A native of New York, Jerry Beck developed an interest in comics, film, and animation early in life. While studying cartooning/animation at New York's famed School of Visual Arts, he discovered he was more interested in Animation history than actually doing it himself. He was research associate on Leonard Maltin's Of Mice and Magic, and co-wrote, with Will Friedwald, The Warner Brothers Cartoons (a complete filmography of the studio, published in 1981). His articles have appeared in a variety of publications including Animania, Movie Collectors' World, and the Comic Buyers' Guide. Along with teaching animation history at Mercy College, Beck is a film programmer for Creation Conventions, and host of the local New York cable show MOVIE MANIA. He is currently employed by United Artists.

As the premier laser disc arcade game, Don Bluth's DRAGON'S LAIR is unquestionably an animation "first."

But advances in cartoon history are often blurred by time, and many important firsts are consistently overlooked and forgotten.

For example, Winsor McCay's GERTIE THE DINOSAUR (1914) is often touted as the first animated cartoon. While a marvel of full animation for its time, McCay produced two shorts before GERTIE -- LITTLE NEMO (1911) and THE STORY OF A MOSQUITO (1912). Before McCay, however, limited movement "trick-films" had been created by J. Stuart Blackton (THE ENCHANTED DRAWING (1900) and HUMOROUS PHASES OF FUNNY FACES (1906)  being the most famous) and French artist Emile Cohl created the first fully animated cartoon, FANTASMAGORIE, in 1908.

The Walt Disney studio has been credited with many innovations they did not create. Disney's STEAMBOAT WILLIE (1928) is always publicized as the first cartoon "talkie." But Max Fleischer released a series of sound "Song Cartunes" beginning in 1924, using Prof. Lee DeForest's "Phonofilm" process (Some titles include GOODBYE MY LADY LOVE (1924), MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME (1926), and SWEET ADELINE (1926)).

Disney's FLOWERS AND TREES was indeed the first cartoon to use the 3-strip (full color) Technicolor process, but it is not the first color cartoon. The first color process, Brewster Color, was used by J.R. Bray in his pioneering cartoon THE DEBUT OF THOMAS CAT (1920). 2-color Technicolor was first used in animation by Walter Lantz for his animated opening to the feature KING OF JAZZ (1930). Ub Iwerks used 2-color Technicolor in 1931 for his first short-subject, FIDDLESTICKS, starring Flip the Frog. Incidentally, hand-colored cartoons (each frame of film individually painted by hand) had been a novelty in silent animation as far back as McCay's LITTLE NEMO.

Walt Disney's masterpiece, SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937) is often thought to be the first feature length animated cartoon --Sorry, but that distinction goes to Lotte Reiniger's THE ADVENTURES OF PRINCE ACHMED (1926). Reininger, a German animator who specialized in silhouette films, utilizing  paper cut-outs animated over a lightbox, also experimented with depth.

Before Disney dazzled his audience with his Multiplane camera, others tried their hand at making animation more dimensional. Lotte Reiniger tried backgrounds moving at different levels in 1926, Ub Iwerks devised a primitive multiplane camera for use in his 1934 Willie Whopper and ComiColor cartoons and Max Fleischer, the same year, debuted his 3-Dimensional "sets."

The late 1950's and early 1960's were the boom period for make-for-TV limited animation, with Hanna-Barbera's RUFF N' REDDY (1957) leading the pack. But made for TV cartoons had been around for years, and it is the fondly remembered CRUSADER RABBIT that pioneered that direction in 1949.

More recently, Ralph Bakshi's daring X-rated FRITZ THE CAT (1972) was not the first adult animated feature film--Osamu Tezuka beat him to the punch with A THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS (1969) and CLEOPATRA, QUEEN OF SEX (1970), which contain erotic content, between human characters, far beyond the antics of Fritz and friends.

I suppose even inter-active animated cartoons could be traced back to WINKY DINK AND YOU (1953). But DRAGON'S LAIR, like SNOW WHITE and STEAMBOAT WILLIE  before it, is bringing something new to animation, something different to its audience, and that's a "first" that can "last."

Arkie Award To Lair!
The fourth annual Arcade Awards, sponsored by Reese Comumunications/Electronic Game Magazine, were presented in December. DRAGON'S LAIR received the award for "Best Coin-Op Audio/Visual Effects" in the Coin-Op Division. Other Divisions included Videogame, Computer, Videogame/Computer, and Stand Alone. Awards are chosen by popular vote via mail-in ballots.

1983 International Exposition Of Games & Music
Don Bluth Animation set up a booth at the October AMOA convention in New Orleans. While there, studio personnel got to view the competition first hand as each firm displayed their newest videogames. Several featured laserdisc games, but most of the attendees (arcade owners, game distributers and others in the industry) felt that DRAGON'S LAIR was still the top laserdisc game around. Though SPACE ACE wasn't officially in view, several did get a chance to see the new game. The response was quite ecstatic.

Convention Circuits
The slide/film presentation on the Don Bluth Studio was seen over the Thanksgiving Day weekend in New York (Creation Con), Loscon (Los Angeles) and San Jose, California (Baycon). Future appearances of Bluth will include the Los Angeles Creation Con ( a tribute to animation, Don will be the Guest of Honor), and the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas where the home version of DRAGON'S LAIR will be officially announced by Coleco Vision.

Licensing Lair
Dirk, Daphne, and the rest of the Lair team will soon be seen on a variety of products as DRAGON'S LAIR hits the merchandising trail. To date, licensing agreements have been signed with Aladdin Industries (lunchbox), Coleco Industries (digital and disc home version of game), Fleer Corp. (bubble gum and trading cards), Hallmark Cards (party favors), Larami Corporation (puffy stickers), Lewis Galoob, Ind. (plastic figurines), M&B Headwear (painters hats & French Foreign Legion hats), Marvel Books (children's publications), Milton Bradley Company (action board game & puzzles), Placo Products Company (safety dart board game), Union Underwear Company (imprinted knitted tops), and the Wormser Company (childrens sleepwear). Other licensing agreements will be announced in the future, including plans for the novelization of DRAGON'S LAIR!

You can open any door, if you only have the key.

Well, after a somewhat rocky start, we hope we've found the key to getting the newsletter (and the club in general) on smoother footing. Some of the delays have been ridiculous, and I want to make a public apology to all our members who have had to wait so long. Your patience, interest, and continued support are appreciated by all of us.

This issue we begin to broaden our horizons and stretch our wings a bit. Not only to we have our regular in-house staff handling the writing chores (let's give them all a hand), but we've brought in some outsiders. Jerry Beck, our man in New York, presents a look at animation firsts and what constitutes a "first," while Steve Stringer-Smith gives a well needed lesson on how to protect animation artwork.

By the time this reaches you, we will be in 1984, a year made famous decades ago with the book by George Orwell. Due to the book's frightening view of the future, the year has been looked at with dread and suspicion. Few have grown up without hearing some comment about 1984 and "big brother."

However, 1984 should be looked at with no more dread than any new year. We used to laugh at a new year, joking that it had to be better than the last...however in current times, that seems a less ertain promise.

Don's column, this issue, deals with "point of view," a key part of a new year. Things are seldom as bad as they seem (and in reverse may not be as "good" as they seem). It is ourselves that make things "seem" at all. We can look forward with dread or with awe...or with something in between.

Here at the Studio, I'm trying to maintain that medium point. 1984 will see the release of our new games SPACE ACE and DRAGON'S LAIR II. It will also see the Studio reach its fifth anniversary (in September). Those are things to look forward to. On the dark side, there is the fact that in spite of the success of new markets, and the time the studio has logged, the "industry" of animation hasn't really grown. Some might say it's fallen backward. Several features sit on the shelf un-released, unemployment is still high, and money is tight.

Against all these symbols of "doom," the human soul does have a key. Throughout history it seems that when things get blackest is when man's soul becomes strongest. With strength in our beliefs, and the ingenuity and determination given us, we can overcome many a hopeless situation. Courage of the heart, though rare, does have a power.

Here's to 1984...whatever it may bring, and whatever it may leave. Happy new year!

The phenomenal popularity of our first animated laser-disc arcade game, "Dragon's Lair," has, needless to say, overwhelmed all of us! In addition to seeing lots of kids (of all ages) jammed around the machine to play it, we've gotten lots of attention from newspapers and radio and television! And the fan mail continues to pour in!

"That's Incredible," the nationwide television show, conducted a contest on-the-air with several "Dragon's Lair" champions and hosts Cathy Lee Crosby and John Davidson.

In Denver, there was a huge tournament at the Celebrity Sports Center in which tons of people participated and winners came away with prizes of all sorts. It was a great promotion for the Center and for the game.

There is a machine as a permanent part of the set of "Silver Spoons," the weekly television comedy series starring Ricky Schroeder.

And "The Whiz Kids," another popular TV series, is featuring the game on one of its segments.

One of the most fun events was the KIIS-FM Giveaway Contest. KIIS-FM is the most popular radio station in Los Angeles, we are told, and they decided to make a gift of an entire "Dragon's Lair" machine to the winner of their annual Halloween Costume Contest. The party, which attracted nearly 2,000 people, was held at Carlos and Charlie's Restaurant and was hosted by all of the KIIS-FM deejays, including the popular Rick Dees. The winner, Geoffrey Garth, dressed as a man who carried his own head in his hand!

Arcade operators all over the country also held their own contests and gave away prizes to the winners. One operator from Florida gave prizes to whoever came up with the right answer to the question, "What did Princess Daphne whisper to Dirk at the end of the game?"

It is Monday morning, 8:30 am. The air is filled with electricity. The door to the Music Room is closed, and I hear a growing rumble outside in the hall. What 's special about Monday is that it's Casting Day...the day we cast our scenes. For the last hour, John and Mr. B have been hard at work with the stack of scenes that will be animated this week.

The casting process is crucial. Just as a specific actor is cast for a certain file, scenes must be cast to specific animators. Different animators possess varying strangths: some are better at chases than close-ups, others excel at dialogue; we have new animators and experienced ones. Therefore, John and Mr. B want to be sure each scene is assigned to the animator best qualified to execute it. To them casting is SERIOUS BUSINESS. Just look at them, playing tug-of-war with a scene and arguing (they call it debating) over who deserves it. They decide on Will Finn. Odd--it looks like Will has three scenes in his slot, and that leaves only one for Kevin Wurzer.

"Kevin's getting shorted, don't you think?" I venture an inquiry. There -- they pulled one of Will's; now each has two. Everyone's on edge today because we're handing out the first scenes in our new arcade game, DRAGON'S LAIR II.

I cautiously open the door and step back. The troops flood in. We're up to our neck in animators and trainees, twenty in all crowded into the Music Room. As people anxiously reach for their scenes, Mr. B calls out, "Just one minute. I would like to explain a few new rules first." Uh-oh, I see some worried faces in the crowd.

I'm going to go ahead and tell you a little about this meeting because I think you'll find some of these new procedures interesting. You see, something really exciting has happened since our last issue. We have returned to the true meaning of the MUSIC ROOM. Yes, we are making music in this room every day now, for we are building DRAGON'S LAIR II  to music, rhythms and beats. This means we are creating the first arcade game ever constructed to music.

Mr. B informs everyone that they are going to begin animating to music. This means, or course, that a few complexities will be added to their scenes. The main beats and secondary beats, which will be marked on the exposure sheets, will be used for planning action, pivotal points, anticipation, weightlessness or flight just as the music may suggest. Mr. B emphasizes that the emotions inherent in the melody must be incorporated into the "choreography" of the scenes.

As we hand out the sheet music, I can see that we may have started a panic. However, Mr. B quickly calms the storm with a simple explanation of the timing and execution of musical notes...just like action on frames of film. Looking a little less bemused, the animators pick up their scenes, lead sheets (sheet music) and cassettes and head back to their desks to begin. (Thank goodness for headphones!)

As soon as the Music Room is cleared, Mr. B and I sit down with John and Gary to listen to some new tracking music for an upcoming game episode which was prepared by Kenny Holaday. A recent addition to the Music Room, Kenny is our new Assistant Director specializing in Music. Now our days are filled with song. All of us love it, with the exception of Missy, who has been especially grumpy since these changes took place.

With the addition of Kenny to our ranks, we needed to bring in another Movieola as well. Another nightmare to contend with, this one has even more soundheads hungry for film. It can eat four reels at a time! This might be another reason for Missy's absence lately. The new Movieola, when loaded, runs one picture reel and three sound track reels. Besides the sounds we have laid down, the clatter of all those metal reels, gears and teeth really annoy her. She has now taken up residence in John's office..namely inside one of the shelves in John's animation desk.

It's 9:05 a.m. and time to relax for a moment. Casting is finished, the animation meeting over, animators are busy at work, and the 9:00 a.m. footage deadline past. Footage must be turned in by 9:00 a.m. Monday to be credited to the previous week's total. I quickly make a tally. Ummm, not too bad, we just made our footage requirement. It's up to us in the Music Room to be sure the animators make their footage each week. If we don't, we'll hear from the Production Manager.

Well, I see that I'm out of space and we're off to a Color Model meeting.

When the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in New York City purchased an original painting from Walt Disney's SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS; the status of original animation art changed then and now.

Through the efforts of Mr. Guthrie Courvoissier of San Francisco, animation art from the Disney Studios was promoted from 1938 through the early 1940's throughout the United States and Europe at various art galleries including the prestigious Kennedy Galleries of New York.

Then the art status of these originals went into hibernation and with it the informaton of how they were produced. The legacy of this period are works, though held in collections, which will eventually deteriorate through mishandling and ignorance.

For every movement in an animated film, an ink and opaqued painting must be made, of the part to be moved, on a clear transparent sheet of plastic.

In 1914 the sheets were made of cellulose nitrate, commonly called by the tradename CELLULOID and later shortened to "cel" or "cell." However, after the Cleveland Clinic Disaster of 1929, when it became apparent how hazardous it was to store large quantities of cellulose nitrate, every effort was made to tighten the safety codes and replace the unstable nitrate with cellulose acetate which had been invented in 1911.  In the cartoon industry, this was probably in the early thirties. Around 1940 the surface of the cells changed from a grooved surface to a polished mirror-like surface. According to the Disney Studio this is when they changed from Cellulose Nitrate to Cellulose Acetate.

It wasn't until the 1950's that the more stable cellulose triacetate became available in the United States, having been manufactured in Europe a decade earlier. It was the base for all cels used by the cartoon studios with the exceptions of those whose suppliers did not change until the 1970's, such as Cartoon Colour.

The earliest cartoons were inked with india ink and opaqued with Chinese black and white. After Walt Disney's exclusive rights to the use of Technicolor ended in 1935, the majority of all cartoons produced afterward were made in color with a few exceptions.

The practice of using colored inks began and ended at the Disney Studios with the use of Xerox reproduction (called Xerography) of the animator's drawing on triacetate. The first feature to be totally Xeroxed was ONE HUNDRED AND ONE DALMATIONS, begun in 1959.

So that each movement of animation remained fluid from frame to frame and from drawing board to the camera stand, a registry system was devised to coordinate all facets of cartoon production.

Until 1935 the Walt Disney Studios used a two-peg hole system, with the holes three and three-quarter inches apart, for their drawing paper, cels, and backgrounds. While the other studios placed their peg holes at the top, Disney placed the peg holes at the bottom.

In 1935 a new system with two rectangular holes and one middle hole was superimposed over the old two hole registry. This made an easy transition from the old to the new and meant that all pre-1935 materials and artwork still registered  with the new three hole system. After 1950 with the change to triacetate the original two holes were dropped leaving just the two rectangular holes and one in the middle.

The standard animation paper was 9 1/2 x 12 inches with the cels roughly the same size. During the preparation for SNOW WHITE,  along with the change in registration holes, the paper and cels were cut to a maximum of 12x 15 1/2 inches.

Outside the Disney Studios on the west coast the rival cartoon studios use the Acme registry system and on the east coast the Oxberry system was used. Both set the rectangular holes about 8 inches apart. The difference is in the shape of the rectangular holes, the Acme holes are narrower.

Because of the expense involved in making cartoons the cels were designed not to be permanent works of art, but only to be photographed. The paint used was specially formulated for good drying time, good adhesion, and could be washed off. Each cel was washed and reused at least three times in an acid bath. Then it was descarded having become discolored, shrunken, and marred with scratches. This practice was discontinued when the cost of washing cels was more than the cost of buying new ones.

Because of cel washing and storage problems, most cels before 1937 are quite rare. All surviving cels after 1937 until the 1950's are vulnerable to humidity as it plays the greatest part in the destruction of the animated film cel. After a period of repeated dryness and wetness, the paint becomes embrittled and easily separated from the cel's surface. Most cels are easily damaged by solvents such as nail polish, film lacquers, etc., and they should not be used.

It is advisable to keep all unmounted cels segregated between rigid supports and away from acid mounts if stored permanently. This is to protect the cel from accidental damage.

When mounted, cels should be sandwiched between a back mount and matting of 100% ph neutral rag, and hinged in such a way that they can be dismounted easily. If the cel is already cemented to a background, all tape residue should be removed before reframing. Any original matting should either be neutralized or backed with a neutral mat to protect the art. Finally it should be framed with a sheet of plexiglas since glass is more sensitive to heat changes. A back cover of ARTCOR (Amoco Foam Products Co., Atlanta, CA) or PLEXIGLAS should be used to keep out moisture.

They should be kept out of direct sunlight; away from as much light as possible to retard fading of the paint and further aging of the plastic; and from extremes of temperature between the protective layers.

Since the primary function of the aniimated film cel was and still is to be photographed as one of many film frames in an animated feature, tey cannot be guaranteed to last like an oil or acrylic painting. Restoration can only do so much before it destroys the integrity of the work as an original. It cannot be lifted from one surface to another without being retraced. If acrylics are used to repair an old cel, its historical nature has been compromised. They should be treated like delicate quoaches.

The chances of these pre-1950 animated cels surviving will be greatly enhanced if kept out of the hands of incompetent conservators and inept framers.

P.O.V. (Point of View)

Nine men, blind from birth, having never seen an elephant were allowed to feel one. The first, holding the elephant's trunk in his hands exclaimed, "An elephant is like a snake." The second man touching the leg returned, "No brother, more like a tree." Still another feeling the animal's side barked out, "Gentlemen, an elephant is like a wall." "Ah," grumbled a fourth, holding the tusk. "It's a dagger." The nine could not agree over the nature of the elephant. They were each right and yet each was wrong. Each saw and understood only his own viewpoint.

We humans are very much like those nine blind men. We describe the world to each other as we see it. Nice anecdote, Don, but how does it apply to animation, right? Well, consider this. Art is born of human thoughts and emotions and to understand the creative process you must understand point of view.

Picture Ebenezer Scrooge and Santa Claus sitting down to discuss the meaning of Christmas, or better yet, ask each to design a Christmas Card. These two guys view the holiday differently; their cards would surely reflect that.

Art (An Expression of Feelings)

In attempting to instruct one in an art, the result is immediately frustrating. Art is not taught, but felt. It is an insight you are born with. How then do you plan to teach us animation you ask. The answer is simple...we don't! We can only hope to teach the techniques, methods and rules of animation. To describe the creative process is the best we can hope for.

The Magic and Mysteries of the Art transcend mere drawings, movements and painted cels. The gifted animator is an artist with a point of view, and expressing his feelings about the world around him in drawn form is his art. The search for meaning is up to the student. My view is that there are no real professionals; the more you learn, the more there is to know.

"We are all amateurs, we don't live long enough to become anything else." (Charlie Chaplin)

Intellect and Emotion

To illustrate how Intellect and Emotion work in the creative process, let's tackle a very practical assignment. Okay? Go sit in your think chair. Here it is: Design an evil witch, a character so repulsive that it wrinkles the nose of anyone who sees it, makes them back away in horror, and yet compels them to dare a second look. Do not copy any witch you have ever seen before. This must be an original.

The question now is: Is there an experience in your personal past, a banshee you've known, a school teacher, a neighbor or grandmother which will give you the needed insight into such a black heart. Is there anyone in the wrinkles of your memory who fits this description? Think! Think back!

If you come up empty, you'll have to resort to Intellect. Out with the horror films, comic books, John Bauers, Tenggrins, Heinrich Kleys and Gigers as you piece meal your way to a design. Like Dr. Frankenstein robbing graves to create one body -- Not the best method if you want an original.

If you find the prototype for the witch in your past, she will come equipped with a personality, as well as a form, and you will feel strongly about her. That point of view will surely show up in the design.

Use your Intellect, but let your Emotions guide you.

--DON BLUTH

Design

Design: Just how important is it to the success of your animation? The answer is very! It is the arrangement of the shapes in a selective way that gives the unique form to a character and ultimately, his personality. Form is a reflection of what lies beneath the skin, inside the character's soul. In simple terms, how a character thinks and what he looks like should harmonize. Form and content cannot be separated. Remember that. Form and content cannot separate. Change one, and the other will change automatically. A humorous character needs a funny design...an evil character a mean one.

The product you are creating, drawings, is for human eyes to see. I'd like to apply the rules of music to our approach. As music has rhythm, rhyme, pitch, symmetry, balance, construction, crescendos, loud and soft parts, and even rest areas, so should drawings. The eyes will view them much like the ears consider music. Drawings can be a rush of emotions, a turn off, or just an awful bore.

In designing a character, do not begin by picking up your drawing pencil. Premature sketching is the mark of the amateur and doodler, the artist without an idea. Go to your think chair. Search your brain and take notes. Assign the character that you are about to create an emotion. Write it as number one in your notes. People carry about with them, after all, a dominant feeling. There is an old saying: Your thoughts modify your features and the curves of your spine. Show that principle in your design.

Mrs. Brisby's basic emotion was fright. I imagined she cried herself to sleep each night and it showed in many ways: self-doubt, timidity, caution, indecision, tear stained pillows, etc. Only the love of her children drove her forward, else she might have succumbed to self-pity.

Preliminary sketches of Brisby illustrated fright. Example: Note Brisby's posture and the oh-won't-somebody-please-help-me look on her face. Fright makes the head hang, the shoulders droop, and the chest sink in. It is a contractive emotion. If Brisby were a proud woman, we would see a different posture and expression.

Include in your notes physical descriptions and behavioral patters. Example of first notes on Brisby: Height - 1 1/2 inches, weight - 3 ounces, color - chestnut, eyes - blue, hair - swept up (40's style hairdo), somewhat plain, no make-up and yet attractive in a feminine way. Since she is the heroine, she must symbolize rectitude and morality, yet not too goody-goody, or else no one will like her. She rises early to do her chores. Her house is clean and neat. She has different feelings about each of her four children, etc.

When you finish, you will probably have pages of notes. Don't be surprised if they deal with someone you actually know. After all, art is a reflection of life. Mrs. Brisby was an image of Don's own grandmother, who by the way, had thirteen children when her husband suddenly died.

Pick it up! I like Turquoise Brand, a B or 2B. Some artists simply kiss the paper, while others plow into it. A light touch is best. Try a few different pencils to decide what will best suit your needs. Also, select high quality bond paper. Allpaper has a rough and a smooth side. The one you select will determine your line quality. For best results, use the smooth side.

Now relax! Forget about the rules. just draw what pleases you. Do not edit your first attempts. Drawing is a process of the subconscious mind. It is aware of the conscious notes you just took, but don't try to instruct it. The subconscious is filled with mysteries and wonders you don't know about; let it instruct you. When the creative process is flowing freely, your drawings will not be clean, single lines. They will have a sketchy look and some of your shapes will be emphasized by a dense, dark line quality. Line density and width give variety and subtlety to your designs like the loud and soft of music. They focus attention and emphasize feeling.

This is an easy way of analyzing your work. All the separate shapes that compose a character's form are the positive ones. The spaces surrounding those shapes are negative. This viewpoint is most useful when doing inbetweens.

Study model sheets of other artists' designs. Not to copy, but to comprehend their creative process. It always helps to stand in another's shoes for a moment.

Practice

One more thing -- Sketch at least an hour a day. Just a guess, but we all have about 50,000 bad sketches in us. You have to get rid of them. Sketch daily.

-- JOHN POMEROY

As ever, in an animation studio, the animators continue to worry and sweat about their creations. Each scene must come to life and each scene must somehow surpass the artist's previous effort. The motto around the studio is that "you are only as good as your last scene." That motto has helped create a discipline in the artists and consequently produces some darn good animation.

Discipline and dedication usually come from a love for something, and I must say that the love for classical animation runs deep among the artists here.

Dan Kuenster, originally a water-colorist from the Chicago area, has become a classic example. Dan attended the American Academy of Art and spent a couple of years at Disney, climbing the animation ladder. He came to Don Bluth Studios four years ago and has become a dedicated animator, sometimes putting in thirteen hour days, struggling with the problems of breathing life into the scenes.

Mr. Kuenster has three younger artists working under him to whom he must train the principles of classical animation.

On THE SECRET OF NIMH, Dan did mostly action scenes, dramatizing the rescue attempt, by Mrs. Brisby and Justin, of the sinking Brisby home. He also worked on the continuity of scenes where Justin and the other rats scramble to reach Nicodemus only to discover his remains.

Dan animated on DRAGON'S LAIR, SPACE ACE and is presently hard at work on game number three,  DRAGON'S LAIR II: TIME WARP.

Lorna Pomeroy is the second animation personality I would like to profile. Lorna is from Los angeles and grew up a creative artist studying painting at Art Center College of Design.

She came to Disney as an Animation Trainee. In late 1972, Lorna left for four years to work as a layout and storyboard artist at one of the T.V. animation studios. Returning to the Disney studios, she took a position in publications, drawing all the Disney characters for merchandising and comic strip art.

Her first love was animation and when a position made itself available on the production of PETE'S DRAGON, she transferred to the Animation Department. She contributed to PETE'S DRAGON, SMALL ONE and THE FOX AND THE HOUND for Disney as an animator. During that time she met and married Producer/Animator, John Pomeroy.

Here at the Bluth Studios, Lorna has animated on BANJO, THE WOODPILE CAT, THE SECRET OF NIMH, DRAGON'S LAIR, SPACE ACE and is presently animating on game three.

Lorna has a knack for the appealing, is a gifted draftsman, usually takes on the close-up "acting" scenes and performs them well. Lorna also contributes as a designer with an uncanny ability to create appealing characters.

You may be interested to know that she did many of the close-up dialogue scenes of Mrs. Brisby. One impressive section is where Brisby reads from Nicodemus' book and discovers how her hasband died.

Linda Miller is one of our finest draftsmen and animators. Her art background is in Fine Arts and Illustration from Pepperdine University and Art Center College of Design.

Linda is also a Disney alumni. She worked on PETE'S DRAGON as an assistant, then proceeded to animate on SMALL ONE and THE FOX AND THE HOUND. She and Lorna were both part of the mass resignation to climb aboard and contribute to our crusade for quality.

Linda has been with us since September 14, 1979 and has contributed a great deal to the art of classical animation. Starting with BANJO, THE WOODPILE CAT, she moved on to do much of the aniimation and stylization of Jeremy the Crow in THE SECRET OF NIMH. She has also contributed to DRAGON'S LAIR, SPACE ACE and is animating on DRAGON'S LAIR II. Linda can handle easily the zaniest of scenes. Drawing comes very easy to her and she has a bizarre sense of humor. That combination has made Linda Miller one of the leaders of the pack here at Don Bluth Studios.

On The Editing Bench --

Jeff Patch, the editor here at the studio, is extremely tidy. He should be, as his job is to catch all the details, working with the Assistant Directors, and assemble them into a cohesive network of images and sound based on the script and storyboards. The Assistant Directors, Sue Shakespeare, Dan Molina and Ken Holiday, all team together to keep track of the flow and assembly of each film.

Jeff is a Disney alumni with eleven years to his credit, seven of those as an Assistant Director. He worked on ROBIN HOOD, THE RESCUERS and THE FOX AND THE HOUND (in fact, he wrote a song for the latter). Jeff joined us in November of 1979 as an Editor and contributed efforts in that category to BANJO, THE WOODPILE CAT, XANADU, THE SECRET OF NIMH, DRAGON'S LAIR and is presently finishing up SPACE ACE with a lot of help from Dan Molina.

They have assembled some thirty-five sound effects tracks, two digital stereo music tracks and three dialogue tracks for SPACE ACE. (Dragon's Lair, our first video game, had only fourteen sound tracks).

On the Music --

In our efforts to create only the highest quality, we have hired a young creative musician, Chris Stone, to compose the music for the video games. Chris created simple musical solutions for success scenes and failure scenes in DRAGON'S LAIR, plus a full music underscore for the attract mode at the head of the game. On SPACE ACE, Mr. Stone has added a full underscore to the whole game.

Don was looking for additional distractions to the game play to increase the difficulty. Our belief is that music lifts the spirit and creates excitement, and Chris' music adds a dimension to the game which brings it that film quality this studio is trying so hard to maintain.

His real challenge will come in game number three. But, more on that in a later issue.

I plan to introduce you to many more of our key personnel and their contributions in our future issues.

Of all the months of the year, January has got to be my very least favorite. If years were weeks, January would be the month of Mondays. And if you're like me, the last thing you need are thirty-one Mondays in a row.

One of the worst things about beginning a new year is the gnawing obligation towards resolve. I wasn't planning on making any New Year's resolutions for 'eighty-four, but from the looks of my office, I'd at least better tidy up a little.

The first thing I've got to do is get rid of all this used paper. SPACE ACE has been finished for weeks and I've still got rough rejects for SECRET OF NIMH  piled up in here. There's so much used paper here that it shouldn't merely be re-cycled, it should be made back into trees. It seems like I can only get one good drawing out of every eight sheets of paper, but I've got a theory about that. If I could just figure out how to eliminate the "bad paper" before I use it, I could probably get eight times as much work done.

I have also amassed the world's largest collection of dwarf pencils -- useless worn-down pencil stubs less than two inches long. They have got to go, but I'd better not let the production manager catch me pitching them, he's been using the same pencil since 1967. Thrifty guys, those production managers.

I'd better do something about a stopwatch this year, too. Don't think for a minute that I'd ever begin a scene until I've checked my timing with a stopwatch. I just always borrow Linda Miller's. So I'm either going to get myself a stopwatch, or take Linda to lunch.

It would be nice if 1984 turns out to be the year I get an assistant. It's not that I don't enjoy doing my own follow-up work, it's just that then there'd be someone else to blame for every mis-numbered drawing or fudged x-sheet.

We're starting the year off with a new project, too; a sort of sequel-game to the original DRAGON'S LAIR. The problem is that I have already forgotten how to draw Dirk the Daring. (It has been suggested that I didn't know how to draw him in the first place.)

Finding the model sheet for Dirk won't be easy either, since excavating my shelves could take a while. Hey! If I'm lucky, it could take until spring! Or longer! Of course then, 1985 will be right around the corner...

I was delighted and surprised when I received a complimentary copy of the Exposure Sheet.

I passed my copy around to friends and then reproduced the subscription form for my friend and I so I would not have to destroy my copy of this beautiful newsletter.

Some of my friends and I are in the process of organizing a media/sf club in conjunction with the Salt Lake City Library System. We feel that the Exposure Sheet would be of interest as well as very helpful to our members. Since we are not fully organized, however, it would be at least two months before we could place an order for the club. Do you have any idea how long the first issue of Exposure Sheet will be available?

Thank you for your help and for this very informative newsletter. It will be an asset to fandom and to all those who share an interest in animation.

Karen Serassio
Kearns, Utah

(We're glad you enjoyed the first issue. Since the first issue was a "sample," we had a large print run so it could be passed around freely. There should be issues available for some time to come. If other members are forming local groups and would like to receive the sample issue in bulk, please contact us for details. Single copies may be ordered, along with the other back issues, from the Studio Gift Shop.)

I am an "Elfquest" fan. I'm sure you have sen Wendy and Richard Pini's beautiful alternative comic, "Elfquest." It is a very exceptional comic in script and art. With limited availability, "Elfquest" has grown enormously popular. Thousands of "Elfquest" fans and I share the same dream: see "Elfquest: become an animated film.

I have seen  THE SECRET OF NIMH and the old Disney style came alive again! The most important thing in an animated film is the art...to keep the beauty alive. That's what you do best, and that's what "Elfquest" needs. Please consider "Elfquest." I'm positive you will not regret it.

Jennifer McLeod
Oakland, Maine

(Most of us at the Studio have seen the Pini's comic saga, "Elfquest," and yours is not the first time we've been asked to look into it. However, the film rights to "Elfquest" are currently held by a Canadian animation firm, Nelvana. They are known mostly for television specials, such as THE DEVIL AND DANIEL MOUSE, and an upcoming feature, ROCK AND RULE. Thanks for thinking of us, though.)

THE COMPLETE KODAK ANIMATION BOOK
Charles Solomon & Ron Stark
$17.95

This book is a part of Kodak's "how to" series. It is a good basic volume on the subject and would make an excellent first book in an animation library.

Almost all aspects of the field are discussed. There are chapters on animation history, how current studios produce it, the variety of styles, a survey of world animation, and a "how to" for beginners. Along with the text are 230 color and black and white illustrations.

The writing style of the two authors, both members of ASIFA (the international animation society), is easy to read and proves to be generally more accurate than other books in the subject area. Perhaps of most interest to newer animators is the highlighting of several independent animators' careers and an extensive listing of supply houses for animation supplies.

Overall the book is fun to glance through and read. At close to $20, the book may be considered too expensive for a beginning book (there are a number of less expensive "first step" books), but the illustrations, many from rarely seen foreign and/or early animation, compensate by giving the reader a look at the true diversity of the art form.