November 2009

So I was looking at my mail today and seeing how many organizations just in my community really need help to feed and care for people and animals for the holidays. Like most of you, I don't have a ton of money this time of year due to the various costs associated with the holidays, so I can't help people nearly as much as I'd like on my own.

But what if everyone who reads this blog gave as much as they could to help people and animals in their communities? That might not be a lot per person, but I bet we could help a lot of people!

Here's where you come in. I want you to donate to a charity somehow. Buy food for the food bank, buy a toy for Toys for Tots, donate a monetary amount, small or large, to a local organization that feeds people or provides coats or shelter or clothes or toys (every community has a homeless shelter or a food bank). A local humane society, rescue or animal control shelter is okay, too. I don't want the critters to go hungry either.

Take a photo, scan or screenshot of your donation (blank out your bank information or sensitive personal info, if applicable) and e-mail that to me at krisjacque at gmail dot com.

With your verification, include an art request, and I will draw it for you. This is a bonus incentive, on top of that warm fuzzy feeling that comes from knowing you helped someone. Depending on how much you donate, you could get a sketch, a colored digital or traditional media drawing, or even a painting*. Donate however much you can afford!

* Due to postal costs, I probably can't afford to send you a hard copy of the art. Big spenders can have a high-resolution digital version of their image though.

I came across these unreleased recordings for Disney's Robin Hood earlier this month via Cartoon Brew. Both alternate recordings were edited into videos and uploaded by Huston Huddleston from the archives of his late father, Floyd Huddleston, who worked on the music for the film in 1973.

"The Phony King of England":

"Love":

This particular recording of "Love" is used in the new Wes Anderson film Fantastic Mr. Fox, which I am very much looking forward to seeing. This has been a great year for animation and kids' films, folks.

I still have not been terribly productive, so here, watch this clip from Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure.

This film, released in 1977, is extremely weird and did not do so hot at the box office, but it's widely known among cartoon nerds for its gorgeous animation. I mean, watch that movement; it's pure eye candy. A ton of brilliant Golden Age animators worked on it, including Fleischer/Disney animator Grim Natwick, Disney animator Art Babbit, and others who had worked at Disney, Warner and more during the time when the best hand-drawn animation the world has ever seen was being produced.

Even at their worst, these guys are a hard act to follow. This stuff is amazing.

yeah, when I was only seventeen
I could hear the angels whispering
so I drove into the woods
and wandered aimlessly about
until I heart my mother shouting through the fog
it turned out to be the howling of a dog
or a wolf to be exact
the sound sent shivers down my back
but I was drawn into the pack
and before long
they allowed me to join in and sing their song
so from the cliffs and highest hill
yeah, we would gladly get our fill
howling endlessly and shrilly at the dawn
and I lost the taste for judgin' right from wrong
for my flesh had turned to fur
yeah, and my thoughts they surely were
turned to instinct and obedience to god
"Furr," Blitzen Trapper

I think there will be a continued relative lack of activity here for most or all of November, as I am actually doing NaNoWriMo (that's National Novel Writing Month, natch) this year and taking somewhat seriously the premise of finishing a stupid novel that I will never, ever, ever let anyone read.

Seriously, it will be hidden forever. You will never see it. I am 100% dead dog serious about that, and despite some of my friends' eternal charms and ability to shmooze me into sharing stuff I'm not confident about, I will not budge on this one. But it's an interesting exercise in forcing myself to make up a story on the fly, which is something I am notoriously bad at. I am also notoriously bad at: making up disposable characters, writing without constant self-editing, and writing when I am certain of the fact that I am writing something intensely stupid.

Do you wonder how stupid it is? It's a "serious" horror story about werewolves. All the characters are intensely dislikable. So the answer is "pretty stupid."

Somehow it's very satisfying so far, though! However, it's also exhausting my other creative impulses. So I don't think there'll be much drawing done this month. Sorry, audience who reads this blog solely for cute pictures of dogs and/or creepy naked satyrs. You will have to go without. After I'm done with this I'm sure I won't feel like writing anything for months, though, so you can get lots of nice pictures then without a lot of dumb words by me (your friend (Kris)).

WriMoDemon, my National Novel Writing Month word count app, went live on the iPhone App Store yesterday. Just in time, since NaNoWriMo starts today.

If you're doing NaNoWriMo this year and have an iPhone or iPod Touch, you should download it. It's free!