Simple Lesson

Warm and silly is always a good formula for a cartoon. I will take the ridiculous over the "cool" any damn day. It is why Bugs Bunny still works, why Homer is loved, and why Spongebob is adored. I vote for funny.

Recession Animation

Here we are in the wonderful financial hell called a "recession". I personally believe we have been in one for quite a while but are only coming to grips with it now. This is good news really, hopefully we can all hit bottom and then start building up once more. Why am I optimistic? We are getting rid of the Bush Administration for one, thank the heavens above. The other reason is that traditionally animation has done well in a down economy. It is cheaper to produce than live action both in the commercial field as well as the feature market. My only question is "will anyone remember?" This aspect of economy and animation used to be second nature. I remember back in early eighties getting boards for a commercial that was originally slated to be live action and asked to make it an animated commercial. I haven't been asked to to that since. It has been a long time since the recession of the seventies, and I really don't want to go back to being a "disco" bartender. So let's hope for a resurrected animation revival. Anytime now, actually, "NOW" would be just fine.

Experience is a dirty word

It is the only thing that you can have too little of or too much of and therefore be practically unemployable. Experience is that great "Catch 22". When you are young it is the greatest barrier to getting a job and when you are my age it is like a brand that marks you as "difficult". It is a slight advantage to the younger artist with no experience because like all artists you can beg and not look bad doing it. "Give me a chance, I will do it for nothing". The magic words to many employers. But when you are very experienced, begging is no longer an option for obvious reasons. One , it looks really bad, is surely more pathetic, and always marks you as untrustworthy. I mean, why is this experienced guy begging, what felony record could he be trying to hide? Is he going to stab me in the back once I hire him and take my job? What kind of "ploy" is this guy trying to pull?

I am now at the latter end of the experience chain, where too much of it is either looked at as a threat to others or that you are out of touch with the "new". That can be true with a lot of artists my age, set in their ways and unwilling to grow. You have to stay up on what is happening and use your "expertise" to make it work better. I have actually begun to use the word, "expertise" or "expert" when describing myself, it is a better word. For one it seems to describe yourself in the present tense, something that the word "experience" cannot do. The word "expert" brings with it confidence and problem solving (all important to experience as well) without any negative baggage or predisposed disagreement. Isn't always the case that when you hear that someone is "experienced", you immediately feel that there might be a problem, that they may use their experience as a weapon. Many "experienced" people are pains in the ass, look at your parents, they always want to trump you with their experience (like yours doesn't count). The word "experience" itself, especially in my shoes, has a tendency to give the audience an idea that there is a long list of old ideas, old stories, and emotional baggage that trails behind me like an anchor. So I am now an "expert" at what I do. Wow, that sounds better all ready. Screw the word "experience".