JaMiE BaKeR: fallout

In the years that I’ve played around creating my own characters I’ve had quite a few instances where despite my best efforst to be original, I’ve come up with something that someone else comes up with at almost the same time.

Sometimes the similarities are in the concepts, but more often it is in the names, which is the disadvantage of choosing names with alliteration or based on puns; someone else is bound to think of them too…

Sephilina was originally to be called SQUID GIRL, a name that cracked me up when I thought of it. The character actually grew out of the name rather than vice versa; I tried to visualise a character that would combine the cute ‘n’ slimey aspects of the name.

At that time (early 2001) I did an internet search and found nothing else with that name out there, and got cracking (in my slow fashion) on drawing her first comicbook story. So I was bummed out to discover that JUST as I was getting ready to publish her first story (mid 2002), someone else had beaten me to it… hence her new name. So, the moral of the story is:

A) think of TRULY unique names, not puns, or combinations of words where one of the words is “girl”, “boy” or “man” (think of how many characters are “somethingMAN” or “whateverGIRL”), and:
B) Once you have an idea, move on as quickly as you can. Dont leave it only in your head or sketchbook, because once it’s floating around out there in the ether SOMEONE is going to pick it up…

After a long battle with cancer that got into his lungs, Dan Lee died this last weekend. He was only 35 years old. I worked with him recently at Pixar where he was one of the main character designers, but we first met at Colossal Pictures back in the mid 1990’s.

I believe that Colossal was the first place he worked at in the USA after leaving Canada. While there, amongst other things, he animated on the Koala Lumpur game that I was working on, and that’s when I got to know him. I remember that he was belting out great animation daily, and seemed highly skeptical of the fact that I loved everything he did and didn’t change anything… Anyone who worked with him back in those days probably remembers his little cubicle drapped in equal proportions with beautiful sketches, lots of pictures of Audrey Hepburn and Dan’s sweaty bike shorts.

Dan was amazingly talented, but not at all difficult about it. I remember that he was the first artist on Finding Nemo to manage a “cute fish” design. I had been wrestling with the challenge of drawing a cute fish for weeks, (it’s harder than you may think!) and Dan managed it immediately. (DOH!) If any of you have the “art of Nemo” book you will be able to see some of his very appealing little sketches of Nemo in there.

Apart from often being inspired by his easy way with a pencil, brush or stylus, I admired the fact that despite his illness Dan continued to work at his job. I suppose it continued to make him happy despite all that he was going through.

I saw Dan as Recently as late October when I was in at Pixar storyboarding on another project he was doing wonderful designs on. (the rest of you will have to wait a year or two to see his work on that film). At that time he was physically frail but was nevertheless cheerful, certainly more so than I would imagine myself being in the same circumstances…

Thanks to Amber Maclean for this recent photo of Dan, taken in December 2004. More pics of Dan taken by Amber are online HERE.

An obituary article about Dan was published by the CBC. you can read it online here.

There is also a piece by the TORONTO SUN

UPDATE August 2005: read here about the Dan Lee Commemorative book.

Check out this recent candid shot of young model RACHEL (my niece) strutting her stuff in some stylin’ NERVE BOMB couture. This ensemble is from our 2005 “food spatter” collection.

There will prolly be a run on the merchandise from all those fad followers out there so get ‘em while stocks last. from the Nerve Bomb Shop

If anyone else has pix of themselves wearing Nerve Bomb stuff, please send them in. If I get enough, I may make a fashion-gallery on the site. I’m already planning a fan-art gallery as there are a number of ROCKET RABBIT pinups that have been sent in.

I’m back from a month long trip back to Australia, where I spent Christmas with my family in my home town for the first time in over 10 years. It was one of those rare and happy occassions where all the far flung members of my family managed to be in the same place at the same time for a few weeks.

Apart from time spent in my home town I had a week or so in Sydney, and I got to see a lot of old friends. Thankfully, I just missed the worst of the heat wave, but it was still plenty hot for somebody who has become aclimatised to the mild Bay area climate…

Speaking of travel, while back in Australia I picked up some travel guides from JETLAG TRAVEL. The next country I want to go backpacking in is definately Molvania.

My old pal of many years, TONY STACCHi finally bowed to all the nagging, and now has a web presence, so drop by and have a look at his new website. The site isn’t completely built yet, but there is already a tasty sample of his work on there to look at.

Though a long time resident of the Bay Area, he is one of many of my pals who has recently moved away. (I am suffering from a severe depletion of my posse lately *SNIFF*)

Tony now lives in LA, where he is Co-Directing a CG film (with Jill Culton of PIXAR fame) for Sony Imageworks called OPEN SEASON. The crew also includes one of my all-time animation heroes; the Mighty DAVE FEISS, who is running the storyboard department. So brace yourself for lots of craziness, but in CG. Carter Goodrich is also involved in the character design, so what with one thing and another, there is certainly lots to look forward to in that project.