"Will You Wear A Mask? I Ask" performed by Mark Hamill

Check out the video of my rhyming picture book "Will You Wear A Mask?  I Ask"...a fun 4-minute video for the whole family! 

Narrated by Mark Hamill!   

And please wear a mask!  

You can find the video here:  

https://youtu.be/60lF1bLAWYA 

 

Clip from "The Premiere of Platypus Duck"

Here's a clip from the first cartoon I made -- "The Premiere of Platypus Duck."   Made it in college.  The music is composed and performed by Parker MacDonell, and that's Parker singing as well.   The entire cartoon is 11 minutes long.  

This 50-second clip was drawn mainly in colored pencil, with some inked lines on paper.  This sequence covers evolution from the dawn of time to the present day, as we see the platypus evolve.

The clip is below these images.  

 

BACKGROUND FROM MY FIRST CARTOON

Here's the original background from the first cartoon I made in college along with classmate Sarah Hobel.   

The story:  a stray dog finds a magic lamp in a big pile of rubbish and gives it a lick.  Then all his wishes come true.   

The deli pictured in the background is named after my professor and mentor Maury Rapf (screenwriter for Disney, among other studios).  This animated film was made for Maury's "Filmmaking 101" class.  

Images from the Platypus Duck Storyboard -- 1975

Back in 1975-76, I made my first animated cartoon, "The Premiere of Platypus Duck," with the help of a lot of people like Parker MacDonell, Barry Braverman, Maury Rapf, Blair Watson, Tom Ropelewski, Willy Small, Gigi Jones, Glo Ruegger, Sara Hoagland, Chuck Reach, Robert G. "Boris" Fisher and the Arthur and Lillie Mayer Foundation.   Below are a few random storyboard panels from the pre-production.  Recently I transferred my best copy of the final film to digital and I hope to get that online sometime soon.  

Tom Pigott -- the Great Irishman

In August 2009, my wife Annie and I went on a tour of Ireland with our old friends Parker and Betsy MacDonell and a bunch of new friends.  For the trip, we signed on with Enchanted Way Tours.  Our guide for the two-week adventure was Tom Pigott, surely one of the best travel ambassadors Ireland could ever want.  

Tom led us on an Irish Folk Music Concert Tour of the Emerald Isle, not only showing us the sights, but regaling us with Irish stories from the past and present, and taking us to unique venues where we enjoyed concerts by great Irish folk artists.  Tom also took us to venues where talented musical members of our own tour group gave concerts as well.  On a number of these stages, Tom himself would sing a beautiful Irish ballad or two.

Paddy Downes was the driver on our tour, with Tom Pigott always there in the co-pilot's seat.  The roads were very narrow, but that never seemed to slow down Paddy Downes.

On one stretch of road, a tiny red car actually drove UNDER our bus.  The red car didn't drive much further after that.  

Brendan Wall worked with Tom and Paddy throughout the tour, transporting various members of our group to different events.  Early one morning, Brendan had to transport a number of the guys to a prestigious golf course many kilometers away in order to make a 7:00 AM tee time.   This round of golf had been scheduled many months in advance in order for the group to play on this booked-up course.  Well, somewhere on the way to Ballybunion, Brendan and the golfers got lost in the fog.  Their tee time was missed by a couple of hours. 

At the spectacular Cliffs of Moher, we went on a boat excursion in hopes of seeing the colorful puffins that nest along the cliffs.  We didn't spot any puffins, but the boat ride made Brendan look pretty colorful -- it was a greenish color, and not what Brendan had in mind.  During the voyage, Tom got a kick out of ribbing Brendan, who recovered quickly once back on dry land.

At one of the concerts, a couple of renown and extremely talented Irish folk singers performed, but our constant whispering and chattering thoroughly irritated the handsome male singer of the duo.  But the guys in our group didn't seem to be too concerned with him.  Our attention was focused on the female singer, although for some of us, her voice was not the main attraction.  

At a pub concert, two members of our tour group, Peter and Colleen Pavarini, sang a duet that seemed to delight one of the locals in the audience, so much so that this audience member felt compelled to get up out of his seat, step onto the stage and plant a big wet smooch on the kisser of Mrs. Pavarini.    Her husband Peter just kept singing -- after all, the show must go.  And besides, what's wrong with a little PDA among music lovers?  

 


Yesterday, Annie and I learned the sad news that Tom Pigott passed away unexpectedly on February 4, 2012, while participating in an Irish Folk Music cruise in the Caribbean.  

Tom was a wonderful and lovable guy.   He had a gentle heart and a great voice.    He took great pleasure in telling a funny story and had a big laugh when your story happened to be funny.    He had a deep love for music, for his homeland, for his children and his grandson.

Tom Pigott and Tom Ruegger, Ireland, 2009

All that knew him will miss him.  He was one of the good ones.  This world won't be the same without him...

Doug and Beth Morgan, Annie Ruegger and Tom Pigott

 We love you, Tom!

The Premiere of Platypus Duck -- Part 5

"The Premiere of Platypus Duck" had a lot of cel animation in it, but I hand drew, inked and colored some  sequences completely on paper.  This image is from one of those paper sequences.  After the platypi reunite, they do a song and dance routine on the stage of the Sydney Opera House.   And, once again, the little platypus kid upstages his brother.  

Parker MacDonell provided the music, lyrics and performance of the song.  

More to come...

The Premiere of Platypus Duck -- Part 1

Back in 1974, I received a grant from my college's film department to make an animated film.   The result was an eleven minute cartoon called...

The story follows the evolution of the duck-billed platypus from pre-history to modern day.  

The cartoon took almost two years to complete...and I sure learned a lot about the labor-intensive process of animation.  While I drew all the animation and hand-inked the cels, I managed to persuade many friends and relatives to pitch in on coloring some of the animation-on-paper, and talked others into painting some of the hundreds of cels.  

My best pal Parker MacDonell, an extraordinary singer/songwriter and musician, composed, performed and recorded the score -- which was wall-to-wall!  Eleven minutes of music!  Much of the animation moves to the score, and the edits are hooked into the rhythm of the evocative music.   

The two cell set-ups re-produced here are from the opening scene.  

As we hear the strains of an orchestra tuning up, we find the duck-billed platypus floating in the pond next to his burrow.  (The burrow has a shape similar to the Sydney Opera House, which is a motif throughout the film.)  The platypus looks up at the stars as the music begins, and a fanfare accompanies the sudden appearance of a marquee up in the sky.  The platypus seems slightly impressed with himself, since his name is on the marquee.

MORE TO COME...