A press release from New York City’s Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art:
Two special events will be at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art this week.
“Independently Animated: A Master Class with Bill Plympton in the Art and Business of Animation”: on Tuesday, December 13, 2011, from 7 to 9PM ($50 / $45 for MoCCA Members). Here’s how Bil Plympton describes his MoCCA Master Class: “I want to talk about my career as an independent animator who makes a good living creating independent films by way of showing some of my classic shorts, music videos, and clips from my new feature, Idiots and Angels. Plus, I will give a drawing demonstration and talk about how other filmmakers can make a living creating short films. And everyone who comes gets a free Bill Plympton drawing.”
Bill Plympton is considered the King of Indie Animation and is the only person to hand draw an entire animated feature film—six times over. Born and raised in Portland, Oregon, he began his career creating cartoons for publications such as The New York Times, National Lampoon, Playboy and Screw. In 1987 he was nominated for an Oscar for his animated short “Your Face.” In 2005, Bill received another Oscar nomination, this time for a short film “Guard Dog.” “Push Comes to Shove,” another short film, won the prestigious Cannes 1991 Palme d’Or.
“Jules Feiffer & Irwin Hasen: Legends in Conversation, moderated by Danny Fingeroth”, on Thursday, December 15, 2011, from 7 to 9PM ($7 / free for MoCCA Members).
You might not think the writer of Carnal Knowledge and the artist behind Dondi would have much in common. But Jules Feiffer and Irwin Hasen have been friends for many decades. On December 15, these forces of nature will discuss their artistic influences—and just about anything else that might come up. Danny Fingeroth will attempt to moderate, but he’s only human.
Jules Feiffer began his career working as an assistant to Will Eisner. In 1956, Feiffer began his eponymous cartoon strip that would run in the Village Voice for 42 years. A multitalented creator who’s also enjoyed success as a novelist (Harry the Rat With Women), playwright (Little Murders), and screenwriter (Carnal Knowledge), he has in recent years turned to writing and illustrating children’s books, including The Man in the Ceiling. The first volume of the “Feiffer” strip compilation Explainers: The Complete Village Voice Strips (1956-1966) was published by Fantagraphics in 2008, and his memoir Backing Into Forward, was released in 2010 by Nan A. Talese/Doubleday.
Irwin Hasen was born in New York in 1918. He started his comics career in Marvel Mystery Comics #4, co-creating The Ferret. He jumped to DC in 1940, drawing the original Green Lantern and creating Wildcat with Bill Finger for Sensation Comics #1. After proudly serving his country in WWII, Irwin worked on the Justice Society and Wonder Woman comics. In 1955, he co-created the classic Dondi newspaper comic, which ran for more than 30 years. Hasen taught at the Joe Kubert School for 25 years. He is the subject of a fascinating documentary, Irwin: A New York Story, and his graphic novel memoir, Loverboy, was released in 2010 by Vanguard Publishing.
Danny Fingeroth is MoCCA’s Sr VP of Education. He co-curated the recent Al Jaffee and Will Eisner exhibitions at the museum. Danny was a longtime editor and writer at Marvel Comics, has spoken on comics at The Smithsonian Institution, Columbia University, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. With Roy Thomas, Fingeroth is co-editor of The Stan Lee Universe, a compendium of rarities from Lee’s career, recently released by TwoMorrows Publishing.
For more information and to register, call 212-254-3511 or go to www.moccany.org.