Brigitte's Garden at Disney MGM Studios

The best thing about working on an animated film is, as everyone knows, the project itself. It's going to be awesome, you're going to do your greatest work ever, and on opening night you will stun the world with animation excellence. But then, as the years pass, a funny things happens. You tend forget about the film itself (with a few honourable exceptions), and what you end up remembering, often with great fondness, is the people you worked with.

Independent Producer Max Howard reveals the secrets of producing independent animated films

Max Howard

Animation producer Max Howard began his career in animation working on "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?", after which he joined Disney in Florida to set up their fledging Orlando studio. Since then he has worked for many of the biggest animation studios, and for the past decade has forged a career as an independent producer, as well as consulting for the animation industry and giving lectures and workshops all around the world. FLIP asked him to talk about what it takes to produce an independent animated film.

Roger Rabbit Reunion Party - Friday August 16th

Calling all Roger Rabbit alumni - on Friday August 16th Tom Sito, Don Hahn, and Max Howard are hosting a Roger Rabbit reunion party at the King's Head Pub at 12969 Ventura Blvd, in Sherman Oaks. So if you fancy reminiscing about the good old days of hand-drawn animation then grab your Rabbit memorabilia and head for Sherman Oaks on Friday.

The bulk of the animation of the original Who Framed Roger Rabbit? was made in Camden Town in London. On Friday nights almost everyone on the crew would head down to the local pubs for an evening of drinking, often followed by a trip to a local club. The Electric Ballroom was a bit of a favourite.

After the film ended in the Spring of 1988, many of the crew found themselves in Los Angeles, where Dave Spafford continued the friday night drinking tradition by turning his house in a very passable imitation of an English pub, complete with bar, darts board and pinball machines (well, maybe that last bit wasn't so authentic).

For years, any animation Brit or Rabbit veteran who found himself at a loose end in LA would head for Spaff's on a Friday night. I went myself a few times, though the last time I went I remember I didn't recognise anyone there. Dave closed it down soon after - it had had its day. But only after a long, excellent run.

Me in 1987, with Caron Creed

Anyway, head down memory lane this Friday and hang out with your Rabbit kumrads and muse over the perennial unanswered (and apparently unanswerable) question -

Why has no-one ever made a sequel?

---Alex

http://yeoldekingshead.com/

Disney MGM Studios, Summer of 1989 - Part 2

Roger Rabbit by Rob Minkoff - Rob corrects my animation drawings 

One of the best things about working at Disney MGM Studios was being able to go on all the rides for free. In the evenings after work the Park thinned out and, as employees, we could come and go as we pleased. My personal favourite was the Hollywood Tower of Terror a fantasy ride based on the old Twilight Zone TV series. I rode it endlessly and could never get enough of the butterflies-in-the-stomach final plunge. 

Disney MGM Studios, RollerCoaster Rabbit and the summer of 1989 - Part 1

Me at my Disney-MGM desk, animating a scene from Rollercoaster Rabbit

In the summer of 1989 I managed to get a job as an animator at the newly built Disney MGM Studio Theme Park in Florida, set up by "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" Production Manager Max Howard. Max was hired by Disney to build the new studio from scratch, and he quickly set about making a series of short "Roger Rabbit" films with his enthusiastic but fairly inexperienced crew. 

Kelly Asbury - loving his new jeans

Part of the Studio's production expenses were paid by the Park itself, as visitors would pay to watch the animators at work. We called it the goldfish bowl - guests would walk through the studio all day long and watch us draw. The inexperienced and the unlucky had to sit by the window - closely supervised by camera-wielding tourists.

Some of the animators claimed to be able to line up dates by gradually moving through the studio exchanging nods and winks and finally phone numbers with the girls "on the other side". For me it was heaven - my first proper animation gig since Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, a paid summer job in a sunny paradise and a chance to learn and get better at my craft.

Rob Minkoff tells Jim Beihold a thing or two

We were led by the incredibly talented Rob Minkoff - who patiently took the trouble to fix my drawings and squeezed far better work out of me than I thought I was capable of - invariably the sign of a great director.

Master Animator Mark Henn - quality and speed

Lots of extremely able artists got a head start at Disney MGM Studios. I was lucky enough to work with Kevin Turcotte, Kelly Asbury, Mark Henn, Jim Beihold and Tom Bancroft, among many others who brought their huge talents to the studio. 

It was a huge privilege to be there and like everyone else who passed through its doors I thought it was a tragedy that such an excellent studio was eventually closed down by Disney.

-Alex

You can see the second part of this article about Disney MGM studios here, and read more about it in this classic FLIP article.