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• Toon Thursday: When Dad's a Disney Legend, that's a tough act to follow

  Floyd Norman looks back on the careers of Peter Kahl, John Kimball and Dale King. Each of them a talented artist in their own right. Who then had to struggle in order to escape the shadows of their far more famous fathers Read More... Posted Thursday, November 05, 2009 12:00 AM | 3 Comments Filed under: animation, Disney, Walt Disney, Ward Kimball, 1960s, Milt Kahl , Animation Building, design , Walt Disney Productions , Disney's Animation Building , character designer , industry veterans , legacy, A-Wing

• Toon Tuesday: What was it like to work at the Mouse Factory back in the 1950s?

  Disney Legend Floyd Norman talks about what it was like to work at Walt Disney Studios in the post-strike era. And to Floyd's way of thinking, "The Bad Old Days" were pretty darned good Read More... Posted Tuesday, October 06, 2009 12:00 AM | 5 Comments Filed under: animation, Disney, Walt Disney Studios, Walt Disney, 1950s, Hollywood, Burbank, Animation Building, Disney Commissary , California, Los Angeles , instruction, artwork , 1941 , animators strike , Walt Disney Productions , sound stage, Old Hollywood, Burbank lot , motion picture, Disney artist , Dopey Drive, good times , Disney animator , The Great Depression, artists, job, Silver Lake , animated film, young animators, Disney shorts , master animator, industry veterans , job security, animation professionals, Roy Disney, production, production team , film, animated feature film, motion pictures, leader, legacy, Riverside Drive, animated feature, animation training class, animation department

• Toon Tuesday: The End of Endless Development

  In this month's column, Disney Legend Floyd Norman weighs in on an issue that has dogged many an animated feature Read More... Posted Tuesday, September 15, 2009 12:00 AM | 2 Comments Filed under: animation, Walt Disney Studios, Walt Disney, 101 Dalmatians, Hollywood, Bill Peet, young artists , animators, development , Walt Disney Productions , television , young animators, television animation , storyman, story, story team, storyboard, storyboard assignment, executives, animated feature film, studio, The Black Cauldron, animated feature

• Monday Mouse Watch : No Studio for Old Men

  It just doesn't pay to age in the animation business. Or so says Disney Legend Floyd Norman in his latest column of JHM Read More... Posted Monday, August 17, 2009 12:00 AM | 9 Comments Filed under: animation, Walt Disney Studios, 1970s, Walt Disney Animation Studios, young artists , animators, animation artist, Walt Disney Productions , young animators, top animators, animation professionals, Walt Disney Feature Animation, production, A-Wing, Art Stevens, Harvard Business School, Stanford, animation training class, production company, animation department, over the hill, expiration date, mob bosses, cost effective, shelf life, corporate America, old farts, old codgers, demo reels, portfolios

• Toon Tuesday: Remembering 2-C

  Forget about 3-D. Disney Legend Floyd Norman revisits a location at Walt Disney Studios where lots of classic animation was created Read More... Posted Tuesday, July 14, 2009 12:00 AM | 10 Comments Filed under: animation, Disney, Walt Disney, 101 Dalmatians, San Diego, Comic Con International, 1950s, Burbank, Walt Disney Animation Studios, The Jungle Book, Animation Building, shorts , animated film, shorts unit, The Great Mouse Detective, 2009, 1966, Jack Hannah, Dick Kinney, Roy Williams, Al Bertino, storyboarding, Woolie Reitherman, Basil Davidovitch, Dale Barnhart, Ray Aragon, Sammie June Lanham, Betty Gossin, Vance Gerry, Al Wilson, Sylvia Niday, Dick Lucas, Eric Cleworth, music room, the music room, 2-C, The Black Cauldron, directorial units, Joe Hale, Riverside Drive, Mark Evanier, Quick Draw, Scott Shaw!, panel, Comic-Con, Comic-Con International, convention, San Diego Convention Center, Sergio Aragones, animated feature

• Lots of entertaining tails ... er ... tales were told at "The Little Mermaid" 20th anniversary event

  Disney Legend Floyd Norman reports from Woodbury University. Where -- last Thursday night -- dozens of WDAS vets turned out to reminisce about the development & production of this Academy Award-winning animated feature Read More... Posted Monday, May 25, 2009 12:00 AM | 4 Comments Filed under: animation, Disney, Walt Disney, Glendale, Burbank, Walt Disney Animation Studios, California, effects shots, music , Disney animator , assignment , animated film, feature films, effects animation, Walt Disney Feature Animation, Academy Award winner , Alan Menken, Jeffrey Katzenberg, film, animated feature film, hand-drawn animation, WDAS, John Musker, Ron Clements, The Little Mermaid, The Princess and the Frog, Mark Henn, Glen Keane, Tina Price, Andreas Deja, Ruben Aquino, Duncan Majoribanks, 20th anniversary, Woodbury University, Tom Sito, Brad Bird, Part of Your World, Kiss the Girl, Geoffrey Holder, Seven Up, Uncola Man, television commercials, Best Song, Ariel, Sebastian, Fletcher Jones Foundation Auditorium

• Toon Tuesday: Funky Warehouse Syndrome

  Disney Legend Floyd Norman points out an interesting paradox of the animation industry. In that artists deserve the finest facilities, but it's sometimes better if they don't actually get them Read More... Posted Tuesday, May 12, 2009 12:00 AM | 1 Comments Filed under: animation, Disney, movies, Pixar, Walt Disney Studios, 1970s, Pixar Animation Studios, Glendale, Burbank, Walt Disney Animation Studios, The Walt Disney Company, Toy Story, Animation Building, young artists , animators, animation artist, design , Walt Disney Productions , Burbank lot , Disney artist , Disney backlot , backlot , Disney animator , artists, young animators, Hanna-Barbera , Hanna-Barbera Studio , 1980s, story, 1990s, production design, production team , production designer, film, motion pictures, studio, Hanna Barbera

• Toon Tuesday: Jim Fletcher, Disney Artist and the Ultimate Hollywood Fan

  Disney Legend Floyd Norman launches a new series at JHM by talking about a co-worker of his who really did seem to know everyone who was anyone in Tinsel town Read More... Posted Tuesday, April 21, 2009 12:00 AM | 1 Comments Filed under: animation, Disney, Walt Disney Studios, Walt Disney, Ward Kimball, Sleeping Beauty, 1950s, 1970s, Hollywood, Disney Commissary , Old Hollywood, Floyd Norman, Hyperion Studios, Hanna-Barbera , Hanna-Barbera Studio , 1990s, childrens books, Jim Fletcher, Chicago Institute of Art, Tinsel town, Gregory Peck, Edward G Robinson, Ed Wynn, Edgar Bergen, A-Wing, Freddy Hellmich, Fairy Crew, Des Plains, Illinois, CBS, Jack Benny, The Jack Benny Show, Hollywood Museum, preview, fundraiser, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Doris Day, Nat King Cole, Toluca Lake, UPA, Hanna Barbera, Format, Encino, Bill Walsh, Ruth Roman, Art Babbit, Margie Belcher, Gower Champion, Linda Darnell, Debbie Reynolds, Margaret O'Brien, Jane Withers, Charlotte Rae

• Toon Tuesday: Looking Back on Disney's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" -- Part Deux

  Disney Legend Floyd Norman concludes his series on the development & production of this 1996 Walt Disney Pictures animated feature Read More... Posted Tuesday, November 18, 2008 12:00 AM | 4 Comments Filed under: animation, Disney, traditional animation, female animators, Walt Disney Animation Studios, The Walt Disney Company, Faster! Cheaper! The Flip Side of the Art of Animation, How the Grinch Stole Disney, Disney movie, Mr. Fun , Mr. Fun's Blog, animated film, young animators, feature films, top animators, opening scenes , sequence, Michael Eisner , story, Walt Disney Feature Animation, story team, storyboard, song sequence, screening, sequences, Esmerelda, 1996, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Stephen Schwartz, Alan Menken, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Kirk Wise, Gary Trousdale, Canada, UK, Paul Brizzi, Gaetan Brizzi, Burny Mattinson, Festival of Fools, Kevin Harkey, Kathy Zielinski, James Baxter, Chris Sanders, Roy Conli, Brenda Chapman, gargoyles, Pasadena, Quasimodo, Phoebus, Brizzi Brothers

• Toon Tuesday: Looking Back on Disney's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" -- Part Un

  Disney Legend Floyd Norman begins a new series about the development & production of this 1996 Walt Disney Pictures animated feature Read More... Posted Tuesday, November 11, 2008 12:00 AM | 13 Comments Filed under: animation, Comics, Disney, movies, Glendale, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney Legend, Faster! Cheaper! The Flip Side of the Art of Animation, Son of Faster Cheaper, development , Floyd Norman, Mr. Fun , Mr. Fun's Blog, Disney artist , Disney animator , animated film, layout artist , storyman, Michael Eisner , story, Walt Disney Feature Animation, story team, art direction, Roy Disney, layout, layout crew, Church, religious, Esmerelda, Euro Disney, Euro Disneyland, 14th century Europe, Europe, 1993, 1996, sophisticated, Airway, Sanctuary, Judge Claude Frollo, Hellfire, Disney Publishing, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, childrens books, Stephen Schwartz, Alan Menken, Peter Schneider, Thomas Schumacher, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Kirk Wise, Gary Trousdale, David Goetz, Roy E Disney

• Toon Tuesday : Here's to the real survivors

  Disney Legend Floyd Norman pays tribute to all those animation veterans who have hung in there through the tough times Read More... Posted Tuesday, August 19, 2008 12:00 AM | 5 Comments Filed under: animation, Disney, movies, traditional animation, CG, Walt Disney Studios, Walt Disney, 101 Dalmatians, Sleeping Beauty, 1950s, Hollywood, Glendale, Burbank, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney Legend, Faster! Cheaper! The Flip Side of the Art of Animation, How the Grinch Stole Disney, Afrokids.com, Son of Faster Cheaper, Animation Building, 1956, television show, shorts , young artists , animators, animation artist, director, layoffs , Walt Disney Productions , writer/director , television , television series , Mr. Fun , Mr. Fun's Blog, Disney artist , Disney animator , artists, young animators, Survivor, desert island , craft services , drawing board, shorts unit, Rick Gonzales, cutbacks, layout artist , character designer , Hanna-Barbera , Ruby-Spears, pink slip, industry veterans , MGM Animation , Visual Arts , Bob Clampett, Bob Clampett Studio , 3400 Cahuenga Blvd , Hanna-Barbera Studio , television animation , Filmation, 1980s, Granada Hills , Dave Michener, storyman, The Great Mouse Detective, Michael Eisner , Orlando , CGI , digital bandwagon , job security, animation professionals, third world potentates, overpaid gig, old survivor, real survivors

• Toon Tuesday: The curious case of Elizabeth Case

  Disney Legend Floyd Norman returns with a story about “Big Liz,” the Mother of the Beat Generation. Who – as it turns out – was once a Disney animation artist Read More... Posted Tuesday, May 20, 2008 12:00 AM | 2 Comments Filed under: animation, Disney, Walt Disney Studios, Sleeping Beauty, female animators, 1950s, Burbank, Disney Legend, Faster! Cheaper! The Flip Side of the Art of Animation, How the Grinch Stole Disney, Afrokids.com, Son of Faster Cheaper, California, animators, animation artist, Disney history , Walt Disney Productions , Burbank lot , Floyd Norman, Mr. Fun's Blog, Disney artist , B-Wing

• Toon Thursday : Mermaids, donuts and musical concrete

  Disney Legend Floyd Norman is back with a trio of wild & wacky stories from his days at the Mouse House. And did we mention that Mr. Fun now has his very own blog ? Read More... Posted Thursday, April 17, 2008 12:00 AM | 5 Comments Filed under: animation, Disney, movies, books, Walt Disney Studios, Walt Disney, Ward Kimball, 1960s, Mouse House, Glendale, Burbank, The Walt Disney Company, Imagineering, Disneyland, theme park, Disney Legend, Toontown, Faster! Cheaper! The Flip Side of the Art of Animation, cataroo.com, How the Grinch Stole Disney, Afrokids.com, Son of Faster Cheaper, Animation Building, animators, Bob's Big Boy , artwork , Disney history , Walt Disney Productions , 1940s , Burbank lot , Jim Hill , Floyd Norman, JHM , Mr. Fun , Mr. Fun's Blog, JimHillMedia, Favorites list , shameless plugging , column, Disney's Animation Building , Disney art , crazy, creative , corporate , rock band, album, Music Concrete, electronic music, space epic , F-Wing , old Animation Building, coffee machine, coffee maker , vending machine, donuts, donut, donut machine , ants, ant, Disney artist , Disney staffers , gags, Jack Fergus, sculptor , attraction, sculpture , B-Wing, mermaid , Disney backlot , boxing movie , Dopey Drive, movers, moving crew , book

• Toon Tuesday: Disney's "B" Movie

  Long before Jerry Seinfeld and DreamWorks began talking about making "Bee Movie," this subject was alive & well at Walt Disney Studios Read More... Posted Tuesday, February 12, 2008 12:00 AM | 20 Comments Filed under: animation, Disney, Walt Disney, Ward Kimball, Hollywood, Burbank, The Walt Disney Company, Bill Peet, Animation Building

• Toon Tuesday : Disney's Night School

  Disney Legend Floyd Norman reminisces about the after-hours animation classes that used to be offered on the Disney lot back in the 1950s Read More... Posted Tuesday, January 15, 2008 12:00 AM | 3 Comments Filed under: animation, Disney, movies, traditional animation, books, Walt Disney Studios, Walt Disney, Sleeping Beauty, 1950s, Mouse House, Burbank, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt was right, Disney Legend, Faster! Cheaper! The Flip Side of the Art of Animation, John Cawley, cataroo.com, How the Grinch Stole Disney, Afrokids.com, Son of Faster Cheaper, ABC, Animation Building, Frank Thomas, California, California Institute of the Arts , Cal Arts, Sheridan College, 1956, shorts , Nine Old Men , Chouinard Art Institute , Los Angeles , young artists , animators, layout artists, background painters , night school, instruction, classmates , employees , screening rooms , Joshua Meador, effects animators , painter, palette knife , brush, True-Life Adventure , Jack Foster , Ken O'Connor , animation artist, design , Fantasia, Dance of the Hours, artwork , development , pencil test, John Sparey, mentoring program , Ollie Johnston , chops , director, Disney history , Bob McCrea , bankruptcy, 1941 , 1941 animators strike , animators strike , Bill Eigle , layoffs , master class , after-hours