The Man Behind the Castle: A Day with Disney

Disney is a name that has already gone down in history and won't soon be forgotten. Disney is no longer just a name and a family, it's now the name revered by every family, especially in America. To think, it all started with a mouse...

Walter Elias Disney was born on December 5 of 1901 in Chicago, Illinois. His parents, Elias and Flora, had five children, four boys and one girl. The Disney's moved to Missouri when Walt was young, and that is where he spent most of his childhood.  He started drawing when he was young, and even sold a few sketched to neighbors. In 1911 he and his family moved to Kansas City where his train-engineer uncle sparked Disney's interest in trains.

Disney took drawing and photography classes in Chicago and attended some night classes from the Chicago Art Institute. He was also was a contributor of cartoons for the school newspaper. When he was 19, he attempted to enlist in the military, but was rejected for being underage. Instead, he signed up for the Red Cross and drove and ambulance for a year in France. This ambulance was supposedly covered in his cartoons.

The Disney brothers with friend and co-worker Iwerks in front of Disney Brothers' Studio

When he returned to Kansas City, his older brother Roy helped him get a job at the Pesmen-Rubin Art Studio. His employment there began his experimentation with animation and led him to the Kansas City Film Ad Company. Walt started his own company, called Laugh-O-Grams, which created animated shorts to be played before films. This company soon went bankrupt, so he packed up and moved to Hollywood with his old Roy O. Disney.

While he was still employed in Kansas City, he created Alice in Cartoonland, which featured a girl in an animated world. They were also called The Alice Comedies. Disney and his brother started the Disney Brothers' Studios in Hollywood and their first major client contracted the Alice shorts for over $1,000 each. While beginning (1927), they also created Oswald, the Lucky Rabbit.

Oswald: The Lucky Rabbit

One of many setbacks in his career happened about this time when his New York buyer tried to hire him, but would not be fair. Disney was told Universal Studios owned all his cartoons, so Disney set out with a few loyal followers and began something extraordinary: Mickey Mouse.

In 1928, Steamboat Willie was released and became a huge hit. Earlier, in 1925, the name of the studio was changed from Disney Brothers' to Walt Disney Studios. The first feature length animated film was Snow White in 1937.

In 1932, the Disney Art School was established to teach others the Disney style.
In 1939, Disney built the Burbank Studio, and in 1941 there was a workers strike against Disney's "unfair wages and lack of job security."

Much to the joy of Walt, Disneyland was built in 1955 with financial backing from ABC. In 1971, he began purchasing land in Florida that would become Walt Disney World.

Disney holds the record for most Academy Awards won. He is also known as one of the greatest visionaries of the century. He has also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He constantly returned to Marceline, MO, which was the place of most of his inspiration. Sadly, on December of 1966, Walt Disney died of lung cancer.

This is one man that every person in America owes so much to. Not only was he successful doing what he loved, but he gave so much to everyone around him.

Vasquez; Destroyer of Worlds..or Sanity?

Jhonen Vaquez was born on September 1. 1974 and was raised in East San Jose. He spent most of his time drawing and the school paper published some of his comics titled Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. He also created Happy Noodle Boy while in school. He had a friend that demanded comics from him and he tried to create the worst comic he could so she would stop asking. That was how Happy Noodle Boy came into existence. 

Happy Noodle Boy

He graduated in 1992 and attended De Anza College in Cupertino, but dropped out to be a professional cartoonist. In 1995 he met his wife, Tavisha Simons at the Alternative Press Expo. He often incorporates narratives in the borders of his comics. 

Words surround this comic strip from JTHM: "Worship me, stop head, etc"

Johnny the Homicidal Maniac was Vaquez's first comic and ran for eight issues. The logo "Z?" refers to Johnny's insomnia and to Vazquez's hypnophobia; the fear of sleep. It is also the name of his website. The comic follows Johnny's search for the meaning of life, but often ends in horrible deaths, including his own. Johnny is also a schizophrenic whom has two cardboard cut-outs, called The Doughboys. Another is Nail-Bunny; a dead rabbit nailed to the wall, which later becomes a floating head.

Nail-Bunny

Doughboys and Johnny

In 1997, Squee, a supporting character from Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, was given a four-issue series. It follows Squee's encounters with aliens, Johnny, and Satan's son. Squee! was nominated for several Eisner Awards. Another full comic by Vaquez is I Feel Sick, which follows Devi, another character from JTHM. The story is about the tortured artist trying to maintian her sanity living in an odd reality. She also converses with one of her paintings, named Sickness. 

Squee

Devi; I Feel Sick

Another character that has gained fame from the mind of Vaquez is Filler-Bunny. He was created to fill up space in the Squee! comics. His antics gained enough popularity to earn him a three issue series of his own. Filler-Bunny is an experimental animal and longs for the sweet arms of death as he is tortured by unseen forces. He often fantasized about death or creatures that are nice to each other, or even a world that doesn't allow monkeys up his butt-hole. All in all, he is a spunky fella that just wants the pain to end.

Filler-Bunny

I have saved the best for last. The most well-known Vasquez art is his series that premiered on Nickelodeon in 2001 and ran until 2003. The show follows Zim, a small alien invader from planet Irk. He and his robot sidekick, GIR, try to take over the world. GIR is a malfunctioning SIR (Standard Information Retrieval) Unit with an eccentric and hyperactive personality. He was sent to Earth by the Almighty Tallest by accident; they didn't know Earth existed. Zim is an incompetent invader, but believes himself to be the best. His arch-enemy, Dib, is a paranormal investigator that is never taken seriously by anyone. His younger sister, Gaz, is a video game addict, and their father is Professor Membrane.

Zim and Gir without and with their earthly disguises

The show's rating began to decline at the end of the season, so only 46 episodes aired on TV and were released to DVD. Since then, Invader Zim and GIR have gained a cult following consisting of punk, emo, and goth stereotypes. The most popular of them all being GIR. He is the loveable, crazy, adorable character.

Gaz with her Game-Slave 2

The show has also won several awards and inspired Invader-Con, 2011, and Invader-Con 2: Doom-Con in 2012. There is also a lot of controversy over the appropriateness of the show for young viewers. Vasquez's style didn't change for the show, except for the language and a few of the gory scenes.

Dib...being Dib

Jhonen Vasquez focuses from a very dark and often morbid sense of humor and vision of reality. He has also become a cult icon since his premier. His style is very geometric and often thin. His main characters often live in a maniac world and talk to (what would normally be) inanimate objects. He plants smiley faces throughout his artwork that follows a very black-comedy formula.

“Nothing quite brings out the zest for life in a person like the thought of their impending death” 

― Jhonen Vasquez, Johnny the Homicidal Maniac: Director's Cut

*I do NOT own any of the above images*

My Spoon is Too Big!

This guy; he is awesome.

Have you ever seen the Pop-Tart commercials on television about people tricking those delicious pop-tarts into toasters? I have and it was NOT Don Hertzfeldt. Kellogg's used a very similar style and humor, but Hertzfeldt has stated that he would never do commercial work.  I did not know this until I began writing this blog, so I felt I had to inform you of this. Several other companies have also borrowed his style for their products. He has stated that he will not be involved in the commercial world. He makes his films because that is what he enjoys doing, not because he can make money from it. 

Born on August 1st in 1976, in California, he taught himself animation when he was only 15. All he used was a small video camera and his pen and paper. Before then, he spent his time attending animation festivals and drawing comic books.  While he attended film school at the University of California in Santa Barbara, he found he was drawn to animation rather than low budget live action films. 

Hertzfeldt has never held a job other than his animation, even when he was in school. His 16mm student films found festival exposure from the beginning. These included Lily and Jim and Billy's Balloon. His short films include an array of slapstick humor, trajicomedy and black humor. His videos feature hand drawn stick figures with tradition media for the effects. He uses very little technological aid. He uses 16mm or 35mm film cameras and techniques such as multiple exposures, in camera mattes, and experimental photography. 

Intro & Billy's Balloon

Hertzfeldt often single-handedly creates his entire films. This means he alone he writes, directs, produces, animates, edits, voices, and makes the sound for the entire film. At times, this process takes years. I single film may require tens of thousands of drawings. He will often include classical music in his movies. Music of Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, and Strauss have appeared in films. He has also composed some of his own music. 

His film, Everything Will be OK, has been acclaimed as his greatest feature to date. It has gotten the best critical reviews and the Boston Globe called it a "masterpiece." The film is based off of one of his early characters, Bill, and follows his mundane life until it begins to grow dark as we learn Bill may be suffering from a deadly disease. This is the first film in a trilogy telling Bill's story. The other two are I Am So Proud of You and It's Such a Beautiful Day. The trilogy is a moving event, something very cardiac; in your chest. It may be odd that a stick figure can cause these emotions, but when a man really knows how to tell a story, it doesn't matter what the figures look like. 

Everything Will be OK

Hertzfeldt has won many, many awards for his animations, even being the youngest to win them in the history of the award. He resides in Santa Barbara and has produces all his videos from there. Although many bootleg versions of his films have been put on the internet, he is not going to hassle his fans. He feels that a true film should be seen in a dark room with the viewers undivided attention.

"I like paper and pens and paint...I need to angle real lights on my artwork and work with my hands and build props. Computers just take all that fun out of it."

                                                                                                                         -Don Hertzfeldt

**I do NOT own any of these images or videos**

Adolf Hitler: Monster or Misunderstood?

Sadness in his eyes; he just wanted to paint.

 Are you surprised to see Hitler in an art blog? He was actually a very talented artist. (crazy, right?)

Adolf Hitler was born at an Inn in Austrai on April 20, 1889. He was the fourth of six children, all four of which died by five years old. His younger sister, Paula, and he lived to adulthood. His father was a strict, ruthless man who sometimes beat Adolf. His mother was a hardworking, kinder woman. Needless to say, he was much closer to his mother than to his father.

Baby Adolf

His father, Alois, wanted him to follow in his footsteps and work in the Austria customs, but Adolf pleaded to attend classical high school to become an artist. Despite his sons desires, Alois sent him to a technical school. He and his friend often attended operas. He spent four years there before leaving for Vienna with his dreams of becoming a painter.

When Adolf was only 13 years old, in 1908, his mother passed to breast cancer, which was a tragic blow to the adolescent boy.

White Orchids; Adolf Hitler

 While living in Vienna, he struggled every day for food. He lived as a vagabond, often created art for postcards and magazines, he even sold some to the general public, to afford to eat. He loved many media of art, including painting, sculpture, concerts, theater, and opera. Even with meager income, he only bought high quality paints, brushes, and canvases.

He was turned down by the Viennese Academy of Fine Arts twice for "unsatisfactory" skills, after which began to shape his hatred towards Jews, Marxists, and the cosmopolitan Habsburg monarchy. After this turning point in his life, he began dreaming of  a Greater Germany.

"For hours, I could stand in front of the Opera, for hours I could gaze at the parliament; 

the whole Ring Boulevard seemed to me like an enchantment out of the 

'Thousand and One nights.' "

-Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf

The Munich Opera House

Hitler was a soldier in World War I and ranked as high as Lance Corporal. He also received the Iron Cross for bravery. He was badly gassed near the end of the war an spend three months recuperating. He was temporarily blinded and went into an impotent rage. Once healthy, he convinced himself that fate had chosen him to rescue the nation from the Versailles Treaty, from the Bolsheviks and Jews. In 1919, he entered the German Workers' party, who changed their name to National Socialist German Workers' Party soon after and was chairman by July of 1921.

Castle Battlements

Hitler was arrested and tried on February, 1924, after the failure of the Beer Hall Putsch. Although he was sentenced to five years, he was released after nine months. He dedicated his writings, titled Mein Kampf, to Rudolf Hess, his loyal follower and cell mate. This book became a structure for the Nazi Party to stand on. Using what he'd learned, he decided that a political approach would suit him better than one bullet-riddled. The Nazi Party began to inflate in popularity and due to the depression in Germany at the time, his persuasive speeches and promised of a Greater Germany were well-received.

Smoking Tank

By June of 1934, it was undisputed that Adolf Hitler was the dictator of the Third Reich, and with the death of President von Hindenburg, he controlled all the powers of the State. He quickly became the leader of the country and lead his people to prosperity. Those he considered NOT his people were not treated as well. He looked down and tried to eliminate the Jews, as well many others, including the physically and mentally handicapped. He felt they were impurities to the Aryans, the "Master Race."

Still Life With Bottle and Fruit

Hitler had a greatly shaping influence on art, music, and architecture under his rule. He declared most modern art "degenerate" and those artists suffered striking consequences. Many fled the country, while others were prohibited from teaching or painting. He allowed classical methods of art to be proclaimed. He oversaw two shows in Munich at the same time. One, Degenerate Art, the other, The Great German Art Exhibition. Degenerate Art contained artwork, un-cared for and degraded, by modern artists. While The Great German Art Exhibition contained artwork he allowed, those that portrayed Germany in a heroic sense. The latter gained less than half the attendees as the former.

Germania 

Hitler allowed painters and sculptors to produce nudes of males and females. Males must be depicted as strong, powerful, and heroic while females were sleek and clean with full breasts and a flat belly. These were often Nordic, but brunettes were apparent. Hitler continued to create his artwork throughout his reign and his life. He even gave the present world the first design for the Volkswagon Beetle, as well as other ideas. 

First design of the Volkswagon Beetle

In April of 1945, Hitler and a group of men, along with Eva had been hiding in a bomb-proof bunker, the Fuhrerbunker, as the war raged overhead. There were talks of surrender, and that is thought to be Hitler's last straw. Adolf Hitler committed suicide by shooting himself through the mouth. His wife of the previous day, Eva Braun took a cyanide capsule. Hitler had ordered both bodies to be burned. There are rumors that Hitler had not committed suicide, but had sneaked away to live in hiding. Hitler and a group of men, along with Eva had been hiding in a bomb-proof bunker, the Fuhrerbunker, as the war raged overhead. There were talks of surrender, and that is thought to be Hitler's last straw. 

Hitler and Blondi

Hitler also had a deep love for animals, especially his German Shepard, Blondi. He even ordered cyanide pills be given to Blondi and her puppies the same day of his suicide. 

A uniquely interesting character, Hitler also went slightly obsessed and paranoid towards his end. Many rumors are floating around, including his army of literate canines and time travel. But I will leave you with this thought: What if Hitler had been accepted into the art academy?

** I do NOT own any of the images **

"Entartete Kunst" (Art Nazis Hated)

“This art is the sick production of crazy people. Pity the people who are no longer

 able to control this sickness”

                                                                 -Adolf Hitler, on modern art; Mein Kampf

Adolf Hitler felt that he was knowledgeable with regards to art. It is commonly known that art, architecture, music, and films in Germany were heavily influenced by the Nazi ideology of the time. Hitler had decided that there were two forms of art; classical realistic art that portrayed all that was good about Nazi Germany; and the un-German or Jewish Bolshevist, degenerate art, which was basically all modern art.

L'Ange du Foyer; 1937 by Max Ernst

July 19, 1937 on the streets of Munich, Nazi Germany, there was an art exhibition held titled "Entartete Kunst," translated to Degenerate Art. This show featured famous artists such as Max Ernst, Paul Klee, and Wassily Kandinsky alongside less popular artists such as William Wauer, Ernst Nay, and Ewald Matare

Two Women in the Street; 1914 by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

The show was put on by Adolf Ziegler and Joseph Goebbels, after the idea came to them from Hitler's critique of modern art. The show was held in the Institute of Archeology in the Hofgarten. Hitler has declared a war in cultural disintegration, which included the artwork that insulted German feeling, distorted the natural form, or revealed an absence of artistic skill.

Flyer cover for Degenerate Art

This particular show was set up by the Nazis to show the world the detriment this artwork had on the ideal Germany. The first three rooms of the show were themed demeaning of religion, Jewish artists, and insulting to women, soldiers, and farmers of Germany. The rest of the show was not arranged in a theme. The venue had dark, narrow rooms, and many of the paintings were hung without frames and partially covered with derogatory themes. Many paintings had text beside them deriding the artwork.

Hitler and Ziegler at the show

The show exhibited over 650 paintings, sculptures, prints, and books that were taken from 32 German museums to be put in the show. The show ran until November 30 in Munich, at which time it traveled to eleven other cities in Germany and Austria. During the four months the show was up, 2,009,899 visitors attended, making an average of 20,000 people a day.

White Tree Trunks 1908 by Emil Nolde

Over 5,000 works, at least 1,000 of them just by Emil Nolde, were seized by the Nazi party and deemed 'degenerate'. These works showed qualities such as mental disease, racial impurity, and weakness of character. Hitler believed that a finished picture should ever portray anguish, distress, or pain. He preferred the romantic form of realism. He also felt that artists should use color that was different than perceived in nature.

Tower of the Blue Horses 1913 by Franz Marc

Near this show, in the Haus der Deutschen Kunst, the show titled Great German Art Exhibition was held. This contained more classical and racially pure art that was accepted by the Nazi Party. This show attracted roughly half the viewers as Degenerate Art. After the show went abroad to be seen by another million people or so, the artwork was sold off, many to U.S. collectors and the money was used to war expenses. Then on March 20, 1939 nearly 5,000 pieces were burned. 

photography by Herbert Bayer

Most of the artists that were considered degenerate were often subject to sanctions. This included being dismissed from teaching positions, being forbidden to exhibit or sell their art, and being forbidden to create art entirely, if they would not comply with Hitler's artistic ideals. Because of these sanctions, a large number of artists fled the country.

** I do NOT own any of the above images **

Tim Burton's Imagination

Enter into the fantastical horror filled mind of Tim Burton. He is probably the first artist to inspire me, besides my Mother. My brother and I used to rent A Nightmare Before Christmas (produced by Burton), over and over again from the local video rental store. There was a gap in time when I had forgotten about the movie, and when I re-watched it, I couldn't believe that I hadn't been scared of the characters. They were fabulously terrifying, yet welcoming.  Over the years, I've been enthralled with his artwork. Not only his movies and short films, but also his drawings and other personal art. 

Tim Burton

Timothy Walter Burton was born in Burbank, California on August 25, 1958. He grew up being inspired by horror films of Roger Corman, many featuring the well known on-screen villain Vincent Price. He enrolled in the California Institute of Arts, majoring in animation. He graduated in 1980. He worked for Walt Disney Studios for less than a year and stuck out on his own. In 1982 he released his award winning short, Vincent, which was a tribute to his childhood idol. Burton currently resides in London with Helena Bonham Carter and their two children.

Victor and Sparky

His second popular short was entitled Frankenweenie, a twist on the classic Frankenstein. Frankenweenie  is now a full length movie, released in 2012. After he left Disney, Warner Brothers Pictures decided to have him direct Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.  Burton went on to other well known films such as Beetlejuice (1988), Edward Scissorhands (1990), and Batman (1989). 

Beetlejuice with an upset stomach.

He's had a tremendous amount of success in many of his movies. He also tends to work with some of the same people in many of his works. Not because he is using favorites, but because their skills fit with Burton's works at the time. Danny Elfman, an American composer, has music in many of Burton's films. Helena Bonham Carter is also the chosen actress in several films. Probably the most associated actor in Burton's films is Johnny Depp. Although some people criticize him for the recurring actors and composer, I feel that it works well for his work.

Teenager: an awkward period of life.

His website  begins with his character, Stain Boy, in which you use the arrow keys to explore the site. He has a public gallery of works as well as a private gallery. To access the private gallery, one must enter an email address to receive updates.

Stain Boy

Throughout his artwork there is a deep sense of horror and fantasy. The sketchy quality of his works on paper makes them childlike. He was known to convey that people only stop being artists when they start expecting something. His instructors at the Institute told him that "if you like to draw, just draw." This is something I can relate to, since I've been drawing since I could hold a crayon. Even if your stuff doesn't turn out the way you wanted, or you hate it when it's done, the point is to do what you like to do.

Burton has also written a handful of poems, the most famous one entitled Victor, which is about a little boy named Victor Malloy whom wishes to be like Vincent Price. He has turned it into an animated short narrated by Vincent Price, himself. Be has also has several books published, one being

Time Burton married a German artist in 1989 named Lena Gieseke. They split shortly after the filming of Batman Returns. He was then left her for Lisa Marie whom he dated for a few years and placed in four of his films. During the production of Planet of the Apes, he met Helena Bonham Carter. Burton resides in London with Bonham Carter and their two children. They have been involved since 2001, and their son and daughter were born in 2003 and 2007, respectively.

Helena Bonham Carter, Nell Burton, Billy Raymond Burton, Tim Burton

To keep an updated tab on Tim Burton and his works. you can find most of it on the Tim Burton Collective.

*I do NOT own any of the above images*

Gublernation!

Matthew Gray Gubler is on my list of people I would love to meet. He is well known for acting as Dr. Spencer Reid in the CBS television show Criminal Minds. He was born on March 9, 1980 in Las Vegas, Nevada to an attorney father and a rancher/politician mother. He attended the Las Vegas Academy of International Studies, Performing and Visual Arts where he majored in drama. He never imagined he would end up with a career in acting, he simply thought it was fun and that it would help him succeed in other areas, especially public speaking. 

Right after graduating New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, he was approached by a modeling agent on the street. According to Gubler, the agent only saw potential because of the emaciated looking male models in fashion magazines. He accepted and quickly became one of the most sought after male models in New York City. He noted posing for ads and participating in runway shows for designers such as Marc Jacobs, Lois Vuitton, and Tommie Hilfiger. 

Gubler was always focused on making films, and in 2004 he took an internship with Wes Anderson. He was then cast in The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou as Intern #1 and right after, he was cast as Dr. Spencer Reid, whom is a genius FBI BAU (Federal Bureau of Investigation Behavioral Analysis Unit) agent with three Ph.D. degrees in his twenties. Gubler has also had several other movie roles.

Matthew Gray Gubler has also directed multiple episodes of Criminal Minds, including Mosley Lane, Heathridge Manor, and The Lesson. He has also directed and written Claude: A Symphony of Horror, The Cactus That Looked Just Like a Man, and MGG: The Unauthorized Documentary. Many of these and a few more can be found on his YouTube channel.
 

The "Gub" as he is sometimes called, has stated that he shares a few things with his character Dr. Reid. He is quick-witted, slightly OCD, and interested in odd things, but Gub doesn't have the eidetic memory of Dr. Reid.

Why would I write about an actor in an arts blog? Not only is a model, actor, writer, and director, he also draws. Mostly caricatures and self-portraits, but also some monsters.

He has a multilayered website entitled Gublerland, which is the universe in which his creations reside. It is packed with doodles and drawings and fun things to do. Urban Dictionary describes Gublerland as the "all-amazing, fascinating land where you, an intense fan of MGG can live your wonderful all-around-Mr. Gubler life."

In this wonderful land, one can get their own passport to be a well rounded citizen of Gublerland and explore all its wonders. You can write letters in which Geeselund the Mail Monster of Gublerland may respond to you per The Gub's request since he is a busy, busy man. From here you can access his photographs, finger puppets/small creations, and his art on his webpage. In which has an audio of him reciting Annabel Lee by Edgar Allen Poe.

Kermit and Vincent Price by MGG

Matthew Gray Gubler has a magic touch with a magic smile. I am enchanted each time I see his picture, not just because of his dashing good looks, but the genuineness behind them. He has many talents and his thankful for them and his fans.

The mustache isn't so bad.

*all images were taken from the internet. I DO NOT own any of them*