Annecy, France…what can you say? Of all the places I have traveled and all the festivals I have attended….Annecy is my absolute favorite place to be …and the Festival is always amazing.

Annecy-bridge-a.jpg

This is the prison located in the old section of Annecy. The prison is surrounded by the canals. Now it houses wonderful places to eat .

This is Annecy week and the animation world (or at least the smart, cultured ones) will be there.

A virtual who’s who of animation attends Annecy. The small city is set in the east central mountains of France about 35 kilometers from Geneva, Switzerland.

Annecy provides the best backdrop for an animated festival. The main venue is situated on Lake Annecy and the accompanying MIFA conference is located on the lake a mile away in the Imperial Palace Hotel. The hotel is a 8 or 9 star affair usually populated with vendors and producers.

Off in the distance is Mont Blanc and Italy

The real stars here are the films and the town.

A view towards the mountains - the Imperial Palce Hotel which hosts MIFA is in this direction.

Today, Sunday is registration day from 2:00 pm on. Most folks have pre-registered but you still have to wait in line to collect your tickets and credentials. As lines are the great equalizer, immediately, you begin to run into folks you know and those brief chats makes the entire process go rather quickly.

What is the price for the week of tickets and as much animation as your eyeballs can stand?

58 Euros or about $75.00 for the entire week

More festivals over here now cost upwards toward $150.00 - $700.00

I will try to relate a week in Annecy- Always Animated!

Well…it happened!

Yesterday, while visiting my daughter and her husband in Rochester, Illinois I received a phone call on my cell phone. It was a radio station, 106 FM in Ireland and they wanted to interview me live on the George Hook Show.

The interview was about a study by Brigham Young University about evil characters in animated films and how most of them (like 80%) were senior citizens…and… were folks like Disney creating a biased against the more mature members of our society.

At first, I though they were kidding… but the study was true.

Here is George Hook - a Magoo look alike

A producer talked to me a half hour before George and insisted I keep it light and funny if possible. So…..when the live call from George came - I just had fun. George, a former rugby player, was much more serious than me. He mentioned Bugs Bunny and Mr. Magoo as being Disney characters - I was polite and did not correct him…turns out Geroge looks a bit like Mr. Magoo himself….(only he sees better than Magoo).

He asked me if I thought about the P.C. police when I design a character. I told that I didn’t and that in the early days I am sure Walt Disney didn’t think about it either. I told him character “types” sometimes were used to help jump start the character development in a film.
We also chatted about Squash McStretch- the only Disney character with Irish-American heritage.
We spoke for about 10 minutes and then he thanked me and was gone It was a fun experience.

WORKSHOPS IN JUNE

The week of June 11th and June 18th, I am teaching 2 workshops for Teens through the Tybee Island Arts Association. Each workshop is four days long and cost 75.00 and includes materials. This exploration into animation will include different types of drawn and clay animation. The results will be posted to music on YouTube.

Saturday, June 16th, I am teaching a one day workshop- an Animation Blast from 9-5 and includes lunch - 75.00 for the day includes the materials. The results from that class will also be posted on YouTube.

MI alias Michelle Lauria

The music will be provided by MI (thats the showname for Michelle Armstrong Lauria). I know we will have a great time!!!!

More Later- Still Animated….

It’s been a really busy week. At the festival last weekend, I picked a couple of commissions and some gallery interest to exhibit my work….and a few other art gigs as well.

I had a great time at the Festival. We made some money and talked to many, many folks who came by to peruse my artwork.

The shelter and the display of my artwork at the festival.

This is Allen - a wonderful artist and a good friend to everyone!

Here is a friend of mine, artist Allen Fireall working away at his table. Allen specializes in African-American and Gullah themes. He grew up in Savannah and has some great tales about life in Georgia’s first city.

The best parts of the weekend were the stories folks told me about old Tybee Island based on my paintings.

This painting sparked a Tybee Island history lesson.

One in particular was the painting of the BBQ at the Alley.

Turns out…a fellow, Joe, drops by and informs me that his sister, Beth, owns the backyard and that he uses the BBQ for cookouts and parties.

The next day he brings Beth by and we have this wonderful chat about the painting.

A few days after the Festival I stopped by her place and she gave me the history of her house and a tour of the yard. The elevation of her yard approximately 10 feet high with an area of about 3,000 sq. feet was created from the remains of oyster shells that were discarded. Two local African-American men would row out in a boat at night and harvest the oysters from the creek and then process the shells in a small room on the property. One of them worked well into his 90’s.

Here is another view - a photo angle toward the Creek

The house was transported to the present location by barge in 1870 and the house was expanded through the years. A porch was built and then enclosed and another porch was built and it enclosed – this method of expansion was embraced until the house had 5 or 6 bedrooms and bathrooms.

The house had been in her family since 1880. It also turns out that the creek side of the house was deeded with a King’s land grant which dates back to the establishment of the colony by General James Ogelthrope in 1733. Because the King was interested in increasing the land mass colonials were encouraged to add to their property. (Note- Georgia was seen as a buffer state between Florida claimed by the Spanish and the Carolinas claimed by the Brits) .So the deed of the property includes all the land on the beach too- right down to the waterline which varies with the tides.

Lastly, here is me on location- while doing a commission. I could not resist a snapshot of these large Christmas ornaments hanging from a palm.

Yes, this palm has….. christmas balls.

What can I say – that’s Tybee Island!

Here are a few images from the annual Sand Arts Festival on Tybee Island’s North beach. The event is sponsored by SCAD and is enjoyed by everyone= scaddie and non-scaddie alike. Nothing else to write the pictures say it all!!!

bones

a swirl

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Peep.jpg

Horses.jpg

Turtle.jpg

lobster.jpg

I had never met an animator, never even spoken to an animator – and yet here I was headed to Los Angeles to go to college with the intention of being an animator.

Less than a month before I was discharged from the 1^st Battalion (Reinforced) 3rd Infantry, The Old Guard, stationed at Fort Myer in northern Virginia. The last six months in the service I had spent assigned to the Public Information Office (PIO).

I was no longer pulling details as a member of the ceremonial unit and escort to the President of the United States; I had relinquished my sergeant stripes as an AJ and returned to SP4 status. I was preparing for my next life. I spent the time working on my portfolio and obtaining information about what elements I needed to submit - to gain entry into an art college. Sergeant Wayne Treichel, art director, for the PIO, walked me through the process- without Wayne’s assistance; I would never have gotten into Art Center.

Now, I was free …life was more than good! I zoomed across the desert with an uhaul trailer and no speed limits. Well, maybe “zoomed” isn’t the correct word - but in my mind I “zoomed”. The possibilities seemed endless!

Arriving in L.A., I found an apartment and settled in for the night. The next morning there was an earthquake. It wasn’t a huge earthquake – just a kind of “welcome to Los Angeles, first timer” garden variety type of earthquake. Enough to be make one aware that living in L.A. would mean living on the edge.

The prospects of the new day coupled with the fact that I had just lived through my first earthquake – brought me to a firm decision. I had to talk to an animator!

Here it was Saturday, the studios were closed and yet I had to talk to an animator. I was in L.A.; the capital of animation…animators had to be everywhere!

So, I picked up the Los Angeles phone book and started leafing through the pages of its 13 million inhabitants confident that animator’s names and numbers would be falling out of the book.

I began with the A’s. I thought and pondered and could not think of one animator whose last name started with an A. So…I went to the B’s. As I studied the pages of blurred entries- animator with a beginning B came to mind… Babbit…Art Babbit.  Art Babbit who had brought the world so many incredible animated moments on the screen- such as the dance of the Chinese mushrooms in Fantasia. I scurried through the pages and sure enough- there was a Babbit listed…an Arthur Babbit and his phone number was listed!

Yours truly circa 1973 - trying to find an animator

I was beside myself. I was so excited I grab the phone and dialed the number. Art Babbit – how amazing, I thought?

After two rings someone, a man, picked up the phone and said, Hello?”

I blurted, ‘Hello Larry Lauria, this is Art Babbit!!!”

There was a long pause………………….

What had I done, what had I said, I can’t believe I …

“No, said the voice on the other end, I’m Art Babbit”.

What could have been a catastrophe turned out to be a great icebreaker. We had a good laugh over my introduction. Art was most gracious and he gave information about classes at the Union, local 839, and ASIFA Hollywood and other useful tidbits about surviving in Los Angeles.

All in all, we had a wonderful conversation!

I learned that if you make a fool of yourself – it’s okay. As long as you are willing to put yourself out there. Most folks, at one time or another have been in the same position- so they understand.

Other than talk on the phone, I never met Art Babbit in person. He moved to London and worked for, animation director, Richard Williams. Mr. Babbit taught his studio the art of animation from the ground up. I have copies from two different individuals of Art’s lectures.

Thanks Art!