was 97 years old; Ranft was 45—and that’s just the tip of the iceberg in terms of how these men were different. Their combined work has influenced animated features as diverse as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia, Dumbo, Beauty and the Beast, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Toy Story, and Cars.

As an award-winning author of books such as Winsor McCay — His Life and Art, Felix: The Twisted Tale of the World’s Most Famous Cat and Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men and the Art of Animation, we’ve come to expect nothing less than excellence from John Canemaker’s books and he delivers yet again with Two Guys Named Joe. I conducted an in-depth interview with John via e-mail a couple weeks ago about his new book. Enjoy!

Interview follows after the jump

Amid Amidi: Let’s start with basics—why should artists today care about the careers of these two guys named Joe?

John Canemaker: To add to their knowledge of what constitutes excellent benchmarks in animation storytelling, narrative and character development; to find inspiration in knowing the impact that a singular talent can have on an entire film; to discover a creative work ethic that they can (and should) adopt as their own.

Joe Ranft’s mantra was “Trust the Process” and Joe Grant had a sign on his office door reading, “Get to work.” Both artists held the same philosophy regarding the creative process: just do it! Sit down and start in and, if you stick with it, ideas will occur and even flow, visual/verbal connections will be made in concepts, story sketches and scripts. Be open to all ideas and criticisms, make changes, make more changes, and problems will eventually be solved. In their own ways, both Joes were extremely positive and practical in their disciplined approach toward getting beyond the artist’s eternal dilemma: confronting the blank page.

I also think readers of Two Guys Named Joe will find compelling the struggles and challenges each artist confronted, endured and overcame in his personal and professional life.

AA: How did you initially come up with the idea to connect these two artists together?

JC: I knew both Joes for a number of years and interviewed them often for various projects. I considered them friends and enjoyed visiting with them in their respective studios and homes. They were witty, intelligent, superbly gifted, fully alive individuals whose deaths in the same year (2005) deeply saddened me, as it did many around the world.

I got to thinking about how similar they were despite a half-century age gap: their positive can-do approach toward making art, their bottomless creativity, the classic films they worked on, everything from SNOW WHITE to TOY STORY; the difference they made in the art form of character animation; how they each mentored other artists, and more.

Through the art and lives of these two particular guys named Joe, I saw the possibility of an overview of the history of storytelling at Disney and Pixar through a very human stor