Saturday Morning Art

"When my mum told me that Tom and Jerry weren't real, it was a revelation," begins Ron Campbell, when asked how he got into the animation business. "I realized that there were people doing that, and that I could do it."

Current project, TV Beatles with Scarfs

And with that one cartoon, a fifty-plus year career was inspired. After receiving an art degree in his native Australia, Campbell began his craft by working in "cutting-edge animation advertising". Soon after, he was recruited to work on the Beetle Bailey and Krazy Kat cartoons, both from King Features. Trading Beetle Bailey for The Beatles, the animator went on to direct many episodes of the Fab Four cartoon, also for King Features. 

Campbell at work

It was that work on The Beatles series that caught the attention of William Hanna. From there, "I packed up the family and moved to L.A.," Campbell recalls of his move to the United States. 

Storyboard from Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?

One of Ron Campbell's first jobs at Hanna-Barbera was Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?, where he was a member of the team that created the series.

Storyboard from The Jetsons

Storyboard from The Flintstones

The progression of Campbell's career brought him from Hanna-Barbera (The Flintstones, The Jetsons, The Smurfs) to Disney Animation (Darkwing Duck, The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Goof Troop) and Nickelodeon (Duckman, Rugrats). When asked his favorite character to draw, Campbell answered, "I get asked that a lot." He paused, glancing over at the gallery wall blanketed with the art of his various characters. "How can you pick a favorite?" 

Easier to name are the characters he isn't as fond of. "I don't much like drawing superheroes," he admitted with a chuckle, "which is why I didn't last that long on Ninja Turtles."

However, the project Campbell is proudest of is The Big Blue Marble, which he produced and directed, and for which he won both an Emmy and Peabody award. A mixture of live-action and animation, The Big Blue Marble ran on PBS from 1974 to 1983 and focused on children around the world. Campbell would create cartoons based upon the country being visited in a given episode.

photo credit: Center Framing and Art

Since retiring, Ron Campbell has continued to paint characters based on his cartoon work. Emphasizing on The Beatles, he tours his Cartoon Pop Art in galleries across the United States, exhibiting and selling original art pieces. Each painting purchased comes with a Certificate of Authenticity, personalized with an original painting. 

Visit Rock Art Show for information on tour dates or to view more pieces of Ron Campbell's animation art.

Roald Dahl Day

Born September 13, 1916 in Cardiff, Wales, Roald Dahl would have been 100 today. Dahl gave us many cherished pieces of literature, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, and James and the Giant Peach. Below are some much loved quotes.

“Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.” - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

“Do you know what breakfast cereal is made of? It's made of all those little curly wooden shavings you find in pencil sharpeners!” - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

“A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely.” - The Twits

“It doesn't matter who you are or what you look like, so long as somebody loves you.” - The Witches

“I understand what you're saying, and your comments are valuable, but I'm gonna ignore your advice.” - Fantastic Mr. Fox

Meet Blind Al in new Deadpool TV Spot

Check out this new TV spot focusing on DEADPOOL’s roommate BLIND AL (played by Leslie Uggams). 

In the comics, Deadpool was hired to kill Blind Al. Instead he killed everyone except for her, allowing Al to escape. Years later, Deadpool would meet up with her again.

 Deadpool hits theaters February 12.

Doing the Undoable: The Return of Dirk Gently

The world's only holistic detective is poised to return to the small screen.

BBC America has picked up Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency for a straight to series, eight-episode order. Based on Adams' 1987 novel of the same name, the series will center around 'holistic detective' Gently who utilizes the 'the fundamental interconnectedness of all things' to solve cases. Max Landis (Chronicle, Victor Frankenstein) has been tapped to write the series. Landis, a fan of Adams, read both Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and its follow up, 1988's The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul as a teenager. He credits Adams’ work as 'one of the things that inspired me to be a writer.'

source: Variety

Boldly Stamping

Later this year, the US Postal Service is releasing four stamps to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Star Trek. These forever stamps showcase designs inspired by elements of the scifi show:

• the Starship Enterprise inside the outline of a Starfleet insignia against a gold background;
• the silhouette of a crewman in a transporter against a red background;
• the silhouette of the Enterprise from above against a green background; and,
• the Enterprise inside the outline of the Vulcan salute (Spock’s iconic hand gesture) against a blue background

The words SPACE… THE FINAL FRONTIER appear beneath the stamps against a background of stars. The stamps were designed by Heads of State under the art direction of Antonio Alcalá.

source: US Postal Service

 

Star Wars Movies Release Dates

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (December 16, 2016) will take us to a time before Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi first met on Tattoine, giving a behind-the-scenes look at how Princess Leia, R2-D2 and company came to possess the Death Star plans. Described as a "heist" movie, it will be directed by Godzilla's Gareth Edwards and star Felicity Jones, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Forest Whitaker and more. 

Star Wars Episode VIII (May 26, 2017) will continue the story of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Rey, Finn and company as they battle the First Order, comprised of the remnants of the shattered Empire and led by Supreme Leader Snoke with a little help from Kylo Ren. The film is as-yet-untitled, although that may change soon as Rian Johnson is expected to begin principal photography this month. 

Star Wars Anthology: Han Solo (May 25, 2018) is the as-yet-untitled solo film set to explore the backstory of everyone's favorite scoundrel and smuggler. Since the Star Wars Expanded Universe has been rendered non-canonical with the Disney acquisition of Lucasfilm, this will be the first "official" glimpse into the character's backstory in the newly-reworked timeline. Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Han Solo will reportedly be the final Star Wars movie written by The Empire Strikes Back and The Force Awakens' Lawrence Kasdan. 

Star Wars Episode IX (2019) will be directed by Colin Trevorrow from a script by Rian Johnson. The film will likely close out the story of the battle with Kylo Ren and Snoke, as the earliest comments from Disney were that they were planning a new Star Wars trilogy. Whichever members of the The Force Awakens cast are still alive (their characters, not the actors, although presumably that too) will return for the film. 

Star Wars Anthology: Boba Fett (2020) is still not officially confirmed, and no creatives are officially on board, although there have been rumors for a while that the bounty hunter would have his own film. This one would also, plausibly, allow them to tie into Han Solo and/or Rogue One, creating a second, distinct timeline of Star Wars movies being released at the same time as the Episode films -- although that's pure speculation and has not been confirmed or even rumored up to now. 

via comicbook.com

Green Lantern John Stewart

Green Lantern vol. 2, #87

"This black man lets it all hang out! I've got nothing to hide!"

In December 1971, John Stewart stepped onto the pages of comics and into comic book history. Created by Neil Adams and Denny O'Neill, Stewart became the first black superhero to appear in DC Comics. Click the link to listen to Adams discuss the creation of John Stewart.

Thanks to the popularity of the cartoons Justice League and Justice League Unlimited, John Stewart emerged from the unknown to become a generations' Green Lantern.

John Stewart continues to stay in the forefront in comics as well. In 2011 Stewart is joined by fellow Green Lantern Guy Gardner in the relaunch of Green Lantern Corps. The series is later replaced by Green Lantern: The Lost Army, which features Stewart as the sole lead.