Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Charles Phoenix, The Retro Holiday Man!

Charles Phoenix's laugh-out-loud retro holiday slide shows are a Christmas season favorite here in Los Angeles.  I've known Charles for over 15 years and I'm always proud to tell people that Jody and I were at his very first show back in 1998. Each year, as his heap of Kodachrome eye-candy from the past grows bigger, his performances get better - and FUNNIER!

My original concept for the Charles Puppet. 

A few years ago, I proposed doing a stop-motion animated segment for the Charles Phoenix Holiday Jubilee at the REDCAT theater in the Walt Disney Concert Hall complex.  Starting late in the year, we ran out of time to film the animation, but stills of the 16-inch puppet and paper backdrop were used for publicity and as the cover of the program.  The project was a sheer delight.

Last week Charles appeared on the Conan TV show with the ultimate yuletide snackable - the Astro-Weenie Christmas Tree.  It's pure Charles Phoenix brilliance.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Paint Like It's 1930!

Above is a sketch for an unused Walt Disney Studio greeting 
card created by an uncredited artist in the early 1930s. 

Over 70 years later, Jody completes the final painting which, in turn, is published by Disney as a boxed set of greeting cards. 

 It's not easy to mimic vintage paint techniques, but I think Jody did a very convincing job, making it look as though the final art had actually been completed in the 1930s.

Sunday, December 05, 2010

Happy Birthday Walt Disney

He would've been 109 today.