JaMiE BaKeR: fallout

Another pic for my Dad’s book to illustrate a story about the Bangkok police implanting working elephants with tracking devices, to keep them off of the downtown streets:

Lately I have been in lockdown; just sleeping or working on the illustrations, with periodic breaks to eat, when I normally head out of the house to an internet cafe. I can get some change of scenery, food and some emails (and maybe a quick blog post!) done all in one go.

I needed just such a break a few nights ago but it was late in the evening and the cosy internet-cafe I normally go to for such a break was closed. So I took my laptop over to another cafe that I knew was open late. It was crowded inside and the music was loud, so I sat outside in the fresh air to do some emailing and web-surfing on my laptop as I drank my hot chocolate. Late in the evening is a good time to send emails to Australia (where the book production is happening) because the working day has already begun down there. I had just sent an email to the designer of the ELEPHANT book, when some snatch-and-grab/crack-head scooped my laptop and ran off with it, bolting downhill into San Francisco’s charming Tenderloin neighbourhood.

!!!!!

After a brief startled pause, I gave chase, trying to make up the head-start he had on me, sometimes running down the road in the oncoming traffic. I was giving this pursuit everything I had, and there was some great motivation: ALL the artwork for my dear old Dad’s Elephant book was on that laptop!

As I chased the junky, the life of the ELEPHANT BOOK was flashing before my eyes…

After about three blocks running as hard as I could, he wasn’t getting any further away, but I wasn’t getting closer either and I was reaching the limit of my middle aged adrenaline capacity, whereas he had both youth and the perfomance enhancing properties of CRACK on his side. I didn’t think that I could keep up with him for much longer…

Mercifully, I was helped out by some folks in the street, who clearly read the situation when they saw a wiry dude clutching a laptop chased by a red-faced puffy bloke screaming obscenities. They realised that they needed to intervene and spare me a heart attack. Several people on sidewalks along the way tried to grab the thief or trip him up, and a few times he did stumble, giving me the chance to gain on him. Pretty soon there was one hell of a hulla-balloo; random passers by yelling “STOP THAT GUY!” and me yelling stuff I can’t write here.

As he rounded a corner, a group of people who had time to react in advance, tripped the thief up for good and I got the laptop back…

In other good news, one of the guys who tripped up the evil doer absolutely beat the stuffings out of him, after wrenching the laptop out of his fingers. This BADASS Samaritan briefly paused his expert pummelling of the baddie to give me a chance to get in some hits myself (almost like he was graciously offering me the last slice of a tasty desert) but I declined; I was too busy gripping onto the laptop with both hands… and bent double trying to get my breath back. Besides, the (muscular, tattooed, and menacing) dude beating on the baddie was doing a superb job on his own, and I didn’t want to mess up his syncopating rhythm. So the miscreant definately got a form of punishment before he limped away, and he didn’t look in very good condition…

Even though the wretch was tried, convicted and punished in the court of STREET JUSTICE, In hindsight I should have held him and called the cops, because that very same creep is probably going to pull the very same slimy move again… Although after that savage walloping, his getaway speed may not be quite as impressive… I really wasn’t thinking straight. I ALSO ought to have gotten the name of the anonymous avenger who helped me out (a tattooed SUPER HERO in my eyes) so I could buy him dinner, a beer or a monogrammed pair of brass-knuckles or something. He was in the middle of helping some friends move, and they just headed off after shaking my hand. I did get a chance to thank him profusely, between gulps of oxygen, but I really should have got his phone number for a follow up…

But at that point I was already pre-occupied with the thought that I had left my shoulder bag on the table outside the coffee shop 3 blocks away and that it contained my check-book and some other stuff. It occurred to me that if this thief was an experienced operator he would have a partner to scoop my bag when I head off in pursuit. So I ran as fast as I could back to the cafe… When I got there, sure enough, my bag was gone and I figured that I had to call the bank and tell them a check-book had been stolen… but I still counted myself very lucky that I had gotten my laptop back especially when I found out that, remarkably, despite the crack-head’s spectacular sprawling wipe-out, it seems to be working OK…

At that point a guy came up and congratulated me on getting it back. He had seen the snatch from across the street and wanted to hear the story of its recovery. I told him what had happened, and that the only minor bummer was the loss of my bag. He told me that my bag wasn’t stolen; it was now waiting for me in the coffee shop as he had taken it in there for safe-keeping.

I was very lucky to have had so many people help me out that day. Even now, a few days later, I get horror-shudders when I consider what today would be like if I had NOT gotten my laptop back…

GAaAaAaH!

I have worked in three main types of work-spaces: at home (which is what I am doing now) in a big, company studio (either as a freelancer or on staff) and in a shared work space with other freelance artists. Each has something to be said for it. For me, the best thing and the worst thing about working in animation is that it is a collaborative medium. It is genuinely a great experience to be working in a team where the end result is greater than any of you could have achieved alone. Yet sometimes I do need to be able to close the door, have some thinking time, and get away from the politics. I have learned that a certain amount of “alone time” and communal time is required for my best work, and finding the balance between the two can be very tricky.

Working at home
My apartment is my studio these days and there is certainly plenty of freedom and alone-time but I generally don’t enjoy it very much. Part of the problem is not having any separation between work-place and living-place (sometimes I never change out of my pyjamas all day) but the main issue is the lack of inspiration that comes from the company of creative human beings. No structure and no stimulation makes for some pretty powerful stagnation sometimes… In a perfect world I would be one of those creatively self sufficient people, but I’ve learned that just isn’t me… I like seeing other artists working around me as I work, and that is just as true even when I am working on my own personal projects.

Working at a company
I have spent a lot of time at big animation studios and for the most part they can be really fun places to work, even in those places where the quality of the work itself isn’t so great. I recently read an essay by BRAD HOLLAND (actually, his introduction to an old edition of LOVE and ROCKETS) where he theorised, in some very funny writing, as to what kind of hack would choose to work in a factory like an animation studio… which made me laugh even though I am the butt of this particular joke. (By the way, many years after he wrote that piece, I worked with Brad Holland briefly at Colossal Pictures. He had illustrated a print campaign that we were turning into animated commercials. His horror at seeing we animation monkeys attempt to ape his painting style was palpable…)

The very first animation studio I worked at certainly felt like a factory, but even so, It was exciting to be surrounded by other people who were drawing, painting and making things and ever since then I have really enjoyed working in studios surrounded by other artists, hacks or otherwise, because I find it very inspiring to see other artists’ way of working. I have learned so much just from having the chance to see how other people work and it never ceases to re-energise me.

For me, the downside of working in big studios is the inevitable politics that exists wherever there are more than 2 human beings… those little frictions and micro-dramas are the small price you pay for the many benefits of human company. Also, immersion in company culture can sometimes wear me out over time. I start to take the deadlines so seriously that I can lose perspective on life… For example:

Years ago, I was working at a studio making TV commercials, while my brother Jo was working in Mombassa, Kenya. Every few months he would propose that I should visit and accompany him on another of his adventures. Each time, I very much wanted to go but would put it off because of the “very important” work on my desk… That went on for almost two years until my brother finally left Kenya… so I never ever went. Now, these many years later, I cannot remember what was important enough to trump an African adventure with my brother… Probably a long since forgotten commercial featuring dancing sausages or singing candy… But if I had gone to Kenya and seen Kilimanjaro with my bro’ I would surely have remembered that experience for the rest of my life…

So while solitude leads to stagnation there can be problems working in a creative “village” as well… Sometimes a bit of detachment is a GOOD thing… it can give you a much needed perspective. I like working in big studios very much indeed, but sometimes I need to make sure that I can walk out the door and leave work AT WORK.

Shared workspace
The best balance I have ever found is to share a work-space with other artists. There is some of the camaraderie and creative stimulation of a big studio but with a minimum of the company-politics to deal with. There is a measure of detachment, as you work on your separate projects, yet there isn’t too much isolation. There is the freedom of being “freelance” but with a certain amount of structure. There is also the stimulation of other artists and the networking that comes from their contacts. When it works well, there is also a great blend of working on paid jobs and personal projects (working on your personal projects while at at big companies can lead to intellectual property grey areas). When the mix of people is right this is my favourite working situation. You can also get the best of both worlds if you do some freelance work at a big studio but have your shared workspace to go to for your personal work.

There are a few things required to making this work. The first is to get the right mix of people. Hopefully you have a shared understanding of the Manifesto (Artists tend to hate the word “rules” so I think of it as the manifesto) which means that you have to have some overlap in what you consider the ground rules to be. Is it OK for me to have my buddy sleep on the couch at the workspace or hold a party there… that sort of thing.

The other thing to think about is the right ratio of people to the size of space that you are sharing. If it gets too crowded then it can become a raucous place to work and also you have to worry about the infrastructure stuff.. the chores.. who paid for what, who took the trash out etc… that can be a hassle. My experience is that the more members there are the more of a grey area that becomes..

But some of my best work experiences have been in shared work spaces. I hope to do it again someday.

Recently I was working very hard. As I was riding the train into work early one morning, already feeling beat-down tired before the day had even begun, I tried to put that particular schedule-crunch in perspective… It was not the hardest that I have EVER worked, but certainly the hardest I have worked in many years.

After some reflection, I realised that the hardest I ever worked was on the worst stuff I ever worked on. Namely some really wretched Saturday morning cartoons in the late 1980’s. This shouldn’t have surprised me… It had already occurred to me years ago that it takes just as much hard work to make a bad show as it does to make a great one… but I guess I had forgotten that lesson over time.

When people express their displeasure with a film that they do not like (or a comic book, or what have you) they frequently bad-mouth the people who worked on it, as if only lazy talentless morons could be responsible. In some cases that may indeed be the explanation… but not always. In my experience, the sad reality is that there are a lot of smart, talented people absolutely busting their backs to produce the entertainment that you hate. I know, because I have worked with them when I work on it myself.

Its a bit counter-intuitive, isn’t it? I think the best analogy may be a tug of war; on the projects that don’t turn out so well, everyone is working as hard as they can but the rope is barely moving at all, because all the effort is at cross purposes and towards different directions. When I was working on that stuff, the love of the job itself and the company of my co-workers kept me going, even though I knew the stuff we were working on was ratty… PLUS, it was the best that I could find at the time…

So next time you watch a complete mess unfold on screen, by all means wonder at the strenuous effort taken to go nowhere, but don’t hate the crew.

When I started to really take drawing seriously, in my early teens, I couldn’t get enough tasty artwork in front of my hungry young eyeballs. I grew up in the pre-video age in a small country town with no comics shop. So for visual stimulation I had whatever movies came to the local cinema or the two local TV channels, and the other random eye-food I could gobble-down at the newspaper store (which amounted to Mad Magazine and Heavy Metal magazine). There certainly weren’t any other kids (or adults) interested in drawing that I knew, so I had nobody to bounce ideas off of, or to be inspired by artistically. I didn’t find a creative community until I left my home town to start work.

I was single minded about getting into animation but I wasn’t aware of any courses that taught it back then. Thankfully, the animation studios in Sydney were prepared to hire people based solely on some pretty sparse portfolios. In those days, the typical young cartoonist’s portfolio consisted of lumpy drawings of awkwardly posed, axe-wielding barbarians, usually accompanied by equally lumpy warrior maidens wearing brass bikinis that barely contained their doughy warrior buttocks. You get the picture; Acres of flesh, but no anatomy in sight. Thankfully, against this backdrop, my crappy sheaf of scribbly cartoon drawings stood half a chance, and I got a job as an in-betweener, working happily on some truly attrocious cartoons. I am glad that I got into the industry when I did because it wouldn’t be so easy these days…

The calibre of young artists has shot up, way up. Students just getting out of art school have portfolios full of good drawings, and paintings, all beautifully done and displaying a broad range of influences, not just Mad magazine and TV cartoons. I see some of these folios submitted at the studios I work at, and they impress me no end. I wouldn’t dream of being able to assemble a folio like that even now, let alone in my twenties. Curse these young pups! They are so much better than I remember any of my peers being at a similar age, and I blame the pernicious influences of the damn internet! I am convinced that part of the reason for the hike in talent has something to do with the wealth of inspiration and community the web now provides for budding artists.

I wish it was available when I was in my teens. Exchanging ideas with other artists, including my artist-heroes, via email or message boards and forums would have been like a protein-shake for my creative development…

The amount of great artwork online from around the world, viewable at just the click of a mouse amazes me… Illustrators, fine-art painters, cartoonists, designers, animators… I can see art by artists of all ages and experience levels, from people who perform a behind the scenes role at media companies, to those who may still be in school. Without the web how would we ever have seen all this stuff?

Which may also explain my perception of an increase in talent: Whereas before I was only seeing the artwork of people that I met face to face, now I can see artwork by top talents from all over the planet?

Whatever the case may be, I am glad of my access to all this stuff out there. I find fresh inspiration every day.

Many films that have recently inspired me (and my friends) have been from abroad (and not just old ones). A few are from countries whose film industries I was previously unaware of. Here are some (both sublime and ridiculous) that may be worth your time…

NIGHT WATCH is a Russian movie just being released in American theatres (just as the sequel is coming out in Russia) but I was lucky enough to see it on DVD in late 2004 via some friends who are hooked into the film scene abroad. It has provoked more excited discussion amongst my pals than any film since we first beheld the majesty of Shaolin Soccer.

The context for my first viewing of Night Watch was that a largish group of us were at Maverix Studios watching movies on their stylin’ video projector, it was late and we were getting ready to leave. Derek and Bosco said that they wanted to show us a sequence from another movie. We groaned; we were tired from watching a bunch of movies already. “Just the first 15 minutes” they said. We grudgingly relented and they played the film, and hit the pause button at the 15 minute point, as promised…. to HOWLS of protest from everyone present. We were all wide awake and on the hook now. We HAD to see the rest of the movie! That’s all I want to tell you about that film. If you don’t like the first 15 minutes (it’s not everyone’s cup of tea) you may as well leave the theatre. On the other hand, if you like the first 15 minutes then hold on tight; this film is for YOU and it won’t let you down.

Some of my recent favourites have been from Korea even though I had never seen a Korean movie before 2004. When watching them I am on the edge of my seat at all times and have no idea what is going to happen next. Perhaps it is because Korean storytelling conventions are different (and consequently unpredictable to me) or perhaps part of the reason for these films’ impact is that I had not been exposed to any desensitizing hype?

OLD BOY is hard to describe without giving anything away. It would be criminal to expose the compelling plot or it’s weird twists and turns. The performance of Choi Min-Sik is absolutely superb; He’ll shock you, inspire your pity, disgust, and amusement… He’ll take you on an excrutiating emotional journey… it is a real workout, an emotional stair-master. There’s talk of an American remake of Old Boy and though the eagerness to mine the gold in this film is understandable, I cannot imagine it working as well as the original.

SAVE THE GREEN PLANET is another Korean Movie full of insanely intense emotional moments. Without spoiling anything, this film is about an eccentric trying to save the world. It will take you to weird and worrying places, and you’ll want to give your harried soul a warm bath when it’s over. At the mid point of this film, despite being absolutely enthralled, I had no clear idea of; 1) what was going to happen next, 2) what the film was about, or even 3) who I was rooting for, as all the characters were equally appalling and sympathetic.

From what little I know of the Robert Mckee ideas of story-structure, that should be a No-No; by the mid point of the film I SHOULD know what the film is about, who I’m rooting for, what his problem is and what he is looking for… But with many of these Korean films I’ve seen the story rules go out the window… but I love them.

JSA (AKA: “Joint Security Area“) takes place in the “no-mans land” between North and South Korea, and deals with the guards on either side who can clearly see the individuals on the opposing side of the border. In talking with Bosco about the moral ambiguities cleverly threaded into this, and other Korean films, we wondered if the complexities of the North/South split of that country may explain the ambivalent shadings of “good-guy” and “bad-guy” in some of the better Korean movies that we have seen.

Honorable mentions go to two other Korean films that I enjoyed, even though they were not as original as the ones already mentioned. “NATURAL CITY” has been described as a “Korean Blade Runner” in that it is set in a future where there are synthetic humans and the protagonist falls in love with a beautiful synthetic woman. “A TALE OF TWO SISTERS” is a gorgeously filmed taught psychological thriller with horror movie undertones (or is it the other way around?).

On my list of Korean films yet to see (recommended by John Stevenson, who turned us onto these films in the first place) are “SYMPATHY FOR MR VENGEANCE” and “A BITTERSWEET LIFE.” Those titles tell me to expect more mental punishment, Korean-style….

If you have a taste for something less high faluting (or emotionally harrowing) in a foriegn film, then you cannot falut any closer to the ground than “Turkish Star Wars” and “Turkish Spiderman” (AKA: “3 Dev Adam“). It is hard to find a “proper” copy of these films but don’t feel guilty for watching the grainy bootlegs (available for purchase on the internet) as the films themselves are hilariously bad ripoffs of other films.

In “Turkish Star Wars” they have swiped entire FX scenes from “STAR WARS” (the real one) which cut the effects budget down to… about $4.95 (or whatever a “Star Wars” VCR Bootleg costs in Instanbul). In the space-battle scenes, a grim Turkish “space-pilot” sits, wearing a natty Vespa helmet and Walkman headphones, while the world famous “Death Star” sequence is projected on a wall behind him, scene cuts intact.

At least the producers of “Turkish Spiderman” shelled out the money to make their own Spiderman costume (complete with scary eyebrows on the outside of the suit) which is worn by a squat pear-shaped man who has the inspiration of playing Spiderman as a knife-wielding villain… The highlight of this pulse-punding epic is seeing a chunky Captain America and a flabby El Santo teaming up to fight villainous potbellied Turkish Spidey in some pretty vigourous punch-ups where all kinds of 1970’s furniture gets smashed. It is certainly a lot easier to get those cross-over dream-teams to work when international copyright law isn’t an issue…
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Still on the subject of movies, a yet to be released American cartoon this time, the latest trailer for Open season is online and getting a good reaction from most people, including righteous animal lovers and hunter haters. Check out this thread on an VEGANS forum. For contrast, see the indignation being hosed around in the hunters forum.

Expectations are key; they give the context for how you will appreciate what is to come. Sometimes these days the secret to a satisfying experience is to turn the dial on the expectation-ometer WAY low…

Among my group of friends there has been a tradition going back 15 years or more called GOMER NIGHT where we assemble to watch, and make fun of, ridiculous movies from around the world. We’ll watch 2 or 3 per night, usually around a brilliant theme…. such as “Ape Night” or “Charlton Heston Night” (which were both Gomer-Night high points if I remember rightly). There is judicious use of the fast-forward button to get us over the bumpy bits and allow us to clock up more lousy-film mileage per night. It’s a quantity over quality thing, you understand. The stupider the movie the better, and heckling the silly script is encouraged, or in some cases even required if you want any entertainment. Anyway, It is a hell of a lot of fun. If you like that sort of thing.

But more recently a radical splinter group of the gomer-nighters has been getting together to actually, wait for it, watch GOOD MOVIES. What a concept!

My pal LON suggested that we watch all of FEDERICO FELLINI’s movies in order. Lon was already familiar with these films and wanted to see Fellini’s progression from film to film. I had probably only seen “La Dolce Vita” before, so I was happy to get more aquainted with a director that I’ve aways heard referenced by other film-makers. If a director’s name is invoked as a kind of adjective, as in ” It was Fellini-esque, dude.” , then it stands to reason that they may worthy of your attention.

But I wasn’t sure how I would handle watching a movie with my expectation-ometer set to 10 on the dial… The last time I had done that I was injurred badly… this might be dangerous! But I reasoned that I had two pals present (Lon and Vince) to pull me out of the wreckage if anything went wrong. And so, the 3 of us started with Fellini’s first directorial effort, VARIETY LIGHTS (where he is credited as a co-director) and right from the get-go a lot of the “Fellini-esque” elements are already there: travelling theatrical troupes, clowns, eccentric characters with even more eccentric faces, and sequences of people wandering around cities at 3am and bumping into even more whacky characters. All relayed to us in a voice that is conscious of, yet compassionate towards, the foibles of human-kind.

At this point we have just seen his 4th film LA STRADA, which continued some of the motifs that were in the first 3 but also got deeper, darker and more emotionally resonant. It features a great, mostly non-verbal, performance by Anthony Quinn who plays a surly theatrical strong-man who travels from town to town with his naive theatrical side kick played by Giullietta Massina (Fellini’s real-life wife). Anthony Quinn does a great job of humanizing a brute, monosyllabic character. There is one scene in particular, right at the very end of the film where the whole tragic story is replayed on Quinn’s face, that we had to replay ourselves just to catch it all.

I have been enjoying these films immensely and no heckling the screen is required; they entertain on their own merits. There is no need for me to go into how great this director is, as reams and reams of reviews and critical analysis have been written already by people much more thoughtful and eloquent than myself. However, if you are one of those people who has walked out of the movie multiplex recently wondering “what the hell did I just pay $10 for?” I encourage you to either:

A) adopt the policy of Gomer Night: lower your expectations and embrace the stupidity OR..
B) go to the video store and rent some of the great movies that have already been made, there are plenty out there.

I just heard some very bad news this morning. Joe Ranft, the original, and many would say the best, “Head of Story” died yesterday in a car accident. It is really very sad indeed.

Many of the best animated films of the last few decades bear his stamp. The NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS and TOY STORY, to name some obvious examples. The mighty animation force that is PIXAR, has become what it is today due, in large part, to Joe’s considerable talent, and his genial stewardship of the other talents that work there.

I first met Joe in Taipei Tawain in 1986, at the CUCKOO’s NEST studio. He was part of a team of young artists puting the finishing touches on THE BRAVE LITTLE TOASTER. I remember him and the other guys from that group really having a passion for what they were doing, in contrast to the jaded weariness of most industry guys I met in those days. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance to work with Joe directly at that time because I was involved in cranking out some truly attrocious Saturday morning cartoons elsewhere in the building.

A few years later, we did briefly work on the same project at COLOSSAL PICTURES. This was just prior to his going to work on the NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS. But, after knowing him socially for years, my first chance to really work WITH him came when I did some storyboarding on CARS, a project where Joe was head of story.

Being a Head of story on an animated feature is, I think, one of the toughest jobs there is in animation, because it requires so many rare qualities in a person. They have to be passionate about their ideas, but be able to let them go at a moment’s notice if they aren’t in sync with the director’s vision. Some have the talent, but not the people skills… or that all-important ability to work with others. Some have the personal skills, but just don’t have the talent, or the ability to inspire those around them. I think this is a very difficult balance to strike for most people, but not for Joe Ranft.

I can say that I very much enjoyed working with him at PIXAR on CARS, he ran a very easy going and collaborative story team. Many OTHER creative leaders that I have worked for lead by making you feel inadequate, and that you have a long way to go, but Joe had a way of making you feel witty, smart and capable, and as a consequence his crew wanted very much to rise to the level of his confidence in them.

As cliched as this may sound to anyone who didn’t have the great good fortune to know him, it is true to say that you’ll never hear a bad word about Joe Ranft. Which is all the more remarkable when you bear in mind the length of time he has worked within an industry that has more than its fair share of easily bruised egos. For a man to have worked at so high a level for so long, always pushing for better quality and yet never pressing anyone’s buttons… well, he is truly an inspiration to those of us who believe that talent isn’t synonymous with prima donna behaviour.

Joe Ranft will never be replaced, but nevertheless, we should all try our hardest to be just like him.

Here are some other peoples’ fond rememberences of Joe:

Ronnie DelCarmen
Enrico Casarosa
Ted Mathot
Cartoon Brew
Disney Blog
Animation Nation
Hollywood reporter

You can read about the man in his own words in the interview with Joe that was posted on the PIXAR website back in January 2002.

Film maker BRIAN McDONALD has made a short film that eulogizes the now demolished 70mm theatre in Seattle where he saw the films that shaped his love of movies. It’s called FLICKERING MEMORIES, and if you miss the passing of those movie palaces, then you may relate.

Going to the movies was such a big deal for me as a kid. This of course was the pre-video, pre-internet era. In my home town There was no cable TV, we had only two channels and one didn’t start till after lunch, when you would most likely get hour upon hour of CRICKET to watch, and that would be in black and white (Australia didn’t even get colour TV till about 1976). So, understandably, going to “the pictures” in the 1970’s was perhaps a bigger deal than it is for little kids today. I am still surprised when I hear kids skeptically ask “What’s on?” when given a chance to go to the movies… or even say they’d rather not go. When I was a kid I didn’t really care what was playing, I would go no matter what. It could be the “Shaggy DA” or the “Computer wore tennis shoes” for all I cared, just the chance to go was a big deal. But I didn’t have an Xbox or 100 channels of TV, an internet connection or a library of DVDs to choose from at home…

In my home town the movie palace was the beautiful old 1920’s CAPITOL theatre. That’s where I saw a lot of great movies (and all the crappy ones too) and experienced some of my best movie memories. There were those special days when Dad would take me to see a movie, just the two of us on a lad’s night out. On one memorable occasion I saw my first James Bond film with Dad. Sean Connery was steaming about the place strangling women with their own bikini tops and tossing baddies into molten mud… all before the opening titles. Ah yes, It’s the stuff cuddly childhood memories are made of.

As I got older I had the thrill of being trusted to walk to the theatre on my own steam and hook up with my mates to see the latest movie. I am reminded of that time in 1977 when I saw the original STAR WARS. There was an interruption that night, a blackout that lasted for about 20 minutes, so perhaps it’s fitting that the film burned when I saw the final episode. The circle is now complete. Anyway, the Capitol theatre was later torn down to make a KMART.

I have seen the same thing happen in every city I have lived in long enough to watch changes happen. Over the past 10 years here in San Francisco I’ve seen the nieghbourhood theatres such as the Royal and the ALHAMBRA get iether torn down or turned into 24 hour fitness centers…the Mighty CORONET (where Star Wars debuted in 1977) is no more… they are building a retirement home there. Oakland still has a bunch of great old theatres like the Paramount… or the Grand lake, which is where I saw Star Wars 3…

People have been asking me, “How do you manage to be WILDLY successful in so many fields: Conservative politics, banking, international law, tennis, hockey and music…. not to mention MILDLY successful in the fields of animation and comics. How do you do it?” I hate to admit it, but I don’t deserve all this acclaim. Here’s the secret: there are more than one of us JAMES BAKERs out there… Here is a comprehensive list for those of you who may have confused me with one of the other guys:

PART ONE: other JAMES Bakers. Though a lot of people call me Jamie, my official name is actually JAMES. So first off, let’s look at the other blokes using THAT name…

The Banker: JAMES BAKER GROUP. Investment banking firm with offices in the midwest. Hence forth take all your investment concerns to THEM, as I’m the James Baker who happens to be unwise with his own money and couldn’t be trusted with yours… Better to check in with moneybags Baker at his web site here

The wanker: JAMES A. BAKER III. AKA secretary of state under Reagan. He led the campaigns of the last four Republican presidents. Now he’s Bush’s personal envoy in charge of restructuring Iraq’s $132 billion in debt. Possibly the most powerful lawyer in the world, he’s also one of the busiest. He’s the Senior Counsel for The Carlyle Group, the nation’s 10th largest defense contractor, with extensive ties to Enron, Global Crossing, Arthur Andersen, the Saudi Royal Family, and the Bin Ladens. (He watched the September 11 attacks at the Ritz-Carlton with the Bin Laden family). He’s defending the Saudi’s against a trillion-dollar lawsuit brought forth by the September 11 families. (info from www.hereinreality.com)

I’m not that James Baker. If you are looking for him, please go here.

The Actor(s). There are potentially more than one of these… The IMDB lists 17 JAMES BAKERs!. Here is the credit list of one of them. It is possible to confuse me with this guy, as I have done some voice acting, check it out.

The Interactive guy: Co-founder and creative director of a New York based company called WDDG (World Domination Design Group). It describes itself as “a multiple Clio, OneShow and Communication Arts Annual award-winning interactive brand consultancy and design firm”. I have done some games work myself so the confusion here is understandable… But this guys sounds like he’s got his shit together better than me. check out the interview. Want more of that particlar JAMES BAKER award winning flava? then you need to be here.

The Rock drummer. Back in the early 1980’s when I still lived in Sydney, I was sometimes confused with this guy, even though he’s obviously way cooler than me. Being a rock drummer and all…. He was the original drummer for the power pop band HOODOO GURUS. You can find out more about him here

The OTHER animator: As yoda would say “there IS another…” This is definately the most likely James baker to be confused with moi. He works in LA for Disney. he’s got a nice list of credits. To Make matters even more confusing, I have a few Disney credits myself from when I was at the Disney paris Studio. And that aint all folks, James DISNEY Baker also does comics, whew! How confusing is that?!

PART TWO: other JAMIE Bakers. even though my official name is James, a lot of people call me JAMIE, so let’s look at all the other people using THAT name shall we?

Hockey player: Of the San Jose Sharks, and previously of the Toronto Maple Leafs. I believe that he may be Canadian. Not likely to be confused with me given my complete lack of physical co-ordination, but if you came to my site looking for Candadian Hockey Jamie, then you need to go here.

Tennis Player: It’s true that I have taken tennis lessons in the past, but even so, it is unlikely that I would be confused with anyone so athletic. On the other hand he too was born in Scotland (he in Glasgow, me in Edinbugh) so we share more than a name… more about Scottish tennis Jamie here.

Christain rocker: If you are looking to rock hard in the lord, then you’ve come to the wrong place. I’m certainly not musical, and spiritually I’m bankrupt, so please go groove with the christian Jamie at his official website which is here.

Sound Recordist: Could be confused with the guy above, or perhaps me because he too works in movies. You can see a list of his credits here

And last of all there is me: James Stuart Baker. animator/storyboarder, occasional comics self-publisher, sometime voice talent, born in Scotland raised in Australia, no tennis ability, not christian, cant sing… and no friend of the bin Laden or Bush families. I’m glad we cleared that all up. Welcome to my world… If I ever have a kid, I’m naming them ADOLPH Baker, Or GHENGIS Baker…. something that stands out, sheesh.

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.